The Washington times., 1914-01-12

meet at o'clock this afternoon with
representatives of the Bankers Asso-
citation, the Chamber OF Commerce, and
the Board of Trade at the Commercial
National Bank.
The meeting Is for the purpose Of
rounding into final shape the arguments
to be presented for the selection Of
washington as the location for a region
al reserve bank.
The National Metropolitan Bank today
started its second century OF life Emid
the congratulations of bankers, brokers.
business men, and other friends Of the
institution upon the centennial celebra-
ton. All day the officers Of the banks
were busy receiving callers and their fe-
licitations. The banking room was a
mass Of flowers.
The centennial celebration resulted In
bringing to light and to the bank many
relics OF past days. In President George
w. Whites Office was displayed the old
flint lock Of French manufacture that
the now famous "Mrs. Sweeney" sed
to intfmidate the British soldiers wnen
they attempted to set FIRE to the bank
in 1914. Then an old iron key weighing
about pound, the key to the old bank 8
book vault, was brought down for ex-
hibition purposes. Another friend
brought In q passbook OF date OF 1858.
There were displayed also the big scales
formerly used to weigh gold and silver.
They were made in Boston in JSOe, and
have been used to the present time.
The strength of Potomac consolidated
SIS was the only feature of today's ses-
sion Of the local stock exchange. A
total Of Sl1.0Oo of these bonds sold at
par. Two small lots Of Railway COM
mon sold at 50, and five shares Of the
preferred at the same price, A quota
ton lot of Washington Gas sold at S37s,
and two fractional lots at 81. Seven
shares said Of & national ssSan saysnss and Trust
were six shares OF Capital Traction at
ll4lz and i've shares Of Mergenthaler at
A2E.
In bank clearings for the year 1913
Washington showed a gain as COM
pared with the previous year, while
the whole country showed a, loss. WASH
ington BANK clearings were 20 per cent
greater In 1913 than they were in 1872
Outside Of New York city the gain was
L9 per cent. The metropolis showed a
loss Of 81 per cent bringing down the
total for the country to a loss Of IT
per cent As compared with neighboring
cities, Washingtons increase of % per
cen+ stands as agaist an increase OF IL
per cent in Baltimore and a loss Of Is
per cent in Richmond.
According to New York dispatch the
suit OF the bankrupt architectural cor
poration Of r. N. Andrews & Co, ar
chitects for the proposed new Arlington
man du Pont for $50, 40 has been settled
for 500 O00 and the settlement confirmed
by the Federal district court in New
York. or this amount Charles p. Taft
- reported to have agreed to accept
So as settlement Of his claim AGAINST
the architectural firm in connection with
an assignment to him OF 10000 of the
Both General du Pont and Mr.. Taft
Is also released from liability in con-
nection with his guarantee of claims
by the Title Guarantee and Trust Com
pany and the Metropolitan Life Insur-
ance Company.
claim against General du Pont- Mr.. Taft
are prominently connected with the new
Arhngton Hotel Company. The legal
tangle arose over the financing of the
new Equitable building in New York.
The prospect for a resumption of
operations on the Arlington Hotel are
now bright according to Frederick r
Chaplin, attorney for the COMPANY Fol
lowing the sale at public auction OF the
site Of the proposed SS,60l00O structure
which will take place January o. a re-
organized company Is expected to be
formed for the purpose Of erecting a
hotel to cost about i2,0O.0O0.
Pans for this structure have already
been drawn and approved by a number
OF the men interested IN the project.
The plans drawn by the Andrews COM
pany have been abandoned.
The auction sale Is for the purpose
Of liquidating the loan OF SS0o,00 made
by the Equitable Life Assurance Society
to the Arlington Hotel Comrany.
Frank p. Reside was elected to the
board of the District Title Insurance
Company, at the annual meeting today.
Charles A. Douglas and E. Quincy
Smith retired. There were no new ad-
ditions to the board nf the Washing
ton Title Insurance Company, which