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Heavy Failures. The Bank of California, at San Francisco, failed yesterday, shortly before the close of business hours.after having paid out $1,400,000 during the day. Its president states that it will not resume business. It officers say that its assets will be sufficient to pay all its liabilities. Stirling, Ahrens & Co., Baltimore, said to be the largest sugar importing house in the United States suspended payments yesterday. Liabilities estimated at $2,500,000.
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AUGUST 28, 1875. SATURDAY, NEWS OF THE MORNING. William C. Ralston, President of the Bank of California, went in bathing yesterday afternoon on North Beach, and when out in deep water was seized with what appeared to be a fit. A boat hastened out and brought him ashore. Every effort was made to resuscitate him, but without effect. It is supposed that he took poison and swam out to deep water to make suicide certain. Yesterday was a black day in San Francisco, but our latest dispatches say that the banks will survive the run and that the excitement is abating. The panic in San Francisco does not and will not affect the banks of Los Angeles. They are all on a sound basis and have an abundance of funds to meet any demand made upon them. The excitement in San Francisco over the death of Ralston was intense at 10 o'clock last night. The streets were thronged with people; the Bulletin and Call were denounced by all, and the military was held in readiness to preserve order. It was feared in San Francisco last night that the death of Ralston would start anew the panic and that to-day many of the banks will be compelled to close. An lquest will be held on the body of Mr Raiston to-day to determine whether he died of polson or accidental drowning. The British Minister to China has been insulted in Pekin and has telegraphed home for troops for protection. A daring attempt at train robbery was made on Thursday night on the Eastern-bound express car near Bitter Creek, Wyoming. A violent hail-storm took place yesterday near Cheyenne. An attempt to steal the English crown jewels has been frustrated. Admiral Worden gave a farewell ball at Southampton, England, last night on board his Flagship.
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Closing of the Merchants Exchange Bank-Great Excitement. San Francisco, August 27.-The Merchants Exchange Bank closed its doors this morning. The Directors have prepared the following notice for the afternoon papers: "In consequence of the excitement and disappointment in getting coin, the Directors deem it for the best interests of all not to open our doors for the present." The Secretary states that the bank has $100,000 in coin on hand. The amount liable on deposits is $800,000, but against that may be offset $400,000 in notes. The bank is perfectly solvent, the only trouble being a lack of coin. There is a run on the London & San Francisco Bank, but Manager Latham assertshis ability to meet all demands without trouble. Crowds surround the Bank of California and the suspended National Gold Bank and Trust Company, and also the savings banks.
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A Report. New York, August 27. A report is current here that the losses of Ralston and his clique in California, on mining stocks and other speculations, will reach $6,000,000. Private despatches from gentlemen in San Francisco, say that matters look better so far as the best interests of the city and State are concerned. The financial panic is tearful; the losses by the failure of the Bank of California will be heavy.
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The latest accounts from the Pa. cific coast are reassuring. It is now said that the depositors will lose nothing by the failure of the bank of California, and that the stockholders will receive fifty per cent. It is always safe, however, to make some allowance for these early assurances that nobody will receive damage from a failure. The worst cases of bankruptey ever known, when but a very small percentage was realized in the end, have had similar assurances. But there is one hopeful feature in this case; the panic in San Francisco is subsiding and the assurance comes after partial investigation One thing is certain, no general panic and consequent financial crisis is to occur and bring ivs blight upon the coun. try, The extraordinary feat of swimming across the English Channel has been accomplished. Captain Webb is the hero of this exploit. He left the British shore at Dover, and landed at Calais after having been twenty-one hours and three-quarters in the water. He was much exhausted after his trip. Very much longer distances have been made by swimmers ; but the Channel, on ac. count of the low temperature, swift currents, and rough character of its waters, was supposed to present insuperable difficulties. Exactly what good is to come of this exploit does not appear, unless it be that some other fool will be prompted to attempt a similar feat, and by this means the world will be rid of him. The next experiment will probably prove a little more, that is, that the possible is not always the probable.
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The Bank of California. Business was dragging, and even stocks were extremely languid, in New York, when the quiet of the market was broken, Friday morning, by the announcement of the failure of the Bank of California, followed by the suspension of the Merchants Exchange Bank and the National Gold Bank and Trust Company, and also the failure of the large sugar house of Stirling, Ahrens & Co., in Baltimore. For a time there Was great excitement, says the N. Y. Observer, but to day the public mind seems to be hopeful that these failures, unexpected and large though they have been, will be local in their effects. It is asserted that the panic in San Francisco is at an end, and that the excitement has been allayed, so far as the sound institutions are concerned, by the relief afforded through the tele. graph by the Treasury Department. The Death of Mr. Ralston will doubtless complicate the affairs of the Bank of California. at least to the extent of delaying a statement of its condition, for Mr. R. had full control of the institution, and perhaps few besides himself had an intimate knowledge of its operations. Information is furnished, however, from what it claimed to be a reliable source, that the liabilities will exceed fourteen millions, and placing the reliable assets at between seven and eight millions. The Bank of California was supposed to be one of the strongest institutions in the country. It had a capital of $5,000,000, and had many important branches and agencies. The President, W. C. Ralston, whose death while bathing the day after the failure of the Bank gives the painful impression of suicide, was widely known as a brilliant financier, and lived in a style that has no parallel on the Atlantic ccast. His house was a palace, and the extravagence of its appointments and management has been often portrayed. Prudent men have often said that the time of disaster would come but so shrewd and successful have been the operations and enterprises of the late President of the Bank of California, so vast his command of capital and so powerful his political influence, that many have believed that his case would form an exception to the general rule that extravagent living and continuous speculation end in ruin. The World says that the effect of the failure of the Bank of California, with the loss of 50 or 75 per cent. of its $14,000,000 of estimated liabilities, is likely to be felt in trade with the Pacific Coast for some time to come. Not enough is yet known to enable people here to estimate the disaster correctly, or to place the distribution of losses. The reliance to be placed upon the assessment of the bank's stockholders, of course depends upon who they are, and if Mr. Ralston was the largest stock. holder the value of any assessment will be much reduced. Independent of the liquidation, which California despatch-
