The Havre herald. [volume] (Havre, Mont.) 1904-1908, 1906-08-10
NcE@PREsIDENT OF FAILED CHI.
cAGo BANK ACCUSED OF vIo-
,LATlNG THE LAW.
AFFAIRS IN VERY BAD SHAPE
BUT DEPoslToRs MAY GET BACK
MORE MONEY THAN THEY
/ HAD EXPECTED.


land, vice president Of the Milwaukee
Avenue State bank, has been arrested
on a charge Of violating the banking
laws Of Illinois. Earlier in the day
the institution was placed In the
hands Of receiver and Paul O. Stems
land, president of the bank and father
OF the vice president, together with
Cashier Herring, were officially de-
clared fugitives from justice and their
personal descriptions were sent to the
police throughout the country. This
action was taken after it had develop
ed that the finances of the institution
are in deplorable condition and have
been for several years. Besides the
discovery of many Irregularities in the
management Of the bank, it was also
found that even the safety deposit
boxes had been tempered with and in
some cases rifed of their contents.
The specific charge on which Theo-
dore Stensland was arrested was that
OF having accepted deposits at the
s0e11Ah NACA lAO hlCW IllC luSIlJuLlU1 w
be insolvent The arrest was made in
the Office of Chief of Police Collins,
where Stensland had gone to confer
with the head of the police depart
ment.
The warrant for the arrest was
sworn out by J. P. Straub, liquor
dealer, who declared that last Satur-
day he deposited $3.50 in the bank and
that Theodore Stensland as one of
the officers of the institution, had
knowledge then that the bank was in
solvent. Straub contends that the
vice president should have notified the
acting officers of the bank not to re-
ceive any deposits, but alleges that
this had not been done and that his
money was taken in violation of the
banking laws.
Jacob j. Kern, former states at
torney, signed bonds for $4,000 for the
release of Theodore Stensland.
Believed to Be in Canada.
The promises held out that the elder
Stensland would return to Chicago
are unfulflled and it is the belief of
the police, based on dispatches from
several Northern cities, that he has
fed into Canada. Upon his failure to
return, warrant was issued for his
arrest, charging embezzlement and
violation of the Illinois banking laws.
Cashier Herring, sought on similar
warrant, is thought to have reached
The Dominion by another route.
The days developments were like
wise productive of the first ray of
hope for the depositors who had be-
lieved that their savings of years had
been swept away in the wreck. David
r. Forgan, vice president Of the First
National bank and one of those to
whom the status of the defunct banks
affairs has been laid bare, declared
that possibly 70 cents on the dollar
would be paid in the final adjustment
The affairs Of the bank are said to
be In an almost hopeless tangle, ir-
Irregularities being disclosed as the ex-
.aminers go deeper into the books.
President Stensland loaned money to
himself by having employees sign the
notes. Specific instances came to
light during the day of the looting of
safety deposit boxes One in particu-
lar to which the attention of the po-
lice was called was that of Mrs. Lydia
Herman, who declared that $3.50 of her
funds had been taken.
The whereabouts Of Vice President
Theodore Stensland, son of the miss
ing banker, was a mystery to the au-
thorities until late in the afternoon,
when Chief of Police Collins got into
communication with him by phone and
secured his promise to meet him later
The clearing houses committee is
sparing no effort to bring the missing
president to justice. Handwriting eS-
perts, it is said, will be put to work at
once on the case to establish the
Seeming evidence OF forgery.
CHARGED WITH MURDER.