MISSING £10 PUZZLE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 642, 19 April 1929, Page 1

MISSING £lO PUZZLE

DARGAVILLE SCHOOL FUND CHAIRMAN’S EXPLANATION (Special to THE SUN) KfcRGAVILLE, Friday. The chairman and secretary of the old Dargaville School Committee answered yesterday the statement made by the accountant to the Auckland Education Board that a sum of £lO, a donation by Mr. S. C. Williams, to the school committee’s ground improvement fund, was lost. They stated that the money was banked in the Post Office Savings Bank together with other moneys collected at the same time. As money for ground improvement work was needed sums were withdrawn from the the account and the Government subsidy claimed. A list of donors was kept, and as each claim was made the amount and the giver’s name was sent to the board on a form and the name was ticked off the committee’s list so that no duplications could occur. A full list of the donors and of the amounts collected 4iad been sent to the Education Board’s commissioner. It was stated that a copy of this list should be among the books and papers delivered to the board by the •committee. If the board looked at the list it would find the sum of £lO appearing opposite the name of Mr. Williams. The chairman explained that when the claim for subsidy on the £lO was made some work at the High School ground had just been completed and the contractor wanted his money. As one of the trustees of the savings bank account was away, the amount was drawn from the current account to save time and was paid back when the subsidy was received. The members of the committee said that they 'had done nothing illegal and that they would welcome the fullest investigation that the board could make.