The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-11 00:00:00

• Western the expense of laying it, £20,550, which
would go to the credit of the outlay in laying
The Imperial Russian screw frigate Askold and that rail ; and he thought it was an earnest of
the corvette Variag, from the Pacific for the Baltic, what the New York Central and Michigan Cell-
arrived at the Motherbank, off Ryde, Isle of Wight, tral Companies would do in promoting the
yesterday afternoon, and on anchoring exchanged through-traffic over the new rail. They had carried
honorary national salutes with the Victory in Ports- £39,634 traffic over the narrow gauge since the Ist
mouth harbour, the flagship of Port-Admiral and ofganuary. The car-ferry-boat could convey trucks
Naval Commander-in-Chief Sir Thomas Sabine weighing 280 tons with facility from rail to rail, as a
Pasley, K.C.8., and with the King's Bastion battery continuation of the railway, and had capacity for car-
rying on the largest probable amount of traffic. Her
of Portsmouth garrison.
er enabled her to convey 240 cars per day of 12
The screw steamship Caledonia, 30, Capt. the Pours and '221 cars had been taken across by her in
Hon. Fitzgerald A. C. Foley, flay of Reer-Admiral
12 hours. The third rail and the car-ferry-boat had
Hastiogs R. Yelverton, from Ireland, arrived in
been constructed within the estimated cost, and
Plymouth Sound yesterday morning.
might be considered a success. Since the Ist of
One colour-sergeant and 17 privates Royal
erines, Woolwich Division, yesterday joined her January to the 24th of March, 1865, amounted to
M
.£63,862 ; from the Ist of January to the 23d of
Mejeety's ship Chanticleer, recently commissioned
in the dockyard by Commander W. W. S. Bridges, March, 1866, to £lOO, i 21, the largest they ever had
previously ; and from the Ist of January to the 22d
for ser ;ice- in the Pacific. She has received the
whole of her sea stores, and the offisers and crew of March, 1867, to £108,693, so that it was £45,000
_ more than in 1865, and £3,000 more than in 1866.
have Pll joined. She is expected to take her depar
ture in a few days.
There was every probability of developing a pas-
Yesterday morning a court-martial assembled on senger traffic along the new route, as they could now
board her Majesty's ship Formidable, flagship of convey goods from Chicago to New York in six days
Vice-Admiral Sir Baldwin W. Walker, K.C.8., instead of in eight or nine days as formerly. The
Commander-in-Chief at the Nore, to try Mr. Alfred gross receipts on the company's lines for the past
h
Charles Harris, lieutenant of her Majesty's ship half-year amounted to £331,513, against £387,039
Royalist, for being drunk on duty on the 22d of in the corresponding half of the preceding year,
3./laroli last. The Court consisted of Capt. the Hon. which was the largest traffic the railway ever had,
Arthur Cochrane, of her Majesty's ship Cumberland showing a decrease of £55,525, but as compared
(President) ; Capt. Donald AN,. Mackenzie, of her with the corresponding periods of 1865, 1864, and
1863, being £312,720, £301,634, and £309,304 re-
Meiesty's ship Formidable; Capt. Stephen S. L. spectively, there was an increase in the receipts of
Crofton, of the Naval Barrack ; Commander W. L.
Partridge, of her Majesty's ship Cumberland, and the past half-year. As to the loss or diminution of
\
Commander James P. Thurburn, of her Majesty's traffic in the half-year ending the 31st of January,
ship Wellesley. Mr. H. Knight, of the firm of 1867, of £
55,525, as compared with the same half
Essell, Knight, and Arnold, Admiralty solicitors, ending the 31st of January, 1866, it amounted to
Rochester, was the Deputy Judge-Advocate. It 19 per cent. of the gross receipts, while on the
appeared from the report to the Admiralty made Michigan Southern and New York Central the de-
by Commander Hamilton E. J. Earle, in command crease amounted to 20 per cent. each, and on
of the Royalist, that the ship at the time the offence another American line to 37 per cent., so that the
was committed was on her passage home from the diminution of traffic during that period was less on
West Indies, and that at the time when the prisoner the Great Western of Canada than on other lines.
not drunk the weather was very threatening. The The falling off in the conveyance of live stock
co.snander thought the offence could not have was very considerable, but now the traffic was
been committed under more aggravated circum- again returning to them. The loss on American
stances, except, perhaps, before going into acti Ai. currency was £48,228, against £73,316 for
The prisoner pleaded guilty, throwing himself on the the corresponding half in January, 1866. The
mercy of the Court, and urged in extenuation that conversion of American currency averaged
the night on which the offence was committed was 142 during the past half-year, while the average
