The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-05 00:00:00

SOUTH DEVON.

The doul)He line of railway from Newton to Totnes,
on the Son th Devon line, has been completed, and tra-
velled over by the directors and officials, previously to
its being ot! 'ened for traffic. This piece of double line
will prove very convenient to passengers, inasmuch as
frequent de lays at both the Newton and Totnes sta-
tions have occurred from one train being detained at
these statiot (5 respectively until the arrival of another
train travel! ing between the two places. Although the
weather hal been very severe lately, the South Devon
lin!, is in ye ry good order.

MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD, AND LINCOLN.

SHIRE.

The halferrearly meeting of this company_was held on
Friday, at t he Palatine Hotel, Manchester ; the Eight
Hon. the E srl of Yarborough presiding.
The half-, yearly reports and accounts have already ap-
peared in he Sun.
The CID.P.B,MAN congratulated the meeting on having
to receive I rem the directors a snore favourable report
than had be en presented to them on some previous oc-
casions. The revenue of the railways of this company
for the pas half-year showed an inercase if 29,7251. on
the corresponding half-year of 1853, and. of 1461. on the
canals ; anal the increase of net revenue was 27,4001.
The railws (y. increase included the London and North-
Western guarantee, but he was happy to say that
it had be en a very small amount this half-year, the
amicable arrangements which had been entered into
having aided this company in so increasing its traffic
as to bring it almost up to the proportion secured
under the agreement with their ally. The gross reve-
nue from all sources for the year 1854 amounted to
610,0161. against 458,7061. in the previous year ; the
net riven se being 217,1351. in the year 1854 against
182,9581. i'ee the previous year. The increase of passen-
gers in the past half year had been 87,807 ; and the
company heed carried 409,576 tons of goods, including
95,136 ton s on toll over short distances of the line.
Deducting ithia, the increase in merchandise traffic pro-
per was 2,3,892 tens, or 15,1161. in money receipt.
Whilst the revenue had increased in this degree, the
total expo isditure on the railways and canals had been
149,2591, i ei the past half-year, against 146,8071. in the
correspond Log half of 1853, showing an increase of only
2,452/. IC4) thought the company had made very satis-
factory proi;ress, all things considered ; but now, when
they seemed to have turned the corner on the road to
prosperity, he regretted to see that there were diffe-
rences of opinion as to the disposal of the available sur-
plus, The re was a disposable balance of 131,1851., and after
taking th s opinion of the members of the late preference
arrears' committee, and of Mr. Buller, the eminent
counsel, t he directors had recommended that, after pay-
ing the in terest and dividend on the 61. shares, deferred
dividend warrants should be issued for half a year's
dividend, at 7 per cent. on the 101. shares, and of 2s.
6d, per ICIOI. stock on the No.l Quarters and old shares,
But au eim parte injunction had been obtained, restrain-
ing them from carrying this recommendation into effect,
and the d irectors would therefore propose, after dispos-
ing of the other business before them, that this meeting
should be adjourned till the 4th April, by which time
the result of the application would be seen. The direc-
tors of thi.9 company had had very important discussions
with the 1:4; incashire and Yorkshire, and North-Eastern
Companies, with a view of putting an end to duplicate
expenses s vad needless competition ; and an agreement
was in th main settled for a division of traffic. The
directors had under consideration the practicability of
reducing t he heavy engineering and permanent way ex-
penditure, and he believed the result of their delibera.-
tuella would be satisfactory to the shareholders.
The rel s ort having been moved and seconded,
Mr. W ()OD move an amendment to the effect that
the parag i aph in the report, referring to the hiring and
charterin gof vessels, be erased. He said that, by the
powers n ew sought by the company, they would become
a steam-s ;lipping company as well tes a railway coin-
f any.
Mr. Jo iItDINM seconded the amendment.

The C [AI MAN explained that they did not seek to
purchase, only to hire vessels, and considering the diffi-
culty of obtaining vessels at the present time he thought
it was ne ,teseary they should possess those powers after
the mone y they had already spent in their docks.
The ar esndment was negatived by an overwhelming
majority.

b Ann, •f Stockport, then proposed successive
atnendrnt ruts for the erasure of paragraphs in the report
in favour of the capitalisation of arrears on preference
shares.

The amendments were negatived, and the report
adopted, with only three dissentients.
The s ernaining business was uninteresting in detail.
The divi( /end on the 61. Preference shares was declared ;
a &umbel! of Wares forfeited on which arrears were
owing ; I ifessrs. Chapman and Turner were re-elected
directors :; Messrs. C. Hindley, M.P., and Shand (of
Liverpool.) were elected directors in place of Messrs.
Peto and Geach ; Mr. Edward Unwin was re-elected
auditor ; and the meeting then adjourned to the 4th
April.

LED BRADFORD, AND HALIFAX JUNG

TION.

