The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-10 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

CORK AND BANDON.

Yesterday, the half-yearly meeting of this company
took place at the London Tavern, for the transaction of
the ordinary business of the company, and for the pur-
pose of raising, by the creation of new shares, a sum
not exceeding 30,0001. Major-General Chatterton, the
chairman of the company, presided. The report an-
nounced the satisfaction of the directors at the steady
and continuous increase in the traffic receipts of the
railway. The revenue statement, as compared with
the corresponding period last year, showed an improve-
ment amounting to 9541. 13s, 10d., being an.increase of
20 per cent. The balance-sheet exhibited a. surplus of
5501. 70. 2d. available for dividend upon the preference
shares, and although certain liabilities upon the capital
account still existed, the directors recommended a divi-
dend at the rate of 2 per cent. per annum upon the pre-
ference shares; leaving a balance of 701. its. 2d. to be
carried• to the next account. A deputation of the di-
rectors had conferred with a body of Irish shareholders
in • 'Dublin in reference to the amount of additional
capital- necessary for liquidating the outstanding lia-
bilities of the company, and the meeting had authorised
application to Parliament for a sum of 30,0001. to be
raised by preference shares, which, amount had been in-
serted in the bill, and had passed both Houses of Parlia-
ment. The directors had not yet been able to obtain
the award of ,Mr. Brunel upon the matters in difference
between the company and Messrs. Fox and Henderson.
The statement of accounts showed a balance to credit of
capital account in dune last of 761. 13s. 5d., and a balance
to credit of revenue account of 5501. 7s. 2d. Upon the
chairman moving the adoption of the report, a discus-
sion ensued, originating with Mr. Taafe, who com-
plained of the largeness of the expenditure, and also of
the directors', remuneration, which was met and
answered :by Mr. Bate (a director). The discussion
was continued. by Mr. Feene, who ultimately moved,
-and-M-r.,,MacClachlan seconded, lie omission of that por- '
-tien-of tlie report referring to the dividend, which was,
414:wilier; negatived, and the report adopted. The meeting
was then made sPecial, and, after dome discussion, and a
amendment for adjournmentTaafe the raising
frif40,0004.; by _the Creation Of new Mr.hares 'was agreed
to, and the meeting, which had lasted nearLy fot4
-then broke , ; • r:r - I
• (.• .f).1(.10 Off
i . •
•

i'llls° '62'197' EAST INDIAN.
The 'repOrrof the directors to be presented at the
'meeting this day states that, " When the last advices
left India it had been determined to open the line from
' Hovrrahrto Pundoah for traffic, on or about the 15th
of July, and they see no reason to doubt the expectation
they expressed in their last report, of opening the entire
'length of the first section of the line to Rangegunge, 121:
miles; ;by the. endi of the present year. The works on
- -'next section.,ofthe main line towards Rajmahal, as
far as the riverr More, 'are well Advanced under the com-
pany's own engineers, and the board have advices front
Caleutta of contracts being entered into for the comple-
'ton ofthe line from the river More to Cawnpore by the
year 1857. It is intended to construct ,the line front
Giwnpore to Delhi simultaneously—probably by the
company's own engineers. A large proportion of the
requisite permanent way materials and rolling stock
ever
already contracted for, and will be sent forward by everY
available opportunity. In order to provide funds for
the vigorous prosecution of the works, the board, at the
'suggestion of the Honourable East India Company, have
availed themselves of the powers conferred by the deed
of settlement, and have raised the sum of one million
sterling, in debentures, bearing interest at the rate of 41
per cent. per annum, and convertible at any time during
their currency into shares. The payment of these de-
bentures, and the interest thereon, is guaranteed by the
Honourable East India Company. The accounts received
by each successive mail tend to confirm the opinion the
board have so frequently expressed, of the importance
of this undertaking, both in a national point of view
and as a sound means for the profitable investment of
capital."

SAMBRE AND MEUSE.
The directors' report to be submitted to the halr-
yearly general meeting to-day, shows that the traffic re-
turns for the six months ending JuneOth, have been
15,2001., and the expenditure 10,4111. 16s. 3d. The
balance of revenue carried forward on that and former
accounts is 13,6201. 18s. Bd. The directors regret that,
in consequence of the remaining preference shares not
having been taken up, the whole of the earnings of the
line have been necessarily devoted to the payment of de-
mands on capital account, and that the same course
must be pursued intil all claims have been discharged.

REPORT ON RAILWAYS, 1853.

The report of the proceedings of the Railway Depart-
ment of the Board of Trade, during the year 1853, by
Captain Galton, R.E., has been issued.
The report states that the length of new lines of rail-
way sanctioned by the Legislature in the United King-
. dom, during the year 1853, was 940 miles, which amount
is very considerably greater than that sanctioned during
any year since 1847. Of this amount, 589 miles were in
England, 80 miles in Scotland, and 271 miles in Ireland.
Among the most important of the new lines in England
appear to be the following, viz.:— A line from Strood to
.'Canterbury, by which the communication by railway
along the south bank of the Thames will be rendered
'Continuous aa far 'as lithe North Foreland. The Ports-
, mouth RaWray, by, which a direct communication will
he' afforded between Portsmouth and the metropolis.
An extension of the Midland Railway from Leicester to
Thtchin on the Great Northern Railway, by which a
second line of communication will be afforded from the
Midland districts to the metropolis; and the Worcester
and Hereford Railway, by which a more direct route
will be opened between the Midland Counties and South ,
Wales.

