Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-09-15 00:00:00

DUTCH-RHENISH RAILWAY.

The adjourned general meeting of shareholders of the
Dutch-Rhenish Railway Company was held at Amsterdam,
on Than-day, the 10. h instant.
The English party were rot:reef nted by W. Fenton, Esq.,
Thomas E. Mess, Esq , W. Chaplin, Esq., Thomas Bonen,
Esq., R. E. Morrice, Esq , Charles Holland, Esq , Thomas
Braesey, Rig , H. C. Beloe, E q., &c , &c:
The chief object of the meeting was to receive the report
of the committee of shareholders appointed to confer with
the boards of directors and commissaries as to the present
and future management cf the company, which pointed
out the great economy that could be effected in the working
expenses, more especially .in the maintenance of way,
engineer's department, labour, and other matters, assuming
that by that means the average working expenses could be
reduced from 60 to 40 per cont.
W. Fzerroet, EQq., en moving the adoption of the
report, alluded to the courtesy the committee hal
experienced from every member of the boards of
commissaries and directors. Ha was anxious to avoid
imputing aoy indivi nal blame, and if nomenclature
were used, it must be considered as a mere al%
straetion, and meant nothing harsh to individuals.
It was well known how much disappointed the share-
holders had been. • It would ba easy to amplify the causes
of disappointment, bat speaking as he did in a foreign
language, he was anxious to be as short as possible.
Railways must be managei in the same way as a mer-
chant managed his affairs in Amsterdam or London. The
public, it was tree, had been well served, but the share-
holders got no dividend. The manazement of a railway
must be practical, not theoretical. -Mach of the blame
must be attributed to the great extravagance of the
ergineer'e s aff, abounding as it did in inspectors, mob-
inspectors, and clerks, and a vast red tape sy stem of corres-
pondence, calculated rather to retard than p-omote the
business of the company ; and inasmuch as when railways
ware completed, high class engineers were not needed, it
was -only necessary now to retain Baron Van Reede as
consulting engineer. There was a traffic already on
the line sufficient to pay a good div dend, even .to
the extent of 6 per cent., bet it was washed away
in expenses. The economy of a line needs but
one example. The engines ran-about 9,000 miles a week,
or 1,286 per day-130 miles is reasonable work for one
day, and carrying out that calculation, it wes clear that
ten engines, or say even sixteen were req4ired, and having
sixteen more in reserve, thirty-two were abundant, but
they had forty-six or forty e'ght. Englishmen had little
idea of the trade, and population, and general importance
of the large towns of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht. and
Arnheirn forming termini to the line, and he saw no
reason at all for being , disheartened, on the contrary, he
bid the shareholdeis to be of good courage, and the result
would yet prove satisfactory.
Mr. Hammen, on the part of the Board, accepted the
report, without at the same time concurring in many of
the allegations of blame which it contained. He was,
however, free to admit tha, adverse circumstances, coin
bined with the newness of the traffic, and the general
want of experience of the employee, had produced a result
which might well cause dissatisfaction in the minds of the
shareholders, and all he could now do in behalf of himself
and his co-directors, was to give an assurance of the
cordial co-operaiion of the Bard in carrying out whoa.
ever practicable the suggestions of the committee.
Mr. Forbes, late of the Great Western Railway, way
then appointed Goods Manager of the Company. Messrs.
Holland, Beach, Moss, Watkin. and Fenton were
appointed ccennoiseicieere, and thanks hivieg been voted
to the Coma:dues and Cuaireaan, the meeting separated.

The accounts from the south of Russia represent
the harvest around the Sea of Az .fr as wonderful, and
that Ilardiantl is likely to t ka away much of the trade of
Odessa.

PumnaamoNrc S(TIETY, OPERAS, &c.—A report having
been circulated that Madame GrisivMadame Alboni, Mario,
and their troupe, will appear herein opera this season, we
are authorized to state that these justly celebrated artistes
will only sing at the trio concerts at the Philharmonic
Society, on the 18th and 18A instant, and we mike the
announcement in order that the public may net be dis-
appointed, by missing these, the only opportunities which
will
,be afforded them of hearing the favourite singers in
qaestion, which some might be led to do under the im-
pression that they would have the advantage of seeing them
at the Theatre R .

