The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-31 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 31, 1858.

self in English, and after uttering these few words withdrew
from the balcony, and the windows were then closed.. The
baud, meanwhile, had been admitted into the hotel, and per-
formed several pieces of music that were intended as appro-
priate to the occasion. To one, however, objection. must be
respectfully taken, for Sldlle. Piccolomini, being herself
upon the eve of departure, could not legitimately be re-
garded as The girl I left behind me.' The crowd remained
cheering and conversing outside the hotel for nearly an
hour longer. Thus terminated the great fament which,
p litical matters apart, has been visible so lstig in the streets
of Dublin.
"Yesterday. at two o'clock p.m., the members of the
Italian company sailed from Kingstown in the mail
steamer for Holyhead, en route to fulfil engagements in
different parts of England:during the next three weeks.
"The following wo ds were written Inside the copy of
Moore's Melodies,' presented to Piccolomini A tribute
presented to. La Signora Piccolomini, with the assurance
that in her triumphal career she never met more sincere,
More respectf 11, more ardent wishes for her happiness, here
and for ever, than animate the hearts of her Unknown Irish
Friends!. Dublin, 28th August, 1858."

AN AWKWARD ACCIDENT.
At Cork, the other day, a lady and gentleman, after ea
loying an aquatic excursion, were about landing, whea the
ady slipped and fell into the river. llere s'ie would infal-
libly have been drowned but for the copious folds of crinoline
with which she was eagirdled. These by their buoyancy
kept her from sinking, but unluckily as the lower parts cf
her person were those to which the crinoline was attached,
these floated uppermost, and the unfortunate lady was cotr-
pelled to asaume a very undignified position—legs up, head
down in the water. The boatman gallantly jumped in after
her. but he did it so awkwardly that he upset the boarwith
a kick, and the result was that the entire three of the party
were in the Water, where they were gazed at for some time
with no small astordstament by some persons who were on
the pier, until, assistance having arrived, they were all
brought to land. The lady, however, was in such a state,
both from the thorough drenching she had received, as
well as from the thoughts of the ungraceful appearance
which she presentcd'in the water, that a car had to be pro-
cured to convey her and her friend home.

meat with the East Kent Company in order to avert future
competition, if possible, but without effect." He (Mr.
Hilton) thought that arrangement was at an end, and was
not to be mentioned ; but after the statement by the
South-Eastern directors, he was bound to say that the offer
made was one that could not be accepted, for it would have
prevented the making of one inch of the line towards Can-
terbury or Dover. It was not fair to publish that which was
really not the fact. The ofler was not a band fide offer
which could be accepted, and the South-Eastern must hare
been aware that it was not. The hon. director went
through the remaining paragraphs, and concluded by
secording the adoption of the report.
Mr. REES complained that the report was not sufficiently
explicit as to the completion of the line to Dover. He had
no doubt that the difficulties with which the directors had had
to contend bad been very great, but if the completion of the
line to Dover was to be indefinitely postponed, or until
all other objects bad been attained, be could not help
thinking that the directors were pursuing a course by which
they would fail to accomplish the hopes of the proprietors.
The hon. proprietor remarked at some length on the import-
ance of opening up the Dover traffic ; he pointed to the pcsi-
tion of Dover in a military and national point of view, and
the attraction of the neighbourhood as offering inducements
to tourists, and called upon the directors to give some
assurance that they intended to proceed with the formation
of the line to Dover with all possible speed.
Mr. HILTON assured the honourable proprietor that 'he
directors never thought of shelving the Dover line, for the
best of all reasons, that they could not shelve it. (Cheers.) The
line to Dover must be finished at the same time as the line to
St. Mary's Cray, for without the Dover line the line to St.
Mary's Cray would never be made to pay. £300,000 was the
outlay on the line to St. Mary's Cray. He hoped that state-
ment would satisfy the hon. proprietors as to the intention
of the directors to proceed with the Dover portion of their
scheme, with all despatch. It was, however, thought that
the upper line was of more pressing importance. and there-
fore the directors devoted their energies to that subject in
the first instance. Having done that, the Dover line must
follow. He might be allowed to add that if the Dover
people would take a few thousand shares it would mate-
rially promote the object.
Mr. HARTRIDGE was of opinion that if the line from Can-
terbury to Dover were made,tbe East Kent Company would
have to go halves in a loss with the present existing Dover
Company. He could not conceive it possible that any profit
could arise to this company by the making of the line to Dover.
They would never divert the local traffic ; they would only
set people from
,Londoon to their line, and that would never
occur unless an itirigifinienf i#EPrtlitretEcTlOTTrtlirr south-"
th-
Eastern for the rnaintalnance of the rate of fares. There was
no inducement to go to Dover; the Dover people had not con-
tributed the capital, and he thought the directors bad done
wisely to leave Dover out of their consideration for the
present. Then, with regard to the other matters whick had
engaged the attention of the meeting, lie was surprised
to hear nothing at all said about the main line.
In the report there was an important passage which
stated that the traffic returns between Strood and Faversham
were very satisfactory; and although the line had been work-
ing but a few months the receipts were considerably larger
per mile than on many other lines of railway, which was the
more satisfactory when it was considered that the line, not
being at present open beyond Faversham, was dependent for
its revenue entirely on the local traffic of the district. He
had subscribed his capital to make that line, because he con-
ceived that the local traffic would be sufficient to support it.
What had they been doing with their line and their money ?
What had the directors been doing with their energies ? He
found in the accounts £16,000 debited for which they had
no consideration; was it for making the main line which
promised so well ? No. It was for making that which,
alter all, they were obliged to depute to others—on what
terms this report did not say. The time and money of
tote company had been expended in everything and any-
thing but the main line. As to the contract with Messrs.
Peto, Betts, and Crampton, the directors had not given
any details. It was stated that the whole of the capital
required for the line had been satisfactorily placed. By
whom ? Under what circumstances ? He did not know
that the shareholders had given any authority for placing
the capital satisfactorily. The report communicated nothing,
the chairman's speech communicated nothing, and the
gentleman acting for the deputy chairman had communi-
cated nothing. Supposing the additional capital for the
extension should be lost, upon whom would fall the burden
of the loss? In passing these reports the shareholders were
scarcely aware how they bound themselves, and what powers
they placed in the hands of the directors. The chairman
had told them that their Parliamentary contests were over,
whereas in the report the shareholders were asked to invest
the directors with authority to apply to Parliament, if ne-
cessary, in the ensuing session for such powe. as would
enable them to develop the traffic on the line, and to secure
proper accommodati"n for the public. What did that mean ?
And the directors had made up their minds to apply.
The CHAIRMAN—That does not follow. You are not
much of a diplomatist, or yeu would see the meaning of it.
Mr. HARTRIDGE—At all events we are not out of the
fangs of Parliament yet. The, hon. proprietor remarked on
the expensive character of the contest in which they had
been engaged, and expressed his disapprobation of such an
outlay as appeared by the capital account to be referable to
Parliamentary proceeding's.
Mr. STARLING spoke strongly in support of the policy
pursued by the directors in devoting their attention to the
Western Extension, for until they had become independent
of the South-astern Company the property of the East
Kent would never be what it might and ought to become.

Compared with the Western Eitension, the Dover line
was of very small importance, although no doubt it was
desirable that the whole scheme should be ultimately car-
ried out.

The CHAIRMAN said if he had not known Mr. Hartridge
by name be should have imagined that gentleman to have
been the chairman of the South-a-tern Company.