The Sun.
London, England, 1870-10-29 00:00:00

£708,700

The agreement with the Bristol and Exeter Railway, the Acts
of Parliament, and the Company's Scheme of Arrangement,
may be seen at the offices of the solicitors of the Devon and
Somerset Railway Company, Messrs. Comm and WAINWRIGHT,
9, Staple Inn, London, of whom any further information may be
obtained.

Applications, accompanied by the payment of MO per cent.,
will be received on the enclosed form, which must be filled up
and forwarded to the NATIONAL PROVINCIAL BANK OF ENG-
LAND, 112, Bishopsgate Street Within, London, or its branches,
or to Messrs. FIELD, WOOD, and HATNEO, Stockbrokers, 9,
Warnford-court, Throgmorton-street, E.C., to whom :applica-
tions for Prospectuses should be made,
9, Warnford-court, Throgmcmton-street,

London, 28th 06tober, 1870.

THE DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS OF THE
DEVON AND SOMERSET RAILWAY

DIRECTORS.

The Right Hon. the_ LORD_ POLTIMORE, Poltimore Park,

near Exeter, Devon,

Chairman.

John Arthur Locke, Esq., North Moor House, Dulverton,

Somerset, Deputy-Chairman.
Sir Wm. G. Throckmorton, Bart., Buckland, Faringdon, Berke,
Thomas Collett Sandars, Esq., Minchenden Lodge, Southgate.
Henry Georges Moysey, Esq., Bathealton Court, Wellington,

_ ... . .. _ .
Somerset. .. .
John Thomas Nash, Esq., South Molton Court, Devon.
Charles Frederick Clements, Esq., 3, Porchester-square, London,

ENGINEER.
Richard Hassard, Esq., 1, Westminster Chambers,

Victoria-street, S.W.
SOLICITORS.
Messrs. Combe and Wainwright, 9, Staple Inn London.
Messrs. Riccard and Son, South Molton, Devon.
BANKERS.

The National Provincial Bank of England, 112, Bishopsgate•streei
Within, London, E.C., and its Branches.
SECRETARY.
R. M. MUGGERIDGE, Esq.

Offices :-13, Little Queen-street, Westminster, London, and
Taunton, Somerset.

Messrs. Field, Wood, and Haynes, in bringing this Stock
before the public, call their attention to the following facts :
The Devon and Somerset Railwa. 42 miles in length (shewn
on the accompanying map, coloured red), commences at Norton,
near Taunton, Somerset, forming a Junction with the Bristoland
Exeter Railway there, and terminates at Barnstaple, Devon,
crossing by a direct route from east to west, Milverton, Wivelis-
combe, Bampton, Dulverton, North and South Molton, Swin-
bridge and Landkey, saving nearly 42 miles on the existing
route from the West of England to Bristol and the North, and
bringing the entire district traversed, within much easier reach
of the Metropolis.

The Devon and Somerset Railway possesses peculiar advan-
tages as regards traffic, as, from the great saving of distance,
it will not only command a remunerative passenger and goods
traffic, but, in addition, an important coal and mineral traffic
from the surrounding districts which this Railway will open
up, there being to the northward of this line, and between
It and the Bristol Channel, upwards of 400 square miles of
rich mineral and agricultural country, unprovided with railway
accommodation, and to the southward, upwards of 200 miles,
more than half of which is similarly unprovided.
. .

The present route from the north, mirth-east, and east, to
Barnstaple and the West of England is (as a glance at the
map will show) round via Taunton, by Exeter, a very circui-
tous route.

