Show A of jhb illinois failures second vice president of alio defunct national bank of illinois drowns himself in alie ica waters of lake gan during last nights storm the trouble racked man takes his own life the second suicide chicago jan 2 william A hammond who was second vice president of the tailed national bank of illinois went from his home partly dressed and antly demented about 2 this morning and leaving a trail of torn and twisted private papers in hie path sought the camster street pier from which he threw himself into the icy waters of lake michigan to obtain relief from the troubles have piled upon him in the last two weeks the body was found shortly after noon at the foot of church whither it had been carried by the undertow it was taken to the morgue where an inquest was held tee intelligence of the bankers self destruction closely following that of banker otto ft was a distressing shock to chicago bankers and the friends of the dead man although not altogether a surprise to who knew under what a terrible strain mr II ammond had been living since he had been held up to the public scorn by a chicago newspaper as the wrecker of the national bank of illinois a charge which is indignantly characterized as a malicious lie by the suicides intimate friends and lawyer although despondent to nn unusual last night mr hammond gave no warning to friend or family and there is nothing in the circumstances surround aug his tragic bcd which would warrant the asumption that he contemplated killena hi shortly babore 11 last night he telephoned from his home to that of his closest friend in the suburban town percy palmer to learn if he was at borne as he wished to pay him visit bain was falling heavily but mr hammond insisted on making the call mr palmer saw that bis friend was in bad shape physically and mentally he appeared to be a broken man in every way in conversation with mr palmer his mind wandered he said he must realize by bis is in his fifee name he refused to be encouraged by held out for future usefulness hie visit was brief and declining the offer of M palmer to accompany him chome or take a waterproof oat cr umbrella to protect him from the heavy rainfall mr hammond returned to bis hume on foot he must have walked unnecessarily in the rain because it was after 1 when mrs hommond baw him enter the house he taiko a little while with her and seemed to be bitte more cheerful their 2 year old child had been restless for beveral nights and mrs hammond was GO fatigued lati gued that elect soundly in a room adjoining that in mr hammond went to retire apparently the anby was eleen arith its mother abacut mrs was conscious of some one entering her room and ebe supposed mr hammond had come in their rooms by an unlocked door it is believed the trouble racked father entered imprint a kies on b lit ie child tt was nearly 6 when mrs hammond woke and nac once no iced that the door leading to her husbands room was ajar farther than was customary and lis absence aroused all her latent fears for his fate bamily friends near by were hurriedly summoned to search for the men and notify the police aimey J moore and geo S lord old friends walked tu an old an old pier at the foot ot dempster estreet not far from the hammond homestead and their cusp chions and ear wire verified by finding a trail of torn paper with mr hammonds signature on some the banker crazed condition was indicated by the manner ft in which he had scattered and torn and twisted hie private papers during hie melancholy journey to hie death standing on the per be dropped more ot bib capere which quickly clang to the wood because of the beating rain the discovery of this clue confirmed all eare that mr dammond was no longer lire and were made to drag the lake the ead news was borne to chicago and to the family but was received with much incredulity at first aben the body was removed aiom the shallow water it waa found to be in underclothes trousers coat and felt hoes showing tint the benl man bad dressed in baste 1 n u pocket wae fouad ft memorandum written by mr um mond on a letter head ol 01 parson latach md company the promoters and chief owners of the calumet electric street railroad it contained the following items december 16 national bank of illinoia foreign exchange bank of illinoia outside loans jollet national 20 EGO rawford shawmut independence national mercantile national wolf total inte reef note national bank of illinois note on calumet these figures are significant on the foreign exchange item corresponding to the amount which mr hammond ia accused of carrying on the bank books to that account when the really represented an extra loan on calumet electric bonds and in the total amount corresponding to the total loaned on calumet electric security by the bank ten days ago a local morning paper published a sensational and lengthy attack upon the dead man aronesty ab as an officer of the bank of illinois it directly accused him of wrecking the institution of playing the role 0 kiter ot peculating with other peoples money of practicing carefully planned deception on his fellow directors and the deposit ore for years and scaling the lips of president schneider ba allowing the accounts of wei ss and berger tons in law of the president lapass eafe bonds this paper alleged he has violated wilfully and deliberatively the law which ia supposed to protect the public from the operations of such aa he referring to these charges friends of mr II ammond united in declaring that they had driven him to his death receiver mckeon of the bank of illinois said mr hammoud bad been daily at the bank to assist him and nothing had been said by him which would have led the suicide to suspect criminal prosecution mr II ammond bad been employed in chicago banks for twenty five years beginning as a messenger and being beadi ly promoted from the beginning of bis employment in the failed bank most of his fortune waa invested in the banks stock although he was prominently interested te in other banks insurance and other companies he leaves tour young children he carried life insurance mrs II ammond is in a serious condition tonight would have been prosecuted washington jan 2 had W A hammond second vice president of the national bank of illinois be would in all probability have been prosecuted had the investigation warranted such proceedings comptroller eckels said tonight that he had sent general and specific instructions to examiner mckeon in charge of the institution to investigate the whole subject thoroughly and if he found criminal violation of the law to have occurred to present the matter to the district attorney for action in the courte these instructions will still apply to the case and a rigid investigation is being made who wm be the next suicide chicago jan 2 the case of alleged taking of a deposit of from frank kennedy a faloon keeper by the banking firm of E S dreyer and when the owners of the baak knew they were insolvent was callej before justice of the peace hall this afternoon robert berger one of the defendants wae in court with chae wacker the bondsman and mr dreyer was represented by bis attorney the senior partner is lying at his cleveland avenue home in serious and mental condition and the defense asked for a continuance of ten days which was readily agreed to by the prosecution the bonds were accordingly renewed for a hearing january 12 the fact that vica president hammond of the national bank of illinois had committed suicide was known at the time and bondsman wacker voiced his deaia by asking justice hall it mr dreyer killed himself what effect would it have on my bonda it was reported tha mr dreyers yera mental condition was the cause of much apprehension among the bankers relatives and friends and his physician bad ordered a strict watch to be kept en his movements at home mr dreyer is buffering from an old kidney trouble |