The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-17 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 17, 1853.

LINES LEASED AT FIXED RENTALS.

PROGRESS OF THE CHOLERA.

SOUTH-EASTERN AND CONTINENTAL STEAM
PACKET COMPANY.

NEWCASTLE.—Return for the 15th September :
Deaths from cholera, 97 ; diarrhoea, 4. Deaths in
Gateshead since last report, 20. _ . ..

The half-yearly general meeting of shareholders was
held yesterday at the Bridge-house Hotel, London-
bridge ; Mr. J. Macgregor, M.P., in the chair.
The CHAIRMAN submitted the following report to the
assembled proprietors :—" The accounts of the South-
Eastern and Continental Steam Packet Company now
submitted to the proprietors show the gross earnings of
the half-year ending on the 31st of July to be 20,4081.
11s. 6d. The comparison of passengers conveyed is as
follows :—Half-year ending July 31, 1853, Folkestone
to Boulogne, 14,202 ; 1852, 12,508, increase, 1,694;
Boulogne to Folkestone, 1853, 13,173 ; 1852, 11.912,
increase, 1,261 ; total in half-year of 1853, 27,375 ; in
half-year of 1852, 24,420 ; total increase, 2,955. From
Dover to Calais half-year ending July 31, 1853, 5,305;
1852, 2,859 ; increase, 2,446. From Calais to Dover
in half-year ending July 31, 1853, 5,795 ; 1852, 2,004 ;
ohj4ir,ra'u,cllf,7:y.o7y,alle3s.9:l,2r,i.opi3flad,Bs7:sl9l ; total increase in half-year ending
n
passengers.
h156.,a1,r201,32,00:11;
er; in
c‘levuloielol
s.Bll:vsi ,ggne4oax,lBp.6:Bo3nsts.;ae:
expenses
hiincreasedaerv2eea,
2s62ee4eii
n
the half-year of the number of passengers conveyed
n
6,5941. ss. 3d. ; the cost of repairs and renewals,
1.
13s. 4d. has been paid for insura,..ce, leaving a balance of
profit on the half-year of 4,9651. 15s. 10d. This sum,
with the balance brought from the previous half-year's
account, 1,1361. 2s. 2d., places 6,101/. 18s. at the dispo-
sal of the proprietors, which would allow of a dividend
at the rate of 5 per cent, per annum, free of income tax,
and leave a balance of 3,240/. 6s. The directors, how-
ever, strongly urge upon the proprietors the expediency
of adopting the recommendations contained in the re-
port of the directors, presented at the last general meet-
ing of this company, held on the 18th of March, and
which were approved at the special meeting of this com-
pany, held on the 21st of June, and which were yester-
day adopted at the special general meeting of proprietors
of the South-Eastern Railway, viz., That the sum of
99,406/., being the valuation made on the 6th Decem-
ber, 1852, by the surveyors appointed by the committee
of Lloyds,' of the eight steam-ships belonging to the
South-Eastern and Continental Steam-packet Company,
viz., the Princess Mary, Princess Maude, Queen of the
Belgians, Queen of the French, Prince Ernest, Princess
Clementina, Princess Helena, and Lord Warden, be the
price at which the steam-ships and other property in-
cluded in the report and valuation be taken over from
the South-Eastern and Continental Steam Packet Com-
pany ; that, to facilitate the settlement between the two
companies, the working of the steam-ships from the Ist
August, 1852, to the 31st January, 1853, shall be consi-
dered to be on account of the Steam Packet Company ;
and that the sum of 99,406%, and the amount of the
valuation of the plant and s Tres on shore on the 31st
January, 1853, shall bear interest at the rate of 4 per
cent., from the Ist February, 1853, until the 4th day of
November next. That the proprietors of the Steam
Packet Company shall, on the 4th day of November next,
have the option of being paid in cash, or receiving in lieu
thereof a debenture of the South-Eastern Railway Com-
pany at five years' date, bearing 4/. per cent. interest per
annum, and that at the end of the five years the Steam-
Packet proprietors shall have the option either of re-
ceivinga m eeet pt
ha
eyrme
eefn tt
eof b
et h
eaet
ndveebr et
endt ointo er r
do
ifn requiringshares the e r
exchanged for the ordinary stock of the South-Eastern
Railway Company at par, of which requirement three
months' notice in writing shall be given, expiring prior
to or at the termination of the five years.' If the pro-
prietors are pleased to adopt this report, the directors
willy mpereotp a
perfor an-
numte for the half-year ending the 31st of July last. The
peo
fs e a resolutionsdivideed
a t
balance of profit to the 31st of January last, undisposed
of, amounted to 1,136/. 2s. 2d. If to this be added in
the conformity,r at of per and
cent. also
in-
terest at 41. per cent, on 99,406/., the value of the ships,
and 7,323/. 3s. 7d., the valuation of stores and plant on
the 31st of January to the 31st of July, the dividend,
at the rate of 5 per cent, per annum, free of income tax,
may be paid, and a balance would remain of 427/. 175.,
and on the settlement between the two companies, on
the 4th of November next, further interest at the rate of
5 per cent, per annum, from the Ist of August to that
date, which will include the 4 per cent. from the railway
company payable to the proprietors of this company.
The settlement on the terms proposed will enable the
proprietors to receive in cash or in the bonds of the
South-Eastern Company somewhat above 121. each
share in the South-Eastern Continental Steam-Packet
Company."
Having made the foregoing report, the CHAIRMAN
proceeded to observe that the subject-matter which the
report involved had been brought very fully before the
proprietors on the two former occasions to which allu-
sion had been made, and he did not think it was neces-
sary for him to add anything to the recommendations
contained in the report of the directors. The directors
had been able to carry through the operations of the two
companies, as they had hitherto existed, in consequence
of the great confidence put in them by the proprietors
on either side, inasmuch as almost every transaction,
almost without exception, that took place between the
companies, required some arbitrement by the directors
in dividing the profits that had been earned between the
two companies. He was proud to say that up to that
moment they felt that almost unanimous confidence was
placed in them, and he begged to move that the report
of the directors should be adopted and circulated amongst
the proprietors in the usual manner.
The motion was seconded, and passed unanimously.
A dividend of ss. a share, or 51. per cent. per annum,
free of income tax, was declared.
Resolutions were unanimously adopted to carry into
effect the various recommendations in the report. A
resolution was also passed authorising the directors to '
do all such things from time to time as they should deem
fit, to give effect to such resolutions.—The meeting then
adjourned.

