The Sun.
London, England, 1846-06-15 00:00:00

RAILWAY COMMITTEES

(SATURDAY.)

HOUSE OF LORDS.
NORTH STAPPORDSHIRE.

The Committee cn the three branches of this line met
again shortly after eleven o'clock in Room B (New Houses
the
chair. Parliament). The Duke of Cleveland again took
chair. Their Lordships were all present.
said tha
t
aTtAtrc TALBOT, in n
hadanswer e
been
o ad
rqauwens t fromwhi theh he Chairman,thought,
would meet the views of the petitioner (Sir Henry Every),
and would meet the approbation of the Committee.
Mr. Parkes, the Parliamentary agent, was called to give
certain formal evidence.
The evidence of Mr. Bidder was then proceeded with. It
contained no point of interest beyond those contained in Mr.
Talbot's address, of which a full report was given in The
Sun of yesterday (Friday).
Mr. TALBOT then read the clause above referred to, which
was to the effect that " nothing in this Act contained shall
authorise or enable the said Company to purchase or take
any property belonging to Sir Henry Every, in the parish
of Eckington, without the consent in writing previously had
and obtained of the said Sir H. Every, or his heirs," &c.
Mr. Sergeant ALLEN objected to the use of the words " in
the parish of Eckington," which he said would not restrict
the Company from taking that part of the property which
was situated in the parish of Etwall, adjoining the parish of
Eckington. He therefore proposed the substitution of the
words " in the county of Derby."
Mr. Bidder said that there were no powers in the Act to
take property in the parish of Etwall.
Mr. TALBOT very strongly objected to the alteration, and
a long discussion ensued, which ended in the adoption of the
clause with the alteration proposed by Mr. Sergeant Allen.
Mr. TALnur then proposed a clause to refer the question
as to Mr. Cartwright's property to arbitrators, which
Mr. FLUND expressed himself prepared to accept with some
alteration.

Mr. TALBOT objected to this alteration and a long discus-
sion ensued, which ended in the room being cleared. In about
a quarter of an lour we were re-admitted, and
The CHAIRMAN said, that the Committee had resolved
upon a clause by which they thought both parties would be
satisfied.

Mr. FLUND, however, was not satisfied, and as the parties
could not agree,
The Committee ordered Mr. Flund to proceed with his
case.

Mr. FLUND said that before opening the case as to the
injury to his clients he had to raise a very grave objection,
which would be fatal to the further progress of the Bill. It

was this; there was no estimate for the Uttoxeter and Stoke-
upon-Trent Branch, which diverged from the Churnet
Valley line.
Mr. AusTIN—A mere standing order objection.
Mr. PARKES—It was disposed of in the Standing Orders'
Committee, and they declared the standing orders complied
with.

Mr. FLUND continued—He would call their Lordships'
attention to the 14th section of the 233 d Standing Order
" for the consideration of Committees on Bills," in which
they were directed to report the amount of the estimate for
each branch, and whether they were of opinion that they
were sufficient. Now, not only was there no special estimate
for this branch, but he could prove that the estimate for the
Bill was only sufficient for the main line (the Churnet Valley
line), and could not, therefore, be said to include the branch.
Mr. AUSTIN was about to reply, but
The CHAIRMAN stated, that if Mr. Flund had any wit-
nesses to call, he ought to call them before Mr. Austin
replied.

FLUND then called ?Ir. Hopkins, civil engineer, who
said that the estimate for the Churnet Valley line was barely
sufficient for that line, and could not include the Uttoxeter
ranch. He believed that it was intended as an estimate for
themain line, and that the branch was omitted from the cal-
culations. The branch could not be made within the esti-
mate.

He was cross-examined by Mr. AUSTIN, who endeavoured
to show that he (Mr. Hopkins) was incompetent to make the
calculations.

The Committee, without calling on Mr. Austin to reply,
ordered the room to be cleared. We were re-admitted in a
few minutes, and
The CHAIRMAN said—The Committee are of opinion that
the 14th section of the 233 d Standing Order is complied
with.

Mr. FLUND then said, that after the decision of the Com-
mittee, it would be absurd for him to attempt to oppose the
passing of the Bill, and to say that this important
district should not have railway accommodation. Neither
would he set up a case that there might be a better line
made. In short, his case was now one of compensation.
Mr. AUSTIN expressed his willingness to insert the same
clause which he had previously offered, by which the case
should be referred to arbitration.

The CHAIRMAN-Why there are but two courses left—to
refer it to arbitrators or to a jury. No clause was ne-
cessary.

An agreement was then made between the parties, to the
effect that the matter should be referred.

Some other clauses were adjusted, and the Bills were passed.
Their Lordships then finally rose.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.
GROUP XVII.

MANCHESTER AND SOUTHAMPTON AND
ROMSET AND REDBRIDGE BRANCH
(SOUTH WESTERN).
_ _

The Committee met this morning at the usual hour.
Mr. HOPE continued his cross-examination of Mr. Cope,
the gentleman employed to take the traffic of the line, with
respect to the mode in which he obtained the returns which
he handed in, and was examined at some length upon yester-
day. He detailed the various items and the sources from
whence he derived them, and explained that he had in his
estimate doubled the traffic, a course which he was perfectly
justified in adopting with respect to this line, as the
fact had been so frequently realised on established
lines—on the Manchester and Birmingham, for instance.
Those whom he employed for the purpose of collecting the
traffic were persons used to the employment. They were
paced at various stations in the course of the line, each
station being under the superintendence of a clerk well
versed in his vocation.

The witness was also examined by Sir T. PIITLLIPS on
the same points, and the Committee rose at three o'clock.

