The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1867-02-19 00:00:00

SY DUNG ST. NICHOLLS.

FATAL AOCIDIIIIT. —An inquest was beld at the
Greyhound Inn, in this parish, on Wednesday
evening last, by OSee Symonds, Esq., coroner, on
the body of Joseph Osmond, a groom in the employ
of Mr. Giles Symonds, auctioneer. It appears that
deoesesd, with • man named Gilbert, was employed
by his master on the morning of Wednesday, to
drive some besets from Sidling to Grimeesse.
After leaving the village, mum of the animals left
the highway and ran up a narrow lane called " Dry
Line," and Osmond, who was riding his maseer's
bone, rode after them to turn them bask. Whilst
doing so, the torso end its rider must have fallen,
for the horse was discovered to be muddy and in.
Jared, and the pot man was found lying on Um
gonad ineensib* and bleeding profusely from his
log and bead. Gilbert found him in this state, and
quickly procured easistanoe, but it was of no avail—
** man was deed. Verdict, "Accidental death."
The &owed was a good and faithful nirvana, and
was gwasealka oplaumed.

LONDON AND SOUTH-WESTERN RAILWAY.
The half-yearly meeting of this oompan.. held on
Th maday at Waterloo Station ; Captain Mangles in the
&mfr.

The report (an abstract of which has appeared in this
paper) was taken as road.
The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the report,
sa,cl the directors regretted as deeply as the shareholders
the decreased dividend (at the rate of di per cent. per
annum) recommended in the report. At the same time
they welld point to the causes of that decreaved
nividend, which, as honest men, the directors had felt
their duty to reeoramend, and these were muse.,
temporary he was glad to nay, which bad operated to
lower the dividends if many companies. Tne first
cum was the miserable state of the weather in last
autumn, 28 out of the 30 day. of September being wet,
which lowered the passenger receipt. cs this, a tourist
line, at that season. The cholera, too, at Southampton
prevented holyday nicked s travelling to that place, sod
these matters, added to the commercial crisis of the
year, had operated to stop people from enjoying them-
velvet., and an had lowered the company's reccipte.
Then the cattle plague had effected the company
prejudicially, as the eomputy, before the
Order in Council which made it imperative that
all cattle for the Channel Island. should be /laugh-
tared, was doing • very profitable trade in cattle,
whioh trade had been stepped for a time by that
order. Another enure for the lowering of the dividend
was the foot that the company had several new lines in
work which had not yet had time to develops. Th.l
Interest of the unprodnetice capital in these undeveloped
lines, amounting to £16.000, had been charged to revenue
and not to repitaL With respect to the capital seeonnt,
which was regarded generally with grmt att.dajap by I
shareholders, payments had been made for goods stations
at Nina meta. £20,000; Chernity Extendoe, mom ;
Portunneth station, £7,800, and other expenses, leaving
only £42 000 a. additional capital. Then steel rails 6,1
been laid, and the difference between the cost of steel
and iron had been charged to capital. With regard to
the debesture interest, the entrap rate was 4.26 against
4.28 of last year, and this proved that the company was
regarded as solvent be the public. The directors had
nothing to conceal, and badmen a very toll report, end
this, doubtless, accounted for the public confidence.
The books were at all times open to the shareholders
(cheers.) He then refered to the extensions. He said
that companies were not always to blame for the
extension mania, bet Tarlisment was at times to blame
for encounging competing lines, and so driving
established companies to maks other lees to prevent
their trade from being carried from them. He, however
looked forward to times of gene, and as pear* brought
plenty, there was hope for immunised prosperity le times
eome—(elseern) He wait bap* to leforni the pro-
prietors that the oompany's books bad been inspected by
Mr. Russell Gurney, who 1114 eertified that the company
had not overdrawn its borrowing powen one chilling—
(loud cheers.) The company was patently advent, and
well able to pay its way, and this was proved by the
fact that the gross reeeitts for the last half year
amounted to upwardsof £400,000, arid that the interest
on the debenture debt amounted only to 1:94,000. It
I would be satisfactory to the shareholders to be informed
that there would not be the slightest difficulty in the
company renewing its debentures as they fell due. He
then described with the aid of • lege map the Bills the
company intended to oppose or promote; among the
brume was one between lifneorabe and Barnstaple, and
mentioned those which the company would work. He
I looked forward, he said, to great adventures for the
company from as alliance called the "quadruple
alliance," between this company and the Bristol and
Eider, the Great Western, and South Devon, and be
salted the propedeton to sanction what the directors had
done, and to give them full discretionary powers for
completing the negotiations entered into....

H .oica axe Leonded the edoption el the report.
Mr. Elms, of Exeter, expressed his hearty ooncurrenee
in the allianoe spoken of, and hoped it would he
"tiritt•d.: . . . .. .

Kr. IL LOPEZ acknowledged that his views bad been
rosily changed sines bearing the chairman's speech,
inasmush as when he cues into the meeting he thought
that there must be something wrong when their shares,
which ones stood at 114, were down to 84. He hoped
much from the quadruple alliance. but he asked if the
directors would not do well to revise the tariff of charges
for passengers and goods in order to raise the fares, so
as to increase the dividend—(ories of "No"). He sou•
eluded by moving a resolution to this effect.
Mr. PAO•111 hoped no such motion would be supported
by the meeting. . .

Sir C. Rawl:trams contended that there was more
likelihood In the dividend being increased by • lawn-
ing of the fates than by increasing them. He thought
that the South-Western was the dearest line out of
London, with the exception of the Great Eastern, for
70 or 80 miles distances. Those lines which charged
the lowest fares paid the best dividends. He urged
that return tickets should be issued to third-class
passengers. He said that the reasons assigned by the
chairman for the diminished dividend were not borne
out by the figure. in the report.
Mr. LAIICASI3IIII also advocated lower fares, and
other remarks were made to the mama effect by pro-
prieton.
Mr. Soon, the tralßc manager, said that where
(militia were given for travelling third clan, the trsOle
increased, but the receipts fell off, and that in some
parts the farmers and clergymen even travelled by third
class, so it was unadviable generally to give return
third class tickets. He allowed that the fares for she
73 and 83 miles journeys were high.
The report and dividend were then adopted unani-
mously. The retiring director', Viacount Bury, Count
Eyre, and Lieutenant-Colonel Luard were re-elected, as
I was Mr. .7. Ashmore, the retiring auditor, Resolutions
empowering the directors to conduct ',rain Parlia-
mentary business, and to raise the money authorised to
be borrowed by various powers, were weed. The
proceedings tennimated with a vote of thanks to the
chairman and directors.