The cholera has extended to Hexham, from which
three cases are reported, two deaths and one recovery.
The medical officer has 17 cases of choleraic diarrhcea
and one of cholera under treatment. Mr. Grainger has
visited Hexham, to advise the authorities, and his sug-
gestions have been agreed to by the board of guardians,
and at a public meeting.
In Newcastle the epidemic is spreading fast. The
type of the epidemic is much more severe than that of
1831-32, as a comparison of the first fifteen days of the
two visitations gives 61 deaths in the former to 219 in
the latter. The increase in the deaths of the last twenty-
four hours is, as will be observed, very large—almost
double that of the 14th. The medical officers have
been authorised to call in the assistance of private
titioners, and nearly 30 of such assistants are employed.
Great activity prevails on the part of all the local
authorities.

SHIELDS, Sept. 15.—A fatal case of cholera has taken
place this morning, in Stephenson street, in this town.
Various medical men have visited the body, and there is
no doubt of its being Asiatic. We do not hear anything
further amongst the shipping in the river.
MANCHESTER, Sept, Iti.—The authorities here are
upon the qui vice in respect to this fearful scourge, and
though not apprehendinc, any immediate outbreak, are
quietly making preparations to be able to meet any
emergency that may arise.
HEALTH OF LIVERPOOL.—It was reported at the
Health Committee, on Thursday, by the medical officer,
that two other fatal cases of Asiatic cholera have oc
curred in addition to those mentioned in our last. So
far, however, the disease has been confined to the Ger-
man emigrants who come to this town from places
where the disease is raging on the continent. One of
the new cases was that of a female who arrived here on
Saturday last from Germany, by way of Hull. On
Monday it was ascertained that she was suffering from
cholera in its first stage, and she was immediately trans-
ferred to the Northern Hospital. The other case was
that of a child, three years old, one of a family of Ger-
man emigrants, who had embarked on board the Albert
Gallatin, for New York. On Tuesday morning she was
seized with the early symptoms of cholera, and died the
same day, at the Emigrants' Home, in Moorfields. No
other cases had been reported up to yesterday, and the
general health of the town continues in a satisfactory
state, the deaths reported up to Saturday last being 19
fewer than the average of the last five years.
HARTLEPOOL.—At Hartlepool, on the 13th inst., an
inquest was held on the body of John Staunch, who
died from Asiatic cholera. He was a healthy man, 42
years of age, and a coal trimmer by trade. He was
attacked with purging and vomiting on Monday morn-
ing, and died the same evening. Thomas Lillo, the
the surgeon, who attended him, said he considered it
a case of epidemic cholera, such as he had seen on board
ships. He did not know why it should be called Asiatic
cholera, except that it first came across from Asia. It
was that species of epidemic that had visited this country
before, and was the only case of the kind he had seen in
the town. He had fifty cases of endemic cholera, and they
had all recovered. He considered epidemic cholera to be
an atmospheric disease. He did not think the dirty state
of the neighbourhood where deceased died had anything
to do with his death. The disease was what was called
Asiatic cholera ; he did not think it was contagious. A
juryman said he did not wonder the man died ; there
was a large midden heap just under the sleeping-room
window ; and during the last visitation of cholera, a
person had died in the same house. Verdict' " Died of
epidemic cholera."

