Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-08-15


ional Surety Company, which bonded
Wireless messages were sent to sew
ght.
!. 1t is now thought that when Smith
motored away from his bachelor
apartments at Central avenue and
Seventh street on Wednesday morn
ing between 10 and II o'clock he
carried with him a large portion of
the vanished assets.
At that very hour the bank exams
ners had already discovered irregu-
larities. and were wondering why
Smith had not returned from break
fast.
But not Smith alone is to blame for
the banks collapse, according to
many of the business men who had
accounts in the institution.
Depositors Meet Today.
A meeting of the depositors was
/ called for this afternoon in Wards
Hall, Orange and Seventh streets.
Rumor had 1t that some of the De
positors would urge that grand jury
probe should take place, in crdor to
determine IL there had not been gross
negligence on the part of the officers
and directors
Their proposed action was given
further support by particularly sig
ni1cant statement of La Rue
lVredenbursh today. Mr. Vredenburgh
has been appointed special assistant
| deputy to assist the commissioner of
banking and insurance In the liqui-
dation of the affairs OF and the d!stri-
button of the assets of the institu-
| tfnfr Ia raoartlU f,ac cuad--1Ti
of the laws of 1913 His duties will be
practically those of a receiver.
What he said was this.
| II would like to have Mr.. Smith
here-T can't tell you how much.
"He handled transactions and accounts
that the other employees In the bank
knew nothing about"
This gave the depositors grounds
for thinking that the complete report
+, of the examiners would possibly show
| that the trust company had been car
rying what are known In bank circles
as accounts under the hat"
| Smith Last Seen In Auto.
Smith, whose success in keeping un-
/ der cover Is considered by the detec-
tives to be due to carefully prear-
ranged plan, was last seen in Newark
| when he climbed into his automobile
| at Central avenue and Seventh street
| with a dress. suit case. a club bag and
| a big embroidered laundry bag some
time between 10 and II Wednesday
morning.
Mrs. Gussive Toland. a widow, who
| occupies n second floor apartment in
the house, was on the roof with her
son, who. like the other boys of the
neighborhood, had always been great
| chums with the ever-cheerful and
free-hand Smith,
MY boy called my attention to
| Smith," she told an Evening Star re.
porter today.
Nicknamed "The Bank Robber."
"Oh. that's Smitty, the bank rob-
ber.'' he said.
why did he call Smith that?" she
was asked.
"The boys, all of whom We're great
chums with him, called him that as
a sort of nickname. They knew he
worked in bank. He always used
| to grin when they called him it and
the name stuck.
Anyway, | looked down and saw
Smith getting into his car. He had a
| dress-suit case. clubbag and laundry
| bag. | was surprised to see him at
that time of day His chauffeur
turned the car and they went off up
/ Central avenue"
Patrick Tracey, of 16 Fourteenth
/
by several other boys in the neigh
borhood. He, however. denied that
he had driven Smith to his apart
ments on Wednesday.
II took him to the bank early in
the morning." he asserted, "and went
right back to the garage of the Oak
| land Motor Sales Company, which
Mr.. Smith owned"
Mr. Vredenburgh, at the Office Of
tha trtta ana ~ T1ro
and Orange street, told an Evening
Star reporter today that he could
make no more definite statement in
regard to the shortage than had al
ready been done. 1t is said, how
ever than it will run over 100000
| 100000 more than was at first esti-
| mated.
win Give Statement Later.
so far we don't know anything
more definite than that there are not
assets enough to cover the liabilities.''
Mr.. Vredenblrgh continued "As
soon as we can. we shall make out a
statement as to Just what the short
age is
Have you found that Smith mis-
appropriated the missing funds?" ne
| was asked.
I'VE don't know If he did or not.
A rumor that had gained strength
among the depositors Is that one OF
the directors of the bank had with
drawn more than $4,000 from the
bank on Wednesday. the day before
the crash came This was later drawn
to Mr.. Vredenburgh's attention.
is 1t true that one of the directors
withdrew his account amounting to
$4,000 two days ago." he was asked.
Mr. Yredenburgh, who was at
| lunch at the time, expressed surprise
| when he heard the story. He prom
Used to look II up when he returned
to the bank. Later, over the tele-