The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-18 00:00:00

THE CRYSTAL PALACE COMPANY..
•

Yesterday an extraordinary general meeting of this com-
pany was held at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street,
to receive a report from the directors, and to consider the
terms of an arrangement with the West End and Crystal
Palace Railway Company ; Mr. Samuel Laing in the
chair.
(The report, which appeared in The Sun of yesterday)
having been read,
The CHAIRMAN, in moving its adoption, said, he be-
lieved the shareholders were aware that the period assigned
by the deed of settlement fer the first meeting of to chom-
pany, was the month of August, and the directors would,
under ordinary circumstances, have waited until that time;
but it having become necessary for them to meet the pro-
prietors, they gladly availed themselves of the opportunity
of explaining many particulars of an interesting and im-
portant nature. Their first business was to consider the
terms of the proposed arrangement with the West End
and Crystal Palace Railway Company. When they In-
formed the proprietors that the arrangement would involve
no guarantee on the part of the Crystal Palace Company,
it must be apparent to them that it would be advisable to
have the means of access from the western part of the me-
tropolis. The agreement provided that the Crystal Palace
Company should fix the rate at which tickets should be
issued, including admission to the Palace and transport by
the railway—the proceeds to be divided in the proportion
of 4-7ths to the Crystal Palace Company, and 3-7ths to the
Railway Company—the condition being, as mentioned in
the report, that the Crystal Palace Company should
not fix the rates so extremely low as to give the
Railway Company no chance of remuneration. Taking the
amount to be received for each passenger at the rate of is.
6d. per head, the division which the railway company
would receive would be Bd. a head. Having said thus
much upon the agreement, he would allude to other
branches of it, but the shareholders would understand that
the report now presented was not so formal or so simple
as that which they would receive at the meeting in August.
At the same time, however he did not wish that anything
should appear to them conjectural on this occasion. The
works which were in progress would speak for themselves
much more effectually than anything the directors could
bring under their notice • and he had no doubt whatever,
that they should ultimately produce a structure which
would be the admiration of the whole country. The first
point upon which they were prepared to give the share-
holders any positive information was one of a very satisfac-
tory description—viz., that having been driven into the
purchase of a much larger quantity of land than they abso-
lutely required, they had resold the surplus at a price
which left them a very considerable profit. Feeling that
the land would become profitable, .the directors had ven-
tured to purchase 160,0001. or 170,000/. worth for the pur-
poses of the undertaking, by doing which they obtained the
command of the whole area of ground ; and they were then
at liberty to dispose of the surplus as they might think
proper. The result had been that they had realised a pro-
fit upon this part of their property amounting to 51,0001.
in the course of a very few months. Another important
consideration was, that the land had been sold entirely
in one lot to Mr. Wyse, lthe well-known contractor at
Reigate, on condition that he would so appropriate it
as to secure the Crystal Palace Company against any-
thing in the nature of a nuisance. Mr. Wyse having
undertaking to build villas, hotels, stabling, &c., together
with roads of the very description desired by the com-
pany, and which they would be compelled to construct if
they had retained the land in question. There was one
circumstance connected with the purchase of the land
which was a source of considerable satisfaction to the di-
rectors. When the original purchase was made it was in-
sinuated that a "job" had been effected, in order that Mr.
Schuster, who was a director of the London and Brighton
Railway, might obtain a price for his land. Now, so far
from that being the case, he gave his land at a market
price, quite irrespective of any considerations affecting the
Crystal Palace, thus securing to this company a profit of
50,000/. at the expense of his own prat. The next im-
portant fact to which he would direct their attention was
as to the sufficiency of the capital provided by the charter
and deed of settlement for the completion of the works.
In an undertaking of this magnitude it was impossible for
the directors to pledge themselves to any amount within a
few hundred pounds ; but the principal sources of expen-
diture being • now clearly defined, they did not see, as at
present advised, any necessity for calling up any additional
stock for the purposes of the works. The capital authorised
by the charter was 500,000/., in shares, and one-third of
that amount, or 166,666/. 6s. Bd. loan capital. The whole
of the expenses, as far as they could see at present, would
be covered by that amount. As regarded their means of
meeting their expenses, he need only assure them that the
whole of the share capital was subscribed for, and was
