The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-01 00:00:00

EASTERN COUNTIES.

The half-yearly meeting of this company was held on_
Tuesday at the j.ondon Tavern ; Mr. D. Waddington;
.M.P., in the chair. - .. ; -0. ~ . -.7 ' -
The report,,.an abstract: of which has appeared in The-
Sun, vvas taken a 8 read. . ~ , ;,• , .• .
The Cliamops, in moving the adoption el. the revolt,-
congratulated the shareholders on the result of the pint
working of the Eastern Counties, Norfolk, Eastern
Union, and other lines, from which it appeared thai an
increare.of 77,5321. bad taken place in thntrerintre-
as compared with the preceding half-year, with,taii ,i,,..,
crease in the. expenses of only' 8,7721.; thus :increasing
the dividend from 35.. 6d. to 7s. per share. '• Oa CC/V:lpar-
ing the result with .the corresponding period. of 1853,
they hal the same dividend, •7s. per sham, carrying ever
4,0001. ; but the price paicifor -labour and inaterals was
considerably higher in the past half-year that in 1853,
and notwithstanding. this they. paid.7B. - p.ir -hire, and
carried forward 14-00 a to the next ac.:ount. This was,
~.
the first fruits of then-J.)lk, werkine.. Some sharehorlers
bad suggested a 78.
.6,1... di, itleod, aod to .leave a MI;
once of 4,0001., Imt,considering. the report of Mr. r: iiff,
i.
themn
their engineer, and other eirestances, he thene,ll the
wise and prudent coarse wouffl. be to declare a divi,,,ind
of-78. per shin for the past, hailryear. Ile then-entred--
into statements to show 114. there wa..l. u'e subst-ivith!
"ground for certain reitin4s that had' been eireul teil:
with respect to the stateot-the.line and working (;tnek‘
and also to the..coal- traffic. „The.board of directerllnd.
done, and continued to do f',Varythirg'iti their peWer to"
Promote the iaterests of. the undertaking, The loAs,-(l.
treacle on the line in 1819,areeurited to 17,53441, in i&LO,
to 21,2491., in .1851 to 22,4T0, in_ •1852 to 32,02311,,,,in.
1853 tn 43,718/., and in 1854,0 80,5811. Adam; fell
the interest of the cost of werking'st.cli. and deprecin-
tion of the permanent, way, that tiaffic had been Worked
for 30 per cent. on the groFB,reeeipti. Be. then adverted
to the arrangement with re =pea to _the Canabrld;;, rn...1
Bury line, with a view_ to show that the "cicaniency of not
- traffic, after, paying everything, only .amounted to
2,4331., assuming. the working expenses at' 46 . per
cent. while the average of the whole was 42 per cent.

The cost of these line; amounted_ to 17,000/. per ruile,P,,
he thought, therefore, that if they made similar arrang.
inents.with regard to the Suffolk lines, which would cost
only 10,0001. a mile, no loss would accrue from working
them. The Eastern Counties lines passed through a
rich agriculturaldistrict, and therefore the traffic on
them was not so likely to be affected by the war as that
of other lines passing through the man.iLicturirr,
tricts.

A long discussion ensued, in the course of, which its
was proposed that the dividend should be paid clear i)f,
income tax, but the motion was rejected.
Mr. Toznt and other proprietors expressed themselves'
strongly against the system of constructing branch lines
and extensions, and urged the propriety of local parties
Making them at their own cost instead of at the cost of*
the company. The past experience of branch lines in
their district showed them a ruinous drain upon the
Company. The dividend in 1853 amounted to 12s. pe-r
share, but in 1854 it only amonuted to 10s. 6d. per
share. Estimates of expenditure on capital account'
would in future be submitted' to the •shareholders for
their sanction, and, as _soon as the' present works 'in=
hand were completed, the capital 'account might be
closed. The present working.stOck would be sufficient
for niany years to come.
The report was alopted and the diVidend of 7g.: per
The retiriufr directors' "nd auditor.,
were re-elected, and
The proceedings concluded with a cordial vote of
thanks to the directors and officers of tie company.

