MORE LITIGATION FOR CAPTAIN SUTCLIFF.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 198, 21 August 1900, Page 2

MORE LITIGATION FOR CAPTAIN SUTCLIFF.

Captain Sutcliff, of the Whakatane, made another appearance in Court last week, not, however, this time in a suit for libelling1 n lady but as defendant to an action brought by a coloured person named Roberts, who wanted Mr Sutcliff to stamp up £14 for wages plus £10 for compensation. In February last Roberts signed on for a voyage to New Zealand and back at £3 10/ a month. Five days out from Capetown he was injured by a steam winch, and when the vessel was in Table Bay went ashore. According to his story he was sent ashore. But the captain's case was that he went ashqre surreptitiously, and was logged as a deserter, his desertion being reported at the next port of call. Roberts meanwhile went to the New Zealand Company's agent, who said he could do nothing, and was treated as an out-patient at the hospital, and eventually was sent home. After a long cross-examination of the officers of the vessel the West Ham Magistrate concluded that the master's story was correct, and dismissed the summons. The report of the Colonists' Land and Loan Corporation shows that the sales of land during the company's past financial year amounted to about nine acres, realising £264 per acre, and yielding a profit of £2300. The land remaining unsold, about 264 acres of town and suburban property, stands in the balance-sheet at £1615, or about £6 3/ per acre, which is the cost price, including expenditure on development. The revenue account for the year shows a profit of £5945. The directors recommend the usual dividend at the rate of 5 per cent, per annum, and a balance of £3277 is carried forward. The Board proposes in future to pay half-yearly dividends. The reserve funds of the corporation amount to £33,335. Credit has not been taken for the increased market value of the investments in London or of the unsold land in New Zealand.