The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-25 00:00:00

THE INDIAN BRANCH RAILWAY
COMPANY (LIMITED).
To be incorporated with Limited Liability under the Joint-
stock Companies Acts.

Capital, £500,000, in 50,000 shares of £lO each.
Deposit Ll per share, and until further concessions are ob-
tained from the Government, not more than £1 per share in
addition will be required. Power will be taken to increase
the capital to £2,000,000 in further series of shares, to be issued
preferentially to the then existing shareholders.

DIRECTORS.
William Dent, Esq., East India Director, Rickley-park, Kent.
Murray Gladstone, Esq. (Gillanders, Arbuthnot, and Co.,
Calcutta), deputy-chairman of the Chamber of Commerce,
Manchester.
R. W. Kennard, Esq., MX., 67, Upper Thames-street.
John Fender, Esq., Manchester.
Lestock R. Reid, Esq., Director of the Great Indian Penin-
sular Railway Company.
Major-Gen. Sim, Royal Engineers, Chairman of the Madras
Railway Company.
J. A. Tobin, Esq., Liverpool.
J. Aspinall Turner, Esq., M.P., Manchester.
James Wyllie, Esq. (Gladstone, Wyllie, and Co.), Calcutta
and London.

BANKERS,
Messrs. Heywood, Kennards, and Co., 4, Lombard-street, EX,
ENGINEER-IN-CHIEF.
J. E. Wilson, Sects, late Superintendent Engineer of
the First on of the East Indian Railway.

SOLICITORS.
Messrs. Crowder, Maynard, Son, and Lawford, 57, Coleman
street, KC.

BROKERS.
Messrs. Hill, Fawcett, and Hill, 29, Threadneedle-street, E.
SECRETARY (PRO TEM.)
H. W. Wickes, Esq.
The company is formed for the purpose of carrying out on
a large scale a principle which has already received the sanc-
tion of the Government of India.
lines for
demonstrated so clearly the necessity ot subsidiary
The experience gained on the main lines of railway has
that the Governor-General in Council has approved d
the purpose of properly developing the resources
and
_lsnadniea:
letter
tioned the scheme of this company. (See copy of,
the secretary of the Government to the comp y
vernment undertake to
inexpensive subsidiary lines—the Go
The objects ot the company are to lay down rails work
perfectly constructed
andde li deliver
ready
yo
to
oh
rails,
, together roadway
s with the land neces-
reeceeeimvePathneY
sary for sidings and stations, for a period of 99 years, free of
to lay down
is
cost, so that all this company l h ave to d
the rails, provide rolling stock, and construct
sheds for the
accommodation of passengers and goods, the whole cost of
which will not exceed L 2,600 per mile.
The economical system of railways now sanctioned by the
Government of India has long been in operation with great
success on the continent. An important and well-known
example is furnished in the Antwerp and Ghent Railway—a
line of 30 miles in length, with light rolling stock, which has
been in work for 17 years, and w hich, besides constructing its
roiling stock and stations out of revenue, is now gradually
paying off its capital, while at the same time it is returning
to its shareholders a dividend of per cent. ; the company in
this case having had to purchase the land and construct the
roadway.
it is intended to proceed at once with a most important
branch line in connection with the Bengal division of the
East Indian Railway. The road is a first-class one, already
completed by the Indian bovernment, and ready for the rails.
It is 27 miles in length, extending from Nulhatee, a station
on the East Indian main lice, to Moorshedabad, the ancient
capital of Bengal, a city, with its suburbs, containing. upwards
a 200,000 inhabitants. The district through which the road
passes is one of the richest and most populous in Bengal—the
population to the square mile being 441, against 321 for all
Bengal (the population of England is only 332), while the re-
venue it returns is about double the averivre of all Bengal.
Near the Nulhatee Station coal mines have been opened,
and a traffic in coals towards Moorshedabai has begun, which
will be greatly increased by the opening of the proposed
branch line.
By extending the Nulhatee branch from Moorshedabad on
to Bugwangola, on the Ganges, only eight miles turrher, a
very large traffic to and from that important mart will be
accommo iated ; and the company propose to make this ex-
tension so soon as the roadway now under construction by
the Government is completed.
It is to be remarked that the receipts of the main lines in
India follow very nearly the ratio of the population ; but
basing the calculations upon this line receiving only one-half
its due proportion of traffic, and making ample allowance for
working expenses which have been very fully estimated, the
return would yield a dividend of upwards ot 10 per cent.
From the proximity of the line to Calcutta, and the faeility
with which materials can reach it, and from the company
having only to lay flown tne rails and supply the rolling
stock, thie first branch line can be completed and opened for
traffic within twelve months of this date, and at an outlay
not exceeding £70,000.
The Government of India are preparing to construct im-
portant roads in connection with the existing trunk lines,
with the view`to their being used for light railways, and Mr.
Wilson, the company's engineer-in-chief, who has already
been in communication with the Government. has been
despatched to India to complete negotiations for further con-
cessions t o the company.
It will be the object of the compsnyin communication with
the Government to select, in the first instance, those districts
producing cotton, indigo, silk,
India, for the introduction sugar, and other staples of
of the economical system of rail-
ways.
The directors will render their services
gratuitously until
the rate of dividend paid to the shareholders shall amount
to five per cent.
Prospectuses and forms of application for shares may be
obtained of Messrs. Hill, Fawcett, and Hill, the brokers o;
the company ; or of the solicitors, Messrs. Crowder, May-
nard Son, and Lawford ; or at the temporary offices of the
Company. The amount of £1 upon each share applied for
must be paid to the company's bankers previously to the
application being sent in ; this sum will be returned if no
allotment is made to the applicant.
TEMPORARY OFFICES, 29, Threadneedle-street, E.C. =