BALCLUTHA MAGISTRATE’S COURT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20591, 14 December 1928, Page 12

BALCLUTHA MAGISTRATE’S COURT.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) BALCLUTHA, December 13.

_ Civil cases occupied a great; deal of time at the sitting of the. Magistrate's Court here yesterday before Mr H. J. Dixon, S.M., and it was 5.30 p.m. when the court rose. BY DEFAULT. Judgment fot plaintiff was given in the following undefended easesClutha Motors (Mr Walter) v. Hector Parks, £3 13s Bd, with costs (£1 12s 6d) : C. E. O’Hara v. Jack Bain, £8 12s Sd, and costs (£1 12s 6d). JUDGMENT SUMMONS. ' 801 l 'hud Ridgwell (Mr Kelly) v. Angus M‘Diarmid (Mr Walter), claim £ll 14s 7d .on a judgment summons.—■ An order was made , for payment forthwith, with solicitor’s fees fi Is), in default 12 days’, imprisonment in Dunedin Gaol. INTERESTING MOTOR CASE, Kean and Weddell, Ltd., motor garage proprietors, Balclutha, claimed £lB 18s lOd from John Spencer Daniell, medical practitioner, Kaitangata, balance of an account in connection with the sale of a mofor car. Mr Bremner appeared for plaintiffs, and Mr Walter, for defendant. —William. Kean, manager of Kean and Weddell’s, gave evidence that early in January of the present year, he had sold Dr Daniell a Whippet coach car for £325. The doctor at that time stated that his Ford car had been burned,’ and that it was insured for £250. He - asked witness if-he would take £SO cash down'for the Whippet and the. balance when the: insurance company paid out on the Ford, which He estimated would be iu from three weeks to a month. Witness agreed to treat this-as a cash transaction ■ provided the insurance money came to hand in a month. Dr Daniell had agreed that if the time_ was longer than a month he would pay interest on the unpaid-balance. Witness ImJ assured him that he must charge interest if oyer the month, imd also defendant must take out an insurance policy’on the car, in order to protect witness’s firm. He had gone with the doctor to the South Island Motors in. Dunedin, who were distributors for the Whippet, and next day received, a telephone message at Balclutha that the doctor had taken the Whippet coach away, but had not paid the deposit of £SO. Witness then visited the doctor in his surgery at Kaitangata, and received a cheque for £SO. No agreement was signed regarding the balance of the price of the;'car. The insurance money did not come to hand, and. witness ‘ subsequntly cstimatM the cost of repairing the damage to the doctor’s Ford car at £4B 15s. He sent out accounts regularly and received cheques from the doctor from time to time on.account of principal and interest The first complaint about the interest charged was received on September 21. The doctor had been in the garage almost every Friday, and had made three payments before he scui a letter objecting to the interest charged. It was the custom to. charge interest on cars-,sold on their instalment plan, - Charles L. Pinor, manager of South Island Motors, Dunedin, distributors ■ for the Whippets,' said he ;remcmbered- Mr Kean and Dr Daniell visiting • the, garage in January, when the doctor took a fancy to a colonial Whippet coach at £325. The price was .some time after reduced to £3lO, and latterly to £285. Witness corroborated Mr Kean’s evidence as to the term? mentioned, also that if not paid within a month, a comprehensive insurance policy would = require to be taken out-by the owner of the car.

The Magistrate, ..in giving judgment, said that he would allow defendant for the leather added to the mat, and believed his evidence was correct in regard to the bumperettes, but differentia] should be allowed to plaintiff, ■ as the car had been running fpr some time. Judgment would bo'given for plaintiff for the in' terest (£l3 Bs-10d) ,as it was highly imthat. it had not been mentioned at the time, and the price of a car was raised according to the time taken to pay. Defendant at that time expected to get £250 on account of his old car, and had no need to consider instalments. Judgment would therefore be for plainplaintiffs to retain the bumperettes. CLAIM FOR GRAZING.

Andrew Carruthers, Pukeawa (Mr Kelly), claimed £l7 18s from Andrew Allen, sen., of Awamangu (Mr Walter) for grazing a number of bead of cattle from April 29 to- September 28 at Is per bead. Defendant counter-claimed for £2B on account of three of the cattle alleged to have been lost through plaintiff’s neglect to provide them with sufficient pasture. The cattle fell away in condition, according to defendant’s claim, and one died on plantiff’s property, and two were destroyed by defendant himself. Mr Walter admitted the claim for grazing, and evidence was taken on the counter-claim; The witnesses were plaintiff'and defendant, Campbell Thomson, Andrew Allan, jun., A. M'Kcllar, William Kirkness, Edward Smith.—The Magistrate, >n giving judgment, said that defendant,, to .succeed, on*, his counterclaim. would have to prove negligence on the part of the plaintiff < Carruthers), and this he had failed to jjo. Independent evidence was to the effect that there was plenty of feed : on the ground eon- ’ sidering the time of the year. Perhaps ■the, cattle had been in poor condition when put there. Judgment would be by consent for plaintiff for £l7 ISs, with costs (£3 15s), and plaintiff (Oarruthers) would succeed also on the 'Coun-ter-claim, with costs (£5 17s).