The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-02 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 2, 1865,

AMERICA.

(From the Times' Correspondent.)
NEW YORK, Sept. 20.

I referred a few weeks ago to a remarkable epi-
sode in the long series of little wars carried on by
the United States Government against the Indians
in this country. The particular tribe against which
hostilities were directed in this instance is known
as the c, Cheyenne Indians." Since I wrote upon
the subject I have had access to the official papers
containing all the particulars relating to the attack,
and they present so striking, and it is to be hoped so
unusual, an illustration of the way in which the red
man is disappearing before the progress of the white
that the whole story is worth relating. The facts
were elicited in evidence taken before the committee
appointed by Congress to inquire into the " conduct
of the war," and it is from this evidence that I re-
peat to you the narrative.

The Cheyenne Indians inhabit a part of the terri-
tory of Colorado, which, within the last two or
three years, has come into prominence on account
of the immense mineral resources that have been
discovered within it. Several other tribes of Indians
have been in the habit of waging their savage and
pitiless warfare against the settlers in this territory,
and in the summer of 1864 an expedition of
Colorado volunteers, under the command of Colonel
Chivington, an officer of the regular army, was
fitted out to check their depredations. The Gover-
nor of the territory, Mr. Evans, thereupon sent
round a notice to the Indians inviting such of them
as desired to be considered friendly to the whites
to repair to the nearest military post, and the
Cheyennes were the first to return a message that
they intended to go to the post of Fort Lyon, and
deliver up some white captives whom they had pur-
chased of other Indians. Major Wynkoop was in
command of this port, and he at once met the
Indians, and took back with him several of their
chiefs to confer upon terms of keeping peace. Some
of the tribe of the Arapahoes were with the
Cheyennes, and they all declared themselves friendly
to the whites. Three of the chiefs were known to
have given great assistance to the agent of the Go-
vernment, in enabling him to suppress the outbreaks
of dangerous tribes, and this agent, by name Mr.
Levenworth, declared, in his evidence, that they
had travelled with him " hundreds and hundreds of
miles," and had said that " the whites might murder
their men, and do anything they pleased to them,
but they would never fight the whites." Soon after
Major Wynkoop held his conference with these men
he was removed from Fort Lyon, and Major
Anthony was ordered there in his stead by the com-
mander of that military district, Colonel Chi-ing-
ton, upon whom rests all the responsibility of the
subsequent proceedings.
Major Anthony's first step was to order the
Indians to surrender their arms, and this they im-
mediately did. His next was to stop the ration s
which had been served out to them since their de-
tention at Fort Lyon, and to order them to go to
some place where they could obtain a subsistence by
hunting. They went away, according to Major
Anthony's own evidence, upon the understanding
that if he received any instructions to act otherwise
than in a friendly way towards them he was to let
them know it. The committee declare in the report
that all this time the Indians " conducted themselves
quietly, and in every way manifested a disposition
to remain at peace with the whites." The Indians were
not interfered with at all until towards the end of
last November, when one morning they saw a large
number of troops approaching them. It was Colonel
Chivington, with 700 mounted men and two pieces
of artillery, and he was shortly followed by Major
Anthony, with 155 men and two more pieces of
artillery. John Smith, employed by the Govern-
ment as an interpreter, was with the Indians at this
time, and he deposed in his evidence before the com-
mittee, that when they saw the troops coming, Black
Kettle, the head chief of the Cheyennes, ran up the
American flag, with a white flag beneath it, " as he
had been advised to do in case he should meet with
any troops out on the prairies." Mr. Smith thought
the soldiers might be unaware of the Indians upon
whom they were advancing, and went out to explain
matters to them; but he was instantly fired upon,
and returned to his lodge. The committee asked I
him, " Did these troops know you to be a white
man ?" He answered, " Yes, sir and the troops
that went there knew I was in the village. They
could not help knowing it. I had on pants, a sol-
dier's overcoat, and a hat such as I am wearing now.
I was dressed differently from an Indian in the coun-
try." Moreover, after he re-entered his lodge, Col.
Chivington rode up to within 50 yards of him, and
called out " Run here, Uncle John"(by which name
he was known) ; " you are all right." He obeyed
the direction and loft the Indians to their fate.

