Rensselaer Republican, Volume 28, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 December 1895 — Bankrupt. [ARTICLE]

Bankrupt.

This .word is derived from tv,6 ftaliau ones, banco rotto, broken bench; l>ecß.use bankers and morelibn'ts used sfoymerly to Count their njoney and write bills of exchange on benches in the street, and, when a banker or merchant l<sjt his Credit and was unable to pay his debts, his bench was broken.