New-York tribune., 1922-11-15
w as ser I'M aims
Failure Follows
Broker
Bankruptcy Petition Filed
by Creditors of Firm One
Hour Before Funeral of
Slain Younger Member
Exchange Reports Crash
Liabilities Set at $3.50, 900
and Assets at $500, 600;
e. H. Childs Is Receiver

Announcement was made from the
rostrum Of the Stock Exchange shortly
after / o'clock yesterday that Wasser-
, mann Brothers had failed. An hour
later was held the funeral Of Jesse A.
Wassermann, the thirty -three-year-o
member of the brokerage firm. who
died Monday from self-inficted bull
let wound in the head.
Although Mr.. Wassermann had indi-
Gated that his decision to commit sui
eide had been caused partly by fnan-
] cial worries, the fact that the firm
was on the verge of bankruptcy was a
surprise to many in Wall Street. That
the untimely death OF the junior part
ner had hastened the firms collapse
was shown by attempts of customers in
the morning to withdraw their ac-
counts. These efforts were finally
/ frustrated by the bankruptcy proceed
lngs and haste on the part of the
Stock Exchange to ascertain the firms
condition.
Following an involuntary petition in
bankruptcy filed on the complaint of
three creditors Judge A. N. Hand ap-
pointed Edward H. Ghiids receiver and
fixed his bond at $25 900. The petition
asking the appointment of a receiver
estimated the unsecured liabilities at
$750,000, with availabis assets to ffisaf.
these claims Of 100000. There is also
a large amount of stock pledged with
various banks as collateral for loans.
the petition alleged.
Believe Failure Not Bad
Robert 2. Lewis, of az Broadway ST.
sfofney for the receiver and the peti-
tioning creditors, said that from a SUI
perflclal examination of the bankrupt
firms books the failure was not a had
one and that creditors would receive a
substantial portion of their claims. He
said the firm was obligated to banks
lnthe amount approximately of $500, 900
for which it held securities valued. at
present market prices in excess of
$1,000 900.
Unsecured debts, Mr.. Lewis asserted.
would probably total $3.50, 900 against
which are assets of about $780, 900. ex
elusive OF the securities in the posses
sion of banks. He said that from the
coadition of the assets and the fact
that the firm had $160,00o in stock GER
tlheates IN its strong box, in addition
to the securities held by the banks,
there was no evidence that any mem
Der had been guilty of bucketing Gus
toners orders.
Mr.. Lewis said it was the opinion of
those who have thus far examined the
books Of Wassermann Bros. that the
failure was due to falling off in GUS
tomers accounts, continuation of
heavy overhead expenses and the ex-
pensive manner in which the dead
broker had lived. Mr.. Lewis said She
principal creditor he represented was
Isaac Speigelberg, to whom the firm
owed $4,000 on trading account The
other petitioning creditors were War
rem Auerbach, with a claim of $50 for
brokerage commissions and Nicholas
Ayres & Co. claiming s27 as brokers'
commissions.
We do not yet know" said Mr.. Lewis,
"how much stock the firm holds in it's
safe deposit vault at 20 Broad Street.
We will get to that later, This vault
holds large amount of stock used In
the accounts of large traders who do
not trade actively. 1t will probably
SUM up to large figure. This is not a
bad failure and no one involved is go
ing to get hurt very much.n
Mr.. Lewis said the firms books
showed that call loans had been OBJ
tanned from the National Park Bank,
irving National Bank, Equitable Trust
Company, Chatham and Phenix Ma
tionai Bank and the Fidelity-Inter-
national Trust Company. These banks.
ne said, were amply secured by a safe
(Continued on pa1e fa,iy,