Abilene weekly reflector. [volume], September 15, 1910, Page 1, Image 1

About Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935

Image provided by: Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, KS

                
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OFFICIAL PAPEE OF DICKINSON COUNTY-TWELVE PAGES
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VOL XXVII
I. S. HaUam
Away in
Tragedy wa atided to the deplora
ble Flack incident Sunday night when
at 6 o'clock I. 8. HallamV president
of tho'bank, died in the home built
by the defaulting cashier. : He had
never recovered f ull , ;consciousne7S
after hi. collapse there Friday even-
':' Ing. The body will be taken
to ' the Hallam home on North
Buckeye. The funeral services will
be held Wednesday, Rev. Dr. Blayney
officiating. v
' e . e i .
Isaac Simmons Hallam was born
In Ritchie county, West Virginia,
Sept. 8, 184S. He came of good Irish
stock and was the youngest of four
brothers. One survives him, John B.
Hallam of Cairo, W. Va., the only one.
living. He was married to Frances
S. McGregor In 1865, moved t Kan
sas, February, 1871; home;:teaded In
Hayes township, moved to Abilene In
188, went Into the lumber business;
with, F. L. Parker and later bought
him out Mrs. Hallam and their only
child, Mrs. Lulu Hallam Parker of
Kansas City survive him. Mr. Hal
lam enlisted in Company C, 1st Regi
ment, W. V., VoL cavalry on Feb.,
20, 1864, and was discharged June
12, 1866, at the close of the war at
Parkersburg, W. Va. He Joined Abi
lene Post No. 63 G. A. R. on April
13, 1885. He served with Averelll;
cavalry In West Virginia and in the
Shenandoah Valley.
Mr. Hallam was a member of the
Ma:onic orders add was an-early
member of the lodges bore.
": .' ' !
Of Mr. Hallam's life it is not nec
essary to inform the people of this
county. For 40 years he has been'
known and respected. His wV a
gentle heart and, never did anklud
or harsh word come from him. Man
or woman or child, friend or foe, re
ceived a smile and ft cheering word.
He was generous and always loyal
to Abilene and to Kansas. As age
came to him his life moved in quieter
waters but always it was the life of
a courteous gentleman of the old
school with charity for all and mal
ace toward none He loved the bright
side and his eyes twinkled with, the
sunrfcine that lay behind them. Last
week, the severest period of all his
life, be met his friends with a smile
and a handshake. On his last trip
downtown he thanked the editors for
their good words concerning him and
expressed his pleasure that he was
able to prevent any loss to the depo
sitofj of the bank, whose welfare
seemed more to hlra than his own.
His'beloved daughter, who had been
his comfort and Joy since babyhood.
accomrVuried him and none could
lee tbem without admiring the fine
spirit shown by the tender father.
't Be a
Don
Doa't grumble about the drawbacks of your com
munity or the misfortunes of life but save your
earnings and you will always see the bright side
it will make you happy and independent.
Anthis bank offers you a splendid plan for sav
ing. Open an account with us and add a portion
of your income each week and you 11 be a happy
man all your life.
A time certificate will draw 3 per cent interest.
nijllcno
Abilene,
Bml kfetarte Jfattfs, Bmit
r ? Kortrs or Fe4
Passed
Flack Home
.
- L B. Hallam
From Mondays Dally !
I. 8. Hallam. president of the bank,
after three days of sleepless, ' al
most foodleas days and nights, wor
rying over the affairs of the bank,
collapsed last, night. With Flack's
aunt and hl daughter, Mrs. J. w.
Parker ot Kansas City, who has been
here this week with him, be-went to
Flack's deserted house to obtain some
articles the aunt had left there when
vtaltine. Suddenly he fell uncon
scious. All night physicians worked
over him and this afternoon he was
vet in critical condition. Acute In
digestion is given as the cause of his
illness." . -
,. '
From Tuesday' Dailvl
Tiormtv Bank Commissioner Wat
son who returned from Topeka this
morning. If In charge ot. the Ban,
"it not iMiii best to close the
bank except for the funeral," said
h " there Is no neoe"slty for de
laying the "settlement of the bank's
affairs. There Is no new development
that adds to the amount of the losses.