The miserable creatures, seeing now quite plainly
with what fate they were threatened, began to fleein
every direction. There were at least 500 of them in
the camp, of whom " more than one-half were
women and children." The men had already given
up their arms, and consequently they were unable
to make any resistance. The wretched crowd were
slaughtered indiscriminately by the troops. Nor was
this the worst. " Not content," report the com-
mittee—

" With killing women and children, who were incapable
of offering any resistance, the soldiers indulged in acts of
barbarity of the most revolting character, such,
it is to be
hoped, as never before disgraced the acts of men claiming to
bo civilised. No attempt was made by the officers to restrain
the savage cruelty of the men under their command, but
they stood by and witnessed these acts without one word
of reproof, if they did not incite their commission. For
more than two hours the work of murder and barbarity
was continued, until more than 100 dead bodies, three-
fourths of them women and children, lay on the plain as
evidence of the fiendish maliffaity and cruelty of the offi-
cers who had so sedulously and carefully plotted the mas-
sacre, and of the soldiers who had so faithfully acted out
the spirit of their officers."

This language of the Commitee of Congress,
strong as it is, is fully justified bythe evidence. Part
of it is too horrible to quote—it tells of atrocities
which almost surpass belief ; but the general features
of the story may be gathered from a few passages
taken from the sworn testimony of the witnesses.
Mr. Smith, after describing the massacre, had this
question put to him by the committee—" Were there
any acts of barbarity perpetrated there that came
under your own observation?" He answered, "Yes,
Sir; I saw the bodies of these lying there cut all to
pieces, worse mutilated than any I ever saw before;
the women cut all to pieces." " How cut?" he was
asked. " With knives; scalped; their brains knocked
out; children two or three months old—all ages lying
there, from sucking infants up to warriors." "By
whom were they mutilated?" was another question
put to this Mr. Smith, and he answered, "By the
United States troops." Major Anthony (the com-
mander of Fort Lyon) was also asked what he knew
about the mutilations alleged to have been committed.
With evident reluctance—the committee call it
plainly " prevarication "—Major Anthony acknow-
ledged that he saw one of his men seize a knife and
try to cut off the scalp of a woman. He saw a great
many who had been scalped. He also saw bodies on
the ground that had And he been mutilated.
con-
fessed to having looked on at an incident which his
own words describe best
" There was one little child, probably three years old,
just big enough to walk through the sand. The Indians had
gone ahead, and this little child was behind following after
them. The little fellow was perfectly naked, travelling on
the sand. I saw one man get off his horse, at a distance of
about 75 yards, and draw up his rifle and fire ; he missed
the child. Another man came up and said, Let me try the
son of a bitch ; I can hit him.' He got down off his horse,
kneeled down, and fired at the little child, but ho missed
him. A th:rd man came up and made a similar remark,
and fired, and the little fellow dropped."

Feeling it necessary probably to make some excuse
for these inhuman crimes Major Anthony coolly told
the committee, " It is the ganeral impression of the
people of that country that the only way to fight
them is to fight as they right ; kill their women and
children, and kill them. At the same time, of course,
we consider it a barbarous practice." This is only
equalled by the despatch of Capt. Cree, commanding
the 3d Colorado cavalry, giving his account of the
" battle." lie winds up with this passage :-
46As for the bravery displayed by any one in particular, 1
have no distinctions to make. All I can say for officers and
men is, that they all behaved well, and won for themselves
a name that will be remembered' for ages to come. The
number of Indians killed by my battalion is sixty (60)."
Suchis Capt. Cree's notion of honourable renown
and lasting fame. The Committee of Congress do not

look at these events from his point of view. "As to
Col. Chivington," they say in their report :
" Your committee can hardly find fitting terms to de-
scribe his conduct. Wearing the uniform of the 'United
States . . . he deliberately planned and executed a foul
and dastardly massacre, which would have disgraced the
veriest savage among those who were the victims of his
cruelty. Having full knowledge of their friendly character,
having himself been instrumental to some extent in placing
them in the position of fancied security, he took advantage
of their inapprehension and defenceless condition to gratify
the worst passions that ever cursed the heart of man."

