Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-27
THE RUN ON THE BANK


was his motherless daughter. very beau
tiful young woman of twenty. In the hotel
lobby one night the Minnesota banker and
group of Washington banking men fell
to discussing the suddenness with which
runs are frequently started upon western
banks such runs being due to some trivial
incident or to idle gossip.
Said the banker from Minnesota:
You would perhaps not imagine that
my daughter here. whom you have met.
once brought me to point where l was
lettering on the edge of the cliff that over
hangs the abyss of ruin. and this. toe.
"hen She was only little girl of ten.
heed not say, of course, that the child
didn't mean to do this. But her littl. in
advertence was probably one Of the odd
est in the history of banking anywhere.
The -chi!ds mother died soon after the
little one was born. and she was the only
chiic Up to the time that this thing hap
peheC She had nurse and governess 1t
may be presumed that. seeing that she was
all that was left to me. l was sufficiently
indu'aent with the child.
But one day when she was ten a little
girl friend from another Minnesota city
visited her: The other little girl had a
very beautiful and tiny Swiss watch that
her people had had made for her as a
birthday gift. When my little girl saw
same kind and. she was sngularly dl-
rect In her methods she came to me about
II at once. She brought the other little
girls watch and showed it to me-
would like one Just Ike this she
salc Ill you get me one?
NOW. in quiet and wholly non agrees
sive sort OF way, l was endeavorng my
self. to train the child to habits of industry
as her mother had been trained before her,
80 when she asked me for the watch l
said TO her:
My dear. why don't you go to work and
earn one?
THAT was the disastrous remark for
me- What meant was that / should have
appreciated her doing few little personal
chores for me-such little tasks as putt ns
the studs in my shirts. getting NV Iaundr,.
together and sending it away. putting the
linen In my dresser so that / could find il.
and so on-littlc helpful tasks that nnhodv
l ma ocen on hand to do for me since the
death of the chiId's mother. and taslss tha :
soreiy missed having performed for me-
i nao frequently limited to the LITTLE girl
that I'd Ike to have her do thesa tbina
LOT me: put she had seemingly never quite
Understood what 1 was driving at or tba
1t would please me greatly If she ac+,aII,
did these chores for me. 'u"''S
30 mat when she asked me for tbe
S''. watch and I asked her. not harshly,
but really in banterins sort of wav wv,
she didn't go to work and earn one sbe o%;,a
iiiistook my meaning l wondered ar tho
eiilie why the young one gave me such a
hhe sea mr. look when put that question to
her. but my mind was occunied wifi otho,
matters at the time. and so forgot r. re-
Iinnd the child again Of the sort or work
! was hoping she would get into the haht
or doing for me. ~ A"oi'
Wholly mfsunderstan d;n.
happened: 49, 'nis IS what
y, Bright and early on the following morn.
afterward-she went down info ths t bu. u, II
the leading department store of the n1ace
me tne proprietor of which was a prosperous
no nut, very suspicious Swede. who had his
main IaaI, account at my bank '
she walked right into the nriy.+a -,
nee OF the Swede-he knew her welISand
erm quite ute. of his feet with the
ana asked him II he would give her sopn
thing to do. e'o hei soihe-
work s1,,, for your gasped the amazed
" ~ Wnat do you mean. child"
zo,,I mean she told him. with the create #
denberation. that want to get nlace n
your store as cash girl p''''e u"
But. pursued the Swedish department
not the kind Of little girl we emn nTu arr II
cash cash girl: How is this? Does your father
as a cash girl?' lei7
Tt was my DADA she ren,;aa ,u,.I y.
.le loss or the head. as heard the story
to go to work. wat nave
Wait here a BIT the swede denart-
see i' ahu VIII
Then ne called me up on the phone.
IL gu may imagine my establishment when
ne Degan firing questions at me
Is there anything wrong IN yo,,r NOV, >,
ne asked me, and could tel by the hoarse
ness or his tone that he was all worted
up: "eu
anything wrong?' repeated after him
through the phone. Wrong with WHAT
Wrong with who? wat
b. ~, IT you and the bank he came right
gnora1 there ef is l. said ID to him Tn in dense
en ..1Is 10 explain what you mean
he explained all right
III there's nothing wrong be s,ia
,hrough the phone in his Yon Yonson dI,.
iect' why Is 1t that your little girl has
cash grip pace as
His words were like blow in tho f,o,
TO me- At first and for soma moments
such was my confusion that I quite failed
20. 20 eonhect my words OF the evening before
with that curious action Of nv little pirI,e
In applying for work at the department
store. pal ''iei''
" It's mighty peculiar he said. that Won,
iil.lie slri should be coming to me and ask
ing me for work as a cash girl and she
says. too. that you told her last evanine
THAT she would have to be earning her own
living Are you sure that the bank isn't in
Then, in my wrath over his oueru,ous
tone. l made tactical mistake
Say I asked him. are you idiot enoueb
to take the childish action Of a little girl of
ten seriously? It's merely playing. or some.
Thing of that sort, on her part For
heavens sake be more sensible
don't want you to call me an idiot.
ne shouted at me through the phone, and
his Swedish accent sounded the more no.
ticeable. showing that he. too, was 9, ttine
angry. I don't let anybody call me idiot
If I'm an idiot It's because I'm depositIne
my money In bank the head of which is
In such straits that he Is sending his little
girl out to look for work as cash girl
that's why I'm an idiot. But can remedy
that. I'll send my man around to your
bank at once to withdraw my account
well. it happened. Five minutes after the
cessation Of my phone conversation with
the Swede department store man his head
bookkeeper came rocketing in to draw out
the firms account. some eighteen thousand
dollars. I endeavored. of course. to dis
| suade the bookkeeper from doing this with
out bit of notice. and asked him to re-
quest his employer to drop around to see
me before taking the step. but the book
keeper told me that his boss was mad and
didn't want to see me. but only wanted his
money. and there was nothing for me to dc
but to honor the check for the entire
amount Of the deposit.
Many Of the department store employees
were depositors with me. and no sooner
had the bookkeeper left with his employer s
money than these employees began to swoop
upon the bank for their deposits.
'TTbus the run was News hat wa q