We find many tangles In the deposits
nrnnv debtors have paid money
on their accounts that was never
credited. Ib most castes they are
.m. tn atabli:ib. the fact of pay
ment. I am Inclined to think that
.i.. that the examiner delayed
the last examination four days at
Flack's request Is a mistake ir u
n.nrred it was inexcusable, but
Flack's good nature and his ability
at making excuse might fool any
body. The assistant cashier knew
nothing of It." "
ti ril the bank and ts work-
11V ILUJ.. "
ing on iJ condition. The directors
planned last night to close until af
ter the funeral. The plan is to set
tle as many claims as possiDie oy
turning over good paper, then to pay
r
national Oarilc
Kansa
r 41re a mtt taveetaest
trtfi te taU aa4 ii fall
Grumble
.ABILENE, KANSAS, THURSDAY
the remainder with the funds re
ceived from, the directors' pledge
and the currency on band.
This morning Bank Commissioner
Dolley sent to every depositor of the
bank a letter. In It be says:.
" "To the depositors of the Abilene
State Bank: Through the defalca
tion of John A. Flack, late cashier
at the above bank.; this Institution
Is laboring under much embarrass
ment. The directors of this bank
are legally liable to tbe depositors
for any balances due them and bare
cheerfully declared their Intention
to fully protect every depositor, for
which" they are entitled to much
credit, and have compiled thus far
with all requirements made of them
by the banking department in this
direction. As to whether or not wey
will be able In the very near future
Will ntj BU1V IU luo
to pay all depositors depend largely
upon the depoB.tai themselves. ISO
v . an h.nv
nuin tJ i dci ui iuvu vu '
In this condition afloat if the deposi
tors are inwlse enough to make a
rcnerai demand for their deposits;
such a course would mean the closing
sucn a course woum uiuu u
of the doors of the bank, the ap-(
nolntment of receiver, and the nee-
essary litigation, delay and expen
of realising on the assets of the clos
ed bank. The officers and directors
can handle the matter much more
can nanaie 109 wmier mvi 1
1 expeditiously, very much cheaper and,
Lore to the advantage of all con-
cerned as eompared with the closing
of the doors and a long drawn out
receivership. The Banking . depart
ment will do everything possible for
til 1001 " IBUmumu usfimwi.. .
t is doing , in this case and I urg- the stock had not been transferred
ently advise htat you get toBether on the book, and that he had never
and make an agreement by which resigned on record a. director. The
the officers of this bank will he givehank comml eioner Is of the opln on
an . opportunity to work its affair.
ri,. nttira
out In
J!.. IhL th. banking department!
a personal written guaranty, personam
ly becoming responsible to pay every
depositor of the bank in full. I win
be pleated to have any of the depoH-
iii -.11- tW0
hn nioamrl trt have any oi tne aeposvn
iJ
tors who are Interestes I
the banking department when he Is
there or correspond with me at To
peka. Knowing full well that my
advice in this communication is for
your very best interest and trusting
.r verv best Interest and trusting was taken by Flack but two minus ceIpti ttr9 gone, there is no crean
a will comply with my re-1 do not bold much when all the cloth- on , mortgage note and, lawyers
i', .I L trulv vours. J. N.'lng has been put In. Abilene folkslwhom he consulted told him that be
quest, I am, very truly yours, i.
Dolley, Bank Comm ssloner.
With Mr. Dolley's letter goes a
copy of the contract signed by E. H.
Forney, J. L. Kruger and I. S. Hal
lam, directors, and given to Bank
Commissioner Dolley. It say-1:
'In consideration of tbe premises
their executors and administrators!
to said party oi me wjcuuu
tru-tee for the depositors of said banK
that they will personally, Jointly and
severally, and that their several ex
ecutors and administrator, shall pro
vide for the payment In full of all
persons having deposits In said bank,
and that In th event that the assets
of said bank shall prove Insufficient
they will make good the deficiency."
