The Express.
London, England, 1862-11-28 00:00:00

GREAT SHIP COMPANY (LIMITED).
(THIS DAY.)

A special general meeting of the proprietors was
held at noon, at the London Tavern, Mr. W. Baum
in the chair, "to receive a report from the board of dine.
tors, and to take such steps in reference thereto as may be
deemed expedient, and for such other purpose; as may
occur."

-The report of the directors said :
" Your directors reported at the special general meeting
of the company, held on the pith of June last, their pro-
ceedings up to that period, and on the reignite of the voyage
of the Great Fastens from Milford to New York and back to
Liverpool, which terminated on the 11th of that month.
They have now to report on the events which have subse- '
quently occurred. The ship was despatched from Liverpool
to New York on the Ist July. Her run to that port
was very satisfactory, and she left on a return
voyage on the 26th of that month, with a large
list both of passengers and freight. The groin receipts of
the voyage* made this year show a steady increase in the
amount of earnings on each successive trip, as indicative of
the growing appreciation by the public of the peculiar ad- I
vantages offered by the ship, both as regards passenger
and freight. The return of the several voyages made this
year were, according to the respective dates of sailing, as
follows :—May 7, outwards, 1,3734 Is. 11d. ; inwards,
10,513/. 15s. 7d. ; total, 11,8861.175. fid. July 1, outwards,
3,7901. Os. lid.; inwards, 18,6761.15 e.; total, 20,4661. 151.
Aug. 16, outwards, 12,1551. 15s. 3d.; total, 12.1551. 15e. 3d.
It should be remarked, however, that owing to a • strike '
existing amongst the stevedores in New York, at the date
of the last return voyage, the cost of shipping the cargo at
that port was very considerably enhanced, and the apparent
' advantage reaped from such a eight materially diminished.
Your directors believe, however, that this drawback will
not again occur, and that an arrangement to load the ship
by contract on advantageous terms will be concluded by the
agents at that port. It will be seen from the above state- ,
meet, that the ship left Liverpool for New York on the 16th
of August. The trip, notwithstanding very boisterous
weather, was satisfactorily accomplished, until she arrivedat
the entrance of Long island Sou nd, when your directors regret
to report she touched upon some sunken rocks, about two miles
to the north-east of Mordent Point, and about 100 miles
from New York. Your directors will feel it their duty, on'the
return of the ship, to hold a strict inquiry into the circum-
stances attending this unfortunate occurrence ; in the mean-
time they are not in a position to express any opinion, but
they may state that the rocks on which the ship is said to
have struck do not appear to be laid down in the charts.
The letters of the captain and agents reporting this disaster
led your directors to believe that the injury to the bottom
of the ship did not exceed a fracture of about four feet,
in the outer skin, and that in the opinion of eminent
engineers, who were consulted by the agents, and
in which the captain concurred, the damage would be re-
paired in a very short space of time, by means of a caisson
or cofferdam, made to fit over that portion of the bottom ;
subsequent explorations, however, by the divers, discovered
that the fixture extended for nearly 80 feet, besides, a
smaller dings in the forward part of the ship ; the plan of
repair, in which the agents and captain bad every confidence,
was still adhered to by the engineers, sod after repeated
delays, stated to be unavoidable, the cofferdam was at
length got into place and appeared to fit well, but on the
attempt being made to pump it dry it was found, notwith-
standing the enormous pumping power brought to bear suit,
that the water therein did not diminish. The divers were again
sent down, and with the aid of marine lamps added to the
force upon the water exercised by the suction into the vessel
when the pumps were in full operation, discovered and re-
ported, for the first time, several additional minor fractures
in the outer skin, through which it was evident the water
found its way to the cofferdam. Each successive communi-
cation from the agents and captain led your directors to
expect that the repairs would be efficiently and speedily
effected at New York, but on the receipt of a letter from the
agents, dated the 21st ult., it appeared that a farther consi-
derable time might be occupied. They thereupon determined
to order the ship home, and instructions to that effect
were sent out by the mail of the Bth inst. Since the des-
patch of these orders, a letter has been received from the
captain, dated the 31st ult., in which he states that he be-
lieves the whole of these newly-discovered fractures could
be repaired from the inside of the ship, but that having in
view the difficulty of getting the necessary iron plates into
the tubes for this purpose, he bad come to the conclusion
that the time which would thereby be occupied would be
too great to justify his attempting it, and that the better
plan would be to stop the leaks in the outer akin temporarily,
sou to enable him to repair the large fracture, sod then to
bring the ship home. Letters just to hand state that the
cofferdam had been pumped dry, so that the captain had
been enabled to enter and walk through it. This
successful result, however, had been again marred by an
accident to the pump shaft, which it would probably take
some days to remedy. The proprietors will, no doubt, re-
member that the bottom of the ship is constructed on the
cellular principle, and that there are, in fact, two complete
bottoms; the outer one alone is injured, so that the ship,
even in her damaged state, is as safe marry vesseloonstructed
on the ordinary principle. Your directors, however much
they may deplore this accident, have satisfaction in re-
porting that, notwithstanding the fracture in the
outer skin of the ship, she delivered her cargo
in admirable order, thereby proving incontestably her supe-
