The Express.
London, England, 1849-11-27 00:00:00

SOUTHAMPTON DOCK COMPANY.

Yesterday a special general meeting of the pro-
prietors was held at the came tef the company, Bishopegate-
street Within, for the
14,41 taking into consideration
the expediency of espil ead paying off the mortgages
and debentures granted by company in pursuance of
their several acts of parliament, as they successively became
due, and to authorise the raising of the requisite sum by
the creation of a farther put of the additional capital
sr joint stock empowered to be raised by the company's
laser ; and that in order to meet the mortgages and deben-
tures wan due in the course of the year 1860, a suns el
stock be eseeesd, net mos:edam 60,0001, to be entitled to a
preference di end of 61. per cent. ; and to reset the de-
bentures eandise due in succeeding years, that further por-
tions of stock be created on such terms and conditions' may
by future general or @peeled stoners; meetings of the com-
pany, from time holden, be determined. Colonel BARLOW
is the chair.
A report was read, from which it appeared that the irriga-
tors had upon former occasions (on the issue of the quarter
shares in June, 1847, and of the 6 per cent. stock in De-
cember of the same year) fully explained to the proprietors
the inconvenience of a capital consisting in part or money
raised on debentures; and having experienced the advantage
of converting even a portion of such floating capital into
permanent stock, proposed now to submit the expe-
diency of completing that operation by the extinc-
tion, as they, successavely became due, of the whole
of the remaining debentures of the employ. The
directors therefore thought. it was important that mea-
sures should be adopted for converting a portion of their
debentures into stock, and for that purpose a resolution
would be proposed, authorising the creatinn of • further
amount of capisal not exceeding 177.0001. stock, to be issued
in such amounts and upon sect terms as general meetings of
the company may from time to time determine. This
operation would be spread over a period of seven
years, at the close of which the whole of
tee floating debt would be paid off, and the
capital of the company would then consist exclusively of
600,0001. stock, with a power to create soothe r 100,0001. of
stock should it be necessary to provide accommodation for
increasing trade. It would be proposed to the shareholders
in the first instance to authorise the issue of 50,0001. to meet
the debentures coming due in the course of the year 1850,
and to raise that amount by the creation of • stick which
would be entitled to • preference interist or dividend
,of 6 per cent., to be offered rateably to the propels-
' toes
which ichthteh e ceozmisptiaangy might raise "p
ittht furlt:eer acute:at
which would be regaired in future years to discharge the
debentures as they became due, must depend upon the cir-
cumstances of the times, and would then be regulated by
, general meetings of the proprietois. But it was probable
', that the progressive diminution of the smount of the deltas-
, tun debt, and the improving position and resources of the
company, would render such future operations practicable
upon more advantageous terms. At the same time it must
be borne in mind, that the present jams of • preference 6
per cent. stock involved no increase to the coping of the
company, and was not raised to carry on new works,
Ilrespecting the expediency or necessity for which there
might be difference of opinion ; but was merely a sub-
stitution of such stock for a debt at 5 per cent. already
existing—having already a prefer one over all divideed—and.
I the payment of the interest on which was already more than
provided for out of the actual revenue of the company. It
I was intended that the whole of the preference 5 per cent,
stock now proposed to be created should be applied exclu-
sively to the extinction of the company's floating debt. And
although the directors considered it expedient, in order to
spread the liquidation of the debenture debt more equally
over a period of seven years, to renew a portion of those
coming due in the course of the years 1850 end 1851, and
thereby facilitate the operation of the ex incti'M of the whole
of the floating debt, it was not intended henceforth to raise
any additional capital on debentures.
This report having been received and adopted, a series of
reso.utions embodied therein were successively passed, and
the meeting separated.

DRAMA.

LYCEUM.
This theatre is very prolihe in novelties at present,
but it might be as well, perhaps, it they were fewer
in number and of somewhat superior quality. A
very clever aid efficient company might be much
better employed than in performing a set of farces
(three or four of them in an evening) of the most in-
sigaificant kind, and having no purpose but to show
off the peculiar manner of a few of tie principal
actors. Another trifle of this sort wee produced last
evening, under the title of " Drop tl.e Cur-
tain." The Ecene is laid in a military
gaol in Barbadoes ; the dramatis persones are
Sergeant Drag, the gaoler, his daughter Charlotte, his
niece Susannah, Ton Binning/lamp& private, and a
drunken drummer, Littlejohn. The doings of these
worthies belong to the lowest order of force.
Mies
Susannah, who is a laundress, coming home from a
" coloured ball," has found her room occupied by a
drunken soldier, who puts oat her candle, and be-
comes so riotous, that in self-defence she chucks him
out of the window, and in his fall he carries with hiin
a piece of the window curtain. This roue in low life
is the little drummer, who is about to be married to
Charlotte, the gaoler's daughter. The damsel prefers
the private, whose schemes to get into the prison form
I the chief pert of the plot, such as it is. Thee, of
course, there are mistakes and cress-purposes. The
private incurs the suspicion of having been the noctur-
nal intruder into Miss Susannah's apartment; where-
upon his mistress Fete jealous, and the laundress
insists on his marrying her for the sake of her repu-
tation. After a great deal of this sort of thing the
truth comes out, by the little drummer producing tie
window curt in, and a double marriage is the finale.
The part of Torn Birmingham has been evidently
made expressly for Mr. C. Mathews, who bustled
through it in his usual lively off-hand manner. Mrs.
Humby introduced some of her quaint humour into
the part of Susannah, and Oxberry was very good in
the little drummer. But the piece went coldly off;
and though there was some applause when the curtain
dropped, it was mixed with disapprobation.