The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-07-09 00:00:00

BIRKENHEAD E4TI4W4Y COMPANY.

The adjourned sputa' general meeting of this com-
pany tv-0 held ons SaVio,y, at the e&e, datii,6.4it-
tieet„Mr., E. 6. there ettii
The Ciri iitrisa.x,intimated that it was considered
desirable• to have a further' adjournment. He ought
perhaps to inform the shareholders that at the preTi.au:s
meeting a deputation was appointede consisting, Of
Messrs. Barb shire, Sithpfingtdd, Arid
obso,..ta io see Lord thandos and
Lord Shalbourne, to ascertain if an arrangement could
be made, and to report to the meeting whether the two
companies were anxious for a renewal of the lease of
that company. Mr. Darhyshire had been , appointed
chairman of thedeputation, and perhaps that gentleman
had better make auy statement which he thought proper:
Mr. Dintwsurat said he had Very little to repdtt.
!The appdintnient df the Coniniittee took fliCe a rat
affer the ieneral.nieetini, and they ProCeeded to
Letidon the following Week aid net the two companies.
WithoUt coming to any conclusive understanding the
meeting was adjourned until the following week; He did
not think it necessary to go into the details of the neit
meeting, but might state that the two companies
jointly requested that thll Mee*
.clidtild be POstpoiled
fet oidtlitt ae Concluded by moving that
ne meeting be adjourned in Compliance with the request:
Mr. ißityANs seconded the motion.
Mr. PiNTON coniplaiiied that the members should
have been earnestly, ,requested to attend,andthat subse

. . . ,
quent notice should :not have beqn sent when it was
determined that the Meeting shoal& he only pro Anal.
T 11.6 dliktustasi. acknowledged the force of Mr.
Panton's objection, and said he did expect that at that
meeting a definite statement would have been made
with referenee to the agreement.
hfr. BLCYANS suggested that in order that the share-
holders might not be disappointed, the Chairman should
give as many of the details df the meeting with the two
edriPallies as he thotight deslfatiel
Mr. DAEP-isttitti tlieshaieholders wcqld-see.
that that Company had nothing to d 6 With the disctis-
sions between the two 3ompaii6, as they applied to the
Management of the line lig them after -the purchase.
They had every reason to believe that the question
would be settled within the next fortnight, and the
adjournment had been requested for that.ptirpose.
Mr. griYAII, Was net tte?libil4of fifessing the matter,
b4t h &id not think the.shareholders should be kept in
the dark altogether. They had received no information
whatever, and he thought they had a right to expect
that they should be told what had been done; and if
there was any hope of coming to a settlement.
The CHAIRMAN said that the last meeting had been
called to hear a statement from him. He bad made
that statement, and -he - had read a letter which had
heft teediVed 6dpi the Loridori aiid North-Western
Railitay. donipatiy. Ito entertained a Very strong
opinion With regard- to that letter and_ feeling that
strong opinion he declined td lie iilidn t 6 tieputation.
The DentitYChairtiian acted-itt. the Santa way, se that
every possible opportunity was given.for the- delititatinn
• to-arrange terms with the two conipanies. Mr. Darby-
shire had told him otheially-elniost as much as he had
told them. TIP- knew -froni-private-sonrees- what had
taken place, hilt it would rid beeorle hint to da
thins to eniharrais his dolleagneS by stating anything
which he knew. He was willing to admit that Mr.
Darbyshire had told nothing ; and if Mr., Darbyshire
said that that-Was all he considered it advisable to say,
he recommended that gentleman' to say' no more; but.
if, on the other_ hand, ha thought he was justified in-
Making any further statement, he should be glad to
hear anything which he had to. state. • -

A SRAItEttOLDHR thought it would be well to leave
the whole niatter in the hands-of the deputation. Ile
bad come perhaps as far as any peigdn thefe but if it
was thonght adiisillie he Was ildite Willing to return
without hearing Any of the details.
TiTHERINGTON thought the remarks of the last
speaker to-be most judicious, and the only thing now
required was that the shareholders should think so
likewise. He considered that it would be unwise to
introduce discussion at the present meeting; because,
if that were done, reflections might be indulged in
reSpecting the positions of the two companies: _ He
was haPiiy td Ue able tell theni that their company
stood in a right position, and no one could cast an
injurious reflection upon them. If they began to
discuss at this meeting all that had hitherto taken
place on this subject, the slight impediments which now
poitponed the final arrangement would be increased
tenfold. He was therefore satisfied that the wisest plan
would be to say as little as possible at present. Ire
sincerely hoped that the matter would be amicably
settled before they met again. If that did not tura.out
to be the case, they alight then initilge id arty remarks
that they thought _proper against
,the two companies.
He himself believed that this agreement, if completed
in good faith, would do more, to consolidate railway
property than anything which has been done since
railways have been made. Ho regretted that no notice
had been given that.the present meeting would bo held
merely pro forma ; but if the parties were allowed
another fortnight the agreement would no doubt be
settled. .

