“SHEEREST BAD LUCK”

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 203, 16 November 1927, Page 13

“SHEEREST BAD LUCK”

BANKRUPT DALMATIAN SHOP VENTURE FAILS “There is no doubt that this man has had the sheerest had luck and I do not think his discharge should be withheld.” That was how Mr. Mason, counsel for Joseph Sunjich, a bankrupt Dalmatian confectioner of Whangarei, described the business failure of his client. Sunjich met one of his creditors this morning in the office of the official assignee, Mr. G. N. Morris. Bankrupt’s schedule showed £364 owing to unsecured creditors. There were no assets. In a statement bankrupt said that until 1922 lie had been farming at various places south of Auckland, and in that year he lost everything in a poor farm property at Hamilton. He then worked as a gumdigger, making only a bare living. About two and a-half years ago he Obtained employment with the Railway Department as a “casual worker.” He was stationed at Whangarei and got married jnst over two years ago. To help make i ends meet his wife started a retail confectionery business, borrowing £SO to commence trading, and he guaranteed repayment. But the shop never paid its way and absorbed all his savings. About seven months ago he was transferred to Ahuroa by the railway, and his wife was left in Whangarei. Last October, without consulting him, she sold the furniture, he alleged. Tie later discovered that she had gone to Australia, and, he supposed, took the proceeds of the sale I with her. He had not heard from her [ since. > i Examined regarding his failure, bankrupt said he supposed he was liable for the debts resulting from his wife's shop simply because she was his wife. He had sent her practically all of his earnings to try to get the shop established and to pay her bills in connection with the venture. “It is very doubtful if he is liable for these shop accounts,” observed Mr. Morris, to the only creditor present. He was now earning £4 8s a week, out of which he had to pay board and lodging to the Railway Department. The creditor expressed the view that Sunjich should not be discharged from bankruptcy until he had paid something off his debts. It was decided that bankrupt should furnish a statement of his living expenses at the end of a month so that it could be determined whether he could afford to pay something off his debts.