The eighth general meeting of the shareholders in the
Leeds, B.sadford, and Halifax Junction Railway Com-
pany was held on Friday, at the new statioa ii Adol-
phus-streirt, Bradford. The attendance was numerous.
In the absence of the chairman (Edw. Akroyd, Esq., of
Denton 3Fark, in consequence of indisposition), Will.
Walker, 3Esq., of Bowling Hall, Bradford, presided. He
said, that though the business was of a formal character,
yet it rnif„:ht be proper to express the satisfaction which
they felt with regard to the progress of the works of
their railway generally. With the exception of the
Bradford station, the several stations and tie warehouries
on the line were all in a very for ward state, and would
shortly be quite completed. He believed that the general
working (sf the line was now becoming very satisfactory
to the public.
The report of the directors stated that the following
directors retired that day—Edward Akroyd, Esq., C.
Akroyd, Esq., S. Waterhouse, Esq., and J. Heaton,
Esq. ; 01.51 the delay in the construction of the intended
new station at Bradford had prevented its being u.A.d
for passenger traffic ; but the progress of the work is
now being accelerated ; and that the directors have he
assurance of the engineer that the goods traffic may nc .w
be commenced with there. The accounts showed th,at
the total receipts of capital account on the main an d
branch lines had been 254,7551., all of which had bees a

expended with the exception of 7,2731. deposits for
valuations of land, 6,1051. debts due to the company,
and 571. cash in hand. The Ardsley Extension account I
showed 6,3581. receipts, 3,7671. Parliamentary expenses, I
2,5281. balance in bank, 631. debts due to the company.
The roport was carried unanimously.
Edward Akroyd, Esq., C. Akroyd, Esq., Samuel
Waterhouse, Esq., and John Heaton, Esq., were re-
elected directors for the ensuing year.
The thanks of the meeting were presented to the re-
tiring auditors, James Dixon, Esq., and S. Anderton,
Esq., and they were re-elected.
The CHAIRMAN stated that as the accounts had not
been returned from the clearing-house, they were that
day unable to declare a dividend. This difficulty would
be obviated in future by holding the meetings in the last
Friday in February instead of the first. The present
meeting would also have to be adjourned to another day,
in order to declare a dividend.

A rote of thanks to the chairman closed the proceed-
ings.

MEETINGS OF THE WEEK.

The railway meetings of the week, although net nu-
merous, have presented facts of interest. The dividend
of the Brighton Company of 3L 4s, per cent. has been
confirmed, and the report adopted. The Crystal Palace
traffic is stated to have yielded satisfactory results, while
the other topics discussed included the depression occa-
sioned by the war, the high prices of provisions, and
the unfavourable state of the money market. The report
of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway
has been agreed to, but the recommendations connected
with the disposal of the available balance cannot be im-
mediately carried out, owing to pending legal proceed-
ings. The North Staffordshire dividend has been de-
Blared at the rate of 3i per cent., and the next increase
under the guarantee of the London and North-
, Western will be to 4 per cent. The opposition to
the amalgamation bill has diminished, but still there
are influential parties endeavouring to defeat it. At
the Llanelly Railway and Dock meeting, an im-
provement was reported to have taken place in the com-
pany's affairs, and when the whole line shall have been
completed the revenue will, it is expected, increase.
The dividends at the rate of 5 per cent. on the new
shares and 1 per cent. on the old shares, have been de-
dared, and the directors have received authority to raise
money on debentures. The dividend of the Paris and
Rouen Company is 37f. 50c. per share, which with the
previous payment of 27f. 50c. makes a total of 65f. The
report is considered favourable, and the amalgamation
of the Western and North-Western lines has been com-
pleted. At the Middlesborough and Guisbocough meeting
the guaranteed dividend, at the rate of 4 nor cent., was
announced, and the double line of rails is stated to have
been nearly completed. The dividend of the Kendal and
Windermere is 6s. 3d. per share, less income-tax, and a
small balance has been carried to the reserve fund. The
report of the Grand Central of France is regarded as
encouraging. The available receipts would allow a
dividend •f sf. 47c. per share, but it cannot be distri-
buted, since, according to the 19th clause of the deed,
the profits daring the period the line remains incom-
plete are to be appropriated to the payment of the inte-
rest of 4 per cent. guaranteed on the paid-up capital for
the construction of works. A project for a metropolitan
railway from Paddington to the Post-office, an act in
relation to which was obtained last session, has been
brought forward. The estimated outlay is 1,209,000/.,
on which a return of 121 per cent. has been calculated.
A feature in the subscription for shares is the payment
of an immediate deposit to test the responsibility of
the various applicants. A line from Lisieux to
Honfieur has also been projected, the route being
by the Pont l'Eveque. In this case the total cost is
estimated at 360,0001., and the return 7 yea. cent.