The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-26 00:00:00

NORTH BRITISH.
The half-yearly meeting of this company' tcok
place at Edinburgh on Thursday, Mr. Sy rot in
the chair.
The report was held as read.
The CHAIRMAN moved the adoption of the re=
port, and congratulated the shareholders On the
steady increase of their traffic, which; had enabled
the directors to recommend a dividend of 3 per
cent., the largest dividend that had been paid for
several years. Looking to the increased, mileage
they would have to provide for on the Border
Union line, the directors had turned their atten-
tion to various improvements in their depots for
construction of plant on the most approved prin-
ciples. Notwithstanding the long and severe'
winter, the contracts for the Border Union Railway I
were making satisfactory progress. The directors !
now asked approval of the amalgamation with the
North British, of the Peebles and Jedburgh com-
panies. The capital of the former was £70,000
ordinary stock, on which 41 per cent. was, proposed
to be guaranteed, and £2,700 preference stock on
which 5 per cent. would be paid. The Jedburgh
capital was £30,580, on which a dividend at 4 per
cent. was proposed. He thought they had offered
these companies a fair dividend, and also that their
own shareholders would be benefited by the agree-

[neut.
Colonel KINLOCH seconded the motion, remark-

ing that, in his opinion, the line ought never to
have paid a 3 per cent. dividend till the present
time, but he was satisfied that that was now a le-
gitimate dividend.
The report Was adopted ; dividends of 5 per
cent. on preference, and 3 per cent. on ordinary
stock were then declared. The preliminary agree-
ment with the promoters of the Galashiels, Inner-
leithen' and Peebles line was sanctioned.
Mr. Hodgson and Mr. Ronald were re-elected
directors, and a vacancy was left open ; Mr. Wilson
and Mr. Irving were re-elected directors to represent
the Border Union- shareholders, and a resolution
was passed authorising the directors to exercise the
borrowing powers conferred by the Border Union
Act, to the extent of £165,000.
The meeting was then made special to consider
the Peebles and Jedburgh Amalgamation Bill,
which was approved, and the meeting was ad-
journed till Wednesday, April 18, for the consider-
tion of the other bills on their list.

CALEDONIAN AND DUMBARTONSHIRE.
The half-yearly meeting of this company was
held on Wednesday at Glasgow ; Mr. J. Baird in
the chair.

The report stated that the revenue account
showed an increase in the receipts of £748 over the
corresponding period.
The total receipts for the half-year amounted to
£7,625 and the working expenses to £2,980. The
available balapce for dividend was £4,873, out of
which the board recommended the payment of a
dividend at the rate of £4 7s. 6d. per cent. per an-
num, leaving a balance of £724. The total expen-
diture on capital account amounted to £259,265.
Resolutions were passed adoping the report,
declaring the dividend, and re electing the retiring
directors.

RAIL TV A Y INTELLIGENC'E: M. r, ;wanton, the entire expense of the Scinde
lIMe, with the additional works necessary, would
be under £1,400,000. Although the extent of the
line was not more than 114 miles in length, the

termini were necessarily applicable to a traffic'
carried over 700 miles—viz., from Mooltan to
Keamaree. The average cost of the railway would
be about £lO,OOO per mile. The capital account
showed that £1,239,683 had been received to the
31st of December, and £895,128 expended, leaving
a balance of £5,200 in hand, and £339,355 with
the Secretary of State for India in Council,
The report respecting the Indus steam flotilla.
states that the six towing steamers and 25 cargo
barges arrived at Kurrachee in November last, with
the necessary artisans and appliances, and the
eight remaining cargo barges left some time ago
the port of Liverpool for Kurrachee. The passen-
ger steamer drew only 22 inches, with a speed of
• 13 miles an hour, and had space for 500 men ; the
towing steamer drew 17 inche4, and towed at the
rate of 81 miles an hour four barges, carrying to-
..ether 450 tons. There was every hope of seeing
at rto distant period the entire flotilla of 53 vessels
in active operation on the Indus. The native craft
on that river had been increased during the past
year, by 3,625 boats and by 19,790 tons. The
capital account shOwed an expenditure of £165,870.

BOMBAY, BARODA, AND CENTRAL INDIA
The first section of this company's line from
Umrolee, on the north bank of the Taptee river, to
Unklesur, near the south bank of the Nerbudda
river, was opened at eight o'clock in the morning
of the 7th ult. by a royal salute from the Castle of
Surat. The first train, containing between 500
and 600 European and native gentry resident in
the district, performed the distance, about 30
miles, in an hour and a quarter, the road being
in excellent condition. The bridges, more or less
extensive, were all of iron, each girder having
been fully tested previous to its being sent from
England. The peculiarity of the bridges on this line
consisted in their being made on one and the same
plan, as originally deslgned by the consulting engi-
neer, Colonel Kennedy. The spans were uniformly
of 60 feet each, the piers and abutments were
formed of cast iron screw piles firmly braced toge-
ther, and the superstructure of triangular girders.
The bridge now in course of construction for car-
rying the railway over the Taptee river was about
one-third of a• mile in length, while that construct-
ing over the Nerbudda river was about two-thirds
of a mile in length, of which rather more than one-
fourth was completed. The visitors crossed the
river Nerbudda in boats to a pavilion erected for
the purpose, where a grand entertainment was pre-
pared, at which Mr. Lane, the general manager,
presided. Various toasts were given and responded
to, after which the visitors recrossed the river, and
the train started at 4 45 p.m. for Umrolee, where it
arrived in the course of two hours. It appeared that
the proceedings throughout were of a very satis-
factory character.