available. That difficulty was, therefore, completely got
rid of, and they had now at their command the whole
of that sum of 500,000/. As regarded the 166,666/., pro-
vision had been made for placing it at 4 per cent. in-
terest. In reference to the expense of the undertaking,
he observed that the original estimates had proved to be
erroneous, and far too circumscribed. The works had
since grown upon them, and they felt that the truest po-
licy would be to make the building worthy of the name of
a national monument. They had, therefore, not shrunk
from affording to Sir Joseph Paxton every facility for car-
rying out the beauties of his magnificent design. As far
as could be judged at present, he (the chairman) thought
the out-door part of the undertaking would be quite as
wonderful, quite as magnficent, and quite as striking as
the. Crystal Palace itself ; and when it was borne in mind
that all this was to be effected without calling upon the
shareholders for any increase of capital, it must be acknow-
ledged that their prospects were extremely satisfactory.
He now came to the question as to the income to be de-
rived from the Exhibition. There was an idea in tho
minds of some people that the benefit arising from it would
be ephemeral, but in his opinion they would find that such
an opinion was erroneous when it was considered that the
undertaking would be carried out upon a basis of com-
mercial speculation. Taking the lowest estimate they
could form from the amounts •offered the present applica-
tions for space would realise 40,000/. a year. Under all
these circumstances he thought he was fully justified in
saying that they had a fair prospect of realising a per-
manent income of from 50,000/. to 100,000/. a year. He
now came to a point which he could not say was quite so
satisfactory—he t,lluded to the period of opening the
building. The original idea was to open on the Ist May,
1853, but this had been rendered absolutely and physically
impossible—and for two reasons. In the first place, in-
stead of carrying on their operations under favour-
able circumstances, they had had to contend with
very unfavourable circumstances ; for, in his experience,
he had never known a winter in which it would have been
more difficult to push forward works of this magnitude.
In fixing the time of opening they must act upon one of
two alternatives—either to open late in the summer or be-
ginning of autumn, or to postpone for the present any for-
mal opening. For his own part he was much inclined to
opens
g.
the best course would be not to have the build-
ing formally opened until a more distant period, and in the
meantime to admit the public by tickets, at a price here-
after to be determined upon, to see the works in progress.
They might fix upon a charge for this purpose which would
protect the building from being so far crowded as to en-
cumber the workmen, but at a later period they might
adopt means to enable the working classes to visit the
palace before the completion of the works. There was one
other subject to which he must allude—viz., the question
as to the opening of the building on Sundays. Upon this
he observed, as matters originally stood when they applied
for a charter, both the company and the Legislature were
under an impression that there. was no restriction as to
opening on Sundays • but they felt from motives regarding
the public, and apart from any question of profit, that it
would not be advisable to allow the building to be open the
whole of that day, and therefore they proposed restrictions
that they should not admit the public to any portion of
the propdrty on Sunday afternoon. They thought, however,
that a line of distinction was to be drawn between the
building and the gardens—and that there was not the
same objection to allowing access to the latter as there
was to opening an industrial exhibition, in which on week
days bargains were carried on. They, moreover, thought
that as the gardens at Hampton Court and other places
were accessible on Sunday, the same privilege might be
granted to this company, and Lord Derby appeared to be
of the same opinion. They had not the slightest idea that
there could be any opposition to this part of their under-
taking, but it had since been discovered that an act of
George 111, was in existence which contained a clause
showing that it would be illegal to open on Sundays, seeing
that they would have to receive payment for admissions.
As soon as they heard of this act of Parliament they felt
that the question had become one of national considera-
tion. They accordingly gave a pledge to the Government
that they would not attempt to evade the operation of the
law, and a charter had been given to them with a pledge
to that effect. In his opinion they had no interest what-
ever in getting that restriction removed. Their under-
taking was no longer a solitary one. There was a crystal
palace in Dublin, one in New York, and another in
Faris,
and he was quite sure that each would take a pride in
assisting the other. In reference to the building in Paris,
he hoped that it would be regarded as a temple of peace,
and that the two buildings—the one in England and the
other in France—would be looked upon as a pledge of good
will
hear.) and friendship between the two nations. (Hear,

