The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-06-25
Chaflin Dry Goods Firm
Household Retail Word.
But Local Merchants See No
Ill Effects Here.
WEST WON'T SUFFER GREATLY
Topeka Bankers Say No Money
Will Be Lost Locally.
Interviews From Business Men
in the Capital City.

In the Cap1tal City.
No business failure Of recent years
has touched the merchants Of the
country more generally than that Of
the Claf1in company, although local
dry goods men are uniformly of the
opinion that it will have little per-
ceptitle effect upon the retail trade
save in the numerous cities where the
various links in the big chain have
been established. Clafiin stores are To-
Gated in Kansas City. Denver and on
westward, although the involved CHAR
acter Of the allied interests makes It
possible that some of these will not be
drawn into the receivership.
1t is agreed by Topeka dry goods
men that the amount Of western busi-
ness done by the Clafiin stores has
fallen OF in recent years although no
particular reason for this fact is CIV
en-. The Clafiin stores have been known
throughout the country for more than
half a century, and their interests
reach to every branch OF dry goods
merchandising from mill to counter.
An inquiry by the State Journal for
local sidelights upon the Clafiin failure
disclosed the intense interest felt In the
collapse of the mammoth concern by
Topeka merchants.
No Difference in Topeka.
w. w. Mills of the Mills Dry Goods
company said:
'I should Judge that the Claflin
failure will have local effect on retail
trade only in the cities where Claflin
stores are located. although Of course
it will be felt by correspondents whose
paper the Claf1ins hold. It should
not be felt in the general trade and I
Topeka But the failure IL of world
wide interest. 1t IL the greatest con-
cern Of its kind the world has ever
seen and the unraveling of its trou-
bles will be followed with intense in
terest by every man in the dry goods
business everywhere. 1t makes the
Siegel failure look insignificant.''
Claflin q Household Word.
f. II. CROSBY of the Crosby Broth
ers' company: ssClaflin has besn4 q
housen6fd word In the dry goods busi-
ness. The con,pany's interests reach
into most of the large cities of the
country and the effects Of the failure
will be felt in every branch of the
trade for the Claflins controlled mills
and jObbing houses as well as their
own retail businesses. We will have
to have further particular before we
ure may be. They had interests in st.
Louis Kansas City, Denver, / believe.
and Seattle. and in many places which
are not mentioned in the account OF
the receivership. But they did COM
paratively little business here. Our
books show that we have bought less
than usual from them this season. al
though for no especial reason. have
been in the dry goods business AZ
years and the C1aflin house has been
ing that entire time. I suppose 1t Is
60 or DorhaDS 75 wears old"
Too Easy on Credit.
D. p. Paxton of Paxton & Paxton:
1T has been the biggest dry goods
house in the history of the world and
its failure will be prOportionately far
reaching. can not determine from
reading the first report just how much
of the Clafiin interests are involved.
The Jones Dry Goods company in
Kansas City is the property of Mr..
Clafiin, personally and not, I under
stand, a part of the big organization.
They have evidently been too easy with
credits and have handled too much pa
per, but for some reason I am sure
their business in the west is less than
it once was. We have had smaller
dealings with them than formerly. But
their business covered importation,
manufacturing and jobbing as well as
wholesaling SO that the effects will not
be visible in the retail trade al0ne.'
Warren NJ. Crosby store, said: 1.-THE
failure Of the Clafiin stores will not
affect the retail trade in Topeka to
any great extent. The Warren M.
Crosby company has done little or no
business with Claf1in within the past
few years."
The manager Of the Crockett store
said: although Claflin had the big
gest dry goods house in America,
believe the effect on the retail trade
will be slight"
Little Paper in Topeka.
f. M. Bonebrake and other bank
ers in Topeka say that there was lit
tie Claflin paper in western banks.
His business dealings with banks has
usually extended over the eastern
cities and the Topeka banks have not
come in contact with the Clafiin in
terests for long time.
Not q Dollar, Says Mu1vane.
The Clafiin interests have no paper
in the Bank of Topeka. according to
John r. ,Mulvane, president of the
bank. When asked over the phone
in the bank, Mulvane replied: Not a
dollar"
President Thurston of the Farmers'
National bank, and Cashier Benson of
the German-Amerfcan State bank. both
declare that their respective banks
have had no business dealings with
Claflin.
George A. Guild, cashier of the
Central National bank:
There is no Claflin paper in this
city SO far as I know and 1 am in
clined to believe there will be but lit
tie of it even in Kansas City. We
have handled none. During recent
months the demand of rural banks
for money to handle the business Of
Kansas farmers has been too strong
to give much of an opening for mer-
camille paper of this sort at Kansas
City or anywhere in Kansas
George w. Snyder. cashier of the
Topeka State bank:
$50 far az we know there IL none
N this naner in Toneka Conditions