When the Devon and Somerset Railway is open, a saving
of nearly 40 miles in distance, and consequently economy of
time and expense will be effected by all traffic between the
Metropolis and places north of it and the large district which
will be served by the Devon and Somerset Railway, 'such
traffic then proceeding by the Great Western and Bristol and
Exeter Railways to Taunton, and thence by the Devon and
Somerset Railway direct, passengers and goods being booked
through by those companies.
By special agreement, confirmed by Act of Parliament, the
Bristol and Exeter Railway Company are to work the Devon
and Somerset Railway in perpetuity, and pay over to it half-
yearly 50 per cent. of the gross receipts.
Arrangements have also been made by which the Midland
Railway Company is under agreement to allow the Devon and
Somerset Railway 10 per cent. rebate on the traffic passing
over their line ; and the Bristol and Exeter Company have
agreed to allow a similar rebate of £5 per cent. on their line.
The traffic of the Devon and Somerset Railway, there is no
doubt, must be large, having regard to the important towns
it unites, and to the rich agricultural and mineral district it
will accommodate, as well as the saying of distance from the
Metropolis and North.
There will also, it may be confidently expected, be found a
special element of great future advantage, in the facility it will
offer for summer and excursion traffic to the beautiful and
favourite scenery of North Devon and Cornwall. The attrac-
tions of this district bring numbers, which are rapidly increas-
ing every year, to the West of England ; and the Devon and
Somerset Railway will offer to the whole of the manufacturing
districts of England, the readiest and far the shortest route, and
will traverse some of the most picturesque parts of North Devon.
With reference to the estimate of the probable traffic, it may
be observed that the North Devon line, running to Barnstaple
from Exeter, has a traffic of £22 per mile per week, and the
South Devon line from Exeter to Plymouth, £49 per mile per
week ; and the Directors have received a reliable estimate that
the traffic of this Line will reach £24 per mile per week, and
will ultimately be considerably more ; the receipts of the North
and South Devon lines together average £35 10s. per mile per
week.

The amount required annually to pay the interest on the A De-
benture stock is £16,200, and on the B Debenture Stock £8,300
per annum, so that, on the above estimate, the anticipate]. re-
venue would considerably exceed the sum necessary for such in-
terest, to which must be added the additional receipts from
rebates of traffic before mentioned, thus rendering the invest-
ment one of ample security.
Towards the construction of the 42 miles of Railway of which
the Devon and Somerset Railway consists, great progress has
been made, the works being now rapidly proceeded with :
the

Ist Section, from Taunton to Wiveliscombe, 10 miles, will be
completed in about 28 days, and by the arrangements with the
contractor, for the due performance of whose engagements se-
curity has been given to the satisfaction of the Board of
Directors of the Company, the following periods have been
fixed for completing the entire line for traffic

2nd— Section, Barnstaple to South Molton,
12 miles .. j on 15th Feb., 1871.
grd and last Section, 20 miles .. on 30th June, 1871.
To ensure the punctual payment of the interest during the
last mentioned period upon the stock applied for, as well as for
a further period, up to 3 years, viz., to 30th October, 1873,
an amount sufficient for the purpose will be invested in Govern-
ment Securities, in the names of
JOHN ARTHUR LOCKE, ESQ.,
North Moor House, Dulverton, Somerset,
Deputy Chairman of the Devon and Somerset Railway,
and
EDMUND HAVILAND BURKE, Esq., M.P.,
13, Arlington-street, London,
who have consented to act as Trustees, and who will apply such
amount thereof as may be necessary to ensure the full and punc-
tual payment half-yearly to B Debenture Holders of such
Interest as it falls due, thus affording to the Company the most
ample time to develope its traffic after opening the line.
As a safe investment, English Railway Debenture Stock is well
known ; it possesses at once the advantage of a fixed income,
and that of rapid increase of value, and consequent augmenta-
tion of the capital invested. _

These featu'res apply specially to the Stock now offered, the
accompanying Table of the relative values of existing Railway
Debenture and other Stocks yielding 5 per cent. interest, as
compared with the 5 per cent. B Debenture Stock of the Devon
and Somerset Railway, now offered at £75, showing that when
the line is completely open for traffic the Stock must greatly
increase in value.