The Sun.
London, England, 1849-09-15 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE

CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAILWAY.

BRETANNIA-BRIDGE.

We may further observe, no damage of any con-
sequence was done to the tube by its fall. The ex-
traordinary test to which it must have been subjected
is only another guarantee of the security of the
structure, as it his since been determined that it

descended seven inches. A new press has been cast,
similar to the broken press, with some modification of
the bottom, to counteract the effect of contraction in
such large masses of metal, which appears to have
been the cause of failure. The recurrence of such an
event is highly improbable, but precautions have been
adopted by Mr. Stephenson to guard against any
damage either to the tube or the parties employed in
raising it, and even avoid any further delay if such
should be the case; and no difficulty whatever can be
apprehended in completing the operation. The new
cylinder is expected in about a fortnight ; and within
days after it is fixed the tube will, in all proba-
bility, be at its proper level. The only important
conseqnence of the accident, as regards the bridge, Las
been the serious delay in replacing the press.

LEEDS AND THIRSK.
Yesterday a special meeting of this company was
held at Leeds, "for the purpose of formally confirm-
ing the preference dividend of 6 per cent. on the
capital paid up, on the extension shares." There was
a very small attendance of shareholders. Mr. H. C.
Marshall, chairman of the board of directors, pre-
sided.

The CHAIRMAN said, the only business which the
directors had to bring before the shareholders was the
formal recognition and confirmation of the preference
dividend to the shares of 1848. He then submitted a
resolution to the effect
" That inasmuch as the preferential dividend of 61.
per cent. per annum on the extension shares had been
confirmed by their Act of Parliament passed in 1849,
the nominal amount of the said shares shall be 201.
each, and a dividend on that sum at the rate of 61. per
cent. per annum shall be paid from the 9th of July,
1849, such dividend to be paid on these shares halt-
yearly in preference to all other shares in the company
(except only the preference quarter shares), on such day
ai the directors shall from time to time appoint."
That amounted simply to paying six per cent. upon
the paid -up portion of the shares. The necessity for
the present meeting arose from some question at the
last half-yearly meeting of the company as to the
Acts of Parliament and the previous resolutions of
the company being sufficient, and as to the compe-
tency of that meeting to constitute these under the

Act of Parliament preference shares. This resolution,
therefore, was merely carrying out what was the de-
cision of the company at several previous meetings.
He begged to move the adoption of the resolution.
Mr. SMITHIES, of Knaresborough, thought that, in
consequence of the great quantity of preference stock,
they ought to adopt some measure in order to protect
the holders of the old stock. The holders of the
original shares would be seriously injured by grant-
ing those preference dividends. He wished the
holders of the 201. shares of 1848 to have their money
without any loss, and he thought they would be satis-
fied with receiving 6 per cent, with power to the
company to redeem the shares at par. They were
now liable to pay the calls upon those shares without
any preference at all, and he thought it would be
treating them handsomely to give them six per cent.
and to redeem the shares on the terms he had men-
tioned. He bagged to move, as an amendment, " that
the shares be redeemable at a future time at par."
Mr. J. JACKSON, of Harrowgate, seconded the
amendment.

The CHAIRMAN said at the last half-yearly meet-
ing it was held, and it appeared to him rightly held,
that the shares were preference. The present meeting
was held simply for the purpose of formally confirm-
ing what the company had already determined upon,
and it would not be right, it seemed to him, to enter
now upon the consideration of the conditions on
which those shares were held. The holders of these
shares had no notice of a meeting to be held for such
L a purpose, and, if the amendment was pressed, he did
not see any course but to adjourn the meeting and
to call another meeting, in order to take into consi-
deration the proposition now made.
Mr. SMITHIES did not wish to do anything which
was unhandsome to any one, but he thought they
ought to pay some respect to the circumstance of the
original shareholders. it appeared to him that the
shares were not preference at all at present, and that
the amendment he had proposed was quite in unison
with the objects of the present meeting.
The CHAIRMAN said, the directors held at the last
meeting, and they held now—at least he did—that
the shares were preference—(Hear, hear)—and, if
this meeting were to determine that they were not
preference, he believed that the right to the prefe-
rence could be enforced against the company.—
(Hear, hear.) Clearly, there was no stipulation
hitherto made by the company that the shares should
be redeemable at par.
Mr. SMITHIES did not wish to be in any way fac-
tious, and would withdraw the amendment.
Several shareholders expressed their opinion that
Mr. Smithies had taken the proper course in with-
drawing his proposition, and
Mr. J GOTT seconded the original resolution, ob.
serving that he entirely agreed with what the chair-
man had said upon it.
The CHAIRMAN then put the resolution, and it was
carried unanimously.
The proceedings here terminated.

As considerable public misapprehension appears to
exist as to the causes and consequences of the accident
at the Britannia- bridge, which has delayed the opera-
tion of raising the tube, and of which no authentic
details have hitherto been published, the following
extracts from the evidence given by Mr. Clark at the
inquest on the body of Owen Parry, who was killed
by the accident, will be read with interest :
Menai-bridge, Aug. 18.—Mr. W. Jones, coroner.
Edwin Clark, being sworn and examined, deposed as
follows :—I am resident engineer of the works at the
Britannia-bridge, and am acting under Mr. Robert
Stephenson. I superintend the whole of the iron
work. I was upon the works yesterday (the 17th of
August). We were raising the tube. The deceased
was not engaged in the operation of raising the tube.
We were raising the Anglesea end of the tube by
means of an hydraulic press. It was twenty inches
in diameter inside ;, the thickness was about ten
inches. It was about ten feet long. We were forcing
water below the piston of the press with a steam-
engine, which, raising the piston, drew up the tube
after it. The weight was about 2,000 tons. The
pressure;on the circular inch in the press is about 2 7-10
tons. We had ascended 2 feet 4 inches, when the
bottom of the press suddenly separated from the body
of the press and fell, together with the water con-
tained in the press, on the tube beneath. The cross-
head of the press, on which I was standing, descended
about 2 feet 4 inches, and I was thrown on to the
boiler of the engine-room. I saw the deceased, with
other men, come along the top of the tube, and ascend
a rope-ladder about 100 feet immediately beneath me,
and immediately afterwards I saw the body of the
deceased lying upon the tube just under the press.
The portion of the press that fell was, I should say,
about lf tons weight. It must have struck the rope-
ladder on which the deceased was ascending, and then
fell upon the tube, breaking some of the castings and
damaging the tube. The cylinder had been already
tested, having raised the tube 24 feet. It had not
been previously tested, on account of the difficulty of
providing an apparatus for testing so large a cylinder.
It is usual to use such cylinders, even with 4 tons
upon the inch; on the present occasion there was only
2 7-10 tens. We were watching the cylinder con-
tinually, and it showed no symptoms of giving way.
The cylinder alone was the cause of the accident; no
other part of the machinery gave way. The tube, by
the compression of the timber beneath it, descended
about 4f inches. We were wedging the tube up be-
neath, by driving in planks as it rose, and, on the re-
moval of the planks, uuderbuilding with brickwork, to
avoid any chance of accident. The superficial area
of the fracture is about 1,000 square inches, the tension
per square inch on this area being at the time about a
ton. Four tons per square inch would have been
deemed secure. There was at the commencement of
the operations a great deal of leakage from this press,
but it took place, at the top, and was remedied by
the addition of a new collar below the original collar.
There was no leakage near the fracture. The rope
ladder bears marks of being struck by the descending
mass of iron. The deceased had ascended about forty
feet."