The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-22 00:00:00

A RAILWAY LOAK OF _BULLION TO TILE BANE OF FRANCE,
BO UR COMPANY. • -

board

" If this be magic, let it be an art
Lawful as eating."
The Professor (looking out of one eye)—You'd turn
Wizard yourself, perhaps, if you could return to earth in
propria persona. As it is, can you not come in your in-
corporeality to see me one evening before I have Philadel-
phia next Saturday ? Like your own Prospero, I have a
Miranda in the person of my eldest daughter, who is both
a clairvoyante and a retro-reminiscent orthographist.
Shakespeare.—(othello, Act 1.)
"What!

" Thou has enchanted her,
For I'll refer me to all things of sense,
If she in chains of magic is not bound."
The Professor.—" Natural magic," as you before said
Nothing diabolical. In fact, there is nothing of the kind
in my entertainment. I have had archbishops and bishops
to see me. The orthodoxy of my doings is therefore clear.
May
I repeat my request, that you will favour me with a
ghostly visit ?
Shakespeare.—(Macbeth, Act 3.)
"Get you gone,
And at the pit of Acheron
Meet me i' the morning."
The Professor.—Beg pardon. The "pit of Acheron,"
did you say ? I'd prefer the parquet of Concert Hall.
Shakespeare (appreciating the joke).—(Mabeth, Act 3.:
"Your vessels and pm spells provide,
Your charms and everything beside.
------A night I'll spend."
The Professor.—Thanks I—a thousand thanks. But it
must be before Saturday night next. On Sunday morning
my Psychomanteutn will be packed away for Baltimore.
Shakespeare.—Hunaph I (Antony and Cleopatra, Act 3.)
"The noble ruin of your magic."
The Professor.—Just so. Apt again in your quotations
have to
from your own great works. As I said, visit
Baltimore, and
Shakespeare (Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 2.)—" You
wot of Master Ford ?"
bTehl
iee
vPe r. o f ems seoarn. —w
hI
nor open
shall
lheixs to
Ghee: r e
spiritualinli°iinidtiaLstitorneeoti
ber, my last night there. lam keep g y
your seeing me at Concert Hall beforeintheotuhiorudtolfaNteo,
mveamg--
. nanimous Shade ! The cock crows. I wish you good
night
(As You Like
Shakespeare (also bowing very politely). (
It, Act 1.) _

e of you."
Sir, fare you well
Ihat shalle r ef
desireer,
er
s, ne
ma bo
re
et t r worl
:love
dand tk
nh aonw tl he
di sg,
[Exit Shakespeare, tak irg with him a copy of the Wizard's
Han tdbook of Magic.]
N.B.—The reporter of this conversation had some doubts
about Shakespeare bell tg himself ; but on reference to the
works of that poet he finds every word ho uttered to 1:4
really his,—J'hiladelp Va paper.

The half-yearly meeting of the proprietors was
held yesterday ac the company's offices, 24, Abing-
don-street, Westminster ; Sir S. Cunard in the

The report, which had been previously circulated
and published, having been taken as read,
The CHAIRMAN observed that the line was opened,
as they all knew, solute in the season that they could
not reasonably expect much profit from it this year.
It was necessary, however, to open the line in order
to organise it and It the public know that traffic
both in passengers and in goods might be conveyed.
The directors had entered into an agreement with
the Danube Navigation Company and the Austrian
Lloyds to call regularly at Kustendjie and Tcherna-
voda, so that communication was now established
throughout to Constantinople. Several other com-
panies had proposed to call at their stations, which
would extend their operations to other parts of the
Black Sea.

Mr. SLous said he supposed the two companies
named Lad acceded t• the terms offered by the

The CHAIRMAN replied that they had. He added
that the directors would recommend the raising of
£30,000 by means of the unissued shares for the
purpose of carrying on the harbour works, in the
belief that by the end of next year there would be
a perfectly safe refuge for large ships—ships draw-
ing 20 feet of water.
In reply to questions,
The CHAIRMAN said that the unissued stock
amounted to £lOO,OOO, none of which it had been
understood was to be issued without the assent of the
shareholders, and to obtain that assent the meeting
would be made special after the disposal of the
general business. The total amount of capital was
£400,000. He would move the adoption of the
report, and Mr. Price in seconding it would state
his views of the prospects of the company as de-
rived from a personal inspection and inquiries made
on the spot, when he, as one of the committee tip-
pointed for the purpose, visited Kustendjie at the
completion and opening of the line in September
and October last.

