The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-19 00:00:00

THE BUN, LONDON„ SATURDAY EVENING, JANUARY 19, 1861.

BUILDING GROUND, CITY of LONDON:-
To be LET, on a Building Lease, for eighty years, a
PIECE of GROUIsi D on the north side of Queenhithe Dock,
in the City of London. —Plans of the ground may be seen and
further particulars obtained on application at the Architect's
office, Guildhall

FERDINAND BRAND, Comptroller.

LAW ' LIFE ASSURANCE OFFICE,
Fleet-street, London, 3d January, 1861.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, That a GENERAL
MEETING of Proprietors of the Law Life Assurance Society
will be held at the Society's Office, Fleet-street, London, on
SATURDAY, the 2d day of February next, at twelve o'clock
at noon precisely, pursuant to the provisions of the Society's
Deed ofSettlement, for the purpose of receiving the Auditors'
Annual Report of the Accourts of the Society up to the 31st
day of December, 18,30 ; to elect a Trustee in the room of John
Henry Cancellor, Esq., deceased; and a Director in the room
of Richard Richards, Esq., deceased; and for general pur-
poses.

The Director to be chosen in the room of Richard Richards,
Esq., deceased, will remain in office until the 24th day of
June next.

By order of the Directors.
WILLIAM SAMUEL DOWNES, Actuary.

THE INTERNATIONAL LIFE
ASSURANCE SOCIETY.
142, Strand, London.
Empowered by Act of Parliament, for LIFE ASSURANCE
SURVIVORSHIPS, ANNUITIES, ENDOWMENTS, &c.
DIRECTORS.
EDMOND SHEPPARD SYMES, M.D., Chairman.
John Elliotson,M.D.,Cantab., John Moss, Esq.
F.R.S. John Symes, Esq.
Henry J. Hodgson, Esq. Joseph Thompson, Esq.
SECRETARY TO THE BOARD.
Alexander Richardson, Esq.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY,
Augustus Blondel, Esq.
AUDITORS.
Professor Wheatstone, F.R.S., and Professor J. Radford.
Young.
MEDICAL REFEREE GENERAL.
• J. Emotion, M.D., Cantab., F.R.S., 37, Conduit-street.
ACTUARY.
W. S. B. Woolhouse, Esq., F.R.A.S., F.S.S., &o.
ASSISTANT ACTUARY.
Barker_Woolhouse, Esq. „
BANKERS. '
Messrs. Glyn, Mills, and Co., 67, Lombard-street.
SOLICITORS.
Messrs. Gregory, Gregory, Skirrow, and Rowcliffe, Bedford
row.

Policy
taken
Out in

1838
1841
1845
1848
1851

Examples of Bonus up to May, 1855 :

Sum Bonus in
Age., Assured. addition Bonus in
to Sum Cash.
Assured.

£ B. d. a. d.
3,000 867 17 7 428 1 4
4,000 749 4 0 325 16 0
2,000 232 18 0 156 15 0
2,000 154 2 8 103 16 8
2,800 120 17 0 72 14 6

Permanent
Reduction
of Annual
Premiums.

X N. d.
56 3 8
32 0 4
16 6 0
10 15 2
6 7 7

The following are amongst the advantages offered by the
international Life Assurance Society:—
The Society was established in 1838.
Two-thirds of the profits are divided amongst the assured
every five years.
For prospectuses and every other information, apply to the
Chairman, 142, Strand.
EDMOND S. STILES, Chairman.
142, Strand, London, W.C.

TO THE RIFLE BRIGADE.--A GOOD
SIGHT WILL PROVE ADVANTAGEOUS IN
SELF-DEFENCE. To render your sight and hearing per-
fect take GRIMSTONE'S EYE SNUFF, invented by him to
give strength and vigour to the vision, &a Sold in tinfoil peck -
ages, 6d. per oz. ; canisters, Bd.. ls. 3d., or in jars 2 oz., 4 oz.,
Bnz., lbs. upwards at Bs. per lb. for export, under the authority
of the Lords of the Treasury, and Medical. authority. Or
should you be a smoker, leave it off, it renders your hand un-
steady. If you must smoke, smoke GRIM STONE'S ARO-
MATIC HERB TOBACCO. This will strengthen your
nerves ; by swallowing your spittle it increases the appetite.
The smoke equrl4 Oriental nastules. Sold in square, green
packets with red .label, at 3d. per oz., 3s. 61 per lb. GRIM-
STONE'S HAIR REGENERATOR is the only article that
will produce whiskers, moustaches, eye brows, or cause anew
growth of human hair upon those n irts nature intends this
ornament of the human figure. It is 531 d in triangular
bottles, and inclosed in the 77th edition of the pamphlet full
of testimonials from ladies and gentlemen. Real addresses,
45.. 75., and lls., this size contains four of the 4s. size, Alt
letters to William Grimstone, herbalist, London Denot, 52,
High-street, Bloomsbury : and by Messrs. Barclay and Sons,
Farringdon-street, and all other respectable dealers

