GOTTA DA CAR

NZ Truth, Issue 1195, 25 October 1928, Page 8

GOTTA DA CAR

But Zaame Lbsta Dil

Money

: (PVom "N.Z. Truth's" Gisfborn'e^Re'^ * Ever since Adam and Eve start-^. Ed; the world's troubles as the re"^suit of their little picnic" fri the;'' apple orchard of the garden of Eden, man has developed the habit^l of regarding women as the root of^:' ..all evil. v '■;<*-- ;'■•'■■ ; - : ' :;'.;*; ■-•©' VNTONIO ZAAME should be the cap r *. ception to the rule, for the bulklflf his troubles lie at the'door^of^aVmotor^ car.;' '■■-•"." .'-. .;". ■". :■:>'■ :> r \ ■; ;*££ Of course, there had to be a membe<f of the tender sex m the case, but, £07 cording to Antonio's wife, if 'i| liatd hoi. been for the car the girl would -hgi have led Antonio astray, and if Ah£toriio. had not been led astray he would : riot-have been led to the registrar'soffice to sign his name to a birth c'er.H; tificate from which his wife's nard% was" conspicuously absent. Mrs. Zaame knew a thing or two;' When Antonio had been caugrht once" sheS figured that -without the "car ?S^ Would lose his attractions for the fa&J: sexy -so she persuaded him to transfcp the;,car to ncr safer keeping. ; > ■£<

.That, of course, was quite all right! but, unfortunately, a few months after tlie.- transfer "was made Antonio de^ r cided to' rid himself of. his financial.' troubles, if not his other ones by/filling a petition m bankruptcy. . $$-';.-' .The result Was that the- gehtlemanT from sunny Italy . duly made -his . 'ap*|rpearance ■ before Magistrate Lewey ,,fto face charges of breaches of the Barrier, ruptcy Act. . '•' -.V '-'^t

.The first allegation being Threat lation to. the car, , and another:*?

having to do with his bookkeeping'

methods, or lack "of them-

The story revealed m court showed Zaame to be something of a financier*" He had made his debut m Gisborne as the manager of a fish business conr ducted by a Hawke's Bay firm, but not • being satisfied with his profit^.from this started another 'business ;;o:f the same nature for' himself /'although" retaining the management of the : © imposition business. . , \ Naturally this could not last, anq: when the Hawke's Bay firm finally made an investigation ■ Zaame ;W&J» found to have only two books, neither of which showed any liabilities. / When a meeting of creditors was called, however, it was discovered that practically everything Zaame owned belonged to his brother on account .'of* wages owing, and to meet this, debt Antonio had transferred the business;, to him. -

By a remarkable coincidence it was found that the only other . important asset, ; a motor car, had been transr ferred to "his -wife. So .jthat although poor Antonio was bankrupt whajt.little he had possessed still remained In the family. ■'

Zaame's ill-fated motor car had been purchased m October, 1926, per medium of the popular time-payment system: Fourteen months later Antonio wanted a new car, so' he traded -m the old one for £180, less £40 owing" on the old bus, and took possession of the x new one. Two months earlier,' however,' It was ascertained, the .Old car had been transferred to Mr&' Zaame. '■ . ■'.'■■■■■ -v; ?: - .-'

On May 1 last, Zaame filed his petition and the creditors considered they had 'been taken down,, particularly . as Antonio told them at the meeting that he had transferred the car to his wife tfecause he was m difficulties and^'a, thought his creditors might take ifc^ j v On top of all this Antonio had raised a little more sugar by mortgaging the car to Samuel Dudley, a moneylender, quite forgetting to tell Dudley that • the machine was not paid for, and that it had been transferred to his wife. •*'.'•> . Lawyer Len.' Burnard raised the in-:. ■ foresting point that as the car. was. being purchased on the time-payment system it really, belonged to the ven-'> dors, but this did not go down. Nellie Zaame, Antonio's better half; quite frankly told the court that she had persuaded Antonio.. ; to give her the car to stop hinV - from taking the girl who was" the mother'jof his child for joy-rides.. ; She wanted the oar, she told him, to. save jiim getting into trouble.-. The magistrate said he did notvtake a great -deal of notice of the charge of failing to keep -proper books*. and on thiST'cbunt . he .would-be convicted, and ordered to pay costs. v The ot'Jier charge, however, was a, serious maftter, and m his' opinion: was only part Of a scheme he was following. : The transfer of the business to the brother, and of the car to the wife, were clearly bogus affairs. However serious his offence, ;,Aii" tonio cannot by any stretoh of the invagination ..take a similar view of the magistrate's .treatment of him,. for he was admitted to probation t« W