The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-05 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

ATLANTIC AND GREAT WESTERN.

The following interesting statement has just been
issued with regard to the Atlantic and Great
Western Railway :

TO THE BOND, DEBENTURE, AND SHAREHOLDERS
OF THE ATLANTIC AND GREAT WESTERN RAIL-

WAY.

The persistent misrepresentations regarding the
Atlantic and Great Western Railway compel me,
without further delay, to give a frank explanation
of its position. Under ordinary circumstances this
explanation would have been deferred until the
publication of the annual report with audited ac-
counts. The construction of the Atlantic and Great
Western Railway was commenced in May, 1860,
and 507 miles were completed and in operation in
May, 1865. About 200 locomotives and upwards
of 3,000 carriages and waggons were constructed.
Hotels, stations, and workshops, equal to the re-
quirements of a great leading company, were erected
—in short, nothing was left undone to complete
and thoroughly equip the Atlantic and Great West-
ern Railway, even amidst the distractions of a great
civil war, during which, of all similar works in the
United States, this enterprise alone proceeded unin-
terruptedly to completion.

The results of the working of the line have jus-
tified these labours and this expenditure. In the
first year of its opening the receipts have exceeded
$5,000,000. In 1866 the receipts will be nearly
$6,000,000, and with the great development and ad-
ditional sources of traffic rapidly opening up, it is not
too much to estimate the returns for1867at$8,000,000;
and as all the main lines of railway in America have
trebled their receipts in five or six years, it is not un-
reasonable to anticipate that by 1872 the Atlantic
and Great Western will earn $15,000,000, or
£3,000,000 sterling without any important increase
of capital. During the present month the consoli-
dated freight line through New York to St. Louis,
in connection with the Erie and the Ohio and Mis-
sissippi Railways, will commence running. In
February the route will be open from Cleveland to
Pittsburgh, one-half the mileage belonging to the
Atlantic and Great Western. During the summer
direct communication will be established with
Buffalo, and the completion of the New Lisbon
Extension will bring the railway into close connec-
tion with the great coal fields of Ohio.
And yet, after accomplishing so much, with pros-
pects so brilliant, and although every promise made
to the public has been faithfully fulfulled, every
liability for coupons promptly met, the securities of
the Atlantic and Great Western Railway are at
prices as speculative as if dividends were doubtful
for many years. This is not the response the com-
pany had a right to expect for so much labour and
so much geod faith.
Letters are daily received, almost without excep-
tion, kind in their tone, and expressing confidence,
but naturally very anxious as to the great fall in
quotations. I unhesitatingly reply that there is
nothing in the position of the railway to warrant
depreciation, but it has many rivals, and there are
many unscrupulous persons who, for purposes of
their own, have been for months organising schemes
to depreciate its bonds and debentures in the
market.

ATLANTIC AND GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.
CONSOLIDATED.
NEW YORK-.-PENNSYLVANIA-01110.
LIABILITIES.

First—The mortgage debt of the railway, as
authorised by the Consolidated Act of 1865, is
$30,000,000 or £6,000,000 sterling, viz.:—
Bonds issued by the several divisions... $11,647,000
Consolidated Bonds issued ... ... 18,353,000

$30,000,000

The entire property (including rolling stock) and
revenues of the Atlantic and Great Western Rail-
way, 507 miles in operation, are mortgaged as
security for the principal and interest of these bonds,
and there is no other mortgage debt whatever. These
bonds take precedence of all other debts. The
mortgage is duly recorded in every county through
which the railway runs.
Second—The Certificates of Debenture issued in
November, 1864, under special powers of attorney
from the Atlantic and Great Western Railway Com-
pany to meet the requirements of the London Stock
Exchange, due in November, 1867, for £2,800,000
sterling, bear interest at 8 per cent. per annum, and
are collaterally secured (the company being liable
for the principal and interest) by a deposit with
the trustees of bonds and shares amounting to
$20,708,750, as endorsed on each debenture.
Third.—The share capital of the railway, autho-
rised by the same act, is $30,000,000, and is held
by the public and as collaterals for loans.
The charges on the revenues of the railway rank
in order of precedence, as under :

1. Interest on the bond debt.
2. Interest on the certificates of debenture.
3. Dividends on shares.
REQUIREMENTS FOR INTEREST IN 1867.
First Charge. Currency. Sterling.
On $5,025,900 divisional bonds, pay-
able in currency
On $6,621,100 divisional bonds, pay-
able in sterling £92695
On $18,353,003 consolidated bonds, ,
--- payable in sterling 256,942
$30,000,000
Second Charge.
On £2,800,000 certificates of debenture
£60,500 being already provided

163,400

6351,813 £513,037
ESTIMATE OF REVENUE FUR 1867.
Gross traffic
Deduct—Working expenses 60 per cent.

Nett revenue

53,200,000

The Banquet at Cowes.