volley was fired at them. Under these circumstances Mr.
Stuart with great reluctance felt obliged to retrace his steps.
He returned to the point he started from on Sept. 9, after
having travelled upwards of 2,300 miles in six months and
two days, and having penetrated to 250 miles of the Gulf
of Carpentaria. The geological character of the mountain
ranges was igneous, the appearance of quartz and other
granite rocks giving evidence of the presence of metallic
treasures. Only one prtion of the route, for the distance of
60 miles, was sterile end sandy.

The PRESIDENT noticed one curiousfact, which was that
an aged chief made a freemason sign to Mr. *Stuart, and
showed great satisfacticAkhen it was answered.
Sir R. MtyßcHisorlirogised the enterprising spirit
shown both by Mr. Stuart, in accomplishing such a re-
markable expedition with the comparatively scanty means
at his disposal, and byMessrs. Chambers and Finske in prb-
viding the necessary funds. Ile congratulated the country
upon the discovery of a territory in the interior so admi-
rably adapted for tin purposes of colonisation, and he ex-
pressed the hope that it would lead to an object he had
long had at heart, viz., the formation of a settlement in
North Australia, in he Gulf of Carpentaria or in Cam-
bridge, Gulf, along vith the establishment of a naval post
for the protection of air interests in the adjacent seas. Sir
Roderick then acknovledged that he had hitherto enter-
tained the theory, founded upon the observations of pre-
vious travellers, that the interior of the continent was a
vast saline desert, ant he frankly paid a compliment to Col.
Gawler, the former governor of South Australia, for the
persistency with whil he had adhered to a contrary view.
Col. GAWLER, F.KG.S., said that he rejoiced in the dis-
covery which Mr. Stuart had made, not because it proved
his anticipations to b, correct, but because of the immense
capabilities it openedup for the extension of a great empire
in Australia, numbering perhaps a hundred millions of
people, and also that :t would now fairly open commUnica •
tion with the north-Welt coast.
Mr. BONNEY, a gentleman recently arrived from South
Australia, stated that five months ago he was within a few
hundred miles of the centre of Australia, and he could well
appreciate the difficulties of travel which Mr. Stuart must
have encountered. He, however, thought that no hasty
concluaionsshoald be drawn from the result of the journey
in consequence of the totally different aspects which the
country bore under different seasons.

Colonel SIKES, M.P., F.R.G.S., remarked upon the
meteorological conditions of the equatorial region, obser-
vable in other quarters of the globe, with respect to rain-
fall, and said ke saw no reason to suppose that North Aus-
tralia was not equally well furnished with water during
the south-west and north-east monsoons. The abundance
of scrub showed that there must be moisture.

Lord -A. CIIIIRdHILL, M.P., F.R.G.S., stated that he
had just received a letter from Sir. Charles Nicholson, bear•
ing out the observations of Sir Roderick Murchison, rela-
tive to the capabilities for the formation of a colony in the
northern part of Australia.

Count STRZELECKI, F.R.G.S., referred to the various
theories which had been formed respecting the character of
the interior, based upon the facts collected by former ex-
plorers in penetrating the country from different points,
and said he was now very happy to recant the view he had
adopted, that the interior was an arid desert.:

The PRESIDENT next briefly summed up the results, of
the exploration, and congratulated the society upon the
success which had attended it, and the meeting then ad-
journed to the 28th inst., when the papers on the North
Atlantic Telegraph will be read.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST

