SHORTAGE OF WINE.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 204, 29 August 1929, Page 8

SHORTAGE OF WINE.

CLAIM AGAINST" CARRIERS. MANY WITNESSES TO BE HEARD. A case was. heard to-day before Mr. F. H. Levien, S.M., at the Magistrate's Court in which Charles Herbert Drysdale and Mark Davis, trading as Drysdale and' Co. (Mr. Eric Indcr, instructed by Mr. F. WV Thome),' sought to recover from the Union Steam Shipping Co. £39. It was stated that 189 gallons of wine were shipped at Melbourne by a vessel belonging to the defendant company for delivery to plaintiffs' firm at Auckland. It was claimed that a clear bill of lading was given at Melbourne, but on arrival of the wine at Auckland it was 90 gallons short.

Evidence was given by Mr. Anderson, forwarding agent, that the foreman drew his attention to the casks before i they were taken into the. shed, and, as a result, he refused to accept delivery. His opinion was that the casks had been laid on something hard, and that pressure from above had caused the staves to open and let the wine .escape. Witness stated that he drew the attention of an officer of the defendant company to the casks when he refused to accept delivery. In answer to Mr. Haig, witness said the cask was not leaking when he drew the attention of an officer of the Union S.S. Co. to it. He was told that the leakage was due to the cask being an old one. A ship's officer, whose evidence was taken on commission, stated that on the trip bags of pollard had been placedl.ao as to make cradles for the casks of wine, which were lying on their sides, and that there was a clearance of four inches from the machinery in the hold underneath. ", The magistrate said he would go to the wharf to see a cask placed on sacks of pollard at each end, as he could not visualise a clearance of four inches under those circumstances. From the number of witnesses waiting it appears that the case will be a lengthy one.