Than communication have had a
marked effect on the feeling of the
depositor and today ha been quiet
at the bank. Deputy Bank Commis
sioner Watson ts In charge. "It will
take 10 days to check up everything,"
said he.
Boiled down after th deputy bank
commissioner ha been working on
the book for seven day, th losses
(bow up thus:
Flack' horUg to the bank 160.000
Flack' hortag to eUt.' 5.000
Flack' bortag to individ
uals and associations.
Total
1.000
Troperty turned ever to tbe
director
Bond to the bank.,
..,!.. I."09
41 09C
. ....$10 000
Bond to estate. .
Total .........
Net bortg. ..
Th tavesUgfttioft ows thrt fc
begaa the teIlng sboat three yr
ago d that k kept It P antll but
week Friday whe b w called be
fore tbe directors and asked to -plaia.
Thea be told tbem be woali
bey their atock IT tier wished and
nald pay cask oa Monday.
I th lnvt!gat!oa It was sbowa
liat aa lata a two Bjoeth l
drew 15. CO frowt the baak a
tiirgpj It to kit ceoat,t by aot j
In consideration oi ""'"'."'"' i00tai prominence. Fifty were er
said parties of the first part Jo.ntly I ned at tlme and flack at
nd aeverallr bind themselves and. ., ..... fhe di.
- MORNING, SbPTEMBER .15,
f ., "
' ; V ,x- .-
U
;.:
I ' "'! ' sfc aaiksaBs-rt'
si
J. A. Flack . '
vet no note appeared on the boobs
I . , ,
oi In the records. He also drew
j J 7 " .
the amount. The draft was pro-
tested and he never made any other
record of it. ,
'.-''
To keen uo the deposits he paid
- -
Interest to everyone who was willing
to leave a large sum with him. He
would always say. "Now this is the
onl account on.whlch I am doing this
--do not say anything about it." As
high as six per cent watt paid on
,
twenty to thirty thousand dollars. He
Would pay the Interest In wrrwy
ana maae r vu,
Last summer Flack bought out
D Matteson's Interest in the bank
He was a director. It Is found that
u . y
law. This may not prove so in court
but It Is an incident In Flack's meth-
u.,
D. Hunter, president of the
Carlton State bank who resides hfire,
anwu oiam ;
tKFlack.homas'
no.000. He getlall
the
furnfture, plarl, library, j'jed
room furniture, table ware and a
great deal, of beautiful napery such
as women aamire. cumo ui vu.o
wniwn admire, come ui u
recall when the house was built three
"Of course we do not
need It," Flack would say, "being
only the two of us, but we line to
have a good place to entertain our
friends." And they did It. First
came a seriri of dinners that Includ
ed every man in town of business ov
wg caed on for a
h F,ack entertalnea
, ,eg of IuncheorB
until everybody !n town was familiar
wiih he beautiful home. Tdey ioi
lowed it up with little dinners and
small gatherings.
- -
It ;s curlou that whll- Flack was
always rcody to help n any good
ciune si.d his contrlbutls is wore lib
eral be never had any Inclination to
a niacifsaCrod
lead in any movemeni.
l" ' . " h. thM, ..
and watch people go by rawer insn
-i. h nnreh Of Ul Dig nmn,.
a frock coat and look as If he enjoyed
seeing th other busy. Despite
record there .re p.enty I
tbe town, who remember his Pi""",
smile and y they hope be win not,
b. u,ht bau- be was ucn
"good fellow.'
,nl.r de-
ftcrlbln, Flftck ftnd with hi. portrait
were sent to pone
$7,,O0oLr th. united States. Canad. .. d(
Mexico. ofmer. char,, of nbsxl.m.nt would
will capture him. The "Ti
eftarg win "
Mexico or Caftftdft.
t iun that we shall get Flacft
Id DePBty Bank Commissioner Wat-
soa. -H I tt or
fcw. Will hi may be In
Ij'txlee we h.!l at least know r.
k l,: It U th opln-x.4 tl
Fla.-i 11 writ.
v, w ma effect oa
Tb trouble Baa bad "
th. otb benk. as tb. confidence of
oeposltora that tbey will get their
fall amounts aa a-uie
ber aesaoartraUoa. No Hhe Ttrsa.
