Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1910-10-20
WRECK CHELSEA BANK
REIGER FACES a
SERIOUS CHARGE.
FOR FAILURE
Authorities AIlege That Rieger
Caused the Failure of the
Chelsea Bank by Obtaining
Money From IL Under
False Pretenses.

piSC
Charged with obtaining money under
false pretenses and by his action hav-
ing brought on the downfall of the
Chelsea State bank, Arthur j. Reiger
was arrested Thursday and a bond of
$500 fixed for his appearance at the
preliminary hearing Tuesday.
The arrest was made at the Rieger
home in Chelsea, and made a great
sensation in that town. In Chelsea
feeling has run highly antagonistic to
him, and in the minds of many ne was
blamed with the wrecking of the bank.
The bank has been under investigation
by the state authorities for several
weeks, and the arrest of a man who
was neither an officer or director of the
institution comes as surprise to all
who have been watching the develop
ments.
The method of operation which Rieger
followed was the simple one of "kiting'
his checks in the bank. His checks
piled up until he owed the bank SIS, 900
between his personal account and that
of the lumber company at Chelsea
which he owned. Many of these checks
came in during the absence of Cashier
Howe and were paid off before it was
discovered that the man was not going
to be able to pay them. The time of
protest had expired, and according to
the cashiers explanation it took all of
the banks cash to settle them, and as
Rieger was unable to pay up, the bank
became seriously embarrassed for funds.
In an effort to meet the lack of funds
Rieger sold his lumber company and
residence and Howe turned in his home.
| 1t is not believed that the loss to depos-
itors in the bank will be serious.
Rieger assigns his failure to the bad
crop season. If this year had been as
uniformly fruitful as last year and land
values had gone up in the same ratio as
before, he would have stood to win
fortune. The turn was the other way
and he now faces prison cell.
Rieger had thousands of acres of land
under contract to buy and held options
on much more. All of this land he was
breaking and seeding in flax and last
spring it is asserted that his daily
expenditures for keeping several break
ing crews going upon the land he held,
was $500 day. If he could have had
rich yield from all this land, with the
present price of flax, he would have
reaped hundreds of thousands of dollars.
When the crop failed and the con
tracts began to come due he was unable
to sell any of his thousands of acres.
When he couldn't turn the land and lost
his crop he was unable to pay and the
crash came. 1t was from these land
and crop returns that he promised him
self and the bankers he would pay the
obligations which he owed the bank.
When Cashier Howe returned and
found the state of affairs as they have
been disclosed, ne called upon nieBer,
and then the future was placed in the
balance dependent upon the crop yield.
1t swung downward and the bank went
down, for its capital was only $1,000
and the deposits not exceptionally large
for small town.
Rieger formerly lived in Wallace,
where he operated in grain and owned
several elevators along the nj. and st.
L. and Dakota Central railroad He is
now just emerging from bankruptcy
proceedings into which his career there
plunged him in January, 1909.
When the Wallace bubble blew up
Rieger moved to Chelsea, bought back
his elevator there at the receivers sale
and began his operations which termin-
ated in his arrest Thursday.