The Sun.
London, England, 1849-04-12 00:00:00

COURT CIRCULAR.

WINDSOR, WEDNESDAY.
The Queen, accompanied by their Serene Highnesses
the Countess Erbach and the Princess Amelie Hohen-
lohe Schillingsfurst, walked this morning in the grounds
around the Castle.

Her Serene Highness the Princess Elise of Hohenlohe
Schillingsfurst was prevented from arriving at the Castle
yesterday evening.
The Royal Family took their usual airings to-day.
The royal dinner party at the Castle this evening will
include her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, her
Serene Highness the Countess Erbacb, her Serene High-
ness the Princess Amelie of Hohenlohe Schillingsfurst,
Lord and Lady John Russell, Lady Augusta Bruce,
Baroness de Spell; the Marquis of Breadalbane. Sir
George Couper, the Commanding Officer of the Grena-
dier Guards, Colonel Spencer Stanhope; and the Com-
mending officer of the 21 Life Guards, Colonel M'Douall.
The band of the 2d Life Guards attend during dinner.
The Queen's private band attended yesterday evening in
the Castle and performed the following pieces:—
Overture, "Le Domino Noir" . Auber.
Final?, Ist act, " Marie" Herold.
Selection " Iphigenie" Gluck.
Kricges Kirsch, " Athalie" Mendelsohn.
Die Grenzboten Walzer

DRAINAGE (IRELAND).--A return yesterday pub-
lished by order of the House of Commons, on the motion
of Colonel Dunne, M.P., shows that the quantity of land
in Ireland originally estimated to be improved by drain-
age works amounts to 302,840 acres ; the quantity of
land f, and to be benefited by the proposed works to
341,567 acres ; the sums of money hitherto expended
on the said works, up to the 31st of December last, in-
cluding the interest on borrowed money, to 602,2661. ;
and the further sums estimated as necessary for the
completion of the said works, from the Ist day of
January, 1849, to 1,027,353/.
THE Lusa POOR-LAW.—Since Parliament ad-
journed for the Easter vacition, two blue-books have
been published in due eourse, both bearing on the subject
of the Irish Poor-law. The first is the third report from
the Select Committee of the House of Commons, appoint-
ed on the sth of February last, containing merely the
minutes of the evidence hitherto taken, which extend
over a space of nearly 200 pages. The second blue-
book contains the first report from the Select Committee
of the House of Lards appointed to inquire into the
operation of the Irish Poor-law, and the expediency of
making any amendment in its enactments. This docu-
ment is, in like manner, confined to the minutes of evi-
dence, covering a space of nearly 300 pages.
A Sow LIVING FOR FIVE WEEKS WITHOUT FOOD.
—A farmer at Brickendon lately missed from his pig-
gery a fat sow, weighing 16 stone. About five weeks
after. a servant, on entering a barn on the premises,
heard a noise something between a moan and a grunt;
she communicated her suspicions to her mistress that
the noise came from the sow; her statement was disre-
garded at the time, but as she asserted that she heard
similar sounds on entering the barn on the following day,
it was determined to inquire into the cause. The floor
of the barn was taken up, and underneath was disco•
vered a sow, worn to a skeleton. The barn is ele-
vated from the ground, being built upon transverse rows
of brickwork, and the sow had crawled under the floor-
ing, till it got fixed between two rows of the brickwork,
and was unable to tarn. It must have remained in this
painful position without food for five weeks. The poor
animal, which weighed 16 stone when it was missed,
only weighed 5 stone when it was discovered, having
wasted no less than 11 stone. When released, it could
not rise from the ground; but, after having some milk,
it walked, and is now improving rapidly—in fact, getting
quite fat again.—Hereford Mercury.
[ADVERTISEMENT.]—Amputation again prevented
by Holloway's Ointment and Pills.—Extract of a letter from
Mr. S. Smith, 69, Capel- street, Dublin, dated March 13,1849.
—To Professor:Hollovray : Dear Sir,—l think it only my duty'
to inform you ant the public, of the wonderful cure your
Ointment and Pills have effected on me. For three years I
had a dreadful wound in my leg, I tried all the Faculty in this
city, but to no'purpo3e ; they informed me Ethat nothing could
save my life, but amputation. I was then advised by a cele-
brated doctor to use your remedies, which in a brief per;od
have healed my leg, and made it as strong as it formerly was.
Sold by all Vendors of Medicine, and; at Professor Holloway's
Establishment, 244, Strand, London.

NARROW ESCAPE FROM DROWNING.—Three offi-
cers of the Royal Engineers attempted, on Sunday af-
ternoon, between five and six o'clock, to row through
Rochester-bridge against tide, and after being thwarted
in two attempts they foolishly endeavoured the tt ird
time, and were upset. Two of them laid hold of the
Po the third caught one of the oars, and, assistance
being promptly rendered, they escaped with only a duck-
ing, but at the imminent peril of their lives.---illaidaorte
Journal.

