The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-18 00:00:00

THE CRYSTAL PALACE COMPANY.

Yesterday an extraordinary general meeting of this com-
pany was held at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street,
to receive a report from the directors, and to considerithe
terms of an arrangement with the West End and Crystal
Palace Railway Company ; Mr. Samuel Laing in' the
chair.

(The report, which appeared in The Sun of yesterday)
having been read,
The CHAIRMAN, in moving its adoption, said, he be-
lieved the shareholders were aware that the period assigned
by the deed of settlement fer the first meeting of to chom-
pany, was the month of August, and the directors would,
under ordinary circumstances, have waited until that time;
but it having become necessary for them to meet the pro-
prietors, they gladly availed themselves of the opportunity
of explaining many particulars of an interesting and im-
portant nature. Their first business was to consider the
terms of the proposed arrangement with the West End
and Crystal Palace Railway Company. When they in-
formed the proprietors that the arrangement would involve
no guarantee on the part of the Crystal Palace Company,
it must be apparent to them that it would be advisable to
have the means of access from the western part of the me-
tropolis. The agreement provided that the Crystal Palace
Company should fix the rate at which tickets should be
issued, including admission to the Palace and transport by
the railway—the proceeds to be divided in the proportion
of 4-7ths to the Crystal Palace Company, and 3-7ths to the
Railway Company—the condition being, as mentioned in
the report, that the Crystal Palace Company should
not fix the rates so extremely low as to give the
Railway Company no chance of remuneration. Taking the
amount to be received for-each passenger at the rate of ls.
6d. per head, the division which the railway company
would receive would be Bd. a head. Having said thus
much upon the agreement, he would allude to other
branches of it, but the shareholders would understand that
the report now presented was not so formal or so simple
as that which they would receive at the meeting in August.
At the same time, however, he did not wish that anything
should appear to them conjectural on this occasion. The
works which were in progress would speak for themselves
much more effectually than anything the directors could
brine under their notice and he had no doubt whatever,
that they should ultimately produce a structure which
would be the admiration of the whole country. The first
point upon which they were prepared to give the share-
holders any positive information was one of a very satisfac-
tory description—viz., that having been driven into the
purchase of a much larger quantity of land than they abso-
lutely required, they had resold the surplus at a price
which left them a very considerable profit. Feeling that
the land would become profitable, the directors had ven-
tured to purchase 160,0001. or 170,000/. worth for the pur-
poses of the undertaking, by doing which they obtained the
command of the whole area of ground ; and they were then
at liberty to dispose of the surplus as they might think
proper. The result had been that they had realised a pro-
fit upon this part of their property amounting to 51,0001.
in the course of a very few months. Another important
consideration was, that the land had been sold entirely
in one lot to •Mr. Wyse, the well-known contractor at
Reigate, on , condition that he would so appropriate it
as to secure the Crystal Palace Company against any-
thing in the nature of a nuisance. Mr. Wyse having
undertaking to build villas, hotels, stabling, &c., together
with roads of the very description desired by the com-
pany, and which they would be compelled to construct if
they had retained the land in question. There was one
circumstance connected with the purchase of the land
which was a source of considerable satisfaction to the di-
rectors. When the original purchase was made it was in-
sinuated that a "job" had been effected, in order that Mr.
Schuster, who was a director of the London and Brighton
Railway, might obtain a price for his land: Now, so far
from that being the case, he gave his land at a market
price, quite irrespective of any considerations affecting the
Crystal Palace, thus securing to this company a profit of
50,000/. at the expense of his own profit. The next im-
portant fact to which he would direct their attention was
as to the sufficiency of the capital provided by the charter
and deed of settlement. for the completion of the works.
In an undertaking of this magnitude it was impossible for
the directors to pledge themselves to any amount within a
few hundred pounds ; but the principal sources of expen-
'diture being now clearly defined, they did not see, as at
present advised, any necessity for calling up any additional
stock for the purposes of the works. The capital authorised
by the charter was 500,000/., in shares, and one-third of
that amount, or 166,666/. 6s. Bd. loan capital. The whole
of the expenses, as far as they could see at present, would
be covered by that amount. As regarded their means of
meeting their expenses, he need only assure them that the
whole of the share capital was subscribed for, and was
available. That difficulty was, therefore, completely got
rid of, and they had now at their command the whole
ofthat sum of 500,0001. As regarded the 166,6661., pro-
vision had been made for placing it at 4 per cent. in-
terest. In reference to the expense of the undertaking,
he observed that the original estimates had proved to be
erroneous, and far too circumscribed. The works had
since grown upon them, and they felt that the truest po-
licy would be to make the building worthy of the name of
a national monument. They had, therefore, not shrunk.,
from affording to Sir Joseph Paxton every facility for car-
rying out the beauties of his magnificent design. As far
as could be judged at present, he (the chairman) thought
the out-door part of the undertaking would be quite as
wonderful, quite as magnficent, and quite as striking as
the Crystal Palace itself ; and when it was borne in mind
that all this was to be effected without calling upon the
shareholders for any increase of capital, it must be acknow-
ledged that their prospects were extremely satisfactory.
