Mr R. S. Bell's Bankruptey.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5632, 29 November 1889, Page 4

Mr R. S. Bell 's Bankruptcy.

At h meeting on Wednesday in the above OHtato, held at the Courthouse, Napier, the bankrupt handed in the following statement:- "Theeauseswliich have led to my been compelled to seek the protection of the Bankruptcy Court are briefly these: That I was induced in order to protect myself to take over and carry on the sawmills known as Parson's, and Lycettand Cross's: that, owing to the unexpected fall in the price of sawn timber, caused by the keen competition among sawmillers, and to my having shipped a large quantity of unsaleable material to the Sydney market, I found the business unremunerative, and lost very heavily on many of my milling transactions. Owing to the unprecedented fall in the selling and letting values of all landed and house property in the town and country disdiatricts, a number of what seemed to my judgment to be perfectly safe investments have not paid interest on the capital sunk in them, and have in many instances resulted in very Berious losses. Until quite recently I was led to believe I should have been able to amalgamate all my securities and obtain the necessary advances from one of our financial institutions to carry on until sufficient of my property could lie sold to allow of meeting all, or at all events the moat pressing, of my engagements. Having failed in making any satisfactory arrangements, and being pushed to pay off my liabilities to the Colonial and National Banks, and at the same time one of my creditors having taken out a writ, and others spoke of doing the same, I considered the only course open to me was to become a bankrupt. Had there been a prospect of being able to realise sufficient on my encumbered property to enable me to pay the most pressing of my liabilities, I should have used every effort to stave off bankruptcy, or I should have called a private meeting of my creditors, but there did not appear the least hope of my tiding over my difficulties, otherwise I should not have placed myself in the unfortunate position which I now occupy. The statement of my affairs given in the different schedules show the substantial balance of L 12,397, and, in my oninion, the estate, if not unduly forced into the market, will realise more than sufficient to pay all the creditors in full." The meeting was adjourned for seven days to give the creditors in the south and north time to prove.

Dredging on the West Coast tho (<vey Ri^er Argus says : — Dredging areas ?ire in demand. It is not long since a batch of new applcations was announced. Since then another lot has been applied for. Little or no ground remains unapplied for mi the sea beaches, and consequently attention has been turned to the streams. The whole of the Grey River up to Nelson Creek has been applied for by different, companies. A great portion of Nelson Creek, as is well known, has been taken up some time ago, and a i>ortioii of it is now being worked. At No Town a large dredging area (about throe miles) has been applied for ; and signs an; abundant that shortly every auriferous stream on the const will soon be taken up; aud if the Paroa claim should look up as hopefully as Mr Taylor's, a yood many will lose very little time in getting to work. One of the most hopeful signs of the outlook in dredging mining is that the interest is not confined to the people of this coast, as emissaries from Canterbury and Otagc* are at present engaged in looking out for promising mining investments, irrespective of whether they are dredging areas or not.