The Sun.
London, England, 1839-03-18 00:00:00

LONDON AND GREENWICH

RAILWAY.

A General Meeting of the Shareholders of this Cern-
pisny tdok place on Thursday at the London Tavern, at
12 o'clock. There was a very full attendance of
Proprietors, and great interest appeared to be excited
in the proceedings.
W. SHADBOLT, Esq. took the Chair.
Ti-:e Report was then read. It was to the following
eflat

The Directors have much satisfaction in convening the
present meeting, for they feel themselves enabled
to call your attention to a material improvement in the
position and prospects of the Company, and they have only
deferred this meeting for a few weeks longer than they had
intended, in order that they might announce to you the
coeclusion of some important erragemonts on which they had
been engaged. It will be remembcred, that on entering on
the management of affairs in lastAugust,the present Directors
pointed cut, as their first and paramount object, the abso-
lute recessity of obtaining funds to raise the Company from
its embarassed situation, and to carry out and complete the
Railway; and that, on the faith of their] engagement
that they could procure money for that purpose, they
bccame Directors of this Company. In meeting the
Shareholders now, the Directors have the pleasure
of pointing to the fulfilment of that pledge, and of the ex-
peciatione which they had led you to entertain from it.
Tire Railway was completed, and opened to Greenwich on
the 24th of December last, and the results are most satis-
factory, ac will be seen on reference to the comparative
tehhe of receipts appended to the Report. One of the
first objeete of the Directors was to subject all the
hoeks and accounts to a careful examination, and me-
thedical arrangement, and having separated those ace
ceunts, which were mixed together," they made up an
exact balance of all accounts oe in; to or by the Company,
and they hare adopted it as a true statement of your affairs,
sal contained the account upon the same basis to the 31st
of Dec. last. They have now to submit to you a full and
particular statement thereof as determined by the balance
struck on that day, and it will be satisfactory for you to
know that the real assets of the Company are amply suffi-
cient to liquidate all claims upon it. There is one se-
c.:tint which was not allowed by the creditors, no explana-
tion of it having been furnished to them, and on which
your Directors would not have felt themselves
justified in paesieg without your sanction. It con-
sist• of a loss of 1,6001., which, from information they
have obtained from the former Directors, appears to have
arisen from an expenditure which they deemed necessary,
and incurred with a view of promoting the benefit of the
Company. With this impression, and under the peculiar
circum ,antes of the case, your Directors feel it desirable
to recommend that you should give them directions to pass
this account. There is also a sum of 5,5301. due to
the Company for unpaid calls on certain shares, which,
although they had been standing in the names of other
parti,s, by whom they were long ago transferred, it ap-
p eared they originally belonged to Mr. Walter, who, in
his awouet, delivered in 1837, made himself debtor to
ttte Company for such unpaid calls, but at the same
time sent in claims against the Company for 9,700/ ,
claiming a balance of 4,1501. Your Directors may here
nomtion, that on entering upon their duties, they found
ir.t (eve action had been brought against the Company by
Me. Walter, and was then pending, whereby he sought to
recover 23,541/ , subsequently reduced to 14,2861., and
t!loy noel find by a circular he has issued that he claims
15,5-11/. Your former Directors were advised that he
had no legal demand, and instructed your solicitor to resist
the action which has long been in a situation to be
tried if proceeded with by Mr. Waiter. The reference
of the claim to arbitration has been produced, but
lies been refused boils by your present and former
Di -ectors, because they consider a Court and
a Jury the tr.o.A proper tribunal for the trial of
such a demand. !laving in a great measure overcome the
difficulties in which your affairs were involved from want
of funds and a clear statement of the accounts, the progress
oP the works was resumed and carried on by your Directors
with as much expedition as circumstances allowed, and the
railway would have been completed much earlierhad they been
able to obtain the necessary machinery for the drawbridges
over theßavenshourn. Their immediate attention we s directed
likewise to the state of the locomotive power, and the car-
riage department. When they came into office nearly all
the engines were iu very bad order, and the repairs
hal formed a heavy item in the expenditure of
the last six 'months. They have now succeeded
in bringing them into a state of efficiency, they have in-
creased their force by the addition of one new engine, and
they ere in daily expectation of another. The carriages
wore also in a most unsatisfactory state, and the amount ex-
pended in repairing them was excessive, though
their appearance and condition was any thing
but creditable to the. Company. In order to
place this department in a state of complete ef-
ficiency, and to avoid the former heavy expenditure of so
doing, your Directors considered that the most prudent
course was to contract for the use of carriages, and they
have great pleasure in announcing the completion of a
contract, with a very experienced and responsible coach-
builder, who has taken the whole stock of carriages,
to his own account, and contracted to repair them, and to
supply such new ones of a very superior construction as
may be required to keep the whole in order. Some of the
new carriages will be on the Line at Easter, and
the terms of the contract are such as to establish
an identity of interest between the contractor and the
