HATTER'S FAILURE

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 23, 26 July 1930, Page 6

HATTER'S FAILURE

■QUESTION" OF A LEASE

A meeting o£ creditors in the bankrupt estate of John Conwell, hat renovator, Wellington, was to have been held yeßterday, but lapsed for want of a quorum. Mr. 3. J. Judson (Deputy Official Assignee) presided. Mr. 11. R. Scott appeared for bankrupt. The statement of accounts showed:— Amount owing to unsecured creditors, £184 18s fid; assets, £9 19s od; deficiency, £174 19b 4d. In hia sworn statement the bankrupt said that in 1920 he hud saved up nearly £200 for the purpose oi starting a business as hatter and mercer. He started business in Bond street, but business was bad all the time he was in the shop, and he lost on an average £3 a week. He had a dispute with regard to leasing the premises from llr. P. Sehneideman. "He paid rent lip to Ist June, 1929, and when he vacated the shop he had practically nothing, neither money or assets, mid owed practically nothing. On 10th May, Mr. Schneideman obtained judgment against him for £170 8s on a claim under the agreement to lease. Since he vacated the shop he hart earned barely enough to support his wife and child. Ho had always paid his way, and would do so with the exception] of the judgment for the lease. Mr. Keesing, who appeared for ■ Mr. Schneideman, said that the judgment of the Court was not for rent, but for breach of an agreement in respect to the lease. The Deputy Official Assignee said it seemed to him that bankrupt gave up the lease in order to avoid getting further into debt. Mr. Scott maintained that bankrupt had been honest throughout. Mr. Keesing asked that bankrupt produce a statement showing, his position from his start in business until his bankruptcy. This was'agreed to, and the meeting was adjourned sine die. >