The Washington herald., 1907-10-23

New York, Oct p. - The
Knickerbocker Trust Company
closed its doors to-day, probably
not to reopen them in the near
future, after a run on the main
Office and the three branches of the
institution.
The failure of an institution with
total resources reported in its last
statement as close to $4,000 900,
following the troublesome events
OF the previous seven days in clear
ing house banks, precipitated a
grave crisis in finance.
There was a crush in the stock
market which carried security
values to a much lower average
figure than has been seen in many
years. Loanable funds were tightly
held, almost all of the banks and
trust companies boarding their
funds to an extraordinary degree.
Call money consequently ad-
vanced sharply to 70 per cent, and
during large part Of the day no
loans at all could be made on stock
exchange collateral.
The situation was aggravated by
rumors affecting other stock COM
panies which were bruited about
the street throughout the dav. and
the failure Of Marcus Mayer & Co.,
a prominent stock exchange house
with liabilities Of 100000.
Many Conferences Held.
Conferences to devise means for the re-
lief Of this situation were held almost
constantly from the opening Of business
until 6 O'Clock at night
There were conferences of trust com
pany officials which continued until late
in the afternoon. meetings Of the clear
ing-house committee with prominent
clearinghouse bankers as conferees. ses-
sions Of the Knickerbocker Trust Company
directors, and a succession Of conferences
in the Office Of J. P. Morgan & Co. where
at one time or another throughout the
day the most prominent bankers Of the
city called upon Mr., Morgan and con-
suited with him and his partners in re-
gard to steps for relief of the situation.
Secretary of the Treasury Cortelyou,
alarmed by the developments in this city.
left Washington in the middle Of the aft
ernoon, for the purpose Of consulting
New York bankers over measures Of re-
lief.
Secretary CorteIyou Arrives.
Secretary Cortelyou arrived at Jersey
City on the Congressional Limited to.
night a few minutes after O'Clock. He
was met by Hamilton Fish, subtreasurer
for New York. There were several re-
porters at the Jersey City station to meet
Secretary CorteIyou, but he said that he
did not care to make any statement on
the financial situation until he had
learned something about it.
Mr.. Cortelyou went over to the Hotel
Manhattan with Mr.. Fish. learning on
the way across the details Of the days
developments He remained at the hotel.
and did not attend any meetings Of trust
company officials or bankers during the
evening.
It is understood that Secretary Cortel- !
you believes that the action he took sew
eral weeks ago in making several large
deposits in various national banks
throughout the country that are govern /
ment repositories to facilitate the move |
ment OF crops will in a measure restrict
the present financial difficulties in New /
York At the same time the Secretary /
made several deposits in New York na-
tional repositories, and it is believed that
he relies on this fact to have a whole
some influence on the present situation.
Attributed to Bad Men.
A. Barton Hepburn, president of the
Chase National Bank, finished a confer
ence with Secretary Cortelyou shortly
before midnight. He said he couldn't
talk about what had been discussed. as
such a statement would have to come
from Mr.. Cortelyou. When asked his
opinion as TO the present situation, Mr..
said:
There is no trouble among the banks
except what has been caused by the bad
Look Out! Prices of Lumber Much lower.
- ILL., u Ill -