You attribute heavy losses to defaulting Chi. Did you ever sue them?—I tried to get them to sign promissory notes, but they simply disappeared and I was unable to find them. I recovered some portion, but not what I expected.
what court did you sue them in?—No court. We instructed lawyers to write to them, and tried to get something in that way.
After you_had incurred these losses you discovered they had gone away?—No. The losses were incurred by them and they vanished before we had a chance to get hold of them. I had pro-misery notes printed and sent out to the few who did remain, but could not get them signed. They claimed they did not understand, and we got nothing by this means. yy owed us on differences, owing to depreciation in the value of cargo and the collapse of exchange.
In answer to further questions, witness said he had four life insurance policies (two of which were of no use: one was for £3,000, on the occasion of his marriage in 1913: one for G.$40,- 000, and one for £25,000 on the joint lives of himself aad Mr. in premia on the two big policies during the lash six months. The two latter policies were taken out to provide security for the banks. The £3,000 policy was part of the marriage settlement, in connexion with which his father undertook to pay Mrs. Dent £200 a year for life in the event of his death, and asked witness to insure himself for £3,000. All his stock-in-trade had been pledged. It was on -Friday, July 13, that the firm's business credit was cut, as well as his business credit throughout the world. A meeting of creditors was held next day, and on the following. Monday payments were: s' ied. No losses in speculation had been incurred outside or in the business of the firm. Since then the good-will of the firm had disintegrated, but the good-will of the silk department had been sold for Ts. 100 per month for a period of five years, which he had only been able to secure by giving his own services. Otherwise, goodwill of this department would not have been purchased.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.