The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-23 00:00:00

THE SIM, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 23, 1865.

gauge, to which will at once be added two more, and
width will be provided for another line—thus giving
accomodation for five lines of rails, of which two
will be mixed gauge. The broad gauge will be re-
moved from the existing roadway of the bridge, and
the London and Brighton Company will be fur-
nished with an additional line of rails on the new
portion. From the Victoria Station to the bridge the
line will be considerably enlarged, and corresponding
facilities to those given by the bridge will of course
be provided. Starting from the Victoria station the
line will run parallel to the existing Victoria Sta-
tion and Pimlico Railway, but it will have easier
curves up to the bridge, and will be provided with
three lines of rails, one of which will be narrow and
two of the mixed gauge; thus, with the two exist-
ing lines, making six lines of railsbetween the bridge
and the station.

On the Surrey side under the arrangement with
the London and Brighton, with respect to their
South London extension, the whole of the line from
the Thames to the Wandsworth-road will be
widened in proportion. The new line will be on a
viaduct the arches of which are elliptical, of 30ft.
span and 10ft. rise, and it will be laid with three
lines of rails. The course of this line will be through
and across the labyrinth of railways which exist at
this point. It will first cross over the West-end
and Crystal Palace Railway of the Brighton
Company, near to the bridge which crosses the
Prince of Wales-road over that line. It will next
cross the London and South-Western, and at a
short distance will pass a second time over the
West-end and Crystal Palace Railway. 'Thence it
will pass over the present London, Chatham, and
Dover Railway, close to the Stewarts-lane junction,
and then continue its course alongside the London,
Chatham, and Dover, at Wandsworth-road, when
it will fall to the same level as the existing line at
that point. The bridges over these railways will in
themselves be large and most important works, the
girders being on an average 250 feet in length, each
being more than one-third of the entire length of
the bridge over the Thames at Battersea, or as long
as the centre arch of Westminster-bridge. From
Wandsworth the widening of the line is to continue
throughout the whole length of the Metropolitan
Extension to Blackfriars-bridge. From the bridge
over the Thames, on the Surrey side, there is a new
line running down to the Stewarts-lane junction
for the purpose of enabling the trains of the Great
Western to pass over the London, Chatham, and
Dover line to Victoria, and for that purpose two of
the lines over the bridge will be laid with the mixed
guage. The list of new works, however, is not yet
exhausted, for a new line is being made from the
Wandsworth viaduct of the London, Chatham, and
Dover, passing on a viaduct through the workshops
of the company, to form a junction with the London
and Southern at the Longhedge Junction. From
this, again, there is anotherlineto that bewilderment
of travellers, the Clapham Junction. This latter ex-
tension is being made jointly by the London, Chat-
ham, and Dover, and the London and South-West-
ern, and it will run parallel with the West London
Extension, as far as the South-Western line, and
will pass under it by the side of the present bridge,
and then keeping to the north of that line will run
up to Clapham Junction, thus enabling the trains
of the London and South Western to pass over the
London, Chatham, and Dover Metropolitan exten-
sion to the city.
At the ceremony yesterday Sir Charles Fox, Sir
Cusack Roney, and the contractors for the work,
Sir Morton Peto, Mr. Betts, and Mr. Crampton,
were present, with Lord Harris. Mr. Forbes, the
general manager, was unavoidably absent at his
duties as chairman of the Clearing House Commit-
tee, appointed to consider the question of establish-
ing communications between passengers and guard.
In laying the foundation-stone of the bridge,
which was, of course, the usual routine piece of
business, Lord Harris said—
I have great pleasure in declaring this stone to be well
and duly laid. It is the corner-stone of a bridge in which I
am sure you will all feel with me a great interest, and you
will, I am confident, join me in the congratulations which
wo have reason to feel in this the laying the foundation-
stone of a bridge which will form an important portion of the
London, Chatham, and Dover system. Many of us have
seen other important undertakings commencedin connexion
with this system of railways. Tho bridge which wo have
seen thus successfully commenced will be for the use of all
sections of our line. As you are all aware there are great
difficulties in carrying on the traffic over the present bridge.
It may be hoped that The completion of the work now com-
menced will afford great facilities for carrying on the
traffic. It is not more than 20 months since we were as-
sembled to witness the laYing of the foundation-stone of
the Blackfriars-bridge. We have lived to see that com-
pleted, and the bridge now used, and I have no doubt that
the present extensive and important work will be carried
out with the same energy a s was displayed in the case of
our first bridge over the Thames.