He now came to the question as to the income to be de-
rived from the Exhibition. There was an idea in the
minds of some people that the benefit arising from it would
be ephemeral, but in his opinion they would find that such
an opinion was erroneous when it was considered that the
undertaking would be carried out upon a basis of com-
mercial speculation. Taking the lowest estimate they
could form from the amounts offered the present applica-
tions for space would realise 40,0001. a year. Under all
these circumstances he thought he was fully justified in
saying that they had a fair prospect of realising a per-
manent income of from 50,0001. to 100,0001. a year. He
now came to a point which he could not say was quite so
satisfactory—he riluded to the period of opening the
building. The original idea was to open on the Ist May,
1853, but this had been rendered absolutely and physically
impossible—and for two reasons. In the first place, in-
stead of carrying on their operations under favour-
able circumstances, they had had to contend with
very unfavourable circumstances ; for, in his experience,
he had never known a winter in which it would have been
more difficult to pusheofpostrwonionapgred works of this magnitude.
they
latei must n
t h
ea ct summerupo upon oonre
boef.
two
fixingater
ntahtei v
et i ms
—ee ot
hf
r
ginning of autumn, or to postpone for the present any for-
mal opening. For his own part he was much
inclined to
think that the best course would be not to have the build-
ing formally opened until a more distant
period, and in the
meantime to admit the public by tickets, at a price here-
after to be determined upon, to see the works in progress.
They might fix upon a charge for this prpose which would protect the building from being so far ucroyvded as to en-
cumber the workmen, but at a later period they might
tohe
completionenable
ofworkingorcksla.sseTs
hto visit
4.l:llase
other subject to which he must allude—viz
8,
.threue question
openasinmg
aotftetrhseobriuigilndalinlgy osntooSdunday.
palaceadept means
before
when theypapnplied
he ase
observed,to
th e
for a charter, both the company and the L • egislature were
under an impression that there was no restriction as to
opening on Sundays ; but they felt from
motives regarding
the public. and apart from any question
would not be advisable to allow th of profit, that it
whole of that da
building to be open the
y, and therefore they proposed restrictions
that they should not admit the public to any portion of
the property on Sunday afternoon. They thought, however, that a line of distinction was to be drawebetween the
building and the gardens—and that there was not the
same objection to allowing access to the latter as there
was to opening an industrial exhibition, in which on week
days bargains were carried on
• They, moreover, thought
that as the gardens at Hampton Court and other places
were accessible on Sunday, the same privilege might be
granted to this company, and Lord Derby appeared to be
of the same opinion. They had not the slightest idea that
there could be any opposition to this part of their under-
taking, but it had since been discovered that an act of
George 111. was in existence which contained a clause
showing that it would be illegal to open on Sundays, seeing
that they would have to receive payment for admissions.
As soon as they heard of this act of Parliament they felt
that the question had become one of national considera-
tion. They accordingly gave a pledge to the Government
that they would not attempt to evade the operation of the
law, and a charter had been given to them with a pledge
to that effect. In his opinion they had no interest what-
ever in getting that restriction removed. Their under-
taking was no longer a solitary one. There was a crystal
palace in Dublin, one in New York, and another in F aria,
and he was quite sure that each would take a pride in
assisting the other. In reference to the building in Paris,
he hoped that it would bb regarded as a temple of peace,
and that the two buildings—the one in England and the
other in France—would be looked upon as a pledge of good
will and friendship between the two nations. •
(Hear,
hear.) •
A SHAREHOLDER inquired whether the company had
entered into any arrangement with the Master of Dulwich
College which would entail upon the proprietors consider-
able responsibilities ?
- The CHAIRMAN replied that they
had entered into no
such arrangement ; an offer was made to them from the
college, but they had declined to accept it, and Mr. Wyse
to whom he had before alluded as the p baser of their'
land, had entered into the a by theproposed
college.
