e22b2db4None
Click image to open full size in new tab
PEORIA, III., May 31.-The directors of the Merchants' National Bank of this city announced this evening that, owing to the serious impairment of its capital, caused by embezzlement of the funds by J. F. Hoke, the bookkeeper, the bank would be obliged to suspend payment, pending an examination by the bank examiner.
Click image to open full size in new tab
A Peoria Bank in Difficulty. PEORIA, May 31.-The directors of the Merchants' National Bank, of this city, announced this evening that, owing to the serious impairment of its capital, caused by embezzlement of funds by J. F. Hoke, book-keeper, the bank will be obliged to suspend payment pending an examination by the bank examiner. They say that sufficient examination has been made to warrant the assurance that all depositors will be paid in full without much delay. Hoke. the defaulting book-keeper, fled to Canada last week, but no discrepancy in his accounts was discovered until Saturday night. It has since been learned that his defalcations have been going on for years, and thas he has systematically robbed the bank of over $100,000 by falsifying the interest account. Hoke was a reckless speculator and gambler, and dabbled in all sorts of projects.
Click image to open full size in new tab
ADDITIONAL NEWS. BY the recent favorable action of the Court of Claims at Washington, W.P. Porter, an octogenarien of Mattoon, III., will receive a large sum of money. His greatgrandfather, W. Barrett, lost vessels and cargoes valued at $180,000 at the hands of the French spoilators in the early years of this century. In accepting the Louisiana territory the United States Government agreed to settle all claims for loss on the part of her own citizens. Barrett filed his case in 1808 and proved his case in 1830, Charles Sumner being his attorney. The original claim will be allowed with interest from 1808 at 6 per cent. and Mr. Porter's share will probably reach $75,000 THE revenue cutter Dix, Capt. Fengar, has arrived in port at Cedar Key, Fla., with the Spanish fishing smack Chlotilde, of Havana, which she captured off Onclote Key, Fla., for violating the fishing laws by fishing within three leagues of the American shore, and irregularities in her papers. The Chlotilde had 6,000 salt fish aboard. The crew consists of ten men and officers, none of whom speak English. She now lies in the harbor with a prize crew from the Dix on board. The capture has been reported to the authorities in Washington. ADVICES from Samoa of the date of May 22 state that a German man-of-war proceeded to the territory of King Tomazz, : : whom Germany upholds against King Malietoa. The British and American Consuls of Apia entered a formal protest against Germany's subversion of King Malietoa's S authority, and in response to that ruler's ; appeal for protection the American Consul ; hoisted the Samoan flag under the American flag and immediately telegraphed to President Cleveland, notifying him of his s action in establishing a protectorate over r the disputed territory. ; A WHIRLWIND of terrific severity, accom, 1 panied by thunder, lightning, rain and hail, visited Lapier, Mich., unroofing barns, twisting off signs and awnings, breaking glass and blowing down huge trees. The inhabitants were much alarmed, many t taking their children and repairing with them to the cellars for safety. Much damh age was done to property, but there was no loss of life yet reported. t HORACE MIDLEM and Mary Giddings were drowned at Bristol, Ind. They in g t company with others started out boat-riding on St. Joseph River, became separated g from the others, and, being missed, search was made for them. At last accounts Mary f Giddings' body had been found, but no trace of Midlem's. As no one saw the a accident, the cause is not known. It is I surmised, however, that the boat tipped over. THE directors of the Merchants' National . Bank, of Peoria, Ill., have announced that , owing to the serious impairment of its cape ital, caused by the embezzlement of funds el by J. F. Hoke, bookkeeper of the bank, it will be obliged to suspend payment. They say a sufficient examination has been made b to warrant the assurance that all depositors I will be paid in full without much delay. THE Swiss Federal Council, replying to h an inquiry by Spain, has stated that Don Carlos, the pretender to the Spanish throne, recently left Lucerne suddenly and went to g Austria by way of the St. Gothard Tunnel. C THE foreman and cook on Hampson's . ranch, a short distance north of Clifton, Arizona, names unknown, were killed by I Apaches a few days since. The troops at Clifton have been notified and are now in pursuit.
