HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE, 



95 



increased to £60,000 for the purpose of carrying 

 out business of trapping and hunting wild animals 

 which were subsequently to be disposed of. The 

 capital which had been issued amounted to 

 £44,000, and of this there was a sum of £26,000 

 in shares issued to Mr. John Alfred Jordan, the 

 promoter of the Company, and £4,000 in shares 

 to Mr. Robert Leadbetter. These two issues, 

 fully paid up, amounted to £30,000, leaving 

 £14,000 which had been subscribed for cash. 

 There w ere many who had been concerned on the 

 Board of Directors. There were two in existence 

 at the time the winding-up order was made, name- 

 ly, Mr. Leadbetter and Mr. Osborne. 



They, the Official Receiver noticed, were to 

 be qualified as Directors by the issue of 1,000 

 shares each for which, in the ordinary course, the 

 public would expect them to subscribe. However 

 the issues were in the form of a gift and it would 

 be for the Directors to consider whether these 

 gentlemen were liable now to pay for this gift. 

 The idea of the Company was to make use for 

 the purpose of trapping and hunting wild animals, 

 of the concession of the Belgian Government, 

 which Mr. Jordan had of an area of 53,000 acres 

 in the Belgian Congo. Whether it was better to 

 deal with the "niggers" in procuring the animals 

 or to obtain the animals independently of the 

 "niggers" was a matter for discussion between 

 Mr. Leadbetter and Mr\ Jordan. 



The Company were not very successful. , They 

 advertised for people to take on hunting expedi- 

 tions and articles were writtenand published which 

 gave the Company a very nice appearance. 



The results were not very satisfactory though 

 they got some £14,000 in round figures subscribed 

 which was obtained largely through the Directors 

 and their friends. Men were engaged at consid- 

 erable salaries to carry out the scheme but no 

 animals were caught. Some sixty animals were 

 "niggers." The various expeditions had involved 

 a large expenditure and salaries had run into a 

 big figure. 



In the circumstances Mr. Burgess thought 

 they might have waited till such time as they 

 were doing big business before paying big salar- 

 ies. Mr. Jordan was paid at the rate of £1,000 

 a year and the arrangement was for Mr. Lead- 

 better to keep the animals till a market was found 

 for them. In consideration of this he was to have 

 £4,000 in shares for the use of his park and for 

 the use of his services subsequently he was to be 

 given £1,000 a year. Apart from this, salaries 

 were to be paid to others who undertook the task 

 of catching the animals. They had spent money 

 on insurance on animals sent over. here and the 

 figure involved sounded to him (Mr. Burgess) 

 big. 



Funds ran out and so they had to come to 

 the end and Mr. Jordan had gone abroad. He 

 (Mr. Burgess) did not know if he was coming 

 back but the trouble with him was that towards 

 the end of last year the Belgian Government sent 

 him a polite note saying that they had never given 

 consent to the concession being signed. Mr. 

 Jordan w r as given a cheque for £26,000 by the 

 Company, but this he passed back by way of sub- 

 scription for a similar amount of shares. 



It was possible that there would be a claim 

 against Mr. Jordan for selling a concession which 

 he had noi right to sell. In that event they might 

 make a claim ag'ainst him for the £26,000 which 

 the Company had paid over. 



The liabilities of the Company altogether 

 amounted to £3,472, £960 of which was preferen 

 tial. As to> assets they had cash in hand £44, 

 some fittings, a few guns and some animals which 

 had been sold for £90, book debts £119, and up- 

 paid calls amounting to £3,600 out of which it 

 was not expected to< realise more than a £1,000. 

 With the balance on securities in the hands of 

 the bank the total assets amounted to about 

 £1,357. 



In regard to the animals he (Mr. Burgess) 

 took the. responsibility of getting rid of them. Mr. 

 Leadbetter had a claim for their keep of £16, and 

 on taking advice he (Mr. Burgess) was told that 

 in the circumstances he could not do> better than 

 to sell them to Mr. Leadbetter for £20. The guns 

 realised by auction about £10. 



No resolution being passed the case was left 

 with the office of the Official Receiver. 



At a subsequent meeting of contributors a 

 similar decision was come to. 



-®- 



General Notes. 



THAT many of my readers have written, for par- 

 ticulars of the photograph of the Giant Gorilla 

 which was killed in the Forest of Bambio, 

 French Cameroons. This wonderful photograph 

 appeared in "The Sphere," March 13th, 1920. 



THAT yet another Amateur has decided for the 

 Wild Beast Trade. Captain Cherry Kearton 

 has stated in an interview with the Press that 

 he intends to' bring over a collection of East 

 African animals. 



Once more, any fool with the money can 

 buy the animals, but it takes experienced men 

 to bring them over. 



