Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1906-08-09
CHICAGO BANK FAILS
MILWAUKEE AVENUE CONCERN
CLOSES ITS DOORS.
President stensland and chasier Her
ing Are Fusitives-one Deposito,
Drops Dead While Another KILL
Himself-Riotous Scenes Follow.

Manifestations Scenes Follow.
Chicago, Aug. with a deficit In
Its accounts estimated close to mil
lion dollars, and with the whereabouts
Of two of its highest officials unknown
to the authorities. the Milwaukee Ave
nue. State bank, one Of the largest out
lying banks in the city, was closed BY
State Bank Examiner o. o. Jones.
The failure was responsible for the
death Of one of the depositors and led
to the suicide of another man who
month ago had placed his earnings Of
a lifetime in the institution for safe
keeping. In the excitement following
the announcement OF the failure j. G.
Wiser. an official of the Royal league,
who had on deposit in the bank funds
of that organization, fell dead Of heart
failure. Henry Koepke, small grocer
on hearing that the bank had sus
pended payment, went to the rear oil
his store and shot himself. He died
few minutes later while being re-
moved to a hospital.
Riotous scenes followed the an
nouncement of the failure, and large
force of police struggled all day tc
keep an excited crowd Of depositors-
nearly all of them foreigners and
many of them women-from bursting
in the doors of the institution. The
of failure was first revealed by Presi
dent Paul o. Stensland, one of the alb
sent officials. A letter to his son, Theo
dore, who is vice president, written
from st. Paul and received last Satur
day, started the investigation which
brought about the suspension. Another
sensational feature of the affair was
the disappearance Of the cashier
Henry w. Herring, and the issuing OF
a warrant for his arrest on charge
of embezzlement. A message ordering
his apprehension was sent to every po
lice station in the city.
The news spread rapidly throughout
the entire northwest side of the city.
where the bank has been for years a
popular depository for funds saved by
working people. Soon clamorous
crowd gathered before the doors and
demanded admission. Anticipating
trouble, score of police was hurried
to the scene. The people were permit.
ted to file past the doors bearing the
posted notice and were compelled to
keep moving. Only those having keys
to safety deposit vaults were allowed
to enter Many burst into tears when
they found hat their savings we're en-.
dangered or lost. Wiser, to whom The
shock proved fatal was several blocks
from the bank. Hearing the rumor he
stepped into drug store seeking par
ticulars. He fell dead when assured
that the bank had failed.
An examination of the banks affairs
was begun quietly last Saturday after
receipt of the letter from President
Stensland. Acting upon Instructions
contained therein Vice President Theo.
dore Stensland opened deposit box
and discovered proofs that the bank
funds were in bad shape. President
Potter. of the American Trust and
Savings bank. which acted as clearing
agent for the defunct institution, was
called into consultation. The state au
ditor was notified and Immediately
sent Bank Examiner Jones TO make a
full investigation.
Fictitious notes to the amount of
100000 are said to figure in the story
of the banks troubles. Disastrous
speculation in real estate and in the
security market is said to be respon
sible.
The institution was known as a
family bank" The Stensland family.
for years we'll known residents of the
northwest side, owned much of the
stock, and members of the family oper.
ated the bank. 1t was organized in
1891 with paid up capital of $25O,0OO.
A statement made by Vice President
Stensland showed s1,O51,OO0 in cash
on hand. He said that the bank car.
ried deposits of s4,200,OO0 and had
$4,000 depositors.