INSURANCE CLAIM.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19918, 3 May 1930, Page 19

INSURANCE CLAIM.

THE timaru case.

may conclude to-day.

It is expected that tho case in which firm Of G. H. Nicholas and Co. is dag the New Zealand Insurance Co. JT£ll69 9s Id, alleged to represent les through the destruction of the llaintiff's property and premises by Are iut year, will conclude to-day. The company, represented by Mr C. ft Thomas, is alleging misrepresentala as a defence, and tho firm, for fc'ch Mr W D. Campbell is appear- £ is claiming for tractors and spare lefts allegedly lost. caso commenced on Wednesday foon. His Honour Mr Justice s is presiding. terday Mathew Dobson Calvert, rlv indoor manager for the plaintiff company was placed in tho box and subjected to a severe cross exami' nation. His Honour stated that either the stock list of tractor parts given to the adjuster for the Insurance Company was false or else the witness had Lde a false statement regarding the Peterborough parts, and tho Hart-Parr

cslvcrt a mechanic, now residing at Kurow stated that he had been emcloyed' by plaintiff's from Juno, 1927, until January, "VV had manaeer, in which capacity he had charge of the stock, the pricing of sales correspondence, purchases, and general - office work. Tlx? stock comprised merchandise, tractors held on consignment s from Andrews and Beaven, and spare ■< parts for Peterborough and Hart-Parr tractors. The Peterborough stock was ; considerably larger than the Hart-Parr fi »t6ck. The majority of the parts were new, the only second-hand parts being those from tractors taken in by the company. Witness drew up the stock j, lists annually before preparation of jp tbp firm's balance-sheet. The merchanf disc and tractor stocks were kept in gepflrato books. Last year the stock 'was taken towards the end of July, fitness being assisted by Barnett in £ Checking the prices. They had worked % off catalogues from wholesale houses. \ Allowance was made for the'usual trade ; r discounts. Stock-taking last year had ■- ■ been completed on July 28th, the day I ; j befbre the fire. I 1 To Mr Campbell: Every item Bet down in the stock lists was on the pre* " mises before the fire. The tractor parts, ," however, had not been listed, but A record of the parts was in tho possession of the firm at that time. This res' cord had been destroyed in tho fife, "i J . Describing tho scene after the tiro, \ witness said that everything upstair* ' was in a state of chaos. He had as '■ fisted in sorting out the damaged , " stock. Mr Campbell: Who did the -ictual 1 i selection of the parts f Witness: Nicholas did that and 1 a iSßlsted by writing down'the different iiffljirts. r 'Witness said that although the office - -iPa bean damaged by the fire, invoices i wd not been destroyed. Ho had shown ~ these to Mr-Smith in some eases. Tho ■„Js„b<!on purchased more cheaply than ori* was the case. All of the mor;»ndise stock had not been damaged the fire, and lists of this .vSKportion had been taken by Mr Smith nesswas _produced in flnll handed to 'witness for Thomas: Are those marks all Ifjjptrio ß3 ; I won't say that all are e-:I marked some of the items nm P' )e 'l : Was any value at* to the items marked by you f Campbell: What marks were by Nicholas?—He jngned the y, vf- To Mr Thomas, witness admitted jMMt certain marks on the list wore by Nicholas. ■:*'/Mr Thomas: So Nicholas at last has something. 1 stated that Smith in reply ■j.'"-lto.il Question from Nicholas had said t - -'.that the company did not intend to «jp*y out on the Peterborough parts. w f sAter Smith had snid he was satisfied the merchandise, but Nicholas feSiad,: witness would have to sort out Vtho Hart-Parr parts from the Poter--w oorouph parts, its the insurance compiiny did not intend to recognise the ' involving Peterborough parts. L;This was done, and the list of Hart--htjPtijr parts was checked by Smith. Cerparts were doubtful, and an arwas made to send thrae to "Before this could be ; '-dbtie, however, Barnett returned from • fttjo ; country and identified tho parts, being separated accordingly. added that many tractor .V, ■ "%iHs Irnd been totally destroyed. • A \' (claim ■ for £BOO was made for these ' parts. Smith also said that the prices ||=' '*"*f soSrieof the were high, iv.'' wit these did not affect the issue, as ihe difference was small. Asked what "!»■ '- he 'meant by this, Smith said the dif- »' ■' fotenpe- would be nbout £BO. The making up. of the firm's balance-sheet &■ '"?.?* done oy Mrs Walsh and Mr A. C. - 'Kftntin,.- ■ u .'M* .Thomas: Can you not tell your ;*■ ■ • ®* l V.initials on tho lists P—Not in J- * don't think I put in all {he >■ f «ir .ihomaa: Did you, not write all % e ipiteaUP—-I would not swear that i ail of %s ra are not mine, t ■ W' l , l you tnean to say v? tnow your own writ- " ' Nicholas ask you »A&rlS'- a> " id 1 • Nicholas doP at a tabl e with T j°V rid , Nlcholnß w ere « ILX'" lOtller two were / ' but , ,n * ho wme room P—i S Vou write J, O to T What Nicholas told |' s . £ 3 S r »te nß i Is , ' t trt, e that of the ' Hp Of parts that you could f' ' aSnrfo«- rac ® ft After th e fire, threeKv ; ®^ Wer ? P-Yea. I e riaim&^^ ed that in the list H >yw«:ft£i|; rt * Porr partß were E./' tW P ftve i UBt told U6 r' ' were Peter. I" ' W?&• ,S your °*P' anl| tionP K-rtr on 1 »?for ' A Peterborough radiaBf'/?" ; Mr W K bran(l new P—£4s. • And you claim from the wL'tl ■ Jiftjijr f°r a secondjfe" iwAui* ™ x l ? r - tn ken from a dietractr t - Ts that honest P t 0 yon that 75 per cent, of the _ t »>arts were second-hand, think so. Thomas : Whv was a tractor a,Ued in 1028 at £6O indon't know. IPffrwitH 1 I Mi You c,nim £7 10s 'or a HP 0 i it ° stnrter. Yon are not stato in the box that it is J i^ a J 3 h Ba >d she was in the °' as Company from PWpf|Tr? e Py. the docket book from which rrPFiKiLTy 1,0^8 were transferred, to HMBywm* book, to a sales journal, and

then to the ledger. She did not make up the firm's balance-sheet at the end or the year. To Mr Thomas: Nicholas burned all his books excepting those required for the collection of money. Mr Thomas: Could he collect any money from tho caßh book?— No. Mr Thomas: Where did those books come from?— Prom the office. M* Thomas: It is not actually correct that Nicholas burnt everything but a debtors* book P—No. This concluded the evidence for tho Pl During Mr Thomas's address to his Honour the fire bell rang out from near by. "It seems to be tho habit here, your Honour," remarked Mr Thomas At this stage the Court adjourned until 10 o'clock this morning.