very wet, and he was relieved from duty for a few price of gold was 142 k, showing that their interests
minutes while he went below to get a cup of tea. had been well attended to. From January, 1862, to
He put some spirits into the tea, and when he got 1 January, 1867, the company had lost by conversion
on deck it told upon him, as he had previously `butof American currency, in the aggregate, £532,000,
they boped that the charge for conversion would
suffered from low fever. Very favourable certifi-
cates of character were read, extending over nearly iin future continue to decrease. They hoped that
ten years' service. Capt. Phillimore gave the pri- I losses from fire would also be much less ; there was
soner a good character, stating that he had served' now remaining £11,136 to be charged against the
under him in her Majesty's ship Curaeoa for nearly three next half-years for losses by fire. The
three years, during which time he had always found i directors had taken steps to prevent such losses in
1 future. They bad insured in three Canadian offices
him an active and zealous officer, very correct in his
conduct. On one occasion he displayed great cou- to the amount of $184,000, and in eight English
rage and gallantry in jumping overboard at sea, and offices to the amount of $503,000, making together
endeavoured to save the life
.of a man who had $687,000, at a cost of $14,487 per annum. The
fallen overboard, although at the time he was on the engineer had estimated the cost of maintenance and
sick list. Taking these circumstances into considera- renewals at £35,000, but in the past half-year they
tion, the Court adjudged the prisoner to forfeit two amounted to £3i1,682, being £4,682 in excess of his
years' seniority and to be severely reprimanded. estimate. The directors rather encouraged an error
A naval court-martial, the first held for many on the right side in keeping up the road in perfect
years past at Woolwich, will assemble this morning condition. (Hear.) During the 11 half-years in
on board the flagship Fisgard, off Woolwich dock- which the extensive renewals of the line were being
yard, for the trial of Richard WeatleerleY, Quarter- made the cost of maintenance averaged £18,524,
master on board her Majesty's troopship Dee, and the cost of renewals £30,193, making the
Master Commander George Raymond, on charges average cost £48,717 for each half-year. In the
of desertion after having appropriated to his own past half-year the expenditure amounted, as he had
use the proceeds of a Post-office order, stolen from before stated, to £39,862, which was £9,000 less
one of the ship's company. than in 11 half-years. The maintenance and re-
The hired transport Star of India, Capt. Hollo- newals of way averaged about £277 per mile per
way, arrived at Plymouth on Tuesday from Bom- annum, which was much less than on some of the
bay, with a part of the 51st Light Infantry on 1 principal lines in England. The arrangements with
board, and detachments of time-expired men and the Commercial Bank of Canada had been nearly
invalids from the Royal Horse Artillery, 3d Dra- concluded, all claims against the Great Western
goon Guards, Royal Artillery, 4th, 33d, 95th, Company had been withdrawn ; the Detroit and
103 d, and 106th Regiments, amounting to 259 men, 1 Milwaukie Railway Company bad agreed to set
women, and children, the whole under command of 1 aside a sinking fund of $lOO,OOO a year to redeem
Capt. C. Kyrie Chatfield, 51st Light Infantry. I the claims of the bank on that company. In the
The Star of India left for Portsmouth yesterday to \ meantime it was agreed to issue bonds so as to satisfy
disembark the troops. The following officers of that and other claims against the company. Having
the 51st Light Infantry accompanied the troops ; described in detail the arrangements with the Com-
-Ensigns Wynne, Turnbull and Rutbven, and ' mercial Bank for the settlement of their claim on
' , s
Own Regiment, on medi- the Detroit and Milwaukie Railway, lie said that
Ensign Irving, 4th King
cal certificate. Four deaths occurred during the 'in future the Commercial Bank would be an
voyage among the invalids. The Star of India left ally to the Great Western in that matter, and
Bombay on the 24th of December, 1866, experienced a friend instead of an enemy. Tho Detroit
very bad weather during her passage, and encoun- and Milwaukie Railway in the past 6; years had
tered a fearful cyclone on the 18th and 19th of received from traffic on the line $7,524.552, and
January in the Indian Ocean, in lat. 18 16 S., and expended in working $1,541,369, 1eaving52,983,195.
long. 67 40 E., in which she lost her bulwarks, two to meet interest and other claims. The gross receipts
of her boats, and nearly all her live stock. The for the past year amounted, on the Detroit and Mil-
