Herald and news., October 27, 1949, Page 22, Image 22

PACE TWENTY-TWO
HERALD AND NEWS, KLAMATH FALLS. OREGON
THURSDAY, OCT. 27, l4?
II
M Hotel Building Sale Recalls Stories
Of Early Days in the Klamath Falls Area
J Br IDA ODtXL
i A port wrote: The food men do
uve (tier them; the evil U oft In
! tared with their bone." I the
i reverie true of buUdlngsr
I When I saw the picture end reed
j the itorjr of the Hotel Hall building
I In the paper the other day, and
learned that prior to the hotel oo
J rupancy It had housed a pool room,
1 1 wondered why no mention waa
i made of the many month during
j which the old Klamath County bank
dtipenaed ervlra to the community
from thti building.
Holdup!
It waa to thlt corner that the
bank moved ahortly after the one
and only bank holdup tht county
ha ever known. Not that the hold
up precipitated the move. The quar
ter were already under alteration
when thu happened.
However, the holdup wa an ex
citement to the community and
thing were dated from It for tome
time. Alex Martin Jr.. cashier, wa
the only employe In the bank at
the time, and Don J. Zumwalt the
only customer. The two holdup men
passed the window clothed In long
Ulster and wearing mosquito net
ever their hats and face, Don says,
making a most effectual disguise.
Don remarked to Alex that he had
better get his gun out a It looked
like a holdup and Alex aald It did
look queer. Just then the men came
In and demanded the cash, which
; they got In a limited amount. Later
' they were caught and most of the
cash recovered from Its hiding place
In an old woodshed on the corner
of 8th and Main.
Unique
The Klamath County bank occu
pied a unique place In the heart
of It customer. It had developed
from the old days of cattlemen who
traded with the "Old Brick Store."
depositing their cattle sales check
with the tore and trading the credit
out, often to have credit balances
Tunning from year to year.
The owners of the store decided
that since they were doing a bank
ing business they might as well
take out a charter, which waa done
and an archway cut In the rear
of the store Into an adjoining room
of decidedly limited space, end here
the first bank wa started.
Moved
When these quarter were out
grown the building on the corner
of 4th and Main was leased and to
this corner the bank moved. Thl
old bank was regarded by its cus
tomers much as the father In a fam
ily Is by his children as head of
the group, to be respected, to be
deferred to, to be cussed occasion
ally, but always to be depended
upon In time of need.
In fact the Klamath County bank
was so much a part of Its customers'
lives as to prove embarrassing to
the organization at times. For In
stance, the habit of some depositors)
when needing money to neglect the
formality of consulting the bank's
management and simply issuing
checks against the organization re
gardless of the lack of funds to
meet the paper.
Overdrafts
Of course all banks run up
against overdrafts and careless ac-
; counting by depositors, but even In
those days It was not entirely usual
tor overdrafts of from $25,000 to
S45.000 to be regarded with favor.
However, the old Klamath County
bank knew that Its cattlemen and
- other businessmen were certain to
liquidate the overdrafts upon sale
of their commodities. Finally the
state banking department Impressed
upon the bank that not only was
such a practice unbusinesslike, it
ik l
if J:. Ik
IfeifMii N4 r:
rV - ?i .A -
t - -
ii i urseai iii I'it eai4WMiiei in .mi liiiniria
THE OLD KLAMATH COUNTY BANK occupied quarters in the building now known as
Hotel Hall, Fourth and Main, in the early years of the century. Left, the late Leslie Rogers,
ond A. R. "Orb" Campbell, now a Klamath county rancher. Both were with the bank for o
number of years.
wa also undesirable from the point
of view of the department.
Many of the customers given to
this hsblt found this quite un
reasonable on the part of the bank
ing department, some of them even
saying that inasmuch as the bank
used their money for long stretches
at a time, why wasnt it Just as
equitable that they use the bank'
money?
Laaghed
In time, however, everyone adapt
ed himself to the new arrangement
with the exception of one cattle
firm, and Mr. "Jerry" Martin, presi
dent of the bank, simply laughed
at the continued insistence on over
drawing and Instructed the bank's
employes to charge all those checks
to his own account and keep a list- i
tag of them In one of the passbooks
then In use.
