The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-01 00:00:00

SOUTH WALES.

The eighteenth half-yearly ordinary meeting of share-
holders was held yesterday at the Great Western Rail-
way Terminus, Paddington ; Mr. C. R. M. Talbot,
M.P., in the chair.

Thi; advertisenciett convening the meeting having been
read,

The Szcerranr read the following report :
•
"thedirecters have again the satisfaction to report a
considerable increase in' the. traffickduring,the past half-
year. The receipts on account of revenue on the main line
and Forest of Dean branch amount, during that period, to
106,2341.-being an increaseof upwards of 62 per Gent upon
the earnings of the corresponding period of 1852, and sh.ow-
ingn receipt of 8101. per mile; as compared with-071. per
mile during the same period. Of this increase, about
15,0004 is derived from passenger traffic, and 25,000/: from
merchandise and minerals. •The arbitration which has for
a long time been pending, with reference to the allow-
ance 'to be made to the Great Western RailWai Company
for the supply of rolling stock, hasat length been brought
to a close, and the award of the arbitrator has been re-
ceived. The directors have much -sitisfiCtion in 'being
enabled to recommend a dividend on the ordinary share
'capital of the company (after proiiding for the dividend
due to the holders of the preference shares), at the 'rate of
three per cent. per annum. On the 2d of January last,
the line from Carmarthen to Haverfordwest, a dietance
of thirty7one and a half miles, was opened for traffic
with a single line of rails ; and the branch to join the
Taff__ Vale, Railway -has sine the last • half-yearly'
meeting been completed. In contemplation of 'the
opening of the railway to the shores of Milford Haven,
the directors, have' had under their consideration 'the
best mode of effecting a steam packet communication be-
tween that port and the south of Ireland, and it will be
satisfactory to the proprietors to know that a friendly ne-
gotiation has been commenced between the two companies
interested,- with the view to the establishment of such a
communication. The objects sought to be effected by the
bill now before Parliament consist of a power to purchase
land for additional accommodation at Swansea, to make
arrangements with the Vale of Neath Railway and Briton
Ferry Dock Companies, and to effect other objects of minor
importance, to which the attention of the proprietors will
be more particularly directed when the bill is formally
submitted, for their approval, in accordance with the stand-
ing orders of the House of Lords. Application is being
made to Parliament by an independent company, for power
to construct a broad guage railway, in connection with the
Smith Wales Railway, from Carmarthen to Newcastle
Emlyn, with a view to its ultimate extension to Cardigan-
The line is strongly promoted by landowners and, others
interested in the district through which it will pass, and
cannot fail to be an important adjunct to the main line of
the South Wales Railway."
late'CsAurstart said that the accounts which had been
circulated among the proprietors would put them in
possession of the present state and prospects of the
South Wales Railway Company. ' There • was one sub-
ject• on which he felt justified in congratulating the
shareholders, and he did so with great pleasure, as it
bore out an opinion he had 'expressed at the commence-
me ret of the undertaking, viz., that it would be com-
pleted for 4,000,0001. the amount of the original esti-
mate. Up to the present moment, 3,585,0001. had been
expended, but that sum included their property in the
Vale of Neath Railway, which was the most productive
part of-their line, and as valuable as any other, and also
theEr advances to the Llynvi Valley and the Dublin and
Wicklow companies ; so that they might say that they
had. spent 3,500,0001., and that they had half a million
left, and only seven miles of railway to make. (Hear,
hen r.) Another
.source of congratulation was that they
had: no bills to promote in Parliament, with the excep-
Corr of one to connect them with the Vale of Neath
Raiiwey, mid another to make a crossing at Newport,
whitish could not be made without the sanction of the
Legislature. -He/night also-observe that the expenditure
of three-and-a-half millions included many charges which
had not been included in the original estimate as made
by the engineer: They had, for instance, made a junc-
tion with the. Taff .Vide line, and sidings and other in-
creased accommodation at Newport. Improvements
had also been effected in respect of 'the Dean branch,
and they' had made a line to connect them with the
Llynvi Valley. All these additions to their property
ought to inspire them with confidence, and it was like-
wise -satisfactory for them to know that they had been
effected without any exeess oaf the original estimates.
(Hear, hear.) The coal traffic along the line had become
extremely important ;' but he regretted to say that it
was by no means as extensive as it might be, in conse-
quence of the difficulty of getting trucks and engines to
dravi it. At Cardiff such was -the pressure in the coal
trade that the magnificent docks constructed at that
place by Lord Bute were found to be wholly inadequate
for the purposes intended. There was, however, another
matter in connection with thissubject to which attention.,
had iialieeirditeated,ind that was, that such was the
pressure for the exportation of coal, but more especially
of coal for steam purposes, that the colliers had turned
their attention to Milford Haven as the most advantageous
place fof an export trade in that , commodity. The
other ports to which they had access, and the docks,
although on a large scale, were dependent upon the state
