The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-03 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

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THE ISLE OF WIGHT.
The line of railway which is to connect Ventnor
with Ryde has just been commenced by sinking
the shafts for the tunnel at the Ventnor end of the
line, and will be complete and opened for public
traffic by Midsummer, 1864. The line, 11 miles in
length, will commence at the outer end of Ryde
pier, by a tramway from there to the station in the
town, so as to take passenger 3 and luggage direct
into the carriages on disembarking from the steam-
boats without any intermediate changes between
the pier head and the main station in Ryde. The
line passes on its route Brading, Sandown, and
Shanklin, and will make gradual ascent from the
latter place until it has attained an elevation of
about 300 ft. above the level of the sea, where it will
pierce Wroxhall-down with a tunnel of 1,300 yards
(more than three quarters of a mile) in length, and
issue from out the south side of St. Boniface-down
within a short distance of the Ventnor terminus,
which will be situate about 500 yards from the
centre of the town. The capital of the company is
£125,000, with debenture powers for £41,000
more; and Mr. Bond, the contractor, is to con-
struct the line,including stations, &c., for £126,000.
The existing traffic between .Ryde and Ventnor by
road is computed to be of the value of £14,000 per
annum.

NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE.
The report of the directors states that the symp-
toms of improvement in the trades of the district
had begun to show themselves. The improvement
in the goods and minerals has been progressive
throughout the past half-year, notwithstanding the
continued severe depression of the silk manufacture
and the diminution of export of earthenware and
iron, occasioned by the American troubles. The
full benefit of the increased receipts by railway has
been realized in net profit without increased work-
ing expenses, although £7,500 has been charged for
renewals, as againstis,ooo in the corresponding half
of 1861. The traffic on the canal has materially in-
creased, but it is as yet short of that of 1860, the
tolls alone being £lO,OOO in excess of those of 1862.
The receipts for the goods traffic amounted to
£99,307, against £91,604 for the past half-year,
and the passenger, &c., traffic to £49,264, against
£51,004 for the corresponding period of the preced-
ing year. The tolls on the canal for the past half-
year amounted to £46,234, against £39,057. The
traffic on the Biddulph branch amounted to 68,000
tons, against 37,000 tons in the corresponding six
months of 1861. The expenditure on renewals in
the last half-year has been £22,000. This expen-
diture will be continued until the works are com-
pleted, the repayments out of revenue being con-
tinued half-yearly until the whole is liquidated.
After providing for every expense the directors are
enabled to recommend a dividend at the rate of 31
per cent. per annum, leaving £3,599 for the next
account. The capital account shows that
£4,281,467 had been expended on the railway, and
£1,170,000 on the canal; together £5,451,467. The
revenue account for the half-year ending the 31st
of December shows that £163,664 had been received
on the railway, against £157,428 for the correspond-
ing period, and the expenses to £81,362, against
£81,089, leaving a net balance of £82,302, against
£76,339 for the corresponding half of 1861. The
revenue on the canal amounted to £65,941, against
£54,379; and the expenditure to £29,782, against
£24,641, leaving a net balance of £36,158, against
£29,738 for the corresponding half of 1861. The
increase in the net receipts of the railway and canal
amounted to £12,383 for the past half-year.