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The Failure in San Francisco. On Thursday of last week a run was made on the Bank of California, to which it succumbed after nearly a million and a half of dollars had been paid out during the day to the clamoring crowd of depositors. The failure is the more surprising as the bank was one of discount and deposit only, not having the privilege of circulation, and did business exclusively on a gold basis. Its capital was five millions of dollars, but its reserves were understood to be of much greater amount. The bank was a state institution, organized under a law of California, and was at the very head of the fiscal institutions of the Pacific coast. Of late years it had been largely engaged in the most speculative enterprises of that region, and, under the claim of developing the resources of the Pacific coast, had locked up largely of its cash means in unproductive investments. It travelled wide from the path of legitimate banking, with the result usual to a gambling propensity, to accept great hazards in the hope of large and sudden gains. The managers of the bank, have been engaged in an infinite variety of enterprises, and became involved, directly or indirectly, in almost every industrial project of any note within its reach. Its connections were far-reaching and intricate. The famous Palace Hotel, San Francisco, an enormous structure, is among the speculative ventures of the president, he having purchased the interest in that concern of his sole partner, Senator Sharon, of Nevada. This bank was organized in July, 1864, and had at that time a capital of $2,000,000, which was increased to $5,000,000, on which sum a regular monthly dividend of one per cent. was paid. Its list of officers and stockholders included the names of many of the leading citizens of California, and its influence extended to every part of the country. Its foreign relations were unusually extensive. It had correspondents and drew directly on London, Dublin, Paris, St. Petersburg, Am sterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, Bremen, Berlin, Leipsic, Vienna, Frankfort-on the holm, Copenhagen, Christiana, Goteborg, Locarno, Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Yokohama. In addition to these the bank had agencies at Virginia City and Gold Hill, and correspondents in all the principal mining districts and interior towns of the Pacific coast. W. C. Raiston, the President, was the master spirit of the bank, one of those keen, restless "kings of business" who make their mark wherever they go. Until within a year or two he was cashier of the bank and D. O. Mills was present. At the retirement of the latter the cashier was promoted to the head of the institution. In the maguitude of its operations the bank was without a rival in the country, acting as the fiscal agent of the majority of the mining corporations of the Pacific coast, and, it is said, working many of them for the benefit of the institution. Its political power was immense, and the consultation of its officers frequently settled who should be the Mayor of San Franeisco what should be the complexion of its Board of Supervisors and of its staff of city and county officers who should be Governor of the State and who should rule in the Legislature who should go to the U. S. Senate from Nevada or Oregon, and of what character the prevailing majority in the Legislatures of those States should be. Outside of the Pacifie slope its suspension need not seriously affect the current of business. The several reckless enterprises in which the bank locked up its money will suffer, and some of them probably follow the bank into bankruptey. The President committed suieide on Friday, the day after the suspension, by drowning himself. An investigation shows that he had misappropriated over $3,000,000 of the funds of the bank. The liabilities of the bank are roughly estimated at $14,000,000, the assets not exceeding $7,000,000, the latter, of course, subject to many contingencies in collection or realization. Owing to the excited condition of affairs in San Francisco, caused by the failure of the Bank of California, several other banks suspended temporarily, but resumed business this week.
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packed with spectators. A pale face was seen at every pane of every window. Wild men were rushing in all directions, papers fluttering in their hands, and among them the inevitable bank-book. Pale women, with disordered hair and dresses, began to appear, giving the scene a little variety of color, and striv- ing vainly to reach the narrow entrance at the door of the Bank of California, besieged with crowding, struggling, obstreperous white-faced men. The scene at the bank door was so wild, eager, confused and tumultuous that it can be but imperfectly described. Policemen, in uniforms and without, were scattered about in all available places to keep the crowd in the best or- der possible under the circumstances. The great iron door was closed, and through the little narrow door in the center, like the entrance to a prison cell, the panic-stricken depositors crowded, pressing their way between serried ranks of ragged, moneyless spectators, to whom the failure of all the banks in the world would not have been a matter of the slightest conse- quence. An effort was made to keep out those having no business inside, but it was only partially successful. Those who came for deposits were largely brokers' clerks and the representatives of business men in the lower part of the city. # THE SCENE INSIDE THE BANK was even more intensely exciting than that outside. A crowd lined the coun- ters from end to end, nervously shoving checks under the noses of tellers who glanced at them, and as their only an- swer shoved over to the excited men who brought them little piles of gold or great piles and boxes of silver. Every teller had a white, scared look, and the book-keepers and the faces of the clerks seen at the distant desks, looked ghast- ly as snow-drifts in the moonlight. Now and then a bank trustee was seen flitting about in a ghostly way, disappearing in the direction of the rooms belonging to the officers. The old Chinese clerk, who must have been cotemporary with Confucius, sat on a high stool gazing wisely through his spectacles, which are large as watch crystals, at the half-crazed crowd press- ing forward for their money. Great piles of gold and silver coin glistened on shelves just beyond the reach of those so vociferously demanding it. The clink of coin fairly drowned the din that came from the thronged street through the narrow entrance. The crowd in- creased rapidly from 2 o'clock until 2:30, when there was scarcely room for them at the counters. Then the man- agement decided to stop payment, and so telegraphed to their Eastern corre- spondents. At 2:30 the little narrow iron door swung to in the faces of sever- al anxious depositors. The handsome face of Billy Duncan's clerk, bearing a look of intense disappointment, was the last seen from within through the aper- ture. An effort was made from without to push it open, but a policeman with strong arms shoved it to and drew the heavy iron bolts, forbidding further ingress. Then the crowd began beat- ing a fierce tattoo, to which the tellers and clerks, who stood still in their places, listened with a faint smile of sat- isfaction and a deep-drawn sigh of re- lief. But the mission of the great Bank of California was ended.