A ARo
EHOLDER inquired whether the company had
arrangement with the Master of Dulwich
able res nsibilities ? entail upon the proprietors consider-
The i
which t a n would
po
entered
College
The CHAIRMAN replied that they had entered into no
such arrangement ; an offer was made to them from the
college, but they had declined to accept it, and Mr. Wyse,
to whom he had before alluded as the purchaser of their
college had entered into the agreement proposed by the
. .

The report was then adopted, and a resolution was passel
to the effect that the directors be authorised to enter into
an agreement with the West End and Crystal Palace Rail-
way Company for the conveyance of passengers to and from
the Palace on the basis mentioned in the report. It was
also resolved that the directors be authorised to borrow on
mortgage bonds or debentures, under their corporate seal,
a sum of money not exceeding 166,666/. 6s. Bd. on such
terms as the directors might think desirable.
Mr. Whitmore was then appointed auditor in place of
Mr. Chapman, resigned, and the business terminated.

A JUDGE CAUGHT NAPPING, AND AFTERWARDS SENT
BY POST.--Mr. Justice Williams was the other day on
the Great Western Railway, bound for Oxford. His
lordship, possibly fatigued by the forensic eloquence so
lavishly displayed by learned gentlemen when on circuit,
very speedily surrendered himself to sleep ; the potency of
which may be imagined, when we state that he did not
awake till the train reached Steventon. This was an awk-
ward affair. His lordship was wanted at Oxford, and thither
he must proceed,—but how ? Post-horses have not been
known since the rail opened, and there was no conveyance
but the mail cart. Stern necessity knows no law, and judi-
cial dignity, accustomed to. state processions, powdered
footmen, and luxurious carriages, had to be content with
the rough trap of a country postman. Jehu, ignorant of
the rank of his travelling companion, indulged his gos-
sipping propensity to a great extent ; it so happened that
a recent assize trial, in which he had been concerned, was
fresh in his recollection, and as the decision was contrary
to his views, he took his revenge Of judge, bar, and jury,
in no measured terms, expressing the utmost contempt
for the institution of trial by jury, and giving it as his
well-grounded opinion that all lawyers were rogues,—
the biggest of the R's always having the most luck. The
judge, doubtless, enjoyed the fun ; but the poor post-
man was paralysed when he afterwards learnt the name
and profession of his distinguished passenger. —Exeter
Flying Post. _ _ _

I)IIUFRIESESHIRE ELECTION.—Lord Drumlanrig's sup-
porters in Dumfriesshire have not only discharged the
whole of the expenses of his late contest, but have also
transmitted a handsome sum to the treasurer of the
Dumfries and Galloway Infirmary, the balance left from
the subscription after defraying expenses.

bavonalbss.ssores% ...

AUSTRALIAN MOWS.

