The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-17 00:00:00

fHE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVE NI NG, FEBRUARY 17, 1862,

Most loyara;istanee ; and lastly, that .the marine,
as in all these combined operations, has ably sup-
ported a double share of its fatigulas and dangers;
I have confided the command of the province of
Bien-Hoa to Lieut.-Col. Domenech Diego, who,
strongly established in the citadel, will overrun the
province with his movable column. The cavalry
which I have left him, and which will find means of
subsistence everywhere in the district, will be of
great utility. At the same time the Comte division
will watch the country towards the prefecture of
Hayen, whilst the Renommee with its company of
landing troops, will advance to meet him, in making
a passage through the numerous stockades with
which this natural channel has been defended, in
the fear of an attack by water, upon a point where
the treasury and magazines of the enemy's troops
were placed."

La Patric has the following:—" The news of t e
success obtained by the French troops in Cochin
China is confirmed. The port of Bien-Hoa has been
occupied, and the reports current of the loss sus-
tained by our expeditionary corps are very much
ex a ggerated."

la Pattie publishes the following details :
" Rear-Admiral Bonard, with 3,000 men, advanced
against Bien-Hoa on the 10th of December; at the
same tune a division of gunboats was sent up
the canals which surround the town, and tra-
versed it in all directions. The attack commenced
on the 15th at daybreak. At 8 o'clock the steam
gunboats Avalanche, Alarme, and Fusee, sup-
ported by smaller gunboats, Nos. 19 and 20, ad-
vanced within four cables' distance of the forts, and
opened a heavy, well-sustained fire. The Annamites
responded with great vigour, and the Alarme, rid-
dled by balls after two hours' firing, became a wreck.
The defences on the river were stormed and car-
ried by our sailors to the shout of Vive l'Em-
pereur !' Meantime the land forts were attacked
by our troops, after one hour's heavy cannonading.
The citadel and outworks were carried by storm.
At 4 p.m. the Annamites retreated, leaving the town
and a large amount of materiel de guerre in our
hands. On the next day a division of French
troops, consisting of the 101st Regiment of the Line,
the Chasseurs-a-Pied, and two battalions of marines,
were sent in pursuit of the Annamite army. This
affair, very glorious for cur arms, and of great im-
portance for our interests, costs us only an insignifi-
cant loss. At the same time other engagements
took place between our troops and the Annamites
on different points, in which as usual the same de-
votion and courage were displayed."

other expenses to £473,233, or 42.,5"-ffet cent.;
the rent-charges of six branch lines amounted
to £16,840, and the interest on the joint capi-
tal expended to £7,609, leaving a net balance of
£714,510 to be divided between the two com-
panies,in the proportion of 82 per cent., 0r£589,471,
for the Great Western, and 171 per cent., or
£125,039, for the West Midland Railway Company,
As this is the first half-dear's working on joint
account, a correct comparison of receipts and ex-
penses cannot be made with the corresponding
period of the preceding year.
No. 8, the general revenue adeonnt of the Great
Western Railway Company shows that, in addi-
tion to the £583,917 received frcm the joint work-
ing, there is the 81i1/1 of £11,068 for dividends on
shares in other companies, and a balance of £2,400
brought from the preceding half-year, making to-
gether £597,438. From this sum is deducted
£20,189 for guaranteed annuities to the Wilts,
Somerset, and:Weymouth Railway and l(ennett and
Avon Canal proprietors ; £20,418 for rent charges
paid to the Glocester and Dean Forest, the Here-
ford, Ross, and Glocester, the Erentford Dock and
Railway, the Wycombe, and the trustees of the
Paddington estate; £66,744 for dividends, interest,
&c., payable in respect of the Shrewsbury railways ;
£4,500 appropriated against loss on the lease of the
South Wales Railway; £236,200 for interest charges
on debentures and loans ; £1,331 for interest on the
Berks and Hants Extension shares; £l5l for Hen-
ley Railway subscription; and £113,923 for divi-
dends on Great Western preference stocks, leaving
a disposable balance of £133,983 for dividend, which
at the rate of 3 per cent. per annum for the half-
year ending Dec. 31 last, would absorb £123,559,
and leave a balance of £10,424. The dividend at
the corresponding period of the preceding year was
at the rate of 31 per cent. per annum, being a half
per cent. per annum more than the dividend for the
past half-year, but the latter is quite as much as was
expected, owing to the general depression of trade,
and to the fact that the traffic from the West Mid-
land district over the narrow gauge line recently
laid on the Great Western from Reading to Lon-
don did not come into operation until October last,
giving barely three months of that traffic during the
past half-hear.

of the iron, trade. The balance for the half-year,
after carrying £2,300 to the renewal and contin-
gency account, is £13,923, which enabled the di-
rectors to recommend a dividend on the original
shares of tho company at the rate of 7 per cent. per
annum, and on the preference shares, according to
their respective guarantees. The amount expended
on eapital account is £555,000.