BUSINESS METHODS

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2599, 6 September 1909, Page 4

BUSINESS METHODS

An interesting sidelight upon the manner in which bankruptcies are sometimes made was provided by t Edmund Reddish, a cycle agent of the Lower Hutt, whose creditors recently held a meeting. The Bankrupt furnished no written statement, but verbally informed those present that his liabilities totalled £330 and his assets £5. He had been placed in a going business three and a half months ago by a Wellington firm who knew that he had no capital. This transaction resulted in the firm in question figuring as a creditor to the tune of nearly £9O. Although Reddish found the art of acquiring a fortune in the cycle, trade considerably more difficult than he had imagined, the fact was in no wise permitted to interfere with his personal comfort. A representative of Warded Bros, stated that £ll worth of debts had been incurred with that firm in two months, and the orders included large quantities of confectionery and chocolates. The Official Assignee said that bankrupt’s wife had run up an account of £l9 18s in seven days for. millinery andj clothing at Kirkcaldie and Stains'. A dairyman creditor bitterly recalled the fact that he had been supplying a gallon and ahalf of milk per day, and as an afterthought, he added, “and cream on Sundays.” For a family of three this rate of expenditure can scarcely be described as niggardly. Two facts stand out prominently in connection with the incident: Firstly, there is at least one family in the Lower Hutt district which does not believe in the simple life; and, secondly, credit can be obtained much more easily in Wellington than in Gisborne.