This was done, and often he wa
currying these men to the sum of
$30,000 or $40,000 without a scratch
of a pen on their part to show the
indebtedness. Interest was figured
monthly on the account and added
to the principal. It Is also Interest
ing to remember that the going rate
of Interest wa 10 per cent.
Sacred
The banker of those day wu as
familiar with the personal details
of a customer's life as was his
physician or minister, and held the
knowledge just as sacred. However,
the employes never failed to watch
with Interest the progress of a love
affair from the first present to the
purchase of the engagement ring,
as exhibited by the checks Issued.
The progress of a drinking bout
was even more apparent from the
first wavering until the final capit
ulation. All of these bits of human interest
or human frailty were as securely
locked away in the minus of the
employes as was the cash In the
mult at night, and have passed
from memory ss have the persons
concerned In them.
Msny interesting and exciting
tilings filled the lives of the small
banking force of this old Klamath
County bank and a few of the In
cidents In which the partirlpanla
vera not local characters could be
related now with no fear of In
discretion. During the time the
tank waa housed In the building
concerned In thla paper Klamath
rcunty waa enjoying local option.
Bootlegger
With local option there er
always professional bootlegger, tine
of these, now long dead, and who
ma not named Ben Brown but who
for the sake of brevity will be so
railed, had been caught, convicted
and sentenced to 30 days in the
cvunty Jail and a tine of $500. He
had a substantial bank account and
the ahertff brought him Into the
bank where he wrote a check fur
the $500 and presented It to A. R.
Orb) Campbell fur payment.
Orb walked Into the vault and
Leslie Rngera told him that there
aa a wrapped package of cur
rency containing $500 In the man
ganese sale. Ork picked It up and
walked back to his window, but
Leslie remembered that he had
wrapped $1000 Instead of $500, and
called thla Information to Orb.
which the latter did not hear and
the package wa handed to Den.
That night when the boys went lo
balance, of course they were altnrt
silently rashed. Brown took (lie
money, walked across to Leslie
window and thrust It through, say
ing: Conscience
"Boys, I thought I could be a
llilpf but I llnd I can't. When my
wife and I counted the thousand
we figured could pay the fine
and have our money too, but I can't
do II." Boon after that he left Hie
community and later w heard of
his death.
In talking litis old lnry over wllh
Orb last night over the phone I
heard him murmur: "Dumb trick
not to count the money before giv
ing It to Brown.
"However, we had no labeled
wrapiwra In those days, currency
was Utile used a gold was the
medium of exchange and while it
may seem odd today. It was ex
cusable considering Hie customs at
the time. The boys and Alex and I
vera all very happy to watch the
drslructlon of the two notes."
Main Hirer t Abuss
All of Main street was abuss one
morning wllh a story that a one
legged man named Dork lagain the
rime la fictitious) had drifted into
tin n. contacted a real estate man
and Indicated a hunger for cousid
Dork. Hist night he hired a jilney
and was driven lu Alturas. In Hi
morning alien the Jilney driver got
up and sought hi passenger to
collect the far the passenger had
slipped away and ha not been
heard from since.
Alex Martin a president of III
bank at that time and his language
aa both picturesque and potent.
Many pithy sayings are still In us
which were originated by Mr. Mar
tin, "Uncle Jerry" to many.
One day Alex Jr. had an Inquiry
about some lota which had oeen
platted by a promoter, who happily
as not a local man. The Iota had
been told by thl Easterner lo school
teacher, clerical worker and others
In the eastern stales under the
representation that Klamalh Kails
waa a town with a future, whlrh It
a as, and that the loia could well
mskt a fortune for a buyer.
Fanciful
As the lota were located over Hie
ridge behind -the present Hut
Hprlngs addition, thla waa rather
fanciful. Alex handed Mr. Martin
the teller and said: "What shall I
tell thrrrt the lot are worth, dad
"Tell thrill 111 lol just lck six
bila of being worth a damn."
rumbled Ills father. From that Urn
on the bank force had a good
phrase to expres perfect worthless
less. Upstair over Ilia bank two young
attorney had Just hung out their
shingles, Horace Manning and
Klchard Blior i Dick i Hinllh, tha
Inller still a Columbia football hero.
An older attorney. Judge Drake, alio
h.ng since passed away, also had
his office up there. Judge wa a
brilliant lawyer but addicted to
moody spells which culminated In
heavy drinking.
t'allliful ('onipanlan
He had an Immense m. Bernard
d with great, bloodshot eyea, and
this f nil lit ill companion always tried,
lih not much success, lo guide the
Judge' wavering footsteps. The two
were a fiuiilllar sight along Main
sliert in those days when everyone
knew everyone else.
