THE COSTS OF AN INSOLVENCY.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 420, 26 December 1874, Page 6

THE COSTS OF AN INSOLVENCY.

Tho " New Zealand Herald " publishes the following from a correspondent : — 11 An insolvent may have been reduced to a state of utter pauperism before ' filling his schedule,' and would be so in nine cases out of ten, if an honest man struggling to the last to pay hi* debts, and only at last dragged into the legal whirlpool by the ruthless hand of some merciless and short-sighted creditor. But pauperised as he is, and unable to find the means of obtainiug his daily bread, he is called upon, before even receiving the last ' benefit ' from the said law, to pay — whether he beg or borrow the funds — a series of enormous charges such as are only on a par with those required in other Courts in this Colony before justice can be done, but such as are utterly unheard of in other countries. The following is a list of these extortions : — Declaration of insolvency, £2 ; filling ditto, 3s ; swearing ditto, 2s ; gazetting, 7s 6d ; filing statement of accounts, 3a ; swearing, 2a ; adjudication order, 11s ; filing affidavit, 3s : swearing, 2s ; gazetting, 7a 6d ; adjourned meeting of creditors, 15s ; order for public, lls ; statements of accounts, 3s ; swearing, 2s ; gazetting, 7s 6d ; filing statement, -3a ; trustee's fees, £2 2s ; filing report, 3a; —Total, £8 7s 6d. And these are the Buma which must' be absolutely paid out of pocket even should he conduct his own cause. Counsel's fees are not there, neither are accountant's fees, nor the value of time lost, nor incidental expenses."

[ Why were the soothsayers of old called augurs ? — Because they were horrible bores. A little boy, the child of a wealthy mother, tumbled into the river. He was rescued by a working man and restored to his broken-hearted parent. The woman I gave him a penny postage-stamp, and said she would be glad to have him come up to her houffkand Bit 1 down in the entry and hear her play the piano. He went away^ with tears in his eyes. He said he wasn't ' used to such overwhelming kindness. Me Spurgeon on Smoking. — A paragraph lalely appeared in the papers reporting that Mr Spnrgeon 1 on a recent Sunday evening, when an American minister in his chapel had condemned smoking, rose after the sermon, and expressed his dissent from the preacher, adding that it was possible to • ** smoke to the glory of God," and that he hoped to enjoy a cigar that evening before he went to bed. The incident having been commented upon, Mr Spurgeon has addressed a letter to the "Daily Telegraph," in which he says he " demurs altogether, and most positively, to 1 the statement that, to smoke tobacco is in itself a sin. There is growing up in society (he says) a Pharisaic system which adds to the commands of God the precepts of, men ; to that system I will not yield for an hour." " The expression 'smoking to the glory of God' standing alone has ([Mr Spurgeon adds) an ill sound, and Ido not justify it ; but in the sense in which. I employed it I will stand to it. No Christian should do anything in which he cannot 'glorify God — and this may be done, according to Scripture, in eating and drinking, and the common actions of life. When I have found intense pain relieved, a weary brain soothed, and calm, refreshing sleep ob- 1 tamed by a cigar, I have felt grateful to God and have blessed His name ; this is what I meant, and by no means did I use sacred words triflingly. I am t«>ld that my open avowal will lessen my influence, and my reply is that if I have gained any influence through being thought different from what I am, I have no wish to iretain I it. I will do nothing upon the sly, and nothing about which I have doubt." Predatory Chicks. — Try Max Adeler's meLhod. He describes it as follows : — • ' We had a good deal of trouble last summer with Pitman's chickens ; as fast as we planted anything in our little garden, those chickens of Pitman's would creep through the fence, scratch out the seed, fill up, and go home. When the radish bed had been ravished in this manner for the fifth time we complained to Pitman. He was not disposed to interfere. 'Adeler' he said, ' I tell you it does 'em good ; and it does them beds good to be raked over by chickens. If T have radishes, give me chickens to scratch around them and eat up the worms. Radishes that haven't been sratched ain't worth a cent.' Then we climbed over the fence with the determination to take the law in our own hands. We procured half a peck of corn and two dozen small fiish-hookf. Fastening the hooks each to a grain of corn, we .tied wire to each hook. Then we scattered the whole of the corn on the radish bed, and fixed the end 3of the wires to the t biggest sky-rocket we conld get. The rocket stood in a frame about ten yards away from the hooks. That very morning Pitman's chickens came overi an< l instantly began to" devour the corn. We were ready, and, as soon as it was evident that the hooks were all swallowed, we applied a .match to that rocket. It is regarded as probable that no barn-yard fowls that have existed since the days of Noah' ever proceeded toward the azure vault ' of heaven with such rapidity as- those did. A fizz, a few ejaculatory cackles, a puff of smoke, „ and Pitman's roosters and 1 chickens were swishing around among the celestial constellations without their feathers, and in some doubt respecting the stability Of earthly 'things. Pitman never knew what became of his fowls ; but when we read in the paper next day that 24 under-dond chickens, with fishhooks in their claws, . had been rained down by a hurricane in- New Jersey, we felt certain that that Bky-rocket had done its duty." l Men Cooks. — Adistinguiahedauthor<ess writes : If men fall below; women in/ every other fine art, they may claim the palm in cooking. ' It is delightful to see • how domestic and useful ' men can be' when the) are in their natural element. I am led to believe -that one of the cliarms of the "tented field" is the men's cooking. War is relieved of half its horrors, in ray eye, if the soldier can only enjoy a 'good breakfast cooked -by Frenchmen, • before lie- goes out to be shot down ! ■ I wish gentlemen would turn their attention to the high art of scientific cooking, I known many a household where turmoil incessant reign ; and I am now disposed to attribute -the fact to the bad cooking of the hostesses. Let the men govern the cuisine and bring in peace. Tens of thousands of men who have failed as mevchants,|speculators. teachers, lawyers, doctors, and ministers, might make good cooka Let them try. The tobacco licenses of Great Britain in the year ended 31st March last pro? duced £§5,094 lss. o|d,