Colonel Chivington was mustered out of the
service last January—before this committee sat.
Major Anthony and Captain Cree are enjoying
their " name," doubtless, but where or in what
capacity I have not been able to ascertain. •
The settlers in the Far West are, as it has been
said, much harassed by the Indians, but these poor
Cheyennes were notoriously friendly to the white
man. When a settler is killed his body—some of
the witnesses before the committee said—is carried
round the country for miles, to arouse the anger of
the other whites against the Indians. One witness
said candidly, " They wanted some Indian killed ;
whether friendly or not they did not stop long to
inquire." The marshal of the Colorado territory,
Mr. Hunt, remarked casually that the Indians had
certain rights, " which, by the by, they never get."
All this is of interest when taken in connexion with
that great conference between the Indians and
officers of the United States' Government which is
now going on. The authorities have apparently
seen at last that a just and proper policy ought to be
pursued towards the Indian, ever flying further and
further west before the steady march of his enemy.
It is said, and I believe with truth, that a plan has
been agreed upon which may tend to prevent a re-
currence of events which disgrace the Government.
The scheme is to gather the Indians on reservations
and in colonies, and govern them by the strict dis-
cipline of martial law. Each year the Government
shall distribute regular annuities, and to prevent
frauds and cheating, the distributions shall be
through quartermasters and commissaries. All trad-
ing among the Indians by whites shall be strictly
prohibited, and only half-breeds shall be allowed to
mingle with them at their abodes. There is no great
liberality in this apparently ; but it is better than
butchering the whole tribes in cold blood. Mean-
while, I read in one of yesterday's papers an account
of an expedition against the Indians, under a cer-
tain Gen. Connor. "His command," says this appre- 1
ciative writer, "is composed partly of California
and Colorado cavalry, who have an inveterate hatred
of the Indians, and would, as a rule, prefer killing
them to eating their dinners." Any change in the
policy of the Government towards the Indians will
evidently be a change for the better so far as they
are concerned.

The great struggle for victory between the Repub-
lican and Democratic parties is near at hand. The
first stage in it has begun in the meeeting of the
Conventions; but, as the Republican Convention
only meets this week, I postpone further reference
to the subject. You will see that the Sate Conven-
tions in the South are in this position :—Mississippi
has completed its work of reorganisation, and the
papers containing its constitution are in the hands of
the Government. Alabama is holding its Conven-
tion, and has already agreed not to repudiate its
State debts, incurred during the war—a measure
which no one looked for. South Carolina is also in
Convention, and on Monday the ordinance of seces-
sion was repealed, with only three dissentients.

Alpine Tourists.

(iron a Correspondent of the Tinier.)
AOSTA, Sept. 15.

" If you wish to rest after along ride," Sir Walter
Scott advised, " take a long walk ; if you have been
tired by a long walk, take a long ride." It was in
obedience to these wise precepts on the expediency
of warding off fatigue by a proper alteration of exer-
cise that we—i.e., my English companion and I—
feeling still all our bones aching with the conse-
quences of that awful jog-trot from Visp to Zermatt,
resolved, yesterday, pour nous degourdir, to take a
long scamper from the Riffieberg, Hotel over the
Matterjoch, or Pas de Mont Cervin, or de St. Theo-
dule, and to descend the -Val Tournanche down to
Chatillon, in the valley of Aosta.
We were up and doing at 4 o'clock on the morrow ;
the hotel door was shut after us at 5; and we found
ourselves out in the still air, with the glorious stars
shining over head, and the faintest streak of dawn
just enhancing the diamond purity of the sky on
the eastern horizon. Sweeter morning hardly ever
rose. We walked down the hill as far as the border
of the Gorner glacier, steering our way over ice and
rock between the Little and the Great Matterhorn;
coasted the Breithorn, which treated us to the music
of its rattling avalanches, then came to the Theo-
dule Glacier, had a long walk up hill over the fresh-
fallen snow, which tasked our lungs to the utmost ;
clambered upon a steep, almost perpendicular rock,
one of the spurs of the Great Matterhorn, and &a-
scended the glacier, and presently the wild moraine
which took us to the Alpine village of Breuil, at
the foot of the pass. A short halt here, then down to
the village of Val Tournanche ; here a substantial
breakfast; then again down the wild valley to Cha-
tillon, where we arrived at 4 o'clock p.m., after 11
hours' rather brisk walk.

