238 SECRETARIAL PRACTICE

remuneration to any such solicitor, auctioneer or other person.
Rule 159 forbids him to purchase any of the company’s assets
without leave of the Court, and Rule 160 forbids him, when
carrying on the company’s business, without the express
sanction of the Court to purchase goods for carrying on the
business from any person whose connection -with him is such
as to result in his obtaining any part of the profit arising from
the transactions.
Service of By Rule 23, all notices, summonses and other documents,
Notices, ete. other than those of which personal service is required, may be
sent by prepaid post letter to the last known address of the
person to be served therewith; and the notice, summons or
document is to be considered as served at the time when the
same ought to be delivered in the due course of post by the
post office, and notwithstanding the same may be returned
by the post office.
Although in a compulsory liquidation the books of a
company close at once, it may be, and often is. otherwise in
a voluntary liquidation.
A negative effect of a voluntary winding up is that it does
not operate to stay actions, as a compulsory order or a supervision
 order does, nor does it prevent actions being brought
against the company after the commencement of the voluntary
 liquidation. It is, however, always open to the liquidator
to apply to the Court for a stay and it used to be the practice
for a stay to be granted, except in the case of actions by
secured creditors to enforce their security. The plaintiff
would then, the stay having been granted, prove in the liquidation,
 and where the liquidator did not admit the claim he
would himself apply to the Court, under s. 138 of the Act of
1862 (now s. 252), to have the matter in dispute decided.
But in Currie v. Consolidated Kent Collieries [(1906) 1 K.B.
134)] it was held that the onus is upon the liquidator in
applying for a stay to show that an order should be made,
and that in case of a real dispute a stay should not be granted,
and that, so far from a stay being a convenience, it would in
such cases be an unnecessary waste of time and money. But
in a case where liability is substantially admitted, and the
question is really one of amount, the matter is one which
may properly be dealt with in the liquidation, and accordingly
a stay should be granted. The matter is in each case one for
the discretion of the Court.
It should be noticed that by s. 255, a voluntary wind‘ng up
is not to bar the right of any creditor or contributory to have
the company wound up by the Court, but in the case of an
application by a contributory the Court must be satisfied