On 4th street III III am build
ing wllh the bank. Don J. Zumwalt,
(Continued on Pag 231
$500. and comparing notes they lei able local property. He displayed
knew where the shortage ws. i a draft for $40,000 on a New York
The two boys went over to Ihe bank and eskrd In be Introduced
lap and asked Brown for the mouev. , to a bank here. The real estate
Hi .declared that he and his wife agent took him to a local bank, not
had both counted It and found It the Klaninth County, and Dork de
contained only $500 which had been j posited the draft. Professing the
turned over to the sheriff. KiieTullv , nerd for some cash to make deposits
the boys returned to the bank and on imierty the bank advanced him
decided to await the return of
Alex Martin Jr cashier and man
ager of the bank from his Portland
trip. Upon Alex's return he was
tirmedlately told and he got Hie
sheriff to bring Brown over to his
office. There he faced the boot
legger and said: "Ben. both the
ginoo agalnH Hie collection. That
night the tlHiusand dollars accom
panied by Mr. Dork left th com
munity forever
I'orgrry
The draft, nf course. as returned
from New York as a forgery. Some
time nearly a month afterward
boys know you got $1000. and Miss arother real estate broker, also long
Momyer knows It. and It's up lo
you to return the $500 "
That Waa Thai'
"Honest. Alex, there was only t500
in the package." the man declared,
so that waa that. Leslie and Orb
decided that one waa as much to
blame as the other so each signed
a note for $350 and prepared to fare
since dead brought a man to th
Klnmath Countv bank. Introducing
him to Alex, and this man produced
a draft for the same sum as Dork's.
$40,000. drawn on our correspondent
New York bank, the Chase National.
The man laughed as he presented
the large draft and said he under
stood one nf the bank had had
some lean months, for $500 was i the misfortune to advance money
quite a pocketful of money In those I rgalnst a large New York draft some
days. At the end of the 30-day tail i time before, but he simply wished
sentence Brown walked into Ihe i to leave thl with us for collection
bank and stopped at the square ! and would not presume to ask for
table which stood in the center of
the lobby. Orb was at hi window
and Leslie at the other, and the
thought went through each mind
that Brown waa preparing to with
draw his account.
Presently the man presented a
check to Orb for $500. which Orb
an advance on it. That night Alex
smt a night letter to New York
and learned that this was snother
forgery.
To Alturaa
The man had evidently committed
himself to the real estate broker
before he had heard the story of
'
MCE
Saturday
October 29
MAUN
Music by
Oregon Hillbillies
i o g o n o b o on o o 00 o'o'O'o 8 8 8 8 fft 8888 sfi's m s0 s a s 8 8 8 88 8 roTaTo'STn 0 T 1 1 T ' ' IIIIHH ill mimllHtllltHI IIIIT1
E
Wonderful!.. for parlies O
Ask fee HOOD'S CHEEZ'O POPCORN
SALTED NUT MEATS Other Products
:f.x.,-.--' ' . , . ,: J
" Tifii1 TnlTr iniYrrrff rrmri -fr iir rftirnias I line, isrifowrtMT iltir-wrttpVrt
RIB ROAST
is just one
of the fine
cuts of beef
1 1 that go into
A liearty "main dish" for
LESS THAN 20
A SERVING!!
I
y
tSveXVe. x-ir, ,,. Hbtij, ttfU-.-if: Afr Str A s
MNNtSON-S FOOD MrOOOCTS. OafctW - $(
Your Convertible Coat
a irarm lining in and ont
depending on ihe ireaiher
All Wool Worsteds ot vonrse!
eSJ I
' l .Jm M - T. V
if
..'if
I Pj Vfcw k W 0 NMU R I
Gabardines
Men's Wear
Sharl
Fleeces
igNeiv Shipment
Just Arrived
Black
Brown
Green
Gray
Wine
i M.i.t..J.. a a i A.-JU o..t.o..8.8j a ,a...aj a 8.a....a.aj a 1 1 1 1 1 it t a 1 1 1 1 1 a e t t 1 1 a o o e o o o o o o o o m e n a a o n c o o o o o . WJ Q