The Sun.
London, England, 1862-07-15 00:00:00

CITY BANK.-MEETING THIS DAY.

A meeting took place to-day of the City Bank pro-
prietors, When the Directors' report, which was
adopted, stated that the whole of the instalments upon
the 2,000 new shares referred to in their last report, have
been paid---that the other requirements of the bank's
charter in respect of this issue have been fully complied
with; and that, as soon as the certificate of the Board of
Trade has been obtained, the directors will be able to
announce that the subscribed capital of the bank has
been increased to 8,000 shares of £lOO each, upon
which £5O per share has been paid. The accounts
showed that the profit realised by the bank during
the six months ending the 30th June last, together with the
sum brought forward from the previous half-year, enabled
the directors to transfer XlO,OOO to the reserved fund, thereby
increasing that fund to £70,000, and to declare the usual
dividend at the rate of £6 per cent. per annum with a bonus
of £1 per share, together equal to £lO per cent, for the year
(free of income tax), also to carry forward the sum of
£2,172 13s. 10d. to the new profit and loss account.
The CHAIRMAN, in submitting the report for the ap-
proval of the meeting, said that the certificate of the bank
charter for the increase of capital had been received that
morning. The bank had made very satisfactory and mate-
rial progress since its establishment. Every year the divi-
dend had been increased, such an increase as no other
kindred establishment had been able to accomplish. From
the first year, when the proprietors received 5 per cent., it
had now been augmented to 10 per cent.
The report was then unanimously adopted, and the direc-
tors and auditors re-elected.

THE FIRE IN THE WESTMINSTER-ROAD.

Yesterday morning Mr—. T. Hodson, the surveyor
of various fire insurance companies; Mr. C. White,
of the County Fire-office ; Mr, Hayes, of the Mer-
cantile ; Mr. Roberts, of the Royal ; Mr. Rose, of
the Globe; and Mr. Woollett, with Mr. Blake,
vestryman, of Lambeth, met upon the ruins of the
premises destroyed by fire, belonging to Messrs.
Goatley and Charley, the extensive floor-cloth
makers of the Westminster-bridge-road, Lambeth,
for the purpose of inquiring into the cause of the
catastrophe and the amount of loss the various fire
offices are interested in.

As far as the first part of the inquiry was con-
cerned, nothing definite could be learned beyond
the mere fact that the flames originated in the
skittle-alley belonging to the Sun Tavern, in
Mason-street. With respect to the actual amount
of loss sustained by the various sufferers it is almost
impossible to tell at present, but it must amount to
a considerable sum, seeing that there are not fewer
than 33 houses and large establishments either to-
tally destroyed or considerably damaged. Many of,
the inmates of the smaller houses have lost their 11
all, and so have the workmen their tools, and they
have been plunged into such a state of destitution
that Mr. C. White, of the County Fire-office,
Mr. Hill, printer, of the Westminster-road, with
Mr. Watkins, of the parish of Lambeth, are
forming a committee to collect subscriptions
to alleviate the distress of the burnt out persons.
From the calculations made yesterday it appears
that the ground laid bare of the factory, and the
backs of other houses in the intermediate streets,
independent of those in the Westminster-bridge-
road, is not less than 12,500 yards. At the King's
Head Tavern, belonging to Mr. Midgley, it was
found that the western wall had been built
upon an ancient sewer, the covering or flab
of which had in different places given way
owing to the intense heat, and several parcels
of oil-cloth had fallen into the water, and
those portions upon which the tavern rested
had also given way, and in order to prevent the
building coming down a number of men were yes-
terday employed in shoring up the walls.
Mr. Beckerson, the superintendent of the L divi-
sion of police, had a powerful body of men kept on
the spot to keep persons from venturing upon the
still burning ruins, and it was exceedingly fortunate
that that officer carried out the work in such an ad-
mirable manner, for all of a sudden one of Chubb's
improved iron fire-proof safes fell red hot from the
first floor, and owing to its great weight, had any
one been under the wall from which it toppled he
must have been killed instantaneously. One very
gratifying circumstance, as far as Messrs. Goatley
and Chorley are concerned, is, that upon opening
the safe every book and voucher were found per-
fectly secure.
A great many persons connected with the aristo-
cracy came in their carriages yesterday for the pur-
pose of inspecting the ruins, but owing to the dan-
gerous state of the few remaining wails the police
and firemen very properly refused them to enter the
barrier put up in the Westminster-road, but a great
many availed themselves of the facilities afforded by
passing through the Sun Tavern into the back pre-
mises.

