BANKRUPTCY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 29 January 1909, Page 2

BANKRUPTCY.

ESTATE OF TAYLOR AND MOORE. MEETING OF CREDITORS. At the first meeting of creditors in the estate of Taylor and Moore, engineers, of Nelson, the following creditors were present : — Messrs Frank (Buxton aud Co.), W. Rogers (Anchor Co.), .1. A Cass. J. Taylor. Mr Maginnity (for Mr and Mrs Ernest Oakey), Mr E. B. Moore (for Messrs Pitt and Moore and Mr Henry Moore), Mr Fell (for D.0.A.), and MiAtkinson (for the bankrupts) were also present. The D.O.A. road the following sworn s|ateu<ent by the bankrupts : — On September 12th, 1907, we commenced business ;is Taylor, Freebury and Moore, and purchased the plant of Messrs Langlands and Oakey, and obtained a four ycers' lease of premises from Mrs Oakey. Fri'ebury was unable tr find his share' of the capital stipulated in the deed of partnership, and on the 'Sth November, 1907, he withdrew. This left us short of cash, and with expenses we did not anticipate, viz., a moulder's wages. Before commencing we were promised £500 at a low rate of interest, but after taking ever the plar-t and making the necessary agreements the promiser refused to advance ;.ny money ; therefore we started at a sreat disadvantage, with insufficient capital Ths moulding department never paid its own way, and was run at a loss throughout. We v ere repe.-itodly promised ca;ting work by the City Engineer, but never got an order The rest of the business, however, paid fairly well. We have had the business up for sale for some time, have had several inquiries, but have done no business. Wo have sunk all our money in the concern, have worked hard and at all hours to try to maJko ends meet, but for some time have been much harassed by one or two of our creditors, who were threatening proceedings, and we were unable to pay them. We then considered that iwie oould not tarry on any longer without capital, and we were totally unable to pay our debts. The only honourable course was for us to file, so after carefully valuing our assets and finding that our estate would pay 20s in in the £, and being unable to realise it ourselves, we decided to do so. We have been in business 17 mouths. We have lost during that lime ;5303 Is 10 of uur .ffn monc^ or whicli £195 9s belonged to Moore and £165 12s 4d to Taylor. Wo have drawn out of the bu_.ine.-s for our own use tl,- sum of £70 5s 6d, of which £30 vj.- evp'.ndtd on the firm's business, leaving only a sum of £40 5s 6d for wages lor both of us over the period named, which works out at about the sum of £1 3s 6d a month each. The causes of our failure have been insufficient, capital, slackness of trade, difficulty in getting in cash, and inability to sell onr business. In evident c, under examination by tha D.0.A., tha bankrupts stated : — We had personally very little cash, but the Taylors lent us about £127, and Mrs Taylor guaranteed the firm to the bank for an overdraft of £40, this £40 still being owing. We gave £220 for the moulding shop and furnaces. We have been trying to sell the business since Easter, when we were solvent. We made a log-hauler for Mr Baigent, Nydia Bay, the cost being £300. We received the sums of £50 and £60, but we had to pay £50 for demurrage. The £60 was received on the 25th December last. Mr Baigent gave us a bill for £200, which bill is at present held by Andrews and Manthell, of Wellington. We owed this firm £80 or £90, and allowed them to hold it for the debt owing. We did not part with the right to the bill. The bill is now the property of the estate. We understood that Andrews and Manthell were to hold the bill on our account for their convenience. We have received no cash or any receipt for debt. We tried to discount the bill, but were unable to do so. Had we been successful we could have continued for a short time longer. The wSneh and augurs belonged to Mr Langlands. It was in settlement of a contra account. We are working at the present time at the Aorere bridge on daily wages of 12s a day each. This work will continue for another four months. We have our tools with us, but the total value of same is not more than £7. Replying to Mr Frank, bankrupts said that the cash receipts for the past 15 moths would be £1000 or £1200. The D.O.A. explained that nearly all the machinery and plant was held by Mr Henry Moore, whose debt amounted to about £360. Mrs Oakey had put in the bailiffs, but Mr Moore had paid Mrs Oakoy's chargj and he was now in possession. He * did not think Mr Moore's security would realise more than the amount of the lif!>, and unless the creditors decidrd olherw'se, he should disclaim Mr Moore's security and the lease. There were arti. les an the premises valued by the bankrupt at about £130, and thes-e he would realise to the best advantage After some discussion as to which articles belonged to Mrs Ernest and on other matters connected with the firm's transactions, the meeting was adjourned sine die. Sir Maginnity expressed satisfaction at the manner in which the bankrupts had given their evidence. He considered that they had acted straightforwardly throughout, r__.d their bankrupcy was due to misfortune.