SOKTH YORKSHIRE.
The half-yearly meeting of this company was held on
Tuesday at the London Tavern ; Dr. Dymond in the
chair. , . .
After some discussion on the traffic and the accounts;'
'the report was adopted.
A dividend at the rate of 4/. per share per annum was
declared upon the guaranteed share stock of the coin
pany, another of 91. per share upon the ordinary stock
--namely, 4/. for the past year, 4/. for the year in whi(ch
there had been• no dividend,, and 1/. for the yeal=in
which the 3/. dividend had been declared.
.
The outgoing auditors aryl directors were re-elected;
and the proceedings terminated. ,

SOUTH )I".A.LE% ;
•
hiaf•ye,vl,y nAetinfs oU this company •wag ,
on Tuesday at the Great.Westertigotel, Padding ton;
!
C., R. M. Talbot, M. in the chair.;
The report stated that th,areceifiliaTier reile,c.uring the
past half-year amounted to 851/.' per *mile, :as compared,
with 8101. per mite ae.the cent esponding.peiriod of
The cbarges.for the _Supply of rolling.; genii shave, after,,
much; negotiation, tieen-arnimbly settaed with, the Gret4
Western Company. • After, tuhking Alm:thee for-all ?tie
charges in respect of rolling stock which remained frond-:
justed at the-last meeting, the.deolaratiorekif .4 tlivid;ntl-
at the rate of 3 per. cent. per intium-daibtr tecommendO,
leaving a balance of 8,3314 ale'ex,penditure on capito
account during the:hal ea'ltt• hits • -I)vbrt 'incurred in
,pro3ecntion of the works .I,7l:alie.verferiliWest i:.:1
Milford Haven, in the iinproie4nenti thL nearest ",,f
Dean Railway, and-,in extendieg areairra-otlationior
traffic. An abstract .OE4 the, statement of account
appeared in The ~k,un. , . •,! ;
The GLIAIBMAN, in moving the adoption of the
remitrked that while the chargesvfni thE,
the, permanent way, carrying, and, g4neral -ei+avge
the South Wales Railway. were less :than- can th t •
broad gauge lines, the Vale of Neath arid Great \
ern, the locomotive charges were very much greater.
the Great Western they amounted to 9 per cent. of
gross receipts, on the Vale of• Neath to 12 per cc!
while, under- the agreement with -the Great-Western,
i they amounted on thaSouth Wales to 36 per rent. in
fact, the carrying and locomotive expenses amounted to
96,000/. perannum. There -were only two courses open
to them, either to amalgamate- with the Great-Western
or to work the line themselves, • and unless theydid ti 6
hitter he-did not see any hope of an increase ofid-hidep:
He estimated that they would save 30;0001. a-year by.
working the line with their own stock:
Resolutions were passed adopting thereport,"declarip'g
the- dividend,, and authorising the director's to
320,000/. on preference•shares.

WHITEHAVEN---AliD FURNESS: -
The half-yearly meeting of this company Was held
on Tuesday, A 3, Guildhall-buildings ; tho Earl ,of
Lonsdale in the chair.
The report stated that the gross traffic receipts for the
half-year ending the 31st of December last Amounted to
7,206/., And the expenses to 4,3921., leaving aqalanne
of 2,8141. .The increase inthe receipts as compared With
the corresponding period of 1853, was 1,4571., being up-
wards of 25 per cent. The increase in the expenditure
was 1,0451. The terms of the agreement for -the joint;
working of the line with 'the Whitehaven Junction-
Railway have been modified, and it is expected: that it
will work satisfactorily to both companies, and that a, ,
considerable saving will be effected in the locOmoiive
charges. The amount now owing on the capital' ac-
count, including outstanding liabilities, is 34,9781. The
sum of 29,5941. has been paid upon the preference sharea.
created in August, 1853. The works on thoWhitehaven,
Cleator, and E,gremont Railway are progressing rapidly,
and the line will be openedfor traffic in September. The
capital account showed that 437,9831. had been ex
pended, including 3,0321. daring the half-year. -
.On the motion of the CHAIRMAN, the report was
adopted, and, after some formal business, the meeting
separated.