The Sun.
London, England, 1849-01-09 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.
SOUTH DEVON.
On Saturday the extraordinary general meeting of
the proprietors of this company was held at Exeter,
called by special requisition to the directors, to con-
sider and decide upon the question, as to whether the
atmospheric system of traction should be finally
abandoned, or be the subject of another trial.
There was a very crowded attendance of proprie-
tors, special trains having been placed for the purpose
of conveying them, both by the South Devon and
Bristol and Exeter lines.
At twelve o'clock, J. W. Woollcombe, Esq., chair-
man of the directors, entered with the following
members of the board :—Lord Courtenay, Charles
Russell, Esq., chairman of the Great Western Rail-
way ; Frederick Pratt Barlow, Esq., J. W. Buller,
Esq., T. Gill, Esq., M.P., Mr. Brunel, the engineer;
Mr. Badham, secretary of the Bristol and Exeter
Railway; Mr. Clarke, manager at Bristol, &c.
The CHAIRMAN, having read the requisition by
which the meeting was convened; rose and said that,
before they proceeded to the business of the meeting,
he was anxious to say a few words. All that was
necessary for him to remark would be to point out
that every expedition had been used on the part of the
directors to place before the shareholders their opinion
on the great question they had that day to determine.
The pamphlet by Mr. Gill, that had formed the sub-
ject of the requisition, was considered at the earliest
meeting of the board on the sth of December, when
a committee, consisting of himself, Mr. Russell, and
Mr. Buller, were appointed to investigate and report
upon the subject. On the Ist of January that report
was made after the first reference was made to the
committee. Had the report been made at an earlier
date, the committee would not have been able to do
justice to the subject referred to; for he need hardly
say that a period of twenty-six or twenty-seven days
was by no means too long for three gentlemen to come
to a conclusion, who were living more than 200 miles
apart, and who necessarily must have had to commu-
nicate not only with one another, but with their
officers on the subject.
Mr. CHILCOTT, the representative of a body of Bris-
tol shareholders, said be had come down to propose
some means by which, if possible, the company might
be put in a more healthy , tone and substantial
position, and thereby to restore confidence to the
shareholders. The pamphlet from Mr. Gill had at
last roused the shareholders from their apathy. This
had produced the meeting at Bristol, at which he
(Mr. C.), who had but one object in view, presided.
To show the unanimity of feeling which existed in
the minds of the proprietors, he had had put into his
hands, in the shape of proxies, 12,338 old shares and
half shares, which were together equal to 16,051
old shares. The plan he proposed was to appoint a
committee—(Long and vociferous applause)—not so
much in opposition to the directors, as to assist them
in gaining the confidence of the shareholders, which
they themselves seemed to think they had no power
to obtain. The resolution to which the Bristol meet-'
ing had come was, that a committee should be ap-
pointed to inquire into the statements contained in
the recent pamphlet published by Mr. Gill ; secondly,
to ascertain what was the most suitable mode of
working the South Devon Railway ; and, thirdly, to
inquire into the financial and other affairs of the
company, and to determine what measures were most
expedient to be adopted, and to report to the share-
holders at the general meeting in February next. He
begged distinctly to state his views with respect to
the atmospheric principle ; for many persons sup-
posed that he was its advocate, and that he wished
the proprietors to risk more money in that under-
taking. This he distinctly denied ; for he would not
spend one half-crown in any speculative undertaking
connected with the atmospheric. On the other hand,
if any one with security satisfactory to the company
would carry out that principle at his own risk and
with the consent of the engineer, he (Mr. Chilcott)
affirmed that they would be shutting their eyes to all
scientific improvement if they did not allow such a
trial to be made. Mr. Chilcott concluded amid
applause by proposing, "That a committee of share-
holders be appointed to inquire into the affairs of the
company, in the terms of the requisition dated the
16th of December last, and to report thereon simul-
taneously with the next half-yearly meeting, with
free access to all books, persons, and papers."
Mr. WILLIAM Fox (formerly a director) seconded
the resolution.
Mr. HAWSER (formerly a director) coincided as.to
the necessity of a committee of inquiry. It would
be unwise to abandon the atmospheric system all at
once, without seeing if there Were not some means of
making the already outlaid capital productive.
Mr. HUTTON, of Bristol, expressed a hope that
some steps would be taken by which the shareholders
might be enabled to inspect the books of the company.
Mr. Fxr, of Bristol, attended to oppose the con-
tinuance of the atmospheric principle of traction.
