The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-23 00:00:00

CALEDONIAN RAILWAY.

A meeting of the shareholders in the above railway, resi-
dent in London, was held yesterday afternoon, at the London
Tavern, to decide upon the course they would pursue at the
ensuing half-yearly general meeting, advertised to be held in
Edinburgh on the 31st instant. Mr. Lewis Jacobs, of Crosby-
square, was called upon to preside.
The CAAIRMAN said, it would no doubt be in the recollec-
tion of many gentlemen that at a former meeting he was
appointed to go over to Edinburgh to protest against the
issue of the preferential shares. He did se; but, upon the
representation of the directors, he felt himself called upon to
withdraw his opposition to that measure, and the shares had
since been issued. Another source of complaint was the
system of guarantees which the company had been
pursuing. He made known the wishes of the English
shareholders upon that paint, and had pointed out
to the board the fact of nine-tenths of the share-
holders residing in England, which justified them in
asking that they should be more adequately represented in
the direction than they were at present, and that the half-
yearly meetings of the company should be held alternately in
Edinburgh and London. With reference to the latter sugges-
tion, the chairman (Mr. Hope Johnstone) admitted that the
principle was just, and he seemed to think that there would
be no objection to holding all important meetings in London ;
but! with regard to the question
of making changes
in the direction, he did not think it would be
expedient to make such a change till the en-
tire line was finished, which would be in about
twelve months. Since he had been over to Edinburgh he
had had his attention drawn to the circumstance of the di-
rectors intending to convert the preferential shares into
quarters, and place them on the same footing as the original
501. shares. Now, had he been in possession of this informa-
tion at the time it was proposed to issue these shares, he cer-
tainly should not have withdrawn his opposition to the mea-
sure, but it was now too late to renew the protest against these
proceedings, and it was for the meeting to determine what
steps should be taken in furtherance of the one object they
must all have in view, namely, the improvement of their
property. He thought it right, however, to mention before
he sat down that he was convinced the board was composed
of men of the highest honour and respectability; and in a
letter he had received from the chairman, he was told that
it was not their intention to submit any question to the next
half-yearly meeting, in reference to the guarantees, nor did
they intend to proceed with any branch lines without con-
sulting the shareholders at meetings that might be held in
London.

Mr. TiTE said they were much indebted to the Chairman
for his statement; but it was quite clear that the directors
were anxious to do the best they could to meet the wishes of
the English shareholders. He would, therefore, suggest that
the meeting should be adjourned until after the next half-
yearly meeting had been Leld. He could at the same time
assure the shareholders, that if their direction had been com-
posed of any other than local shareholders, the line never
could have been made by this time, while he was equally con-
vinced that the directors had no alternative but to issue
the preferential shares which had given rise to so much dis-
satisfaction.

......................
After a short discussion Mr. Tile's suggestion was unani-
mously agreed to, and in the mean time the chairman was
instructed to communicate to the directors that it was the
wish of the English shareholders that no further guarantees
should be entered into.
The meeting then terminated.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.
OLD COURT.

STEALING A 101. Coldred, described as a
spinster, aged 20, was indicted with *Sling a 101. bank
note, the property of Miss Charlotte Dense, of Ealing.
It appeared that the prosecutrix, on the 15th of June last,
went into a draper's shop at Ealing, kept by a Mr. Fountain,
for the purpose of paying an account. She took a 101. note,
and happened to leave it for a few moments on the counter.
The prisoner was a customer in the shop at the time, and
having made some excuse left rather hurriedly, and shortly
afterwards the 101. note was missed. The prisoner was a
servant in the employ of Dr. Wilkins, of Ealing.
On the day following the 15th, the prisoner,
in company with two other feinales, went to
the shop of Messrs. Williams and Halton, linen-drapers, Ox-
ford-street, and purchased a shawl and some other articles,
for which the note produced was given in payment. It was
proved that the note was one of a number of notes which
was in possession of the prosecutrix, and that it had been
paid by Messrs. Williams and Co. into their bankers, but
there was no proof that it was the identical note which was
given in payment of the articles purchased.
The RECORDER thought, therefore, that as it had not been
shown that the prisoner ever had the identical note in her
possession, no case could be established against her.
The jury, after a brief deliberation, returned a verdict of
Not Guilty.

MORTALITY in the METROPOLIS.

NUMBER OF DEATHS FROM ALL CAUSES REGISTERED IN

THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, AUG. 19, 1548.
Epidemic, Endemic, and Contagious Diseases ... 384
Diseases of Uncertain Seat ... ... 35
Turbercular Diseases... ... 159
Diseases of the Brain, Nerves, and Senses... ... 109
Diseases of the Heart and Blood-vessels ... 28
Diseases of the Lungs, and other Organs of
Respiration SO
Diseases of the Stomach, Liver, and other Organs
of Digestion... 75
Diseases of the Kidneys, &c. 11
Childbirth, Diseases of the Uterus, &c. 5
Diseases of the Joints, Bones, and Muscles ... 5
Diseases of the Skin, &c. ...
Malformations—. ... 2
Premature Birth ... ... 17
Atrophy ... 28
Old Age 29
Sudden ... ... 5
Violence, Privation, Cold, or Intemperance ... 27
Causes not specified 20

DEATHS PROM ALL CAUSES ...

... 1,019

Population Average weekly Deaths
Enumerated. Deaths, 1843-7. in the
1841• Five Bummers. Week.
West Districts— 800,711 .. 142 ... 145
North D.4triota.. 375,971 .. 182 ... 192
Central Distr!zts 373,653 ... 178 ... 188
East Districts ... 392,444 ~. 219 ... 208
South Districts .. 501,190 ... 251 ... 286

Totals... ..... 1,948,369 ... 972 ... 1,019
Males ...
Females ... ... ... ... ... 513