The Sun.
London, England, 1838-02-20 00:00:00

NATIONAL PNEUMATIC RAILWAY
ASSOCIATION-SPECIAL MEETING.

A Special Meeting of the Shareholders in this Association
was held on Thursday the 15th inst., at the British Coffee-
house, Cuckspur-street, Charing-cross, to receive the Report
of a Committee appointed at a General Meeting held in
August last, to inqeire into the affairs of the Association.
About from fifty to sixty gentlemen were present; and Robert
Sutherland, Esq., was unanimously called to the Chair.
Mr. JOHN CALDWELL, Secretary to the Committee of In-
quiry, read the advertisement calling the present meeting, and
stated, that circulars had also been sent to the scrip-holders
individually. He then read the Resolution by which the
Committee had been constituted ; from which it appeared that
in consequence of disputes and disagreements between Mr.
Henry Pinkus, the Projector of the Associaticn, and the Board
of Directors, eight gentlemen had been nominated, at the
meeting in August, to investigate the causes of the complaints
mutually preferred. Of the eight gentlemen thus nominated,
two had refused to act, on the ground of private business;
and two more had taken no notice of the application : so that
the Report about to be read had been got up by the four that
had remained, viz., Mr. Jonathan Sandford, Chairman • Mr.
J. Caldwell, Secretary; Dr. Carioll, and Mr. H. G.
Dyar. The Report of the Committee was then brought
forward. It was of very great length; occupying up-
wards of two hours in the reading. It commenced by
assuring the Shareholders that the Committee had devoted
themselves to the arduous duties imposed upon them, for the
sole purpose of protecting the rights of the Proprietary,
which were said, at the meeting in August, to be postponed
to unworthy purposes. It stated that the disagreements be-
tween the Directors and Mr. Pinkus had been the cause, rather
than the effect of the stoppage of the Pneumatic Railway
scheme; that Mr. Pinkus himself, and even the Directors,
still repose the most unshaken confidence in the system ;
that to the opinions of Dr. Lardner and Professor Faraday
in its favour, that of Mr. Clegg had recently been added—
this last named gentleman having communicated his
opinion to the Directors, that not only was the principle
correct, but that, if properly managed, the Pneumatic plan
would supersede all other Railways. The Report then ad-
verted to the personal sacrifices which Mr. Pinkus had made
to forward the interests of the Shareholders, and stated that
that gentleman was even now ready to endow the Shareholders
with 50 per cent. of his own property in the line,if the Direc-
tors would only proceed according to the terms of an agree-
ment entered into between them on the one side, and Mr.
Pinkus on the other. The Report proceeded to state, that
previous to the meeting in August last the Directors
had been openly charged with improper practices; and
that they sought to make the meeting in question a
packed one, for the purpose of getting a Committee of
Inquiry appointed which might screen the conduct of
the Directors ; that, to effect this object, various means had
been adopted by the Directors; and that, finding themselves
unsuccessful, they had done every thing in their power to
thwart the views of the Committee, by refusing to deliver up
the books, &c. ; so that no statement of the accounts of the
Association could be laid before the meeting. The Report
then passed on to the charges which had been brought against
Mr. Pinkus, the projector, by the Board of Directors.
These were, in brief, that Mr. Pinkus, had always been
toe sanguine in his estimates—that the cost of constructing
a line of the Pneumatic Railway would amount to double
the sum stated by him ; that Mr. Pinkus would not com-
plete a certain model and plans of the requisite machinery ;
that he had embroiled the Directors, and was himself con-
stantly quarrelling with the Directors, workmen, &c. In a
subsequent part of the Report, these allegations were seve-
rally denied, especially that which related to the model and
plans. A sketch of the fo -mation of the Association was
next given, from which it appeared that Mr. Pinkus,
having discovered what he considered an improved method
of consn ueting a railway, for which ho had taken out
patents at a cost of 2,0001„ had entered into communication
with Mr. Hoskieg, an architect, for the purpose of forming
an association to carrying his views into execution. The
Report stated, that Mr. Hosking's motive in entering into this
arrangement seemed to be the expectation of procuring em-
ployment and a suitable salary. A Committee had been
formed ; the capital of the Association settled at 200,0001., in
10,000 shares of 20/. each ; 6,000 of these shares had been
sold, and a call of 31. paid on each. The 9,0001. thus ob-
tained had belonged of right to the Projector, according to
an agreement entered into at the time, he pledging himself
to complete an experimental line. The Projector had, how-
ever, deferred his claim, receiving only, in part payment,
5001., and scrip-receipts for 3,0001., in order that there
might be sufficient funds to complete the experimental
line of half a mile, after which an Act of Incorpora-
tion was to have been applied for. The Report then went at
great length into alleged misconduct on the part of the Board
generally, but of Mr. Hocking in particular. One charge
brought against Mr. Hocking was in reference to his conduct
in the affair of the Birmingham, Bristol, and Thames Junction
Railway. The Report stated, that an agreement had been
entered into between the Pneumatic Association and the
Thames Junction Company to construct that line on the Pneu-
matic principle, and that half a mile of the Railway was to
serve as the experimental line of the Association ; that Mr.
Hosking, having got himself appointed to an official situation
in the Thames Junction scheme, had deluded Mr. Pinkus with
promises that the interests of the Pneumatic Association
should be guarded carefully, but that Mr. Husking had con-