Company, and the Directors entertained no doubt
that the arrangement will be beneficial both to the Com-
pany and to the public. The importance of securing to
the Railway the traffic from places in the vicinity of Green-
wich, induced your Directors to enter into an engagement
fur that purpose wit's an extensive proprietor of omnibuses
and other carriages, and had granted him the privilege of
stationing his vehicles on the Company's ground, on con-
dition of his providing a sufficient number of good and
well-appointed carriages to be under their control, and to
communicate regularly with the trains on their arrival, on
fixed and moderate charges, and there is every reason to
believe, that much additional traffic will be obtained by ibis
arrangement, Anxious to reduce the engagements of the
Company, the Directors have used their best endeavours to
render thcsurplus property available for that purpose,and con
siderable sums have been raised by the sale of that property.
Nor have they hesitated to give their own pecuniary as-
sistance to attain this desirable object, having themselves
taken up the greater part of the unappropriated shares,
which, as they could not otherwise have been disposed of
at par, would have remained unavailable. By these means
the liabilities of the Company have been materially dimi-
nished, and further sales of land are now in progress ; but
as there is a large portion of the property which it would
ho most unadvisable to part with at present, looking to the
increased accommodation which will be required by
the Brighton and South Eastern, and other Rail-
way Companies, ready to use this line, your Directors
cannot avail themselves of these means to a greater
extent. Such being the case, they have hurried
their attention to other means of carrying out the remain-
der of the works essential to the undertaking. It is part
of the engagement with the contractors for the supply of
carriages, that the Company should erect sheds at the sta.
tions, for the protection and accommodation of passengers.
It is likewise of the greatest importance that an engine-
house should be constructed at Deptford as early as pos-
sible—that the station at Greenwich should be completed
—that some alteration should be made in the London sta-
tion—and that certain property should be purchased, which
ought not to be postponed beyond the summer. The re-
ceipts of the Company have become so considerable, that
a portion might perhaps lee set apart for these pur-
poses. But although this might not be objected to by
the holders of new shares, yet the original Shareholiers
might have cause to complain, especially as their interests
of 3 per cent. ceased since the 24th Dec., in consequence
of the railway being opened to Greenwich. The funds,
however, might be raised by other means, so as to fall
more equally on both classes of shareholders. Thee Direc-
tors, therefore, recommend that an application be made to
Parliament in the present Session, for an Act, the preli-
minary steps to which have already been taken, to obtain
power to raise the sum of 60, 0001. for these purposes, in
such manner as may be deemed most desirable; and they
hoped the meeting would concur with them in the propri-
ety, of this proceeding. The Railway being completed
and opened to Greenwich, your Directors have considered
the contract of Colonel Landmann fulfilled, so far as to re-
lease him from preparing further plans and superintending
the erection of the buildings contemplated, which belongs
more properly to the department of your architect, and as
the extension of the Railway has been unfortunately so
much protracted in consequence cf the difficulties which
have occurred, your Directors did not think proper to with-
hold any longer from Col. Landmann the fair remuneration
agreed on. At the same time they have secured his services
as consulting-engineer, and they cannot close this part of
their report without testifying as to the solidity of the
works under his direction, and considering that the trains
have already performed nearly 100,000 journies, they think
that all the rumours about the instability of the works may
be regarded as finally disposed of. The total receipts for
1837 were 39,086/., and for 1835, 41,2861. The recepits
for passengers alone were, from Dec. 24, the date of the
opening to Greenwich, 1837, to March the same year,
were 6,9361. ; for the same period in 1838 the amount was
6,491. ; and for the same period in 1839 it was 9,7311.
The Directors would refer to the approaching opening of
the London and Croydon Railway, anticipating, as they
did, a great accession of income from their engagements
with that Company, and they also expected to raise a rental
from the arches under the Railway. The Company was now
at the expense of maintaining an additional station at
Greenwich, and they had increased the efficiency of their
service by the substitution of a superior class of men; but
notwithstanding all this, the amount of wages is 7 per
cent. less than the average since the line was opened to
Deptford.
The Directors are convinced that a rigid attention to
economy, and to the comfort of passengers, are objects of
the first importance in an undertaking of this kind ; and
they assure the Proprietors that no exertion shall be want-
ing on their part to secure the advantages with which this
important enterprise now promises to be attended ; and
they have only, in conclusion, to express their conviction
that all the predictions which have been held forth as to
the result of this enterprise will be amply fulfilled, and they
trust that at the next general meeting they shall be able to
produce substantial proofs of the accuracy of their views.
It was moved, seconded, and carried by acclamation,
that this Report be received, adopted, and printed.
The cordial thanks of the Shareholders were unani-
mously voted to the Direetors, and the meeting separated.