Click image to open full size in new tab
NEWS IN BRIEF. Ex-President Arthur is rapidly regaining his health. Mr. Charles Wilson, venerable citizen of Hillsboro, O., is dead. The decrease in the National debt during the last month was $8,828,566. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad announces a heavy cut in passenger rates. Theswindles of the Chicago lawyer, Geo H. Leonard, who has fled, are estimated at $40,000. D. L. Criekenbarger, a batchelor farmer in comfortable circumstances, hanged himself, near Dodson, O. Difficulty is encountered in engaging Indian scouts for service against the hostiles in Arizona and Sonora. Theodore Thomas was paid $5,000 for about two weeks work on the last Cincinnati Musical Festival. The soloists cost about $7,000. A fire in Finley & Grant's furniture store, Nos. 50 and 52 Barrone street, New Orleans, did damage to the extent of $10,000; fully insured. The Merchants' National Bank, of Peoria, iii., has suspended payment. The defalcations of J. F. Hoke, book-keeper, are said to be over $100,000. The General Assembly of the United Preebyterians at Hamilton, O., adopted a resolution discontinuing its connection with the Preebyterian Alliance. The total mileage of railroad in the South changed to Northern standard in the last three months (most of it last Sunday) is a trifle over thirteen thousand miles. The extensive forest fires that have raged in Nortbern Wisconsin and Miebigan during the past week or ten days have caused an inmense amount of damage to timber. Chief Engineer Eckel, of the Byracuse, N. Y., Fire Department for a quarter of a century was killed at n fire yesterday morning, being run over by a hook and ladder truck,
Click image to open full size in new tab
OTHER PEOPLE'S GREENBACKS A Fugitive From Peoria, Ill., is in Canada With $200,000, While a Nebraska Rascal Secures Only $13.000. Stole $180,000. Special to the Globe. PEORIA, Ill., June 1.-So far as examined the books of the suspended Merchants National bank show that J. Finley Hoke, late bookkeeper, and now sojourning in Canada, has succeeded in stealing $180,000 of the bank's money, and it is believed that when the examination is concluded the amount will be found to be $200,000.
Click image to open full size in new tab
WHY HE WENT TO CANADA. To Give His Employers Time to Hunt Up a Shortage of $100,000. PEORLA, III, June 2 - The doors of the Merchants' National bank were not opened Tuesday morning. The announcement by the local papers that such would be the case caused a large crowd of depositors to gather at the place and spend their time in bewailing their losses and denouncing the men responsible for the disaster. When Book keeper J. Finley Hoke was announced to have gone on a trip a week since the information was coupled with a statement that his books were all right. They had been admirably kept-so well, indeed, that a shortage of $100,000 was only discovered after a week's search. The interest account was the only one tampered with, and his raids on that fund have extended over many years Hoke is now found to have been for years a reckless speculator, and of late a frequenter of gambling saloons. A bank examiner is expected here from Washington Tuesday, and the directors hope that the depositors will be paid in full and promptly. The suspension has been adopted as a measure of caution to prevent what might be a disastrous run on the bank when Hoke's defalcation was known.
Click image to open full size in new tab
A Plain Theft of $180,000. PEORIA, III., June 1.-80 far as examined, the books of the suspended Merchant's National bank show that J. Finley Hoke, late bookkeeper, who is now sojourning in Canada, has succeeded in stealing $180,000 of the bank's money, and it is believed that when the examination is concluded the amount will be found to be $200,000. The bank officials say Hoke must simply have stolen the money from the counter and draws, and fixed his books accordingly.
Click image to open full size in new tab
THE directors of the Merchants' National Bank, of Peoria, have announced that that Institution is obliged to suspend, awaiting the action of the bank examiner. The explana- made is that the systematic peculations
Click image to open full size in new tab
So far as examined the books of the suspended Merchants' National Bank, of Peoria, Ill., show that J. Finlay Hoke, late book-keeper, and now sojoursing in Canada, has succeeded in stealing $180,000 of the bank's money, and it is believed when the exammation is concluded it will be found to be $200,000. The bank officials say that Hoke must have simply stolen money from the counter and drawers and fixed his books accordingly.
Click image to open full size in new tab
So far as examined the books of the suspended Merchants' National Bank, of Peoria, Ill., show that J. Finlay Hoke, late book-keeper, and now sojoursing in Canada, has succeeded in stealing $180,000 of the bank's money, and it is believed when the exammation is concluded it will be found to be $200,000. The bank officials say that Hok! must have simply stolen money from the counter and drawers and fixed his books accordingly.
