The Sudden Collapse of the Farmers' Bank
Seattle's financial community was left in shock as a major institution shuttered its doors, leaving depositors and creditors in the lurch.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Farmers' Bank of this city did not open at the usual hour today. A notice was posted on the door stating that the bank had made an assignment to Walter F. Irvine for the benefit of its creditors. The bank was seriously affected last Thursday by the failure of H.J. Hardy, of New York, but was enabled to tide over that emergency by assistance from the Exchange National Bank of this city, which suspended a week ago. The condition of the bank's affairs cannot be fully ascertained. The liabilities of the Farmers' Bank are almost a quarter of a million dollars; the assets are not stated. The cashier says he expects to pay in full, as an assignment of all the property of the bank is made in the interest of its creditors. All of yesterday's deposits will be returned to depositors.
“A notice was posted on the door stating that the bank had made an assignment to Walter F. Irvine for the benefit of its creditors.”
Bank failures in the late 19th century triggered immediate localized panic and economic instability, not unlike the anxieties surrounding recent collapses of regional banks today. In 1885, the 'assignment for the benefit of creditors' was the primary mechanism to manage a total business implosion before federal deposit insurance existed.
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