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of that State Gen. Ruggles and clerks, arrested on of John Gordon complaint for surrendered assault were Gordon his and tried to escape parole discharged. that and the clerks detained him and on the suit was based. The insurrection in Georgia proves to have been gotten up for political effect, and canards to fire the Democratic heart were manufactured to order. But all is quiet now and the persons arrested have been discharged. Judge Parker is announced as editor H. Foster, manager of the conDuluth The to new name and solidated Ed. only objection Minnesotian-Herald. the is the hyphen. In all other respects the combination is good. Setting Bull declares his intention to remain in the Sioux country as long is in the country. He he dont want to but dont want to get as there says if they any game fight the hurt whites they must keep out of his country. The Bank of California will resume business. Its stock holders being liable for all loss will save. what they can of the wreck and supply any deficiency which may exist. The Merchants Exchange reopened some days ago. The new owners of the Northern Pacific meet for organization on the 30th inst. will then be prowhether Mr. Mead's bably, It Dakota determined, recomenda- Division tion to operate the during the coming winter will be adopted. Ralston's widow will have two million dollars after all his debts are paid. The Bank of California will resume on the 20th inst., the capitalists of California having subscribed and deposited gold enough to tide it over present difficulties. Six murderers were hung at Little Rock Arkansas on the 2d inst. Is it not time that judicial murder was checked? Wheatly the Montana conhis last. was vict'died He protesting probably innocence the victim Franz to the of Shaffer and Stears as much as Warl. Superior Times has adopted the the BISMARCK TRIBUNE now as a five column, appears form The of entirely and home Douglas has a sensible This patent made change. paper. made inside to be business is a nuisance that ought rejceted in all well regulated printing offices. Prof. Hayden's party kept up 8 running fight with the Utes four days, duwhich time they passed miles of country hundred ring ravines. terribly over four The cut deep cannons and were in the saddle 85 of their baggage lost party up by all and hours instru- and ments, but no lives. Wash outs occurred through the reon nearly all excepting the cent the northwest storms the Northern Southern roads in The Root River in was on the rampage destroyed Minn. Pacific. fearfully extensive and some of the most of and expensive bridges on the line the S. M. R. R. and miles of embankment. Welsh is repudiated by Bishop Hare all the rest of the Indian commiswho declares the of Commissioner sioners) (and integrity confidences What Smith in and Delano. if Hare does Bishop Secretary repudiate his matter him. side Behold he has Tom Murrey on and has he not declared Tom thoroughly reliable? A Dubuque ruffian claims to have heen so hard up at Sioux City recently offered to kill a man for five A offered to man dollars. that he pal find the search divide but after a long not find a man with more could for a ruffian than no three dollars. As the was three dollar man he jumped the place. Minnesota was visited by, a two flood just as the were their grain; and as a consestacking weeks farmers of that much of the wheat crop was seriously injured. quence state fifteen The inwill probably reach per The injury to grain on of Northern Pocific is jury cent. the reported the line trifling, however, owing to cool weather during the time the storms prevailed. Sheridan and have in a recommendation joined Generals Ord charge that the of Department resume Negroes, and Indian the Seminole running return them wild They are now and being destitute are outlaws. Col. Hatch says to in to become Texas, Florida. distinct liable from of them "they are entirely like the Seminole Indians. They are and derina ennerior all negroes, except they are accustomed
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THE SAN FRANCISCO NEWSPAPER FIGHT. Libel Suits and Extraordinary Developments Expected. SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 21.-A new point of interest is about to be made in the journalistic war, which has been going on here since the failure of the Bank of California. The Alta this morning printed an editorial charging the proprietors of the Bulletin and Call newspapers with having pursued the cause they have followed during and since the late panic with the object of affecting the stock market and creating a financial panic. In consequence the Bulletin and Call proprietors through their Attorney, John F. Swift, have commenced proceedings against the Alta for libel. They are also preparing the papers for a similar suit against the San Francisco Chronicle, which has charged them with conspiracy, &c. It is expected that owing to the intimate connection between the newspaper fight and the recent financial complication some very interesting developments will be made on the trial.
