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

45 6
131

DANUBE AND BLACK SEA RAILWAY
AND EZTASTE.NDJIE lIARBOU.Zi COMPANY.

The half-yearly meeting of the proprietori, was
held yesterday at the company's offices, 21, Abing-
don-street, Westminster; Sir S. Cunard in the

chair.

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, so late 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 ht 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. SLOtS said he supposed the two companies
named had acceded t• the terms offered by the

board.

The CHAIRMAN replied that they had. He added
that the directors would recommend the raising of
£50,000 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 ap-
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 atord 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 Salina 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 effect
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
Sulina. 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 eller, 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 clues 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 Sulina 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 30 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 en 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 run ling 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 join the Wallaehian 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 the station, which, as acquainted
with the east, I can say is a matter of importance.
Mr. PRICE—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 railway 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, that
they should be issued as preference shares at 4 or 5
per cent. with the option of converting them into
ordinary shares within a given time.
The CHAIRMAN replied that that would be a ques-
tion for the shareholders.
The SHAREHOLDER would then be prepared to
o per cent.
move that the 500 shares be issued at
a
preference, with the option of conversion into ordi-
nary shares within ten years.
In answer to a question,
proposed issue would be
The CHAIRMAN said the thoef the existing capital—
thatequal to about one-fifth
£lOO of the old he held.
which had
was, each shareholder would be entitled to
£2O of the new for ev
opinion of the line,
improved by
His (the chairmans)
been always good, had been largely
what they had recently heard of its prospects
objected to ',c• I,,tung prefe-
Several shareholders
rence shares.
Mr. BARBER was so satisfied with the report pre-
pared by
Mr. bY Mr. Price and his colleagues, that holding
as he did now only ten shares, he was quite pre-
pared to take ten more.
Another SHAREHOLDER—I holdl 00, and am quite
prepared to I 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 -vlOO 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
proceedings to a close.

MR. PUNCH'S NEW CONTRIBUTOR __.As the Hero
was short of fuel, the Duke inquired of tho Prince whether
ho should signal to the Ariadne for any ? " I sine het
you not," was the princely reply ; " for they never will be
such fools as to send coals to Newcastle,"--lonch,