Mr. PRICE remarked that this company had been
formed in 1857 as a promising enterprise, when by
the treaty of Paris the navigation of the Danube
had been for the first time thrown open to the en-
tire world, and its main object was to afford a com-
munication by a short line of railway from Kus-
tendjie, a port in the Black Sea, to a point consi-
derably up the Danube, so as to avoid the bar at
the Sulina mouth and for some distance above those
parts of the river where the navigation was diffi-
cult, dangerous, and uncertain ; and also to form a
commodious harbour at Kustendjie for vessels

trading to that part of the Black Sea. The effec,
of the railway would be to save 250 miles in distance,
and in time considerably more, and also to avoid
the heavy tolls which were charged upon shipping
to defray the expensive works at the mouth of the
Salina. These and the extensive trade of the dis-
trict, especially in grain and cattle, were the ad-
vantages which, as was represented by the projec-
tors, the scheme would offer, and from which a
profitable return might be derived. The committee
had found that there did exist this large trade on
the Danube, and they also found that the difficulties
of navigating that river had not been exAggerated;
further, that the works carried on Under the auspices
of the Turkish Government at the Sulina mouth
scarcely lessened, and certainly would not remove,
those difficulties, and that the dues levied upon
shipping on account of such works were out of all
proportion to the accommodation afforded. They
found also that. in consequence of the railway and
other works constructed and in progress by this
company, they had declined to make further ad-
vances to carry on the Salina works. With regard
to the saving of time by the railway as compared
with the river navigation, he might mention that
he and the other members of the committee had
performed the distance from the point where the
line commenced up the Danube to the roadstead of
Kustendjie in two hours, while by the old route
the journey occupied under the most favourable
circumstances 36 hours. All that was now re-
quired was to provide the necessary accommoda-
tion for shipping at Kustendjie, without which
their line would have no outlet to the sea, and all
their previous operations must prove abortive. The
question then arose, could this be done, and at
what cost ? It was the unanimous opinion of the
committee that by the plan proposed an ample
amount of shelter, and at a moderate cost, could be
provided. All that was necessary was to throw out
two moles a certain distance into the sea inclosing
a large space of natural anchorage. The moles
would be merely large embankments of rough
stone, tipped from waggons into the water ; the
cost was easily ascertained, for it was merely cubic
yards of rough stone, at so much per yard, and the
effect would be to keep the water inclosed by them
always smooth. This was the opinion of the engi-
neer and all who were acquainted with the sub-
ject. It was necessary to proceed with these works
without loss of time in order that they might be
able to furnish ample accommodation to the steamers
which had, under the agreement, engaged to call at
Kustendjie when they commenced running in the
spring, as well as for the grain vessels which would
require to load there in the autumn. Another rea-
son for pressing on the works was that the Turkish
Government had declined to make further advances
for the works at the Sulina mouth, no doubt wait-
ing to ascertain whether or not the operations of
this company would not relieve them altogether
from the necessity of doing so. It would therefore
be the fault of the shareholders themselves if those
works which were thus suspended wore ever re-
newed. The committee further pressed strongly
upon the shareholders the importance of continuing
their railway to joia the Wallachian system of rail-
roads, which would give to Wallachia a terminus
for their traffic at Tchernavoda, the result of which
would be to divert nearly the whole of the traffic
from the river to the Danube and Black Sea line,
and the Kustendjie harbour, and make the enter-
prise in which they were engaged a brilliant one.
A SHAREHOLDER—WouId it be possible to get
the hotel nearer to thestation,which, as acquainted
with the east, I can say is a matter of importance.
Mr. PracE—The hotel is at a distance from
the station, but this arises from the fact that the
house which is about to be converted into a very
commodious hotel is already built, and it is
proposed that as the x ailway passes close to
it passengers for the hotel would be set down and
taken up there. The hotel will be in effect a pas-
senger station. It was added, in reply to another
question, that there was no doubt the Turkish Go•
vernment, who had treated the company very
liberally, would grant more land if it was required ;
but they had already a great quantity of land, suffi-
cient in fact, to make a mile and a half of quay 200
yards wide. They had plenty of land all round the
harbour—he believed more than they wanted.
A SHAREHOLDER inquired if the directors were
satisfied of being able to issue the new shares at
par ? If not, as the money was wanted immediately,
some temptation should be held out to the existing
shareholders to take them—say, for instance, tohrast
they should be issued as preference sharest_aotin4
into
per cent. with the option of converting h
voting
ordinary shares within a given ti
The CHAIRMAN replied that that would be a ques-
tion for the shareholders.
ld then be prepared to
The SHAREHOLDER
intoer or x-
-1 move that the 500 sharews.obnueoifsscuoendveartsiaons
1 preference, witthhtihnetoepatywears.
nary shares wi
uestion,
In answer to
The CIIAIRMAI;Cisaid the proposed issue would be
to about one-fifth of the existing capital—
equalh shareholder would be entitled to
that was,
the
new
le.crwm a n
for
)eveg.Lloo of the old he held.
whiche
pr vedh ba had
His
s 0
(otfh s
hoapdi
beenono of line,atrhgeely im
been always good,
had recently heard of its prospects.
what
t severalhey
shareholderseto issuing prefe-
rence ob'ect d •
shares.
Mr. BARBER was so satisfied with the report .
pre-
pared by Mr. Price and his colleagues, that holding
E,s he did now only ten shares, he was quite pre-
pared to take ten more.
Another SHAREHOLDER—I holdloo, and am quite
prepared to ake my proportion of the new issue.
The motion for adopting the report was then
agreed to.
The meeting was then made special to authorise
the issue of 500 shares of £lOO each, to be allotted
pro rata among the existing shareholders, and a
resolution to that effect was passed as recommended
in the report.
A vote of thanks to Mr. Price and his colleagues
for their mission of inquiry and their report, which
the mover said had greatly enhanced the value of
the property, was also moved and unanimously
adopted ; and Mr. Price having acknowledged it,
the usual compliments to the chairman brought the
aroceedings to a close.

