The Express.
London, England, 1864-02-22 00:00:00

METROPOLITAN RAILWAY.

The report of the directors to the half-yearly meet-
ing on Wednesday next Mates that they have arranged all mat-
tees in difference with the Great Western Railway Company.
The settlement of the accounts for the working of the line
has been concluded on the basis of this company receiving
57i per cent. al the gives receipts, allowing the Great
Western Company 42i par amt. for their working expenses.
The effect of this arrangement is to reduce the balance carried
from last half-year's account by the sum of 1,5411. 10a 6d.,
which has aocordingly hien written off on the other side of the
account. The net receipts from traffic during the half-year
up to the 10th August, payable by the Great Western
Company under the above arrangement, amounted to
6,7871. I.s. 2d., and for the four months and twenty-me
days during which the line has been worked by this coat-
patty to 20,6534 14s. id. These amounts, with the receipts
from rests, interest, and transfer fees, will (after deducting
all expellees chargeable during the half-year against revenue
and the payment of debenture interest) leave 29,1451.
9s. Bd. available for division amongst the shareholders. The
directors recommend that a dividend be declared at the rate
of S per oent. per annum upon the preference stock, and at
the same rate upon the ordinary stock, carrying forward to
the credit of next half-year the sum of 1,3124 3s. The
directors have resolved on constructing the extension
to Finsbury with four liners of rails throughout,
and sufficient land is being purchased for that purpose.
The directors have reason to believe that some of the pro-
prieton have mnapprehended the policy of the board upon
the question of extensions, and they therefore think it right
to state fully their views upon the subject, and the mea-
sures they have taken. The select committee of the House
of Lords which sat last year, having in their able sad elabo.
rate report upon metropolitan railway communication dis-
tinctly recommended that the railway of the company should
be extended from each of its termini, and should form part
of the comprehensive system of communication they CODal-
dered would be necessary for the public accommodation, the
Idirectors deemed it their duty to place the company in •
, condition to secure the full benefit of the advantageous
',coition in which it wee thus placed. They have
I accordingly submitted for the consideration of

parliame-ni two extensions, one from Paddington
through Bayswater and Kensingtoo to Brampton, which
' will for its entire length traverse • district peculiarly
rich in metropolitan traffic and at the same time enable the
company to obtain land yet %inbuilt upon for the workshops
and carriage depots necessary for the ecosomical and efficient
I working of the lies. The other extension from Fiosbury
towards the docks will secure to this compare the command
of the traffic of the busy and crowded t' ' of the
eastern portions of the City. Both these projects, however,
are proposed to be constructed by means of separate capitals,
I entirely distinct from the present authoriesd capital of the
company, nod to depend for their return exclusively on their
own earnings. Arrangements have been made with a view
to secure the shareholders from payment of any portion of
the oats in the event of the failure of either or both of them
bills, whilst, at the same time, the option will be reserved
to them of subscribing for the new capitals when created.
These are the only extensions promoted by the company
bat in connexion with this subject, the directors beg to call
the attention of the proprietors to the great measure for ac-
commodating other portions of the metropolis, introduced to
the notion of parliament under the title of "The Metro-
politan District Railways," by their engineer, Mr. Fowler.
This comprehensive project is promoted by powerful parties,
equal to the occasion, and when carried out cannot fail to
enhance the utility and value of your undertaking. The only
other bill which the directors have introduced will give this
company power to accommodate the traffic of the Midland
Railway, to improve the communication with the Great
Northern Railway, and to create the capital required for
rolling stock, workshops, he. The attention of the board
will be given to the various measures before parliament
which may affect the interests of the peoprieten. The diree-
tors propose to take the sanction of the proprietors for the ex-
ercise of the honoring powers authorised by the acts of Ig6l.
Notwithstanding the very exceptional circumstances under
which the traffic ham as yet been carried, and the limited
accommodation the company have been enabled to afford
to the public, upwanls of 4,631.000 pasesogers have bee.
conveyed over the railway during the past six months;
nevertheless the director' cannot conclude without ex-
pressing their opinion that the traffic of the last year
very inadequately represents that which may be expected
in future. From the opening of the line there has never
beau • sufficient plant to work it adequately, and Moos
the abandonment of the working by the Great Western
Company the supply of plant has been so limited as to
leave no reserve, and consequently no power to augment
the acoomnsodatioa so much required. The directors are
looking anxiously for the arrival of the period when this
state of things shall terminate, in the conviction that
when the line is extended to Mairmitwereet, and the
necemery plant fins been provided, the earnings will be
much larger, and the dividend consequently more satis-
factory to the shareboiden.