The stone was then duly laid, and at the conclu-
sion of the ceremony the party returned to the
board-room of the company, where an ample lunch
was provided to do honour to the occasion.

Sir M. PETO, who presided, proposed " Success to
the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Com-
pany," coupling with the toast the name of Lord
Harris. He said :

" That although they had had the pleasure of seeing a
stone of the new Victoria-bridge laid that day, he should
not be doing justice to their companies did he not mention
that the Brighton Company had contributed £125,000 to-
wards the undertaking, paying for 17 feet of the width of
the whole bridge. The necessity for the additional works
arose from the immense increase of traffic, not less than one
train passing the bridge- every four minutes during the
entire day. (Hear, hear.) Looking to the future, if he were
speaking in the year 1875 instead of 1865, what would be
the position of the railway ? In that year the Metropolitan
Extension and the whole of the inner circle would be com-
pleted, the London, Chatham, and Dover would be con-
nected with the Great Northern on the one hand and the
Midland system on the other, and they would be running
trains round the 12 1-3 miles of the inner circle every three
minutes. The line to the Crystal Palace, with its high-
level station, would have been in use something like four
years, and the Kent Coast line, with all its various branches
would have been in active work five yearo ; while the Green-
wich line and the Woolwich and Chatham extensions, and
the South-Eastern, with all its stations, would be in con-
nection with this company. He thought, therefore, that
they might well look forward to the success of the under-
taking, and that Mr. Forbes was right in anticipating that
within two years the ordinary stock of the company would
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and ability he had brought to the undertaking."
Lord HARRIS, having returned thanks, proposed
the health of the contractors, which was acknow-
ledged by Sir M. PETO, and the thanks of the guests
having been tendered to Mr. Forbes, the general
manager, and the principal officers of the company,
the party separated.

While on the subject of railway bridges we
may call the attention of the Chatham and Dover
Company to the condition of their viaduct over
Ludgate. For many months past not a thing has
been done to this work. No attempt is being made
to put up its handsome external castings, to remove
the unsightly planks with which it is hung about,
or to do away with the bill-stuck hoardings which
still shut in the ornamental stonework of its abut-
ments. It was only on condition that they erected
a handsome bridge, and that they improved and
widened the approaches, that the railway company
were allowed to cross this important thoroughfare
at all. In place of the handsome bridge the pre-
sent eyesore only seems forthcoming, the approach
from Fleet-street is still as narrow as ever, and the
houses to be removed further back and replaced
with fine buildings, still remain in clingy emptiness
placarded with bills of all the music-halls in Lon-
don. When the public have a very general disbelief
of the metropolitan improvements promised by
railway companies, is it wise to thus conspicuously
disfigure one of the best known and most frequented
thoroughfares in London ? Such laxity cannot now
much hurt the Chatham and Dover, but it may be
taken as certain that it will affect' tha.chances of
other companies which yet hope to make their way
over the streets of London. The example offered
by the present condition of Ludgate-hill is not
likely to be forgotten.

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Railway and other Companies.

SALISBURY AND YEOVIL.

The directors of this company have agreed to reconi
mend a dividend on the ordinary shares at the rate of 5i
per cent. per annum for the half-year ending the 31st of
December last.

some years ago, and concluded by moving a vote of thanks
to the chairman and directors, and the proceedings termi-
nated.

BIDEFORD EXTENSION.

The half-yearly meeting of this company was held yes-
terday at the offices, East India-avenue, Leadenhall-street,
Mr. C. Braginton in the chair.
Mr. Chanter, the secretary, read the report, which stated
that on the Ist January last the amalgamation of this com-
pany with the London and South-Western Railway Com-
pany took place. The stock was agreed to be commuted in
value for the 4-1 per cent. preference stock of that company,
and on the completion of the deed, which required the ap-
proval or signature of each proprietor to this arrangement,
the certificates of the Bideford would be called in and ex-
changed for the South-Western stock. The expenses of
amalgamation had absorbed a considerable part of the rent
usually appropriated for dividend, and from the balance of
£450 it was recommended that a dividend of ls. 3d. per share
should be paid, leaving a balance of £6l.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report,
said the Bideford line formed a continuation of the North
Devon line to Bideford, and they had been enabled to make
better terms for their proprietors than the North Devon
Company.
The report was then adopted, and a dividend of Is. 3d.
per share was declared, payable on the Ist of March.