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ALL BANKS IN DE LAND CLOSE FOLLOWING RUNS
Three Florida Institutions Post Notices Simultaneously.
Jacksonville, Fla., July 11.β(AP)βThree Florida banksβtwo at De Land and one at Miamiβwere in the hands of bank examiners tonight pending reorganization or liquidation.
The First National bank at De Land closed its doors shortly before noon after a heavy run following the posting of a notice on the window of the Volusia County Bank & Trust Company, also of De Land, that that institution "has suspended business and is now in the hands of the state banking department."
Closing of those two banks left De Land tonight without a single financial institution.
The Colonial Bank & Trust Company, of Miami, capitalized at $100,000, and with a surplus of $50,000, failed to open its doors today after steady withdrawals of cash during the past four days. It was organized three years ago and first was known as the South Florida Trust Company.
FOUTS IS ARRESTED FOR FAILURE.
Bartow, Fla., July 11.β(AP)βJohn L. Fouts, president and director of four central Florida banks, all of which failed on May 15, last, was arrested late today on an information filed by State Solicitor Hardin Peterson, charging him with having violated the state banking laws.
Fouts, who was director and president of the State Bank of Bartow, the First National Bank of Lakeland, the First National Bank of Auburndale and the State Bank of Winterhaven, was arrested at Winterhaven and brought here. His bond was fixed at $10,000, which was furnished by John J. Swearingen and Vet L. Brown, of this city.
The information charges Fouts with having "lent" himself $5,000 of the funds of the State Bank of Bartow without the consent of the board of directors of that institution, and with altering the minutes of the board to make it appear that the "loan" was regular when the resources of the bank were not up to the legal requirement.
COMPTROLLER EXPLAINS ACTION.
Washington, July 11.β(AP)βThe office of the comptroller of the currency said today that the closing of the First National bank in De Land, Fla., was a measure to protect the interests of the depositors from any run on the institution resulting from failure of a state bank nearby.
In cases of this kind, it was explained, where directors of a national bank feel that depositors are becoming panicky because of nearby bank failures, they close the national institution so that all depositors receive the same treatment rather than to permit a few to withdraw their entire deposits and place the bank in an embarrassing position.
LASSITER RETURNS AFTER "BREAK DOWN."
Birmingham, Ala., July 11.β(AP)βJ. B. Lassiter, president of the closed Avondale Bank and Savings Company and the City Bank and Trust Company, returned to Birmingham tonight from New York city, where he had been in a hospital for several days following his collapse when informed that his banks had closed.
He was taken to the home of friends to recuperate. He was accompanied here by Caron Capshaw, New York attorney.
NEW YORKERS INDICTED FOR BANK FRAUDS.
New York, July 11.β(AP)βMembers of the firm of Clarke Brothers, a private bank, that failed to open its doors two weeks ago after having done business for 80 years on the fringe of the downtown financial district, were indicted today by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy and using the mails to defraud."
Three younger brothers of the founder, William H. Clarke, who inherited the business on his death three years ago, were named in the indictment. Those indicted were: James Rae Clarke, Hudson Clarke, Jr., and Philip L. Clarke, together with John F. Bouker, who joined the firm recently.
They were indicted on the eve of a public "John Doe" hearing on their management of the business, instituted today by United States Attorney Charles H. Tuttle, as long lines of the depositors, many of them middle-aged women, filed into his office with complaints; others included small business men, workmen, stenographers and clerks. Some of them told their stories while they wept.
Shortly before Mr. Tuttle laid his case before the grand jury, accountants for the Irving Trust Company, receiver, at work on the bank's books, reported indications that the partners owed their bank more than $380,000 in addition to $440,995 which they had charged against themselves on the ledger.