The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1906-06-07
BANKS IN A FIRE CITY
THE PRESSING NEED OF MONEY IN
STRICKEN COMMUNITY.

House In 1S71-Greed OF DepoSltOra
and How 1t Showed Itself-An Tn
expected Proposition.
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 q homeless population
may be cared for. At such times bust.
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 fame 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 tudged 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,
Ger 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
er hunting about the debris I fshed
out one or two iron crowbars and by
wedging them in finally opened the
vault door. The inclosure smelled
smoky, but I soon found that the cash
was all right, and so were our books.
That made me feel good, and / got
down to work in short order. The first
thing 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 I saw four men
waiting for me in what had been the
cashiers Office. They were among our
largest depositors, and knew well
enough what they wanted. They were
Of very different types-one a shreWd
money lender who had $4,000 to his
credit on our books, another was
school treasurer in an outlying district
who would have been ruined had we
not been able to pay him $25,O0O,
third was an out. t.of town banker with
$15O,00O 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 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,O00.'
"Well, 1 will give you $4,000 If you
will give me the cash right away
"T won't do that said I. Your
money is all right, but you will have to
wait a week for It until we get In
shape again. .
"'What,' he fairly gasped, do you de-
cline $4,000? That is good deal OF
money IN a city that has gone to de-
struction.'
"I answered no, that I would not,
and told him in plain English what I
thought Of him. said: 4 am not knave
enough to take your bribe and give you
an unfair advantage over the other de-
positors, and am not fool enough to
do it. because know as soon as you
discover the bank paid it's claims with
in a week you would sue me for the
$4,000. 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
straightforward story Of how his bonds
men were anxious to know how be
stood. When I told him that his money
was safe and that he would not lose
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 1t
was safe. Then the man who has since
grown enormously wealthy accosted
me with the remark that he had come
down to see how things stood That
gave me chance to test him, so said
brusquely: :.
"'You know how things are as well
as I do. Can't you see the position we
are in?' oh, yes, yes he answered
hastily. I don't care about the fire. We
are all in the same fix. But want to
know how you stand personally. Have
you plenty Of ready cash? You cannot
get credit these days. so If you need
D.