The report was then adopted and
! a resolution was passed
to the effect that the directors be authorised to enter into
an agreement with the West End and Crystal Palace Rail-
way Company for the conveyance of passengers to and from
the Palace on the basis mentioned in the report. It was
also resolved that the directors be authorised to borrow on
mortgage bonds or debentures, under their corporate seal, a SUM of money not exceedin 166,666/. 6s. Bd. on such ,terms as the directors •ht desirable.
mr. might think
Whitmore was then appointed auditor in place of
Mr. Chapman, •
resigned, and the business terminated.

- A JUDGE CAUGHT NAPPING, AND AFTERWARDS SENT
BY POST.—Mr. Justice Williams was the other day' on
the Great Western Railway, bound for Oxford. His
lordship, possibly fatigued by the forensic eloquencq so
lavishly displayed by learned gentlemen when on circuit,
very speedily surrendered himself to sleep ; the potency of
which may be imagined, when we state that he did not
awake till the train reached Steventon. This was an awk-
ward affair. His lordship was wanted at Oxford, and thither
he must proceed,—but how ? Post-horses have not been-
known since the rail opened, and there was no conveyance
but the mail cart. Stern necessity knows no law, and judi-
cial dignity, accustomed to state processions, powdered
footmen, and luxurious carriages, had to be content with
the rough trap of a country postman. Jehu, ignorant of
the rank of his travelling companion, indulged his gos-
sipping propensity to a great extent • it so happened that
a recent assize trial, in which he had been concerned, was
fresh in his recollection: and as the decision was contrary
to his views, he took his revenge of judge, bar, and jury,
in no measured terms, expressing the utmost contempt`
for the institution of trial by jury, and giving it as his
well-grounded opinion that all lawyers were rogues,—
the biggest of the R's always having the most luck. The
judge, doubtless, enjoyed the fun ; but the poor post-
man was paralysed when he afterwards learnt the name
and profession of his distinguished passenger. —Exeter
Flying Poet.
DUMFRIESSHIRE ELECTION.—Lord Drumlanrig's sup-
porters in Duinfriesshire have not only discharged the
whole of the expenses of his late contest, but have also,
transmitted a handsome sum to the treasurer of the
Dumfries and Galloway Infirmary, the balance left from
the subscription after defraying expenses,

tvormfav•vmmearelmoonsattiONlS
AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

(From a Correspondent of the Times.)
panTyh,ewPheinleinistuilnarenalnipdaiOngrietnhtelrFvtealaLtnekoniliEvi:ygailitnEioCennlCe6rgyti
promptitude, and speed, bids fair to earn great unpaop
larity in this community by a course ofconduct ad pten
to deprive South Australia altogether of. the advantages
of its line of transit. Up to this date two steamers he"
longing to each company have arrived in Australia from
England—the Chusan =find. the Forrao§3,7 'belonging to
the Peninsular and Oriental, and the—Autralian an,l
Sydney, the property of the Austra.liarrYal 1"
Steam Navigation Company. The Chusdi: nd the For:
In
on ° stahedir did
onuottwtaord voyageuchatan and,
South Australian .port at 111
first intimation of their coming tillhat creanscherdellltede'elatidee
was the fact that they had passed by,.'learnt free;
Melbourne papers. On its return voyage, or rather
on its first trip in its destined' line =from Sydney,
to Singapore, by way 'of Melbourne, Adelaide, s'l'
King George's Sound, the Chusan did come into Per"
Adelaide, and remained' long enough to permit dis-
patches to be made up and forwarded.— But the cow
wander of the Formosa saw fit to pursue very uneol.lr
teous course. He brought his vessel into Gulf St. Vint:
cent early in the morning of the 18th of November la%
and her arrival was signalled in Adelaide about 7 o'cloot
a.m. of that day. The Post-office opens at 8, and 'll
that hour it was ascertained that the 'Formosa's wail
would be closed at 10 o'clock—scarcely three hours 30
her arrival—as Captain Parfitt had determined to go be
board at that hour. This mode of
the vessels
justifiable enough if the arrival of the vessels could ov:
expected within anything like a reasonable distance f!3O
their appointed dates. But it is regarded as a gen r
grievance, by those whose avocations or inclinations Le
quire them to bring their letters up to thelatest posel;
moment before sailing, that they must either run ur,
risk of losing the mail altogether, or submit to the alter,
native of preparing their dispatches a fortnight or which ,
before they can be forwarded. In_ the instance to will,
I now refer the grievance was enhanced. by `the eireaas--
stance that Captain Parfitt did not resume his v 1178,5
until two o'clock in the afternoon. The .object
brought under the notice of the Legislative Connegyms
the same day by Mr. A.ngas ; but, as the cOmPanYlinse
not under any contract, nothing further could be t's.'„g
to express the feeling ofthe members under the irritati-
circumstances.
