Smyrna times., 1906-06-13
NEEDS OF BANKS IN A FIRE CITY
THE PRESSING NEED OF MONEY IN
A STRICKEN COMMUNITY.

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 fame emptied warehouse.
The struggle that ensueS to obtain
all the cash in sight is full of human
interest. 1t 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
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,
l found that the combination worked
perfectly. That reassured me, and aft
er hunting about the debris l fished
out one or two iron crowbars and by
wedging them in finally opened the
vault door. The inclOsure Smelled
smoky, but 1 soon found that the cash
was all right, and so were our books.
That made me feel good, and 1 got
down to work in short order. The first
thing l 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 a 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 saw four men
waiting for me in what had been the
cashiers Office. They were among our
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 $4,000, a
third was an out of town banker with
S150.000 to the credit of his institution
in our bank, and the fourth was a man
who has since become one of Chicago's
greatest capitalists and who had always
professed his sincere friendship for me.
1t was trying ordeal and one calculat-
ed to make each of my visitors show
- = s=.al 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 a half
whisper, DO you know how much /
have in your bankY
81 said, Yes, about 100000
"'Well, will give you $4,000 if you
will give me the cash right away
~ won't do that said l. 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 a good deal OF
money in a city that has gone to de-
structiOn.'
81 answered no. that l would not.
and told him in plain English what /
thought of him. l said: L am not knave
enough to take your bribe and give you
an unfair advantage over the other de-
positors, and l am not fool enough to
do it, because l know as soon as you
discover the bank paid its claims with
In 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 a
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,
saying that he did not care to with
draw his money so long as he knew it
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 I said
brusquely:
You know how things are as well
as l do. Can't you see the position we
are in| oh, yes, yes,' he answered
hastily. 7 don't care about the fire. We
are all in II. un fix. But | want to
know now you stand personally. Have
you plenty of ready cash? You cannot
get credit these days, so If you need
anything from the grocer's you want
hard cash. | brought you little
with that the man threw open his
coat, dived down into his pocket and
dragged out roll of bills as big as his
hands could grasp. Then he straight
ened them out and divided them into
Equal piles. retaining one himself and
anding me the other He was dread
llv In EARNEST btrf I toI5 I,t.,, ,1,,Id