intrPapineau has arrived in Paris. lie was
oduced to M. Lafitte at his soiree, where he at-
tracted general attention by
a" >7,?i3 features the flueney and vivacity of
bis conversation. He aars to be about 50 years of age,
, which pperesemble tho3e of most of the
French Creoles, are energetic and expressive. He is stated
to have. bean well received at Havre.
Oa Wednesday morning, Ramsden, the walking
trisntnym to Ilellericay, was found dead on his route. On
ruly morning Henniker, who was appointed to do his
Gat dr-pped down in a fit as he was bringing in the let-
t:A.3 and shortly after expired..—Chelmsfrd Chronicle.

GLEANINGS FROM THE NEW

YORK PAPERS.

(From the Trenton State Gazette.)
A SERIES OF DISASTERS.—A few weeks ago, a boy of
Gideon Hulit, near Allentown, fell into his father's mill-
pond, while sliding on the ice. One of his brothers was
near, and went to his assistance, but broke through the ice
himself. A third and fourth brother, and then the father,
attracted by the cries of the drowning boys, ran, one after
another, to save them ; but they too fell through the ice.
The father and one of the bays extricated themselves, but
were unable to rescue the three others.
At the funeral of these boys, the carriage of their uncle
was dished to pieces, the horses becoming restive, and the
uncle's collar bone broken or dislocated. Those who had
been in this carriage got into another, which was also over-
turned and broken ; and the horses ran against the vehicle
of another uncle, upset it, and threw out those who were
inside, without, however, injuring them seriously. It was
reported also, says our informant, that the father of the
boys, on returning from the funeral, found his house on fire.
AMERICAN RRFINEMENT.—A great many of our young
Americans travel so much in France—generally two years
in a stretch—that they forget the use of English, and are
never able to speak any language but the French, and that
language in such a tone as would puzzle the French them-
selves. At every accession to the throne of England or
France, there is always a new creation of Peers, who have
in consequence to select their arms, crests, and mottoes.
We are getting into the same style. Mr. Van Buren
has introduced an entire new style into fashionable society
here, and I am glad to perceive that Governor Sewart
will not permit a Kinderhook locofoco to outstrip him.
Mr. Van Buren is as exclusive as the Grand Lama, or
the Sultan of Stamboul. Except two hours a day that
he receives visiters, he permits no one to enter the
royal chateau or its demesnes, without a permission
or billet, or carte de locofoco. He has abolished the
drawing rooms given by General Jackson, and permits no
one to enter without his express desire. During the twe
morning hours he is visible, he dispatches his visiters like
an emperor. " How do you do?"—" I am glad to see
you"—" How is your health ?"—" How long do you re-
main ?"—" Good morning, sir"—this is the whole conver-
sation. In the evening he gives splendid private dinners
to the select and faithful, but these are as secret as the
Eleusinian mysteries, which when he reads, be will pro-
bably inquire what they are. Governor Seward also
seems to be determined not to let a locofoco brat him in
style. Hence the appearance already of several of his
new military creations—"aia's de camp du Governeur de
New Yorck," who, as a loafer said the other day, " take
the rag of the bush." " Rather the rag off a locofoco is
more likely- to be true in fact, theugh not in poetry," said
a snarling critic.
We certainly are a great nation—and a peculiar people.
NEW Y 010: COAL TRADE —The villainous coal mono-
polists have learned a lesson this winter they will not
easily forget. Perhaps a greater set of gripping rascals
never disgraced the face of creation, than the coal mer-
chants of this city. with a few exceptious.

