CLAIM AGAINST THE CROWN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14473, 16 March 1909, Page 11

CLAIM AGAINST THE CROWN

COMPENSATION £9500. The hearing '' l 0 c ' a ' in '' l 0 gallon Uriel;. Tib, "" ll '['owu-lap Company against, ill.; Crow II for I lit" fwovpiy of £9500 for alleged damage >u:l;ii nrtl was contimpd I |~ his 1 lonor Mr ilujticc William* ami }Ic--r.- Stephens ami ritzj,'ora!d (a'--X'.-.-ors) \e-to:"day. .Mr Solomon, K. 0., an-i Mr Payne for claimant, and Mr Hoiking, Mr Iki-it, ant) Mr My-ji's for u'spom!oni». .hunts Aiimuul, in::!:-,' crovs-e.vamination In- Mr Myers, said 111: it the company wa, chimin;; £3000 'or 11:btiekworks, which had been destroyed. Thai amount included -laim for goodwill of Ih-' husine.-:;. The plant, machinery, a'i t | 11m liki were valued at £5000 when I lie company Itok the bnsi-l'.r.-s over, There wa- ii-.;hiny paid l>v tlie company for t-li-j goodwill, hecju.-; the original owners tcol; pan in the company. II was line |bl a syi:?! : cale was formed before Hi? company to il; ihe hti.-iitc.-d over, and llic plant, and' nv.-_-liii-.ory were pui in for £3000. In 1807 t b prwpcds of I lie business, as goodwill, kii j wot lit £3500. 'J he reason £5000 wa* ft?»td for plant, etc., now Wits that. I hey had plant and machinery worth that atnouni when ill? claim was made. j\f a coii.--.'(|lieni.o of liie nearness of the tunnel lo the land purcha.s'.d hy theromjiatiy for yelling for building purposes that land had depreciated lo the extent of £1800. 'Ihe kiln was valued at £3000, it.; original ci.sf ill 1E99. No (loiil.t it would depreciate a liltle before it was destroyed, lint the extra of rebuilding won <1 more than nteol the depreciation. Wiincfs admitted that. In.' litid said that £1000 had been tp-enr on pnllinj; in new pbmt. That amount included cost of much labour, which was not, put down in Iho company's k.oks. If l.bo boats showed I lint oily £111 lis 8d had bseii spent in now plent and machinery between J-'eptember, 1901, and October,, 1907, the books did nol. represent Ihe actual amount spent on lalxmr in Iho matter of fitting up the machinery ami installation. Witness considered that tlie business w.r; worth more In 1907 than in 1904, because of improvements, notwithstanding that Ihu hooks showed a less of £2071 12s 8d din ing that period. It was con'cct that between Seplembjr, 1907, and l-bpletnbor, 1908, tlio new company had lo: £1000. Notwithstanding all that, of course, they askc-,1 the limit to grant to tliom £3000 for the brickworks, including goodwill. The only explanation lie would ctl'cr of Iho fact that the company's balance etett put tire grodwill down as woitli £5000 and the plant & wurlli £3000 was because some of t.ho machinery was obsolete. It was true that they were claiming firm tlie Uovernnient the vnluo of a Icl of machinery that was obsolete, and which the.v were going lo discard. Witness was not awaio that the company, even from tin Ir.olr.ont of inception, had been in r-Mitinuous financial tliilkuiities It was a faft that membeis of Iho eyndicato were 111.3 principal customers of the syndicate in Iho matler of purchasing bricks. Wiine-s could not understand why his firm d hrickmakcrs were losing money whilst the clli'jr brickuiaki rs were making it. Witne.'s, 0110 cf the builders of thi-lii'n, said Ilii>t tin I,'iin was built to the 0; plan, with the exception of (lie l'oof. It was ;i fact that t.hey had stacked green bricks on the floor of the kiln above the. arches. lie did not think such .slacking would do any harm. They used lo stack 10,000 brides in llfc place mentioned and IGOO lu'icks would RX'igh tilionl lliree tot:;. Thev only slacked ;lie bricks there during lite winter, and only now ai:,-| aen in ;:L (hit. The bricks ivero wheeled on. - ft. would not <!o the Kiln any good, but It:' \v:n mro il would no: do it any'har.n. The arches maintained their original shape until the tunnel was .slaiied. Tlta nvclus lf.nl been repaired ocea.-iknaliy. Was nol aware that it was a physical imp:iy;ibility foi the cirches in It IltlH'mint kiln to l,l:iin llier original shape, neither was he awaro it was usual for (hem to lla:("n. Th? demolition of the kiln w;t:> a eiai.hr.i! ]:They won. l •still burning bricks while the process was '(oil!;- oji. but a iiiau was engaged cyntinu•illy the ki:'n.