trived to drop altogether the Pneumatic principle from the
Bill of that undertaking. A great mass of minor charges
were preferred against the Directors, such as of neglect-
ing the works, shutting up the office, and, in short, " doing
everything to bring the Association into contempt." The
Report stated farther, that the Directors had, some time
before the meeting in August, given orders to contract
the experimental line to 175 yards, instead of half a
mile, on the ground that there were not sufficient
funds ; that Mr. Pinkus had refused to submit to this pro-
position,u on r e
d promises
ft the
credit,r insufficiency
fora l
long
nogf
ttehremd, ifsotra nine
ae
t;e
rai
anlds
heeacdepssraorcy ; and would undertake to complete the half mile in
three months, but that the Board would not accede to his
plans for laying down the length of line originally agreed
upon.
The Report concluded by stating that nearly three years had
elapsed since the Association was formed for carrying into ope-
ration the practical demonstration of the Pneumatic System,
which ought, tinder proper management, to have been accom-
plished in six months, but which has been retarded by certain
private speculations on the part of some of the Directors, and
chiefly by unfair transactions on the part of the professional
Director. That it is still the opinion—not only of the Direc-
tors, but of all scientific persons, that they have the fullest
conviction of the efficiency of the Pneumatic System, and that
it will be found superior to every other mode of transit now in
use. That Mr. Pinkus had made the greatest pecuniary and
personal sacrifices to promote the interest of the shareholders,
of
to character,
replace h
andem ,
provided
by ofo
but that his efforts were thwarted by the Directors, whom the
tconsistency s
Committee recommended should be removed, and others cf
more activity
or the shareholders might not be made liable for
the predecessors responsibility their had incurred.
Mr. MORRIS read a letter, stating that the Directors of several
oaldanel be
nominated firmness
railways in b eland, had expressed their intention of adopting the
conduct,doina
they s h
pneumatic principle, as soon as its success should have been
demonstrated on an experimental Hear, hear.)
It was then proposed, seconded, and carried unanimously,
that the Report of the Committee just read be adopted, and
that every shareholder be entitled to a copy.
A vote of thanks was carried unanimously to the Committee
of Inquiry, and to the Secretary of that Committee in parti-
cular, for their attention to the affairs of the Association dur-
ing a laborious investigation; also, amid much applause, a
vote of thanks to Mr. Pinkus, for his generosity, ability, and
perseverance, in promoting the interests of the shareholders,
under the very trying circumstances in which he had been
placed by the Directors.
Mr. PINKUS, in returning thanks, remarked, that his object
in forming the Association had been more for the purpose of
forwarding a work of science than for pecuniary profit—
( Hear, hear)—that the Directors had caused much time to
be wasted ; that their conduct in not bringing the shares of the
Association into the market in the usual way had prevented the
raising of the necessary funds ; that he should look, not to the
shareholders, but to the Directors ; and in fact, it was his deter-
mination to commence legal proceedings against them. Ho ob-
served, that he should still labour to carry his principle into effect,
and that although the British patents were the property of the
Association, and might therefore be affected by the proceed-
ings of the Directors, he, Mr. Pinkus, should take means to
carry his plans into effect in England, so as to apply them to
other countries, the patents for which were exclusively his
own. Mr. Pinkus concluded by stating, that should the
—ROApplause.oK ROOKS
affair stop altogether, the shareholders should not lose by
h i m.(
mr. d and Mr. CLAYTON seconded a motion
which was carried unanimously, to the effect that the four
gentlemen who had constituted the Committee of Inquiry,
be reorganised as a Committee, with power to add to their
number, to watch over the property of the Association, com-
municate with the Directors, and co-operate with the projector.
A resolution was also passed, that a letter be written by
the Chairman in behalf of the meeting, calling upon the par-
ties who held property belonging to the Association not to
part with it, without the authority of the Shareholders and
Directors in public meeting convened. The resolution, it was
explained, was to prevent the Directors from selling the ma-
chinery, rails, &c., as they have given notice they intend to do.
Resolutions were also passed, authorising the Committee to
call upon the Directors for the production of books, accounts,
SLC-, &c , to pay a suitable remuneration to the clerk of the
Committee; also that, although three Directors form a
quorum, this number shall not in future be at liberty to re-
scind the decisions of a larger number.
The Chairman having vacated his seat, a vote of thanks was
unanimously carried for his able conduct in the chair, which
having been briefly acknowledged, the meeting separated.
The proceedings occupied nearly five hours.

Viscount and Viscountess Beresford's grand enter-
tainment to her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester
to-morrow evening will be the most elegant re-union of the
beau monde this season, and will include the elite of the
fashionable world. The invitations are not very numerous,
but select.

The Russian Ambassador, on Friday next, at Ash-
burnham House, will give a banquet of great splendour to the
Duke of Wellington, the Marquis of Salisbury, Lord Stuart
de Rothsay, and other personages of high note; and the
Countess Pozzo di Borg() will afterwards hold her first soiree
for the season.
It is rumoured that a marriage is on the tapis be-
tween the daughter of a Noble Duke, possessing the most
elegant seat in Gloucestershire, and a private gentleman of
great wealth.