The directors' of this company have just issued their re-
port. It states that the accounts for the half-year ending
the 31st December last show that the amount of capital
raised was £9,654,639, consisting of £4,618,554 ordinary
stock, £2,622,995 preference capital, £1,670,775 mortgage
debt, and £742,315 debenture stock. The issue of debenture
stock progresses satisfactorily, and since the Ist of July a
further sum of £100,405 has been placed, making the total
amount now issued £742,315. The purchase of the Lewes
and Uckfield Railway has been completed, and the cost,
£47,300, placed to the debit of capital, which is credited
with £33,900 of perpetual 4 per cent,. stock, forming the
purchase money, and with the mortgage debt of that com-
pany, amounting to £13,400. The further amount of capital
expended has been £186,806, of which £30,888 is for the
Shoreham, Henfield, and Horsham line, £36,725 towards
the construction of the Victoria Station, £1,2,148 for doub-
ling the line from Three Bridges to Horsham, £lO,OOO on
further account of this company's contribution to the West
London Extension, and the remainder for the enlargement
of the Brighton, Three Bridges, Polegate, and East Bourne
stations and for additional plant. The gross revenue for
the half-year has been £505,269, being £28,662 in excess of
the corresponding half of 1859. The receipts for the year
have:been. £903,782, or £61,489 more than those of 1859.
One great cause of improvement is the opening of the com-
pany's' Victoria Terminus at Westminster, which took place
on the Ist of 'October last. The directors state that the
results thus, ar have been highly satisfactory, and have
confirMedtheir opinion as to the wisdom of the policy which
secured to the company such an access to the West-end of
London; and they look forward with confidence to a con-
tinuous development of this traffic. The directors have
concluded an arrangement with the London and North-
Western Railway company for the use by them of this com-
pany's Victoria Station; and that company have inserted
clauses in one of their bills of the present session to confirm
a formal agreement. The expenditure during the half-year
amounted t 3 £231,914, or 46} per cent., including £29,643
for,renewals, against £218,418, or 461 per cent., in the cor-
responding half of 1859, which included £37,948 for re-
newals. The expenditure per train mile averaged 3s. 3d:,
against 3s. 4d. The progress of the traffic is exhibited in a
tabular form, which shows that in the year 1848 2,485,778
passengers were conveyed, on the line. and in the year 1860
9,545,103, including 5,568,235 third-class passengers, show-
ing an increase of 7,059,325 passengers in the course of 12
years. The total receipts for the three classes of passengers
amounted in the year 1848 to £349,977, including £66,392
for third-class passengers ; and in the year 1860 the total
receipts for the three classes amounted, to £621,778, in-
cluding £211,578 for third-class passengers; The receipts
from season ticket holders increased from £10,427 in 1848
to £42,624 in 1860. The gross revenue in 1848 amounted
to £453,408, and in 1860 to £903,801, showing an increase
of £450,393, or nearly cent: per cent. The total working
expenses increased from £147,132 in 1848 to £356,114,
the preferential charges from £104,041 to £197,528, and
the dividend from £3 12s. per cent. to £6 per cent., at
which latter rate it has been steadily maintained for the
past five years. The increase in the working expenses
arises from the additional train mileage, the extension of
the company's lines, the opening of the Victoria Station,
and the extra charge for taxation ; and also from, the large
amount expended on the plant, the carriage waggon stock
having undergone unusually extensive repairs. 'During
the past year the revenue has been charged with rebuilding
the engines and three tenders, and with the cost of con-
structing five new engines and two new tenders of a large
and more powerful description, to replace smaller engines
which had become. unserviceable. Up to the . present
moment, revenue has, in addition to replacing all engines
hitherto Told or broken up, provided 13 new engines in
anticipation of the period when a number of the older ones
will be no longer fit for use. The ordinary cost of main-
taining the permanent way and works has increased in pro-
portion to the mileage. The relaying of the coast lines has
been proceeded with, and the outlay, £7,147, placed to the
debit of the permanent way improvement account, to which
the directors have been again enabled to apply £lO,OOO,
instead of the £4,000 fOrmerly charged to maintenance
of way and works in the December half-year ; this makes
£13,000 provided out of the revenue of 1860 in reduction
of the balance remaining to be extinguished. The total
amount expended in these improvements is, £155,215, of
which £115,921 has already been paid out of revenue.'The
net amount at the credit of the revenue account is £166,724,
out of which the directors recommend the payment of a
dividend at the rate of 7 per cent. per annum, amounting
to £161,649, leaving a balance of £5,075 to the credit of the
current half-year, and making the dividend for the year
1860 amount to 6 per cent.