The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-26 00:00:00

EVENING SUN

SOUTH EASTERN RAILWAY.

'The Half-yearly General Meeting of the Proprietors of
this Company was held yesterday at the London Tavern,
for the purpose of receiving the Report of the Directors,
together with that of Mr. Cubitt, and a general state-
ment of the accounts from the Secretary.
Mr. BAXENDALE took the Chair at one o'clock, and
called on the Secretary to read the advertisement calling
the meeting together.
It was then moved that the common seal of the Com-
pany should be attached to the register of the Directors,
which was agreed to.
The Secretary then read the following Report of the
Directurs :
" Since the Half-yearly Meeting in May last, the
progress which has been made in those portions of the
line between Tunbridge and the junction with the
Brighton Railway:has been such as to confirm the opi-
nion then expressed by the Directors, that that district
may be opened for traffic before the next Half-yearly
Meeting of the Prisprietorsi
• i-
The contrAct, for ballasting the liqe and laying the
perm:mots wayldbatsveen Redstone-h7ll. and Tunbridge
has beUn some time in operation, andthere is reason to
believe that the eastern portion,, abottt eleven miles_ in
length, will be completed before the end of the Year,
leaving about nine miles to complete, which the Con-
tractor is under an engagement to finish early in the
spring of 1842.
" Under the recommendation of the Engineer-in-Chief
the Directors have adopted certain improvements in
form and description of sleepers, chairs, and fastenings ;
they have also substitilted, in lieu of iron pins, treenails
of compressed oak ; and from the experiments which
have been tried on that portion of the permanent way,
which has been laid for more than two miles, over which
the locomotive is daily passing, they have reason to ex-
press their perfect accordance in the principle, and their
approbation of the result.
" Eastward of Tunbridge, for a distance of thirty-four
miles, the line has been contracted for, and the works
are in progress. • A large portion of the brickwork on
that part of the line intended for the next opening has
been finished, and the contractor is bound to complete
and open the line to the Staplehurst Road, a distance of
twelve miles east of Tunbridge, by the Ist of July, 1842.
" That part of the line from the Staple hurst-road to
.Ashford, a distance of fourteen miles, is let to a respon-
sible contractor, to be opened in the year 1842. At
this point the Dover traffic will come upon the line, being
a distance of twenty miles from that place.
" Beyond Ashford another contract has been let, ex-
tending over nearly seven miles, the earthworks of which
requiring some time to co.nplete, it has been deemed ad-
visable to commence them at tht present time, in order
that their completion may be effected by the time the
line is in a condition to be opened to Folkstone. .

" The works in the Dover district have continued to
advance steadily and satisfactorily. The Warren and
Folkstorte contracts have been completed to formation
level, and arrangements have been made for driving the
Saltwood Tunnel and other works in that district.
" The Directors have the satisfaction to state that the
works have sustained no injury from the continued rains
to which they have been subjected ; the embankments
being nearly closed, the late wet weather has been of
considerable service in consolidating them ; they have,
however, instructed Mr. Cubitt to prepare a Report on
the subject of the works, which will be submitted to the
meeting.
" The whole of the land from Redstone-hill to Dover
has been contracted for, and in addition to the amount
already paid under that head, as shown in the accounts,
there remained on the Ist of October last a sum unpaid,
amounting to 53,0911., a portion of which has since been
paid.
" Of the 400 shares forfeited at the last meeting, fifty
were redeemed en the following day by payment of the
calls then due, and ninety-one were sold at prices real-
izing more than was owing upon them. There are now
1,405 shares in the hands of the Company.
"By Resolutions of the Board, dated Aug. 17 last, the
Directors declared forfeited 7,372 shares, which were
then in arrear ; since that date payment has been made
on 2,513 shares. Arrangements have been made for the
payment of others, and, unless between this period and
the day of meeting the remainder be redeemed by pay-
ment of the calls, a resolution for confirming the declara-
tions of forfeiture will be submitted to the meeting.
" There are, however, other cases in which the Di-
rectors have considered it more to the advantage of the
Company not to forfeit the shares, but have adopted
legal proceedings for the recovery of the arrears, and
they have reason to believe that in these cases the whole
will eventually be recovered.
" The necessity of increasing the proposed accom-
modation at the London-bridge station has been such,
that it became imperative on the Directors to co-operate
with the Brighton and Croydon Companies in its enlarge-
ment, and they doubt not that the Proprietors will give
credit for the attention and assiduity of the managers in
carrying out the works.
" On referring to the accounts of expenditure by the
Directors, it will be seen that payments have been made
to the extent of 18,3041. 3s. 4d., on account of the joint
station at London-bridge. It is desirable that provision
should be made to repay the amounts thus advanced from
the funds of this Company, and also to provide for the
future payment of those which will be required for that
object, and as power has been granted to raise the sum of
120,0001. fur the express purpose of the station at Lon-
den-bridge, it is proposed to submit to this meeting
a resolution authorising the raising of that amount, or
any part of it, agreeably to the provisions of the Act
under which such power was given.
" In concluding their Report, the Directors desire to
express their unabated confidence in the soundness of
their undertaking ; convinced, as they are, that, whether
regarding the cost of the hie, or the expected traffic re-
sulting therefrom, it must sooner or later prove itself
entitled to a better position than it now holds in the rail-
way world.
" The annexed account of the receipts and expenditure of
the Company shows a balance in hand of 26,361/. ss. Id."
The statements of the receipts and expenditure up. to
Ist October last were then read, showing receipts
788,852/. 2s. 9(1., and expenditure 762,490/. 17s. Bd.,
leaving a balance in the hands of the Company of
26,3 G t/. Gs. Id.
The SECRETARY then read the Report of Mr. Cubitt,
from which we make the following extract. After stat-
ing his belief that the line might be opened to Tunbridge
during the month of May next, as stated in former Re-
ports, it continued thus : •
" Since the last General Meeting in May, the works
between Red Hill and Tunbridge have been unrernYttingly
pushed forward ; and, but for unexampled wet weather
during the whole of the last month, all the embankments
upon that 20 miles of line would have been joined and
completed up to formation level ; as it is, however, there
does not remain a month's work to complete all the em-
bankments ready fur ballasting ; and, setting aside the
delay, the works are in a much improved state, from the
embankments having been well soaked and consolidated
before being ballasted, thus ensuring a more perfect rail-
way in the first instance.
" It is satisfactory to report that ample stores of bal-
lasting, of a most excellent quality, have been foundalong
the line, several miles of which, between Tunbridge and
Edenbridge, are already ballasted, and about three miles
of permanent way laid, on which the locomotive engines'
of Messrs. Betts (the contractors for ballasting and lay-
ing the permanent way) are at work night and day, with
the intention of completing, if possible, a line of perma-
nent way from Tunbridge to Edenbridge—a distance of
ten miles—by New Year's Day.
" The tunnel at Bletchingley is completed. with the
exception of its ends and entrances, and the whole will
be completed and ready for the rails by Christmas ; by
which time also, or the first week in January, I expect
the I,allasting sad laying the permanent way will be
commenced at the junction with the Brighton line, near
Red Rill.