MARYLEBONE. —Yesterday, at the usual weekly
meeting of guardians at the Marylebone Workhouse,
Mr. Squires, senior house surgeon, stated that in the
attic of a house in York-court three cases of spasmodic
cholera, one of which proved fatal, had occurred. The
room was occupied by au Irish family, comprising eleven
persons, many of whom occupied one bed. The father,
an itinerant vendor of shell-fish, upon returning home
on Tuesday week, ate two oysters, and was the following
morning attacked with diarrhoea. On Friday the
Roman Catholic priest was sent for by the family, and
he (Mr. Squires) heard nothing of the man's case until
the following Tuesday, when the clergyman informed
him of it. The man's two sons, aged 22 and 17
respectively, were next attacked, and the youngest died
while the father and other son were recovering. It
was not a case of pure Asiatic cholera, but what was
termed sporadic cholera, which was as terrible in its cha-
racter and its results as Asiatic cholera. They had no
necessity to go to Asia for cholera, for they had in their
own streets as prolific causes of cholera and fever as
could be found in the jungles of India. The room where
the Irish family alluded to was filthy in the extreme, had
its window fastend down, was wholly void of ventilation
and was over a urinal and water closet, whose exhala-
tions not only damped the walls of the house, but also
penetrated the adjoining buildings which were equally
dirty and badly ventilated. If they had been constantly
whitewashed and kept purified, he had no doubt that the
awfulv isitation with which they were threatened would
be obviated ; and he therefore called upon the board
for immediate and increased remedial and precautionary
measures against this frightful disease, which otherwise
would undoubtedly spread itself throughout the parish.
Mr. SUMNER—Have you not heard of other cholera
cases in the parish, besides the three mentioned ?
Mr. SQUIRES—Yes, several others, as severe as those
that occurred in 1848 and 1849, when I attended 70 that
terminated fatally. In the cases that lately occurred,
cramps, cold, and collapse did not present themselves,
but the patients were attacked with burning and thirst.
R was sporadic, not Asiatic, cholera, and th was en-
gendered by filth and poverty.
After a brief discussion,
Mr. WHITMORE moved the appointment of a com-
mittee to consider Mr. Squire's report respecting the
existence of cholera and malignant scarlatina in the pa-
rish, and to inquire into the sanitary condition of the
crowded and populous districts, and to report thereon,
from time to time, to the board.
Mr. SUMNER seconded and Mr. COHEN, surgeon, sup-
ported the motion, which was carried nem. con., and the
following gentlemen were named the committee :—Rev.
Mr. Scobell, and Messrs. Poland, Smith, Russell, Beavor,
Sumner, Artaund, and Whitmore.

THE TEN PER CENT. MOVEMENT AT
MANCHESTER.