PUNCH'S NEW CONTRIBUTOR.—As the Hero
was short of fuel, the Duke inquired of the Prince whether
he should signal to the Ariadne for any P " I should adill visbe
e
yott not," was tho princely reply ;
"s for
."r they never.
w
such fools as to scud coals to NovaPoich

An arrangement was announced yesterday to
have been made between the Bank of France and
the Bank of England, which, it is hoped, will ter-
minate the uncertainties that have recently dis-
turbed the money-markets of Paris and London.

The Bank of France are to have a loan of •
£2,000,000 of gold from the Bank of England on
the security of a deposit of silver to an equal
amount. The first remark on thiswill be, " How can
such an arrangement strengthen the position of the
Bank of France ? It is the drain of specie that has
been the serious feature, and no change in the relative
proportion of the metals in which their remaining
stock of specie exists can operate to mitigate the
evil." The matter, however, admits of explanation.
The stock of specie shown in the last monthly re-

turn of the' Bank of France was £17,400,000,
against a note issue of £30,300,000, and these
figures in themselves present nothing to excite
Panic. The fact that the proportion of gold to notes
had been rapidly becoming less favourable de•
manded prompt attention, but the advance of one it
per cent. adopted in the rate of discount might
have been expected, if gradually followed up by fur-
ther measures of the same kind, to prove a sufficient
corrective. To the surprise of every one, the Bank
of France commenced offering a premium for gold,
and at the same time entered into onerous terms
for obtaining large amounts from this side. A
run was stimulated, and all persons Were led to
infer that the directors saw some imminent
peril in the position of the Bank. It then
transpired that the eagerness on their part to
get gold was not from apprehension that their
entire stock of specie might be drawn to a fatally
low point, but from the fact that this stock con-
sists mainly of silver, and that hence they were
-rapidly approaching a condition 'which would cont_
pel them to meet all demands in that metal. This
announcement, however, seemed in no way to solve
the prevailing perplexities. According to the law
of France, where a double standard prevails, they
are at liberty to discharge their obligations either in
gold or silver, as they may deem expedient, and it
was hard to see why they should object to pay in
silver upon the exhaustion of their gold, or why,
supposing the silver to be of a value beyond its de-
nomination in coin, they should not sell it for gold
in the open market, and realise the profit of this
difference. The answers are rational. In the first
place, if the Bank had commenced paying away
silver, the common knowledge that this metal
has for several years past borne a high premium
and been difficult to obtain would have led to a
general rush for it ; in the next place, if they had
suddenly thrown upon the market a quantity suffi-
cient to provide for their gold requirements, the
operation would have been attended With difficulty,
and must have been effected at a proportionate
sacrifice. Out of the-Se etinsiderations has arisen
the resolution to make the application to the Bank
of England for a loan of gold against silver which
has just been acceded to. The Bank of Eng-
land under their charter are empowered to hold
one-fifth of their specie reserve in that metal, and.
could now legally take nearly £3,000,000. The
arrangement for £2,000,000 is therefore amply
within the limit. It is not improbable, therefore,
that an early lowering of our rate may be wit-
nessed; and this event would tend materially to allay
the vague uneasiness in Paris, while the mainten-
ance by the Bank of France of their rate of 41 per
cent., and its advance if necessary to 5 per cent.,
will probably be effectual to prevent any further
very important efflux from that country. The
arrangement above described is to be for •ny
period that may suit the Bank of France.—Tiines.