We had thus actually walked "in the shadow"
of the Matterhorn ; we had gone nearly two-thirds
round the great pyramid, had risen about 3,000
feet above the Riffieberg, reached an altitude of
about 11,000 feet, and come down an almost con-
tinuous descent of 9,000 feet to Chatillon. There is
nothing miraculous, or even epic in our achievement.
The Col. de St. Theodule, although so high, is by
no means a difficult pass, nor in any manner dan-
gerous in favourable weather. Women do it in the
summer, and it is even on record that horses have
been taken across. Of the beauty of the pass and
of the subjacent valley I would not venture to say
much. From the Eiffel to Breuil you feel as if you
were playing football with the big mountains ; you
have them all round you ; you come up with, you
go round them one after another, till you feel rather
too much at home among them, and you lose much
of that awe with which you have been gazing at
them for weeks from the deep vales underneath.
Down Val Tournanche you stop and turn at every
winding in the valley to look at that stupendous
pyramid of the Matterhorn, which lords it all over
the valley, and rises higher and higher on its rocky
throne at every step you take away from it. The
enjoyment to the eye is intense, incessant ; but what
is it to the incessant mountain music on the ear—
the thundering avalanche in your rear, the cracking
and even snapping of the ice between your feet, the
rolling of rocky fragments down the steep ; above
all, the rushing, thundering torrent, crashing cata-
ract, and the whirling, foaming surge in the deep
gorges at every downward leap of the dell ? It may
seem mere wanton waste of strength to go down
from Breuil to Chatillon, a long exhausting walk in
a summer heat ; but I contend that the descent
should be done all at one stretch by any one who
would mark the contrast from the stern and dismal
barrenness of the glacier region of this peerless garden
of Val d'Aosta. Every downward step marked the
progress from the sublime to the beautiful. We
walked from zone to zone, from clime to clime, from
season to season ; and my English friend, who was
somewhat newer to such scenes than I, was in per-
fect raptures as, on reaching the debouche of Val
Tournanches at Chatillon, he beheld the broad ex-
panse of Val d'Aosta, its tall tapering walnut trees,
its picturesque and drooping chestnut trees, the
luxuriance of foliage never seen anywhere north of
the Alps, the maize fields, the vineyards, the inef-
fable smile of the southern land. To enjoy the
magic effect in its fulness it is absolutely necessary
to go over the whole scene at one pull, and let the
bewildering
You must havesen yoursatio bloodnke al
keep pace
lo
you must come down with throbbing pulse and spin-
ningacgew withwith the
the fathig eaute;
brain, you must abandon yourself to the in-
toxication of the senses. Sit down before such a
picture in a gallery, or even travel through such a
scene in an easy post-chaise, and half the charm is
lost, because your very soul is
not wound up—not
attuned, as it were, to the spectacle by a corre-
sponding tumult of your nerves.

We made inquiries at Val Tournanche about the
adventurous Alpine climbers who ascended the Mat-
terhorn from the side of Breuil only a few days after,

if not quite on the morrow of the day on which Mr.
Whymper and his ill-fated companions achieved the
ascent from the Zermatt side. We learnt that, in
fact, on July 23, an Italian—l believe a Neapoli-
tan—by name Giordano, aided by three guides, the
chief of whom was Carvel, and accompanied by the
Abbe Arne Gorret, vicar of Cogne, walked up to
the summit of the Mont Cervin Pyramid, and there
planted the Italian tricolor on the very point mark-
ing the beginning of the Italian watershed.

