The Sun.
London, England, 1848-09-14 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.
SHREWSBURY AND BIRMINGHAM.
An adjourned meeting of this company was held at
Shrewsbury on Tuesday; Mr. W. Ormsby Gore, M.P.,
in the chair.
At the half-yearly meeting held at the same place, a
fortnight ago a good deal of divided opinion was ex-
pressed by various shareholders touching a seriesof reso-
lutions brought forward by. Mr.G. B. Thorneycroft, one of
the direators, to the effect that it "was expedient to raise
the sum of 155,0004, by the creation of preference
shares,•in•order to enable the directors to open the line
next spring. At that meeting an amendment was
moved by Mr. Thorne, of :Leamington, that no prefe-
rence shares be issued, but that the directors should en-
force the payment of all arrears of calls due on the ori-
ginal shares.
The CHAIRMAN said the directors had in the whole
proceedings studied to the utmost the wishes and conve-
nience of the shareholders. Many gentlemen who at-
tended ,the last special meeting seemed to entertain the
idea that undue influence had been used by one- of the
officers of the company in obtaining proxies in favour of
the preference shares, in consequence of which it was
agreed that proxies should be sent to every -individual
shareholder, to. enable him to vote as he thought proper.
He could state that the imputation against their officer
.was not deserved. He, could only say that the officer
had no' private views • whatever in' the matter. •
The SECRETARY having read the resolutions and.
amendments, • •
• Mr. J. H. EDWARDS said "it' was his- decided opinion.
that the directors bad no power whatever to lame pre-"'
ference shares, and it was his intention even if he'should'l
stand alone, to apply for an injunction against it.
The CisAxnmert stated that the directors had con-
sulted a legal'opinion on thatpoint. •
Mr. CASTELLS thought, a step between the two pro-
jects nowprochwed might -be taken,. which was-0 the
strike off 41. each
lase' A shares to the
Stour
fft
oe
hare,'uctrtywh aahtifitihtywhl
isonduel,dl,3:bneedadwp a
le shiir ode
hbblfet.t ore.
ce d
no
portion
of the
main line of company, Whereby the 'A and-B shares'
could be consolidated.
• •
The CHAIRMAN said, he very much feared this propo-
sition could not biligally carried out. • • •
Mr. PHILLIPS read a memorial praying -the• directors
to create-preference shares;and -which was signed by a'
large number of London_. shareholders.
• Mr. SLANEY, MX., said, with every deference to the
directors, he thought it -would bebetter to try first the
effect of calls; and if that failed to have another meeting
and then adopt preference shares. - • -
Mr. SPARROW, at considerable length, deprecated the
creation of preference shares. • ' •
After •some , further - observations byildr.- THORNEY•
CROFT anckother gentlemen,' the meeting (which, had
then been sitting three hours) became impatient to put
the qciestionto the vote.
The •CITATRMAN said parties who had not paid up their
calls would not be allowed to vote. He then stated that
the directors 'bad received 5,831' answers .from share-
holders hr-favour Of the issue 'of preference shares, and
4,263 in favour of calls, leaving a majority of 1,568 in
favour of the preference shares. He *poled that Mr.
Sparrow, jun., and Mr. Phillips should act .'
as scrutineers
to examine the proxies.-
The CHAIRMAN next put the amendmeiit,- that no pre-
fereneashares be issued, but that the directors make such
calls as-may be necessary to enable them to raise the
money'required., • ; •,,
On a-show of-hands there appeared 40 in favour of the
amendment, and 8 against it; upon•which the scruti-
neers retired to another room, to examine the proxies,
which occupied several hours, the scrutiny- not being
complete until after twelve o'clock at night.
