William A. Wylie, Trustee in Bankruptcy of the Estate of Clair v. Ward, Bankrupt v. Clair v. Ward

Ward, a tire dealer, in Alhambra, California, has been granted a discharge in bankruptcy by the referee, and the referee’s decision was sustained by the district court on review. We do the trustee no injustice when we say that, in the practical sense, Ward’s largest creditor, the United States Rubber Company, is the real party in interest.

For many shears Ward was successful and prosperous in the service station, tire and accessory business. But sometime prior to 1950 he wanted to be bigger and decided to profit from the then greatly expanding business of retail selling of television sets. Before too long the whole television price structure collapsed on him. Eventually, as a consequence, he had no business at all. First, the sheriff came on May 19, 1953, with a state court attachment issued at the instance of the rubber company. After making heroic attempts to operate the business with the sheriff astride him, he made an assignment for the benefit of creditors on June 8, 1953. That lasted until the following September 28,1953, when three of his television creditors filed a petition for involuntary bankruptcy. An adjudi cation thereof followed and Wylie was named trustee.

There…