"I'LL RUSTLE ROUND."

Auckland Star, Volume 304, Issue 304, 23 December 1926, Page 8

"I'LL RUSTLE ROUND."

HARDWARE STORE FAILS. j BANKRUPT'S COMMENDABLE ; CONDUCT. i "I'm out of work now, but I'll rustle' '• iround and find something," so William. Sopkins told bis creditors this morning, j I Be had a hardware store at Royal Oak.! His total debts amounted to £150 5/9, i bis total assets were £175, and he stated that he had £57 3/9 in the Bank of | New Zealand. He attributed his failure to the high rental of the shop and rooms | .ompared with the business done, and! bo the depression and lack of business | luring 1926. He arrived from Canada j with his wife and child a year ago, with _ capital of £200. Although he had had no previous experience in the hardware business, he bought the shop at Royal Oak for £80 odd, and he opened the business on January 4 of this year. He had paid £2 5/ rental, and this he thought was too high. Mr. G. N. Morris (Official Assignee): He says the rent was too high, but I am i_-li_ed to think inexperience accounts for his position to-day. The man has done the right thing, ahd notj left it till the last minute to meet his creditors. A creditor: Were your creditors pressing?— No. Mr. Morris: It is quite refreshing to find a bankrupt who files before it is too late. By the way, how much rent did you pay? —£2 5/. Mr. Morris: That may be higher than rents in Canada, but it is certainly not high compared with rents here. Bankrupt said his wife was working at present, and was earning £3 a week. He would "rustle around" and get something. One creditor thought that bankrupt should be allowed something from the money he had in the bank. He had been ill all the winter, and had hardly been able to walk because of rheumatism. It was decided to allow bankrupt £20, and a creditor said that Hopkins had conducted his affairs in a very commendable manner. It was stated that the estate would pay nearly 20/ in the £. It was decided that the stock be sold by auction at the earliest possible date, and that bankrupt's discharge be facilitated. I