The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-10 00:00:00

CARLISLE AND SILLOT.II BAY
RAILWAY.

A meeting of gentlemen interested in Carlisle and the
surrounding country, was held on Wednesday (Dec. the
7th) at the London Tavern, to receive a deputat on from
the directors of this company. J. P. Forster, Esq. (of
Wood-street, City), was called to the chair, and imme-
diately introduced to the meeting J. Irving, Esq., of
Carlisle, to make a statement on behalf of the deputa-
tion. _

Mr. IRVING said, the objects for which the meeting
had been called together were just these. He had the
honour, with two friends who accompanied him, to re-
present the Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway Company.
That undertaking they looked upon as a first-rate in-
vestment ; but not being able to get the whole of the
capital from the neighbourhood of Carlisle, they had
deemed it wise to come to London, and see what assist-
ance could be got from their friends from the north.
The only communication between Carlisle and the Sol-
way Frith was a canal, 12 miles long ; this was, however,
being converted into a railway, to be finished within
about three months. The canal was made 13 years
ago, and had added very materially to the prosperity
of Carlisle, until that time almost land-locked, their
trade with the west and north being carried on by land-
carriage. They looked upon the opening of that line
of communication by railway as a most important step
towards getting into the deep waters of the Frith, a
little lower down, which could not be done except by
communication from that line to Silloth Bay, where they
had deep water at all times, and which was the only place
on the coast that was not inaccessible except at high tides.
The rest were dry harbours. They had the report of
thedeand lights to the effect, that the
the bar at Silloth was 19 feet
ptihnsp oefct svetor
i3r of bouvoeryli
at neap tides low water; at spring tides 13 feet. They
could get over the bar with only 10 or 11 feet of water.
His remark as to dry harbours applied to Maryport,
Whitehaven, and Port Carlisle. If this project were
carried out, they would have formed another link in the
great chain of communication between the German Ocean
and the Irish Sea—a communication of great public
utility, independent of the local advantages that would
be conferred upon Carlisle and the county of Cumber-
land. To give an idea of the interest taken in this mat
.ter, he would mention that the secretary had that morn-
ing received a letter from their dock engineer, who
said :

"My Dear Sir,—l have been down in the south of Ire-
land to advise about the construction of a dock at Cork by
the Great Southern and Western Railway Company, and
in my interview with the directors and officials, reference
has several times been made to the proposed dock at Sil-
loth, and much satisfaction expressed at the prospect of
floating dock accommodation being afforded in that loca-
lity. It appears that this railway company, as well as
others, get all their coal for the manufacture of their coke
from Newcastle, via Maryport, and they complain greatly
of the detention they are subjected to from vessels getting
neaped, &c They tell me that the trade in coal with Sil-
loth, should facilities be afforded for their shipment, would
be something very large indeed, as the Newcastle coals
alone will suit their purpose ; and I think it well to inform
you of this in order that your attention may be directed to
this source of traffic, and I have no doubt that by a little
inquiry you will find strong evidence to the effect I have
stated. If you wish to be informed more fully as regards
the shipments of the Great Southern Company, Mr. J. M.
Millar, their engineer, will, I am sure, be glad to furnish
you with information. His office is in Dublin.
" I am, my dear sir, yours very truly,
" JOHN B. HARTLEY.
"Dockyard Liverpool, December 5, 1853.
" John Carruthers, Esq."
Such was the language of Mr. Hartley, of Liverpool,
an engineer of great reputation, through the construe-
tion of docks there, and at Hull and other places. A
striking instance had occurred within the last fort-

uight, Showing the superiority of this place (Sißoth Bay;

over any other on the Solway Frith. They had a letter
from the superintendent of the Solway to the directors,
in which he says :
" On Thursday last, at daybreak, I observed a brig run-
ning up channel with a signal for a pilot flying. I imme-
diately manned a boat and pulled down to get on board her
off the Lee Scar Lighthouse. I found her to be the brig
Mary Ann, of Belfast, Captain J. West, coal-laden from
Maryport, bound to Belfast. The Captain stated that he
left Maryport the previous evening, and when off Kirkcud-
bright he met a strong gale from the S. W., with a heavy
sea, the vessel began to make much water, and the tiller
broke off by the rudder head ; in this disabled state ho ran
back to Maryport, but the wind being southerly. he could
not make that harbour, consequently he ran up to Silloth
Bay for anchorage, where he rode out the gale in safety ;
and after temporary repairing, proceeded on his voyage to
Belfast on Saturday."