THE YORK, NEWCASTLE, AND
BERWICK IR AILwAy.
THE REPORT OF TEE COMMITTEE AP-
POINTED TO INVESTIGATE THE GREAT
NORTH OF ENGLA,ND PURCHASE AC-
COUNT.
Chairman--RoBieRT PRANCE.
FORATIO LOVE. JOHN SHIELD.
JOHN CLAYTON. ROBERT DENISON.
Secretary—E. H. LAWRENCE.
The agreement for the purchase of the Great North of
England Railway was entered into provisionally in the
month of June, 1845, and the Act of Parliament for
carrying out that agreement passed on the 27th of July,
1846.
At the time when such agreement was entered into,
and such Act passed, Mr. Hud.son, the chairman of the
York, Newcastle, and Berwick Railway, had not any
share or interest in the Great North of England Rail-
way, nor were any shares ever allotted to him.
The terms on which the several classes of shares in
the Great North of England Railway were agreed to be
purchased by the York, Newcastle, and Berwick Rail-
way Company were as follows, the principal of the pur-
chase-money of each class being payable ou the Ist of
July, 1850:—
The 1001. shares at 2501. each, with interest at 10 per
cent. per annum on 1001. in the mean time.
The 40/. shares at 601. premium per share, with in-
terest at 10 per cent. on 401., deducting 4 per cent. on
amount uncalled.
The 301. shares at 451. premium per share, with 5 per
cent. interest on calls until July, 1847, and 10 per cent.
afterwards on 301. until paid off.
The 151. shares, on which 11. 10s. only had been paid,
at 221. 10s. premium per share, with interest at 5 per
cent. on calls to the Ist of July, 1849, and afterwards
interest at 10 per cent. on 151. until paid off.
On the 26th of October, 1846, a special general meet-
ing of the shareholders in the Yerk, Newcastle, and
Berwick Railway was held at York, when a stock was
created on which 6 per cent. per annum was guaranteed
till the Ist of July, 1850, in order to provide for " the
purchase of the Great North of England Railway and
works."
The object of this measure is stated to have been to
spread the payment for the shares of the Great North
of England Railway Company, amounting in the whole
to three and a half million sterling, over a space of three
years-and a half, instead of making that payment on one
day, viz., the Ist of July 1850.
After the conclusion of the business of the special
general meeting of proprietors on the 26th of October,
1846, a meeting of the directors was held, at which it
was resolved that the shares:in the Great North of Eng-
land Railway Company should be bought by the York,
Newcastle, and Berwick Railway Company, and that
Mr. Hudson alone should have the management of the
purchases. The directors are agreed that such a reso-
lution or understanding was come to at this. meeting.
But no record of it is to be found on the minutes of the
proceedings of the directors. The absence of such record
is ascribed by some of the directors to their wish to keep
ST secret its possible the fact of the company being pur-
chasers of shares; a knowledge of which fact might, in
their judgment, have had the effect of enhancing the price
of the shares in the market.
We cannot, however, admit this as any reason for
the omission, particularly as Mr. Hudson has himself
stated in his evidence (as the fact was), that it was well
known at that time that the company were purchasers of
the shares.
At this meeting Mr. Plews, one of the directors, sup-
posed from his connexion with the Great North of Eng-
land,Railway to be best qualified for the task,was requested
to make a calculation of the value to this company of
the different classes of Great North of England Railway
shares. On his return to his place of residence at Dar
lington, it appears that Mr. Plows prepared a statemen-
of the comparative value of the several classes of Great
North of England Railway shares, showing the separate
value
d a rj )
of
each (assuming the
class
mufsabrukreet
tprice p
aorft
yt he da y as
investing
hi s
moneysta n-
at
five per cent.
This statement, he believes, he transmitted either on
the 27th or the 28th of October, 1846, to Mr. Close, the
secretary of the company at York.
As this calculation of Mr. Plews has been much re-
ferred to in the evidence taken before us, we subjoin a
fac-simile of it.
N6Twlanelsstuhr
anedxpndd
Beerweiekbynatihhse directors,ny of
Companyitnhe York,
buying
Gri at North of England Railway shares up to the
205 f
7 1h409,44
of January7d.
last, amount in the aggregate to the sum
The first sale to the company was by Mr. Hudson
himself to the extent of 131,8671. 9s. 3d., to which sale
Mr. Hudson has assigned the date of the 27th of Octo-
ber, 1846.
It appears in evidence that Mr. Hudson had early, in
th'e mouth of October, 1846, begun to purchase the va-
rious classes of Great North of England Railway shares
on his own account, and that on the 27th of October,
1846, being the day after the special meetin;, he effected
the sale of his Great North of England shares to the
company.
The prices were fixed by Mr. Hudson himself, assisted
by Mr. • Close, and the principle alleged to have been
adopted was based on Mr. Plews's calculation;
lyebdourki ttthis
Great is
part of the thransaction appears to be involved in sorne
obscurity as to dates, for if the sale took place on the
27th of October, Mr. Plews's calculation of the value
of the shares
inthe
j
couldou r n
asic aorfctehl ye
company,
have
p be
day.llve
ti
North
on
of England Purchase Journal," the follow-
ingthate
entry without date.
Sundries, Dr.

To George Hudson and others.