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of the troubles here can not be condensed in a telegram. This State has been opposed toorganizing a militia of colored men. It has been believed by them that it would develop a war of races, which would extend beyond the borders of this State. The organization of the whites alone, where the issue is one of race, would be equally as inffeectual. The most complete protection would be found in the strict non-interference of the whites. Contradictions will be numerous-so they were last December, but the report of the Congressional Committee proved the correctness of my assertion. I am aware of the reluctance of the people *of the country to National interfence in State affairs, though if there be no violation of the law there can be no interference. Permit me to express the hope that the odium that such interference shall not attach to President Grant, or the Republican party. As the Governor of the State, I made a demand which can not well be refused. Let the odium, in all its magnitude, descend upon me. I can not escape the conscious discharge of my duty toward a class of American citizens whose only offense consists in their color. I am powerALBERT AMES. less to protect. Attorney-General Pierrepont says that the letter to Gov. Ames was introduced to show that the Federal troops would not be called out except in strict accordance with the Constitution and the Laws, after the State had used its own resources. But that if the necessity was forced, the Government would indulge in no leniency towards laws less disturbers of the public peace, or murderers of innocent men. Wm. S. Alexander has been appointed Postmaster for Jacksonville, Alabama, vice John A. Dearman suspended. The U. S. steamer Powhattan, now at New York, will sail from there this week for Port au Prince, Hayti, in accordance with a request from the State Department that a vessel of war be sent to that place. During some troubles on the Island a short time ago the American Minister there gave shelter to some of the parties, in consequence of which the adversaries threatened the Minister, and the Department deems it expedient to send a vessel there for his protection, if necessary. WHEELING, Sept. 20.-The corner-stone of the new Capitol was laid yesterday with Masonic ceremonies. Business generally was suspended. SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 20.-There was a subscription to guarantee a fund for the Bank of California of $2,500,000. Full returns show the vote for Governor as follows: Irwin, (Dem.) 61,525; Phelps, (Rep.) 80,922; Bidwell, (Ind.) 29 360. SANTA FE, Sept. 20.-Nearly full returns show that S. Belkuss is elected delegate to Congress by 1,500 majority. F. J. Tolby, a Methodist minister, was shot through the head. His horse was found tied to an adjacent tree. There is no clue to the murderer. CINCINNATI, Sept. 20.-The Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows of the United States convened, Grand Sire Durham, of Kentucky, presiding. The Grand Sire's report furnishes information of the Order abroad, showing that Lodges are being instituted at all important point,s in Switzerland. A Grand Lodge has been established with five subordinate Lodges under its jurisdiction in Peru and Chili. The Order is rapidlv increasing in the Sandwich Islands
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TIMELY TOPICS. JEFFERSON Davis, :has started from Memphis, on his lecturing tour in the west. THE public debt statement for August shows a reduction of about a million and a half during the past month, CAME to his death by accidental drowning," is the verdict of the San Francisco jury in the case of Ralston. THE Freedmen's bank commissioners think that a dividend car be declared for the unfortunate depositors by Christmas. PHILADELPHIA this year heads the list of United States ports in the molasses trade. The bulk of the importations for the year are usually made in the first half year. RECENT reports say that the colony of Liberia is prospering. New plantations are developing, commodious dwellings are going up, and the schools and churches are well attended. NEXT Tuesday will be a black-letter day in the annals of Arkansas. No less than six murderers are then to be executed at Fort Smith. Arkansas can claim pre-eminence in one respect at least. THE Atlantic Mills, at Lawrence, Mass., started on Monday, after being idle seven weeks. The stock on hand has been sold to good advantage. There is a prospect now for steady employment for one thousand hands. THE eminent composer, Gounod, has declined the directorshop of the proposed American College of Music, gently hinting at the same time that an American institute of the kind should have an American director. THE great suspension bridge between New York and Brooklyn is assuming shape. The towers on both sides will be completed next spring, and the Roeblings, who constructed the suspension bridge across the Ohio at Cincinnati, will perform the feat of spanning the sixteen-hundred feet chasm with wire. THE wheat belt" is enlarging its area. Arkansas, for instance, will export small grains this year for the first time in its history. The same general tendency to raise more and buy less is observable throughout the south. IN an agricultural convention at Dalton, Ga, a few days ago, a gentleman called on all present who owned sheep and no dogs to rise, and thirteen rose. He then called upon all who owned dogs and no sheep to rise, and sixty or seventy responded. VALMASEDA has called on the loyal merchants and planters of Cuba for $800,000 in gold to pay for the transportation of the fresh troops fromSpain. He gives each person twenty-four hours to respond favorably. If they do not notice his circular they are declared rebels. Valmaseda will squeeze the gold out of these unfortunates. THERE is evidence that the French government will put stop to the German Cath pilgrimage to the shrine 1 of Our Lady of Lourdes in the south of France, if it can de so. The pope t has given his blessing to the movement, c however, and he will hardly interdict it now. The French fear complications with Germany. THE liabilities of the late bank of California are estimated et $14,000 and
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# GENERAL NEWS. Jubilee Gilmore's brother is a landscape gardener at Oakland, Cal. Mr. Thomas Carlyle, although 79 years of age, is said to shut himself up every evening to study. United States Treasurer New has sent a female relative at Indianapolis a clinker, which is all that is left of nearly $2,000,000. It is about the size of one's fist, and was formed by the chemicals in greenbacks which have been burned. One of Tennyson's line's was quoted in his presence as a happy instance of a natural expression of a spontaneous thought, when the poet said: "I smoked a dozen cigars over that line." An Emperor respectfully asking a Parliament to give him vacation for eighteen months, as just seen in Brazil, is pre eminently a nineteenth century spectacle. The city of Atlanta, Ga., has sixty-five doctors and 135 lawyers, and one of its papers says that these are more than would be necessary "everybody were sick and suing all his neighbors. Wellesley College, Massachusetts, was opened 7th inst. This establishment is intended for the education of women exclusively. A chief baker, an engineer, and a porter are the only persons of the male sex employed in the establishment. The college will accommodate 300 persons. About two hundred applicants for admission have been rejected. It is a remarkable fact and very creditable to the San Francisco savings banks that the failure of the Bank of California was not accompanied nor followed by anything in the shape of a run on them. They have 56,377 depositors, and are the depositories of large amounts of money, and yet only 713 persons demanded their money on the day the great bank failed. J. Madison Wells, of Louisiana, lately sent a challenge to an editor in a registered letter that he might be certain of its receipt. The recipient is a French Creole, and the Augusta (Ga.) Constitutionalist says "therefore no coward." The Ohio Hospital for the Insane is a most remarkable building. It is on a tract of ground of three hundred acres, two and a half miles from High street, in Columbus. It resembles the letter T. The front measures 1,058 feet and the depth is 560 feet. It covers four acres and has 1,200 rooms. It is to be bountifully supplied with water. The whole is under roof, and the plasterers are going on with their work. About a year, it is thought, will be consumed in completely finishing it up for occupants. The following were questions in philosophy to the candidates for admission to Harvard at the last examination: "Explain briefly the theory of atomistic dynamics, and how it reduces Matter to mere Will and Presentation. Of what only do the senses and the physical sciences take cognizance as constituting the primitive element of matter. What must ideally or in thought precede every motion or physical force?" Prof. Marsh, during his researches at the West, discovered a fossil bird with well-formed teeth, and after making a critical examination of the curiosity he concludes that it is intermediate between the bird and the reptile, and supplies one of the missing links in the Darwinian theory. The News has occasion this week to chronicle the burning of a house in Bridgton, and the providential saving of four lives by a member of the brute creation. The house was that occupied at the time, and for many years preceding, by Mrs. Lydia A. S. French, close to the Sweden line. Mrs. French, a lady of sixty-four years, and her three grand-children (whose father, Thos. French, is in California), were the only occupants. They retired about 11 o'clock Friday night. An hour or two past mid-night, Mrs. French was awakened from a deep sleep by her cat jumping upon the bed. After driving the cat off, Mrs. F. thought she smelled smoke, and on opening the chamber door found the rooms above all ablaze. She instantly seized the bed on which the children were sleeping, and drogged it and them out doors. It was a wild, terrible night, the wind blowing a gale -it being at the height of the line storm-and the nearest neighbor was a quarter of a mile off. With remarkable coolness and presence of mind, she at once decided that to go for help was useless, and set at work saving what things she could. She removed a window sash and threw out three beds, some trunks and chairs, and also got out some tables through the door, before the flames drove her from her position. She then even went round to the shed, towards which the flames were then making rapid approach, and rescued half a dozen hens! In a short time, all the buildings except the barn, which stood separate some rods to the windward, were in ashes. Then with her little ones, and the bedding which she had saved, she sought shelter in the barn until morning.
