IN BANKRUPTCY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8409, 25 April 1907, Page 7

IN BANKRUPTCY.

ESTATE OF W. H, DENBY

The first meeting of creditors in the bankrupt estate of Walter Henry Denby, farmer, of Upper Plain, was held in the Masterton Courthouse, iyesterda> morning, before Mr W. B. €hennells, D.O.A. The creditors present were:-- Messrs I. Allen, E. Welch, and R. Tankersley. The bankrupt was represented by Mr S. R. Gawith. Mr B. J. Dolan appeared for Messrs Allen and Son. Bankrupt submitted the following written statement: — In May, 1904, I went with a partner bushfalling for Handy side Roberts 4 and Co., of Akitio. This took us until September of the same year to cut out. The end was that we lost the sum of £25 10s 9d each. I then came to Masterton to work for Banks' Meat Com- ' pany, looking after their pig farm on the Upper Plain until they gave it up. I myself then took over the farm of 30 acres and small cottage at -a rent of £64 per year. The rent had to be paid every three months. On -August 22nd, 1905, I took possession of the improvements the Company had done to the place. The stock I took over with the farm •consisted of one horse, trap and *' harness, one cow, three tanks and four barrels, and 67 pigs (mixed sorts). These cost £llO, and the payments had to be made by deducting Jd per lb of every pound of pork . .sent to the Company. The lease was for two years with right of renewal for another three years. All went well for the first three or four months, when my trouble started. Several of the pigs died, and then four acres of turnips failed. On March 3rd I paid Messrs Lowes and lorns for pigs (£2B 8s 6d) from a cheque I received from the W.F.C.A. Of the pigs only three went to market. From August'22nd. 1905. until July, 1906 I had lost 23 brood sows, 72 weaners and slips, 39 pork- • ers and two boars, making a total of 136. The number of pigs sent to the Banks' Company would be about 90. The money received had to be used to pay off accounts and buy , young pigs to keep going with. I had to stop buying as the pigs were dying so ,fast that I could not keep up the stock. I then gave up pigfarming. In September last I had i ploughed and worked up four acres for turnips, in which I put two ■ cwt. of' manure per acre. The weather this year was unsuitable :ifor turnips, and the crop failed. I had then worked up three and a-half acres oi bush land for potatoes. Mr F. C. Lewis found the seed and I the labour for the first planting. The wet weather rotted the first crop, and the second yielded only seven itons or thereabouts off three and ahalf acres. I attribute my bankruptcy to the disease getting among the pigs. I am dependent on my wages to keep my wife and two 'Children and myself, and cannot see how I can make any offer to my creditors. Bankrupt, on oath, stated that his statement of assets and liabilities was correct. He gave a security to the Banks Company on September 14th, 1905, and also gave a security to F. C. Lewis to secure £4O about six months ago. ' The security covered the crop and his share of the potatoes and turnips. He had about 12 or 13 acres of oats, and between three and a-half and four acres of potatoes on land that he leased. ' There was a further security tt» the, W.F.C.A. about February, 1907 covering the same crop, and his halfshare of the onions grown on Mr Lewis' property. Mr Lewis found the land and seed, and bankrupt found the'labour. This was to secure - , his account and as he was short of cash to pay rent the W.F.C.A. gave _ him £l6 one day and £4 the next 'day. The money was paid over when documents were signed jn each case. Mr Lewis' £4O and the W.F.C.A. amount were payable on demand. Mr Lewis made no demand by letter but told the bankrupt that he wanted the money as soon as the crop was threshed. The crop was threshed in February last, and Mr Lewis said he had arranged for the crop to go to the W.F.C.A. He did not know if the W.F.C.A. had sold the oats. The stock, on his place now included one horse, trap and harness, one cow, three barrels, two tanks, and one pig wash tank. . These were covered by the Banks 'Company's security. .There were no pigs. The last lot of pigs were sold in July last. His wife had no property of her own. He kept books and attributed his bankruptcy to the loss of so many pigs. He could have paid his way if he had not lost the pigs and turnip crop had not failed. He • borrowed £3 from E. Welch. The meeting then adjourned sine die.