The Express.
London, England, 1867-01-29 00:00:00

ANGLO-AMERICAN TELEGRAPH COMPANY

(LIMITED).

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The report of the directors heartily congratulates
the proprietors on the result of the great enterprise in
which their capital had been embarked. The company
was constituted on the 2nd of March, 1866, with an autho-
rised capital of 600,0001. The contract entered into with
the Telegraph Construction and Maintenauce Company
was for a payment of 500,0001., with further payments of
100,0001. contingent on the successful completion of the
cable of 1866, and of 137,140/. in ordinary shares of the
Atlantic Telegraph Company, contingent on the recovery
and completion of the cable of 186.5, the contractors en-
gaging to manufacture and use their best efforts to lay the
cable of 1866, and to recover and complete that of 1865,
then broken and very generally thought to be irrecoverably
lost at a depth of more than two miles beneath the surface
of the Atlantic. The new cable with the requisite ma-
chinery having been placed in the Great Eastern
steamship, she left the Thames on the 30th of June, the
splice with the Irish shore end was effected on the 13th
of July, when the expedition proceeded across the
Atlantic, and after %prosperous voyage landed the cable
at Heart's Content, Newfoundland, on the evening of the
27th of July. On the 28th of July it was opened for
traffic. On the 9th of August the Great Eastern left
Newfoundland to seek the last cable of 186-5, and on the
2nd of September, after great labour and numerous dis-
appointments, it was recovered, and the splice having
been effected, that cable was also completed, and was
landed at Heart's Content on the Bth of September. Both
cables proved, on examination, to be, as they still were,
perfect in all respects, and the directors had every reason
to think that they would continue so. The contract
entered into with the Telegraph Construction and Main
tenance Company had been fulfilled to their entire satis-
faction. The organization of the expedition was ex-
cellent; every contingency was foreseen and provided
for with skill and in a spirit of liberality which left the
directors nothing to desire. Their acknowledgments were
also eminently due to the able men employed on shore
and afloat, by whom the cable of 1866 was manufactured
and laid, and the cable of 186.5 recovered and successfully
completed. The power of the cables to transmit intelli-
gence had far exceeded the meet sanguine anticipation ;
in the prospectus it was assumed, for the purpose of esti-
mating the probable earnings, at front 25 to 40 letters per
minute, whereas, practically, 100 letters have been trans-
witted through each cable in a single minute; this result
had been obtained without resorting to appliances which
might be availed of if necessary. At present the capacity
of the cable was limited by the power of the human eye
and brain to follow and read the transmitted signs. The
telegraph communication beyond Heart's Content, espe-
cially through the uninhabited portion of Newfoundland
and across the Gulf of St. Lawrence, was found to be
very defective ; considerable improvement had already
been effected, and negotiations were now in progress for
the laying, by the New York and Newfoundland Telegraph
Company, of a submarine cable between Boston and Pla-
centia Bay, thus leaving only about 70 milts of land line
between that point and the terminus of the Atlantic cable
at Heart's Content. Arrangements had been concluded
with the Electric and Magnetic Telegraph Companies, by
which separate and independent wires between Valentin
and London would be devoted exclusively to Atlantic busi-
ness, and be worked by the staff of this company ; messages
would pass without repetition and instantaneously between
London and Valentin, and unity of management and undi-
rhled responsibility between London and Newfoundland
would be secured. The board, in the exercise of the power
conferred on them by the articles of association, had sp-
pointed Mr. Cyrus W. Field a director of the company. The
profits of the company since the opening of the line, on the
28th of July, having been at • rate greater than 2.5 per
cent. per annum on the capital of the company, the direc-
tors had issued warrants, payable on and after the 29th
of January, fora dividend on account of 1/. per share, or
10 per cent. on the subscribed capital. In the accounts
to the 31st of December, no credit was taken for the
amounts due to, but not received by, this company for
messages transmitted prior to that date ; the amount
was now ascertained to be 14,0661., which, added to that
published in the accounts, increased the net earnings
from 67,8141. to 81,8801. for the five months. The capital
account showed that 610,432/. had been received, includ-
ing 10,0001. for premiums on shares, and 608,965/. ex-
pended, leaving a balance of 1,447/. The revenue account
to the 31st of December showed that 64,342/. had been re-
ceived on account of messages 10,417/. as rebate on
through traffics from the 28th of July to the 28th of De-
cember, 390/. for transfer fees, &c., and 'MI. interest on
deposits--making together 75,381/. The salaries and ex-
penses amounted to 5,4841., and interest on mortgage
bonds to 2,083/., leaving • balance of 67,814/.

THE CHARHE AGAINST .t PARISH DOCTOR. —Last
night a meeting was held at the Palm Tree Tavern, Palm.
street. Bethnal-green, to consider the case of the late Mrs.
Ferry, out of which a cha ge of neglect arose against Dr.
Massingham. Mr. Palmer occupied the chair. A resolu-
tion was passed disapproving of the recent action of the
Poor-law Board, and requesting the board of guardians to
urge the Poor-law Board to reconsider their decision in
the case of the gentleman in question before he should be
reinstated. Numerous speeches were made impuging the
conduct of Dr. Massingham with regard to pauper
patients, but as the statements in question were exparte,
and were doubtless exaggerated, it is unnecessary further
to allude to them. A committee was formed for the pur-
pose of taking legal opinion with regard to the facts con-
nected with the death of Mrs. Ferry. The proceedings
terminated in the usual manner. _

MU RD EH AND Sri DE BY A LUNATIC. —A ter-
rible tricedy has just been enacted in one of the most
inaccessible puts of England—Tintagel, a watering place
on the north coast of Cornwall. Visitors to the famous
Trebarwith Sands have been accustomed to take con-
siderable interest in a thick-set, burly man, who has
been employed, with the aid of donkeys, to convey
the sand from the water's edge to the neighbouring
farms for use as manure. The man and his donkeys
have become so noted, and have formed so picturesque
an adjunct to the views of that rocky coast, that
in many of the sketches which visitors have taken of
the locality he and his donkeys have been prominent.
During the past few weeks, however, the unfortunate
man, whose name was Smith, has exhibited signs of
mental derangement to so great an extent that his neigh-
bours have taken it in turns to stop up with him at night,
be having constantly given vent to threats of self-destruc-
tion. On Friday one Thomas Baker, who lived near him,
took his turn at watching, and in the course of the night,
in order to humour one of the lunatic's whiuss, he accom-
panied him for a walk on the turnpike road, which is cut
through the rock. At one point the road is open to the
sea, and on arriving at this spot the insane man suddenly
grasped his companion and attempted to throw him down
into the water. A desperate struggle for life ensued, but
the frenzy of madness gave to Smith such tremendous
power that his watcher was but an infant in his grasp,
and in • minute or two Baker was forced down into the
water. his murderer falling with him. Pausing near the
spot were two women, who helplessly watched the affray,
and saw that when iu the water the struggle was renewed,
Smith keeping his victim down until a lieavy roller came
in and washed them both away. On Saturday afternoon
the body of Smith was cast on shore, and will be the
subject of a coroner's inquest this day. Both men were
widowers. Baker unhappily leaves a large family to mourn
his untimely end.—W(4cm dforseixp NM".
SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEU X. —Visitors during
the week ending January —On Monday, Tues-
day, and Saturday, free, from 10 mm. to 10 p.m.,
7,423 ; on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (admis-
sion 611.), from 10 a.m. till 4 p.m., 1,331 ; total, 5,754.
Average of corresponding week in, former years, 9,830.
Total from the opening of the Museum, 6,518,460.