The movement for an advance of wages among the
operatives at Manchester and the surrounding districts
goes on with unabated vigour. No matter what are the
relative prices paid by masters at present as compared
with others, the cry is still " ten per cent." Messrs.
Christie, of Fairfield, pay the highest wages in the
neighbourhood, but their hands raise the cry of " ten
per cent.," and like the other turnouts, repeat it with
a pertinacity akin to -fanaticism. The weavers of do-
mestics on strike had a procession through Manchester
on Thursday, headed by a band of music, and carrying
banners inscribed " 1,500 " (the number on strike), and
" ten per cent. and no surrendar." A. large proportion
of them were young women. A meeting of them was
held at the Carpenters'-hall the same evening, when the
secret of the unreasoning character of their proceedings
was readily discernible in that of their orators. These
were chiefly men who have been leaders of socialist,
chartist, " freedom to industrj6" and other movements
in past times, and who are clew 7i- at uttering fluent non-
sense, though they have never yet shown themselves
clever enough to conduct any one movement to a
successful issue. A resolution was moved and adopted
to the effect that, considering the present state of
prosperity, the operatives were justified in striking
for a 10 per cent. advance, and pledging all pre-
sent to join the Weavers' Trade Union now forming.
Amongst the strange doctrines uttered by the speakers
on this occasion, a man named Cooper told them if they
persevered " employers" would become an obsolete term,
since operatives would become their own employers. A
man named Matthews commented on the speech of Mr.
Wilson Patten, at a late agricultural meeting, and said
that masters having displaced all the labour they could
by machinery as applied to manufactures, were now go-
ing to try the same course with agriculture. One
speaker told them that the masters could well afford
to give this advance, but afford it or not they must give
it, and charge the extra price on their customers. Some
of the speakers complained of want of support, and it
appeared that the subscriptions of last week only reached
tenpence per head for the people on strike. At a meet-
ing of employers held a few days since, it was resolved
to send a deputation to Christie's mill to point out to
the operatives the obstacles in the way of compliance
with their demands, and it was explained to the meeting
that this firm were already paying very high wages.
They had, until recently, employed their hands 65 hours
per week, and had taken off five hours without lowering
their wages, leaving them in a very advantageous posi-
tion. It was stated that the dispute about wages, how-
ever, only applied to a small number of Messrs. Christie's
workpeople--the strippers and grinders. The places of
these men could have been readily supplied by other
hands, glad to accept the same wages, but the great
bulk of the hands in other branches stepped in between
them and their employers, and said they would only
work on condition that the old strippers and grinders
were employed. On Wednesday the deputation of mas-
ters went to Fairfield, and had an interview with a depu-
tation of the operatives, who introduced a delegate also
from Stockport. The interview was productive of happy
consequences. The strippers, after a long
wasargument,
itfound,
abandoned their position, but the grinders,
htiandueadmtoeredseubtshteanstaimalegrqouuanadtiotfycoemf work
ihnavdon
ghououurs-
wt
hhaitc h they
some formerlyassistance did
ah ienu6lds. The
vdeputationd
hsyu gwgaeys t eedf
lightening. theirchr ltai
eb,
so uhra,
nadnadhtahveeber eggs
ruel
et dis
witht at
tthhi es
iwenheodli.
fication of the dispute, to resumeawork, without increase
uf
notice wages.
of
f Thea
strike,hands i severaluag p
aort et
el*
fmtihlles
spinnershave
MA ersusmrse.
üßrirwleaya's,mwehnot.lone hadd already received rEecxeeivheadngaen advance.
unless the hands there
masters at Preston had agreed,
gave
ad their mills fe upthe claim of 10 per
he months—each er t cent, nowmee
turgi de,
aeh m
they waosut
el d
close r
I. not to resunie business
enteringwit without leave into
far oi n bond
th ef r others.s,ooo

MR. SMITH O'BRIEN.—TIIe. (?Ork CiD;StitatiOn says
—" A gentleman at present in this city, lately returned
from Hobart Town, states that he had had an interview
with Smith O'Brien, at Norfolk Island, where he found
him enjoying excellent health. He was living in an
hotel, where he was supplied with every comfort and
luxury he could desire. He had none of the appearance
of a convict ; he dressed in a similar style to which he
did in this country.. The Government allowed him a
circuit of 10 ten miles for exercise, and he had only to
report himself once a month to the police authorities.
The gentleman referred to was two evenings in company
with Smith O'Brien, and during both interviews O'Brien
avoided all reference to politics, or any subject relating
thereto."

SINGULAR PHENOMENON.—A writer in the Intelli-
gencer communicates a curious incident. A little girl
was standing at a window, before which was a young
maple tree. After a brilliant flash of lightning, a com-
plete image offthe tree was found imprinted on her body.
This is not the first instance of the kind.—Nouos,* Ad-
vertiser,

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.