DETFATION OF DANGEROUS LAMP OIL& —At the
meeting of the Association of Medical Moen of Heath,
held on Saturday last at the Scottish Corporatioa.hall, a
paper was read on the recent petroleum accidents, and on
the ready detection of dangerous lamp oils. It was shown
that these accidents had invariably resulted from the em-
ployment of oils capable of being ignited at a very low tem-
perature, in many oases even below the standard of the Pe-
troleum Act ; one very severe accident being traced to the
employment of an oil giving off inflammable vapour atatem-
perature below the freezing point of water. The author
of the paper, Mr. Teptensier exhibited • very easy and
wee • mode of detecting dai:geroa• oils. Two teacupfuls
of boiling water and one of cold water (at the ordinary
temperature of a sitting-room) were mixed together tn a
small basin ; a cupful of the water was then taken and •
teaspooeful of the oil to be tried poured on its surface •
in a few woods a light was applied to the oil. Tbi:
dangerous oils, those capable of igniting below I% degrees,
Immediately took fin; whereas it was shown to be im-
poesible to ignite those that were of • safe and non-ex-
*sive character. In the conversation that ensued, Dn.
Letheby, Lankeeter, arid It. I). Thomson took part, and the
desirability of raising the standard of the Petroleum Act
from 100 to 1`25 degrees wee discussed ; many secideata,
some of a fatal character, baring arisen from the employ-
ment of oils having a higher inflaming point than 100 deem
Fahrenheit.

ENCOUNTER WITH A BADGER.—During the pant
week we have been shown a very fine full-grown specimen
of the European badger (Melts tarts), which has been pre.
served by Mr. Gen, of Tiverton, in • most natural and
life-like attitude. The animal wee captured on the 2nd
lost. by Thomas Warren, • youngi roan in the employ of Mr.
Walter Marley, in whose palmation it still remains. As he
and his master were driving horns on the day above men-
tiooed and had proceeded aliout half way up the New-road,
they observed the badger MSS over in front of them,
dragging after him a vermin trap which appeared to incon-
venience him but little. The young man leapt immediately
from the cart sod gave chase, and the animal Boding him-
self pursued quickened bin palm and led through a plantation
thickly overgrown with underwood, and almost inscomeible to
his pursuer; the trap, which had only caught two of his
long and powerful fore claws, was hare discarded, being
considered undoubtedly a welts' encumbrance • the hunter
continued hotly in pursuit armed with a Spanish clmp
knife. At With the animal, after • run of more than a
mile, received a alight wound in the back, upon which he
instantly stood at bay and appeared much irritated, utter-
, ing at the same time a succession of grunts resembling
eomewbat those of a pie. Keenly eyeing his assailant, he
made a spring at him but wee heroically repulsed ; this be
repented several times with the same moult; at last, infu-
riated by the wounds he had received, be made a desperate
spring, and the young man miming his aim had his vest torn
open; before the animal could repeat his attempt he received
a stab on the back of the neck, which penetrated the cer-
vical vertebra, and placed him hors de wombat. Kis gallant
captor bore him in triumph from the seen* of the 000fhet,
and he was found to weigh 281ba.—Tisertors Garette.
Besides an unusual influx of Northern and
Western drafters, a vast number of Southern refugees are
in New York awaiting the cooolusion of the war. Al-
together it is estimated that there are at least one hundred
theemand straws» temporarily residing in that city.—
America* paper.