The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-02-14
S565,OOO SHORT. Amount OHciaIIyAnnounced by Directors of the Sav- ings Bank of New
 Britain.
SURPLUS OF s143,OOO LEFT
THIS OYER AND ABOVE SUM
 DUE DtPOSIToRs

Latter. Therefore, Not to Lose Cent
 Bank Officials Believe the Greater
 Part of the Stolen Securities VIII be
 RecOvered-Mystery of Treasurer
 Walkers Disappearance and Dispos- al of Such Large Amount of Se-
 curities Still UnfathOmed-Securiti
 of State Baptist Society Also Missing
 Story of Woman in Case Not Be-
 lieved by Close Associate.
 New Britain, Feb. 13.-More than half million dollars worth of securities were taken from the vaults of the Saw dngs Bank of New Britain by the miss ing treasurer, William F. Walker, ac- cording to a statement issued by the board of directors of the institution late this afternoon, following the exam nation of the collateral in the bank by State Bank Commissioners Kendall and Noble. There is left surplus of about S143,000 over and above the amount due to 1epositors, the actual shortage be- ing $565,000. The directors believe the greater part of the securities will be recovered.
 The mystery of Treasurer Walkers S disappearance and the disposal of the immense amount of railroad bonds was not cleared up during the day, al though knowledge of the fact that for ner Corporation Counsel John P. Bart lett, a lawyer in New York city, who revisited his home here a fortnight ago, had called upon the bank directors committee, seemed to assure members of the family and the other directors that Walker will soon be found There was no little excitement in and around the Savings bank building during the day, owing to the uneasiness of hum dreds of deposisOes, who suddenly found that they could not get their deposits under ninety days, the bank, upon or- der of Attorney General Holcomb, hav- ing taken advantage of the bylaw re- quiring notice of withdrawal. The ex- animation of the bank shows that ap- parently Walker did not touch any of the ready cash, or the book accounts, and that the shortage is purely an ab- stractjon of bonds. No one in New Britain is ableto give a reason for his need of the bonds, as members of his family, his fellow employees in the bank, and his partner in an outside busi- ness enterprise declared that they never knew of any speculative ventures. That he was interested in some sort of out side investments was made almost cer- tain this afternoon by information ob- tained that Walker early last week had considerable telegraphic corre- sporldence with parties in New York, and to learn the source of this the di- rectors' committee went to New York last night. If the committee is success full the belief is held that part of the securities will be recovered. The directors hold this belief, as is shown by the following statement:
 "The officers of the Savings Bank of New Britain, working with the bank commissioners, have to-day examined the assets of the Savings Bank of New Britain, and find that there is an ap- parent shortage of $565,0 900, After charging this amount off, there will be still about $143,0 900 of surplus which makes the amount due the depositors safe.
 Ut is believed by the officers of the bank 1t is quite reasonable to expect that the greater part of the securities making up the loss will be recovered. !.
 Mir. Walker had charge of other funds besides those of the Savings Bank oi New Britain, but only in the case ot fund is any irregularfty suspected. As treasurer of the Elihu Burritt monu- ment fund, the moneys received were deposited by pass book in the bank and the fun committee stands in the position of a depositor of almost 5000