The guides of Val Tournanche are greatly elated
at the result of their exploit, and make no end of
their boast about their ability to convey town-bred
travellers to the top of the Matterhorn without the
loss of the valuable lives for which, in their estima-
tion, their Zermatt confreres are responsible. They
contend that it is only on the Italian side that the
Cervin should be attempted, as the mountain on this
side is wholly free from ice, and there is nothing but
the bare rock to be grappled with. Indeed, they
think they can guarantee the perfect safety of any
tourist who will trust himself to their guidance, and
they offer to insure his life.
The tide of Alpine tourists which has this year so
strongly overwhelming all the inlets and outlets of
Switzerland has also forced its way across the Pen-
nine chains, and is flooding down the comparatively
quiet recesses of the Vale of Aosta; Val Tournanche,
Val Challaud, Gressoney, Cogne, Savaranche, Cor-
mayeur, and the St. Bernards are swarming with
English. The hotel books are fast filling their blank
pages, and the hotel-keepers are making their for-
tunes at an unprecedented rate. At every resting-
place you come to in the evening you meet familiar
faces with which you parted on that or on some pre-
vious morning. There is everywhere a greeting of
passing acquaintance, a comparing of notes, an ex-
change of civility and goodwill. Parties after parties
are moving on in the well-beaten track, joining and
parting, then again meeting to separate once more,
going round and round like the knights in one of
Ariosto's enchanted castles. The greatest wonder to
me is the number of "unprotected females" onemeets
at every step on these mountains. Only in a short
half-hour we stopped for our breakfast at St. Nick-
laus, on our way to Zermatt, the other day, no less
than three cavalcades came to a halt at our hostelry,
and they all consisted of fair tourists dispensing with
the assistance of male companions. One of these
venturous bevies had a courier, but the others in-
trusted their safety to the guides, and fought their
own battles and managed their own affairs better
than any husband or " governor" could have done
for them. I read their names in the travellers'
book ; every one of them was a " Miss," some of
them " Misses in their teens ;" and it is beautiful
to see how the dust does not seem to soil them, nor
the sun to tan them ; how beautifully tidy and fresh
and blooming they look only 10 minutes after com-
ing in from a weary day's work. Wonderful the
effect of a short tete-et-tete with the glass, the appli-
cation of hair brushes and soap, the indulgence in
that peculiarly English luxury of cold water. The
contrast of the habits of one people with those of
another is nowhere so apparent as on the highway.
I was on board a steamer on the Lake of Brienz the
other day, on my way from Interlaken to the Giess-
bach. There were none but Germans and few French
on board, mostly women. There was no occasion for
high mountain hardships, we were going from one
snug hotel to a still more comfortable one; yet of my
female fellow-travellers, nine out of ten dispensed
with white linen altogether. They looked dingy and
ungainly, and I could not help quarrelling with the
niggardliness, or perhaps mistaken notion of travel-
lers' privileges, which made all those ladies regard-
less of the common necessaries of life.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE•

LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST.

An adjourned general meeting of this company
was held on Friday at the London-bridge station—
Mr. L. Schuster in the chair.

The CHAIRMAN said that the meeting had been
adjourned from the 29th June last, and he regretted
to state that the lawyers had not had time to com-
plete the documents necessary, and consequently he
was under the necessity of adjourning the meeting
till Dec. 7. He took opportunity oc ..-0r1y;",5
to an attack made on him and his colleagues. A
reply had been drawn up which he thought had
better be read.

The Assistant-Secretary then read the statement,
which gave an account of arrangements made between
the Brighton and South-Eastern Companies, since the
year 1858, in respect of competing and other railway
projects in the districts of the two companies. After al-
luding to the making and breaking off agreements, the
Brighton directors complained of the hostile conduct
of the South-Eastern Company as b the Becken-
ham, Lewes, and Brighton scheme in 1865, and to
protect themselves against the aggressive conduct of
the South-Eastern Company, the Brighton direc-
tors, at the eleventh hour, were forced to take up
the line from Uckfield to Tunbridge Wells. As re-
garded the Surrey and Sussex line, they stated this
was a question closely connected with the attacks
made upbn the Brighton Company in 1863, 1864,
and 1865, by the promoters of the Beckenham,
Lewes, and Brighton schemes. In 1863 the Beck-
enham scheme was rejected after a lengthened con-
test, although strongly supported by the South
Eastern and Chatham Companies. In 1864 it was
brought forward again with the same support, but
was rejected on the second reading. In conclusion,
they stated that another attempt was made by the
introduction, under the name of the West Kent line
of a first section of the Beckenham, Lewes, and
Brighton line, and, in accordance with a previous
notice given at a conference of the two other com-
panies, the Brighton directors entered upon and
concluded arrangements with the promoters of the
Surrey and Sussex line, with a view to protect their
undertaking, and put a stop to the aggressive mea-
sures repeatedly initiated or supported by the South-
Eastern Company.
After some observations by Mr. Herapath and
Mr. C. Child,
Thanks were voted to the chairman, and the meet-
ing was adjourned till the 7th of December.