Mr. MAN-sEr.i., of Dublin, one of the shareholders,
then addressed the meeting. Ito had come a very con-
siderable distance for the purpose of attending this
meeting, because he felt it his dittpto be present. He
had to complain that notice *as not given to the share-
sholders of the nature of the meeting. He thought suf-
ficient time had been given to the two great companies,
when it was considered that these negotiations had been
go

ling on for nearly two years. There had been ample
time to consider arrangements, and he must say, as one
of the shareholders, that the sooner an answer was given
the better. Ile for orie did dot care Whether the lease
was given to this company or not. lie attended the
meeting partly because he thought the sentiments per-
vading the shareholders (according to the reports he
read in the public papers) at the last meeting were a
fear of raying anything offensive to the great companies.
If they wanted to exert a right, he would respectfully
tell them that the Way to obtain the right was not to ba
humble and subservient to the great companies. If they
took that course they would not get the great companies
to treat them with the respect to which they were
entitled : they would consider them as unworthy to
receive anything but that which they liked to give them.
They must assert their determinatiun to carry out the
great enteipitise which had been begun, and then the
negotiations which had been going on might be con-
cluded in the next fortnight. He was about to refer to
the conduct of the chairman in the matter, when
The CHAIRMAN said it could not bo wise to prolong
this discussion. He was quite ready to vindicate his
conduct in the matter. Mr. Townshend and himself
would leave the company in August, and when•he had
ceased to be a member he would give such an explana-
tion as would satisfy all parties.

Mr. MANsELL, continuing, said that he regretted being
precluded from stating what he intended. As far as he
could see, having been a careful observer of railways for
the last tlftecu years, if they waisted to make this com-
pany a prosperous one they should place on the board
men who would support the chairman in carrying► out
those principles which he (the speaker) had enunciated.
They had forced their way into Manehester, and he
hoped to see the day when, if fair terms were not given,
they would also force their way into Norwich and other
places. In conclusion, he adverted to the fact that in no
companies were the public better served than in those
where the remuneration of the shareholders was abun-
dant; so that whether they sold or extended the line,
the public would be well served in proportion to the
increased returns to the company.

The motion for the adjournment of the meeting for a
fortnight was then put by the chairman and carried.

The workmen employed in making the repairs now in
progress in the Cathedral of Nantes have just discovered,
in a small vault, two leaden boxes, supposed to contain
the heart and entrails of Philip Augustus, which, accord-
ing to a local tradition, were interred in the choir of
the building. The boxes being opened, their contents
were found entire.
PREVENTIBLE RISK IN FAST RAILWAY TftAVELLING.
--In a report to the Board of Trade ( just published) on
the accident at Hatfield in April, when a Great North-
ern train after passing over a rail that had been turned
got off the line, and Mr. Pym, a passenger, lost his life.
Colonel Yolland states that the whole weight of the
train was about 100 tons, and the total weight on the
wheels to which break blocks could be applied was but
about 25 tons. Now a train at Hatfield, travelling
down an incline of 1 in 200 at the rate of 60 miles an
hour (a frequent rate of that train at that point), could
not nave been stopped by these breaks in less than
three-quarters of a mile. Colonal Yolland says that
this is a very unsatisfactory condition attending fast
railway travelling, and that such quick trains, ought to
be furnished with an amount of break power which will
enable them to be stopped in a third of that distance,
and that this can be done by means of continuous breaks,
which augment the retarding power three or four fold.
Two years ago, the Board of Trade sent to all railway
companies a report of the successful working of such
breaks on the East Lancashire Railway, where a train of
90 tons, supplied with 80 per cent. of break power,
travelling at the rate of 53 miles an hour down an incline
of lin 120, was stopped after running 235 yards. The
carriage in which Mr. Pym rode was not thrown over
on its side until it was 408 yards from the spot where
the accident occurred.