The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-18 00:00:00

BRAMPTON AND LONGTOWN.

The first ordinary meeting of this company was
held at Brampton, Cumberland, on Tuesday ; Mr.
J. Dacre in the chair.

The CHAIR3fAN announced that the directors had
decided on recommending that the meeting be ad-
journed for two months. Individually his course
would be to retire from the direction. He should
abstain from entering into any details that might
be unpleasant. He confessed that what he had
read and what he bad seen at the late meeting of
the North British Company had given him such a
horror of railways that it would take a long time
to get over it.

Mr. SHAW, solicitor, seconded the motion for the
adjournment of the meeting. There were on the
list 1,044 shares, 230 of which were subscribed by
persons who had been connected with the applica-
tion for the Acts, leaving £8,140 subscribed in the
district. The North British and Glasgow and South
Western Companies had each power to subscribe
£30,000 ; but the North British under existing cir-
cumstances had declined to proceed further with
the matter; and no application had yet been made
to the Glasgow and South-Western. Ile had re-
ceived a protest from a number of the local share-
holders, stating that they -had put down their
names for shares upon the representation that one
or other of the adjacent companies would lend sup-
port, and if this representation were not fulfilled
they wished to withdraw. Ile urged that it was
too soon to turn the cold shoulder to the scheme till
the Glasgow and South-Western had been written to.

The CHAIRMAN inquired who were the origina'
promoters of the line.

Mr. SHAW replied that he was first seen by
Messrs. Nimmo and Macnay, the engineers who had
surveyed the line.

The CHAIRMAN— Then it is in common parlance
a " contractor's" line.

The meeting adjourned for five weeks.

MELBOURNE AND HOBSON'S BAY UNITED.

The half-yearly general meeting of this company
was held in Melbourne on the 7th of August ; Mr.
A. Sutherland in the chair.

The report, an abstract of which has appeared in
The Sun, was taken as read.

On the motion of the CHAIRMAN the report was
adopted, and a dividend at the rate of 10 per cent.
per annum was declared. It was stated that a de-
putation from Kew had waited upon the directors for
the purpose of inducing them to make a line to that
place. The gradients were severe, the estimated cost
£24,000, and the length one mile and a quarter. He
thought the extension line to Kew might be made if
persons interested in the district would subscribe a
certain portion of the capital.
The proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks
to the chairman.

The traffic returns on the company's line, 17 miles
in length, amounted for the five weeks ending the
23d of August to £11,479, against £11,287 for the
corresponding five weeks of 1865, 02c:swing an in-
crease of £192.

UNIVERSAL PRIVATE TELEGRAPH.
A general meeting of this company was held yes-
terday at their offices, Adelaide-street, Strand ; Mr.
J. Mellor in the chair.
The report stated the income for the half year
ending 30th June last amounted from all sources
to £7,798 as against £6,074 for the corresponding
half of 1865. The ordinary working expenses dur-
ing the half year amounted to
£2,092 as the cost of efficiently resto • ring the corn-
pany's plant from the effects of the snow storm of
January 11, amounted to £6,394. A net balance
of only £2,368 remained for the payment of divi-
dend, which the directors proposed to appropriate
inliquidation of the liabilities of the company in lieu
of making further calls. The sum of £4,481 had
been expended on capital account during the half
year. The directors having had an experience of
two and a half years of the working of
the agreement with Professor Wheatstone,
felt that its conditions were so onerous upon
the capital of the proprietors that they bad de-
cided not to increase the expenditure on capital
account, but to meet the present liabilities of the
company out of revenue as it accrued. They were
bound by the present agreement with the Professor
to allot to him £2,700 stock out of every £19,000
called up, besides his royalties and profits upon in-
struments. A large proportion of the capital hitherto
raised had been expended on open wire work, which
was free from all claims for patent right, but which,
by an oversight in settling the agreement with the
Professor, he claimed as if he held a patent for the
erection of such open wires. -The Cantyre line was
now in full operation, but the results, so far, were
not of the satisfactory nature the directors were led
to expect, but they trusted its further development
would be remunerative. The directors were giving
their best attention to a more economical working
of the company's service, as well as to the increase
of the revenue.

The CIIAIMIAN said that on examination into the
company's affairs it had been found that lines had
been erected where they were not required, and cal-
culations were entered into which turned out entirely
fallacious, while there were large expenses in various
parts of England •
which brought them in a very
small return. They altered the system of letting
wires, and deter
mined to do no more work unless
specially ordered,
e instructions of their board
had been sydernati The
being
disregarded
more capital was , and although
pngsc.atl.led up every half-year,
they were in a worse
instead of im-
proving, they got worse, position,
awnel; e compelled to
abide by an agreement which, if he had known to
exist in the form it did, he ?sy would have abstained
from having anything to do with the company a
st in the
that
commercial affair. They were sub
b i n
as
hope of getting a dividend. Ile assured them
nothing should be on wanting
his part to bring about
a proper state of things. The past six months had
been an absolute loss, and taking into consideration
the storm of January they had suffered a serious
loss. It was quite true that the concern had been
improperly conducted, and there had been gross
mismanagement ; but be believed that now they had
made a change things would go on more smoothly.
The motion for the adoption of the report was
then put to the meeting, when
Mr. MACKENZIE moved an amendment to the
effect that the meeting stand adjourned, and the
report and statement of accounts be not received,
and a committee be appointed. On behalf of Pro-
fessor Wheatstone he stated that the chairman mis-
represented the condition of the agreement existing
between the professor and the company, by assert-

ing that he was to receive a royalty for open wire
work, which was free from all; claims of patent
right, and still more so that he could not claim this
in consequence of an oversight in settling the agree-
ment with him. He made no such claims, nor was
there any such oversight. By the original agreement
he was entitled to a certain amount of shares in
proportion to the capital subscribed. By the new
agreement he gave up the whole of his shares to
trustees, to be transferred to him progressively as
the capital was paid up. He had received under
this agreement the amount of £13,500. Had he re-
ceived the amount in cash it would not have repaid
him for the expenses incurred. All expenses attend-
ing the improvements of the instruments, which had
been very great, and all costs incurred in defending
the patent rights had fallen exclusively on him, and
on the latter item he had been obliged to expend
£3,000. Besides this, he had been called upon to con-
tribute some of these shares to the diminution of the
Parliamentary and other legal expenses, &c. In the
balance-sheet £4,265 was set against " line expenses
and maintenance," and included besides the ordinary
expenses £2,092 for damage occasioned by the heavy
snowfall in January. He then referred to other
items. Had it not been for that accidental circum-
stance the profits for the last half-year would have
more than covered a dividend for that period of 6
per cent. per annum. The real cause of the com-
pany not being able to pay a dividend on this occa-
sion was that the available sum had been spent on
capital account. The construction of the instru-
ments had been greatly improved, and the cost of
their manufacture considerably diminished. It would
be impossible to divide anything if the profits were
to be applied to the purposes of capital.
The amendment was then negatived, and the re-
port was adopted.
A vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated the
proceedings.