IN BANKRUPTCY

Southland Times, Issue 18963, 9 June 1923, Page 2

IN BANKRUPTCY

NIGHTCAPS BOOTMAKER’S ESTATE. A meeting of creditors in the estate of George Henry Pittaway, bootmaker, at Nightcaps, was held yesterday, there being present Messrs Dunlop (Ross and Glendening), J. Stevenson (Bing, Harris and Co.), W. Clark (O’Brien and Co.), and W. Tait. The amount owing to secured creditors was £1466 10/- and unsecured creditors £lOB6 15/9 while bankrupt’s estate showed surplus from securities of £521 10/-, insurance £4OO, book debts £6O, furniture £4O, tools £3O. The secured creditors were Building Society £360, W. G. Tait £3O, Arthur Stone, motor importer, Dunedin, £5OO, William Pittaway, Palmerston North, bootmaker £426 10s, Edward Barker, Cardrona, miner, £l5O. The principal unsecured creditors were M. O’Brien and Co., Christchurch, boot manufacturers, £261 3/11 G. A. Coles and Co., Ltd., Auckland, boot manufacturers, £142 8/7; Bing, Harris and Co., Ltd., Dunedin, boot manufacturers, £lll 13/6; J. E. Butler, Ltd., Dunedin, saddlers, £B2 0/7; Brace, Windle, Blythe and Co., Dunedin, saddlers, £Bl 14/-; Skelton, Frostick and Co., Christchurch, boot manufacturers, £BO 10/5; Ross and Glendening, Dunedin, boot manufacturers, £7B 8/10; W, G. Tait, Invercargill, solicitor, £93 16/10. In his sworn statement, bankrupt said he was at present living in Nightcaps, where he had been carrying on a boot shop for some 18 months. Prior to that he had a farm at Kuri Bush near Brighton, Otago, which he sold to McKenzie McKay Marshall in September, 1920. The price was £l2 12 per acre for 483 acres. Marshall got a first mortgage of £3,500 and gave bankrupt a second mortgage of £1587, the balance, £lOOO, being paid in cash. Bankrupt borrowed £5OO on the second mortgage frem Arthur Stone of Dunedin. The whole of the money secured from Kuri Bush went to pay up current accounts with the stock agents and others. The money from the clearing sale was used for the same purpose.

After leaving Kuri Bush he engaged as a traveller in the hardware business for several months. There was a bare existence in this. In September, 1921, he decided to buy a boot business in Nightcaps, as he thought the prospects were good. Shortly after leaving the farm he got £3OO from his brother to pay debts, and £75 of this he put into the Nightcaps business. He had previously had £75 from his brother and gave him a second mortgage over his £l5OO mortgage for £375. About six years ago he had borrowed £lOO from Edwin Barker without security. Last year he asked for security, so bankrupt gave him a third mortgage over his £l5OO mortgage. Including interest, this amounted to He only put £75 into the Nightcaps business altogether. There was about £l2O of stock and he got the balance from Mr Tait, He was paying 15/- per week rent for the shop. He also in December, 1921, bought a dwelling house for £450 at Nightcaps, as up to that time he had left his family in Dunedin, not being able to get a house. He got a first mortgage from the Building Society with Mr Tait’s guarantee of £375. Mr Tait also paid the deposit of £25 and the vendor took a second mortgage for £l5O, which was later transferred to Mr Tait.

On February 2 last, the shop was burned down. He had an insurance of £5OO on the stock (under two policies). On account of his having installed a petrol lantern without notice and through some items being disallowed, he ultimately got only £4OO insurance. That money was lying with Messrs Downie Stewart and Payne at Dunedin He gave orders on this money to John Thomson £3l, Brace, Windle, Blythe and Qp., £Bl 14/-, Rosa and Glendening £6O, Giendermid, Ltd., £lB, J. E. Butler, Ltd £47 1/4. Brace, Windle, Blyth and Co. also got an attachment order from the Court.

It had been uphill work to get the business going, but he had begun to make progress and the prospects were good when the fire occurred. He had only £4OO insurance on the stock and reckoned that he had about £BOO worth of stock in the place. The other £lOO insurance was cn the workroom plant and it was on the policy that he had to make such a big roluction.

He considered that the second mortgage on Kuri Bush farm was worth face value, so that there should be an equity in that of about £5OO. No interest had been paid on that mortgage for 18 months. The mortgage was due in September next. He kept books but some of them were burned in the fire. Being the beginning of the month he had his day book and ledger at the house making out accounts, otherwise those would have been burned also. The mortgages on the house at Nightcaps were now reduced to about £4OO. He did not think there was any equity in that. In a further statement before the meeting, bankrupt said that he got no notice on the attachment taken out by Brace, Windle and Blyth. He had previously signed an order on the Sun Insurance Company sent to him by Brace, Windle and Blyth. They were sueing him for the money and he thought the only way was to give an order. That was about two or three weeks before the fire. The Court order was dated March 9, 1923, for £9l 14/-. He knew nothing of it, but it was sent on to Mr Tait by Moore, Moore and NichoL He got no threat to sue from Brace, Windle, Blyth before the fire. Shortly after the fire he wrote to all the creditors telling them of the fire and stating that he hoped to be able to pay everything in full. He got a summons from Brace, Windle and Blyth and Co., but

understood that it would be held over bo did not defend. Judgment was evidently given against him and then they applied for and got an attachment order without any notice being given to him. He effected his insurance with the Invercargill branch of Sun Office and did not know why it was paid to Downie Stewart and Payne in Dunedin. Since the fire he had collected bookdebts amounting to £126 17/3. There were also contra accounts to different tradesmen in the district, debts amounting to £62 13/5. Those amount!, together with the outstanding ac-

counts £B4 3/9, made his total book debt at the time of the fire to be about £275. Out of the £l2O collected, he paid about £BO into the bank and bought tools to the value of about £25 and the balance was used in house expenses. He thought a good many cf the outstanding book debts were good.

After a lengthy discussion, it was decided that the whole matter of assignments, attachments and orders, etc., on moneys in the/hands of Downie Stewart and Payne be thoroughly investigated and tested with a demand that moneys be paid into Court at Invercargill pending a settlement. It was further decided that bankrupt should assist the Official Assignee to collect the book debts.