The Mena weekly star., 1907-12-12
 B|G KANSAS C|IY FAILURE
National Bank of Commerce in the Custody of Comptroller of
 the Currency.
ONE OF THE LARGEST BANKS IN WEST
Inability to Realize on Assets With Which to Get Funds to Pay Bal ances Due Other Banks Given al Cause of FalIure-may be Able to Resume.


 Kansas City, Dec. 6.--Overwhelme' by a wave of distrust that has beel steadily wearing away its resource for nearly two months, the Nationa Bank of Commerce, the largest banl between St. Louis and San Francisco suspended business Thursday morning and is in charge of the office of ths comptroller of currency.
 At S:30 o'clock Thursday morning James T. Bradley, national bank ex aminer, brought to the bank this no tice which clerk posted on win dow:
 This bank has been closed by reso lution of its board of directors. and Is now In charge of James T. Bradley national bank examiner. by order oi the comptroller of currency"
 In about six weeks the bank has paid on $19.oCo000 of it's deposits. re duced its loans $3,500,000. cut down its cash resources s11,750,000, and sold s2,000, ,000 of high grade bonds, all in the effort to meet the demands upon 1t. But there has been a con tlnued drain, eliminating Wednesday with clearing house debit balance of nearly $400,000, which the bank was forced to meet. Fearing that Thurs days exactions would be beyond It's power to pay the directors decided to give up the fight and let the bank be liquidated.
 The directors were in session Wednesday night until after midnight and again Thursday morning at 2 o'clock. considering plans for contin- uing, but they finally decided that the task was too great.
 Inside the bank, when the notice was posted, the air of the officers was that of a relaxation after a terrible strain. When a man has struggled to the limit of his capacity, physical and mental, and the end has come. he rarely shows feeling.
 w. s. Wood. president of the bank. and W. A. Rule, the cashier. had slept little any night for week, and they simply let down. w. H. Winants. vice president, worked on. answering telephone calls, but he showed more feeling and his voice choked when he talked The other directors were not to be seen about the bank during the first hour. The real fight had been made by Woods and Rule. It had been desperate Dr. Woods said he had done his best and did not know how ho dn Ia 6ad ha loss with regret, but did not show evil dence of excitement.
 Of approximately $16,000,000 in de- posits tied up in the suspension, about $5.000000 belong to Kansas City peo- pie. The remaining $11,000,000 be- longs to out of town banks.
 The only banks affected by the sus- pension were the two small branches of the Commerce in the west bottoms, the Stock Yards Bank of Commerce and the Union Avenue Bank of Com merce and the First State Bank of Argentine. These institutions togeth- CT had only few hundred thousand dollars in deposits. The first two did not open Thursday morning. The third closed at noon.
 When the news of the suspension became generally known there were some withdrawals from other banks, chiefly by small depositors. These withdrawals. however were more than compensated for by the new accounts opened. All the other banks of the city were in good condition and there was no uneasiness.
 The banks directors have issued the following statement:
 Much as we regret to do so, We ara compelled to close the doors of thc National Bank of Commerce becaus. we have not been able to collect mon .ey from our borrowers as fast as the same was demanded by our deposi tors.
 During this panic we have reduced our deposits from s35. 5.500, 900 to about s16,5o0,o0o, thus paying out over the counter and by transfers to other banks in this city and other cities about s1S,000. 900 of deposits. This, of itself, tells of our resources. We have made the fight of our life, but could not stand the slanderous statements made against the bank.
 We hope to be able to open up the bank again in the near future for business. We do not believe 1t possi. ble for depositor in the National Bank of Commerce to lose a dollar We beg your indulgence and forbear- ance until our affairs can be ar. ranged to the satisfaction of all Inter. ested parties. We appreciate sensi. ply the confidence our numerous GUS toners, large and small, have placed in us, and We hope to show in the end that We have been true to this trust"
 Washington. Dec 6.-The comp troller of currency Thursday issued the following statement regarding the failure of the National Bank of Com. merce of Kansas City:
 The comptriller's office has been advised that the officers and directors of the National Bank of Commerce of Kansas City. Mo. decided not to open It's doors Thursday. and requested the national bank examiner to take charge until their assets could be realized on. when there is strong hope that the bank may be able to resume.
 This bank is one of the largest In the west and in September last had about s34.000,000 of deposits. Some thing ika y39 000 noo ne ths - s