.r. affected. David Matte-
h -wmM a
director ap
to t who aold li ock to
- j dcUse to eonioT kinslf
1910
WUIJVUIOU Willi. Uaun, UVUgu
there is no record of the transfer of
stock. There may be a legal action
In his case. .
J. L. Kruger, vice president of the
bank, is now its head. Speaking of
the death of Mr. Hallam who was his
partner many years be said: "it X'
a hard blow to us. Mr.-Hallam was
the bouI of honor and he was proud
of tbe confidence the town reposed
In him. He was anxious to have ev-
prv denosltor nald in full and We
shall go on and settle up things Just
as .we had planned. It will make
no difference In the bank's affaire
as his property was pledged to the
payment of any deficiency."
The bonding company which had
written a bond for Flack In one ot
the a tatts for which he was admin
istrator today sent back the premium
and wlBhed to cancel tbe bond. It
gave no reason and will have hard
work getting out of Its obligation.
'-'' !
An incident came to light today
that shows the duplicity "practiced
by Flack in the past few months. It
wru the case of A. J. Bolton of De
troit, mail carrier on the route there.
He had given a mortgage to the bank
for 11500 and had paid on It until
be had reduced it by 11.000. In the
meanwhile the mortgage had 'been
sold to D. Matteson and later to A.
T 1P.I. k mnnth 10(1 TtnltflTi Mild
the place to Harry Knox and through
C. C. Wyandt tried to get tne papers,
Flack Dut him off for several aaya
and finally drove to Bolton's in bis
touring car late at night. "I have
found." said Flack, "that you have
haon rnhlusri IlBVB MattCSOn hSS
n a jii.,ro nivo mo the
reeclpts, I will make him pay It back wn, the vault and the acting casli
and J500 more to square It." Bolton ler f. A. Wilcox, closed It Tuesday
gave Flack the receipts and two days n:ght thinking that the combination
i.- ..iv.j lottHr elened "D. I ,. in the bank. But Flac't was
Matteson. per J. P." saying -FincK
SI Sf. . J '"D
i ..mi nv vnu wpII to
WPJ, rght
,tl, . ,
of course Matteson know nothing
'( the matter or the note and hod sold
the note.
When Flack left he came to town
. Bee wnai uau dhi)itiii.
ia Ua what had hBDDened. His re
aad pald 11000 for experience. .
piark'a Velle touring car was sold
to(jay to Arthur Merrill, a young far-
mei of Garfield township, for 1?00.
Frl. Whltehalr says that he over
drew his account (112 last spring and
lew UlS HCCUUUb ...
. .ir,i h thlnklna hit lt'
mletake did not rei.V Flat k
. . ... i. pi.. I.
Va7 a luiewiBC mv . j i -
npver made any further eflovt to get
li. Later Whltehalr discovered that
I. .... ..nrrort and will Z it to the
banki though tnere Is no record of It,
Flack was treasurer for the falrAl)e Forney Had Hard Luck at Sallnft
...loiinn It had 1125 In his tanas
but it Is In the bank all right. The
fair expected to have $250 from the
bass ball rent of tbe grounds but
... . 1 . ...!.! nr.. hv ITIiirk
it naa never ueu
and ,t doubtful If it is recoverable
I 11 1 auuuuui .
R Little was today elected trea,:-
...
H.
urer of tbe association.
mnFRV IS THE CHARGE
AGAINST JOHN A. riiAl-lv
- . .
