COURT OF APPEAL

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2276, 9 October 1914, Page 3

COURT OF APPEAL

AN AGREEMENT IN DISPUTE OIL4BORING OPERATIONS The Court of Appoal'sittings were resumed yesterday, when His Honour Mr. Justice Denniston presided. Associated with him were Mr. Justice Edwards, Mr. Justice Sim, and.Mr. Justice Hosking. The case beforo the' Court concerned the interpretaton of a memorandum of agreement entered into on April 30, 1912, between John Henry.Herman and Bernard Jacob Weger, both drilling engineers of . Wellington,. on the one part, and Frederick Oassin, land and estate agent, of Hastings, on the other part. The matter originally came before the Supreme Court in July last in the form of an originating summons asking for a decision under the Declaratory Judgments Act, 1908. Tho plaintiff was the Herman and Wegor Manufacturing and Contracting Co., Ltd., of Palmerston North (now tho appellant), and the defendant was the Mangaone Oilfields, Ltd., of Napier (now tho respondent). The agreement between the parties was as to certain oil-boring operations near Napier. The principal question before the Court related to the matter of casing in a well, which had been sunk, and to whether the Herman and Weger Company had to leavo the casing in the well or whether the company was • entitled to remove it?. , And, if the.company was not entitled to remove the casing, was it (the Herman and Weger Co.) obliged to bear the expense of the purchase of casing for the second well. His Honour tho Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout), who heard the case, ruled that tho defendant could: order that the casing could be left in the first well; also that plaintiff was .bound to supply the casuig .used in the second woll, except so much as may have been directed by the defendant to bo loft in the first well. The plaintiff company was directed to pay £10 10s. costs to defendant. : From this decision the Herman and Weger Company now appealed, on tho ground that it was erroneous in law. Mr. C.P. Skerrett, K.C., with him Mi'. G. Samuel, appeared for the appellant company, while Sir John Findlay, K.C., with him Mr. H. B. Lusk, of Napier, .appeared for the respondent company j' It was mentioned in the course of argument that the amount involved in the action was between' £1000 and JtIGOO. Tho Court reserved decision.