PROGRESS OF SCIENCE IN THE AMERICAN NAVY.—
WONUFAIF UL AND VALUABLE DISCOVERY IN PNEUMATICS.
—The Navy Commissioners have just discovered a new
method of purifying a vitiated atmosphere with the aid of
carbonic acid and sulphuretted hydrogen gases, to be ge -
nerat ed on the berth or lower gun deck of ships of the
line, and descending by means of tubes, three inches in
diameter, to this orlop deck. We are informed this expe-
riment is made with a view to ascertain how much more
foul air an American sea cificer can inhale without injury
to his lungs than a Frenchman ! The same experiment
having failed in the Freoch navy, from their extreme igno-
rance of the science of pneumatics, in having air scuttles on
the orlep, thereby admitting too much light, as well as too
much salt air, which destroyed the pure elements of the
above-nem:. d gases.
Another object of this highly scientific body in the above
experiment is, to habituate the young officers (the most of
whom have not been in the service more than 25 years) to
the smell of gunpowder, to which the aforesaid cases are
said very nearly to assimilate in odour—that in time of ac-
tion they may be less liable to the danger of suffocation.
It is further proposed, on the suggestion of the ncw Se-
cretary, to adapt these gases to purposes of marine warfare,
by the erection (in all large ships of war) of a force pump
amidships, on the principle of a Long Tom, to project the
gas into the faces of the enemy on boarding. It is deemed
decidedly superior to boarding pikes as a repellant, and it
is thought, will be highly destructive to any enemy, espe-
cially Frenchmen, who, from their vivacity and animation,
always board with their mouths open. It is recommended
to use the force pump immediately after bean days, when
the gas is usually stronger and in larger quantities than at
other times ; and an order will therefore be issued, prohi-
biting any Commander from taking his ship into battle,
except on or immediately succeeding these days. Verily,
this is the age of wonders !
THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT RIVALED..—AVASHINGTONG
FRIDAY, FEB. 1. —The House have to-day gone through
with the whole private calendar, and completely cleared it
of all the undisputed Bills. About one hundred and fifty
Bills passed to be engrossed to. day, in addition to large
numbers that finally passed last Saturday. _

PRACTICAL DEMOCRACY.—The Palace of the President
stands on a beautiful eminence, in front of which sleeps in
brightness the majestic Potomac. Within the walls, the
grounds are laid out with singular taste and picturesque-
ness, the gravel walks winding around four eminences, or
little mounts, covered with young trees and shrubbery. I
went up to the gate, but to my surprise found it locked and
padlocked. " How is this?" " Queen Victoria throws
open St. James's Park, Hyde Park, and the Green Park,
to all her subjects—so does Louis Philippe open regularly
every morning the Gardens of the Tuilleries, the Gardens
of Versailles, and all the other public places belonging to
France. Oh, this is democracy 1 I had forgotten."
DEPLORABLE DEATH FROM HYDROPHOBIA. —A MTS.
Keeley, wife of a tailor, has just died at Lancaster, aP.,
from the bite of a dog received four mouths since, while
she was passing the market. She used every remedy that
could be thought of, and when the horrid disease invaded
her, the miserable frantic sufferer implored her medical
attendant, during the lucid intervals, to relieve her from
agony by bleeding her to death.
Oerum.—A singular instance of resuscitation from the
effects of this drug occurred in this place last week. On
Tuesday of last week, Parmenus Huntoon, who was re-
cently committed to gaol in this town, on a charge of pur-
loining money from the Essex post-office, it seems re-
solved
to I

" Shuffle off this mortal coil."
For this purpose he had procured half an ounce of opium,
and on Tuesday evening took a pill containing 120 grains.
On Wednesday he was found in a state of utter insensibi-
lity, so far as the external senses were concerned, and pre..
senting to the unlearned observer only the appearance of a
man " gloriously drunk." In this situation he remained
till Friday evening, a period of five full days. In the
mean time our best physicians had been in constant
attendance, and in vain exhausted the usual reme-
dies. We believe it was conceded on all hands that
he must die. On Friday afternoon Dr. Heineberg, who
by the way is a bold operator, was persuaded to make a
tat effort. We are not apprized of the pa:ticulars of the
operation, nor is it material, as the case will probably be
reported for the medical journals. We believe, however,
that by the warm bath, and the free use of the scarifier
and cupping-glass, he succeeded in drawing eighteen
ounces of blood from the region of the cerebellum, which
gave almost instant relief. To the no small astonish-
ment of the bystanders, the patient suddenly opened his
eyes, raised himself up, as it were, from the grave, and
called for water—a cup of cool water! Huntoon is now
in a fair way to recover, and, beyond all doubt, a more
rational man. On being first interrogated as to what he
had been about, he replied ho recollected taking a pill
of opium last night. The intervening five days were
entirely lost, except in the accumulation of
.a rather un-
usual appetite. —New Yorh Paper.