The engines were still obliged to be kept on the
spot for fear of a fresh outbreak.

A YEAR'S WORK OF THE CITY POLICE.

During the year, of which the full particulars
are before us, filling thirty-one large sheets, there
were 4,209 persons taken into custody within the
boundaries of the City. Of these, 3,012 were
males, and 1,197 females. The largest number of
these charged with the same species of offence
occurs under the head of " larceny from the person
without violence," 469 ; and the greatest propor-
tion of offenders in this class were of the male sex,
that is to say 379 males and 90 females. The next
largest number was, for common assaults, 417; of
which 365 were males and 52 females. We may
say, then, that every day throughout the year one
of the masculine sex, and once a-week throughout
the year one of the feminine sex is charged before the
police with some species of attack with no distinct
object, beyond the gratification of enmity, resent-
ment of wrong, and to appease the passions engen-
dered in quarrel. The months of January, July,
and August, furnish the greatest :umber of casts;
but generally speaking, the summer months are
slack times with the City police, the " rough"
population being then mostly out of town. The
next largest entry is that of charges of larceny com-
mitted in dwelling houses, 372 ; of which 265 were
males and 107 females. Following the figures in
the same descending order, we have 331 charged
with drunkenness, of which 227 were males and
104 females; 311 disorderly conduct, comprising
117 males and 194 females. Here, for once, the
gentler sex make the grandest figure ; generally
speaking, they show the smallest numbers under the
several heads, We have next, 302 offences against
the City Police Act, 287 vagrants, 273 common
larceny, 230 suspicious characters, and 164
assaults on the police. The reader will observe
that the relation of certain of these totals
to
each other requires a different grouping theof
I
figures to furnish a correct picture of the ,a Pes
and colours of offences. The assaults,
numbered in the whole 591 ; of which
24 bur-
an indecent character. There were, in all, 110 were of
, wi then,
thout
glories, 1,585 offences against property
violence, which includes 52 cases of embezzlement,
or one a week the whole year round -;
44 of fraud
by obtaining goods under false
Pretences; 16 of
stolen goods; 97
illegally pawning; 20 ds receivingand the cases of lar-
ceny unlaw
cited bove.ful possession
I‘lotaii
gi°o°us offences against
apro-
perty comprised 158ofcwilful damage, and none of
Offences against the currency
arson or trespas!in
p
ing counterfeit coins,
3 of coining, 102 utter-
and private credit ;o'B7
dl9
nooftefso.rgerirlaye, amndi
miscellaneous
of
an eous
forg-
ing Bank of Eng.
offences numbered in all 1,680, of which the prin-
cruelty to animals, 23 deserters, 17
cipal were-35 ers,
• families, 311 disorderly
deserting conduct, 331
drunkenness, 32 prostitutes, 34 unlawful assem-
j Wing, and others already enumerated.—City Press.

RAILWAY AND PUBLIC COMPANIES IN

PARLIAMENT.

Yesferday eight committees met for the despatch
of business in the Lords. -- The first one, on the bills
of the Eastern Counties and Eastern Union, Nor-
folk, East Anglian, and-other railways, was com-
posed of the following peers :—Lord Portman
(chairman), Viscount Dungannon, Earl of Carnar-
von, Eari Pomfret, and Marquis of Bath, assisted
by Lord Redesdale, the chairman of committees.
The first case considered was that of the Eastern
Union -Railway Company, for adjusting and de-
fraying their liabilities by raising a snm of
£250,000 in new shares, with a five per cent pre-
ferential dividend. The committee decided that the
company should have a bill giving them power to
pay their existing debts, that they should be com-
pelled to pay off by instalments some portion of
their existing liabilities out of their receipts appli-
cable to dividend on their ordinary shares, and ie..
eeivable under the proposed amalgamation arrange-
ments, but the committee would not allow any
larger claim to be made on the amalgamating com-
panies than the sum specified in the bill. The
further consideration of the bill was then adjourned
until the committee shall have dealt with the amal-
gamation measure upon which it has a collateral
connection.
The next case taken was that of the Eastern
Counties Company for their Epping lines, which
the committee passed, declining, however, to accede
to an application on the part of the promoters to
withdraw the money deposited as a guarantee for
making the lines with the accountant of the Court
of Chancery.