STANDING ORDERS' COMMITTEES.
HOUSE OF LORDS.
Lord Shaftesbury was the only member present at one
o'clock, the hour appointed for the meeting of the Committee
on their adjourning last evening.
There were but five Bills on the list, and the decisions
were as follows:

NORFOLK (DEREHAM, WELLS, AND BLAKENEY
EXTENSION).
Standing orders complied with.
LONDON AND SOUTH-WESTERN (HAMPTON
COURT BRANCH).
LONDON AND SOUTH. WESTERN (CHERTSEY AND
EGHAM BRANCH).
These two Bills, which stood over from a former day, in
consequence of the absence of a witness, were again called
on to-day, and, the proofs being completed, they were passed.
EAST OF FIFE.
This case stood over on account of the deficiency of some
formal evidence.
CAMBRIDGE AND OXFORD.
This Bill was passed.
It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to observe, that in each of
these five decisions the Committee was unanimous. His
Lordship having resolved himself into a Select Committee
on merits, proceeded with the case of the East Lincolnshire
Railway, the only Bill on the list. It was unopposed, and
after some formal evidence had been given it was passed.
The Committee adjourned at half•past two.

SHROPSHIRE MINERAL
WAY. SPECIAL MEETING.
A meeting of the shareholders of the Shropshire Mineral
Railway was held on Saturday at the London Tavern, in order
to receive a report of the committee appointed by the share-
holders at the general meeting of the Company, held on the
20th of February, 1846. •
The chair was taken at one o'clock precisely by Alderman
Copeland.
The CHAIRMAN then called upon Mr. Wilkinson to read
the report.
The report charges matter of such a grave and serious nature
against certain gentlemen, that we will abstain from mentioning
names, and confine ourselves to stating a few of the facts as
they are set forth in the report. A sum of .21,000/. was spent
in the purchase of shares, drawn by cheques en the share-
holders' money, and that by parties members of the finance
committee. It appeared that there were no less than eleven
members of the committee of management who never paid
upon a single share. The committee also discovered that in
two instantes blank cheques were torn from the cheque-
book, and no memorandum was entered on the counterfoil.
It was found out that one of _them, for 7,000/.,
was afterwards filled up, and that the name of Mr. Alder-
man Johnson, of Derby, was forged to it as the party in
whose favour it was drawn. As far as the Committee were
able to discover, it appeared that the purchase of shares
commenced in the month of October. The shares
were bought at 11, premium, and in two days, the 15th
and 16th of October, 1,0831. 15s. was spent, making, up to
to the 28th of last month, with the purchases made by other
members of the Committee of Management, a sum of 10,3901.
for insll brokers.
On the 30th of October a further sum of 7,8311. was invested
in the purchase of shares through the medium of two Man-
Another
eliester broke There was also a sum of 65/. 15s. charged
eoott that they had
of
uelxepenses incurred during the above operations.
bankers to the deheques amounted to 897/. ; and although
yet they had
ofom of them, there was n
the committee, and be
note n
been returnedprod
nboyedthtoe
.eay were consequently incapacitated
went on purpose to render any further
4,;11,1",:z. was also committed by
could
stated that an abstraction
?g,4t,hat after great
The report also
three of the directors, but for
getting baii,) not be
precisely known. The report
difficulty theysucceeded in
, which too shares, in
considered would be a great advantage to the comcgrittee
lIMAX stated that the persons connected with
A resolution, adopting the report, was passed, and Y•
The Cum
money were bound in law and e •
the abstraction of the . _ . . . quay
They had taken eminent legal ad-
would be forced to do so.
to refund it, and if they did not do ..o voluntarily, they
eat
vice upon the question, and they h
d
whole of it should be paid back; an athtif A or Bwere
were assured
not able to do so, C or I) should.
The meeting then resplved itself into a ge
the subscribers; Sergeant Adams in the chair.peral meeting of
and
previous transactions, then addressed the meetng,
The CHAIRMAN, who was wholly disconnected with thei
after having adverted to the painful position in which
he was placed, by being Chairman of a Company where
such improper conduct had been pursued, read: a number
of resolutions to the meeting, the effect of which were to
wind up the concern and to take legal and criminal pro
ceedings against the guilty parties.
Votes of thanks were then passed to Sergeant Adams ant
Alderman Copeland, and the meeting adjourned.

RAIL

WOOLWICH, JUNE 14.—HER MAJESTY'S ROYAL
YACHT rater. —This vessel having been thoroughly renovated at
the Messrs. Penn's establishment, at Deptford, left the river this day
(Sunday) morning for the Downs, to have some experiments made
to ensure correctness in her compass, the variations being very con-
siderable in many instances, and difficult to adjust in iron vessels.
Captain Johnson has six different and very ingenious plans prepared
to experiment with in the Fairy, as, In addition to the diffi-
culties attendant on an iron steam-vessel, the vibratory
motion given by the screw propeller, renders the compasses
unsteady, and liable to some degree of variation from that
cause. It may be interesting to know the manner in which
compasses of all vessels in the royal navy are adjusted by Captain
Johnson previous to leaving the river for service at sea. On the
vessels being
ready, they are taken to moorings at Greenhithe, and
an azimuth compass being set up on shore, another azimuth compass
is set up on board the vessel to be adjusted, and the party on board
and the party on shore exchange signals to denote the various points
of thecompass on board as the vessel is swung round at her moorings.
In some instances the difference on board of iron -vessels has been
nearly one-eighth of the compass, the needle pointing north-west
when it should have been due north. In these instances a table, cal-
culating the true bearings, Is given by Captain Johnson to Use
mas-
ters in charge of the vessels.