Stratford News

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 110, 25 September 1912, Page 3

Stratford News

From our resident reporter. '' A BANKRUPT BUSINESS. A WHANCAMOMOXA MUDDLE. i THE D.O.A. IS SATISFIED OF THE CAUSE. At the D.O.A.'s office on '.Mo ml ay the affairs of Henry Jakes, stablekeeper. of WhangamomoiM, were enquired into. Bankrupt's statement showed unsecured creditors £470, secured creditors £OO3, less estimated value of securities £954, surplus to contra £sl. ' Total debts £470. The stock-in-trade was estimated at £-234. book debts £440, estimated to produce £275, cash in hand £l4 7s. furniture £ls, making total assets £355 7s, leaving a deficiency of £l2O 13s. The list of unsecured creditors included Messrs. Court and Cottier, Whangamoniona, £l6 2s sd; A. Ilatrick and Co., Waitara, £7l 15s; W. G. Fargic, farmer! £39 Is (id; William Evans, groom (wages), £OS; Samuel Morrison, Toko, £25 3s; Lamason and Melville, Stratford, £2l 11a 4d; Owen McAloon, Te Wera, £2O; F. Webb, Douglas, £ll 12s <id; George Morrison, Toko, £24: Samuel Morrison, Toko, £25 3s; Dr. T. L. Paget, Stratford, £23 9s. In a lengthy statement, debtor said that three and a half years ago he exchanged his equity in a freehold farm of about 114 acres at Flint and \ Monmouth roads, Stratford, for the.' livery 6tables business and chattels as ( a going concern, at Whangamomona, j with the lease and goodwill of the Com- { mercial Stables, Stratford. The valuation for the purpose of the exchange was £ 1500. It was a level exchange—nothimg was paid for equity. The Whangamomona stables were subject to a mortgage of £l4O to the Advances to Bettlers Office. He was then in a financial position, but had very little capital, and owed a few small debts. He took Mr. Charles Benjamin into partnership, but the partner put no capital into the business. They made an arrangement that they should each draw £3 a week, and Benjamin was to pay £1 a week [ into the business towards his share of the capital. They ran mail contracts between Stratford and Whangamomona and Whangamomona and Tahora, and ' employed several men in the stables at from £2 10s to £3 10s per week. He had charge of the stables at Stratford, with a groom to assist him. The Whangamomona stables were in charge of two men, end Benjamin drove the coach. For about twelve months they paid their way, but the expenses were very heavy. They then dissolved partnership, and debtor took over the business himself. Benjamin had not paid anything towards his share of capital, and received no consideration for his share when he went out. Debtor carried on the business for about nine months. He leased livery stables at Te Wera from Mr. O. McAloon at £1 per week, and employed a groom to look after them at £2 10s per week. He continued to manage the Stratford stables, with the assistance of a groom, whilst the Whangamomona stables were in charge of two men, and a groom drove the coach at £3 10? per week and free house. Matters did not go well. The expenses were too heavy, and he had to pay a very high price for the cartage of feed, sometimes £lO per ton, from Douglas to Whangamomona. He also had to trust too much to his employees to look after the business, and they were sometimes careless and neglectful. At the end of the nine months he was about £IOO or so in debt. He had book debts against this ■ amount, but they were very difficult i to Collect. He was tired of the business, and exchanged the livery stable b.isiness, stock and chattels, with Mr. John Wylie, for the equity in a freehold farm of about 78 acres at Omata, including cows and stock. Wylie had to pay him £BO by way of equity, and gave him bills for the amount, but he did not dispose of his equity in the freehold of the stables to Wylie. Bankrupt leased the stables to Wylie for £1 Ss per week. He then commenced farming, milking seventeen cows, but was disappointed with the farm, as it did not come up to expectations, and he was not successful. He disposed of the equity in the farm for an equity in house property at Petone. About this time he was £2OO in debt. In the meantime Wylie was not successful with the stables, and these he took over for £OOO, £350 of which he raised on second mortgage from the Bank of Xew Zealand, and about £IOO from Mr. Newton King. He again managed the Stratford stables, but on account of the cancellation of the mail contract had to give them up, and went out to Whangamomona to manage the stables there. Bad roads and dear feed were- against him, and added to this he had to compete with the Public Works Department, who were conveying passengers between Te Wera and the 33-mile siding. This meant a good deal to him, as he relied principally on the passenger traffic. His wife had a long illness, and died, and the business gradually wont from bad to worse. lie had struggled on, but was forced to file. The reasons for his position were: Competition from the Public •Works Department, heavy expenses of stables, and fearful condition of roads, high price for the cartage of feed, having to give too much credit, inability to read or write, expenses through long illness of his wife, los* of horses owing to accident (he lost eight horses in Dll), and lastly, the wet seasons. The D.O.A. said that the statement of ;;;eounts was. unfortunately, incomplete. The state i.f i'ie accounts of the nouses at Petone wa.-. not yet known. There wa* back interest due on the mortgages, but he had not particulars. He undert stood that the mortgagors had given notico that the chattels were to be sold first, so that there was little hope for the creditors. Only the book debts and cash in hand (£l4) remained for the creditors. The stables were hopeless. The books had not been written up for eighteen months, but some of the accounts were perfectly good. There was a question whether bankrupt exercised proper control, care and caution, over his employees, but they must remember [ that he was illiterate, and could neither read nor write.

