The Sun.
London, England, 1852-07-31 00:00:00

SATUR DAY

IRISH PEAT COMPANY-
The hheelfidrosnt aTnhnaurasldmaye,etaitng,thoeflithinegrtsboliveacaodr
Poultry.
Mr. MAcoaroon,
the directors had taken the present opportunity of
meeting the shareholders to report to them, the pro-
ceedings of the company
parsesfiadreda,s
and to render such explanations as might be required.
The business' of the meeting would therefore be o
receive the directors' report of the progress of the
company from its formation, the present state ofbr
,operations, its prospects for the future, and the
'lance-sheet. 'The board had given their utmost at-
tention now for some time to-the carrying out of the
Undertaking, which he' believed, after' they should
have beard. the - report, they -would be satisfied was
one promising Very great benefits, not only to the-
country in which the operations had been commenced,
hut, if conducted with economy and prudeece 001
so far as they bad been earritA the economicel prin-
Ciple had been strictly adhered to); be had the most,
sanguine expectations,. based on the. exneriment
prietors. The directory - had been anxious
already merle; with extraordinary profit -to thee pro-
9:hdeystbstee:
gone,
n
plunge into any very expensive operations untir to
ex"
ft
petience proved they ill.)
do so with advantage to
the Sharehelders. Hitherto the works had teen c.a.-
ried on, not on a large ctnnMercial scale tot on a
limited and prudent .scalp, sufficient to justify the
conclusion to which the directors had come- in ,their
report,
which would now beaead.
SECRETARY (Mr. Quige) then read the re"
port, which. stated that the experiments made up to
March-last year, though 'they confirmed the state-
ments of Mr. Reece as to the -amount' arid character
l'of the products obtained -from the peat, the value of
which products was sknown in the market, yet being
made on.a very limited scale in the private laborato•
ries of chemists, and not in- closed vessels, left it, to
be proved whether the smile results could be, obtained
from retorts of % large dimensions—whether the- peat-
tar could be separatedafuroainrtlielhee in gases, and whether the
gates would become pure. so as not only to save
the
a
'fuel, but also to produce char-
cgreat demand, and
thoughala a Ca in
aof profits in the prospectus
ken of it, the directors bad
consumptionat
rh che Charcoal
calculation fl
e wasxextra
r beena t
no a
never lost sight of it as a veluableproduct. The ex-
periments since made at Newton Crornlin, in Antrirn,
and also at Bow, near Londou, on a large scale, had
been so successful that several gentlemen united- to
form a company with the view, in the first instance, of
portion of the capital to
beem prlaolyseidnginoncalyrrYrng out operations in this court-
ftort fbaontt
linin'adlormelsalda—ntrr. Reece having patents
to enlarge- the- works
at a future period. The promoters, however,
thought it prudent, in the first instance, to confine
their operations to Ireland, the Government being
averse to granting a charter for England, and land
and labour being mtich'clieaper in' the-sister cotintry. The capital had been fixed at 120,0001., with power
to increase it to 300,0001. At first -the experiments
were directed to testing the applicability of the hot
blasts to,the furnaces, and ,thnoperation-of the gases,-
and upon the calculation made for that purpose the
directors had announced in the prospectus that the
works'lnight be brotight 'into operatitensby calls of
V. a share. The Site chosen far carrying out 'their
operations was situated on the north of the bog of
Allan, four miles from the town, of Athy, and near
the Carlow bronch of the Great,Seuthern and Western:
Railway (which had met the company in a most
liberal spirit, and had constructed a siding icathe
works'at their own expense), and comprised 500'aeres
of bog, which had been -obtained .on advantageous
terms on a lease, for 'lOO years, povver- being re_
served to the company to terminate it on a year's
notice. There had been some delay in bringing the
works into operation, and it was not until January
last that the fires in the retorts were fairly lit,
but 'within the last few
,mon4s air the 'difficulties
whic'h shad presented themselves in the 'manfaCtur=
ing process (and they eireia -numerous) had yielded
to the scientific principles employed.' The directors
had recently engaged ,Mr. Scanlan, the ,chemist, of
gone to4lpieiplbimareynsinoelfutnheelapsatrtaofasnue-
Logdort whoilad
and-nitheidoitli's epWroodrukceda. nfrdom the peat had been for-
warded by him. (These specimens were eehibited to
the meeting.) 'Theliaraffine," Xi:Scanlan reported,
might be produced in immense quantities, and, ac-
cording to the statement of experienced brokers, was
available for the manufacture of candles at ls. a lb--e
at which rate an offer had been Made by a party to
take all that was manufactured for three years. The
volatile oil, and the fixed oil, would produce, it was
calculated by the same hrokers,,frona 2s. to 2s. 6d. a
gallon—the light oils being valuable for varnishes and
the heavy oils for lubricating machinery, and the
charcoal, which was the residium, and of which no
account had been taken in the original calculation,
though the directors had never lost sight of its value,
would produce at least 403. a ton, and two thou-
sand tons might be sold annually'annually at 50s. a
ton. So far as the works had been carried_ out.. tha
enlargementmeesseeeee au.Bl rewsouultlsd mweraeke repothrte-eind ;
profitable
such an
the shareholders would require' a fraorfithtaebrl e call
of 21. a share—which the directors recommended. The balance-sheet to the 30th of June, which was
next read, stated the total expenditure, including pee-
lirninary expenses, works, machinery, wages, and ins
cidentals, and a balance in hand of 8331. 15.1.1d0 at
12,0081. 13s. Bd. The receipts, 12,0001. from calls
and 81. 13s. Bd. fro sale of samples Stn., making a
total of 12,0081. 13s. Bd. The assets were stated at
7,7431. 173. 11d., including 1,7001. arrears of calls;
and the total liabilities of 'the
(1 company at 1,50°1' 6s.
~ besides whatever allowances might be made to
the directors.
Mr. Glnas moved the adoption of the report, and
that it be printed and circulated.
Mr. W. BENNETT seconded the motion.
Mr.' WADE thought the accounts 'should have beeP
sent to the shareholders before the meeting, as .it ;was
iinposaible to Understand such a
merely hearing them read out. He also suggested
that, in future, the report should be circulated before"
hand. mass of figures from,