(From a correspondent of the Times.)
ADELAIDE, Dso. 16.
The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Com-
pany, while it is eclipsing the rival company in energy,
promptitude, and speed, bids fair to earn great unpopu-
larity in this community by a co urse of conduct adapted
to deprive South Australia altogother of the advantages
of its line of transit. Up to this date two steamers be'
longing to each company have az? 'wed in Australia from
England—the Chusan and the Ilormosa, belonging to
the Peninsular and Oriental, and the Australian and
Sydney, the property of the Australian Royal Mail
Steam Navigation Company. The Oman and the For-
mosa did not touch at any South Am dralian port at all
on their outward voyage, and, in consequence, the
first intimation of their coming that reached Adelaide
was the fact that they had passed by, learnt from
Melbourne papers. On its return voyage, or rather
on its first trip in its destined line from Sydney,
to Singapore, by way of Melbourne, Adelaide, and
King George's Sound, the Chusan did c ome into Port
Adelaide, and remained long enough t o permit die"
patches to be made up and forwarded. But the com-
mander of the Formosa saw fit to pursue a very unco?r-
teous course. He brought his vessel into Gulf St. VIII'
cent early in the morning of the 18th of No ivember last,
and her arrival was signalled in Adelaide ab, mit 7 o'clock
a.m. of that day. The Post-office opens .31 8, and at
that that hour it was ascertained that the Formosa's mall
would be closed at 10 o'clock—scarcely three hours after
her arrival—as Captain Parfitt had determined to go en
board at that hour. This mode of procedu re would be
justifiable enough if the arrival of the vesst3ls could be
expected within anything like a reasonable distance from
their appointed dates. But it is regarded as a serious
grievance, •,by those whose avocations or inc:linations re-
quire them to bring their letters up to the la test possible
moment before sailing, that they must eit her run the
risk of losing the mail altogether, or submit to the alter'
native of preparing their dispatches a fortni!3•ht or rac,re
before they can be forwarded. In the instance to which
I now refer the grievance was enhanced by the circum"
stance that Captain Parfitt did not resume his voyage
until two o'clock in the afternoon. The subject was
brought under the notice of the Legialativo Council nn
the same day by Mr. Angas ; but, as the company v/9'5
not under any contract, nothing further could be done
to express the feeling of the members under the irritating
circumstances.
The Australian colonies have not yet gained much
from the opening of steam communicat ton with we
mother country, and the disappointment felt is severe,
bearing a proportion to the high hopes pre-riously enter'
tained. Neither of the 4 vessels belonging to the cen'
tracting companies made the voyage from Plymouth (or
Southampton) to Sydney under 76 days. One of the n 1
consumed 79' days on the voyage, another 95 days, an
another 104 days. The longest passage was made bl
the last vessel, the Sydney, inducing the fear that rne't.
ters are getting worse and worse. The Cleopatra, ha::
ing left Liverpool on September 7, contrived to roil"
Port Adelaide on December 9-94 days, and that with„,;
out touching at any other Australian port. She took ae
days for the run from • the, Cape here—a performance •
which the skipper of the most easy-going tub that ever
went to the bottom would feel ashamed of. And even
the world-renowned Great Britain has done nothing,
to boast of. She did not make Australian land nett
the 11th instant, eighty-four days after her depart.
ture from England —an achievement outdone by
many a merchantman making no pretensions
clippership. The excuse put forwo.rd in all the"
cases is, that the coaling arrangements are defer'
tive, but we are not favoured with any intimatiee
whether the defectiveness is accidental or inevitable ;
and, if the former, whether any measures will be adopted
to substitute more perfect arrangements for those
which our hopes have been so cruelly mocked. There
complaints have reference only to the Cape line. ~,,
only experience we have yet had of the Peninsular an •
Oriental Company's route, via Singapore, is calculated
n
to raise our sinking anticipations. The Chusan arrive'
at Port Adelaide on the Ist inst,, on her first return
voyage from Singapore, which port she had left on the
let of November, and brought with her English advice •
to the 24th of September. This is the most speedy
transmission of intelligence we home yet enjoyed, but
even this is not all that we have be en promised. 11_47
pretty generally believed here tha t these colonies vr!'.,i
not obtain the full benefits of steam c :ommunication
Brother Jonathan gets the notion in to his head to can:
pete with Old England on the Pacific and Indian, as me
already does on the Atlantic Ocean.
While on this subject of steam, I nay observe the
the question of the best South Austra ellen port for tn_
reception of ocean steamers, so warm tly debated her.
prior to the arrival of any, has been, as I anticipated
a former letter, quietly and practically c lecided in favour
_
of Port Adelaide. Captain Down demonstrated
perfect safety and commodiousness of that port, °Y.
bringing the Chusan right up to the what -ves and laying
her alongside of them ; and he has been I'. 'allowed by one
or two of the other boats. Generally, however, the
commanders prefer remaining at some mile.l distance, te,
lessen the risk of losing the whole or grea t er portion
the
their crews ; and for this reason they a achor at the
lightship, or go up to the North Arm—botitt within port
Adelaide harbour.
ewstoinu alwould
passengersiobne.
landed bAy mthoaesittr
ther es
mesasspi ect i ve shit'
It would be well if ship agents in Englami would die 2;
towinnh ceattrlhryie
arrival
aol.rant intimateot
their
et
ihtreody
dent has just occurred here, arising out of the:tv!Pcah'su°ebrx:dater:ls-':
definiteness of contract. The Cleopatra, now in port, bee
