A PECULIAR ARRANGEMENT.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 13891, 17 February 1909, Page 7

A PECULIAR ARRANGEMENT.

STORY OF A POULTRY FARM. A story of peculiar business relations, the unravelling of which occupied several hours, was told in the Magistrate's Court yesterday, before Mr H. S. Fitzherbert, S.M. William Heappey, labourer, New Plymouth, sued George Taylor i and Frank Joseph, butchers, New Plymouth, for. £24 los sd, for wages, price of a set of harness, and 1 half prqfits in a poultry and, pig run. Defendants paid £5 into Court in full satisfaction of claim. Mr C. H.. Weston appeared for plaintiff, and Mr Frank Wilson for defendants. Plaintiff deposed that for some time he rented Taylor's billiard saloon in Devon Street East. He boarded with. Taylor. Ultimately he left" the saloon in debt to Taylor to the amount of 30s. Defendants afterwards rented a place of 10 , acres -with a six-roomed house on it on the Old Hospital Road for 7s 6d per week. Tim was used ,by .defendants as a pig and poultry farm. Witness was placed in charge on September 28, 1908, under an arrangement that he should receive 25s a week wages and also half of the profits. This arraiigenaent/said witness, was made at Taylor's. suggestion.' Witness batched on the place with a boy,> to whom witness Vpaid 4s per week. Witness was -also liable for the "keep" of himself and the boy, although Taylor sent out some of the groceries 'and other things needful. He also employed his own horse and cart in the business. With this trap witness collected kitchen refuse from various houses in the town to feed the pigs and poultry with. The arrangement terminated on January 5, 1909. During his engagment he performed certain work, outside of his work _on the poultry farm, for which he claimed payment, alleging that such had been arranged, ; "*v -Evidence was' given for the defence that the agreement made with plaintiff regarding the pig /and poultry farm was that he was to receive half the profits therefrom. There was no mention of wages in addition. About three weeks before Christmas plaintiff complained that half of the profits did not pay him, and asked TajrW tis commute them to weekly wages. An arrangement was then, made that Heappey should receive 25s par w«elc as wages, without any share of the profits. He had td keep himself. The engagement terminated at the end of December, defendants-finding that the farm did not pay. -Defendants denied that they owed Heappey any money for a set of harness. .Heappey was still using a set of harness, belonging to them, and they, were "using a set Belonging to him. Defendants denied that plaintiff was to be paid for wofk done outside of the duties connected with the farm. Defendant Joseph also gave some .evidence in corroboration of his partner's evidence. * Witness said he "had himself put . about £7 into the farm out of his own pocket,, and Taylor had put considerably 0 MgXs- There was no arrangement jp^gjiming how much stock was to be ;jj£j& on the /arm. In answer to^^^ Magistrate, Joseph admitted that^ if lonly. one pig and one fowl had been put on the farm Heappey would still have got - only - a half of the net, profit. ■• -i -^ ( :ir . „ Sidney' Stroud deposed "to having had a conversation with Heappey in Taylor's- billiard saloon. Heappey told him l^ewas wording ss_hares. Stroud remembered this/ and that it occurred at 7 p.m. on a Satwday, but he could not remember the date or even the mqntn in which>l£R&_«jpejck jack Tanner, 13 years '©Id, was also .called as a, witness for the defence, but was soon dismissed, Mr Wilson remark: ing; that the boy's evidence was not quite 'the same as' what he had told •couri'sel previously^. • /; This- concluded the evidence for - defendants. ' - It was elicted from the evidence that the farm ..was' very, much understocked, asked Taylor to increase the stock, but the latter was financially unable to do so. His Worship remarked that it was prettjr hard to see where mucfi profit was coming from. The half-sHare* of ,„ the. 1 profits for the nine weeks that" plaintiff was engaged was ,£8 9s' Bd. Out of this plaintiff was expected, to pay the/fcoy,* and for it he also had to use his horse and cart. His Worship pointed out two extraordinary features in. the; .case. One was that the defendants 'expected plaintiff to I utilise his horse and cart ."in the busi-| ness, their value being about equal to the whole of the capital laid out by defendants on the farm, give all his own labour and employ a boy for only half the profits. The other peculiar feature was ! that not a < single portion \ of the i business arrangements between the parties was put in writing. ' , Owing to the contradicting nature of the evidence Mr Fitzherbert reserved his decision until Friday morning.

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