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MISCELLANEOUS Affairs of the Bank of California. SAN FRANCISCO, September 25.-The syn dicate of the Bank of California met day and organized by electing William Sharon, president of the Bank of California, treasurer; R. H. Lloyd, secretary. and James R. Keene, Charles Mayne, R. F. Morrow, D. O. Mills and R. H. Lloyd the executive committee. An assessment of twenty per cent was levied on subscription for the guarantee fund amounting in round numbers to $5,000,000. This with the coin now on hand will give between $2,000,000 and $3,000,000 to open with. The bank will reopen either on Saturday, October 2. or early in the following week. A meeting of the board of directors will be held on Monday or Tuesday next. when the date of resumption will probably be fixed. Entire harmony prevailed at the meeting, and a determination was evinced to push matters to a successful termination. The Newspaper Libel Suits in San Francisco. SAN FRANCISCO, September 24.-Comin the libel of the was filed are set at plain Bulletin to-day. and Damages Call suit against of the proprietors the Alta $25,000. The complaint, which is quite lengthy, states in effect that plaintiffs have never false news or unjust or untruthful comments of or its managem- have published California any concerning the nt. bank the and Bank never to injure or imnor ever ored to a panic pair its conspired or credit, produce elsewhere. financial have they increase endeav- in this State or to one, when existing, for the purpose of speculating in values or for any other purpose. But that the defendants, proprietors of the Alta, knowing the above, but envying the good name of plaintiffs and their success as journaliste, have charged them with the above mentioned acts in an article published in the Alta of the twenty first instant, which article is quoted as part of complaint. The probability of this suit being commenced has excited much comment Public opinion has been divided as to the object in view, but the belief seems to be unanimous that if pressed to trial racy developments will ensue. Base Ball. CHICAGO, September 25.-The Philadel phias defeated the Chicagos at base ball, 19 . HARTFORD, September 25.-Bostons 6, Hartfords nothing. Paper Mill Burned. WATERTOWN. N. Y., September 25.-A fire last one of & Davis' paper tory a large amount Taggart night with entirely destroyed mill of stock. and Loss section sack Cause, facexplosion of a kerosene lamp. $20,000; insured. One man was killed by suffocation. Dead. BUFFALO, September 25.-Hon. Israel Thatch died here to-day, aged sixty-seven. The Bellefontaine Horror. CINCINNATI, September 24.-A Bellefontaine special says Mrs. Schell, wife of the man arrested yesterday for the murder of Miss Laughlin, was arrested to-day, and testiti d before the coroner that her husband that he to and her ride on was for and that had that Miss that told their Laughlin purpose, her Thursday kill intended her afterward; husband planned ravish threatened to kill her if she followed him when he went into the bushes with Miss She he two stating that 80 hard he did not fought Laughlin. hours, saye returned succeed had Miss stabbed in Laughlin in ravish- about after he her she kill me, reBut be feared ing her, said: although "Don't Jim; I she won't would killed her, and to kill wife if she told of it. also to other crimes sist tell, any 80 his testified he more." threatened committed Mrs. also Schell by her husband. The affair causes the most intense excitement. is suspended, and it is reported citizens of the ing are coming to todetermined to lynch several Business country hundred Bellefontaine Schell. surround- Many loads have already sheriff has summoued a strong posse. night, wagon arrived. is who The are guarding the jail, but trouble expected before morning. The Murderer Lynched. BELLEFONTAINE, O., September 25 -The people huog Schell last night. The guards made no resistance. Schell protested his innocence. Found Dead. PHILADELPHIA. September 25.-The body of Albert W. Markley, of Camden, missing since Thursday, has been found on the banks of the Delaware river. It is supposed he committed suicide. Killed Himself on his Mother's Grave. HUDSON, September 5.-Captain W. A. Strabahan, captain of the steamer City of Hudson, shot himself to death while seated on his mother's grave in the Episcopal cemetery at Athens. National Railroad Convention. Sr. LOUIS, September --The executive committee to arrange the preliminaries for the National Railroad Convention, to be hold here next month, held another meeting yesterday, and adopted a resolution asking the president of the Merchants' Exchange to appoint 3 committee to co-operate with the executive committee; also, asking the Merchante' Exchange to invite [CONTINUED ON EIGHTH PAGE.]
