THE MISSING BANK MANAGER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5579, 29 March 1886, Page 2

THE MISSING BANK MANAGER.

* Tbe Remarkable Features of Mr Holt's Disappearance. An Impenetrable Mystery. (Per «.s. Wairarapa— Telegraphed from ihe Bluff.) [Special to thh "Stab."] A sensation was created in commercial circles in Sydney and Melbourne on Saturday, March 20, by the rumour thai th» manager of the Bank of Now Zealand at Sydney, Mr E. B. Holt, had absconded. The report spread and caused excitement, all manner of curioua speculations as to the cauße being indulged in. It appears that aboutten day b ago, on account of certain irregularities Mr Holt was suspended by the General manager, Mr Mu p ray, who arrired from Auckland per the Alameda on Friday. Mr Holt did not attend at th« Bank, and enquiries being made at his private house, his wife, on being closely questioned, said her husband had left Sydney. Mr Murray states that although a thorough investigation is being wm\« there are at prenont no grounds for supposing that the position of tlio Bank is at all affected by Mr Holt's transactions, aud no occasion for alarm for the Bank itself. It is bettered that llr Holt went overlar.'l t« Melbourne, to catch the 8.8. Auetral.

Mr Holt h»B occupied the position of Manager of the Sydapy Branch for more jflum ten years. During that period he has been the recipient of nn excellent salary, which with most uien would have tempted them to Beck retirement within their own locial circle, and heed not the solicitations «f those imbued with the spirit of granping •varioiously after phantom wealth. Not so with Mr Holt, who i-- said to have foundhimself irretrievably involved in the inches of ill-starred speculation. He was a Bhrewd, far-seeing, thoroughgoing financier, and when entering upon the treacherous sea of speculation, his venturer were marked by extreme caution. The sequel was, however, » sad catalogue of financial disaster. Ho was emboldened by a first success to make more rigorous plunges. One speculative icheme after another was tried, but all with the same result. Latterly he had taken a great fancy for horse-racing; but misfortune agaiu dotcged his ptepa. His position in the financial world was so good, and. his connection so influential, thai doubt was at once disarmed. The almost universally accredited rumour that he has absconded, is met by a circum- ( stance which tend* rather to deny such allegation. It is well-nigh certain that £t was all the rroney he had in his possession i when he left the Bank on Thursday. There are circumstances connected with hiß last known actions which would seem to indicate an unsettled miud. Then cornea the queetion, if he has not absconded, what has become of him P The surroundings of hit departure are enveloped in a cloud of iirpenetrable mystery. The Argus of Maruh 23 says Mr Holt's friendß were hoping that hiß absence was either accidental or due to illness; but there is now no doubt as to his disappearance. Mr Holt, when in Melbourne recently, was ander the care of l)r Fitzgerald, who ■tated that he was suffering from braia disease. [Pan Phjbq Association.] Stdnit, March 28. Considerable excitement has been caused kere by the mysterious disappearance of MrE. B. Holt, manager of the local branch •f the Bank of New Zealand. Every nook and haunt and rendezvous has been searched, but his whereabouts is unknown. He was laßt seen on Thursday evening. Aa manager of the Bank he was moat assiduous in the discharge of hia duties, his business affairs being left ia the most complete state. Conjecture oaaaot find a pretext for his disappearance. On hie non-appearance at the Bank on Friday, enquiries were made at his house, but Mrs Holt was in a Bimilar Btate of doubt and uncertainty. She had received a letter from her husband, but could givo ao information as to his whereabouts. It appears that Mr Holt had been speculating heavily and disastrously, lately in homo racing.