YESTERDAY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 147, 19 June 1878, Page 2

YESTERDAY.

. Payne r. Coiher. . '_: Action to recover JE2I, being commission at 3£ per cent for valuing £606. worth of furniture and effects at the Masonic' Hotel, at which plaintiff was engaged from the.22rd to the 25th May inclusive. t)e£endant paid 4£ 16 3s 6d and 14s ;4d costs into Court. Mr Bunny appeared for the plaintiff and Mr ' Pitt for the defendant. J ■ Thomas Payne statad that he had performed the. work, which took him four days, and that he had charged 3 J per cent, which he considered a faircharge. 8. T&. Mabin stated that the ordinary Charge for valuation was 5 per cent, except in cases where a special bargain had been made.,. " . Cross-examined : Did not know of any • case in which 5 per cent had been chargad on stock over £500. : • Francis Pickering deposed that the ordinary charge for valuing was 5 per cent. Had never valued any furniture himself. John James had been engaged by Mr Gilmer to value for him for a lump sum of £20. W. Stallard, publican, had. paid 5 per cent for the valuation of £150 w'orlh of stock. This was the case for the plaintiff. Mr Pitt, for the defence, Urged that the charge was an unreasonable one, as the valuation had taken but a'very short time. He called * ~ Thomas Cotber, who-stated that the tiras occupied in the Valuation was oniy a fewhours. He had handed to Payne an estimate of the value of £60 worth of, the furniture including the gas and water fittings, which Payne had adopted without ever looking at them. - John Jervis had had some experience in the valuation of public house stock, for which 2£ per cent was the usual charge. Cross-examined: Payne had charged iin 3J per cent and he had paid it. J. Tregea said that the usual charge was 2£ per cent Nathaniel Edwards had been in business in i Nelson. Tho usual charge for valuation was 5 per cent on the gross valuation, half being paid by each side. He thought 24 per cent a fair amount to pay. The charges he was referring to were 15 years ago. T. Field was present when Cother handed . to Payne the valuation of the gass fittings. This closed the evidence, and connsel on both sides having addressed the Bench] His Worship said that no agreement appeared to have been made, and it was left to him to find out what was a fair price. The weight of evidence was clearly in favor of the plaintiff, for whiom judgment would be given for £1 12s over and above the amount paid into Court, and £7 14s costs.