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RECEIVER IS NAMED FOR PYNCHON & CO. Irving Trust Co. Appointed After $40,000,000 Firm Is Closed by Exchange. By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, April 25-The Irving Trust Co. today took charge of the atfairs of Pynchon & Co., suspended Stock Exchange house, after appointment as receiver by the Federal Court. Definite information as to the status of the business was not yet available, but it was indicated that the unofficial estimates of the firm's loans of $38,000,000 to $40,000,000 was approximately correct. It was not possible to obtain an estimate of the assets, but more detailed information may be available on Monday after auditors have proceeded further with their work. Will Close Branches. The branch offices of the firm will be closed as early as possible and it is expected that about half of the 275 employes will be dismissed. An air of restrained orderliness was apparent at the firm's main offices today. The customers' room and the corridors contained only the usual number of people. As the firm was suspended late in the trading session yesterday, it was considered unusual that a large number of its customers did not appear today to inquire about their accounts. Has Office in Europe. Pynchon & Co. was one of the principal wire houses of the United States and did an extensive business in the grain and cotton markets. both in England and in the United States. and in the commodity markets generally. The firm also participated in financing syndicates and in the underwriting of demestic and foreign bond issues. Its offices are located in New York, London, Paris, Liverpool, Chicago, Milwaukee and Battle Creek. Mich. Offices in Manchester, England. and Berlin, Germany, were recently discontinued. Various of the 22 partners of the firm held memberships on the Stock Exchange, Curb Exchange, Cotton Exchange, Produce Exchange, Cocoa Exchange, Coffee and Sugar Exchange, Rubber Exchange, New York Hide and Skin Exchange, National Raw Silk Exchange, Chicago Stock Exchange, Chicage Board of Trade, Winnipeg Grain Exchange, Liverpol Corn Trade Association and the Liverpool Cotton Exchange. Other Suspensions Fellow. Soon after the suspension from the Stock Exchange in New York the firm was suspended from the Curb Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade and various other exchanges in which it held memberships. Wall Street took the news with disbelief, because the company, despite its known difficulties, was regarded as one of the most strongly intrenched in the Street and backed by practically unlimited banking resources. Recent heavy declines in stocks and bonds in which the firm was actively interested, and which were presumably held by banks as collateral for $38,000,000 or more in loans and credits, appeared to be the immediate cause of the difficulties, although it is understood that the firm also had recourse to banking assistance last year Some of the stocks and bonds in which the firm was prominently interested were Fox Film, General Theater Equipment, Utilities Power & Light, and some foreign bond issues. These securities have been sharply depressed in recent sessions on the Stock Exchange. Commodity Weakness Hurts. It was presumed that the weakness which has been prevailing for more than a year in the commodity markets, especially in the cotton and wheat markets, was an important factor in the background to the suspension, which led late yesterday afternoon to the filing in Federal courts of an involuntary petition in bankruptcy by small creditors. The bankruptcy complaint named the 22 members of the firm as individual defendants and was filed by Joseph Uniacke. attorney. The petitioners were Merkle & Elbert, claiming $2,103; W. H. Miles, Inc., $840, and the Despatch Printery and Bindery, $900. The petition stated that the defendants owe more than $1,000 and are unable to meet obligations, and that on March 1, while insolvent. they paid $16,666.66 to the Trinity Building Corporation without regard to the rights of other creditors. The partners in the firm are George M. Pynchon, Benjamin G. Lathrop, C. Bucknam, James L. Martin, H. Nicholas Edwards. Jack C. Sturtevant, Curtis A. McWhinney, William F. Ingold, James W. Sims, George M. Pynchon, jr., N. H. Ferguson, E. T. Paul, W. E. Reis, Leo T. Molly, W. Stapley Wenham, Harlem Burr Eldred, Wilbur F. MeWhinney, Richard A. Aishton, Frederick Harry Woods, John N. Helmke, Jr., William Henry Colvin, jr., and Preston Lockwood. The Stock Exchange membership of the firm was held by Wilbur F. McWhinney. Silence Greets Announcement. In the absence of Richard Whitney, president of the Stock Exchange, the announcement of the suspension was read from the rostrum of the institution at 2:22 p.m. by Allen L. Lindley, vice president. The membership of the exchange on the floor met the announcement in the customary deep silence which always follows the dramatic ringing of the big electric gong in the midst of trading. Immediately after the announcement business was resumed and prices held firmly under short covering which came into the market Although the trading floor met the announcement calmly, considerable disquiet was aroused in Wall Street over the suspension, which was regarded as overshadowing even the large Prince & Whitely failure of last year. Bankers stated, however, that no alarm need be felt and that it had been because of the sharp declines of individual issues in which the firm was interested that the action by the Stock Exchange had to be taken. It was pointed out that the amusement and public utility stocks in which the firm has been interested have been unusually weak recently and have declined far below their highs for the year It was also indicated that foreign bond issues in which the firm had an interest have been swept downward in the bond market recently. Through its London connections the firm is reported to have been interested in Brazilian issues and other South American securities. The Chase National Bank is one of the banking institutions which has advanced loans to Pynchon & Co., it was stated yesterday by Winthrop W. Aldrich, president of the bank, AVIATION GROUP HONORS