TilE MURDER IN THE COUNTY OF

DURHAM.

NEWCASTLE- ON-TYNE, TUESDAY NIGHT.

Since it has become known that Thomas Smith,
the person charged with the murder of John Baty,
at Winlaton, on the sth inst., has been taken into
custody, the greatest excitement has prevailed in
the Tyneside villages. The prisoner was brought
from Port Mulgrave, near Whitby, yesterday, and
to day he was taken to Winlaton, to the adjourned
inquest, in the custody of a strong detachment of
county police.
The adjourned inquest was held in the long room
of the Commercial Hotel, which was quite
filled, and a large crowd of persons were
assembled about the place all day. Smith,
who had been captured wearing the mur-
dered man's boots and trousers, presented
the appearance of a being who had wandered over
moors and wastes under the influence of terror and
a guilty conscience. He is a very repulsive-look-
ing person, and is well known as a notorious
poacher and a very bad character. He sat in the
inquest-room all day, apparently half dead with
fatigue and terror, and did not pay particular at-
tention to anything going forward around. The
whole of the evidence previously taken by the Co-
roner was read over to him, but he made no re-
mark upon it. He merely observed, that what he
had to say he would " say to my lord."
• -

The circumstances of his capture are very sin-
gular, and to some extent romantic. It seems that
the only money he found upon the person of the
murdered man was sixpence, and with it and a
shilling the young man Armstrong gave him, was
all he had in his pocket to pay for his support, and
in company with his dog he had wandered over
lonely moors and wastes, which at this time of the
year are exceedingly inclement, to the iron mines
in Cleveland, 150 miles from the scene of the mur-
der, where he imagined he would be perfectly un-
known. On Friday last he reached Port Mul-
grave, near 'Whitby, where there are extensive
iron mines, and where screw-steamers call to take
away the iron ere. He had procured employment
at one of the mines in the name of Thomas
Harrison, but was wandering about the village
penniless, forlorn, and starving, on the night that
he procured employment, when Mrs. Irving, the
wife of Joseph Irving,
miner, observing his
wretched condition, asked him into the house, and
gave him some warm tea. ytomok in lodgers,
and She
employment
and as he had got e
place she gave him a bed that night. Her husband
did not see him that night, but next morning, when
he came down from the room whore he had been
sleeping, the husband looked at him," and exclaimed,
" Tom, is that thou ?" He replied, Do you know
me ?" Irving replied, " Know you, yes. Thee and
I wsrked together at Milkridge Pit, in Northum-
berland, 20 years ago. You are Torn Smith." lie
said that he was, and asked him to go into the
fields, when he told Irving that he must call him
Thomas Harrison, as he had been in a poaching
row and did not wish to be known. On the day
after Smith came into the village, a gamekeeper
named Johnson had come down to the little seaport
from a neighbouring
Smith property for a walk, and ob-
servedwandering about. Johnson, before
he became a gamekeeper, had been several years in
the h* Yorks ire constabulary, and it immediately
struck him, from what he had read in the papers,
and from some police information that he had re-
ceived, that the man was Smith, and that he was
wanted for the Winlaton murder. He ascertained
that he was staying at Irving's, and he sent for that
person on Sunday morning, and after he read the
police description to him, Irving told him that he
had the man in his house. Irving immediately
went back to his house and said to Smith, " Torn,
has thou had to do with the 'Williston job." He
replied that he had; and upon Johnson coming
in, ho admitted to him that the boots and trousers
that he only
he had on were Batty's. He saidthat if he had got
got sixpence from him ; but
dyed his hair,
and would
money he would have
d his willingness to
go with the men to
have got clear. He expressed
Gateshead, and was kept
•,s cottage all night. On
at the gamekeepei
Johnson and Irving, strongly
Monday morning
armed, took hint across
the moors in a gig to Red-
car, and from thence he was brought by train to
Gateshead,
Duringhis journey he said when he
struck at Baty he did not mean. to have killed him ;
hcmerely intended to have stunned him and
robbed him. He said that no one else was con-
cerned but himself in the affair.
After the whole of the evidence in the case was
read over and signed, the Coroner summed up, and
the jury immediately returned a verdict of wilful
murder against Smith, who WalS committed for trial
at the ensuing Durham assizes.