BANKRUPT CARRIER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18567, 27 November 1923, Page 5

BANKRUPT CARRIER.

PURCHASE OF MOTOR-TRUCK. QUESTION OF SECURITY. A meeting of creditors in the bankrupt estate of Alfred Lewis, a carrier, of Auckland, was held yesterday, the official assignee, Mr. W. S. Fisher, presiding. Bankrupt's schedule showed £101 5s 3d due to unsecured creditors, and total assets of £20, leaving a deficiency of £81 5s 3d. In a statement bankrupt said he started as a carrier about October, 1920, his wife helping him by purchasing a cart and horse-, which she lent to him. In August, 1922, he bought a second-hand motor truck, paying £30 deposit, and leaving a balance of £95, to be paid off at the rate of £10 a month. The truck proved to be useless, and he was unable to meet the instalments on the vehicle, and it was seized under a distress warrant. Under a judgment summons he consented to an order of 10s a week, but owing to illness he was unable to maintain the payments. Another distress warrant was issued while he was in hospital, and he had to file his petition. Bankrupt, under examination, admitted that in the agreement in connection with the purchase of the motor lorry he had stated that the security he offered was the horse, spring cart, and gig. He thought it would be all right to do so, and that his wife would not mind. Three days after he bought the lorry he would have been satisfied to lose deposit if the nan from whom he had bought it would have taken it back. The official assignee said he thought the matter was capable of easy explanation. ' Bankrupt was a working man, and he might have thought his wife would have given the security. As there was no quorum present the meeting closed without the passing of any resolution*.