The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-05-24
Knickerbocker Trust Company
Bankrupt Four Years Ago.
Big Concern to Merge With
/ Columbian Trust Company.
SATTERLEE'S WORK SUGGEST
Then He Was Fined for ViO-
lating Anti Trust Law.
Great Strides Made i'm Auto and
AeropIane Business.

| New York, May 24.-To report the
| bare fact that the KEickerbocker Trust
| institution and the Columbia Trust in
| stitution are to be merged. neither one
absorbing the other, and yet one in
stitution hereafter representing what
have been two barking institutions for
years, would be only meagerly to con-
vey the meaning which is behind this
combination. The bare facts are that
the KnickerbockeI and the Columbia
institutions will oive up their old stock
and will receive fo I it new stock which
fairly represents the relative difference
between the two institutions. The new
institution will have capital of two
million dollars; it will have a surplus
of seven millions, and if the deposits
carried by the TO institutions are
carried by the combined trust these
will be somewhat in excess of sixty
million dollars.
i Invariably in banking circles in this
city the first thought caused by the
announcement of the com binatiOn was
this-that the transaction reflects the
unprecedented reaction from bank
ruptcy, despair ind apparent perma-
nent ruin to a position of prime i'm
/ portance in our banking world which
/ is record made by the Knfckerbock-
er Trust company in little over four
years.
This was the institution which was
obliged to close rs doors in October,
| 1907, thereby bringing to a head the
| panicky conditions which had prevail
| ed for two or three weeks. For four
| or five months AFTER the state banking
4 department took possession of the
=! Knickerbocker Trust. it's life hung in
the balance. Nothing but cooperation
| between a majority of the depositors
! and the state ba liking department and
| the ability of some men who had not
| been prominent IN finance to nurse
what remained OF The assets made it
/ possible for the Knickerbocker Trust
tn g 20 1ax-i S-
| suing promises to pay at stated inter-
| walls proportionate parts of the money
/ deposited with it to the depositors. The
| business of saving this bank was
chiefly committed to Herbert L. Sat
| terlee, who was not banker but a
| lawyer, and who, for a time, was as
| SiStant secretary CT the navy in Presi-
| dent Roosevelt's administration. Mr..
| $atterlee's courage energy and grim
determination to save that bank to-
| gether with the Skill and tact with
which he met and overcame the OBJ
| JecuOnS of reca1Cttrant or Sulky de-
positors served f, save the institution.
1t was sometimes surmised that Mr..
/ Satterlees triumph could be traced to
| the fact that he is a son-in-law of J.
+. Morgan, but the fact remains that
| his success was due in no way to his
family essociation with Mr.. Morgan.
He saved the institution and within
year after it opened it's doors it began
to pay. much before it promised to do
so, it's obligations to its depositors. The
market value of its stock was recover
ed. This revitalizins of the Knicker-
booker Trust was conspicuous and
recognized service to the banks of
New York. 1t @erved greatly to re-
store prosperity. When Mr.. Satterlee
completed his work he stepped aside
to submit to the humiliation of facing
an indictment brought by the United
States government upon a criminal
charge Of having violated the anti
I %y-Trr, J1xr 800, F1,z
that the alleged vi.1atfon was not only
in the highest degree technical but
also that Mr.. Satterlee personally had
no knowledge of what the corporation
with which he was identified had done
| in the steel wire pool matter, never
| theless the Indictment stands in the
record end beside 1t is written the
| statement that he was compelled to
pay fine of one thousand dollars.
How Wealth Is Created.
At the recent international exposi-
| ton of aeroplanes and various other
| flying machines which was held in this
| city there was a Demonstration of the
manner in which che specially pre-
pared rubber cloth is utilized for the
wings OF aeroplanes and also for the
| large dirigible balloons. The great ball
| loon in which the second attempt is to
be made to cross the Atlantic from
| Atlantic City is made of this specially
prepared rubberizei cloth. The pro-
| cess is understood t. be a trade secret.
| At all events, thero was no demonstra-
ton of the manner in which 1t was
| manufactured.
| A manufacturing company located at
Akron, Ohio, has recently received an
| order for twenty-five thousand yards
of this cloth. and it thought that
| great as is this amount it will be
found before the end of the year to be
a comparatively trivial order, since
| there is now no doubt that aero
! planes and dirigible balloons are to be
i built in greatly increasing numbers,
/ especially as some of the foreign gov
| ernments have now accepted this ap-
! paratus as an important adjunct of
| military or naval equipment. This
| incident is one of the illustrations-of
| which there were several at the ex-
position-which show the great in
| increase in the utilization of rubber for
| apparatus that flies in the air, and es
| pecially for automobiles. But within
| a few days there has been a most
| striking illustration of the manner in
| which the demand for automobiles
| and for flying machines has increased
| the visible and material wealth of the
! United States. The announcement has
! been made that two of the largest
have recently perfected a merger. The
1 consolidated company is to be capital
lied at ninety million dollars and, not
withstanding the capitalization. the
/ market value of the stock for the small
4 amount of 1T that can be obtained IS
far above par.
II This combination in its capitalize
ton and in it's sales will hereafter be
b numbered among the greatest of Amer
Il lean corporations, and yet, only few
years ago the wealth which this CAPT
Il taiization represents was practically
nil. Within ten years the growth of
the automobile business, has. in sim
Fl gle instance, represented by this merg-
ed company. created new wealth rep