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ST. LOUISANS ARE ALARMED 1 Runs Made on Three Savings Banks. ORS PAID IN FULL DEP 0 als Say They are Ready to Meet Demands. THE by &umor Said to Have Originated in Chicago Concerning Solvency of the Institutions Started the Trouble. St. Louis, Oct. 27.-From shortly before 1 o'clock until the closing hour (3 o'clock) today runs were made in the savings departments of three banks of St. Louis, and at the same time more than the ordinary amount of withdrawals by savings depositors were noticeable in the other banking institutions. The run, so far as it can be traced, was started by a disquieting rumor from the outside that seemed to strike St. Louis shortly after noon, to the effect that the savings institutions here were unsound, and like a prairie fire it spread through the streets and different mercantile establishments, whose employes represent the majority of savings depositors. Eager for Their Money. With a rush the corridors of the Lincoin Trust Company. the Mercantile Trust Company and the Mississippi Valley Trust Company were filled with men and women all eager to withdraw their money. At each of these banks a line of people with bank books in their hands stretched out into the street and intermingled with policemen and bank officials counseling calmness and giving assurances of solvency. It is stated that the rumor that started the run came from Chicago, and was to the effect that two directors of the Mississippi Valley Trust Company had recently endeavored to negotiate a loan of $2,000,000 in that city and had been refused. Today this rumor was pronounced an absolute canard by the directors concerned. As soon as the runs started all other business was laid aside and every facility was afforded for the prompt payment of deposits. The clauses which gave the bank privilege of withholding payment until sixty days after notification were waived and the amounts were paid rapidly regardless of their size. There was no disorder manifested at any of the institutions and in many cases depositors who had hurried to withdraw amounts departed without their money after having conversed a few moments with the officials and been made confident that the bank would continue to do business. Run Soon Over. At the Missouri Trust Company a number of depositors had collected to demand payment, but the crowd soon thinned, and before 3 o'clock the incipient run had ceased. Presidents of the different national banks assembled during the afternoon, and issued a statement that the banks of St. Louis are all perfectly solvent and amply able to liquidate all demands. All the banks closed at 3 o'clock, the usual closing hour, and gave out word that they will open tomorrow at the usual hour. 10 o'clock, and will meet all demands. The directors of the Mercantile Trust Company, representing several millions of dollars, have signed the following agreement: "We, the Directors of the Mercantile Trust Company, knowing that all its affairs are in sound and safe condition and that every dollar of its obligations of every nature will be met, do hereby bind ourselves individualy to the extent of our individual fortunes, to the payment in full of all current and savings deposits accounts and we do hereby guarantee such payment."