Omaha daily bee., 1921-05-29
EH CZA1HDGE, 6Z>AIP 6AAX PRESIDENT R1lE
.AazA/ IN HIS AL/7D WEERRLLARyH CCLlN7RN
AMlE 2CZ/CE SENRcH MS E9NE0 70
LOCT7E HI>h

| idealist, business man and philan-
thropist-to step out self-confessed
failure?
This is the only message Claridgc
left to his wife:
My Dear Wife:
Do not forgive ME for being failure
am now a failure as man. But I will
come back. .-A
When news of Claridge's dis
appearance spread through Blair it
was almost unbelievable and shock
ing, people refused to think such
could happen, their unbounded faith
in the bank and in Mr.. Claridge
would not permit them to grasp real
ity, hundreds of persons refused to
accept rumors as truth until they
wended their way to the bank and
there found the doors closed by the
state bank examining board.
Kisses Wife Goodbye.
Mr.. Claridge's disappearance was
not spectacular. As if in the course
of his daily routine he kissed his wife
goodbye, stepped in his Stutz speed
ster and left.
Speculation in land by Mr..
Claridgc is said to have led to the
banks failure.
Friendship Is Blamed.
Had Claridge forced payment of
much of the farmers paper he held
as mortgages on their land, the in
stitution would have remained intact,
it is said.
But Erred was a good fellow and
didn't have bankers heart"
He chose to lose his fortune rather
than force number OF farmers into
bankruptcy during the money de-
preston.
Kept Faith in Him.
Even with the wrecking of the
bank, intimate friends of Mr.. Clar-
idge kept their faith in him. To-
gether they held an impromptu meet
ing and voted resolutions asking
him to return "and to take his place
among his friends to the end that
| they together may reorganize toward
placing him on his feet again
Farmers offered to sell their grain,
mortgage their farms or sell their
| Liberty bonds to help Claridge out
of the rut of failure. The entire COM
munity rather felt sympathy for him
than reproach and resentment.
With Claridge's disappearance his
wife, Mrs. Mae Claridge; Mrs. F. M.
Castetter, widow of the founder of
the bank; Lucien and Clarence Haller
and their two sisters, all relatives of
the deceased A. Castetter, lost their
holdings in the bank.
More pathetic is the case of an in
valid daughter of the late M. M.
Castetter.
Throughout her life OF 40 years she
has watched the sun rise and set in
the heavens from a wheeling chair.
Patrimony Vanishes.
Her patrimony also is said to have
vanished in the crash, though her
future was amply provided for by
her father who made his will in such
a way that nothing but the banks
failure could rob her OF the loving
care and attention he wanted her to
have during her life.
| But this, too, is said to have been
swept away in the crash.
And today, Fred Claridge is being
hunted tlIoughout the country as a
fugitive. Gus Hyers, state sheriff,
holds warrant for. his arrest. charg-
ing violation of the state banking
laws.
| A reward of $500 is offered for his
apprehension.
Will he return as he promised in
the note to his wife?
So it is that:
Glory is like a circle in the water
| Which never ceaseth to enlarge itself.
Till by broad spreading, It disperseth to
naught.
| Shakespeare.
Threatens Suicide.
Strange is the case of Claude S.