"From the experience we have now had of the per-
manent way, as regards the efficiency of the sleepers,
chairs, and fastenings for the rails, I trust the Proprietors
will have every reason to be satisfied with that important
part of this railway, whether considered with regard to
efficiency, first cost, or ultimate maintenance of way.
In consequence of the storms, high tides, and wet
weather prevalent during the last month, various state-
ments were put forth in the public papers relative to the
effects of the rain and high tides upon different parts of
the coast, and which were set forth in such a way as to
induce the readers to suppose that injury of some kind,
or to some extent, had occurred to the works of the rail-
way now in progress between Dover and Folkestone.
u Under the:e circumstances, therefore, I deemed it my
to the general meeting, to go to Dover,
state of th works there,
duty, previous
and personally examine into the
as well as on the otherr portions of the line.e "In accord-
and accompanied by
of the last ywe'euerkCa to tir-
ance with this tee I,
the whole
man, we devoted nearly..
N cotnmencing at Dover and g -11::
objects of this ofinquiry'the line where works are iti-epTo`::
over every portion
geese, from thence to Red Hill at the junction with the
Brighton line.
It is therefore with
th much satisfaction, I can most
unequivocally state, that in no one instance have the
rains, injuriously affected
storms, high tides, or heavy
the works of this railway; hut (setting aside the loss of
time occasioned thereby) have in some instances been
attended with advantage.
"At Dover, it is true, the extraordinary high tides
Lute both east
have interfered with the general Coast
and west of the town, but not to
greater extent than
it is also true, that
has occurred at former periods ;an
the late very heavy rains have acted upon the Chalk
Cliffs so as to cause portions of tfit in to fall, but this, as
.
regards the Shakspeare Cliff, where the falls have prin-
cipally occurred, has no interference with the Railway
Works, as the Shakspeare Tunnel was d riven throughor the very purpose
and at the back of that promontory for
of avoiding such casualties.
And 'as regards the falls of
chalk on the other parts of the Cliff connected with
the works, none have occurred but where the same was
- •
in course of being removed in trimming down the
_
Cliffs to a safe slope, or where it has all along formed
part of our plans to have it removed ; and in one case,
the point or promontory of chalk between the west
entrance of the Shakspeare Tunnel and the commencement
of the sea wall, I have had plans, sections, and estimates
prepared for its removal for more than twelve months,
and nothing but the great cost (from 8,000/. to 10,0001.)
combined with the hope and expectation that it would
come down of itself in time, and the circumstance of
wanting the means more in the Tunbridge division,
deterred me from having_ it removed before this time. I
am happy, however, to find that my expectations as to
its coming down even without help are likely to be rea-
lized during the ensuing winter, and thus a large expense
saved, and the face of the cliff at that point rendered
perfectly safe. It is also gratifying to me to be able to
state that our great work, the sea wall, which is in various
states of progress in different parts, has withstood all
the storms and high tides, and without injury, and
already forms a most perfect security to the foot of the
cliffs against which it is built; both by protecting
them from the action of the sea in front, and perfectly
draining them thy
Means of culverts built in for that
Purpose) from tll e land and spring waters at the back ;