... 21,631 10 0
... 5,187 0 0
X s. d.
... 67,539 0 0
1001. shares (151 shares)
... 36,240 0 0
B34150:1/1.: ks:ehhbraftaSrrr:::BBol(92ll4B2i-s‘sh:s Ita:osrahnerase)rs4
... 990 18 9
Transfer stamps
". ... 279 0 6

£131,867 9 3
This entry represents the whole amount of the Great
North of England Railway shares sold by Mr. Hudson
to the company, and the amount appears to have been
paid to him by two cheques on the York Union Banking
Company—the one for 81,1001,dated the 27th of October,
The cheques have been produced to
1846, and the other for 50,7671. 9s. 3d., dated the 27th
Pany, Messrs James Richardson
twoNovembe, 1846, both of which cheques are signed by
and
us, and the payments are entered in the banker's book,
and stand in the ledger of the company under their re-
spective dates.
paid to Mr.
The prices ••Hudson for these shares, corn-
pared with the market prices of the assigned date of the
h following results, vi •
RdiorbecertotrDs.ovfitehz c
sale, present the , z. .
Per Share. Market Price. Excess.
£ s. Per Share. X. a.

4.
151 100 Shares fixed by Mr.
reisce2e634ssolefvltseooohrealdac2yl3a6;slls:sfesB,o47f4; 55118988351532 h. shares
the price assigned by Mr.
1,
the market price of the day,
3941121"34:0°n at.•••••::**•..."
CcM2o:mola 71:4hpei
eant
compared
ebdtdaih
with
difference
rltt
eahsnl
t.
cehesxehc
shares
rse
market
srwkoaene
net
between
ph
and Mr. Plews's calculation, is no less than 2/. 10s. per
share. In the evidence given before us, Mr. Close as-
cribes this difference to a mistake occasioned by an erro-
neous combination on his part of figures taken from Mr.
Plews's calculation, which gave a result of 241. 3s. 6d.
per share as the value of these shares, whilst the market
price of the day was only 211. per share, which, in fact,
was the value assigned to them by Mr. Plows.
Asa difference of opinion exists in the committee re-
specting this explanation, we leave it, without comment,
in the bands of the proprietors.
The number of these shares sold by Mr. Hudson to the
company being very considerable, the company, in this
part of the transaction, paid in excess of the market price
of the day, to the extent of 7,185/.
This, however, cannot be taken as the measure of the
injury to the company, inasmuch as the purchase of so
l large a
dnourmbe r
i ngt
hoof
ms
tehs by Mr. H
of
thema
October,uds
r market
Hudson, npi
price i
coeu htois own
fanthyeci ac-
count
2u7etsh
lion contributed to enhance
of October.
Of this sum Mr. Hudson repaid. , on the 19th of
February last, 2,874/., under the circumstances after
stated.

We think it due to Mr. Hudson to append his state-
ment with respect to this transaction :
" In fixing the price which I thought in fairness I
ought to receive from the company, the price estimated
by Mr. Flews, and shown to me by Mr. Close, was
241. 3s. 6d. per share as a price at which it was advan-
tageous for the company to purchase; and I then di-
rected Mr. Close to put them down to the company at
231. los. per share, and I never discoiered that there
was any error, or doubted that the transaction was per-
fectly correct, until Monday morning before the meeting,
coming to York, I was looking at the average price put
in the statement, it struck me that the average looked
very high; but before the statement was sent out it was
submitted to a meeting of the board, and although some
of the directors went into the calculations, yet none of
them made any remark as to the high average of these
shares. Upon arriving in York I went into Mr. Close's
office, and I stated to him that the average looked very
high, and asked of whom had been bought the largest
number of these shares. He referred to the books of
the company, and stated they were principally bought of
me. I said, Theft turn to see what are the prices
given for the same description of shares to other
parties, upon which, seeing that the shares
taken of me were at a higher price than those taken of
other parties, I said, I must pay the 11. call due upon
them immediately, and after the meeting you and I must
go carefully into that account, and we must have the
matter set right." Mr. Hudson accordingly drew a cheque
on his own bankers for 2,874/., which was paid on the
19th of February to the Great North of England Rail-
way account, being 1/. per share remaining uncalled on
2,874 15/. shares.

Sir John Simpson confirms this statement thus far:
he states—" That he was present at the board meeting
of the directors, on the 20th of February last, and heard
Mr. Hudson say to Mr. Close, ' 1 am sure, or I am satis-
fied, there is something wrong in these 151. shares; we
must look into it after the meeting.' "
With the power Mr. Hudson possessed of giving this
explanation, it is to be regretted that he should have
moved the adoption of the report, including the Great
North of England purchase ;account, by the meeting of
the 20th of February, without making any correction or
noticing the existence of any error.
We have felt it our duty to endeavour to trace the pur-
chase by Mr. Hudson of all the shares included in his
sale to the company, and to ascertain the dates of the
purchase, and the price at which they were bought,
which seemed to be important with reference to the
principle that Mr. Hudson must be considered as having
made those purchases in the character of a trustee fur
the comptsuy) this i,squiry has been *Wattled with ccda.