INCENDIARISM IN FRANCE BY A LITTLE Boy.—The
Droll records a curious case of incendiarism tried on the
7th inst. at the asi.ixas of the Indre-A-Liire. A boy of
twelve years of age, named Chats:al, in the sarvice of Due
Girand, a farmer, at Savigny, in Touraine, hat ben for
some time dissatisfied with hi; situation, complaining that
his wages were insufficient. One day he told a woman
employed on the farm that he, would set fire to his master's
house, but no no'ica was taken of his threats. On the
night of the 18.,h ult. the firmer was awakened by cries of
are, and, on going into the yaid, saw that a bundle of
straw close to a shod filled with hay waa on fire. In
moment the fire spread to the shed, which was speedily
burnt dovn ; as adjac,nt barn was saved wiza
difficulty. About six hours afterwards the fire broke out
again, and consumed this VG; and all its contents. The
boy admired that he had set fire to the straw with some
matches which he found on his master's chimney-piece,
and stated that he did so la-came his master had beaten
him. The farmer denied that ha had in any way M-
used the boy. 'I he tiry found the prisoner guilty, and he
waa sentenced to euht years' imprisonment.
ATTEMPTED BURGLARY AT MANN'S BREWERY, MILE-
END.—On Tuesday morning, about half-past three o'clock,
an extraordinary attempted burglary was detected on the
premises of Messrs. Mann and Orcssmati the extensive
brewers of Mile-end-row. At the time soave named the
watchmen on dety heard an nausaal noise, which attract- d
their attenion. They proceeded to the counting-1111160,mM'

foLind the door fast:,;:ied inside. After some delay they

_
forced it open, and discovered seventy-friar pieces of house-
breaking implements. Information was forwarded to the
Atbmt-Ignare Mee Station, Stepney, when Insvct)r
Giffin and Scrgemt Smilh, of the K division, made a
careful exqminatint of the premises. They ascertained
that the barg!ars must have entered by passing through
the Plc ory of Mr. Musto, the engineer, of the Cambridge-
road, when they got npon the roof of the counting-house,
where the tiles were removed, and a hole cut in the ceiling,
through velich was hinging a new rope ladder. pa the
_ _

front of the large iron safe wa3 found a boring machinl of
a very peculiar character, which was made in a first-rate
style, and a hale about the SiZ3 of a crocin piece had been
bored in tho safe, which cont iincd no cash, but a number-
of deeds and other 'docurnenti. Thera were also a set of
skeleton keys, a small sledge-haintne:, two jemmys,
gitoblets, a dark lantern, a lite preserver, two small oil-
cans, ti number of peculiar shaped steel bits for boring,
c.)isels, files, saw;, knives, drea leather bar, two silk
handkerchiefs, and a cloth cap. The whole of the imple-
ments were made by e!ever workmen, and weighed about
531b2.

A CATASTROPIM—TraveIIers inform u 3 that the vul.

tures and other birds tof a feather of warm climates
swarm with magical spied arid voracity to the spot
where any catastrophe provides them their appropria,e
meal. The accident we now record, though not of a
fatal character, had yet in it one great point of resem-
blance to the contratemps of the desert we have alluded

to. As the vultures flock to the prostrate carcase, with
not less eagernoss and celerity do little hofs swarm
rotted a treac'e po- d. A treacle pond, of no small
dimensions, was presented to their hungry appetites
yesterday morning, by the fall of a cask of that neeta-
rean article, from one of Croxley's railway waggons, in
Upper Temple-stre,-t. In less than. a minute the Arabs
of the street rushed upon their prey, dipping their hands
in the luselous fool, and then conveying the skid hands
to their mouths with a gusto that it was quite refresh-
ing to witness. Some of the more enthusiastic lovers
of treacle threw themselves upon the ground, and
plunged tongues and noses into the slowly flowing tide.
Great was the consternation of the waggoners at the
_loss of their cargo, nor wire they long in hastening to
its resctte, aad stemming the treaely deluge by flinging
it, mixed with street dust, into some extempore recepta-
cles borrow'ttl from the adjacent " Acorn," at the same
time driving back the juvenile devourers, who, by their
rignrous onslo -were event ually compelled to limit
their depredatioos to an occasional dip and suck as they
stood wistfully around the margin. After some time, as
much of the adhesh'e fluid having been collected as pos-
sible, the aid of a deluse of water from the nearest main
washed away all traces ,')f treacle, and closed the scene.
—Birmingham Daily Pres::