-A,
(From the Anglo-American Times.)
The banquet to the American yachtsmen, which
came off at the Gloucester Hotel, Cowes, last Satur-
day, was one of the few public dinners at which we
regret it was not our good fortune to be present.
Sir John Simeon, Bart., M.P. for the Isle of Wight,
presided. The walls were draped with American
and English flags, and even the ceiling was painted
with the stars and stripes. Laurels and artificial
roses hung in festoons around the room, and mottoes
conveying compliments to the guests occupied con-
spicuous positions. The naval band of H.M.S.
Hector, and a military band from Winchester,
played during the dinner and after the several
toasts. The affair was admirably conducted, ar d
the gallant American yachtsmen threw such
a vein of " chaff " and fun into the speeches
that all round the table were kept in one
continued roar of laughter. It is a pity that
the Poet Laureate was prevented from attending
on account of the illness of Mrs. Tennyson, other-
wise the scene might have furnished his pen with
the materials for a song, which would have been
hailed with pleasure by both nations, and handed
down the event to remote posterity. The genuine
good feeling, combined with the racy wit displayed
by the guests, must be seized at the moment of in-
spiration, or it cannot in all its freshness be repro-
duced. We have, however, to thank the correspon-
dents of the Press for an admirable report. It is
difficult, among so many excellent speeches, so
varied in style, to select. Colonel Taylor responded
on behalf of the United States army, and the im-
pression he made on the company was so profound
that the chairman personally thanked him for the
admirable expression of his generous and kindly
sentiments. Mr. Lawrence Jerome (the name will
long live in connection with horse-racing in the
United States) replied in a speech so droll and witty
that every one was irresistibly forced into shouts of
laughter, which commenced when he began and
ended only when he finished. Commodore MTicar,
in responding to the toast of the New York Yacht
Club, with which his own health was coupled,
alluded in a very happy manner to the reception of
his fellow-countrymen, and to the mottoes sur-
rounding the hall.
Then followed what the Chairman said was the
toast of the evening—" James Gordon Bennett,
Esq., jun., the winner of the Ocean Race, and our
American guests." That gentleman replied in astraiu
resembling the speech of Mr. Jerome, and the table
was kept in a roar. On his drawing a picture of a
sharp-nosed Yankee who drank cider to make him
nose redder, and alluding to Mr. Jerome, that gen-
tleman facetiously called " order," and claimed the
Chairman's protection. On this Mr. Bennett re-

.......--_,..........—.0--.
torted by saying, " Of course, Mr. Chairman, if I am to
be interrupted by a Yankee, I must sit down, for I
have forgotten what I was going to say ;" and down
he sat, among his companions convulsed with the
laughter the incident had excited. After several
other toast " The Press" was proposed, and Mr.
Fiske, of the New York: Herald, was loudly called
on to respond. This able writer fcllowed in Mr.
Bennett's wake in the style in which he answered
the call, and " chaffed" his friends and companions
of the adventurous voyage.- He declared that he
had been kept up night and day to do all the writ-
ing, from his friends' love-letters down to the ships
log. In accomplishing the latter task he had to be
constantly with Captain Samuels, who required mites
to be taken of all he did. All the praise, therefore,
they had given to Captain Samuels was his also-
Nor did his work cease on his arrival at Ca wes, for
there lie had to write the reports to the papers, ancl
to compose all the speeches which the American
yachtsmen had made there that night. Good a; these
speeches were they had not heard thyrn all
yet, for his friend Mr. Centre had to make one,
which he wrote for him, with the applause inserted,
to save the reporters trouble. He was happy in the
applause awarded to the wit and eloquence of Mr. Ben' !,
nett and of Colonel Taylor, who had addressed them,
and he was glad to see they had good memories.''
Nor while firing away right and left did he over t
look Commodore M'Vicar, who had, he declared,
"forgotten the last part of his speech. Having dealt
with his friends so liberally, he now found himself
without a speech to deliver. Nor was that all, for
one of the reporters had called on him to write the !:
speech that Mr. Jerome had made. Ile had bee°
most agreeably disappointed in Old England, which
he had heard was a foggy country, where it was :
difficult to become acquainted. They were told that
they would be looked upon coldly, and that those
they would meet were like walnuts, who had to he
..!
cracked before they could be got at. With this jai- ,1
pression, when on his way to London he chose a
second in preference to a first-class carriage, where
he was informed he would be likely to meet people,
less icy in their coldness. For the first hour no otie
I
spoke a word, and he thought--how thorouis;hl9l
English this is ! From the window he saw o°,l
scenery of Pennsylvania on one side, thatl
of New Jersey on the other, the only differeneeii
being that here they had hedges. Instead,
of fog, the sun . was brightly shining. Atit
the end of the hour some one began
toil
talk, then another brought out brandy and water,
and soon they were thoroughly at home. It would
be difficult to get theta back to America, and would
many telegrams, so hearty had been thLd-r
reception. But whether they went or not, the,
would certainly meet at the French Exhibition.
There were laurels yet to be won, which Mr. Centre
would express to them fully, for he had written hi°
speech out expressly." On this Mr. Centre rose
amidst much laughter, and declared he had for'
gotten the speech referred to. Mr. Jerome, who,
in his first speech had said that he had not prepared
his speech, although others had learnt theirs, and
had had them written for them, then rose, and made
another facetious address, representing himself a°
having been naturalised, and calling his companion°
" You Americans," who he was glad to see in Eng'
land, where the utmost good feeling existed to'
wards them." Mr. Bennett observed that he and
Mr. Jerome were the only two Americans present
who had not prepared their speeches. This wag
exactly what Mr. Fiske had said ; his statement
being that he had prepared all the speeches. rib°
merry party separated at midnight, after au even"
ing of thorough enjoyment, which was the better
appreciated from the contrast it afforded to the
hardships they had encountered in the successful
performances of their perilous feat.