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Suspension in San Francisco. SAN FRANCISCO, September 29.-Charles Clayton & Co., produce and commission merchants, suspended payment to-day. Their liabilities are $200,000. Their creditors, who are wealthy San Francisco men, will hold a meeting to-morrow and if a long extension is granted to enable the firm to collect accounts for advances made to farmers whose crops this year are short, the firm will be able to contintie business. The produce commission merchants have been obliged to make advances to help farmers, and must wait for the crops for their payment. The Bank of California has heretofore resisted the merchants to carry the farmers over the season of short crops and the failure of the bank crippled the firm. Large accounts with importers for bagging, bought on four months, came due on Monday. Mr. Clayton was a member of the last Congress, and recently the candidate of the Republican and tax-payers' party for Mayor of San Frrncisco. His standing in commercial circles is high.
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# NEWS OF THE DAY. "To show the very age and body of the Times." The annual reunion of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee commenced at Des Moines yesterday. President Grant, General Sherman, the Secretary of War and other distinguished personages were present. General Sherman was re-elected President. It was resolved to hold the next reunion on the 21st, 22d and 23d of July-at Philadelphia on the two first days, and at Washington on the last, when the statue of General McPherson will be unveiled. The court-martial on the officers of the English iron-clad Vanguard, which was sunk off Wicklow Head, in a collision with the Iron Duke, has resulted in a severe reprimand to Captain Dawkins, the first and second officers and the engineer, and the dismissal of the former from his command. Another court martial will probably be held on the officers of the Iron Duke. A dispatch from Albany, N. Y., says that the Jaggar Iron Company, whose blast works, &c., cost $561,000, is in such a condition as to produce fears that the stockholders haye lost nearly the entire amount of their investment. The heaviest creditors are the Pennsylvania coal companies, and they are secured by mortgages on the property. The New York holders of the ten per cent. bonds of the city of Houston have agreed to accept the offer of that city's agent to give them seven per cent. thirty-year bonds in place of the bonds they hold, the understanding being that the State of Texas and city of Houston shall guarantee the payment of the new bonds. The Court of Commissioners of Alabama Claims reassembled yesterday, all the Judges being present. Several awards were made in the case of the "Golconda," after which the Court adjourned, the counsel for the Government being unable to proceed on account of an affection of the eyes. The Indians seem to have something besides dark flour to complain of. Special United States Commissioner Shanks reports 1,800 horses stolen from the Indians while on their reservations near Fort Sill, and only 40 recovered and returned to them. Jay Cooke's superb residence of Ogontz, near Philadelphia, is now being sold. There is the tomb of his father, removed from old Ogontz (Sandusky) and reinterred under an $18,000 mausoleum. The tomb goes with the estate. Sixty Indians attacked the hay train of John Phillips, between forts Fetterman and Laramie, and after a fight of two hours and a half killed and got off thirty head of cattle aud four horses and wounded one man. Since June forty members of an organized band of criminals, composed mostly of outlaws from the States, have been captured in Indian Territory, and with those previously arrested make nearly one hundred now awaiting trial at the next term of the court at Muskogee. The observers of the solar eclipse at Manchester, N. H., Albany, N. Y., Cambridge University and other points in the North were not rewarded with satisfactory results, on account of cloudiness at the time of the eclipse. At a meeting of the bondholders of the Northern Pacific railroad, at New York, yesterday, the report of the purchasing committee, and the receiver, G. W. Cass, were read and approved. The notorious Jack Corbett, a desperate criminal who was arrested on suspicion of being the murderer of Mr. Noe, in New York, has been sentenced by Recorder Hackett to ten years' imprisonment on a charge of burglary. Judge Miller, of the U. S. Circuit Court of St. Louis, has held the parties charged with conspiracy to defraud the revenue by whiskey frauds in $8,000 bail each. Mrs. E. Barrett, of Elizabeth, N. J., widow of the late Lieutenant Barrett, U. S. navy, committed suicide on Tuesday by taking morphia. Theodore Tilton lectured at Cooper Institute, New York, last evening on "The Problem of Life." There were 2,000 people present. Richard Robinson, the murderer of Mrs. Dixon, at Norwichtown, Coon., died in jail yesterday from the effects of poison, taken after his arrest on Monday. One hundred and eight thousand pounds sterling were withdrawn from the Bank of England yesterday. The foot and mouth disease continues in England. In the county of Gloucester over 12,000 beasts are affected. The Canadian defaulter, Nicholls, and his father, have been arrested in St. Augustine, Fla., by New York detectives. The Ultramontanes have elected the President, Vice President and other officers of the Bavarian Diet. The Bank of California will reopen Saturday next. Turkey admits the necessity of reforms, and will introduce them throughout the Empire. # Savings Bank Failure.
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# THE BANK OF CALIFORNIA. For years the whole business of the Pacific Slope has been supposed to turn on the Bank of California as a central pivot. It was indeed a gigantio concern. It had a capital and surplus of $6,000,000; its deposits wero $12,000,000; its daily balances were close upon $4,000,000. It was interested in all manner of things, from stage-lines to mines, from farms to steamships, from railroads to manufactories. It was the entertainer of all prominent strangers, the organizer of all prominent schomes, the industrial backbone of the Pacific Slope. It would naturally be supposed that the failure of such an institution would be like the destruction of a foundation, and would so bring the superstructure toppling to the ground. But nothing of the sort came to pass. When RALSTON had made away with $3,000,000 of the bank's monoy-an amount nearly equal to the combined capital of the four largest banks of this city-payment was necessarily suspended. But this failure involved none others. The two banks which closed their doors for a few days have reopened them. Not a single mercantile house has failed; not a single broker; not even a stock speculator. Manufacturing has not been interrupted. Building has gone on without a day's delay. The mines have been worked. The mills have been run. The savings-banks have not been run upon. We quote from a San Francisco paper when we say that "not one single mechanic or laboring man has been thrown out of employment." Collections, thanks to a judicious and mutual forbearance, have been made without difficulty; the court-dockets have not been made to groan under the weight of new suits against old debtors; and the "panic" has been a mere tempest in a teapot, beginning and ending inside the offico of the Bank of California, and doing precious little permanent damage there. This is a marvelous story of commercial strength. In 1873, when one Eastern bank-a bank which was not interested in half as many schemes as those planned by RALSTON's mind and pushed by the money of the Bank of California-failed, our great business houses fell like houses of cards. The wires were overladen with the stories of failure, of assignments, of business wreck and ruin. This crash came twenty-three months ago, but we have not yet recovered from our hurts. In California, the wounds have been mere scratches, and forty days have sufficed to heal them all. We need not go far to find the reason for this striking contrast. Eighteen centuries ago, an inspired hand penned the parable of the house that stood on the sand and the house that was built on a rock. Wo know what happened when the rains foll, and the winds blow, and the floods came. And so, when a commercial cyclone sweeps over the country, the business that is built up on paper falls, and the business that rests on solid gold stands the shock triumphantly.