The late meeting at Bristol did not, it must be un-
derstood, represent the sentiments of the whole of the
proprietors resident there. Ile proposed an amend-
ment to the effect that " the suspension of the atmo-
spheric system on the 9th of November was a prudent
and necessary step, and that nothing had since oc-
curred to justify its resumption; that inasmuch as the
directors stated that no offer had been made to perfect
the system at the risk of other parties, measures
should be taken to realise for the company the full
value of the atmospheric property ; and finally, that
the directors be requested to direct their immediate
and earnest attention to the best means of reducing
the charge for locomotive working to the greatest
extent that circumstances may permit."—(Applause.)
The anticipation of the abandonment of the atmo-
spheric had already raised the price of shares in the
market considerably. The atmospheric, from the
commencement, had only been an experiment, and
the time was now come when they might assert that
it had failed. As regarded the comparative cost of
the atmospheric and the locomotive, upwards of
300,0001. bad already been spent on the atmospheric,
and it would cost 250,0001. more to extend the sys-
tem to Plymouth—that was, supposing the present
experiment to be successful. This would make the
cost 550,0001. for the atmospheric. He calculated
that 100,0001. would be sufficient for a locomotive
establishment, which, added to the sum already ex-
pended, would make 400,0001., from which was to
be deducted 50,0001. as the probable selling price of
the atmospheric apparatus, which would leave
350,000/. as the total cost, including locomotives, so
that they would save 200,000/. as compared with
finishing the atmospheric. While he found that the
cost per mile of working the locomotive was is. 4d.,
that of the atmospheric was ls. 7d., and it was unne-
cessary to add anything more in avour of the pro-
position.
Dr. TRIPE seconded the amendment. He con-
sidered the atmospheric to be a signal failure, and that
it ought finally to be abondoned.
Mr. SECOMBE contended, at great length, that the
atmospheric system was a failure.
Mr. FRANCE-considered it would be unwise finally
to abandon the atmospheric system without some en-
deavours being made to render the apparatus they had
expended so much money upon available.
The CHAIRMAN said he held in his band no fewer
than nine projects for carrying on the atmospheric
system, most of them, no doubt, very plausible, but
the directors had determined not to expend another
shilling on experiments of any sort.—(Applause.)
Mr. GILL, M.P., the late Chairman, then rose and
said he would take that opportunity of referring to
the reply of the directors to the pamphlet he had
published, two or three of the sections of which he
would notice. The Hon. Gentleman disclaimed all
ideas of mercenary or self- interested motives in adopt-
ing his present line of policy, and proceeded to show,
by elaborate calculation, that the figures in the direc-
tors' report were erroneous, that the cost of working
the atmospheric was over-estimated, and also that the
calculations of his own pamphlet were correct, seeing
that he had since tested them by the Great Western
accounts. He denied the accuracy of the directors'
statement altogether. All sorts of odium had been
attempted to be cast on him in the directors' report.
Imputations of inaccuracy, grossly inaccurate and ex-
aggerated inferences—facts kept out of sight, erro-
neous assumptions, dangerous fallacies, delusive conclu-
sions. Whether he had been guilty of all these it was
not for him to decide. Any information which he
possessed with respect to the property of the
shareholders he had always felt it his duty to give
when he was asked, unless such information might
be prejudicial to the interests of the company. He
had always acted on that principle. Since the publi-
cation of his pamphlet he had had numerous applica-
tions for information. He did not mean to disguise
that he had given information wherever it was desired
consistently with his position. It had been said that
he (Mr. Gill) had recommended them to continue to
111 r. Samuda's valve, but it must be borne in mind
that Mr. Samuda's altered valve was the best thing
that was before him. As Mr. Brunel, in his report,
had said it was quite possible that the valve might be
I made perfect, that was his (Mr. Gill's) reason for
his recommendation, but he had cause to believe that
Mr. Samuda's valve was not the best. He would not
say it was not the worst, for he held in his hand no
fewer than 25 projects, all of which he would put into
the hands of the committee if they would have one.
—(Cries of " We'll have one.") But there was one
of those projects to which he wished to call special
attention. The Honourable Gentleman then read
a letter which he had received from the agent of
Messrs. Clarke and Varley, in which they stated that
they were ready to lay down their system on the
South Devon line for two miles, to expend-10,000/.
themselves, to work the line for six months at their
own cost, and if at the end of that time the experiment
should be found to be unsuccessful, they would bear
the whole cost; but if it should be successful, they
would agree to lay the whole line down at 5,0001. per
mile, and to work it at ls. per train per mile. He
thought they would be insane if, they were to refuse
such an offer as this. The Hon. Gentleman, in con-