riority over ships of the usual construction. The financial
results to the company consequent on this disaster are
most serious, and it becomes the duty of your directors
urgently to press the subject upon the attention of the pro-
prietors. our directors stated in their last report that
the working capital of the company, assuming the amount
then asked for to be raised, would not be placed on such
a satisfactory footing as prudence would dictate, but they
hoped, from the favourable prospects before them, to
be enabled to extricate the company from the difficulties
which at one time appeared insurmountable; these antici-
pations they confidently believe would have been more than
realised, had the ship completed the voyages then designed
for her, and that, at the end of the year, the welk-
in account would have shown a very large balance
to the credit. The account of disbursements in
New York, pertaining to the present voyage, has not
yet been received, but it roust of necessity be heavy ; the
wages and victualling of the crew will oleo form a very
large item. The liabilities may be estimated at this date
as under :—On bills payable, and open accounts, about
9,00 d/. ; interest on 35.Cd0/. mortgage debt, due 30th inst.,
1,750/. ; ditto on 25,000/., due Ist January, I,2'X/1.-
12,0004 ; add four months' wages to crew, less ad-
vances, 7,ooo4—total, 19,0001., exclusive of the mortgage
debt, the claim of Mr. Towle. Mr. Parry, dm
The assets msy be taken st about 6,0001., almost the
whole of which consists of freight and passage money re-
ceived in New Yore, and there held against disbursements
and contingent liabilities alluded to above. The mortgage
debt amounts to 60,00 u/., of which 25,003/. is repayable on
the let of January next, and the balance on the 31st of May
next. In considering the question of finance, your direc-
tors think it necessary that iu any arrangement made the
above mortgages should be absorbed ; they are also of opinion
having in view the present state of the money market, and
the security offered, that the amount required for this
purpose, and to provide fur the other liabilities of the com-
pany, including the repair and outfit of the ship, should be
obtained at 8 per cent. per annum, and your directors
therefore recommend that they should he authorised to
issue, on inch terms and conditions as they may think fit, a
mortgage stock for ica,oc,cw., repayable io three years, and
to bear 8 per cent, interest, payable by coupon attached to
the bonds, and to be secured by a mortgage of the ship.
given to the three trustees, with power of sale in case of
default, either in payment of the interest or principal ; the
company to insure the amount, or, at the option of the bead-
holder, to pay the premium of insurance to him,
he thereby becoming his own underwriter, sod having no
claim on the company in case of lose Your directors,
bearing in mind the length of time which has elapsed
without the proprietors reaping any advantage from their
investment are very unwillint to further burden the coin.
puny, but the exigencies of the case admit of no alternag
live, sod they believe that in making this proposal they are I
best serving the interests both of the proprietors of the
preferential and ordinary shares ; it is specially their duty
to press upon the proprietors the paramount im.
portanee of immediate decision, either to raise the
'necessary foods or to submit to a sale of the
ship ;in the latter event under present circumstances it is
much to be feared this the proprietors of ordinary shares
would lose the whole of their capital, whilst if the amount
be raised there is now every ground to hops that the pro-
perty must necessarily resume at least its original value.
The ship has been proved a success in every particular, and
your directors confidently appeal to each individual pro-
prietor to subscribe his quota towards the amount required,
failing which the inevitable but painful consequence will be,
that the ship must pass into other hands forthwith."
The report baring been taken as read,
The CitaremArr, in moving its receptioo, said it was
imperative that some action should be taken on that
day. The statement with regard to the earnings of the
ship showed that her capacity for earning money was almost
unlimited, depending only on the patronage of the
public. The disbursements had been greatly increased
by the strike in New York, the agents considering
it absolutely necessary to keep time. Such a drawback was,
it appeared, tot likely to occur again ; 2.. a too for load-
ing and Is. 3d. for dischargicg would always secure suffi-
!tent assistance. Everything pointed to a successful result,
if they could but keep clear of accident'. There
appeared to have been hitherto a fatality hanging
over the ship in that respect ; and he feared that
if they did not now raise money to bring her house she
would very soon pass out of the company's hands. Since
the report was drawn up, information bad been received
from the agents at New York to the effect that 5,0001. was
treated to release the ship. While that information was on
its way to this country, a letter was sent out ordering that
she should be brought home. Whether that order would
be complied with under the circumstances he could not say.
Mr. Gooch 'wooded the motion.
At the request of a Shareholder,
The SHCRNTAKT read all the correspondence relating to
the last accident, and the means adopted for repairing it.
Mr. Scorn Itoelact wished to know what instructions
were soot out by the board after they first learnt the acci-
diet : also whether any iostnictioes wore given to the oeS•
tam before the vessel left England as to the channel by
which be was to enter New York.
The CHAIRMAN said it was quite out of the power of the
board to send nut instructions ; they were obliged to leave
the matter to their agents, who had commenced operations.
Mr. scorr Russru.—No instructions whatever were sent
out?

The CHATRWAN—No • we had reason to behove that
before any instrocilees could arrive the vessel would be us