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

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" one meets
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-a-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 that opportunity of replying
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 pther 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 upon 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
dividrnd 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.

WOROESTER, 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 vs due of their land,
based upon an agricultural price, 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 Bransfo rd were in a forward
state, one of the viaducts w as considerably ad-
vanced, and the earthwork h ad 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 CHAIRMA.N, in moving to adoption of the