MIDLAND AND SOUTH-WEST JUNCTION.

The half-yearly meeting of this company was held
on Friday at the offices, Old Palace-yard, West-
minster ; Mr. G. C. Ring in the chair.
Mr. J. C. Morris, Mr. G. C. Ring, and Mr. L.
Beale were re-elected eirectors, and the remunera-
tion of the directors was fixed at £3OO per annum.
The meeting was then made special, and on the mo-
tion of Mr. Liddle a resolution was passed, authoris-
ing the Midland Railway Company to subscribe
£30,000 to the capital of the company, and to apply
to Parliament for additional powers to guarantee a
dividend on the capital of the company. An agree-
ment was also approved providing for the working
of the line by the Midland Company, and the guar-
anteeing of 5i per cent. per annum on the capital, till
that company obtained powers to purchase the line.
It was stated that the object of the junction line
was to connect the Midland Company's line from
Bedford to London with the North and South-West
Junction line, and, therefore, by means of the Lon-
don and South-Western, with all lines south of the
Thames.

A vote of thanks to the chairman closed the pro-

ceedings.
WORCESTER, BROMYARD, AND: LEOMINSTER.
The half-yearly meeting of this company was
held at Worcester on Saturday—Sir C. Hastings in
the chair.

The report stated that the works had steadily
progressed since the last half-yearly meeting, but
not so rapidly as could have been desired. Most of
the land required for the line between Bransford
and Bromyard had been delivered to the contractor.
The purchases had upon the whole been effected on
advantageous terms, and several of the landowners
had liberally agreed to take the value of their land,
based upon an agricultural prico, in paid up shares
of the company. The engineers, Messrs. E. Wilson
and W. B. Lewis, reported that during the past
half-year the works had progressed steadily ; the
first three miles from Bransford were in a forward
state, one of the viaducts was considerably ad-
vanced, and the earthwork had been commenced
along the whole length of the contract. The ac-
counts showed that the expenditure had been
£44,046, including £16,000 deposited in the Court
of Chancery.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the

report, expressed his regret that the progress of the
works was not more rapid, but circumstances had
obstructed the progress of the contractors. They
had recently been assured that the contractors would
be able to finish their contract to Bromyard by the
end of June next year.
Mr. WILLIA3IS urged the importance of having
the line opened as early as possible, as some land-
lords in the district had already raised the rent of
their tenants 10 per cent. in anticipation of the
opening of the line.

Mr. SHERRIFF, M.P., remarked that the rents
might have been 10 per cent. too low before they
raised them.

The report was then adopted, and thanks were
voted to the chairman.

cent. on £300,000 of A or preferred stock and
£200,000 debentures, and the application of midi-
tional earnings to the payment of working expenses
and dividend on deferred capital. The Great
Western Company, however, disputed this, and it
had been submitted to the arbitration of Captain
Galton, who had recently made his award, and had
decided that the Midland Railway Company ought
to work the two railways numbered respectively 2
and 3, but that there was no necessity for the Mid-
land Company to work the other four lines—Nos.
1,4, 5, and 6.

After a short discussion the report was adopted ;
Sir W. Russell, the Hon. G. G. Talbot, and Mr.
Barker were re-elected directors, and Mr. Harris
was elected auditor.

Thanks were voted to the chairman, and the
meeting broke up.

BOURTON-ON-THE-WATER.

The half-yearly meeting of this company was held
at Burton-on-the-Water on Saturday ; Mr. Bliss in
the chair.

The report, which has appeared in The Sun, was
taken as read.