In Ireland, the most important line would appear to
be the Londonderry and Coleraine Railway, by which a
direct route will be afforded between Belfast and Lon-
donderry; and the Londonderry, Coleraine, and Sligo
Railway, which will afford a direct railway communica-
tion from Sligo to Londonderry and to Dublin.
The total length of railway which has been authorised
by Parliament to the end of 1853 is 12,688 miles.
• Of. this number of miles, 7,686 have been opened for
traffic, leaving 5,002 miles to be completed ; but the
compulsory powers of 2,838 miles have expired
.'without being exercised, or the railways being
opened tá the end of 1853. The length of rail-
'ways for the construction of which Parliamentary
,powers exist is 2,164 miles. The length of railway
oiSened previously to December, 1843, was 2,000 miles.
The length 'opened in the year 1844 was 204 miles ;
tin 1845,.' 296 miles; in 1846, 606 miles ; in 1847, 803
miles ; in 1848, 1,182 miles ; in 1849, 869 miles; in
1850, 625' .miles ; in 1851, 269 miles • in 1852, 446
miles ; and in 1853, 850 miles, making the total length
- then opened 7,686 miles ;of which 5,848 are in England,
995 in Scotland, and 843 miles in Ireland. The length
of the narrow gauge railway, including the Irish gauge
of 51 feet, is 6,965 miles, of the broad gauge 626 miles,
and of the mixed gauge 95 miles. The number of rail-
way companies having single lines of railway at the end
of 1858 was 97, the length of single narrow gauge lines,
including the Irish gauge, 1,543 miles, of'broad gauge
112 miles, and of mixed gauge 53 miles—tatal 1,708
miles ; of which 1,135 miles of single line are in Eng-
land, 112 miles iii Scotland, and 441 in Ireland.
Of the single line opened at the end of the year 1852,
32 miles 46 chains in England, and 41 miles 76 chains in
Ireland, have been made during the year 1853.
The total length of new line which was opened during
the year 1853 amounted to 350 miles.
Of the lines opened in England, the principal ones
are—the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Rail-
way from Wolvercot to Evesham, by which the manu-
facturing districts near Birmingham, the town of Wor-
cester, and the important agricultural districts between
Worcester and Oxford we accommodated with a direct
route to London ; the Newport, Abergavenny, and He-
ford Railway, and the Shrewsbury and Hereford Rail.
way, by which a direct route is afforded from Birken-
head to South Wales ; and the Thirek and Malton, and
Melton and Driffield Railways, by which railway com-
Municatilm is afforded to an important district in
• Yorkshire.
In Scotland the only line of importance opened for traffic
waa the Deeside Railway. In Ireland the most important
lines ara the Waterford and Kilkenny, and Waterford
. and Limerick Railways, by which Waterford has been
'Connected with the Irish Railway system ; and the rail-
Rillarney to the. Great. Southern and Western
241.1;. theße.g lints of railway were inspected previous to
an opened furtraffic by officers, of this department,
a. yournd.
llordshipi required. the opening to be postponed
t` "ea. • Tho h
wen
re recinired to be f"241-cr "f inspections which
~„8: performed by the officers amounted
to )
Of the railways opened
railway, iepresentin;gan during 1853, 25 portions of
Vptal length of 293 miles, con-
114ted 'of Single line 4would appear that thelength
of single. lines epen at th
e4Wfarsabi
lewfwaye eonpeonn.e • tolutrtish:atticbote cefi)lllBsC3l thevz.'
wholel'7 08
amountmi le
o_scrved that the length
of single line open .at the end
307fmlip2 was 1,485 miles,
and the„end of 1851,
cnitaiiiwraegyt3ic:tinnoonts,bseowiro4rktueectit wasitttiasafpreeteie.netxtßitnuginederlinsepte)!
in opiseitite dirteelpossibility
from
of 'engines` or trains movin,g.
meeting on. the single. ; such regnlationsl7'
ever, inconsistent with a large amount of traffiLre'l"aw.
cases of single lines opened during 1853, your lord:hi 1g
required generally either that the trains should be worked
by means of one engine moving backwards and forwards
over the line, or over particular portions of it ; or that
some particular man should be appointed to accompany
the trains moving over the portions of the single line.
And in cases where the electric telegraph is in use, the
regula'tions required were that the persons employed to
start trains should be distinctly responsible for ascer-
taining, before starting the trains, that the line is clear
as far as the next station.
4yos 0,a2t56th1.e end
The amount of capital invested inj iatv
,a
of 1852 was 264,165,680/. of which
con-
sisted of ordinary capital,
The amount of capi-
-38,700,7551. of preference
capital, and 64,064,6681. of loans.
tel raised for railway urposes in 1849
d in 1852,
,was 29,574,7201.;
in 1850, 10,522,9671. pin 1851, 7,970)101—P an
16,398,993/. ; thus increasing the amount invested in
railways at the end of 1849 from 229,747,7791. to
264,165,680/• at the end of 1852. The amount of money
which was raised by railway companies during 1853 has
,net yet been returned to Parliament; but it may be
Bi
_assumed not to have been less than that raised during
0., ;184, and; it is therefore probable that the whole sum
raistalibY
~.r,ai..lw?..o,l„qo°.YPO'mpanies
less than ?. the end of 1853 is not
,°°ol.,:og which about 42,000,0001. may
:.'1136*811*454 t 9 4a_vEtslxttupr4farent. 1 vital and nearly
70
' °'49kt9lek TiAppoir. i„,ei,te,,Aca'WrAwed on the
securkY.Ao4ll49l€ls4 lAN -
The number of miles of railway L.111°119°2
n course of construc-
tion on the 30th of June, 1853, was 682 miles, and the
slumber of men employed on theta was 37,764. The