Silloth had been used a a harbour of refuge by ves-
sels frequenting Solway Frith from time immemorial.
The difficulty of access to Maryport in stormy weather
was very great ; frequently vessels ran aground, and
were much injured ; any person acquainted with the
history of the shipping of Cumberland would bear him
out in that. (Hear, hear.) Perhaps many of them
were aware that a line was projected from the North
British Railway at Hawick to Carlisle, a distance of
forty-five miles, running through a very important agri-
cultural district, as well as a district abounding in ma-
nufactures, Galashiels, Hawick, &c. These districts had
now no railway communication with the south, and it
was intended to join the Lancaster and Carlisle line, and
so get that communication. But it was still more im-
portant to those people 'to have communication with
Solway Frith, and by that with Ireland, Liverpool, and
the western parts of England. This was not only of
local importance, but regarded in a national point of
view, the advantages were great. It was also proposed,
besides a railway, to construct a dock, n-hereby they
woo d be able to carry on trade with the other side of
the Frith—Dumfriesshire, the lower part of Nithsdale,
and Annandale. The lower part of Nithsdale was one
of the best cultivated districts of Scotland—it might be
compared even with the Lothians. The people there
raised more than they could consume, and would send
large quantities to Cumberland if they had any com-
munication. If they had docks at Silloth Bay they
would be able to run steamboats at all times of the tide,
bringing stock for the Liverpool market, for they were
great stock feeders on the border. It was an instance
of the way in which railway companies treated these
people, that they charged the same for the convey.
ance of stock from Gretna as Shep, though the latter
was forty miles nearer south. Now, with regard to
the cost of construction. The report of the engineer,
Mr. Blyth, stated teat the line of 12i miles in length
would cost but 5,0001. per mile, or 65,0001. in all,
including the purchase of land and other expenses.
He (Mr. Irving) had not time to go into the details
of the estimate ; but he was assured that highly re-
spectable contractors could be found to undertake these
works at that price. Mr. Hartley had estimated the
construction of the docks at about 60,5001., making
135,0001. in all, with Parliamentary expenses. He (Mr.
Irving) had compared the cost of construction on sixty-
five railways, and found the average cost per mile
33,6001. This, therefore, was a little more than one-
sixth of the average cost ; an advantage which could not
fail to strike any man—(hear, hear)—as having a most
important bearing on.the question. The docks, if pro-
perly constructed, economically managed, and a fair
amount of tonnage charged—and the sum charged in
the dry harbours of Cumberland was 6d. per ton—must
yield a good interest on the outlay of money. At this
time the dry harbour of Maryport yielded some 5,0001.
a year, and theirs would not yield less than that, which
would be about 5 per cent. on the cost of construction.
As to the railway, the yield might be reckoned at 201.
to 251. per mile per week,—for the lowest in England,
the East Anglian, yielded 12/. ; the lowest in Scotland,
181. ; so that at 10/. per mile per week, the Scottish
line would yield an ample interest, say 5 per cent. on
the outlay. The traffic tables they had had prepared,
and would submit to Parliament, supported by evidence
beyond dispute, would show a larger return than that
just named. They were all aware that, from the ex-
tensive manufacturing works carried on, something like
100,000 tons of salt and sulphur ore were required.
The estimates taken at these figures showed that the.
great bulk of these commodities was taken from Che-
shire and from Wicklow, and was got round to New-
castle with great delay, and required a great amount of
shipping. There was no doubt that they would com-
mand that traffic. They took it at a very low estimate
id. per mile—or for 12,1 miles, 6d. per ton. Another
article of traffic was coal, which, calculated very low,
was 150,000 tons annually. There were at present
two companies under contract for supplying Ire-
land with 100,000 tons of coal, independent of that
for household purposes, and independent of that sup-
plied from Lord Carlisle's, South Tyne, and Blenkin-
sopp pits. They took this at the low average of id.
per ton per mile, and Bd. per ton for the whole line.
These estimates as to salt, and coal, and sulphur,
they had showed to gentlemen connected with these
trades, and were fully borne out by them in those esti-
mates. Mr. Cookson, connected with the Micklay
colliery, under contract for supplying a large quantity
to Ireland, thought they would send for more than the
estimate. Then there was a general contract carried
on with Carlisle and port Carlisle, whose interests were
identical ; and a trade between Carlisle and Silloth
Bay, which might be estimated at 60,000 tons annually.
This they would take at is. 3d. per ton, a very low
average. Their passenger traffic might be taken at
60,000, at ls. each—reckoning all as third-class pas-
sengers—which would produce 3,0001. These items
added together gave them a gross revenue of 16,1311.
They reckoned that the harbour, accessible at all times
of the tide, would produce 6,000/. per annum, giving a
total of 21,300/. They took took the charges at 50 per
cent. for the railway, 750/. for the docks. The two
would thus yield a revenue of 13,0001.—fully equal to a
return of 9 par cent. (Hear, hear.) It might be ne-
ces,ary to add that this question had been fully gone
into by gentlemen connected with the trade of Carlisle,
many of them men of standing and character in the
commercial world. They had taken great pains to in-
vestigate the subject, and placing their names on the
provisional committee, they were thoroughly convinced
that the undertaking was sound. They were the same
parties who some fourteen years ago helped to
establish in Carlisle two joint-stock banks, shares
in which were now worth double their original
cost. Many of the same parties projected the gas
works, which had proved so productive that 251.
shares yielded about 451. per share : the works were
now in the hands of the corporation, who had been
enabled, at the price of 4s. per thousand feet, to add
fro ten to fourteen thousand pounds in fourteen years
beene
th capital. The Lancaster and Carlisle Railway had
paying
committee. They by gentlemen
of this line(
8 per cent.—and that also was undertaken
"len some of whom were on the provisional
possessed. advantages for the construc-
tionLon:actors would he forthcoming at
owners of the count
the proper time)
scheme.
cs fromy three their peculiar relation with the land-
ofthe
fnsic. who had taken a very favourable
They had that morning received
whose land the line must pass ;
vapplicationsiew
and
s gentlemen through
land-
owners undertook to make suchaaarrcaommittee of
valuation of the land, that the difficulties with
foiranthde.