District Court.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 12337, 20 August 1903, Page 3

District Court.

"WednesLlay. August liMih.— Boforo His Honor Mr District Jvidgc Kettle. The Court w-as opened shortly aft«;r 11 o'clock. CHOEiW CHOiN;G V. HOLMES & GO. . On tJii& case being galled oro, being* a claim of £66 14/ balance due for butter sold, Mr T. S. Wes>ton (We.ston and "Weston), asiked * that the case stand over till next sitting of the Court. iTe held in his harjd a;n agreement to ref. j r the matter in dispute to 3ir .N f . King. The case was adjooirn^d accord ini»h\ KBRSHAW. V. O'DRIS,OOLL. On this ca?e being called on, which Mas a claim of £200 damages for illegal arrest, Mr San^uel gaid he with 3Lr Quilliam aptpeared for tie plaintiifT, M\- Sanruel inf^rnaed the Court that the parties' had come to an agreement, and that Mr O'Driacoll had acted in a vatisfactoiy way in mlajdng a settlemtent. Ma- T. S. Weston, for the defendant, statad til at the <rase had been settled. The case was accordingly struck otit. JURY DISCHIARC.^D. i As there were no other cases for a j jury the jurymen in attendance were I discharged. IX BANKRUPTCY. A petition to make J. F. Hooker a bankrupt was called on.

iVIr Hiitchen, for the petitioning creditor. tV. Hjumijshties, sakl this was an application to make bankriuijt. The petition was based ' on a judgmient summons in the S.M. Court. There was an application for a re-hearing of the case in the S."M?. Court, which was fixed for Monday next, aiid in tih&t case he would as]k that the application in t-he District Court be adjdurned till Tuesday nefxt. 'His Honor aSioiimed the case till Tuesday next at i 0.30 a.m. DISCH,A'RGKS. James Nelson Whitifield applied idx an order of discharge. The D.O.A.'s reiport stated that the applicant had kept -no proper books, had traded in a reckless manner, anjd then formed his- business into a compam- which had no chan.ee of success, ar.d sold patrt of his creditors' estate. Hr BUtctien, for the petitioner, said that Whitfieid was now in Victoria, and that he left New Zealand actually penniless. He tho/i^ght that there was j »o reason to wiiihhokrthe disahjaarge, as banlknmt would never ' come back to New Zealaixd to start in business. His Honor baid he would like to look through the public examination again, and wofild give his decision at l<\3o a.m. on Thursday. He a^ked the D.O.A. if he^ had any objection to xhe discharge being: granted. ' Mr Medley stated that some of the cralitors opposed the discSiarge and. he also opr/osed the discharge, for tire present at any rate. ' 1 Albert Elgar applied for an order of 'disc-Jiargp. ' His Honor aaiid as Counsel in tihe application Avere '.engaged at Inglev.ood he woulil adjourn the aipptica- , tion till 10.30 on Thursday. The Court r;os'e. !

THIS DAY.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 20 TKIIITPIELD'S ESTATE.

His Honor gave his decision in this application for discharge from bankruptcy. His Honor said that be haid read through, the public examination of bankrupt, * which, was taken some lime ago, and he was of opinion that uho ca«e was one in whiirih an immediate order ol discharge should not be granted. It would appear that the bankrupt before he came to New Zealanid had a somewhat chequered career commercially, and since his arrival in Kew Zealand bis commercial transactions were sfuch that qonld not be countenanced by the Bankruptcy Ccurt. It would af/pear tnat bankrupt came to New Zealand in October or November, TJOO, from Adelaide, where he had j>»st made a compromise with his creditors. He evidently had £oCA) capital when he, came to "New Zealand, bwt for some time it was not apparent what he was doing in New Zealand— (probably he was living on the £spO. Towartds the end of 1901 bankrupt started a business in Inglewood with a branch at Waitara, and he stated he then had a capital of £3o!U. S ; ubse<£uent!y he started a big business in New Plymouth, and with (*oqh a limited capital it was no v/ondfr he .won came to grief. JiVent'ually the bankrupt filexl. and his assets were yfit down at £3600, which on realisatif.ti, amoutntetl to <*ome £1815. # The bankrupt never kept pr,tfper books of account. Banunrnt admitted that he couW and had kept books, in previous burtinesHes*, and had kept a complete Kit before; but in his biusiness here he negileictod to do so; and such failure created a suspicion in his mw that the business here was not carried on honestly. In the absence of proper books the bankrupt's transactions oouVl not be traced, and it could not be shown how he disposed of the monies he received . Just before bankI'upt filed he was hopelessly bankrupt, but. instead of calling a meeting ot his creditors he formed hi« business into a joint stock company in the hope rJoubtiesK that he would find people foolish enough to put their money into it. From the beginning it was apparent that the company must end in foiJune. IHbwftVcr bankrupt got tno 'jorr?,nanv remstpred, but in order to do (4o he hail to prefer some creditors and i «id mon';y to liquidate thnr claims vhioh belonged to the crrfditors "i (rennrai. Tho company ended m Whitfield going foanlu'wpt. Having regard to the whole circumstances of the case he wotW ftusfpewd WJiitfiel'd's- certificate of di^harge f° r two year*. Mr Ilut<"hon: When will it takp pfw't. your Honor? ' His Honor: It will take effect from now.

ALBERT ELGAR'S ESTATE Mr Thomson, of Tnglewoocl, applied for cvn order of discharge, in respect of ;Albt-rt Elgar, tinsmith of Opunako, but now of Inglewood. j Hi-* Honor: I understand this estate Ipaijd a substantial dividend, eq,ual to 20s hi the JC. Mv Mftdley. the D.0.A. , stated the : idivSdedvi was l'Bs Gd in the £. I His Honor: The discharge is grant'ecl. YON STURMiER'S ESTATE. His Honor enquired of the D.O.Awas he prepared to go on with the H'u'blio examination of "Wilfrid Yon Stunner. Mr Mefdley replied that he would see I counsel on the matter. i His Honor said he would be pre- < pared to take the case- in the afternoon. The Court adjourned. 9ub^eJcguo:ntly it was arranged between his Honor aud counsel engaged (Messrs iverr, Quilliam, and Malone) in the case that a special sitting of the Court would be held to take the exaanination, on a date to be fixed. This closed the business at this sitting.