The Sun.
London, England, 1867-11-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 13, 1867.

Naval an,

Ld Military Intelligence.

Yesterday Lieut. A. R. Puzey and the remaining
portion of the non-commissioned officers and sappers
of the 10th company of Royal Engineers who were
unable to proceed to Abyssinia in the screw steamer
Mendoza left head-quarters, Brompton-barracks,
Chatham, to proceed by the African mail steamer.
The Clara, East Indiaman, has been chartered
by the Hon. Council of India for the conveyance of
troops to India, and will be ready in the course of
a few clays to embark her detachment of artillery
and infantry troops of various regiments at
Gravesend.

During the past few weeks recruiting for the
various regiments at Chatham has proceeded with
considerable briskness, recruits from the several
out-districts arriving at the garrison daily. The
following arc the regiments for which recruiting is
now open, the service companies of most of which
are in India, viz.:—The Bth (the King's) Regiment,
2d battalion of the 2d (Queen's Royals) Regiment,
10th Regiment, 15th Regiment, 45th (Sherwood
Foresters) Regiment, 82d (Prince of Wales' Volun-
teers) Regiment, 106th Bombay Light Infantry,
and 109th Bombay Infantry.

An examination of foremen from the various
Royal dockyards for the appointment of assistant
master shipwright commenced yesterday morning
at the office of the Civil Service Commissioners,
Westminster. Candidates whose ages did not exceed
50 years, and who had served three years as fore-
men of shipwrights, were eligible.
The screw gunvessel Myrmidon, 4, 200 horse
power, Commander Johnson, having completed her
outfit in Chatham harbour, and had the alterations
ordered to be effected made good, will ship her
powder, shell, and ammunition from the magazines
at Upuor Castle to-day, and afterwards take her de-
parture for her station, the West Coast of Africa.

RAILWAY AND OTHER COMPANIES.

CALEDONIAN.

The directors of this company have given notice
of an intended application to Parliament to autho-
rise the abandonment of four branch lines sanctioned
in 1865, viz., the Bangholm junction, the Shielhill
branch, the Crieff connecting junction, and the Barr-
head and Paisley branch ; to extend the time for
the compulsory purchase of lands and completion of
works of the Balerno and the Muirkirk branches ;
and to extend the time for the sale of surplus lands
on the Scottish North-Eastern and other lines ; also
for power to purchase lands at various places on the
company's lines, and to hold shares in the Crieff
and Methvin Junction Railway ; power to raise
additional capital by the issue of ordinary or pre-
ference shares for the completion of certain works,
to provide more rolling stock, station, and other ac-
commodation for the traffic.

TRUST AND AGENCY COMPANY OF AUSTRULASIA
(LIMITED).

The half-yearly meeting of this company was
held yesterday at the offices, St. Swithin's-lane—
Mr. A. Bonar in the chair.

The CHAIRMAN stated that the articles of asso-
ciation provided that the power of declaring a divi-
dend should be exercised by the shareholders only,
and that the Boa d should have no power to pay a
dividend without first obtaining the consent of the
shareholders. The accounts of the company were
only made up annually, and presented to the share-
holders in May, but the Board had carefully gone
into the company's affairs, and the dividend they
proposed was a moderate one, and had been fairly
earned. Generally, he might say that the affairs of
the company were progressing satisfactorily. With
regard to debentures and the amount falling due
everything had been met. The aggregate amount
had been recently increasing, and now had nearly
reached the limit fixed as the fair proportion to
the capital authorised by their deed. Out of
12,500 new shares authorised to be issued at 12
premium, only 200 or 300 remained unapplied for,
so that he was fully warranted in saying that
affairs both at home and abroad were proceeding
satisfactorily. By advices received from New Zea-
land the company was collecting about £27,000 per
annum. lie concluded by moving that an ad interim
dividend of ls. per share, free of income-tax, being
at the rate of 10 per cent. per annum on the paid-
up capital, be declared out of the profits for the
half-year ending the 30th of June last.

The Hon. A. KINNAIRD, M.P., seconded the
motion.

Mr. WIL3roT KNIGHT wished to know whether
the advances made to Mr. Gladstone, late a director
of the company, had been realised by the sale of the
property upon which the advances had been ob-
tained ; if not, whether there were any special
reasons why such a result was not reached, and
whether any of the directors were under advance to
the company at present.

The CHAIRMAN said that the advances were not
made tot Mr. Gladstone while a member of the
Board. There was a rule that no director or other
officer of the company could obtain a loan from the
company. The amount advanced to Mr. John
Gladstone (i 3,000) had been written off at the last
meeting. The question had since been the subject
of a suit in Chancery, and the company had got a
verdict, so that anything which might come from
that debt would be carried to profit and loss, and be
dealt with in May next,

The motion was then agreed to nem. con., and a
vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the pro-
ceedin gs.

MADRAS.

The report of the directors alluded to the con-
tinued steady progress of the undertaking during
the past half year. No further extension of the
north-west line had taken place, but a section of
about 32 miles of it in advance of the present ter-
minus at Moodanoor was so far completed that ma-
terial trains were running over it, and as soon as the
bridge over the Chittravutty river was finished this
additional section would be opened for traffic. The
railway would then extend to within 30 miles of
Gooty, and would be ready, it was hoped, to bring
down the cotton crop of that and the adjoining dis-
tricts in the beginning of the year. The mileage
worked over in the half year on the company's lines
was 645, against 611 in the corresponding half of
the preceding year ; the number of passengers was
1,019,164 against 930,845 ; and the goods 164,334
tons, against 132,052, railway materials excluded.
The gross results for the half year were £241,010,
against £213,673, and the net receipts £141,182,
against £117,873 of the corresponding half of 1866.
Those results, attained in• the face of a continued
and general depression of trade, must be gratifying
and encouraging as regarded the future. While the
receipts had increased on the half year 124 per cent.
the expenses had only increased by 41 per cent. Of
the general goods traffic of the railway salt held its
place as the largest item ; the quantity carried in
the half year was 24,697 tons, yielding a gross re-
ceipt of £20,191. The quantity of cotton carried to
Madras was 9,422 tons, against 3,486 tons in the
corresponding half of 1866. The permanent way
and works were in the usual good condition ; no
damage had been sustained from bursting of 'tanks
or otherwise during the past 12 mouths ; and the
train service had been conducted with regularity,
and, as heretofore, without accident to any passen-
ger. It had been determined, with the entire con-
currence of the Government, to construct a new
passenger station at Madras on an eligible site, not
far from the goods station adjoining the People's-
park, and the ground was now being cleared for the
purpose. The removal of the station to this more
accessible and central locality would enable the
company to work both goods and passenger traffic
more economically than was possible under the pre-
sent inconvenient arrangements. On the south-
west line and Bangalore branch the maintenance of
great part of this line was still enhanced in cost by
the replacement of wooden sleepers as they decayed
by iron sleepers, and by the greater expense of
maintaining the wooden road in the western districts,
though wooden sleepers were cheap and good there.
It was found impossible to bring down the cost of
maintaining a line with wooden sleepers to any-
thing like an equality with the iron sleeper line.
The cost of maintaining the lines of this contract
for the half year had been at the rate of £159 per
mile per annum, and it did not seem probable that