The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-08 00:00:00

CHARING-CROSS.

The half-yearly meeting of this company was
held yesterday at the South-Eastern Railway Sta-
tion, London-bridge—the Hon. J. Byng in the
chair.

Mr. SMILES, the secretary, read the report, which
stated that the works connected with the railway
bridge across the Thames at Charing-cross were
commenced in February last, and the progress al-
ready made had been considerable. The princi-
pal expenditure incurred, up to the present time,
had been on account of the purchase of the existing
Charing-cross Suspension-bridge, which would be
removed, and for the land and property at Hun-
gerford-market required for the purposes of the
proposed terminus. The directors had concluded
an arrangement with the Clifton-bridge Company
to sell them the chains and materials of the bridge
(exclusive of the piers) for £5,000, subject to the
purchasers being at the expense of taking them
down and removing them. It would be requisite
forthwith to take the requisite steps for purchasing
the further property required, in order that the
works between the south end of the Charing-cross-
bridge and the London-bridge station might be
prosecuted and completed by the time that the
railway•bridge and new West-end terminus were
ready for traffic. _ _

The report of Mr. Hawkshaw, the engineer,
stated that the contractors were making good pro-
gress with the Charing cross bridge. The two
cylinders which were to form the first pier on the
Surrey side were already sunk to a considerable
depth into the bed of the river. One of those
cylinders in a few days would be down to a point
80 feet beneath the under side of the bridge, and
would then be about 40 feet into the bed of the
river, at which point the sinking would be discon-
tinued. The other cylinder had been sunk about
18 feet into the bed of the river. Considerable pro-
gress was being made at the contractor's works
with the superstructure. The capital account
showed that £122,231 had been received, and
£58,626 expended, leaving a balance of £63,605.
The report was unanimously adopted.

LONDON, CHATHAM, AND DOVER.
On Saturday the directors of this company and
their friends, altogether about 100 gentlemen con-
nected with railways, inspected the works on the
company's line between Canterbury and Dover,
on the express invitation of Mr. T. Crampton, the
contractor. The length of the line from Canter-
bury to Dover is 16-2- miles, the works upon which
chiefly consist of alternate cuttings and embank-
ments, principally .in chalk, some of them being
sunk to the depth and raised to the height respec-
tively of from 30 to 50 feet. There are not many
bridges on the line, but they are all built of brick,
and are chiefly for the purpose of carrying the
country roads over the railway, or the latter
over the roads. There are four tunnels
on the line —of 2,100 yards, 200 yards, 125
yards, and 615 yards in length respectively, all
situated on the line within 52 miles of Dover. The
first is at Lydden, and the last at Dover. The per-
manent rails are laid on the line for a distance of
three miles out of Canterbury, and the tunnels,
cuttings, and embankments have been brought to
formation level at various places for a length in the
aggregate of 10 miles, leaving about three miles of
cuttings and embankments to be brought to that
level, This was expected to be done in the course of
two or three months, at the present rate of progress ;
and as the rails and sleepers were on the ground it
was confidently stated that the line would be ready
for traffic by February next, or sooner if necessary.
After observing the embankments and deep cut-
tings, and admiring the beauty of the country
through which the line passes, and the general
compactness of the chalk, the party arrived at
Dover, where a procession was formed, and as it
proceeded through the streets it was loudly cheered
on its way to the Lord Warden Hotel, where a grand
banquet was provided by the contractor.

GREAT SOUTHERN AND WESTERN.
The directors recommend a dividend at the rate
of 5 per cent. per annum. The revenue account
for the half-year ending the 30th of June last
showed that £198,795 had been received and
£76,725 expended, leaving a balance of £122,070.

MIDLAND.
The report of the directors of this company