Another SHAREUOLDEU wished to know why.,„. the
also
should calls were included in the assets? nelse
should like to hear from the chairman sonle_,lse'stee
"
meet as to the value of the shares in the marke,!
The Ciaataetatebeen said the report could not have
prepared beforehand, as there bad not been time'
This was the first meeting, and it was one
there.
• explanation than anything el ;" the couese,
Lin
all,
fore, was adopted which was, he believed, usua n the
report under similar circumstances. ,
When 701
report was passed, it would be. circulated erne goad
She shareholders, and in future he'sbeuld be vet! out.
to `adopt the suggestions which had been throvvie
from
lie might add that the whole of the accounts, from
the first, would have to be audited. When ea in'
rho
were appointed, the whole would be included
scared
next r. • 11 With regard to the 'Pelee of the and
their gear set, the truth ,was that the directors
~
.as an
their friends held the greathr part of the share°;oe a
investment. They had never attempted t° :Jr own
share in the market, but had kept them rather for
in, their f_
hands, end had always bought when opportunity
fered, their object being to prove that the
was bona' fide and might be; brought to a Profitable
account.
__
~ for
the SUABEHOLDER—What rent are you to F'3.7
, the land ?
r 100 years
The CEIAIIIMAIt—We have 'Liken it for
.situation
certain at SS. an acre, and considering t '3_
,w, which
abutting on a railway, on the river Barr,,Ynei which
was navigable to Waterford,, and on a canal
the
eves navigable to Dublin, the directors considered
bog
terms advantageous. They might have at a less rental in lees favourable localities,
would have been found dearer in the end'
en to sane'
Mr. HEWITT—Are we to be called IV -
, ee we are I
tion the call of 2/. a share now—beelln
shall move an amendment? -
certainly be
The CUAlRMilli—The proprietors will being called upon to sanction the call, the Question
ptl to
whetherthe Works shall be conducted
might'
the shareholders or not. But the fides, but it
their own responsi-
under the charter, make calls on t"'lled for until it
bility. The money would not be called
into two
was wanted, and the call would
parts--that was, only 1/. per share would
a time.
tea tho statement
kr. GREthia, as a lawy r dialml w make a call
e , COU
of the chairman, that the directors
No call could be
independent'of the shareholders.
ee-fourths of' the
be• mild be called at
made without the consent of thr
shareholders.
a
bad endeavoured to
-
Mr. n
—vvaikr, a director, said he t his broker could
find none in the market.
obtain 100 shares for friend,b II
Mr. linverrT thought some further
,in which the Calls
should be given as to the Insnnu and moved
,an
already made had been expended,
,nteen of the report,
scarn.ifauirnethcietrhaetxtphleanraeptioornt
amendment postponing the suer
which
outlay ought to be sanctiooed
Mr. WADE secondede consideringu ata that no further
a detailed report
•
was received from Mr.
Air. CLARKE (a director) 11
eirreiseanlan's cominunica-
submitted was formed on ..--•ard
tions to the board. 'With regard to the accounts re-
ceivedreobserved that 1,000 of the
of course 'the calls
and expended he
patentee, and on these
shares, had been given to the
,"i)eeirreceived, and the
en up besides was only
bad oo,k.
Whole nitinher of shares t- .
3,4253 on some of which arrears of calls were due.
The call now roposed mss
necessary to carry on
be refused, and the coin-
the works ; butp
pang Wash their hacu should i
, e'n—
t e the concern, so satisfied
its value that it never would be
_ were the directors of
allowed to die.
Mr. Wood and Mr. Owen entered into details frorn
showthat by increasing
the reports of Mr. Scaninli - '.retorts (there being
six
of peat would mOuix more
the
wotks and erecting
be -
ins u now only two), forty