MATAWAI BUTCHER

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20127, 22 December 1939, Page 9

MATAWAI BUTCHER

DEFICIENCY OF £329 MEETING OF CREDITORS ADJOURNED SINE DIE A meeting of creditors to whom a Matawai butcher, Leslie Jones, was indebted was conducted yesterday morning by the official assignee, Mr. E. G. 'Rhodes, and adjourned sine die. Unsecured creditors were owed £550 Is 2d and secured creditors £llO 7s 7d, the estimated value of the securities being £164. The assets totalled £220 6s sd, including book debts valued at £159 3s 6d, and estimated to produce £IOO. The deficiency was £329.14s 9d. Mr. A. A. Whitehead appeared for the bankrupt, and there were also present Mr. M. R. Maude, acting for Mr. Young, Te Karaka, Mr. N. Bennett for Messrs. Common, Shelton and Company, Limited, Mr. Lewis Cameron for Cameron Brothers, Matawai, and Messrs. M. Doyle and R. B.ilham, In his personal statement the bankrupt said he was a married man aged 28 and had one child dependent upon him. The business was formerly a partnership that commenced in November, 1935. Following an accident to his partner he took over the business in August, 1937, and took responsibility for all the firm’s liabilities. The sum of £2ll 7s 7d was due to his partner for his share in the business and £BO 7s 7d remained unpaid. He attributed his position to lack of capital when he took over the business, heavy losses during the summer of 1937-38, excessive repair accounts for a delivery van, increased cost of petrol, and the fixation of retail prices while the market value of cattle almost doubled in two months. It became necessary for him to buy a new van on a hire purchase agreement, but it had since been repossessed by the owner. At present lie was engaged on casual work as a labourer and he could see no possibility of meeting his liabilities. Secured and Unsecured Creditors The unsecured creditors were:—B. Currie, Motuhora, £1 5s sd; R. Bilham, Matawai, £2B 10s; Redpath, Rakauroa, £6 17s 6d; F. Tombleson, Otoko, £7O; G. Smart, Rakauroa, £ls; R. Miller, Otoko, 17s 6d; W. R. Clark, Matawai, 18s Id; W. Evans, Otoko, £34 4s 8d; F. Kimber, Te Karaka, £8 18s; H. E. Burgess, Matawai, £l4; Myles Doyle, Matawai, £2l; C. Beets, Otdko, £4 10s; Williams and Kettle, Limited, Gisborne, £75 18s 9d; Common, Shelton and Company, Limited, Gisborne, £76 9s 3d; Derby Street Tyre Surgery, Gisborne,,£l3 16s 6d; Walter Findlay, Limited, Gisborne, £7 6s; Lane’s Bakery, Te Karaka, £3 15s; S. Oppenheimer, Gisborne, £5 8s; William H Wilson, Matawhero, £7 6s lid; D Clark, Te Karaka, £5 ss; Opotiki Bacon Company, £6 7s 9d; Henry Berrys, Limited, Auckland, £6 15s 6d; Farmers, Limited, Auckland, £3 Is; K. (B. Quirk, Limited, Matawai, £6 48s 9d; Durfold Press, Limited, Auckland, £3 14s; J. Hope, Matawai, £l9 18s 8d; Chas. Barnard and Son's, Limited, Auckland, £2 14s 9d; McCulloch, Butler and Spence, Gisborne, £ll 9s Id; Marine Department, Wellington, 4s sd; Waikohu County Council, Te Karaka, £1 14s 7d; Post and Telegraph Department, Matawai, 10s 4d; Les. Cameron, Matawai, £67 7s; R. E. Williams, Matawai, £4; iH. Hayden, Opotiki, £3; J. Emmerson, Matawai, £l2 7s.

Secured creditors were as follows, the estimated value of the' securities being given in parentheses:—A. Pritchard, Matawai, £®o 7s 7d (£ 125); A.M.P. Society, Gisborne, £2O (£23); Farmers’ Trading Company, Limited, Auckland, £lO (£l6). Business Operations

Jones was questioned at length by the official assignee on matters concernmg his business operations. To Mr. Maude, the bankrupt said he had kept no books since the partnership was dissolved. He knew it was an offence not to do so and had made attempts to keep a record of receipts and payments. Not all the takings were deposited in the bank, as he paid for his living expenses in cash, while other amounts were paid in keeping the business running without the money first having gone into the bankHis wife did not have any assets. ■ To Mr. Doyle, the witness said it was not until the beginning of November, 1939, that he realised that he would not be able to* carry on. He knew all the time from when he took the business over that it would be a hard struggle to make the business pay. He had known that Mr. Doyle’s overseer was a stranger to the district when he made a deal in stock with him. The bankrupt had offered a post-dated cheque in payment, but it was not accepted and a promise to pay on the twentieth of the month following the deal was made. On the motion of Mr. Bennett, seconded by Mr. Doyle, it was resolved to call for tenders to dispose of the chattels and the property owned by the bankrupt, a provision being that a cow and 13 fowls be handed back to Jones on the understanding that they be for the use and benefit of his wife.