This afternoon County Attorney
M Ju,tic ,... conrt
"'".., ,ln- JoBB x. rue,,
- . , . ,
of Um 8tr.ch.
to ft oU for $$.000. B. H. Forney,
director of th. bank, swore to tbe
mplal.t
.. 4 r H.h- It wm
- brln;
Deputy Bank Commls!onr WasV
oa returned her from Topeka to
day oa basin eoneeted with th
Flack defalcation. A bow feature
wae added to tbe affair when H was
found that a aot purporting to be
signed by James Strachaa bat a emd
forgery waa presented by thejeprea-
eotative oX tbe U Salle N.tloBel Baak
,. ,,. ho U for
200 and waa Mad. tbe basis of
load from the Chicago bank to tbe
Stat. baak. Tb. director will ear
for It
-Uck -m to kav. worked bis
plan both way for H wa also found
plana both way lor n wa aiao
bat H0 o. . rt.t. bad beea
NO. 52.
I hu, minuvii nwvu MV wuiieat
I had been executed. The mortgagor
making the bank that much ahead.
The muddled state of affairs keeps
th officer at wtork and It will prob
ably he several day before the entire
tanele Is unraveled. Mr. Watson Is
a candidate for the legislature. In an
Interview In tiie Star be says: "It
I am elected I exnect to Introduce a
bill in the legislature prohibiting the
use of the loose leaf system ot book
keeping 'In tbe state banks. Since
I have been bank examiner I have
become prejudiced against the system
because.!- have recognized its imper
fection."
The ledger ' matter Is, however.
only ft small part of the Flack af
fair. One ot the directors says that
at the last examination by the bank
Inar denartment a month ago the
examiner after "completing work on
other bank's went to Flack and was
asked to put off his examination for
four days which he accommodatingly
did. Then he found the books bal
anced.
Professkir KeBler who came
through Chicago Tuesday thinks he
saw Flack at the board of trade
exchange but did not speak to him.
He was enough impressed to wonuer
.h. hank nan knew it. However
be will not swear to the identifica
tion. It Is conceded now that mistake was
made In allowing him to get away.
sheriff Young auacneu ii
nf nrooerty on a farm near Enter
prise that Flack rented.
An Incident of the trouble for two
days has been a locked safe In which
tin nnn In currency. The safe
i UIB If -
nA.riav u tv..iifi not be opened. Ft
the only person naving u
a..--, ftW
L,rU tried It and to UM black-
,mUh. worked .'With chisels' and dy
namlte and finally loosened the lock
so that It was opened tJilay.
,-
NotbW hss yet besn heard from
h fiosina- financier, ilrs. Fla'-k
the fleeing - " "
wrote one port card but .t as mailed
on a trsIn and gave no Indication of
the. direction taken. No maierui
chance ha been made in the prevloit
estimates of the loss.
It has also developed that Flac't
was quietly paying 6 per cent InMrest
was I) men; i'wj.-d - -
- oiiv balances to some large de
I . . Annonr nn f.hA
' pc Jtors. It did not appear
. fj,.' uivi
koou, Bna the bank officers knew
nothing of It.
.. ' I "
CUT XV THK AUTO Jiiin.
Itrccntly.
Sallna, Sept. 14. With two tires
c'ut open by water pipes belonging to
mmnansr. Abe Forney, ac
companied by a party from Ab.lei'.e:
, a., .
were compelled to remain here long
..... a ..t. ITntorilH
er than they had expected. Entering
Sallna from the north, Mr. Torney
on Santa Fe turned Into some high
crass at the lde of the road to let
a farmer' buggy pas, l'lpe r
line to St John's school lay in mi
weeds and the automjb'.'o was wreca-
ed on them.
The Great Aaaoal WvUcaid Company-
Onion Central lw
TWO CERTAINTIES.
Taxes Deatli.
To bt trtpared for on.
Ton abould b. prepared for the ether.
Life Insurance 1 BoB-taxabl pay-
abl. to a eertaia aenenciBr,.
mnt aim. to be rob ted, aad la worth
on kandr cent on the dollar.
For tb beet return. Bees policy,
u... ...n, ret Inasred la th
UNION CENTRAL LIFB, Tb GREAT
ANNUAL DIVIDEND COat t-Ar, i.
Union Central 1 ifrt !
it
C.C. Wyandt, Gen Agt.
ABILKXK, KA !-
. . . rMmmmr
T. Or aa-aal Wvidemd CVT