The Australian colonies have not yet gained rn the
from the opening of steam communication with ere,
mother country, and the disappointment felt. :is sev,,,r
bearing a proportion to the high hopes previously en n.
tained. Neither of the 4 vessels belonging to the e°, r
tracting companies made the voyage from Plymouth t°
Southampton) to Sydney under 76 days. One of thl
consumed 79 days on the voyage, another 95 days, by
another 104 days. The longest passage was' mad°l:vo
the last vessel, the Sydney, inducing the fear that
ters are getting worse and worse. The CleopatralLke
ing left Liverpool on September 7, contrived to
Port Adelaide on December 9-94 days, and that log
out touching at any other Australian port. She o°l' es
days for the run from the Cape here—a perforrnsa.4
which the skipper of the most easy-going tub that e'"
went to the bottom would feel ashamed of. And eves
~g
the world-renowned Great Britain has done nowt.l
to boast' of. She did, not
,make Australian land 'III;
the 11th instant; eighty-four days after her deP
J
ture from England—an achievement outdone to
many a merchantman making no pretensions
es,
clippership. The excuse put forward in all thfee,
cases is, that the coaling arrangements are deoo
tive, but -we are not favoured with any intilDatie
whether the defectiveness- is accidental or inevit3"fecl
and, if the former, whether any measures will be ad°P)l
to substitute more perfect arrangements for, thlhoe
which our hopes have been so cruelly mocked. The
complaints have reference only to the Cape line.
only experience we have yet had of the Peninsular, led
Oriental Company's route, via Singapore,. is &,Jenj,.e d
to raise our sinking 'anticipations. The Chusan sr"' ro
at Port Adelaide on the Ist inst., on her first retnoe
voyage from Singapore, which port she had" left ettes
Ist Of November, and brought with her English sd'eclf
to the 24th of September. This is the most sPebot
transmission of intelligence we have yet anjerd'it i 0
even this is not all that we have been promised•
pretty generally believed here that these .colonies.,„til
not obtain the full benefits of steam communication
'Brother Jonathan gets the notion into his head to c 0 be
pete with Old England on the Pacific and Indian, "'
already does on the Atlantic Ocean. that
While on this subject of steam, I may observe the
the 'quistion of the best South Australian port fbrhere
reception of ocean steamers, so warmly debated a
in
prior to the arrival of any, has been, as I anticipate,
a former letter, quietly and practically decided in 'Poe
of Port Adelaide. Captain Down demonstrated
perfect safety and commodiousness of that port,
bringing the Chusan right up to the wharves and lar:bf
133
her alongside of them ; and he has been followed 11 the
or two of the other boats. Generally, however, to
commanders prefer remaining at some miles
.distaneei;
of
lessen the risk of losing the whole or greater port°, the
their crews ; and for this reason they anchor au.,,,,ert
lightship, or go up to the North Arm—both within
Adelaide harbour. ld
It would be well if ship agents in England won chips
tinctly intimate to passengers by their respective "
whether or not they would be landed ahtituthromede
msdhaoitinptg'hsaeeritol:P,::_oocstfii.e'.l
on arrival at their destination. A most melancholy
ddeefinntihteasnesjusstofoceocnurrtreadetheTreh,eacrilseinopgaoturat,onfothwernapng,,,r-tailb
tnheoertmeofrmeee passengersuopf teox pt.
cehanelslee which
wharves,uhpicohn bhuceta
Captain
afatiinisice
hArm, about six miles from the landing-place. a
mated that if they did not immediately leave't:4 they
they would be charged an extra sum for esch tiov,
remained on board ! In consequence of this intima
eighteen of the passengers seized the first opportunity e:
getting off the ship, which was offered by a little tr.
employed in supplying water to the vessels in harbo
This boat being already topheavy by the weight of
n,.e
tank it carried, was not at all suited for the convey a,...(1,
of asseners. The natural consequence of overloading
it ensued; it was capsized in a puff of wind, and _To ,
the passengers drowned. The sufferers were ;the
Mr. Hiern a clergyman of the
cently of Barnstaple, Devonshire, his son, and Mr.•
H9lloway. Mr. Hiern has left a widow and Pine
dren, bereaved strangers in has,
strand land ' „nfri•
The members of the Legislature have evinn.ea ,`'here
derable improvement in this their Second session. ,Ist
has been much less time wasted than during the'r.,
assembly, and much more work done; 29 bills we's: ea
f
troduced, of which 26 were passed ; one was negate*b re.
in the house, and two were permitted to lapse.
