CREDITORS' MEETING

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 54, 26 October 1931, Page 5

CREDITORS' MEETING

j BREACH OF CLAUSE? I RESOLUTION THAT ASSIGNEE | INVESTIGATE THE i BOOKS I BANKRUPT LORRY DBIVER « « J ""~ After a lengthy examination, a J meeting of ereditors in the bankrupt ;i estate of Arthur Baker, a lorry-driver || ' of Rotorua, on Friday passed a unaniI mous resolution requesting the OffiIcial Assignee to obtain copies of the bankrupt's bank pass books and after i". investigating the affairs of the estate, to advise the ereditors whether ; a breach of the penal clause of the | Bankruptcy Act had not been eomI' mitted. ' Bankrupt, in examination, could not | produce his bank pass books, as ac0 cording to his statement, his pass | books, two ledgers, and a number of [ papers in connection with his business, 5 had been stolen on August 9 last, and !had not been recovered. Bankrupt showed debts owing to f unsecured ereditors amounting to | £156 18s and assets £1. j The following proved ereditors j were present at the meeting, Rotorua 1 Hardware and Plumbing Co., Urqut hart and Roe (Mr. Roe), S. J. Hale | (in pei-son), Rotorua and Bay of j] Plenty Publishing Co. (by proxy), * j and Lloyd and Quinlan (Mr. C. R. ■ | Lloyd in person and Mr. E. Thwaites) . Lee Eros., secured ereditors, were rej prer-enAd by Mr. Dingle, and the wife j of the bankrupt by Mr. W. A. Carter. Mr. Roe appeared for bankrupt. On the motion of Mr. Hale, second- | od by Xlr. Lloyd, Mr. J. D. Davys was voted to the ehair in the absence of | the Cfficial Assignee. Bankrupt's Statement In his signed statement, bankrupt stated that for three years prior to July 20 last, he had been in business in Rotorua as a general cartage contractor and carrier. Prior to this he had worked for a Mr F. Hyde in Rotoua, as his foreman. About July 20 last, however, he had decided not to take any further contracts as he found they were not paying his way. In one contract alone which he had had from the Public Works Department in connection with the supply and delivery of pumice, and in which he had engaged a man named Joe Te Kiri, as sub-contractor, he had lost about £.120 and had been involved in some extensive litigation. Some time towards the end of last year he had agreed to purchase from Mr. S. J. Hale, Rotorua, a new motor truck, and had traded in on this deal a trtick already in his possession. He had been allowed £150 on this truck by Mr. Hale. Bankrupt alleged that this truck had a defective engine and as a result had cost him £1 10s to £2 a week for oil instead of a few shillings as he claimed the cost should have been had the engine been in good order. Bankrupt stated that he had commenced court proceedings against Mr. Hale in respeet to this engine but had had to abandon proceedings as be had not had enough money to carry them on. Mr. Hale, bankrupt stated, had made numerous attempts to remedy the defect in the engine but witliout success and had charged everything up to bankrupt. Finally Mr. Hale had obtained a court judgment against j bankrupt for £80 and he had finally I decided to give up his contracting and | take a position on wages. He was at | present working as a lorry driver for ! a Mr. F. Butler at a wage of £4 10s a week. "I had a number of boolc debts other than those shown on the schedule but some months ago all my books were stolen, including my bank pass book and I therefore cannot supply a list of these other debtors. Some of the claims had been owing to me for a considerable time and I had regarded most of them as practically bad debts," the statement proceeded. Bankrupt stated that he was a married man with his wife and a nephew eight years of age to support. He could make no offer to his ereditors I and could not see that in view j of the cnnditions, he would be ahle to do m in the near future. Examination j TJnder examination, bankrupt said | that the furniture in his house was j owned by his wife and was in her ua ino. His wife had paid for this | Ha-! out of the allowance given i L" • i y bankrupt which was between [ * £4 a week. He admitted that j a y. - tiy opposite the motor camp, i i:i t;v;juction with the "Sylvana" cabs ct, was in his name, but denied that he l ad contributed anything to his wi.'e for the purchase of stoek for a shcp in connection with this property. Benzine bowsers had been huilt on the property and bankrupt admitted that he had signed for these, but that he had later transf erred them to his wife. He denied, however, that he had done this in anticipation of banki uptcy. Had No Money Bankrupt denied that he had made any statement alleging that he had plenty of money to meet his dqbts but would not pay. He said he had no money and had drawn his final balance out of the bank in July in order to pay up the wages. He said he could not indicate accurately how much money he had paid his wife within the last twelve months. It might average £4 or it might average £4 10s per week. He was at present living in a house opposite the motor camp but had not paid • any interest or rates. He had paid last year's insurance, but not the premium for this year as he had no money. The house had been built about 12 months, and his wife had contributed £134 towards the. cost of its erection. On the night of August 9, bankrupt stated that his books had been at the canteen on the Sylvana property, but during the night they were stolen. A bank pass book, two ledgers, a heap of papers, and everything in connection with his books including a cheque for £25, was taken. He had communieated with the poiice in connection with the theft and he had given a statement to the poiice in connection with the matter. He had made arrangements with the bank to stop the cheque and the amount had been paid to him ten days after. Wife's Assets - Bankrupt said that so far as he knew his wife's only assets were the furniture and stoek in the shop. He did not know the value of the stoek but believed that there was an insur-

ance of £200 on it. He did not thinlc his wife had any money in the Post Office savings bank and he knew that she had none in the ordinary bank. In connection with the Sylvana property, bankrupt 'said that portion of the ball room was on the property held in his name, and so far as he was aware the other portion was on another section. He had had an agreement with Lloyd and Quinlan with reference to the Sylvana ball room. In December, 1930, he had entered into a contract with .this firm to build a canteen and ball room on this property and he was to pay them for this wo'^k. He admitted, however, that he had not paid Lloyd and Quinlan for the buildings. He had later mortgaged the one section he had on, the property for £700' and there was £800 owing on it at present. Questioned in connection with his highway contracts, bankrupt stated that after he had paid his wages he had nothing left for himself. He said that -after he had paid for stripping and other expenses he was lucky if he earned £3 a day. Mr. Hale: You have been running the truck you bought from me for 16,000 miles? I got very little out of it — nothing like I used to. At the conelusion of the examination, bankrupt, again reiterated that he could give no statement of his'reeeipts and expenditure' as he had no books. The ereditors then conferred and it was decided to forward the resolution given above to the Ofiicial Assignee.

When the "Waikato train reached Mer- - cer the other day, a lady of determined aspect thrust her head in at the door of a second-elass smoker, and addressinga small man with a pipe in his mouth who was chatting with other passengers, exclaimed: "Henry! Put that pipe away, and come to my carriage. You've smoked quite enough. D'you hear me?" It's toasted tobacco I'm smoknig, my dear," meekly replied the small man, "there's no nicotine in toasted tobaceo, so it can't hurt me." But he was hustled out. "The grey mare," laughed somebody. "Alas! poor Henry!" said somebody else. And they all laughed. But "Henry" was quite right. Tobapco freed of its nicotine by toasting cannot hurt anyone. And that's just where it differs from the imported leaf, more or less full, as it mostly is,. of nicotine. There are only four brands of toasted manUfactured: Riverhead Gold, Cavendish, Navy Cut No. 3, and Cut Plug No. 10— all famous for flavour and fragrance. But of course there are imitations. Every good thing is imitated. & i 11 1 """" ' T