Questioned as to Benjamin's retirement from the business, bankrupt said lie simply walked out. They had no row, and had no squaring up. Benjamin subsequently worked for liim on wages. The bankrupt he first knew twelve months ago that lie vi r ;i< iu dillieulties. He had no idea of what money had been taken by his Wliangnniomomi man in wages, or what was due to him. The Assignee said he kivw the run of the eountry pretty well—Mr. Court knew it better than he did—and he was quite satisfied as to the cause of tue failure. Mr. Court. And now, do you think it was a fair thing to purohn.se new goods on credit right up to the time of your filing? Bankrupt: These were only small matters. Mr. Court: Ours amounted to£l4, and from another creditor, ou behalf of ■whom I am speaking, you purchased to the extent of £2B.' W. Evans, stableman, li.ivhg I'caj

sworn, said he leul F/„Ie charge of the. books, and kept then, to the best of his ability. He worked over twelve hours a day, on the average, but did not spend one hour a day at the books, lie could not say who took the daily takings. (Creditors: What?,) He jotted down his own cash takings in a note-book, but the book was at hump. There was no record of the bankrupt's takings. The bankrupt, questioned by the 8.0.A., said the man Evans was not rushed off his legs with work, and the D.O.A. went on to remark that lie had never seen a great rush at the stables, and Eviiiw" evidence' was most unsatisfactory. (To witness:) Have you spent much time at the hotel iu the last four months?— No. Mr. Coleman: How many times a day? Witness:; 1 may go over forty times in a day, hut 1 .may go over twenty times and not have a drink. (Laughter.) I had to take the cordials over. The meeting was adjourned sine die, pending the result of certain negotiations.

THE SCHOOLGROUND To the Editor, Sir,—l was very pleased to see the letter in Tuesday morning's News from Parent. The same thought had passed through my head as he put in his letter, but it never struck me to call attention to it. I really think the time has. come for our schoo' to have a much bigger playground. The present one is ridiculously small to start with, and is dotted all over with buildings. I think it is a shame to put another building on- the ground. If the tennis court is. not wanted for tennis, then why not pull down the fence, and throw it into the playground. The committee, no doubt, has some idea of getting rent for the building, but while finance is important, the health of the children comes first; and I hope nothing more will be heard of tne committee's scheme to block out the morning sun from the playground. I would like to thank "Parent" for drawing public attention to the wild proposal, and I hope other parents will follow suit.—l am,. etc',,

PARENT NO. 2. THE SCOTTISH SOCIETY To-night, at Inglewood, will be celebrated the birth of the local branch of the Taranaki Provincial Scottish Society. Mr. Henderson, the provincial secretary, asks us to contradict the statement that the function is fixed for October 1. The "wee Scotch nicht" is down for to-night. A capital programme has been prepared, and all arrangements are well in hand. Stratford is sending along a good contingent, and membere of the pipe band will be in attendance.

A. & P. ASSOCIATION. SOME MORE DONATIONS. The following additional donations to the Association's prize-list are acknowledged by Mr. B. Fearon, secretary of the Stratford A. &, P. Association: Midhirst Dairv Co. £5 ss, ,T. B. Hine. M.P., £3 3s, Wl A. McCutiitian £2 2s, \W. D. Anderson £2 2g, W. G. Malone £2 2s, F. Kleeman £1 Is, J. Hale £1 Is, Northern Steamship Co. £ 1 Is, T. C. Fookes £1 Is.

STRAY PARAGRAPHS The improvidence of youth.—A man who arrived in Taranaki from England a few years ago had a shilling in his pocket. He spent sixpence in ale—and swore at the price—then went looking for work. A youth from Hawera landed here on Monday, ostensibly looking for work. He took a couple of girls to the Pictures, and then found he had only a shilling left. He wandered about till tke police 1r»ok him in charge and gave him a bed. Yesterday he was restored to his anxious parents at Hawera.

PERSONAL. { Mr. James Corrigan has returned from I'otorua to Stratford, greatly improved in health.

BERNARD'S PICTURES. Good business continues at His Majesty's Theatre. This is a drama-loving public, and the two star dramas now showing hit the popular taste exactly. "An Old Actor" is a remarkable story, in which love of home, honesty of purpose, bad luck, old age, and skill in make-up have a part, whilst there is a little love-making as a leaven. "War's Havoc," a tale of the American Civil War, already fully described here, is an other fine film. Some of the laugh-pro-vokers would make a cat smile. The ladies and the furs make merry moments, and so do the amateur firemen-actors. One could go on and write columns about the excellence of the bill of fare, but brevity is needed to-day, so this notice closes with the recommendation: See thi» programme.