Arizona republican., 1908-12-15

ment. The architects frankly treated | it as a great strongboX. Incidentally, this huge safe has certain twentieth
 century safety features, most striking
 of which is a system of piping for live steam designed to quickly parboil any
 misguided person bent upon burglary. 1 One of the officials of the National i City Bank spent the greater part of a year studying every bank building
 throughout the country, and many sug-
 gestions for fixtures and equipment were borrowed, particularly from west
 ern institutions. All messengers pass | to and from a distinct department
 in the basement, a department store carrier and a pneumatic tube service expedite the handling of 45,000 checks daily. cable and telegraph communica- ton is direct-these are a few of the ideas borrowed from other banks. The banks four hundred employees will fare well with their own kitchens and din | ing rooms, and a great assembly room for conference and social purposes. There is even provision for a miniature
 roof garden, and there is also an un- obstructed encircled promenade, eX- Etending around the roof, of sufficient length and size for a well-liffed Mara tkon race.
 The National City Bank is just four
 years short of the century mark as
 regards age. At the time of it's for
 nation. in 1912, there were eight oth CT banks in New York whose total
 capitalization was s7,552. .76O. There
 were only eighty eight banks in the
 whole country, with a combined capi-
 talization of $4261O,6O1. In 1S3O the
 number had grown to S29, with a capitalization of STA, ,260. Ten years later the number was TAI; cap
 italiZation $2SS.2O9,622. In 1860 the
 banks numbered 1.562, and the capi- talization had grown to $423.664, ,16S. In these ninety-siX years, the National
 City Bank has had ten presidents.
 Much of its early prosperity was due to Moses Taylor who, for forty-five years, was a director and for twenty six years president. In 1882 he was succeeded by Percy R. Pyne, and in 1891 James Stillman was elected president. MT. Stillman at once sought to broaden the influence of the National City Bank, and as he and the Taylor estate owned a con trolling interest in the institution, the work of developing its resources was left largely to Mir. Stillman. He brought various other strong interests into the directorate and it now in- cludes such names as Henry c. Prick. of Pittsburg; Cleveland II. Dodge, of the Phelps Dodge copper and brass interests: F. H. Hartman, chairman of the Union Pacific railroad; Cyrus H.McCormick, president of the Inter national Harvester Co.,; George w. Perkins, of J. P Morgan & Co; Will liam Rockefeller, of the Standard Oil Co. and Jacob Schiff, of Kuhn. Loeb & Co. Other directors are Francis NJ Bacon, Charles $. Fairchild, Joseph P. Grace. Edwin s. Marston, Stephen S. Palmer, James A. Post, M. Taylor Pyne, James A. Stillman, Samuel Sloane, John w. Sterling, Henry A. c. Taylor. P A Valentine. Moses Taylor and William D. Sloane. In 1901 Frank A Vanderlin, who had been assistant secretary of the treas ury with Lyman G. Gage, was elected vice president, and he has since talk en an active part in the banks man. agement
 The first home of the National City Bank was in the banking house of the old United States Branch Bank, and it's present occupancy of the custom house is a fitting symbol of it's historical relationship with the national government. The National City Rank and the war with Great Britain began together, and in that first year of it's history it took a hand in federal finances. subscribing S500,- 900 to the government loan of 1913. This helpful relationship with the national governments financial re- quirements has been a continuing pol icy ever since.
 The National City Bank was a member of the syndicate which sub scribed for the entire issue of Span ish-American war loan. It also ar ranged for the transfer of the $20.- 000, 900 payment made to Spain for the Philippine Islands. Its close con nections with other banking institu- tions have been constantly broadened and developed. This relationship now extends to various New York City banks and many of the largest Euro pean banking institutions. But the fact of greatest interest and import ance is the National City's relation ship to the country at large through l it's offices as New York correspond 1 ent of one or more banking institu tions in practically every important !. q.