HUMOUR IN COURT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21830, 19 June 1934, Page 10

HUMOUR IN COURT

*C>" "— 1 ASSESSMENT SITTINGS' o OL'D AGE TRIUMPHANT WOMAN'S UNFOUNDED PROTEST Occasional flashes of humour enlivened the proceedings of the Assessment Court which sat yesterday to consider the revised valuation roll of tho Mount Albert Borough. "You are a good man to come here at your ago to defend yourself," said Mr. J. G. L. Hewitt, S.M., who presided, when Mr. James Paris Mylcs appeared to object to the valuation on his property in Springfifcld Street, Morningside. "I am 90 years of ago and I never attempt things which I am unable to carry out," replied tho objector. "You can have a reduction of £SO in the valuation," rejoined Mr. Hewitt. "I was a young married man at the time I bought my house, but since then I have had my eyes opened considerably," said another witness under cross-examination. Appealing for a decrease in tho capital valuation, he alleged the sun , never reached the back door and as a result his mother-in-law, his wife and himself had had pneumonia. He added: "The corrugated iron is no good, the timber is no good—" < Mr. Hewitt: You are very pessimistic. We will have a look at the house. "Do you actually believe property has dropped CO per cent in value?" asked Mr. W. G. McClintock, one of the joint valuers, of another objector. Remarking that he bought and sold property, witness said ho considered property had no value at present. Mr. McClintock: You do not tell your clients that? Witness: Certainly not. (Laughter.) Further laughter was caused when a woman giving evidence discovered she was protesting against last year's valuation. Elated to find she was in a better position according to the latest figures, she retreated from the witness box. "Could you reduce it still further?" she asked Mr. Hewitt as a j parting shot. Amusement was caused when an advocate for, an absent objector admitted that mortgages totalling £ISOO had been raised on a house, on which an appeal was made to havp the valuation reduced from £1125 to £BOO. "We will inspect the house to see what it is worth," said Mr. Hewitt. Asked whether he considered the construction of a house on a section of land increased its value, another witness replied in the negative. He argued that the presence of a'dwtlling restricted the use to which the section could bo put. "That is the first time I have heard ib put that way," remarked the magistrate.