The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1906-05-23
BANKS n 4 FIRE CITY
tHE PRESSING NEED or MONEY IN
a STRICKEN COMMUNITY

a n ffJFEtf 1NJN Mo ~ T
Experience uf a chicago Financial
House Ia Is7I-trerd OF nepo-itors
and How II showed Itseif-AH tn
expected Proposition.
N heneycr ii great fire ieFaStatrs
larse-cify the first effort OF those con
ccrued with the work Of restoration is
10 get the banks open that lie press
ing needs Of homeless population
may be cared for Al such times bust
Jfess Is done On a strictly cash basis
and everything sells at "A premium
HE consequence IS an extraordinary
demand for hand to hand money, since
the merchant eau use the poor man's
dollar to better advantage than the
rich mans credit in buying supplies to
fepeuish his flame emptied warehouse.
The struggle That ensues 10 obtain
MI the cash IN sight is full Of human
Interest. It has lis picturesque fea
lures TN Monday. oct 10. MI. when
al Chicago trudged downtown 10 see
what WAS left Of the city, great crowds
hesieged the banks Some men Were
crying. others talked incOherehtlS, and
every body seemed half dazed. An otii-
Ger Of one OF Ghitago'S greatest hunks.
who fought his WAY thr0ugh the smol-
defing einbcrs 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
/ found that the combination worked
perfectly. That treasured me aud aft
cr hunting about The debris ] hshed
out one or two Iron crowbafs aud by
Welgng them In finally opened the
Xanlt door The inclOSure SInelled
smoky. but / soon found that the cash
WIS all right. and SO were our books.
Tint made me feel good. aud | got
down 10 work IN short order The first
Thing / did WIS IL look at the balance
sheet aud see What orr exact resources
were \ glance showed Inc that by
collecting what WIS due from out Of
town creditors The bank could pay ev
erYthIng II owed and declare Il IL per
cent dividend besides. even II II lost
every dollar due from its Chicago eli
"On leaving the vault saw four men
waiting for me III what had been the
eashiers office 1hey We're among our
largest drpositms. and / knew we'll
enough what they wanted They We're
Of very different types one shrewd
money lender who had $50 0o0 10 his
credit on our books. another WAS Il
school treasurer in an outly wing district
WIN would hive been ruined had we
not been able 10 pay him $4,000. a
third was an eut of town bunker with
St56G0o to the credit of his institution
in our bank. and the fourth WIS II man
who has since become one OF Ghlcago's
greatest capitalists aud who Ind always
professed his sincere friendship for me.
1t WIS Il trying ordeal aud one caleulat-
ed 10 make each OF my visitors show
the real stuff that was In him As
events proved. thls did not take long
The little money lender grabbed me
first with IA strange little wink he
forced me one side and said In a half
whisper, DO YOU know how much !
have In your bunk 2
. said. Yes, about $4,000
We'll, / viii give you $1,000 II YOU
will give me the cash right away
- won't do that said / Your
money * all right, but you viii have TO
wait week for II until we GO. In
shape again
what lie fairly gaspcd, do you de
cline $4,000 That is good deal OF
money in II city that has gone 10 de
structon
Il answered no. that | would not
and told him IN plain English what
thought of him. ! said: 4 am not knave
enough to take your bride and give YOU
an unfair advantage over the other de
positorS, and am not fool enough t.
do II, because know rs soon rs You
discover the bunk paid It's claims with
In n week you would sue me Tor 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 eenr of the bank after that. Then
the school treasurer came to ME with
ightforward 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
cent he burst Into tears, saying the
news WAS too good to he true The out
of town banNer was also very nice,
saying that ht. did not care To with
draw his money So long as he knew II
was safe Then the mau who has since
grown enormously wealthy accosted
me " ith the remark that he had come
down to see how things stood. That
gave me Il chance 10 test him, So ! said
hrusquely
Oh know how things are az well
rs do. cart You see the position we
are in oh. YES, yes he answered
hastily don't care about the fire. We
are all In the same fix. But ! want 10
know how YOU stand personally. Have
YOU plenty of ready cash. You cannot
get credit these days, SO II you need
auythins from the groeer's You want
hard cash brought You II little
with that the man threw open his
coat dlNrd down into his pocket and
dragged out Il roll of bills as big as his
hands could Grasp Then he straight
ened them out aud div ided them into
equal piles retaining one himself and
handing ne the other, lie was dread
fully Ia earnest hut | told him could
not accept the money and that ]
thought | could manage without II,
He assured me that whatever he had
would always be nj my disposal That
man has always been one OF my best
friends New York Post
his Compliment
aNNl4t "a L,N.t1 tnnruin,f he soid