On, Wedoesday (yesterday)• morning Mr. Gore again
took the chair,
were—
when the scrutineers reported. that there
Against the amendthent 6,322
For the, amendment

Majority in favour of Preference shares 921
The ori,rinal resolution' was, then put by the,Chair-
man, having ,been altered so as to, divide the,
155,000/. into
.19,375 shares of 8/. each, instead of 15,500
of 10L, and thus, allow one preference share_ for every
five original:hares, it was unanimously,carried, and the
proceqings terminated,

FATAL ACCIPRN
THE LATE ON THE
.
LONDON AND IYoR7W- WESTERN R 414-
WAt
BIRMIN9IIA* WEDNESDAY.—On the termination of
Captain Sioainons's examination last night, the:Coroner
directed that Matthews, the driver of the Colonel engine,
should be brought into the room. On entering, the
Coroner informed him that he need not make any state-
ment which in any way might tend to criminate himself:
One most important point ()retie inquiry was the speed
,at 'which the train was travelling, and if the jury should
be of opinion that the speed was beyond, safety, he (the
driver) would be implicated.. It was, therefore, a matter
for his consideration whether lie would make any state-
ment at all.- He' (the Coioner) should not swear him,
but all that he said would be taken down in writing,
and; if requisite, would be used for or against him,
as the case might be; if any future proceedings should
ensue,,, .. -
Matthews. who bore marks of the injuries which he.
had IreCeived, replied that all he knew of the accident
was; that they were thrown -their own line of rails,
from a0451.,41,i5c, of.. whiah they had no knowledge, and
that' he, vlcaa ,not driving, the elagtpts. at mpre than, the
ordihary rate °ran itipFess train..
The' CORONER, after reading his notes of the first
day's pioneedings, was excused ~by the jury the task of
going,through the remaindeiof the immense body of
evidence which lay befOre'him. The jury, he remarked,
would have to take into their consideration.thwmoskim-
portint,elemeut in."theinqbiry•L'ho alluded to the ques-
tion Of speed.. SOme of the witnesses had 'spoken of its
extraordiaary rapidity, and also of a, certain bumping,
which Ootninenei,d shortly after leaving Wolverhainpton;
and which was greatly increased when. the train arrived'
on descending'gradieots. lipOu this point the eVidence
of gr. Parker, a servant of the company, and whose
professional avocations rendered his facuitiee particularly
alive to this phendineriA, 'wits 'of Morel than Ordinary
value. '-Ile stated that'svhen he found the bumping re-
.Peated; he looked.ont °tithe WindbW, thinking it proba-
ble that the wheels orwheelotthe carriage were broken,
or; as it were, " scotched," for that was the kind of sen- -
aation produced. • Thieve was a •great deal of evi-
'
donee 7witiv.regard , to: this bumping and oscillatory
motion,; , the
consequence of which • was, as Mr.
Parker thought,- the last carriage (belonging to the
ScotCh Central Railway Company) was thrown off
the rails, _-and,:,the ,rest .of. the train - speedily. fol-
lowed.
.That ;was. the ~hypothesis the witness
to whomhe had referied, and it had received consider-
able confirmation from Mr. Trivethicke and Mr. Norris,
two
etidal engineers,inthe -servieti of the
L North-Western Railway Company. •On the
London
ndeomine a
and.
N. alorrath-W
tither hand,-they .bad-in: .the.: Government Inspector of
Railways, ainosknomp.etentiwitness, who,.while he ad--
mitted the possibility that the lait -carriage having left
the line: might Tbe the eauereef the engine and thereat of
the train being thrownoff the rails, still expressed-doubt
as to the. correctness. of .such an hypothesis. He did not
conceive that it was forced. Captain Simmons'did not;
, however, state any .Bn6re certain - cattle, qie seemed to
Cthink that the accident might with more probability be
attrbuted to higb- speed; his chief xpaloa :heing that Mr.
