SHEEPFARMER'S LOSSES.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17120, 15 April 1921, Page 3

SHEEPFARMER'S LOSSES.

MEETING OF CREDITORS. A meeting of creditors in the assigned estate of William Henry Conway, eheepfarmer, of Governor's Bay, was held in the Official Assignee'., office yesterday afternoon. Mr H. D. Acland appeared for the bankrupt.- There were five creditors present. The bankrupt's statement showed that the unsecured creditors who had filed proofs of debt were: D, Sinclair, Lyttelton, £l7 13s 10"d i C. H. Agar and Co., £2l Is 7d; JN'.Z. Farmers' Co-op., £1 2a 8d; Cbristchurch Technical College, £2 10s; Wilding, Acland, and Murchrson, £lO 4s; Alex. Hobbs, farm-labourer, £2O. Total, £72 ISsW. The only secured creditor was the N.Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., Ltd., the amount of debt stated being £3373 lis 4d, and the estimated value of security £469. The other liabilities were £3B 5s -3d, on account of the Mt. Herbert County Council. Proof of the latter was put in by Mr George Mitchell, who said that the rates were due The assets wero set down at £220, being £2OO for furniture, and £2O for stock (a gig). This left a total deficiency of £2/95 8s lOd. The bankrupt's statement sot out that on November Ist, 1918, ho purchased from Martin Brophey the properties situated at Governor's Bay, leased'-from the Rapaki Natives, and from George "Mitchell, respectively, and paid £IOOO for the goodwill. He also purchased the Btock then on the,property, being 500' lambs and 900 ewes, and other stock, to the value of £2150. The ewes were valued for the purposes of the sale at £2 per head. The N.Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency Co. advanced the money on the sale; less the sum of £1205, which he paid them, and the company took a bill of sale over his stock.. In December, 1918,. there was a heavy storm after shearing, and he lost between 30 and 40 ■ewe's. Owing to the dry autumn in 1919, and the plague "of rabbits at Goyernor's Bay, he lost 150 ewes through starvation, and ho was obliged to sell the rest of his sheep, as ho had uo feed, 200 bringing 6s 6d each, and 450 13s 6d each. These were the sheep that he bought, at £2 per head. In th'o following spring he was obliged to buy ewes at high priceß, namely, 200 at 385,, and 179 at 27s This practically wiped out the £1205 he had put into the farm, and he had had to work on an overdraft since 1919, which doubled the rent payable in respect of the land. He was just managing to carry on the- farm when the present slump came, and ho was obliged, to file his "petition. The Assignee (Mr'A. "W. F/ames) said :that the bill of sale held by the New Zealand Loan and>.Mercantile Co. was in order.' ; :: • . ' " „ In' renly to the Assignee,. Conway ' said that the harness for tho gig had been overlooked in making up the list of the assets. The horse came under the bill of sale. There,were a dray and harness, a separator, some sacks, • and other wings on the farm, but He bad.ihcluded a spray pump, lawnmower, and other articles among the furniture' assessed at £2OO/ The lease' of the 336-acrefarm had six and a' half years to run from May, and the lease of the 400-acre farm had five and a. half years to run. Mr E. M. Edgar, who represented the N.Z. Loan and. Mercantile Agency C 0.," said all would agree that Conway had had extremely hard Tuck. As a representative of the lnrgest creditor, he moved that the debtor be allowed to retain the whole of his household furniture. ' The motion was Beconded. by Mr Bruce, and carried unanimously. It was resolved to leave the disposal of the other assets in the hands of tho Official Assignee. . . I .At the conclusion of the meeting the ! bankrupt thanked the creditors for tho generous manner in which he had been j treated. .