barometer fell during the cyclone to 28 20. No waukie line, to £340,935, and the working expenses
casualties occurred on board beyond a few hurts I to £210,443, leaving a net revenue of £130,492, of
from falls and concussions. which £78,753 was absorbed in the payment of in-
The depot of the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons, under terest, leaving £51,741 net. When the claim of the
the command of Capt. Garnett, has arrived at the Commercial Bank was settled the affairs of the De-
camp at Colchester from Canterbury. In accord- troit Company would be placed on a sound footing,
ante with instructions from the Horse Guards the the operation of the third rail would be to develope
depot of the 2d battalion of the 6th Regiment is the through traffic, and considering that the divi-
-1
beld in readiness to proceed to Edinburgh to join the dend for the past year averaged 4 per cent., he
t
service companies on their arrival from Jamaica.hought they might look hopefully to the future.
Brevet-Major Edinonstone and Captain Clery, 32d iHe then alluded to a deputation from the Grand
Regiment, are under orders to join the depot at Trunk Company, and hoped it would result in a
Colchester, and Capts. Priestley and Metcalfe are
Peaceful and harmonious working of the two col:lva-
held in readiness to proceed to the service companies. rues for the benefit of the proprietors of each company.
Staff-Surg. R. Wolsey is ordered from Dublin to Mr. lions seconded the motion for the adoption
Colchester to assume the medical charge of the Bth of the report, and the declaration of a dividend at
Depot Battalion, vice Sorg.-Major J. Burke, who is the rate of 31 per cent. per annum for the past half-
acting as principal medical officer. Staff Assist.- year, free of income tax, payable on the Ist May.
Surg. Jay has been attached to the Bth Depot Bat- Mr. SWINTARD, the general manager, in reply to
talion for duty. a question, stated that the third rail made the com-
pany's line available to 12,000 cars of the American
lines, and would secure to shippers a continuous
route from the west to the seaboard without any in-
termediate transhipment.
Mr. N EWMARCII was glad to hear that the whole
railway policy of Canada was likely to be altered.
At present it was a policy of extreme antagonism.
The Grand Trunk Company were disposed to act
liberally and fairly towards the Great Western of
Canada, and he trusted that some good would re-
sult from a conference on the subject between the
two boards. The two traffic managers were also in
London, and he trusted that every facility would
be given to bring matters to a satisfactory conclu-
sion. The Great Western Company had a capital
of £5,000,000, and the Grand Trunk a capital of
£15,000,000, all consisting of British capital. It
was therefore of vast importance to all concerned
that the best possible return should be secured on
that capital to both companies by friendly and har-
monious traffic arrangement. He did not propose
any fusion or amalgamation of the two companies,
but that they should remain distinct companies as
to capital and so forth. He thought it possible for
them to make such an agreement as would work
beneficially for both companies, and enable them to
interchange and forward traffic where necessary,
thereby saving the present waste that was now going
:
on, and enable both to reduce expenditure. They
should avoid in future all injurious competition, and
work for the benefit of themselves and the public.
The confederation of the provinces in British North
America was no longer a project, but an accom-
plished fact. The Imperial Parliament would assist
them to complete railway communication, and there-
fore the time had arrived when the Great Western and
Grand Trunk Companies should consider how they
could best promote the interests of the proprietors,
by altering the present state of things.
Mr. VieeesotsNeesupposed that the Grand Trunk
Company wanted the use of the Great Western
rolling stock, as they had not enough to work their
own line. If the Great Western allowed their roll-
ing stock to go over the Grank Trunk, they must
take care to get it back again, or it would be kept
for the benefit of the latter company.
The CHAIRMAN said be was glad to hear the
friendly feeling expressed by Mr. Newmarch on be-
half of the Grand Trunk Company, and could only
say that the Great Western Company were desirous
of working in harmony. He begged to remind Mr.
Newmarch that on the 9th March, 1866, an agree-
ment for that purpose was come to in Canada, and
signed at Montreal by Mr. Brydges and Mr. Swin-
yard, the general managers of both companies, for
harmonious working at equal rates and so forth ;
but that agreement was thrown over by the Board
in London, and so the matter stool ever since.
24x. &Lula/az thought that as the 11-lazagera and

