BANKRUPT COAL MERCHANT

Taranaki Daily News, 27 January 1933, Page 2

BANKRUPT COAL MERCHANT

FAILURE OF WAITARA MAN.

DEFICIENCY SHOWN AT £lB2.

Creditors in the bankrupt estate of Clifford Alfred Tanner, a Waitara coal merchant, met before the deputy official assignee (Mr. J. S. S. Medley) at New Plymouth yesterday and decided to adjourn the meeting for a month, the bankrupt in the meantime to have the use of his van for selling fish.

A deficiency of £lB2 Ils lid was revealed, £276 2s lOd being owed to unsecured creditors, while the assets amounting to £93 Ils included stock in trade valued at £5O, property at £2O and book debts estimated to produce £23 Ils. The sum of £5OO was owing to secured creditors, the estimated value of the securities being £5OO. A lorry, scales, saw-bench engine and a number of sacks are to be sold by the creditors but it was decided that bankrupt should retain the use of his van for the present.

There were present at the meeting Messrs. J. H. Holm, W. W. Thomson (for Taupiri Collieries Ltd.), G. Macallan (Mr. C. Wright), M. J. Erceg and H. J. Chittenden.

Bankrupt stated .that he had started business as a wood and coal merchant three years ago, when he possessed about £llO. He had not been successful in that venture. At the same time he did cartage work after purchasing a cart, horse and van for which he had paid £5O cash. Although he had continued carting until about four months ago it was unsuccessful. He was then dealing in coal for the Taranaki Shipping Co. Coal prices had been cut to £1 12s 6d a ton tad that price gave him no chance to compete. He had tried to obtain an agency but had received nothing definite. He found he owed a considerable sum and, with no chance of overtaking his debts, he had been forced to file. He regretted that he was unable to make any offer at the present time. Tanner explained that he was a married man with five children. He had five fully paid shares in the Mokau Colliery Company. He did not gamble or attend race meetings. Nothing had been drawn regularly from the business. He estimated living expenses at about £3 weekly. To Mr. 1 Macallan bankrupt denied that he played poker and that he spent more than 3s a week on drink. In answer to Mr. Hardy, bankrupt explained that the money received for the sale of the last amount of Mokau coal had gone into the bank. Mr. Hardy: But that was our money. According to. an agreement with us you were to sell the coal from house to house for cash and your only benefit was to be the amount earned by carting.

Bankrupt said that had Mr. Hardy been in Waitara he would have paid him- As it was, the money had been banked. ’ ■ '

Questions concerning bankrupt’s visits to Auckland were then asked. Messrs. Chittenden and Erceg said they had no wish to deprive" bankrupt of his means of livelihood and expressed the opinion that nothing could be gained by spiling the van that bankrupt wished to retain in order to enter the fish trade. If the man were given a chance, he might make some future payment tor he was known to be a hard worker, if a poor business-man.

Mr. Chittenden said he would like to have known how much a week bankrupt had drawn from the business for living expenses. In future bankrupt would be well advised to draw only wages. 1 Mr. Medley is to go fully into bankrupt’s books and report to the adjourned meeting. ■ •

The following unsecured creditors were owed the total sum of £276 2s lOd: Taupiri Collieries Ltd., Glen Afton Collieries Ltd. (Auckland), Mokau Harbour Board, M. Julian, Mokau Collieries- Ltd. (New Plymouth), C. Wright (Mokau), Taranaki Hospital Board, M. J. Erceg (Waitara), J. H. Holm and Co. (New Plymouth), J. A. Redpath and Sons (Wellington), Trade Auxilliary Co. (Christchurch), Taranaki Shipping Co. (Waitara), H. J. Chittenden (Waitara), Stone and Co. (Dunedin), Paramount Tyre Co. (New Plymouth) and N. Madson (Waitara).