The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-26 00:00:00

A RELIC OF THE ROYAL CHARTER.

A Welsh paper records the death, at Llanallgo,
Anglesea, on the 4th inst., at the age of 47, of the
Rev. Stephen Mime Hughes, M.A., rector of the
parish, much and deservedly respected. And what
is there to be said of this Welsh clergyman ? some
of our readers may ask, Many however will, it
may be hoped, remember that Stephen Roose
Hughes was the sincere christian pastor who, then
rector of Llanallgo, on the iron-bound coast of
Anglesea, the scene of the wreck of the Royal Char-
ter, did so much to alleviate the deep grief and sor-
row so widely spread by that awful calamity.
How well he succeeded, aided by his excellent
wife, is best known to those who visited the scene
of his untiring exertions ; but the public also read
in the newspapers of the time (October, 1859), and
subsequently in All the Year Round, of the inces-
sant toil, the daily and nightly labour, undergone
by this single-hearted man in the cause of huma-
nity.
We must not repeat the story of his house
crowded with mourners ; of parents and children,
brothers and 'sisters, frantic to know whether the
remains of their lost ones had been recovered ; of
days spent among the clammy figures of the drowned
searching for marks of identification ; and then the
interment, never once performed without solemn
rites. a
1v,„,, would convey no adequate concep-
tion of the labours which this event entailed,
though the fact that Mr. Hughes had to write a
thousand and seventy letters on the subject of the
shipwreck may afford some notion of their scale.
His zeal in the cause of the afflicted and destitute
brought upon him expenses which quite out-stripped
his means, and the great exertions he made in the
Royal Charter year so shattered his constitution
that he lay on a bed of sickness the year following
for three months, his illness ending in rheumatic
fever. For some months past he seemed to be re-
covering his strength rapidly, and laboured with
untiring zeal as a pastor. The day of his death he
had been engaged all the morning in visiting his
poor parishioners, and returned home to his tea
happy and cheerful ; in ten minutes after tea was
over when sitting in his chair by the fire, he ex-
pired without a sigh; smiling even in death.
Doubtless he rests from his labours, anti will be
rewarded by the Master in whose service ho was
content to spend and be spent. But the partner in
his beneficent toil remains behind in this world of
hunger, cold, and tears, unprovided for.
Messrs. Coutts, on being informed of the melan-
choly end of Mr. Hughes, immediately opened an
account for contributions at their bank, heading the
list with £lO ; gentlemen in their establishment
contributed ; Miss Burdett Coutts, £lO, and
Charles Dickens, who visited the worthy man and
so graphically described the result, has sent £l5
15s. We also learn that the Corporation of the
Elder Brethren of the Trinity-house have done
themselves the honour to vote £5O in aid, so that
ere long we hope to see that a response has been
made to 016 appeal, which shall do honour to both
• giver and receiver.

Mr. Watt, the secretary, having read the notice
convening the meeting,
The CHAIRMAN, in
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manner.rr ee. a
sdo.
hrsgea L
very satisfactory ; evcreyytahni:
itinwovaisnugntnheeceassdaorpytifoonr
ho them to
report and statement of
g
Their latest e
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There
rurhool
er
nlvr
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weredoe explicitßombay
oafya rrorw roads
tedu
was
trouble bgl eo
itnhge moant anyi
a eatinnlhedeennigtmnst
the
p
t
which must be of advantage to railway
under-
takings in India. Until the completion of the ghat
lines they must not look for any considerable deve-
lopment of traffic over their main line; but they
believed that when that was accomplished the
through traffic would increase materially. There
were vast improvements now going on in India,
which would greatly tend to increase the resources
of the country. The financial position of the com-
pany was highly satisfactory to the Government,
and the directors believed that all the money had
been properly and judiciously expended.
liir
ic
of
the report.
o M.P., seconded the motion for the
adoption
Mr. LIIMSDEN thought it very unsatisfactory
that they were compelled to deduct so large a sum
as £39,000 out of their receipts for the half-yeai
N
to pay a contractor for conveying the goods, &c.,
over the ghats on the ordinary road.
Mr. AYRTON, M.P., a director, explained that
they were under the necessity of having the goods
so conveyed in bullock carts over the ghats at great
expense, until that difficult portion of the railway
was completed. The public had the advantage of
a through rate, which included the cost of all inter-
ruptions. The rate was low, and no extra charge
was made for the transfer of the goods from the
railway to the bullock carts, and when they passed
over the ghats the goods had to be transferred
again to the railway. This was a very expensive
process, and the goods were sometimes damaged,
for which the company had to make compensation.
But when this portion of the railway was completed
the whole of the £39,000 which they were now
compelled to pay would be saved to the company ;
and as the expense of transhipment from the rail-
way to the road and from the latter again to the
railway would more than cover the cost of haulage
up and down the ghats, the working expenses would
not be increased by that additional mileage. The
gross receipts for the past half-year amounted to
£151,000, out of which the company had to pay the
£39,000 referred to, reducing them to £112,000.
From this the working expenses of the railway
had to be deducted, leaving a net balance of £23,800 ;
but if the railway had been completed, and they
had only the same amount of traffic, the net balance
would have been £62,800 ; because they would not
have had to pay the £39,000 for cartage ; so that
what they now paid for that service was a dead loss
to the company.
Mr. THORNTON wished to know how it was that
they had adopted so low a rate of charge, having
to pay so much out of their earnings for cartage
over a few miles at the ghats.
Mr. AYRTON stated that a mutual arrangement
had been come to with the Government to charge
low rates, but they were considered as experimental
rates, and would be continued until they had more
experience of the traffic, so as to enable them to fix
on a proper scale. He thought there should be an
increase in the rates rather than a decrease.
The CHAIRMAN, in reply to a question stated
'
that the railway up the Bhore ghat could be com-
pleted in about a year from the present time, and
the railway up the Thull ghat some time in 1864.
The report and statement of accounts were then
unanimously adopted.
On the motion of Mr. ROLLS, the four retiring
directors were re-elected.
After some observations by Mr. HARTRIDGE on
the question of audit, which he said might cost any
sum from £25 to £l,OOO per annum, Mr. G. Smith
was elected an auditor in the room of Mr. Frank-
lin, who resigned.
The proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks
to the chairman and directors.