Click image to open full size in new tab
$1,326 of the stolen money. He confessed the guilt of his accomplices soon after being caught. CITY OF MEXICO, June 1.-The destructive forest fires raging in the Omacameca forest, near the capital, have destroyed many ranches, and & large number of people were fatally burned while fighting the fires. MILWAUKEE. Wis., June 1.-A special from Waukesha says that the annual meeting of the grand lodge of Wisconsin of the Independent Order of Oddfellows opened at that place this morning under the presidency of Grand Master J. M. Craig, of Manitowoc. The most important matter which has been schedule for consideration 18 the report of Grand Representative John G. ( larke on the proceedings of the Sovereign Grand lodge in reference to the legisirtion against members of the order who are members of the Patriarchial Circle. Milwaukee is the birth place of the circle, and the mandate requiring lodges to +xpel such members under p nalty of a forfeiture of charter has been entirely abortive. The reason for this is explained to be that it is impossible to prove that a man is a member of the circle except through a brother member of that order and such evidence 1s, of course, next door to impossible to secure. Several Minnesota lodges have adopted the plan of disbanding and then reorganiz ing, leaving out in this process all who are suspected of being affiliated with the circle, and the fficacy et this modus operandi will be considered by the present convention. ELKTON, Ind., June 2.-The annual convention of the Episcopal church of the diocese of Easton opened here this morning. A report from a special committee appointed at a convocation held in December last stated that Rev. Chauncey C. Williams, of Augusta, Ga., who had been elected to the Bishoprie left vacant by the death in September last of Bishop Lay, had declined the honor, and that Rev. George Wiliiamson Smith. of Trinity College, Conn., who had also been tendered the position by the special committee, had also declined. It was, the committee added, a case of a bis hopric literally going a begging. It was decided to make the matter a special order for this evening. MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa, June 3.-The soldiers' home trustees adjourned at 1 c'clock this morning, after a two days' session. No plans for the building were agreed upon, but the board unanimously decided in favor of a single building in contradistinction to the cottage plan. The board will reconvene June 17. PEORIA, June 3.-The failure of the Merchants National bank here continues to be the absorbing topic of conversation, and how J. Finley Hooke could have succeeded in getting away with 80 much money in a short space of time, is a growing wonder. He was but hookDeper, and conse quently should have had no access to the funds. So far as the books of the bank have been run over they show that he has succeeded in taking $180,000 and the end is not yet. As the books of the bank were examined about fifteen months ago by the bank xaminer and everything was declared straight, the sum must have been absorbed since that time, which seems almost increditable, as the only way in which he could get the m oney was by deliberately stealing and then falsifying the books 80 they and the cash would tally. Hooke was generally regarded as a fast man and that WaS the only reason that he was removed from the position of book-keeper some months ago. He took his dismissal so hard that the board of directors reconsidered their action and allowed him to remain two months longer, which probably cost the board several thousand dollars. Hooke was in almost every enterprise that originated in Peoria in the last decade. He was & heavy "bull" in the wheat pit and it is a-serted gambled heavy in private houses. The statement of the bank's affairs has not yet been issued, but here 18 no doubt that everything will be paid in full. The capital was $200,000, consequently the stockholders are responsible for $400,000. NORFOLK, Va., June 3.-Confederate memorial day is being celebrated with great enthustasm. The city is filled with visiting military companies, including several Grand Army posts. DEER PARK, Md., June 3.-The President and Mrs. Cleveland arrived at 4 o'clock this
Click image to open full size in new tab
ing damage done by a recent storm. Geo. Martin was fatally injured. Father Steinman's injuries are severe, but Marshall escaped with but slight hurt. A dispatch of the 24th reported that twenty 0 the victims of the recent picnic poisoning at Pottersville, N. J., will die. The liabilities of the suspended firm of Riegel, Scott & Co., Philadelphia, are stated to be in the neighborhood of $750,000. The assets are unknown. The statement is now made that the Merchants' National Bank. of Peoria, Ill. will resume business, the Hoke defalcation having been made good by an assessment of 50 per cent. on the stock. At East St. Louis in a gambling case, on the 23d, Mayor Joyce was fined $5 for contempt 0 icourt. The Delaware state temperance convention met at Dover on the 22d. James R. Hoffecker, of Middletown, was nominated for governor, and Richard M. Cooper, of Moorton, for Congress.