The CHAIRMAN, in proposing its adoption, an-
nounced that the line from Bourton to join the East
Gloucestershire at Andoversford would be com-
menced before Christmas.

The report was adopted, and a dividend at the
rate of 2 per cent. per annum, payable on the 16th
of October,.was declared.

SCOTTISH CENTRAL.

The half-yearly meeting was held at Perth on
Saturday ; Mr. Macduff in the chair.
The report, an abstract of which has appeared in
The Sun, was held as read.
The CHAIRMAN stated that for all purposes of ad-
ministration and management the career of the
Scottish Central Board closed on the 31st of July
last, and they only now existed for the purpose of
winding up affairs and declaring a dividend for the
past half-year. The Amalgamation Bill of the Ca-
ledonian and Scottish Central received the royal as-
sent on sth July, and by that bill the shareholders
of the latter company were insured aminimum gua-
ranteed dividend of 7 per cent., and a share in any
excess of dividend beyond that point which the Ca-
ledonian might earn. The balance of revenue at pre-
sent in hand was £31,153, and would suffice to pay
a dividend of 6 per cent. per annum, were it all
divided ; but as there were a number of outstanding
claims to be met, it had been [thought prudent to
retain a balance of £8,028, and to pay at the rate of
5 per cent. to the shareholders on this occasion,
which he thought in the circumstances would be
satisfactory to them. He vindicated the policy of the
directors in going into this amalgamation, for,
though he believed they would have been able to
maintain their ground as a separate and independent
company, yet their position against aggressive
neighbours would be strengthened, and a good divi-
dend in perpetuity would be secured by the alliance
which they had entered into. He had, however, to
express his regret at parting with his colleagues and
shareholders, and with Mr. Latham, the manager,
Mr. Jamieson, the secretary, who had so efficiently
served the company. Hemoved the approval of the
report.
Sir A. C. MAITLAND seconded the motion, which
was unanimously carried.
Mr. GRAY, one of the directors, urged the share-
holders to make application to the Caledonian direc-
tors for participation in the allotment of the Cleland
and Midcalder stock, in the issue of which he held
they were entitled to participate.
The meeting was adjourned till the 23d February
next, to receive a final statement of the company's
affairs, and dispose of the remaining balance among
the shareholders.

NORTH BRITISH.

The half-yearly meeting of this company took
place at Edinburgh on Thursday—Mr. Hodgson in
the chair.

The report, an abstract of which has appeared in
The Sun, was held as read.
The CHAIRMAN said this was the last meeting of
the North British shareholders by themselves, as,
o ,ving to the amalgamation with the Edinburgh and
Glasgow. which ennio into operation on the Ist of
August, they would in future form part of a more
extensive proprietary. The report informed them
that last session of Parliament the directors had pro-
secuted with success the bill for amalgamation with
the Edinburgh and Glasgow and Monklands Rail-
ways, the Bridge of Forth Bill, the Lasswade
Branches Bill, the Burntisland Harbour Bill, and
the Carlisle Extension Bill. The advantages of the
Amalgamation Bill were well understood. Glasgow
was the goal to which for many years they had
turned their eyes, and by nothing short of this com-
plete amalgamation could they have obtained the
advantages they sought. He thought the amalgama-
tion had been effected upon fair terms, and that all
the three companies would benefit to an extent not
hitherto sufficiently appreciated. With regard to
the improvement of Edinburgh station, they had
made an offer to the corporation of a piece of ground
below Prince's-street, in lieu of the present vege-
table market, which they desired to take for the sako
of additional accommodation to that for which they
had statutory powers. He thought the report was
on the whole satisfactory, and so was the dividend.
The distribution of the surplus, to be made as before
amalgamation, was proposed on equitable prin-
ciples. He concluded by expressing the hope that
the enlarged proprietary would act as well together
as the old North Birtish shareholders had now for a
good many years past, and would repose the same
confidence in the directors to whom they had in-
trusted the management of their affairs.
The report was unanimously. adopted.

Several ineffectual attempts were made to raise
the Sunday question, but the Chairman ruled that
the advocates of that question were out of order, no
notice of any motion having been given.
The meeting then separated.