The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-25 00:00:00

ATLANTIC ROYAL STEAII NAVIGATION.

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dby meetingthe oofffischi
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liqo
al di
de shareholders
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rn, thiss cho
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at the London Tavern. Mr. F. Whinney, the
onfficialliquidtate ffora,sauirbs of the
mittedbiscormeppoarnty. I
on thte
stated
up of h
that the company was formed in 1858 to convey
passengers and mails between Galway and North
America, but had proved so unsuccessful that spe-
cial meetings had been held in 1861-2 to write
off £388,109 for losses and expenditure. As the
criginal capital was £376,277, rather more than
the whole of it was thus declared to have been
lost. It was, however, determined to persevere
with the undertaking, and for this purpose, in 1862,
the company raised further capital by preference
shares. The amount authorised to be issued was
£60,000, in shares of £lO each, bearing a prefe-
rential interest of 7 per cent. per annum. The
amount raised from this source was £527,262,
which had been nearly all lost. Matters were in
1861 brought to such a state that the company ,
could go on no longer, and acccordingly a resolu-
tion was passed in July, 1864, by which it was re-
solved to wind up the company, and Mr. Whinney
was appointed liquadator. On taking office lie
found that the assets of the company consisted
principally of the four steamships, Adriatic,
Anglia, Columbia, and Hibernia, which stood in
the books of the company at a cost of £776,871.
It appeared, however, from a report made to the
Treasury in October, 1862, that those four ships,
when completed for sea, were, in the estimation of
the Admiralty surveyors, worth commercially
£337,000 only. The ships were mortgaged for
£150,000, and after various negotiations the official
liquidator disposed of them for £280,000, subject
to the mortgage, leaving a sum which enabled him,
with the aid of other assets, consisting principally
of claims on policies, to pay the creditors their
debts in full, amounting to £279,455, besides leav-
ing a surplus of £11,075, the greater part of which
was applicable for division among the preference
shareholders.

A short conversation ensued between one of the
two shareholders present and the official liquidator
as to the right of the preferential shareholders to
have the balance remaining distributed amongst
them.

The proceedings terminated by the official liqui-
dator declaring that, with the exception of this
division of the balance, the company was wound up.

HULL DOCKS.

Theannual report of the directors congratulates the
proprietors on the satisfactory progress of the trade
and commerce of Hull, which during the year had
steadily increased notwithstanding the derangement
of the money market and the Garman war. The
gross revenue in 1866 was £114,562 against £103,605
in 1865, showing an increase of £10,966. The gross
expenditure in 1866 was £Bl,OBl, and in 1865
£75,931, the net revenue being £30,481. The clock
duties and rent ou vessels was £45,352 on 1,343,819
tons, against £43,086 on 1,262,763 tons in 1865.
The tonnage of steamers engaged in the foreign and
coasting trades amounted to 748,286 tons, being an
increase of 99,103 tons as compared with 1865. The
increased expenditure in the past year amounted to
£8,147, of which £3,158 had been paid for opposing
the Dock Trust Bill, promoted by the Hull Corpo-
ration• for the compulsory purchase of the docks.
The outlay on account of the Victoria and Railway
Docks amounted to £22,674, and on the New West-
ern Dock to £205,231. Mr. Hawkshaw, the engi-
neer, reported that since Jan., 1866, the whole of
the foreshore required for the new dock, having a
river frontage of more than a mile, had been en-
closed from the Humber.