- -
Naval and Military Intelligence.

---~ -

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

----- o--

GREAT WESTERN OF CANADA.

The half-yearly general meeting of this company
was held yesterday at the London Tavern ; Mr.
Alderman Dakin in the chair.
Mr. B. BAKv.r, the secretary, having read the
notice convening the meeting, the report, an ab-
stract of which has appealed in The Sun, was taken

as read.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of there-
port, said the receipts on capital account during
the past half-year amounted to £73,702, which was
derived from the call on the new shares, making the
total receipts to the 31st of January last £5,342,384.
The total expenditure amounted to £5,341,253, in-
cluding £137,689 expended during the past half-
year. He thought the auditors had taken a wise
course in their observations on the accounts.
They showed that the total amount raised on shares
was £3,458,795, leaving a margin of share capital
to raise of £1,842,570; and that £1,209,900 had
been raise 1 on mortgage bonds, leaving a margin of
£1,440,785 unexercised, so that there were further
powers to raise a very large amount if it should ever
be necessary, and it was evident that the powers to
raise money on shares and bonds had not been ex-
ceeded in any respect. Although power to raise so
large au amount of capital still remained, the direc-
tors had no intention of calling up money for the
future, unless to provide for carrying increased
traffic, but not for extensions or branches, and thus
they intended to keep the capital account as far as
possible closed. (Hear, hear.) The only outlay of
capital upon extensions was for the Petrolia branch,
on which the directors were authorised in May,
1862. to expend £lO,OOO, and in respect of which
they had paid only £10,038 in the past half-year
for a line to the oil district of five miles in length,
including land, rails, and buildings. They believed
that it was a very profitable outlay. 'the line was
opened on the 17th of January last, and during the
first month it was open the traffic on it amounted
to £l,OOO. There was also a timber traffic on this
short line. The laying of the third rail and the
establishment of the ear-ferryboat had enabled them
to keep their through traffic. The proprietors had
voted £150,000 for, laying down the third rail to
accommodate the narrow gauge carriages and wag-
gons of the American lines. The third line was
opened on the Ist of January Les,, and £145,817
had been expended upon it. The engineer, Mr.
Ttficl, hail estimated the cost of it at £153,083, but
sonic additional sidings would be required. He
thought it greatly to the credit of the engineer that
the expenditure had been, and would be, within the

estimate. The American companies interested in
the third rail had agreed to illy to :the great

Boards of both companies were now in London, there 1
was nothing whatever to prevent them dealing with
the whole question and in a proper manner.
Colonel EVELYN said the whole thing lay in a
nutshell ; the Grand Trunk were deficient of rolling
stock, and the line was in such bad order that a
verdict of manslaughter had been given against the
manager in Canada. It was not to the advantage
of the Great IVestern to reduce the fares, or to send
their rolling stock over such a line as the Grand
Trunk.

The motion for the adoption of the report and
declaration of the dividend was then carried unani-
mously.

After some observations by Mr. GODFREY as to
having a more detailed statement of accounts, the
proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks to the
chairman and directors, and to Mr. Swinyard, the
general manager.