The Sun.
London, England, 1847-09-28 00:00:00

RAILWAY SHARES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SIR,—Having observed in your journal of Friday's
date a letter from one of your correspondents, eau•
tioning the holders of railway property not to sell at
the present depressed rates, and insinuating that there
exists an extensive practice of overbearing the market,
and particularly so in Manchester, I beg to state,
for your information, that your correspondent is in
error in imagining that " bear " operations in the
Manchester market have been a great medium of re-
ducing the value of shares. On the contrary, we have
suffered most severely from extensive purchases
having been made by operators who have had neither
the will nor the ability to take up large quantities of
stock, so that at the account day, or immediately be-
fore, the shares have been forced on the market, and
afterwards sold at a ruinous sacrifice. Within the
last day or two we have had a very striking instance
of this ; as a very respectable broker in our Exchange,
having bought considerably into a well-known line,
by the order of a principal for whom he had fre-
quently been in the habit of operating, has been made
the victim of the reckless speculation of his em-
ployer, who was perfectly aware that in the event of
heavy loss, he had neither the means of taking up the
shares or even of paying the difference of price if
increased.
No doubt some imprudent " bear" operations have
been occasionally entered into, but as the stock, when
st,ld, must be delivered at a certain day, the "bear"
has frequently to pay smartly for his folly in selling
that which he does not possess.
I earnestly trust, with your correspondent, that
brighter days are dawning for us in the railway
share-market; I must, however, confess that, in my
experience, I have found that the great fault of rail-
way operators has not been a too general disposition
to realise, but a tendency to hold with the greatest
tenacity, clinging to the last to the delusive hope that
some sudden charge will enable them to sell to ad-
vantage, when they ultimately find themselves em-
barrassed. with a quantity of almost worthless paper,
and intimidated by a fearful liability of future calls
which they have not the means to meet.
Unfortunately, railway property has been too ex-
clusively held by a class of smaller capitalists, who
have neglected the legitimate channels of their ordi-
nary occupations, to enter into these speculative ope-
rations. Nor can we ever hope to see a permanent
restoration of confidence in the railway market till
this style of investment settles down into the hands of
capitalists who have both the power and the intention to
pay up all the calls, and to provide for all the liabili-
ties incurred by purchasing this description of pro-
perty.
I have been induced to trouble you with these
remarks, as I have always observed a tone of candour
and impartiality evinced in the pages of your valuable
journal; and I feel assured you would extremely
regret to be the means of promulgating any state-
ment not substantially correct.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Yours, very repectfully,
A MEMBER OF THE MANCHESTER
Manchester, seSpTt.O2CSK,
18E4X .
7.CHANGE

THE CHINZSE MUSEUM, Bow.—On Saturday last
upwards of 600 children, belonging to the school of
George Green,
Esq., at Poplar, were admitted gratuit-
ously to the Chinese exhibition, on the invitation of the
proprietor. The young folks went to and from the
collection in procession, and on retiring gave full ex-
pression to their wonder and delight. Ayow, the young
Chinese, was an object of great attraction. Mr. Green
and a party of friends accompanied the schools.
TAKE CARE OF THE PENCE.--The careful savings
by a female lately deceased, arising principally from
pence and farthings, has amounted to the sum of 1,5001.
She was for many years a resident of Berkshire, and
has bequeathed to the Windsor Dispensary the sum of
201. ; and after leaving a few other legacies, amounting
to about 1001., has left the remainder to a female ac-
quaintance.
MADEMOISELLE DELUZY.—The investigation into
the affair of Aladile. Deluzy in still going on. Several
witnesses have been interrogated, and commissions to
examine have been forwarded to several tribunals in the
country, and especially
i
to that of Melun, to inquire into
matters anterior th the period of the crime, and con-
n cted more particularly with the position of Mdlle. De-
luzy in the Praslin family. It is not until after those
inquiries have been concluded that she can be again
examined. She is now kept less strictly than before,
and has received permission to receive certain visits.
GAME LAws.—We understand that the premium
of twenty guineas, offered by the East Lothian Anti
Game-law Association for the best essay on the moral,
ste ill, and economical effects of the g othereae-1 udg
ws, has bs,een
and thje to
award, d by Mr. Bright, M.P.,
Mr. John Cheine Shepherd, farmer, Gleghornie, near
North Berwick. It may be mentioned as another indi-
cation of the universality of the feeling against the
game-laws among the tenant-farmers, that Mr. Shep-
herd the successful essayist, is a Conservative and Pro-
rectioni6t, and distinguished himself by debating the
corn-law question against Mr. Cobden at Haddington.—
Scotsman.
INCREASE OF RAILWAY TRAFFIC.—We learn from
the Great Western traffic returns that during the last
13 weeks the receipts have, without the opening of a
single additional mile of railway by the company during
the last 12 months, exceeded those of the corresponding
13 weeks of the last year by no less a sum than 11,5001.,
or nearly 1,000/. per week. A remarkable fact con-
nected with this increase is, that, notwithstanding the
depressed condition of the mercantile world, the Great
Western Company have, during the last two weeks,
carried more goods of a general description than
they had ever previously conveyed in the same
period. The goods' receipts for the last week amounted
to 5,2801. If this increase of receipts over those for the
corresponding period of last year be maintained, and the
continuous character of it promises well for its perma-
nence, the company, which, it will be recollected, carried
a disposable balance of 25.000/. and upwards to the
ure-
venue account last half-year, will be able to pay their
usual dividend of four per cent. :per annum for the six
months, without fslling back on the resources made
avai!able both by themselves and the London and North-
Western Company last half-year.
EXTRAORDINARY HIGH. TlDES.—Since Sunday
noon there have been three very high tides, which have
overflowed all the unprotected parts of the river side,
and in some instances overtopped embankments of no
mean height, and consequently doing considerable
mischief by the inundating of warehouses and other
buildings; but the most extraordinary of these tides was
that of Sunday afternoon, when the water was higher
than it has been for two or three years past. Bankside,
the lower parts of Lambeth, the large open space in front
of Lambeth Church were all under water. At Chelsea
College the tide rose over the embankment wall, and,
flooding the ornamental canals, laid the gardens under
water. Above Battersea-bridge, the Fulham Lammas
lands were one sheet of water, as far as the eye could
reach. The lawns in front of Sir Frederick Roe's, Mr.
Sullivan's, and Mr. Horsley Palmer's residences were
inundated, and the water reached nearly to the houses.
On the opposite shore the tide had established a right of
entering into the dwellings of poor fishermen and others
living at the water side, Wandsworth, and inundated
them to the extent of two or three feet. The tide had
so influenced the Wandle that it soon overflowed its
banks, and the plain at Wandsworth was one wide sheet
of water. At Putney bridge the Sunbeam and other
steam-boats could :not pass through, and they landed
their passengers on the bridge itself, literally a very easy
task. Above the bridge the towing paths were :many
feet under water, and the barge horses could not travel
for some hours. The wind blew steadily from the N.E,
and was in the same quarter yesterday.
SHEFFIELD AND ROTHERHAM BANK FORGERY.--
During the race week at Doncaster, forged notes on the
Sheffield and Rotherham Batik were paid to about
fifteen tradesmen of that town, in the course of business,
by different parties. Some of these daring swindlers,
in order to accomplish their purpose, assumed an
unlit of
remarkable difficulty in being pleased with the qly
of the goods according to the price asked; evincing, at
the saute time, a reluctance to purchase, with the view
of eluding suspicion en the part of the seller.—Sliegield
Times.