The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-27 00:00:00

ments will be carried out under the superintendence of Col.
Lovell, C. 8., one of the principal instructors at the Royal
Engineer establishment, and a report made to the authori-
ties of the general results of the trials. Some experiments
were also made some time since at Chatham with a new
description of iron pontoon, as used in the Belgian service,
the results of the trials on that occasion being deemed very
satisfactory, as showing the buoyancy of the pontoons when
tested to an unusual degree. Another merit of the Belgian
pontoons was its adaptability for the stowage of war material
as well as its portability. A new pontoon, the invention of
Capt. Fowke,Royal E ngineers, has also been under the notice
of the authorities, and several experiments have been made
with the invention, with, on the whole, highly satisfactory
results• The object of the trials which are ordered to be
made is to enable the authorities to decide upon the best
possible pontoon for use in the English service, and with
this view the claim of the several inventions will be fairly
tested. Since the removal of the pontoon practising-ground
at Chatham from St. Mary's Creek to the opposite side of
the harbour, near Upnor Castle, to enable the dockyard
extension works to be proceeded with, increased facilities
are given the officer and men of the Royal Engineers to
carry on their experiments.

The following appointments have been made at the
Admiralty :—Lieut. Henry St. L. B. Palliser, to the Racer
—Sub-Lieut. Alex. P. Hastings, to the Aurora—Edward
Lilley, engineer, to the Cordclia—Mark Lambert, engineer,
to the Racer—Francis T. Elliott, to the Fawn—Edward
Ramsay and Charles Boddington, assist.-engineers, to the
Cordelia—Thos. Summers (B) and Chas. J, Edge, assist,-
engineers, to the Racer—John Hancock (a) and Samson
Gundry, assist.-engineer, to the Fawn—John Shepherd,
assist.-clerk, to the Formidable as supernumerary—Com.
mender J. B. Grove and Commander T. D. Williams, to be
inspecting commanders in the Coastguard—James Evans,
midshipman, to the Edgar—David Nesmith, nominated to
a naval cadetsh;p—J. W. Lishman, paymaster, to the Fawn
—A. D. M'Arthur, paymaster additional to the Pembroke
--D. Robb, promoted to chief engineer, and appointed to
the Cumberland for the Serpent—J. Rollinson, promoted to
chief engineer, and appointed to the Cumberland for the
Terrible—John Downes, promoted to chief engineer are' discharged on half-pay—John P, Allen, promotes-' '
chief engineer, and reappointed to the
Murray, engineer, to the Ex^
C. Gray, engineer. +-

to acting
sierr;er—Matthew
—cunt for the Stork—and J.
, the Cumberland for the Bulldog.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE,

RH YMNEY.
A Wharnc!iffe meeting of this company was held on Fri-
day at the Gray's inn Coffeehouse, Holborn, Mr Boyle in
the chair, for the purpose of considering a bill for antho •
rising the Rhymney Railway Company to make and main-
tain their Cardiff and Caerphilly and other railways ; also a
' bill for authorising the Rhymney Railway Company to
make and maintain lines of railway to join the Brecon and
Merthyr Tydvil Junction Railway, and the Merthyr,
Tredegar, and Abergavenny Railway, and the Rumney
Railway respectively ; and a bill to enable the Brecon and
Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway Company to construct
new lines between their authorised lines and the Rumney
and Rhymney Railways, and to connect the Rumney and
Rhymney Railway, and between the Rumney Railway and
Caerphilly and Llantwitfardre, and to join the Taff Vale,
the Llantrissant and Taff Vale, and the Rhymney Railway,
and new lines to join the Great Western and Monmouth-
shire Railways, and to raise further moneys.
Mr Roy, the solicitor, having read the heads of the bills,
The CHAIRMAN moved formal resolutions approving them.
Mr AUSTIN seconded the resolutions, which were adopted,
and the proceedings terminated.

GREAT INDIAN PENINSULA.
The adjourned half-yearly meeting of this company was
held on Friday at the London Tavern, Mr W. J. Hamilton
in the chair,

Mr Watt, the secretary, read the notice of adjournment
to receive the audited statement of accounts, an abstract of
which has appeared inure Sun.

The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the audited
accounts for the half-year ending the 31st of Dee. 1863, said
they fully bore out the correctness of the statement laid
before the proprietors at the last meeting by the directors.
There was only one point to which he would advert—from
the Ist of July to the end of December, 1863, they had paid
for compensation £23,700. Were it not for that serious item
their net receipts wculd have stood in a more favourable
position as compared with corresponding half years, than
ever they did in any previous half-year. (Hear, hear.)
That large amount of compensation was chiefly for damage
b cotton exposed during the monsoon, and to unfortunate
fires on the line. The proprietors might depend that the
directors both here and in India had taken every precaution
in their power to prevent those fires in future. The habit
of the natives sending unpressed cotton to the railway had
been the cause of much loss, which had resulted in an order
against carrying it in that state—and they had put on a
very heavy additional price to cover the risk. They had at
times been obliged to refuse unpressed cotton altogether.
Fixed presses were now being erected at stations on the
upper part of the line, so that they hoped soon to have a
much larger quantity of cotton brought to them in a proper
state for conveyance oNer the railway.
The resolution was then unanithously adopted, and a
vote of thanks to the chairman and directors concluded the
proceedings,

INDIAN BRANCH.

