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later offe, but very soon the alkali works of J. B. Ford went up and we are just beginning to relatize that a new industry gigantic in its possible development has come to fill the vacancy left by the decadence of the iron industry."
Mr. Van Alstyne, Sr., was forever looking to the future, and his prediction of 1900 for 1940 is quite remarkable. He said: "The probability is that we are only on the threshhold of the important and numerous branches that follow and are tributary to this salt deposit, and that analogous to the Manchester district in England, this whole country from Detroit to the southern boundary of the salt measure will become a busy hive of industry, and the vital question for us to consider now is, what shall we do with it now we have got it. It is on the cards that Wyandotte from its position and the start it has may easily remain as it now is, the metropolis of this great industrial center."
Fred Van Alstyne became president of the bank in 1910, following his father's death. Quiet, unassuming, but as steady as his father, the highest tribute he has ever wished for is that he has lived up to the standards of his father. Bankers throughout Michigan, and he has been attending their annual coonventions for more than 40 years, regard him as one of the best bankers in the state and all acclaim him as a great son of a great father. This is borne out also by the hundreds of businesses which he helped after his father started them. He served on the school board for more than 12 years and one day he will write his reminiscences to carry on from where his father left off.
One of his most pleasant memories, which also showed the faith, which he regards as the principal asset of a bank, of people in the Wyandotte Savings bank, occurred following the bank holiday. It happened this way. Many farmers had sold their farms, for subdividing purposes, as the city grew. Most of them deposited their money in the Wyandotte Savings bank. Much of it is still there. One lady has had a sum upward of $50,000 on deposit for many years. She had not been in the bank for a long period before the banking holiday. When the banks reopened, at the conclusion of the holiday, called by the state, this lady went to Mr. Van Alstyne. "I am very sorry. Mr. Van Alstyne, but I must have some money," she said. Mr. Van Alstyne conceded that his heart missed a few beats because he felt she was going to withdraw the entire amount and $50,000 to many much larger banks was big money in those harsh days. But he said, "Why, of course; you can have all your money or any part of it." Then, hoping she would not ask for it all, he managed to say. "How much do you want "Well," she said, "I would need at least $50." Then, he admits, he breathed more freely.
