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Show y.res. most striking of which Is a stb. ' tern of piping for live steam doslgnd tn quickly parboil any misguided per sen bent upon burglary One of the officials of tho National t lty bank spent tho greater part of year studying every bank building throughout tho country, and mony suggestions for fixtures and equipment ero borrowed, particularly from wsst. ern Institutions. All messages pass to and fro from a distinct department In the basement, a department store car-rier car-rier and a pneumatic tub sorvico expedite tho handling of 45,00 check dally, cablo and telegraph communication communi-cation Is direct these are & few of tho ideas borrowed from other banks. Tho bank's four hundred employes will f.re well with their own kitchens and dining rooms, and a great assembly loom for conference and oclal purposes. pur-poses. There Is evta provision for a Miniature roof garden, and there Is also an unobstructed encircled promenade, prom-enade, extending around tho roof, ot sufriclont length and olzo for a wcil-fllled wcil-fllled Marathon race. Tho National City bank Is Just four years short of the century mark na regards age. At tho time of Its forma-tlon. forma-tlon. In 1S12, there woro eight other b-viir in New York whose total capitalisation cap-italisation was J7.552.7C0. There wera only olghty-elght banks In tho whole country, with a combined capitalization capitaliza-tion of $42,610,601. In 1830 the number num-ber had grown to S29, with a capitalization capital-ization of $114,192,260. Ten years later the number was 741; capitalization. capitaliza-tion. 52S8.209.622. In 1860 tho banks numbered 1,562, and the capltaliza- tlon had grown to $423.66 1.1CS. In these ninety-six yearn the National City bank has had ten presidents Much of Its early prosperity was duo to Moses Taylor, who for forty-fivo years was a director, and for twenty-six twenty-six years was president In 1882 ho was succeeded by Percy R, Pyne, and In 1891 James Stillman -was olectod president. Mr. Stillman at once sought to broaden tho influence ot tho National City bank, and as he and the Taylor estate owned a controlling interest in the institution, the work of developing Its resources was left very largely to Mr. Stillman. He brought various other strong interests into the directorate, and it now Includes such naraeB as Henry C. Frlck of Pittsburg, ' Cleveland H. Dodgo of the Phelps-Dodge Phelps-Dodge copper and brass Interests, E. H. Harrlman, chairman of the Union Pacific railroad: Cyrus H. McCormlck, president of the International Harvester Har-vester company; George W. Perkins of J. P. Morgan & Co.; William Rockefeller Rockefel-ler of the Standard Oil company, and Jacob Schiff of Kuhn, Loeb & Co. Other directors are Francis M. Bacon, Charles S. Falrchlld. Joseph P. Grace, Edwin S. Mareton. Stephen S. Palmer, James A. Post, M. Taylor Pyne. James A. Stillman, Samuel Sloane, John V. New York city banks and many of the Sterling, Henry A. C. Taylor. P. A. Valentine, Moses Taylor and William D. Sloane. In 1901 Frank A. Vandet , Hp, who had been assistant secretary of tho treasury with Lyman G. Gage, was elected vico president, and ho haJ since taken an active part in tho bank's management. The first homo of tho National City bank was in the banking house of tho old United States branch bank, and Ita present occupancy of the Custom House is a fitting symbol of Its historical histor-ical relationship with the national gov eminent. The National City bank and the war with Great Britain began together, to-gether, and In that first year of its history his-tory It took a hand in federal finances, subscribing $500,000 to the government loan of 1813. Thla helpful relation ship with tho national governments financial requirements has been a con tinuing policy ever since. The National City bank was a mew ber of the syndicate which subscribe for the entire Issue of Spanish-American war loan. It also arranged for thj transfer of the $20,000,000 payment made to Spain for the Philippine Islands. Is-lands. Its close connection with other banking institutions have been constantly con-stantly broadened and developed. Thla relationship now extends to various But the fact of greatest interest and largest European banking institutions, importance is the National City' rolo tion6hip to the country at largtf through its offices as New York correspondent corres-pondent of one or more banking Institutions Insti-tutions in practically every Important city and town in tho country. NATIONAL BANK OF N. Y. ! LARGEST IN AMERICA The National City Bank of New York, the largest , banking institution in America, has moved Into Its new building on Wall street. The removal wnc a simple matter of crossing tho street from its old home at 52 Wall s.treet, and the transfer of the bank's enormous holdings of cash and so-curities so-curities was accomplished as easily as If they had been a few bundles of everyday merchandise. . it is necessary to go to some o tho j great central government banVs cf Europe to find an Institution whoso j resources comparo with those of tho National City bank. Its total assets ! recently touched the record figures of 372,849,000, a sum sufficient to pay off the national debts of Mexico and all the Central American countrle?. A few months prpvious the, cash reserve re-serve of this institution was nearly $100,000,00. Early in November gross deposits touchod the high figure ot $308,778,000. The new home of the National City bank in the rebuilt custom house is worthy of America's largest banking institution. A. year ago the old custom cus-tom house, which entirely occupies a city block on lower Wall street, was turnod over to the builder. The In-' In-' terior was completely removed, but ' the granite walls, with tho familiar ' Ionic columns, were left practically I untouched. The architects, Messrs, I McKlm, Mead & White, solved tho ' problem of raising tho structure four ! $;tories and converting It Into a modern I banking domicile without changing the i building's architectural character and tradition. By adding r. Corinthian col-j col-j ennado and adhering strictly to a Bcbeme of classic simplicity, it Is be-ileved be-ileved that an admirable result h33 ) been obtained. The altered structure has certainly lost none of Its former monumental character, whilo the al teiatlons have made It a commodlaus and most Interesting homo for a bank. Tho entire lower sectlou Is given over to a great banking chamber, whose celling is sixty feet high; it is eighty-three feet to tho top of tho central dome, and the two solid bronze ioors on the Wall stret portal are tho largest In the world. There is nothing noth-ing In the way of balconies or pas-rage pas-rage ways to mar the open effect of this huge domed chamber. The ch?r-acler ch?r-acler of this Interior is that of ex-tiemo ex-tiemo simplicity, and tho whole color Echemo Is monotone. The columns, panels, ballustrades. etc., nro of a very light gray Italian stone, and the floor la of smoothed stone jdabs irora France. Tho only color tbat enters into the scheme of this banKlng room 1j duo to the presence of a few solid bronze fittings and the dull mahogany furniture. Tho glass dome is n slmpla combination of dull, uncolored glass and bronze. The groat armor plate safe, weighing weigh-ing three hundred toim. Is Jn tho center cen-ter of the building, and It 13 bare or disguise or ornament. The architects frankly treated It as a great strongbox. strong-box. Incidentally, this hugo info has certain twentieth century safety fcat- |