The committee then proceeded with the consido-
ration of the main measure before them, the amalga-
mation bill of the Eastern Counties and other com-
panies. The bill, since it came from the committee
in the Commons, has been considerably altered and
enlarged, and is a legislative curiosity in its way.

It consists of 173 folio-foolscap printed pages,

21 of which are occupied merely in recital
abstracts of the acts of parliament, forming the
preamble_ Some 115 pages are filled with the
sections and clauses, of which there are 304 alto-
gether, and 25 are devoted to schedules. Com-
mencing with the 6 and 7 of William IV., the pre-
amble recites that the Eastern Counties Railway
Company have obtained 24 acts of parliament, the
Norfolk 7, the East Suffolk, 7, the Eastern Union,
6, and the East Anglian 5 ; their present respective
capitals being, Eastern Counties, £8,415,832; East
Anglian, £1,600,000; Eastern Union, £1,748,341;
Norfolk, £1,458,860; East Suffolk, £604,348; New-
market Railway, .£142,425 ; exclusive of each com-
pany's borrowing powers. Mr. Merewether, Q.C.,
with whom was Mr. Burke, and Mr. Round, in a
long and able speech stated the case for the Eastern
Counties, and stated that the objects sought to be
obtained by the bill, that of a consolidation of the
undertakings under the title of " The Great Eastern
Railway," and an equitable fusion of the stocks,
might have been arrived at loni since, but for thu
reticence of the Eastern Union Company, and their
refusal, until yesterday, I o render an account of their
liabilities, until the present committee met and
elicited from Mr. Ayres, the secretary of that com-
pany, the required account of their liabilities, with-
out which the committee of the Commons were
totally unable to adjudicate on the questions in dis-
pute, which it would now be their lordships' duty
to determine. After some general observations on.
the various provisions of the bill, the learned counsel
concluded by calling the first witness, Mr. Crowder,
firm of Crowder and Maynard, solicitors to the
Eastern Counties Company, whose evidence occu-
pied the committee until their adjournment to this
day.

A committee consisting of the Earl of Romney,
chairman; Viscount Strathallan, Lord Saye and
Seale, Lords Sondes and Truro, passed the bill of
the Great Western, Hereford, Ross, and Gloucester,
and Ely Valley Railways, the opposition having
been withdrawn ; and also that of the London and
North Western Railway, for additional powers, with
the exception of that part of the bill which relates
to the making an embankment along and otherwise
improving the old harbour of Holyhead, and con-

cerning which the promoters propose to appeal to
the Lords of the Admiralty.

The bills of the Andover and Redbridge, Totten
ham and Hampstead Junction, and North Eastern
(Hull and Doncaster branch), having been referred
for consideration to a committee consisting of the
Lord Steward, chairman, Earl of Desart, Viscount
Clancarty, Lord Somerhill, and Lord Raglan, they
passed the two first bills, and Mr.:Denison, Q.C.,
opened the case of the North Eastern, and called
evidence for the promoters.
The Salford Improvement Bill was under the con-
sideration of a committee—formed of Earl Powis,
chairman, Earl of Yarborough, Lord Fortescue,
Lord Wynford, Lord Wenlock—all day, the case
being conducted pro, and con. by Mr. Cripps and
Mr. Coates.

