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The Alphin-Lake Failure. The failure of the Alphin-Lake Cotton company, of Little Rock and El Dorado, which caused the Ban's of Lit. tle Rock to suspend payment, owing to the firm's paper held by the bank, has been the topic of general interest among business men over the State since the failure was announced. The actual liabilities 01 the cotton company will not be known until a thorough investigation of the affairs are made. Mr. Lake, it is said, has admitted that the failure was due to cotton speculation. The books of me El Dorado Compress Company, which, it is alleged, issued the supposed fraudulent receipts upon which the Bank of Little Rock loaned its funds. and of which E. H. Lake is president, are said to be missing. John Torrentine, the shipping clerk of the compress, who is alleged to have signed the receipts as shipping clerk, is said to have left El Dorado ten days before the failure and his whereabouts are unknown. There is much sympathy expressed for J. S. Alphin, the senior member of the firm. who, it is believed, knew nothing of the condition of affairs until the crash came. Mr. Lake was the active manager of the Alphin-Lake company, Mr. Alphin being engaged in other business, and gave the cotton firm but little attention. He stands high with his neighbors, and his honesty is unquestioned. The bills of lading of the Iron Mountain issued on the compress receipts, were signed by an agent in Little Rock, and those of the Arkansas Southern, aggregating $66,000, were signed at El Dorado. Mr. Lake says his losses will not reach half a million and says at the proper time the books of his firm will show the actual losses. Mr. Lake is a man about 27 years of age, and removed to El Dorado from Greenville, Miss., in 1897, and engaged in the business of buying cotton. In 1899 he formed a partnership with Mr. Alphin and continued in the cotton business. In the fall of 1901 he removed to Little Rock, and the Alphin-Lake Cotton company was incorporated. In 1899 Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Lake, his parents, also removed to El Dorado. In this year the Lakes, father, mother and son, organized the Union Dry Goods company at El Dorado, which business proved successful. The El Dorado Compress company was incorporated in 1899, Mr. Lake being president. Mr. Lake is married and the father of two children. He owns elegant homes, both in Little Rock and El Dorado. Attorneys for the railroads and banks concerned will proceed through the courts to protect their clients, as far as possible. The Little Rock Trust company, which temporarily ceased payment to protect its depositors, has resumed business. Senator-elect James P. Clark has been appointed receiver of the Bank of Little Rock.
