The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1859-04-12 00:00:00

Nampfsbat.

ANDOVER AND REDBRIDGE RAILWAY.
The half-yearly general meeting of shareholders in
the Andover and Redbridge Railway Company was
held Thursday week, at the Audit House, Southamp-
ton, for the election of two dimctorsand one auditor,
in the place of the retiring directors and auditor,
and for the general purposes of the company.
Ralph Etwall, Esq., presided ; and the attendance
included Mr. Revenhill, Mr. G. Hunt, Mr. Morti-
more (Andover), Mr. .1. R. :Robbing, Mr. W. T.
Manning and Mr. Lamb (solicitors), Mr. Burke
(engineer), Mr. C. E. Deacon, Messrs. Blotch,
Gorsuch, J. Cocks, Swayne, l'egler, Scram, and
Sandy.
Mr. Deacon read the notice convening the share-
holders and the minutes of proceedings at the last
ordinary meeting, which were confirmed.
The Chairman then moved that the report of the
directors be received and adopted.
Mr. Itavenhill seconded the proposition. Ile
believed that his brother directors looked upon this
project merely as a part of a large system of railways
which was to connect South %Valor, Bristol, Bath.
the ironworks of Wiltshire, and all that part of the
country, with the rising pert of Southampton. He
hail great pleasure awl satisfaction in telling them
that with respect to the construction of the -Bristol
and South Wales line, that it was proceeding as
rapidly as they could get the land on which to make
it. It would be a year and a half or two year:,
before they could expect to be in a position to work
the line. The grand feature was that it is in rapid
progreas ; and lie believed that the affairs of the coin ,
pony were in a very satisfactory condition. This
line would bring the traffic from South Waleson up
to Bristol, and so on along the line to Devizes. as the
line would be made up to that town. The Hunger-
ford and Devizes extensi )))) line, properly the Burks
and !Dints extension, was now before the House of
Commons. He WWI nut aware that there was any
important opiemition ; he believed lie might say
there was no opposition, the hoe was so pillpably
neoessary in that portion of the country. There was
is little trilling opposition from landholders, but
nothing to jeopardise the safety of the hue, mil lie
trusted that the Bill would par into law ma matter
of course ill the next few weeks, unless Parliament
were suddenly interrupted in it. proceedings. This
being the carte, there was, then, only the one link of
fourteen miles that remained to be constructed to
open this railway at Andover that great ayirtem
of railways which they were proceeding to develop.
In this, then. they must look for tome considerable
support from the people of Southampton. With
respect to coals, he said, when the ruuilwisy was open
to M'eatliiiry, letting in from Warminster the
S reetshire coals by rail, the effect was that the
Inc of Somereetahire coal full ha, or fie, a ton at
Salisbury. But there was another extraordinary fact
that hail ortnu within his experiebee. It WIN thim.
The Initiation coal, which coulee a very considerable
iliatance, out of Wales, now grew down to Gloucester
and all the way round to Warminster and into this
district, at within a mere trifle, he believed Is. or Is,
fhb a ton, of the prim of the Somerset/shire coal ob.
Mined In re immediately in the neighbour.
hood, some six or seven miles folio Fruine. It
was coal of a description able to compete
with any Newcastle coil whatever. From War.
minium it would coin. to Southampton within
the Is. ail., even if things remained as they now are,
if there were an unbroken guagu that would bring
it on; but when they ompidereil that the new chain
of railway of which the Ilriatul awl South Wales
Junction was a component part was in progress, this
Ithuabon coal would come with seventy miles leis
carriage, and we should not only have the Soinerset.
shire but the Welsh coals brought round by (ileums.
ter competing in price and quality with the other
coal. He had a word or two to say about iron. It
had been a question whether the ironworks would or
would not succeed, and all sorts of opinions had
been given, but it was desirable to get the facts. At
Werithury they were obtaining iron, and smelting it,
and one of the practical engineers there showed him
some of it and told him that it was equally perfect in
quality to the Welch iron and that ho f I it de-
sirable to purchaee it, as it came to him cheaper than
the Welch iron. The works at Westbury were in a
very progressive state ; they were improving cow
stoutly in their make of iron ; and they hail re-
cently been able to obtain men of sufficient experi-
ence to enable them to make the most of their
material. He had also conversation with a gentle.
man largely interested in property in Seend, and
from his statements he hail not the slightest reason to
doubt that they would see very large and most
valuable furnaces erected in that place. Then again
there were no better markets in the world than the
markets of Warminster and Devizes. He and his
friends fully expected in their agricultural districts
to see the buyers of corn coins up in large multitudes
and that the great corn producers of the district
would be met by the consumers. Purchasers made
the nuu kilts. They were looking anxiously in War'
minster to the time when the buyers would arrive in
a much shorter time than they now ditl ; and the
farmers could show them is. fine wheat and barley,
and as good strong beer, as could be produced.
(Laughter and cheers.)
Mr. Pegler considered this broad gunge system of
railway* the most valuable boon that could be pre.
seated to Southampton. (Hear, hear.) He inquired
why the three months' notice to the Canal Company
had not been given three months ago.
The Chairman said the directors could not touch
the canal until the purchase had been completed.
The railway most be completed within a certain
time after the notice had been given and the canal
closed. They should not have been justified in the
position of affairs, to give that notice at an earlier
period. When they saw their way they would
commence in earnest and finish their work. He
trusted that, when these facts were reported to the
public, the people of Southampton would not be

slow to rally round them as they rallied round a
former railway. There has been 6,1.10 shares
tak
Mr. 1. Hunt said the directors had been actuated
by prudential motives in not going further than
they hail done. The fault was on the right side.
They only required £20,000 more to enable them to
proceed with their works.
After a few other observations, the report was
unanimously adopted.
Mr. U. Hunt and Mr. Mortimer° the retiring
directors, were re-elected; as was also Mr. Swap)°,
the retiring auditor.
A vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the
proceedings.

GOVERNMENT EMIGKATIoN. - The Government
emigrant ship Clara, 70$ tons, Captain Joseph B.
Pizzey, which sailed from Southampton on the let of
October, in charge of Surron-Superintendent Henry
lzurigan, with 42 warned couples, 61 single men,
7h single women, 2.1 boys between the ages of I and
12, 30 girls between the same ages, six male and
three female infants, making a total of 253 souls,
equal to 2.54 statute adults, arrived at Adelaide,
South Australia, on the Mb of January.