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# BANK OF CALIFORNIA. The bank of California re-opened its doors, Saturday, and the result of the day's business was most encouraging for the future prospect of the ins itution. Preparations had been made for an expected large demand upon the bank, made not from any want of confidence, but simply from the need of the coin which has been so long locked up. When the doors were opened at ten o'clock, $3,500,000 in gold were in sigh, and the tellers and counters ready to pay it all out if need be The demand was large, and during the forenoon large amounts were withdrawn, but it came back in equal and even larger deposits, and when at one o'clock, an hour later than the usual closing hour, Saturday, the bank doors were swung to, it was found that the day's receipts exceeded the disbursements by $750,000. The re-opening of the bank, and still more the unexpected results of the day's business, were, of course, the signal for rejoicing, which was manifested by the flying of flags, booming of cannon, and in the evening, a serenade to Senator Sharon, who has taken the late Mr. Ralston's place-in the feeling of the street-as has Mr. Mills at the bank. The total amount of the subscription fund of the trustees, syndicate and stockholders is now announced as $7,930,000.
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THE men who took hold of the collapsed Bank of California, and'so managed its affairs that it is now reopened and doing business again, have put the whole Pacific Coast under infinite obligations. It was inevitable that there should be a run, not only because many were anxious to get their money out of the concern, on account of a want of confidence, but also because many were in. great need of the money that had been locked up for so long a time. And there was a run, but the revivified institution stood it bravely, and the permanence of its restoration can not be questioned.
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It is a remarkable fact, and very creditable to the San Francisco savings banks, that the failure of the Bank of California was not accompanied nor followed by anything in the shape of a run on them. They have 56,377 depositors, and are the depositories of large amounts of money, and yet only 713 persons demanded their money on the day the great bank failed.
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The Booksellers' Association. Their Meeting Last Night. The second meeting of the Booksellers' Association of this city took place last evening in the office of Mr. A. H. Wilkins, 110 and 112 Camp street. Mr. Geo. Ellis was chosen chairman, and Mr. R. G. Egrich acted as secretary. There was a very large attendance, and great interest was manifested by all in the proceedings of the meeting. The committee previously appointed to prepare resolutions and rules for the future government of the association. presented the following report: Whereas, the late distractions existing in the book trade in this city, and the custom of selling books to private purchasers at wholesale prices has damaged the business to a very great extent; therefore be it Resolved, That we form ourselves into a Booksellers' Association, auxiliary to the American Book Trade Association. Resolved, That this association pledges itself to maintain the publishers' advertised retail prices in all sales to buyers other than those in the regular business, excepting, however, that a reduction not to exceed 10 per cent on medical books, and 20 per cent on all other classes of books may be allowed to the following purchasers only : Public libraries (including Sunday school and circulating libraries), clergymen and professional teachers; professional books to professional yers; school books for use of school boards and State Normal Schools created by law and authorized to purchase supplies from public funds; school books for schools other than Sunday schools, supported by religious and benevolent societies, and purchasing their own supplies of school books, and to such merchants as deal in book and school studies; large buyers purchasing for their own use only. Resolved, That these rules go into force immediately upon their adoption. It is further mutually agreed and understood that large buyers shall be sub-divided, and defined as follows All cash purchasers buying to the amount of twenty dollars, and less than fifty dollars, be entitled to a discount not exceeding five per cent. All cash purchasers buying to the amount of fifty dollars, and less than one hundred dollars, a discount of ten per cent. All cash purchasers of one hundred dollars and upwards a discount of twenty per cent. GEO. ELLIS, ROBT. J. ะะะะ , R. G. EYRICH, Committee. These resolutions are to be signed by al members, who thereby pledge themselves to their enforcement. A resolution was also adopted to the effect that These booksellers who refuse to join this association be treated as though purchasing for their own use, and be compelled to pay cash on delivery." A motion being carried to go into an election for officers, nominations were duly made and votes taken with the following result: President. Geo. Ellis; Vice President, R. J. Harp; Secretary, R. G. E rich; Treasurer, Jas. A. Gresham. Upon motion, the following gentlemen were appointed a committe to draft a constitution and by-laws for the association: Messrs. R. J. Harp, Jas. A. Gresham, W. E. Seebold, Wm. Fauche, P. F. Gogarty. All the booksellers in the city are to be furnished copies of the resolutions adopted, and it was determined that the same be considered in active force and operation on and after October 15, 1875. The association adjourned to meet again on next Thursday evening. It is a remarkable fact, and very creditable to the San Francisco savings banks, that the failure of the Bank of California was not accompanied nor followed by anything in the shape of a run on them. They have 56,377 depositors, and are the depositories of large amounts of money, and yet only 713 persons
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Why the Bank of California Failed. SAN FRANCISCO. July 27. In the Bulletin-Alta libel suit the further testimony of Micbael Reese and D. O. Mills was taken before .the third district court commissioner yesterday. Reese testified to the following effect : The failure of the bank of California was caused by Ralston's taking money from it to expend on outside affairs. Ralston was the architect of a job to sell the Spring Valley waterworks, and Calevaras Valley scheme to the city at a profit of about $8,000,000. I helped him, furnishing large amounts of money to buy up stocks. I advanced between three and four millions, and he had the whole management of it. expected to make enough out of the job to save the bank from failure. It was the last thing to do to save it. If the scheme had been carried out, I don't think the bank would have failed. Ralston took the funds of the bank to carry on the water scheme. Mills testifled, referring to the charge in the Alta of September 21st, 1875, that the proprietors of the Bulletin and Call remitted money to Simonton in New York, to speculate in stocks, that they strove to make the panic as disastrous as possible, and were in a conspiracy to break the bank, testified as follows I know of no effort of those parties to affect stock values or to break the bank, or to cause the public to lose confidence in it. The cause of the failure of the bank was that Ralston used its funds for his own purposes and did not replace them. This he did surreptiously, irregularly and without the knowledge of the directors The largest deficit was found in the refinery account, amounting to about two millions.