of the tide, and it often happened, that great delay and
inconvenience were felt in consequence, one vessel only
being able to pass out of the floodgates at a time. To
remedy this inconvenience, the colliers had applied to
the company some time ago to lay down a narrow-gauge
line to Newport, ,but the directors declined to comply,
on the ground that they were pledged to the broad-gauge
interest. They now, howeeer, found that they could
carry, ceals to Milford Haven at ss. per ton, and that an
enormous trade was likely to spring up. (Hear, hear.)
They had heretofore looked-at Milford Haven as a place
for passengers proceeding to Ireland and Australia, but
he bad visited it in company with their engiueer, and
he found that there 'was nothing to prevent them from
making arrangements, not, only for a,large passenger
traffic, but also for an export coal trade, and for the
coaling of steamers. (Hear, hear.) The great advan-
tage of Nayland was that it was in itself a natural dock,
with sufficient depth of water to enable vessels at all
times to Come up close to the land, and although the
cost of bringing coals to it amounted to ss. per ton, still
that extra charge was more than compensated for by the
vessel being 60 miles more to the westward, and no dock
or shipping dues of any kind to pay. (Hear, hear.)
The directors had also considered the propriety of making
Nayland a passenger station for persons proceeding from
the south and west of England to Waterford ; and they
had entered into arrangements with the Waterford and
Liniefiek Company and the Great Western Coinpany,
in order ito effect- that object. (Hear, hear.) It had
been said that in consequence of the Waterford and
LimeriCk line being in the hands of one individual (Mr.
Dargan) some objection 'might be made to the arrangement
but he was happy to say that, so, far, from this being the
case, a resolution was passed at the last Waterford and
Limerick meeting approving of the proposal to place
steam:packets onthe line between Milford Hawn and
Waterford. ~ (Hear, hear.) A bill was about to be pro-
moted in 'the present session for a line from Carmarthen
to. Cardigan; to this line they gave their cordial sup-
port, as they believed it would develop the capabilities
of- their ownline, all probability lead to the esta-
blishment of a .pert. of embarkation• for passengers' to
Kingstown. The Swansea Valley Railway, however,
'continued to be a fruitful source of discomfort to them.
The South Wales Company had offered to make a good
railway for the use of the district, but, from causes into
which he need not enter, they had been unable to carry
out their" intention, but whenever the Swansea Valley
Company would make a broad guage line, they would
be prepared to give them all the support in their power.
With regard to the Taff Vale Railway, a friend of hiM
at that board had stated that he (the chairman) had
held out a threat that he would carry out the broad
gauge line to Taff Vale. He knew that the public said
this, but he emphatically denied that be had ever said
it ; for all he bad said was, that the public and not the
South Wales Company required it, because there was
ample traffic for two lines, and that what the public
wanted in the way of railway accommodation they
would not be long without' getting. There was another
subject-to which- he would have to advert, and that was
the award by which they were obliged to pay certain
prices for the-use of the Great Western rolling stock.
The amount appeared to him to be large, and one
which must exercise a , prejudicial effect on their
coal trade, or a -portion of it. He did not pretend
to be a judge of the value of the mileage of a
loco-
motive ; but be knew that on the South Western
the' charge was 9d. per mile ; or" the • North
Western; 9d. ; and on the Great Western, 84d.
These sums, however, did not include the average
allowance of aid. for interest on money and depre-
'ation of rolling stock. The amount which the South
;ales Company was called upon to pay by the award
was ls. 4id. for passengers, and 174 d. for goods ; and,
in addition, they were restricted .by Sir Wdliam Cubbitt
to 165 tons, including the carriages. Now, as in many
cases the carriages weighed 120 out of 165 tons, it would
be evident that the coal traffic would suffer very much
by the arrangement. (Hear, hear.) He was sure that
this restriction was never contemplated by the colliers,
and he hoped that the Great Western Company, who
were themselves perhaps even more interested in the de-
velopment of the, coal traffic, would be induced to re-
consider the question for the mutual benefit of the two
companies. The hon. gentleman concluded by moving
that the report be adopted, printed, and circulated among
the shareholders.

The motion for the adoption' of the report was, after
some discussion, agreed to.
Resolutions were also passed declaring a dividend on
the ordinary capital and preference shares, and the re-
tiring directors and auditor having been re-elected, a vote
of thanks was passed to the chairman and the board,
and the proceedings terminated.

THE FATAL AFFRAY AT BRISTOL.—The inquest on
Cornelius Murphy, who was stabbed in an. affray with
some Spanish sailors in Princes-street, Bristol, on Satur-
day night, the particulars of which have been given' in
The Sun, was concluded yesterday. The evidence clearly
proved that the man who stabbed Murphy was Juan
Antonio Castro, and the juryfound a verdict of " wilful
murder" against him. It was stated by one of. the wit-
nesses that the weapon was not like the knives usually
carried by sailors, but was similar to a butcher's knife.
Another man was stabbed during the quarrel, and
several of the Spaniards were taken into custody. Some
irritating words had been used by the Englishmen towards
the Spaniards at an early part of the evening.