The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-29 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE,

SCINDE.
The half-yearly meeting of this company was held yes-
terday at the London Tavern, Mr W. P. Andrew in the

chair.

- -
The report of the Scinde, Punjab, and Delhi :undertak•
ings of the company were taken as read.
The CIIAIRMAN, in moving their adoption, said it was
gratifying to inform the shareholders that the staff in India
had performed their duty to the entire satisfaction of the
Board; they had escaped from the ravages of sickness
better than the servants of the Government, and their
sanitary state was satisfactory. The contract for the
construction of the Delhi Railway had, after great anxiety
on the part of the directors for years least, been let, and
the plans and sections were prepared. Upon the comple-
tion of the Delhi line the success of their other undertak-
ings depended. The directors had been pressing the Go-
vernment from time to time to allow the works to proceed,
and they had at length consented to give the execution
of the works to the eminent firm of Messrs. Brassey and
Co. He believed it was the largest contract ever let to one
contractor, as it amounted to something like £5,000,000.
It was of considerable importance that the company should
gei; free accesstoDelhi,which was a great centre of commerce,
and before the mutiny the trade amounted to £4,000,000 a
year. This railway would enter Delhi at one side, forming
a continuous line from Kurrachee, while the East Indian
line would enter Delhi on the other side, forming a continu-
ous line of railway from Calcutta, and by means of a junc-
tion of the two lines near Delhi a main line of railway would
be formed from Kurrachee, through the Punjab, via Delhi,
to Calcutta. The Delhi line would proceed from the latter
place to Meerut, which was the centre of country rich in
agricultural produce ; thence to Umballah, a large military
station and a great depot for trade and commerce ; thence
to Loouhiana, a great place for manufacturers ; thence t
Jullundur and across the Beas river to a junction with the
Punjab Railway at Umritsur, nearly 320 miles in length.
The Delhi line would form the centre of a great arch of
railway communication from Kurrachee to Calcutta, and
from which all other lines must radiate on both sides of it
to supply any further communication that might be deemed
requisite. He drew special attention to the discovery of
coal near Pind Dadun Khan, =fleeted with the salt range
between the Jelum and the Indus. The salt wes very pure
and only required,washing,
and the coal was found tc be
admirably ae apted to locomotive purposes ; it had very little
sulphur in it, and did not clog the bars. The coal was at
present brought on camels' backs, and was broken into small
fragments in the carriage. The quality of the coal wale ex-
cellent, and the only question was to its being in sufficient
quantity, but he thought there was no doubt of that. If the
Punjab line were extended to Peshawar and the Khyber
Pass, a branch line el between 20 or 30 miles would reach
the colliery, which would then be available for fuel over the
whole of their lines. The Punjab was the first province in
India that had had an exhibition of its produce and manu-
factures, also those of neighbouring countries ; and it had
been successful. The receipts from Umritsur to Lahore
had been gradually augmenting, and it enabled the enter-
prising merchants of those places to comprehend what could
be done by railway communication, although the portion of
line between those places was only 32 miles in length. No
accident had occurred on the line since it had been opened,
and nothing had been lost in carriage from one place to the
other. A person could travel from Lahore to Umritsur,
transact his business there, and return to Lahore en the
same day, whereas before the railway was opened three days
were consumed in doing what could now be done easier and
better in one day. The advantages would be much more
apparent when the line was opened throughout to Meehan.
aboutnext,
ia 4
nod themiles,
line from Um-
ritsur this would be
completede in e epti
Februaryon of
The whole of the Punjab line was nearly ready for opening
with h
to Meehan, 252 miles n length, would be opened for
traffic. This would give an immense stimulus to the trade
of the Punjab, particularly when it was found that goods
and produce could be conveyed with certainty, safety and
rapidity to and from Kurrachee. The company's flotilla
te
x n e
had exceeded his expectations. The earnings had been
double those of the previous half year. They had stated in
the report that the gross earnings had been about £57,000
for the past half year, but they had singe been informed the
actual amount was £2,000 more—(hear, hear)-.so that if
they had all the steamers available and in active operation
the receipts would have been much larger. They were
greatly indebted to the indefatigable exertions of Captain
Wood in adapting the boats to the difficult navigation of the
Indus, and in making even their small boats useful and
profitable. He was in hopes, when they got all the boats in
their hands, the result would be a larger profit. The Scinde
Railway from Kotree to Kurrachee was yielding a profit and
by the last advices goods that had been stored for a long time
were on their way to the railway. Owing g to the expenditure
of revenue on works of drainage and in forming additional
bridges and culverts, which fairly belonged to capital, it was
impossible to tell what the profits of the railway were until
that question was adjusted. The Secretary of State for
India tied taken a just view as to what belonged to capital
and revenue, and had given orders that the items should
be properly adjusted and charged accordingly. When that
was done the net earnings of the railway would be very dif-
ferent from what they appeared at present. The whole
commerce of Kurrachee for the year 1863-64 amounted. to
£6,750,000, and for 1862-63 to
£5,500,000, showing an in-
crease of 20 per cent ; but the increase in 1862-3 over 1861-
2 was 87 per cent. He considered the trade of Kurrachee in
its infancy, and that it would be necessary to steam along
the Persian Gulf and make aline along the Euphrates val-
ley. England had now a n immense stake in India, there
was therefore both a political and Commercial necessity for
shortening the distance, and he was convinced that the
more attention they gave to Eastern affairs the more impor-
tant they would become.
Sir T. H. MADDOCIE, deputy chairman, seconded the mo-
tion for the adoption of the report.
Mr GOEZ said he thought it would be desirable to have
full and detailed accounts of their expenditure so that the
shareholders might be better able to judge of their progress.
No doubt the actual working expenses on revenue account
were less than had been indicated, and would be found so
when the items belonging to capital were ascertained and
deducted from working expenses on revenue account, He
did not complain of anything, as he had obtained answers
at the vibe 911 certain potato which, ho moldered oatioloc-