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CALIFORNIA BUSINESS TROUBLES. # FAILURE OF A. FRIEDLANDER, A SAN FRANCISCO GRAIN OPERATOR. SAN FRANCISCO, April 4.-The failure of A. Friedlander, a prominent grain operator, was announced to-day. Mr. Friedlander states that in case he can collect the amounts due him his unsecured indebtedness will be about $600,000. As nearly as he can judge from the present condition of affairs his indebtedness is entirely local and affects few persons or firms,all of whom can stand it with perhaps the exception of one or two in the interior. He attributes his failure to some extent to losses on charters, having early in the season chartered vessels at comparatively high figures which he subsequently was obliged to recharter at much lower rates; but the greatest weight under which he labored was the condition of affairs in San Joaquin Valley. He had purchased large tracts there which he subsequently sold to a farmer, who paid down a small portion of the purchase money. Bad crops prevented a continuance of these payments, and he advanced means to enable him to sow the ground and continue business. Last year a portion was repaid him, but the gloomy prospects for the present season in that section of country convinced him that it was useless to struggle longer. A meeting of creditors will be held on Saturday or Monday next, when the future course will be decided. The report has created great surprise and called forth much sympathy in this city. The failure is the principal topic of conversation, and rumor has been running wild, as usual. As regards creditors, whose names Mr. Friedlander at present declines to mention, it is reported on apparently good authority that the principal one is the Nevada Bank. It is known that after the failure of the Bank of California Mr. Friedlander transferred his account for some two months to the London and San Francisco Bank, from which they were carried to the Nevada Bank. The officers of that bank decline to make any statements, but it is reported that Mr. Friedlander owes there upward of $1,000,000, secured on real estate. There is also a reported indebtedness to the Bank of California, contracted prior to the failure of that institution, of several hundred thousand dollars, and also secured on real estate. Falkner, Bell & Co. are reported to hold his notes for some $200,000, and Balfour, Guthrie & Co. for about half that amount. There seems to be good grounds for the belief that arrangements will be made by the creditors to enable Friedlander to resume business at an early date. He states personally that the failure of the Bank of California placed him in a very cramped position for available funds from which he has not since been able to extricate himself.
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ANNUAL MEETING OF THE NEW-HAVEN ROAD. NEW-HAVEN, Conn., Jan. 9.-The annual meeting of stockholders of the New-York, New-Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company was held here to-day. The meeting was short and more quiet than usual. The directors' report was accepted. It was published some time ago, The following directors were elected: W. D. Bishop. E. M. Reed, W. G. Hunt, G. N. Miller, C. W. Chapman, A. R. Van Nest, H. C. Robinson, E. H. Trowbridge, N. Wheeler, C. M. Pond, Augustus Schell, George H. Watrous, and W. H. Vanderbilt There were a few scattering votes only for other names. Mr. Goodman offered a resolution to prohibit the officers of the road from giving free passes to members of the Legislature or allowing them to ride at a less rate than that paid by other passengers. An amendment was offered to leave this matter to the discretion of the directors. The amendment was carried, and the resolution was adopted $8 thus amended. On motion of Mr. Trowbridge, Messrs. W. M: Vermilye, Chas. A. White and Wm. M. Hudson were appointed auditors of the treasurer's account for the ensuing year, after which the meeting adjoursed. A BANK OF CALIFORNIA DIVIDEND. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 9.-The Bank of California yesterday declared a dividend for the quarter ending December 31, at the rate of 7 per cent. per annum. This is the first dividend since suspension.
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Exchange Spice. S. F. Stock Exchange, April 3. The people of the Comstock have long cried for a drop curtain to their Opera House stage, and now they are congratulating one another on the fact that the proprietor of that temple of the muses has purchased that of our California Theater. Little do the guileless Comstockers know what is in store for them. Let them consult the statistics of our Coroner's office and lunatic asylum, and be forewarned. San Francisco has not been herself since the Bank of California suspended. It was just convalescent when Kearney inoculated it with Communistic poison, and had hardly reached the first stages of recovery from that infliction when the huge tumor, called the new Constitution made its appearance. This tumor is to be lanced on May 7th. After that the unfortunate city may have a chance for its life. The measles still afflict the school children of Virginia City. The Virginia Chronicle's staff is evidently convalescing, however, as Mr. McEwen was able to lift two jokes into the editorial columns yesterday that would test the strength of a patient or the stomach of a stray dog in a tan-yard. Almost every day increases the weight of public opinion against the new Constitution. A revised list of the papers of the coast which have made expression of it, shows 122 against to 45 for the Constitution. The Deadwood Times estimates the population of the Black Hills at from 20,000 to 25,000, after devoting, it says, considerable time to the matter. Boise City is the banner city of Idaho. It cannot sustain a church or a schoolhouse, but boasts of the finest saloon in the Territory and a $20,000 race track. Assessor Henry Phelps of Santa Clara has published a card in which he says Denis Kearney is a ne plus ultra liar. This is a sine qua non squelcher for the great agitator. The Reno Gazette heads one of its editorials, " The Effects of Alcohol." It reads a little that way. certainly. and perhaps it was.