BANKRUPTCY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10970, 26 January 1899, Page 3

BANKRUPTCY.

DEBTOR'S STATEMENT. John Piiiuirs. Ji"N., of l'acroa, made a sworn statement before Mr. John Lawson, the official assignee, yesterday, in which he j stated that on December 18,1894, whilst carry- | ing on business in Paeroa as a general store- • ' keeper under the style of John Phillips and | Son, he was compelled to file his schedule, j . the estate, when realised, paying a dividend of 19s 7 3-5 din the £. Having obtained his discharge in March, 1895, he again started in business in Paeroa, hut alisolutely without any capital. After nine months, finding it impossible to carry on. ho assigned his estate to Messrs. Clark, Hums, and Heather for Die benefit of his creditors. The estate, according to the supervisor's balance-sheet, was worth lis 6(1 in the £, hut realised rather less than 10s. In dune, 1896, some mining interests which lie had originally obtained at a nominal value became valuable, and he was able to pay his creditors under deed of assign, ment 18s 3d in tho £. which he did. Since .lime. 1896. ho had not been trading, confining himself to mining transactions. The only transaction lie had outside of this was the purchase of 33 acres of land from Mr. 11. C. Wick, of Paeroa, for £327, paying him £59. the balance remaining on mortgage at : 6| per cent, lie paid one year's interest ill 189/. but had been unable In pay any since. Mr. Wick gave notice of his intention to sell under his power of sale in November, and the debtor replied through his solicitor that | tli" property should be offered for sale by i auction, and duly advertised in the local I papers and in the Nkw /,k \I.ANf) llkraLU; i I and on December 17, I'l9B, it was sold by [ auction, realising £305. As the principal and ' interest under the mortgage amounted to i £295, there wu.- nothing coming to the debtor. ; 1 The possible equity of redemption ill tho I land was his only a.«ct, excepting a few I (h Ms (some £1301 in hi- assigned estate, which I were handed, buck to him on his completing I ihe payment of 18s 3d in the £, but lie ' thought that they were almost valueless. Sir.ce Amei.-t, 18%, ail his mining interest* ' had turned on' valueless His present liabili- : ties mounted to £901 ?.s U, to 46 creditors, ; all unsecured. They confuted of sundry merj chants' and traders' accounts, representing j goods supplied for his own private use and ' lor pn'M'iits to persons he had to do with in j mining matters, etc. These might total up to 1 about £000. He also owed £20U 15s for ar- ' rears of rent for throe mining holdings, about I £130 for other mining transactions, and £57 |to the Alliance Insurance Company. With I the exception of about £20, all were incurred ; prior to the end of 1397. at which time ho i was, on face values, more than solvent, and ! considered himself financially sound. During i 1837 he tried to do business in I'aeroa as a ' sh?.p broker and commission agent, but thero 1 was little or no business to be done, and ' during the pact year he had been living on a | property of hi/ father's, trying to mako a I living by farming, but ho had earned prac- • lioally nothing, and had barely been able to keep" his family. The immediate reason of hi.* filing was that one of his creditors had , obtained a warrant of commitment against him under order of the S.M. Court, Auckland. , He was unable to make any offer, and had ' absolutely no assets beyond the book debts , referred to. i —" 1

Writing to a gardening journal, E. i I Molyneux says:—l lately saw a remarkable, ' specimen of the Oriental plane growing in ( : the garden at Blickling Hull, Aylsham, Nor- 1 i folk. The tree in question was of great age,, : as was shown by the stem, at one yard up 1 from the ground being fully four feet in • diameter. The remarkable feature about; this tree was its manner of growth. The] 1 lower branches had reached the ground, ! many years ago, and being allowed to re- \ • main undisturbed they had struck root in I the turf, and doubtless had imparted vigour 'to the. tree. These rooted branches grew ! erect for many years, and they then bent . down to the earth and again took root, Ibis sort of natural layering had gone on for I many years, increasing the diameter of the I tree considerably, until it now exceeds yards. Many of the secondary growths are ' of the size of small trees, and the whole ' constitutes a remarkable feature. The gar 1 dens at Blickling are thrown open to the I public by the owner, the Dowager Marchioness of Lothian, on certain days in the 1 . week, a privilege much appreciated by the , visitors to Cromer. i The Herald and Auckland Weeki? NjW6 i Exhibition Number is published at one shil- ; '""I' meeting of tho Manage- ! ment of the Freemasons Hall will be ''eld 111 [ the lower room on Tuesday, January 31, at . eight p.m., for the purpose of submitting the annual report and balance-sheet*