Osborne was enabled by, his watch to say positively, that
.the trail" traferled •Trom Wolverhanipton to Ne*ton-
bridge; a. distneee of• seven miles, in 16-minutes. • Al-
though this by Silures was, only 42." miles per, , hour, yet
fie (Captain Simmons) thought the train would go. one,
and half Milebeforeit 'got to that speed. He was in-
clined, therefore; to put the speed at .the time the acei-
dent occurred at 50:)miles .aa hour, which he thought
the limit of safety. i But, as the Airy would gather
from the.. questions_ put by Carter, if . Captain
Simmons took one part of
,Mr..osberhe's evidence, he
was bowl to take the whole. And so • were • the
Mr. Osborne 'stated 'that he travelled often, by ,railway
upon that Hee, and that the train en the night in,ques-
tion was proceeding [tenet more than the ordinary rate
Of an express train. The rate, as stated by 'Captain
ituish, was from 42 to 43- `miles.-an hour: Other *it;
They
'nesses of great experience represented that 50 mileS an
-hour upon that line, and even upon that particular curve
where the train-went .-crier,!was safei :The jury would
that they
.were_ni 'tibe
give this evidence's fair and dispassionate consideration,
"ing in_yiew; the: autfority: from which it. emanated.
would bear is mind, the, protection ,whieb the
public dentandeil'from the occurrence of each accidents;
Would recollect also '9n the other hand, the yrotection
presenee. of, ,the „ press._ They
against uni6sonablii ' mid tinfoUnded.accuSations, with
their pecuniary penalties, claimed by.,th'e. great "railway
interests; to' *heft for 'fat-1110-in 'traielling and other
communications, they were fib niuch. indebted: They
fully or
--would first: have to consider whether any person was
: criminally guilty. If they should-be of Opinion that any
servant or other official of:the railway company had-
led to the death of Colonel Baird, their verdict must be
dsoivniadbulselic,atrhec ihtheeire'ree%ili
.nWigvatly caused the lamentable disaster which
one of naaptslaogbter. If there had ,been a• want of res..
any on,
that
form. To only -question upen that ,point was ono of
ust one for thbeeelinveisnef
speed. Ttley Would Obierve that .he had refrained from
sWearing•the engine-driVer—he had done so most relacer
tantly—fOr he (the -Coroner)-could really see in the: evi- '
dente nothing to prevent Matthews being admitted as a
• witness but he: was resolved,,. if ,he erred at all,rto err
.in the exercise. of an excess. of caution. • He trusted they
would give all; the ciroura t
• enenc-of the -ease their best
consideration. • ,If they did not; consider that there were
any proved grounds of complaint against any individual
—if it were altogether misadventure, .then their verdict
must be accidental death,' accompanied, if they thought
wise, by any opinion they might wish to express upon
the subject._
The jury,. after considerin• g 'for an hour and a half,
returned a verdict of " Accidental death, caused by the
faulty construction of a carriage belonging,tb the Scotch
Central Railway, Company.", .
The Coroner; was requested by the jury to thank
Captain Simmons for his msistance—an assistance
which conla not but have an important: influence upon
the inquiry.
The jiiry were thenfor
, . • -• Ina ydischarged.

EsTIVITIES'AT STOCKTON AND DARLiNGTO!.—
Festivities and' other scenes., on tr grand scale, are ex-
pacted to take pities during next week- and the follow-
ing, at Stockton and thevicinity of Wynyard-park.
There will be a flower Show, at. Darlington, under the
patronagp of the Duko of
Cleveland; the Marquis and
Marchioness of Londonderry, and
other!members of the
nobility. The exhibition. will,ba followed hy. .bazaar,
under the patronage 'of" the Marchioness of
,London-
derry, for th'e benefit of the 'funds of the new ‘Church at
'Thorpe. 'ViscOntit and ' ViscOuntess Hardinge, lord
Rokeby, Graham, and a numerous party, are
shortly expected at Wynyard, where the Marchioness 'of
Londonderry purposes
givliig:t6; hall And-other- entertain-
ments on a scale of great magnificence. The neigh-
bourhood will be gay indeed for at least a fortnight.