not come up to the wharves, but is anchored at the North_
her passengers called upon Captain Lammingl to land
Arm, about six miles from the landinV lace' Some of
them free of expense, which he refused to do, and inti-
mated that if they did not immediately leave the vessel
they would be charged an extra sum for each day they
remained on board ! In consequence of thistini
eighteen of the passengers seized the first o ppiourteniatli°l4
t
getting off the ship, which was offered by a little craft
employed in supplying water to the vessels in harbour.
_
This boat being already topheavy by the weight of the
tank it carried, was not at all suited for the conveyance
of passengers. The natural consequence of overloading.
it ensued ; it was capsized in a puff of wind, a tnd threevol.
the passengers drowned. The sufferers were the Re
Mr. Hiern, a clergyman of the Episcopal a lurch, re-
cently of Barnstaple, Devonshire, his son, and Act-. Henry. ,
Holloway. Mr. Hiern has left a widow and nine cnn
dren, bereaved strangers in a strand land
The members of the Legislature have evinced cc'nsi;
derable improvement in this their second session. '2-13,..er-t
has been much less time wasted than during their n';
assembly, and much more work done ; 29 bills were
troduced, of which 26 were passed • one was negeive
in the house, and two were permitted to lapse. The' ,
jetted bill was a Government measure, ostensibly 0;
tended to give to the Executive summary powers I?i'
dealing with trespassers upon auriferous land. Had
applied to Crown lands alone, no objection would have
been raised, but, as it included in its provisions Pat'
chasel and settled lands as well as waste land, it v
construed into an attempt to enforce payment of a r')r
alty from the owners of mineral tracts, and therefore .„`.
dignantly'rejected. Law reform has occupied a lard
share of legislative attention during the session. Seveir"
of the bills passed are short enactments assimilating ccee;
nial to British law on various points in which improver/21.n'
has of late years been effected. They are, however, Ph'
tended only to serve a temporary purpose ; and a °IS;
mission has been appointed, charged with the important;
task of revising the whole code of colonial law and
administration. The commissioners are to put tilt
selves into communication with the neighbouring ce'-
vies, and, if possible, to induce simultaneous action enf
the part of the respective Governments. The law.ie,
marriage has undergone some discussion, anti a
alteration, the tendency of which is to place the clergy
all denominations on a footing of equality with those (11
the Episcopal Church. Very strong inclination
evinced by a large portion of the Council to treat inaor;
riage entirely as a civil contract, and it is very probaf:
that some enactment to annul the recognition by probate
State of its religious aspect will be carried during t"t
-
next session. Two very stringent measures bni
been passed, directed, the one against moral,
the other against physical pollution. The lat
the Scab in Sheep Act—has become law ; but ,1.4 1
former—the Convicts Exclusion Bill—is reserve '
the Lieutenant-Governor for the signification of he
--t
Majesty's pleasure. The supporters of this bill did
expect his Excellency to sanction it ; their object was. '''
give emphatic expression to their sentiments respecting
transportation to Van Diemen's Land. One other b.
deserves special notice. It is an act authorising certat
parties, called undertakers, to borrow 60,0001. for th f
construction of a railway between the city and port 0.
Adelaide. This is a most desirable, indeed a most ne
cessary undertaking, and has long been vexatiously
postponed. Patience, unfortunately, is to be still fur'
ther tried, owing to the slovenly neglect of our lawmakers,
amounting, in this instance, to downright stupidity. The
first section of the act provides that the bonds to 1:til
issued as security for the moneys to be borrowed shall
be in the form set forth in the Schedule A annexed in
the act. There is no schedule. The act, 0°57
quently, must be inoperative. A large portion °
the time of the session was taken up with debates
the proposed changes in the constitution, vrch
,12
after all, ended in nothing. Although a 131 ,
11
majority had supported the proposition that el;
change in the constitution was necessary, yet when
precise nature of the change required came to be spe-
cified, no majority larger than one at the most (snnit-
times the numbers were equal) could be mustered of
vote for any specific measure. The medium course
appointing a select committee was ultimately adcteh.d;
and a committee was accordingly nominated. In
committee the Radicals had a decided preponderanc'
but the Conservatives contrived to accompany the rePnra
with a protest, which was, in fact, a counter-report, 50 thus nullified the whole proceeding. Both the report
and the protest recommended the adoption of the Pri-„-
ciple of legislation by the three estates—the Crown, re'
i presented by the Governor, and two Chambers.
ort
other respects they differed diametrical) the reP,
being thoroughly democratic, the protest as thoroughlyaristocratic. Nothing, however, was done ; and nothing
will be done, until the unsettlement resulting from
gold discoveries shall have been completely remove
d.
Till then, our politics will be only routine business.

THE SCREW-STEAMER CLEOPATRA.—We are .nfernled
by the owners of the screw steam-ship Cleopatra tu,'
he reached Port Adelaide in 92 days from Pip: out:"
s
and that the remaining 34 days, which she occupied 11:
proceeding to Sydney, were taken up by calling et P°r
Philip, and in discharging and receiving passengers.
THE NEW PATENT LAW.- -A bill has been laid befhoore
the House of Lords by the Lord Chancellor, which the
just been printed, to repeal certain provisions in 0
Patent Law Amendment Act of last year in reßlief4et 84
the transmission of copies of letters ptrteiiii andr-ePe6e
tione to the of in Edinburgh and Dublin.