The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-27 00:00:00

NONMOUTHSIIIRE.

A special meeting of this company was held at the
offices, Newport, on Monday—Mr. Gratrex in the

chair

Mr. Harrison having read the notice convening
the meeting,: resolutions were passed authorising the
directors to- raise 'any sum or sums not exceeding in
the whole £200,000 additional capital by the issue
of new, ordinary, or preference shares or stock, the
same to be first offered to the original shareholders ;
also to convert the existing paid-up shares in the
company into capital stock.

SAN PAITLO (BRAZILIAN).
The llth ordinary general. meeting of this Com-
pany was. held "y,:sF.,crday at the London Tavern ;
Mr. R. A. Heath in the chair.

Mr. Hillier, the secretary, having read the notice
eonyening the meeting, the report, an abstract of
which appeared in The Sun was taken as read.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the
report, said it informed them that the progress of
the works was extremely satisfactory. The con-
tractors had a great deal to gain by- the completion
of the works, and it Wail to the interest of the share-
holders that the line shout I be opened as soon as
possible for traffic, and to develope the resources of

the country through which the line passed. The
progress of the works had been very considerable,
and it was expected that the railway would be
opened to San Paulo, a distance of 50 miles, by the
end of the year, and in a few months afterwards the
whole line would be opened for traffic to Jundiahy,
which was so far satisfactory. The directors had
looked into the estimate of the traffic returns, and
they believed that the figures in that statement were
below the actual amount of traffic passing along the
route. The article of coffee was taken at 20,000
tons a year which passed through the barrier in the
day-time before entering the shipping port, but
as some passed through it at night the whole
was not recorded, and there was at least an
equal amount of other goods from the interior to
Santos over the 85 miles, which at 9d. per ton per
mile would together amount to £134,583. The
number of passengers by steamers was 16,000 per
annum. Most of them were from San Paulo, and
about 6,000 passengers travelled the whole distance
to Jundiahy. Taking the passengers at 2d. per
mile would amount to £B,l66,iwhich, together with
the receipts for goods, would give a gross traffic of
£142,749. The present cost of working the traffic
on the Pernambuco railway was about 7s. 9d. per
train mile, but as they might be at greater expense
in having to ascend inclines by means of stationary
engines, he would say 10s. per train mile on their
line, which, for only two trains each way during
365 days, would amount to £62,050, leaving a
balance in their favour of £80,699. He believed
that this estimate of traffic would be exceeded, and
that so far their prospects were good. The traffic
was likely to increase, as large districts had recently
been set with coffee plants, which would be made
valuable by the railway. He then explained that
£lOO,OOO had been advanced by the Brazilian Go-
vernment towards the payment of interest on capi-
tal during construction. The representative of the
Brazilian Government had acted towards them in
the most friendly and considerate manner. The
new government had come into operation in Brazil,
and he had no doubt that suitable provision would
be made for the remainder of the interest on capital
during construction. He was very glad to see by
The Times of that morning that diplomatic rela-
tions would be very shortly re-established between
this country and Brazil.
Mr. WILLIAMS wished to know the amount of
the interest already paid during construction.
The CHAIRMAN said about £292,000 had been
paid, in addition to which there would be £70,000
for the past half-year, £BO,OOO next January, and
say £50,000 more up to the opening of the line
throughout, making together about £500,000.

Mr. NICHOLSON remarked that the difference be-
tween the Bahia Railway and the San Paulo Rail-
way with regard to the traffic was that the former
was a considerable distance from the producing dis-
tricts, and there were no roads of communication
yet opened to it, while the latter had populous places
on the line, and was not far from the producing
districts.

The report and statement of accounts were unani-
mously adopted, and, on the motion of Mr. Alder-
man Dakin, the proceedings concluded with a vote
fo thanks to the Chairman.