The oMirl. udjouincd al 1 p.m., anil on Kunming his Honor lliat. ncvoiding to a balance sheet he had in 1,:. s l, al i ( ], t| lf! cl)s t oT bricks was £1 5s 6.1 fur tlx* p^ricd. Jli' .Solomon replied ih:if in ."Wenihcr llioy cost £1 5s I'd, and ii! .• JBI Us 2il and £1 2.;. flis Honor: Ves, but there is nta'nlejiance and repaim Hint hive to l:e added. Ml" Solomon: \'o dim!,l. 'Lite wilness James Aniuutd. continuing his evidence, .-aid that wi'h proper machinery the bricks vvi,uhl hav I- ?n manufactured at about 15-, I'luvk a!/1 Ibtrdiuor li:vl not recoived my tlitfeiviti shares limn tlnk-o who h::d put m iIStJO, They wore not entitled to receive th.> 1250 shares until the works wore <'nnit>p\| with the now machinery. There #■:« ar.iuily ab ml. £2000 worth of machinery ordered l.etoro the limerinneiil work Kigali. For 10 months witness hi other had lj' J, u in chargo of fhe place, and had reoe'ned £5 a week. Wit. iie-.< 'hmiL'iil it was neccs.stry that someone blhuiM be there. Laltan Osborne Ileal, engineer, paid he wn.x lin,( consulted about tire worlc.s in Ortober, 1900, by Amwml ami Iliwhlid;. lie wits to report as to what elfect tin l driving of the tunnel would haw u|x>u the stability of ill.' kiln. \ile reported on .January 5, 1307, after vi.siting tho locality many liilies, l'vior to this lit' exa-mined the kitu, and found it, was cracked at tho end. The cruclai were about Jin. There was no up. l.'oai'alluo of the archcs having dropped. Tlkto wa< nothing to lend hint to heliove at that, time that theia.' was any danger of the kiln getting into'lie condition it was now in. There was no sign of the wall of the kiln having moved <in its foundation. Witness hail no reason to believe that any damage had happened to the litrucUiro through subsidence. The cracks he saw in the kiln at that time were due to expansion and contraction caused by heat mill cooking, itmt were quite ordinary. The kiln was then in a condition to curry oil work. Jir Madman informed him that the (iuveriuiient proposed that the roof of the tunnel would conic to the crust cf the sandstone, ;\e.\t Ik* iT]wrtcd accordingly. Tin; lumiel was to bi about 12ft away from the kiln. Tnin win alf?r?d afterwards, the 100 of i)h! tunnel being lowered 7ft and placed 24ft from the kiln. The cutling was lowered right through. ilo found that a little o\cr 12.000 gallons of water a day was coming out of tho sandstone, joints in the tunnel. This withdrawal ol water would cause tho surface material 10 settle and creep, and a heavy weight above would accelerav this. Ilo' thought it was impossible for explosives to be used ; u the tunnel without causing tsltock and jar to the kiln. Witness considered it impossible to drive the tunnel without destroying the, kiln. Ue made a second examination of tin l works in December. 19U7. Hie tunnel wa*s then driven about 120 ft. In (lis report he drow tho coinl'liti.v - s attCiilitut to tlte hoik' and concussion experienced from blasting in the UittJiel. At the kiln h.' saw spliuioring of bricks, which nhowcd a straining movement, and lw was satisfied that "what In had anticipated was conimeucing. lie wttislied hinvelf on April 7 that there was an actual subsidence going on at the kiln. Thero was no serious damage up to December but from tluit time a. rapid change- a.'i in. Tkt> cae.-e of the creeping on the tunnel side was subsidence mid jav., lie tx»lait'..'i( the process of blasting carried on in tho tunnel, whore, lie said, lb. l charges used were very heavy, ::nd proceeded to dc.-criho in dMnil tlie gradual signs of damage that! on llto kiln. Matters were so serious at one time that he advis?d the company to pill up a light angle-iron frame- over the iivn working umlernentli. In January lie ha<| doubts as to whether they would get the kiln to stand. A, 5 p.m. -the court adjourned, to sit again ai 10.30 next morning.