The half-yearly meeting of this railway company was
held on Friday at the London Tavern, the Marquis of
Tweeddalo in the chair.
The report was taken as read.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report,
said the undertaking was for the purpose of establishing a
permanent light system of railways in India. Their com-
pany was the first that had undertaken to make rail
ways without a guaranteed rate of interest. All
the railways that had been guaranteed were subjected
to Government c ,ntrol, delay, interruption, and increased
expense. The terms upon which they carried on their ope •
rations did not allow of interference with their works, or
limit their dividend to 5 per cent. Their engineer, Mr
Wilson, had returned to England for the benefit of his
health, and he was glad to see him in the room. (Hear.)
He thought the Government were right in waiting for the
working of the Nulhattee line before conceding to the com-
pany the whole of the lines in Cade and Rohilcund. The
Government had undertaken to supply the land, the road,
and bridges, with the exception of the bridge to Moorsha-
bad. The late Governor. General, Lord Elgin, had visited
the line when in course of construction, and had expressed
his approval of the plan and works. The Deputy-Governor
of Bombay had also inspected it, and, finding everything
complete, agreed that it should be opened in January last for
traffic. The receipts to March 31 amounted to £1,650, and
the expenses to £6BO, leaving £970, which was equivalent
to 5 per cent. on their outlay of £2,300 per mile, which was
the cost to them when the line was completed in all re-
spects. The company were to have 796 miles conceded to
them in the rich, productive, and populous district of Oude
and Rehilcund. They were of easy construction, and the
climate was well suited to the cultivation of most valuable
produce for home consumption. The best districts had been
selected by the Government for those cheap lines, which
would not only greatly develope the resources of those
districts, but prove important feeders to the main line of
the East Indian Railway between Benares and Delhi.
Mr WILSON, the engineer in chief, gave an account of
the company's proceedings in India. The receipts on the
Nulhattee line for the three months it was open gave a net
return of 51 per cent on the capital, but this was no criterion
of what it would be when it was in operation a longer time.
It was difficult to divert the traffic from the old route, but
since they had established through booking between Cal-
cutta and Moorshabad, and vice versa, the traffic had
greatly increased. He had received a letter, dated the 16th
of last month, from which it appeared that the goods traffic
alone for seven days on the Nulhattee line amounted to £122,
and ho had no doubt that the goods traffic on the Indian
lines would equal tho passenger traffic. The principle upon
which their system rested was economy, lightness, stiffness,
in obtaining the same strength with half the weight of
material judiciously put together. The carriages for con-
veying 200 persons weighed about 71 tons, but on the ordi-
nary construction the dead weight of the carriages would be
four times as much, or 30 tons. The same result was ob-
tained in conveying goods ; therefore a heavy engine was
not required, and a light ene was adopted. The Govern-
ment subsidy of £lOO per mile per annum for 20 years was
equivalent to £1,350 per mile, which, added to £2,410 for
the Nulhattee line, or to £2,650 for the Oude and Rohilcund
lines, gave the total cost of them per mile. On the Nul-
hattee line the subsidy wee quivelent to 21 per cent, per
annum for 20 years, and the net traffic for the short time it
had been opened 3.16 per cent., even without a junction
with Moorshabad, as the peopl • had to cross the river to
and from the railway. But in the Oude and Rohilcund dis-
tricts the traffic would be far greater than on the Nulhattee
line. There were 23 coach companies on the road between
Cawnpore and Lucknow, from which they could form some
idea of what the traffic would be on their line, which
would run all the way by the side of the road. In Lucknow
there were 350,000 inhabitants, and in Fyaabad beyond it
there were 250,000 inhabitants. The whole district was
more densely populated than any part of Europe, and there
was ample traffic to pay them a very largo dividend. There
could be no doubt that railways economically constructed
in lodic would pay handsomely.
Mr DENT, in seconding the motion for the adoption of the
report, explained that the Government gave the company
the land for the railway, and a subsidy of £lOO a mile per
annum for 20 years, which was equal to £1,300 in cash.
This was given in lieu of making the roads for the branch
railway company, and that was about the average cost to
the Government of ..raking the ordinary roads. This was
done in cases where the Government had no road to give the
company. The concession for the lines in Oude and Rohil-
cund was agreed to be given them by the late lamented
Governor-General of India, Lord Elgin. They had no
doubt that final terms would be come to, and that the sub-
sidy for those lines would be granted. The concession was
for 99 years.

_ -
After some observations by Mr Sheward, Mr Powell, and
Mr Turnbull, as to the favourable prospects of the under-
taking, resolutions were passed adopting the report; autho-
rizing the directors to borr,w £lOO,OOO at 5 per cent on