A committee, consisting of the Duke of Montrcse,
and Lords Harewood, Vane, Conyers, and Rivers,
inquired into the merits of the Kent Coast Railway,
and after hearing the evidence of Mr. Holroyd, the
secretary, agreed to pass it. The opposition speech

of Sir W. Alex ander for the Edinburglj and Dunferm-
line, against the Edinburgh and Glasgow Bill, occu-
pied three hours in Lord Donoughmore's committee.
Further evidence for the promoters was taken by
Lord Wodehouse's committee on the case of the
West Riding, Hull, and Grimsby Railway, the par-
tits having come to an understanding in the case of
the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway, the bill was
passed by the Duke of Richmond's committee, and
the provisions with respect to the Middle Level.
i
Drainage and Navigation were finally settled n that
committee.

THE OFFICIALS OF THE LATE INSOL-
VENT DEBIoRs COURT.

fcoeuni
.
Yesterday morning was issued the report of the select
committee who were appointed to inquire into the case of
the clerks and officers of the Insolvent Debtors Court with
reference to the New Bankruptcy Act. In the opinion
the committee, those salaried officers, for whom -
abolition of the court no employmennteehaaasa
fbeerenS
provision ought to
should zeceive superannuation
vaellowa
fooffirctehse.
veTrhioeuyetleliffineke trlalawthseomhaeibnemade
abolished
lost the advantage of tha
receipt of fees, their present positionbeing taken into account.
Partly in accordance with this view, the committee have ar•
the persona named i
rreivfeedrenactethtoe following
salariesthat their
hceodnucileu conclusions o(na
(annexed),
n: —e
x':
ti): Withvr e
among other
athreeirofreocpeiinviionng
provisional salaprieersm; claims will be fully satisfied by
in schedule 2nenaantd.neexfWeerdi
at tho rate of their old and present
aon the understanding that such pay-
ments shall be
named It With referenceevic
e areo
receivingfto
opiniontthh ee fo personsutohwathat
provisioni ought to be m(
viz.,
sums, so long as they shall contiue to lze employed,
,:'„ Mr. W. H. Lamb, old salary, £3OO ; to be added,
£sso—total, £B5O. Mr. W. Ingpen, old salary, £lOO ; to
be added, £2so—total, £350. Mr. W. Notson, old salary,
£130; to be added, £6o—total, £l9O. Mr• E. R. Sturgis,
old salary, £l5O ; to be added, £3oo—total, £450. Mr. J.
R. Warren, old salary, £100; to be added, £24o—total,
£340. On the employment of any of these officers coming
to an end, we recommend that they should receive conk-
pensation or allowances, as for abolished offices, based upon
the average of their receipts for salaries and fees, as shown
in the return of 22d of March, 1661. The persons named
in schedule 3 (annexed) it appears to us will be sufficiently
remunerated by continuing to receive their former salaries,
on the condition on which such salaries were received by
them whilst employed in the Insolvent Debtors Court."
As regards persons in the 4th schedule, the compaitt-ea
report generally that the cases should be treated as if by the
Bankruptcy Act of 1861 the various offices or appointments
had been put an end to, and that compensation be given on
the footing of the Superannuation Acts now in force relat-
ing to abolished offices. The committee think that the
various payments which they have recommended,, ought to
be made as from the 11th of October last. And that the
amount of `fees' since that time received, or to be received,
in connection with insolvency biuDnseinureacsrest,adsdhisocmuhladrebeeodfivsidueedh
in
paymentsf or mer
aproportions,nd taio wsri 0
eson:l
ifi °I.
taking their shares down tot tthoeperiods and Mr.
EretiirnangPeennt
only. Any further payment these gentlemen, in respect
of the periods between the 11th October last and the dates
of their retirement, they recommend to be computed at the
rate of a gross annual salary, or allowance, to Mr. Dance,
of £l,OOO, and to Mr. Ingpen of Dam,

COUNTY OF MONTGOMERY ELECTION.MONT--
GILMERY, Monday.--The High Sheriff declared the state of
the poll, for a representative for this county, to-day., ill
front of the Town-hall, at Montgomery. Thep roceedin.ig3s.
were quite of a formal character. The numbers wear,eraacy
dared as follows (Conservative), 11269'
(14boral), 959—majority for Wynn, 310.