Episcopal Church,
jected bill was a Government measure, osterisiblYre 01
tended
.to give to' the Executive summary'
dealing with trespassers upon auriferous land. ,bat e
applied to Crown lands alone, no objection WOule
been raised, but, as it included in its provisions Was
chasei and settled lands as well as waste land,
construed into an attempt to enforce payment °J. e
alty front the owners of mineral tracts, and thereorigge
dignantly rejected. Law reform has occuPied,ieral
share of legislative attention during the session: oe
cosh'
of the bills passed are short enactments a.ssirnilating'ent
nial
of toßlaorhtineatlisysyhbeteoalearnnwsehorveneevnaarious points in which iniPrnyerin
effected. io-
temporaryappointed,
charged
wr
ht
eans
missiond
task of revising the Whole code of colaotorenhsie;thlhel:avlinwindePairle:d'ta%?"
the,
administration. The commissioners are to Vito. 60'
selves into communication with the neighbourine; a Oil
nies, and, if possible, to induce sitnultaneous action On
of
the part of the respective Governments. The little
marriage has undergone some discussion, and, t.gl(lf
alteration, the tendency'of hose
which is to place the anal of
all denominations on a footing of equality with 010
the Episcopal Church.' Very strong inclination
no-
evinced by a large portion of the Council to treat able
riage entirely as a civil contract, and it is very Pr° the
that some enactment to annul the recognition ~, the'
State of its religious aspect will be car•ried'duri'llov/
next session. Two very stringent measure°, and
been passed, directed, the one against roorwtter-
the 'other against physical pollution. The 'at, 00
the Scab in Sheep Act—has become law ; h""
former—the Convicts Exclusion Bill—is resell, of
the Lieutenant-Governor for the signification dies
not
Majesty's pleasure.- The supporters of this bill °les to
expect his Excellency to sanction it ; their object 101
give emphatic expression to their sentiments reeP",. 10P
transportation to Van Diemen's Land. One othe'rtoiS
deserves special notice. It is an act authorising reef thee
parties,, called undertakers, to borrow 60,0004 Ic'ert
construction of a railway between the city and oat o,e;
Adelaide. This is a most desirable, indeed a int-E'S 051
cessary undertaking, and has long been ve-la„:11° for
postponed. Patience, unfortunately, is to be's"AerS,
ther tried, owing to the slovenly neglect of our bgWin
amounting, in this instance, to downright stuPity
first section of the act provides that the bonds
issued as security for the moneys to be borrow`ed to
be in the, form set forth in the Schedule A anne;,oos°
the act. There is no schedule. The act, :..0 o'
quently, must
,be inoperative. A large port,"e,
the time of the ,session was taken up with deb which
the proposed changes in the constitution, hole:
after all, ended in nothing. Although a, flo°'
majority had supported the proposition tha,"o,ol3°
change in the constitution was necessary, yet vile se
precise nature of the change required came to (solne;
cified, no majority larger than one at the most:,,,ed to
times the numbers were equal) could be inns"— rse
vote for any specific measure. The medium ecfooted,
appointing a select committee was ultimately Ii; this
and a committee was accordingly nominated, Aeraltree'
committee the Radicals had, a decided prepot-reel
buLthe.Conservatives contrived to accompailYt'-ft,
with a, protest; which was, in fact, a counter-reP°',epotv
thus nullified the, whole proceeding: Both tlle,,e^, prime
and the protest recommended the adoption 0f to
ciple of legislation by the three estate the Crow', 10
presented by the Governor, and two Charahert port
other respects - they differed diametrically—the u;_,1119
being thoroughly democratic, the protest as th°r:triins
aristocratic. Nothing, however, was done ; and,,ll 0 th!
will be; done, until the unsettlement resulting l'il°olreo-
Tgeillldthdeisnc,oovuerripeoslitsihenallwhilalv
bee obneleynrcoonmtinpletely. re"'
THE SCREW-STEAMER CLEOPATRA._We busrn
are itra
th
by the owners of the screw steam-ship Creel°, 0,90410'
she reached Port Adelaide in. 92 days from ied
and that the remaining 34 day's, which she oeenaPt ror'
proceeding to Sydney, were taken up by eallingoerg• re
Philip, and in discharging and receiving-Passe% be)°,
THE NEW, PATENT LAW.—A bill has been lai.cir
the House of Lords by the Lord Chancellor, n in Of,
just been' printed, to repeal certain provisioresspe?t;
Patent Law Amendment Act of last year recfi
the transmission of copies of letters patent and 1t1,0131
t1,0131 to the offices Edinburgh and Dubii•u! •
e

•
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