INQUIRY AGENT’S CLAIM.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2415, 8 April 1922, Page 3

INQUIRY AGENT’S CLAIM.

A VISIT TO FOXTON

The hearing of a claim for £l4 6s 8d made l>.y Samuel Free, inquiry agent, against Effie M. A. Rider, occupied some time in the Wellington Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. Mr .1. S. Evans, S.M., was on the Bench. Plaintiff said that on 6th April he had been engaged by the defendant to inquire into the relations existing between certain parties. He went to Foxton for the purpose of conducting these inquiries. He had received the sum of £lO from Mrs Rider, but this lie regarded as a deposit to cover expenses. He denied having made arrangements to do the work for £lO. The claim was made up of fees at a guinea a day and £9 12s Bd. To Mr Perry: Some agents charged as much as £SO on handling a case. His usual charge was £25, and if he completed his inquiry within a. montli he considered lie had done well. The defence, said Mr Perry, was that there had been an arrangement between the parties that Free should do the work for £lO, and, further, that the agent had spent more time in Foxton than was necessary. The defendant, gave evidence to the effect that there was an agreement that the work should be done for £lO. Percy W. Jackson, a member of the legal firm of Wilford, Levi, and Jackson, said tlmt Mrs Rider had brought him a receipt for £lO from Mr Free. The receipt stated that the amount was for services, and not on account of services. It had since been mislaid. Mr Evans: “If the receipt can’t he produced, Mr Jackson’s evidence is of little or no value.” The Magistrate said that il was unreasonable to expect the agent should do the work for £lO. Judgment was given for plaintiff for the amount claimed and £4 3s costs. — Post.