Imperial Valley press and the Imperial press., 1906-07-28
BANKS IN A FIRE CITY
THE PRESSING NEED OF MONEY IN
 A STRICKEN COMMUNITY.
Experience of q Chicago Financial House In 1S71-Greed of DepOsitOrs and How It Showed ItseIf-An Un- expected Proposition.

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 Whenever a great fire devastates a large city the first effort of those con- cerned with the work of restoration is to get the banks open so that the press ing needs of a homeless population may be cared for. At such times busi- ness is done on a strictly cash basis, and everything sells at a premium The consequence is an extraordinary demand for hand to hand money, since the merchant can use the poor mans dollar to better advantage than the rich mans credit in buying supplies to replenish his flame emptied warehouse
 The struggle that ensues to obtain all the cash in sight is full of human interest. It has its picturesque fea- lures. On Monday, Oct 10, 1871, when all Chicago trudged downtown to see what was left of the city, great crowds besieged the banks. Some men were crying, others talked incoherently, and everybody seemed half dazed. An off cer of one of Chicago's greatest banks, who fought his way through the smol- dering embers to the white marble hall which surrounded his vault, gave the following description of what occurred:
 Although the iron door of the vault had been somewhat expanded by heat, I found that the combination worked perfectly. That reassured me, and aft CT hunting about the debris 1 6shed out one or two iron crowbars and by 3r1 kI1o vault door. The incloSure smelled smoky, but soon found that the cash was all right, and so were our books. That made me feel good, and I got down to work in short order. The first thing I did was to look at the balance sheet and see what our exact resources were. A glance showed me that by collecting what was due from out of town creditors the bank could pay ev- erything it owed and declare 10 per cent dividend besides, even if it lost every dollar due from its Chicago eli ents. That was all wanted to know.
 'On leaving the vault 1 saw four men waiting for me in what had been the cashiers office. They were among our largest depositors, and 1 knew well enough what they wanted. They were of very different types-one a shrewd money lender who had $3O,000 to his credit on our books, another was a school treasurer in an outlying district who would have been ruined had we not been able to pay him $25,000, a third was an out of town banker with $150,000 to the credit of his institution in our bank, and the fourth was man who has since become one of Chicago's greatest capitalists and who had always professed his sincere friendship for me. It was a trying ordeal and one calculat- ed to make each of my visitors show the real stuff that was in him. As events proved, this did not take long.
 '"The little money lender grabbed me first. With a strange little wink he forced me one side and said in half whisper, Do you know how much I have in your bank|
 ''I said, Yes, about $30,OOO'
 "'Well, I will give you $6.OOO if you will give me the cash right away
 "T won't do that said l. Your money is all right. but you will have to wait a week for 1t until we get in shape again.
 What he fairly gasped, do you de cline $6,OOO? That is a good deal Of money in a city that has gone to de struction.'
 ''I answered no, that l would not and told him in plain English what thought of him. 1 said: T am not knave enough to take your bribe and give you an unfair advantage over the other de positors, and I am not fool enough to do it, because I know as soon as you discover the bank paid its claims with in a week you would sue me for the $6,000. Get out of here right away"
 "That was the last of him. He took his money when the week was out and kept clear of the bank after that. Then the school treasurer came to me with 8 straightforward story of how his bonds men were anxious to know how he stood. When told him that his money was safe and that he would not lose a cent he burst into tears, saying the news was too good to be true. The out of town banker was also very nice saving that he did not care to with draw his money so long as he knew il
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