Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1924-01-30
ANALYSIS OF
RESOURCES OF
PEOPLES BANK
Dubious Loans, Thefts
Leave Little Assets
.What Became Of the Money!"

"What Became Of the Money!"
What became of all the money in
the Peoples State Bank?" Since the
conviction of the two principal Off
Gals for defalcations of sums the to-
tai of which would not nearly cover
/ the shortage, local people have natur-
ally been asking this question.
4 After making a scrutiny of our files
and the data on file in the case the
Herald will endeavOr to answer the
momentous question.
Bank Owes $315,OOO.
/ According to the report of the spec
| ial administrator, Chas. Brown, the
bank owes approximately $315,OOO.
/ The amount is the sum total of 644
claims.
/ Notes Held Aggregate $25S,OOO.
/ In the assets column we find notes
aggregating $258,000. Notes aggre-
j eating $164,000 are held by Milwau-
kee banks as security for loan OF
! 100000 made by them to the Peo-
! pies State Bank. $4,000 in notes is
held by Mr. Brown for the defunct
bank! The sum total plus judgments
and real estate owned OF dubious
value represents the assets of the
! bank. r.
$4,000 Totally UnaccOunted For.
The difference between $315,000 and
| $258, 900 is $4,000. This huge sum
does not represent the admitted total
of defalcations but without question
the money is gone and apparently
without question also it was taken.
The sum includes $1,000 worth of
bonds, missing, and for which claims
have been filed.
Pugh's Deficits $4,000.
The Pugh account at the bank
stands at $4,000 overdrawn. This
| amount represents the Pugh detalca-
lions. In addition to this the bank
holds $4,000 in Pugh notes, worth
| less, but counted as an asset. The
sum Pugh probably took in this man
ner and not counting forgeries prob
ably totals $4,000.
Clark, Account $4,000 OverdraWn.
The Clark account stands at $780,
| 900 overdrawn with a note of $4,000.
Add the Pugh $4,000 to the Clark
1 $50 700 and the total is $45, 900. Add
! to that $1,000 in missing bonds and
the total ie $4,000. This is about the
same as the sum mentioned in para
graph five ($57,OOO) and represents
|
will be specified in. the next para
! graph.
FOrgeries of Over $4,000.
The forgeries charged to Pugh are
six in number They total $5,197,83
| The forgeries charged to Clark are
two in number. They total 1896.
These notes, the signatures of which
are denied by the purported signers,
| in, tho of
/ bank assets held by Mr.. Brown.
'AsSumed' is Right.
It is assumed that the Milwaukee
banks holding $164,OOO in notes have
/ the cream of the banks paper. 1t is
also assumed that of the $4,000 notes
! held by Mr.. Brown many are worth
less or of little value.
Bank Paper of Dubious Value.
Just how much can <be realized on
/ the banks paper is a question To
date Mr.. Brown has collected $1,000
on the $4,000 in notes held by him.
The Milwaukee banks have also col
/ Iected part on the notes held by
them and the bank here has been
given credit for the sums collected.
/ When one begins to regard the $57,-
/ 600 as absolutely gone and "a large
/ part of the paper as frozen credits
| or worthless notes held against peo-
pie who cannot or will not pay one
| begins to see what has become of the
reputed assets of the Peoples State
Bank.
Summing the Failure Up.
| To sum up: Liabilities, $315,OOO.
| Assets. S258,OO0 in good, slow, worth
less and forged notes. $4,000 miss
| ing.
No Money "Stacked" Away.
There is not scintilla of evidence
we can find that money has been
stacked" away In one case it may
have been indirectly. In the other
there is no such indication. When
/ the bank broke there was only $1,7OO
cash on hand. A small sum. Ger
! tainly not enough to make grand
getaway. The boys borrowed money
| for their flight while 80 miles from
Lancaster.
How the Stolen Money Went.
Just what Pugh and Clark did with
| the money they know best. AS Kopp
said at the trial sit went for all things
men spend money for" Some OF II
went in speculation, much OF it went
| for extravaganza. Some OF 1t went
riotously.
Neither one of the men, to our
knowledge, has offered public ex-
PLANTATION of his acts or said he was
sorry. Considerable "guff" was spread
about at the trial last week over the
defendant. He was painted as being
| the victim of circumstances. He was;