New-York tribune., 1908-02-14
gEAVER BANK SURPRISE
pJDGELT'S DISCLOSURES.
1nsttufion Forced Out of Business
bv Federal 4uthorifies.

80 revelations concerning the management
-. Beaver National Bank. which went into
--.,,,,-arv liquidation on January Is. were un-
.,,e1 Yesterday as aftermath of the wordy
.es-e which William B. Ridgely, Controller
- -he currency. and George NJ Coffin. former
N-.e,dsrt Of the bank. have been carrying on.
.u,onr the disclosures was one loan of $4,000
-,ede "a a Syrian named Sahra- who afterward
-. ,ha country without taking the trouble to
-, hack the loan. which was unsecured.
ron more interesting WAS a loan Of $4,000
-.de 70 the Bulls Head oil Company~and in
- bv Richard NJ Montgomery a real estate
,-aro- When this loan came due the COM
,a,x refused TO pay it on the ground that the
- ~ interest was usurious. When suit was
,,,,t 10 collect the money the company
...-sAa that il had beer obliged TO pay
.esior of 81 0G0 - an officer of the bank to
- .be loan. and that this constituted usury.
The suit is still pending
The Beaver National Bank was organized in
.,-il OF last year with capital stock of 100000
.n5 2 surplus OF 100000 Its deposits never
-.ssed the half-1niion mark and. when it was
announced that the management had decided to
mare the bank in voluntary liquidation last
,,outh the general opinion in Wall Street was
,be- II had started business at a poor time and
ss5 simply decided 20 suspend for lack OF pat
rolage.
II MAS not known that the bank had been
<a-ced out Of business by the federal banking
authorities until Controller Ridgeiy, in answer
,nr the charges made by Mr. Coffin, laid bare
enc history OF the institution. 1t transprec that
81 the start Of the panic last October the local
national bank examiners found the Beaver Ma
t,onal il decidedly had condition and under or
ssrs from Washington practically assumed
-Ha han Il only
t.c- that the suspension O. the institution was
szr.ded al 4 time wnen such happening might
hs-a had a most direful effect on the whole
SeR YORK banking situation
4 director Of the bank said last night that
President Coffin had made some iii advised
haas but excused ms action on the GROUND that
nc Vas more 81 2 :-lcos setiCal than q practical
hsske- The representative of the Controller who
ex7nined The bank less than six months after il
beran business reported that the bank had
hsen grossly nlisrlanaseG from the start and
thst the directors who had charge Of affairs had
not had sufficient banking experience to con-
drc1 is management. and were liable, either
directly or indirectly. for about two-thirds of
the loans.
-tSorhan & Vogel. of No 60 Wall street were
counsel for the bank at its organization and re-
ceivsd according 10 d director, $4,000 as fee
Sane Of the stockholders complained that this
s-ss exo-birant In the original list of directors
spreared the name OF Martin w Littleton, but
II resigned before the bank started business
C. Z Niddebrook. who is treasurer and a di-
-c-tsr OF The Sterling Debenture Corporation,
~eica has promoted many schemes, including
shs -relepost~ took Mr.. Littleton's place on the
board The other directors We're Frank Bornn
George ii Coffin John B. Fassett, Thomas A
e Hay. George Mercer, j. Thomas E Murphy.
AUGUSTUS h Sloan. :. II. Tandergrift. Earl Fogel
End 7 P Welch.
The stock VAS originally subscribed fer al
:I55 Z share including the s. fee on each
share which went 10 German & Kogel for legal
services By the time the bank went into volun-
fsrv liquidation last month the deposits had
sarunk 70 S-5o000- The depositors all received
dolar for dollar but the stockholders, il is un-
derstood. viii not be nearly so lucky
Sabra- the Syrian. who got $4,000 Of the
banks money. Is reported 10 have obtained con-
siderable money from other local banks and
never 10 have paid any Of il back No bank
ofoers came forward yesterday. however, and
ozned Up 10 having had dealings with the willy
Oriental