Click image to open full size in new tab
the 24th, Frank Wenland, one of the inmates, was shot, probably fatally. George Martin was fatally injured by the fall of a scaffold in a church at Forest, O. on the 24th. Two other men were injured. The warehouse of the consolidated tank line, at Peoria, Ill., containing 40.000 on the house 25th, together gallons with Pekin of oil, the burned freight and of the Peoria & Railway its contents. The total loss will reach $200,000. It is now stated that the recent ice cream poisoningat Pottersville, N.J., will result in the death of twenty people. Ex-President Arthur left New York on the 24th for New London, Conn., where he will spend the hot season. He is very weak and is unable to bear any amount of fatigue. At Muskegon, Mich., on the night of the 23d, Fritz Harm, an employer of the Muskegon Brewing Company, was It run down by an engine and killed. is supposed to have been a case of suicide. He leaves a wife and two children. The boiler in the saw mill of T.R. Adams, near Atkins, Ark. exploded, on the 24th, wrecking including the building, the killing three men, proprietor, and seriously injuring two others. The statement of the liabilities of the goods firm Scott the suspended of Reigel, Philadelphia & Co., dry shows debts of theconcern to be in the neighborhood of $750,000. The assets are not known. The Merchants' National Bank, of Peoria, Ill., is preparing to resume business. The Hope defalcation has been made good by an assessment on the stock. The works of the American Forcite Powder Company, at Lake Hopatcong, N. J., were destroyed by fire and explosion. The loss will reach $100, COO. No one was hurt. A dispatch from Prague, Bohemia, states that a ferry-boat capsized while crossing the Sazawa River, throwing fifty persons into the water. The exact number of those drowned has not been ascertained, but twenty-five bodies have been recovered. Mayor Joyce, of East St. Louis, was fined for contempt of court in that city, his offense being a failure to pear as a witness in a gamblingcase. An entire family of colored people, at Paris, Mo., were seriously poisoned by drinking water in which some poisonous substance had been placed by some unknown parties. The father and mother are in a precarious condition. At Latrobe, Pa., on the night of the 22d, an old quarrel was reopened between Frank Keewan and Mac Dixon, two well-known citizens of Greenburg, in which the latter was shot dead. While resisting arrest at Detroit, Minn., on the 23d, William Kellaher, alias "Reddy," shot and killed Officer Convey. The same night he was taken from jail by a mob, banged to a tree and his body riddled with bullets. About 160 persons at Pottersville, N.J., weremade ill by eating ice cream at a church festival, some of whom will die. The doctors think that arsenic, vitriol or sulphate of zinc was in the cream, but where the poison came from has not been discovered. The large naval store of Wilson, Patterson & Co., Montreal, burned on the 22d, including a large amount of oil and tar stored in two factories. The total loss is estimated at $100,000; insurance, $40,000. At Springfield M on the 22d, the Molloy, for two complicity against in the Mrs. the Graham Emma murder, were quashed by court, but the prisoner was held to answer any new indictments which may be brought against her by the next grand jury. Some excitement was created at Albany, N.Y., on the 22d, by the announcement made by a county court judge that he had received an offer from the superintendent of the Albany penitentiary of $50 for every long term prisoner sent to that institution by him. Dispatches of the 22d report destructive floods in Silesia, Bohemia and Hungary. A number of deaths have resulted and the damage to property has been enormous. The sugar and cotton warehouse of Paul Jacobs, Hamburg, has been destroyed by fire. The loss is $250,000. the evening of the 21st, the old one N. was marks Taylor On of brewery, Albany, Y., of the burned. landIt had a capacity of about 250,000 barrels per year Loss, about $150,000; insurance, $125,000.
Click image to open full size in new tab
THE WESTERN STATES. THE trial of Finley J. Hoke, the embezzling bank official of Peoria, Ill., ended Wednesday in a verdict of guilty, the punishment being fixed at five years' imprisonment An appeal will, of course, be taken. Hoke was for years the trusted book-keeper of the Merchants' National Bank in Peoria. In May, 1886, he fled The Directors discovered that by forgery of drafts and false entries in the books he had robbed the bank of nearly $180,000, within $20,000 of the capital stock of the institution. The bank suspendea, but the deficiency was made up and business was resumed. In October Hoke was found in Montreal. The necessary papers were procured and Hoke was arrested. He opposed extradition by every legal means and tried to bribe the officers to allow him to escape. After the case had gone through all the Canadian courts an extradition warrant was issued and Hoke was started for Peoria February 1 last. LATER reports from Eckhert, Ind., where the Davis boys were lynched for abducting and brutally assaulting Miss Flannigan, say that William Kellam, father-in-law of one of the Davis boys, was lynched at the same time. It is also reported that the mob went to the house of Mrs. Emlow, the mother of the Davis boys, and dragged away Andrew Emlow, a younger son of the old woman. His body has not been found, and the lynchers will not tell what was done with him. Miss Flannigan is recovering. A DISPATCH from Corydon, Ind., states that a woman named Lynch and her daughter Mary were taken from their house by twentyfive masked men, stripped, and whipped until they fainted. Mrs. Lynch, who, it is explained, "bears a very bad reputation," was about to become a mother, and the whipping will probably cause her death. A SEVERE earthquake rocked portions of Northern California and Western Nevada early Friday morning. Fissures formed in the earth, and in some instances plaster fell from walls. The disturbance was heavy at Sacramento and Carson City, and reports are current that the hot springs are dried up.