The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-27 00:00:00

CITIES,

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

SOU EASTERN.
A special general meeting of this company was
held yesterday at the Bridge House Hotel to con-
sider two bills, one for making a railway from
London-bridge to Charing-cross, and the other
authorising the transfer of the Caterham Railway
to the South Eastern Company—the Hon. S. Byng
in the chair.
The CHAIRMAN said the first bill he had to sub-
mit for their consideration was the bill authorising
the construction of the London-bridge and Charing-
cross Railway. At the half-yearly meeting they
confirmed the agreement entered into with the
Charing-cross Company for the working of the line
when constructed, and at the same time authorised
the directors to subscribe towards the undertaking.
The directors had vigorously supported the bill in
Parliament, and endeavoured to promote its success
by every means in their power. Having received
the sanction of the committee of the House of
Commons, it was now necessary to obtain their
formal approval of it, under what was called the
Wharncliffe S tan ding 0 rder,before it was introduced
into the House of Lords. The bill formed the subject
of a protracted inquiry before the Commons' com-
mittee, and the evidence given in its favour was
thoroughly sifted. The committee seemed to have
regarded the measure of so much importance that
they were not satisfied merely with the evidence of
witnesses, but themselves made a personal inspection
of the thoroughfares and buildings likely to be
affected by the construction of the proposed line, as
well as of the London bridge station and its ap-
proaches; and they must therefore regard the
decision they had come to, after so much painstaking
investigation, as a full confirmation of the necessity
which existed for the construction of the Charing-
cross Railway. He need scarcely again point
out the great importance of the line to South
Eastern interests. By bringing their system into
direct communication with the beet quarters of the
West-end they could not fail to secure a large ac-
cession of passenger traffic. They would also re-
deem in the most satisfactory manner the pledge
given to Parliament, and which received the ap-
proval of the proprietors, with reference to the pro-
vision of an access to the western parts of London.
The cordial support which the measure had received
from most of the public departments—from the
Horse Guards, the Admiralty, the Post-office—and
the strong opinions which had been expressed in
its favour by the Board of Trade, led them to be.
lieve that the earrying- out of tho onuid
not fail to prove of great public convenience. And
whatever in railway communication was found to
be of great public convenience was almost invari-
ably found to be also productive of pecuniary ad-
vantage to railway proprietors themselves. (Hear,
hear.)

Mi. S. SMILES, the secretary, read the heads of
"A Bill for the making and maintaining of the
London-bridge and Charing-cross Rail way ; and
for other purposes." The bill provided for the for.
mation of junctions with the South Eastern Rail-
way near London-bridge, and with the London and
South Western Railway near the Waterloo-road
station. It authorised arrangemonts for the work-
ing use, and maintenance of the railway; the
creation by the South Eastern Company of prefer-
ence shares to the extent of £300,000, being the
amount of their subscription to the undertaking.
Any deficiency in the preference dividend in any one
year was not to be paid out of the profits of sub-
sequent years, and that stock would not affect the
rights of the existing preference shares of the
South-Eastern Compamy. The holding by the
latter company of shares In the London-bridge and
Charing-cross Company was to be represented at
meetings of the latter company by some person
duly appointed bp the South-Eastern Company.
_ The CIIAIRMAN moved a formal resolution
approving the bill.
Mr. W. G. TuomsoN seconded the motion.
In reply to a question, it was stated that £300,000
was the total amount of obligation in respect of
capital the South-Eastern Company was under at
present to the new company.
Mr. ADAMS would like to hear a list of the share-
holders in the Charing-cross Railway read to the
meeting.
The CHAIRMAN said it was not a meeting of the
Charing-cross Company ; he could not, therefore,
give him the names of the shareholders.
II Mr. HARTRIDGE wished to know whether the
directors were satisfied of the sufficiency of the
subscriptions to the Charing-cross Company.
The CHAIRMAN said they were quite satisfied.
(Hear, hear.)
Mr. MACLAURIN believed that the company had
nothinc, to do with the new company further than
to subscribe £300,000.
The CHAIRMAN said they had power to nominate
four directors on the board of the new company to
take care of the funds, and see that the money was
properly expended.
Mr. Ci. SMITH hopedthe South Eastern Company
would always have a control over the proposed line.
He thought that undertaking was one of the best
and most judicious things the South Eastern Com-
pany ever did. The extension to Charing-cross
would be a great convenience to the public, and he
trusted that its construction would have a beneficial
effect upon the value of their stock, which had been
for a long time unduly depressed. He hoped they
would all unite in giving a calm, deliberate, and
unanimous vote in favour of the bill.

After some observations approving the course
adopted by the directors in respect of the proposed
undertaking, the resolution sanctioning the bill was
carried unanimously.
The CHAIRMAN said the next bill he had to sub-
mit was a bill authorizing the transfer of the Cater-
ham Railway to the Song Eastern Company. The
line had got into the hands of its principal creditor,
and the company were to give £15,200 for it, which
was about one-third of its cost. It would stand
them in about £3,400 a mile, the line being about
mfouuerhantrd ha
traffic
culpfonmiie it at
in l
present, but
b. Thereut
it
vvas was not

mg.
The Secretary having read the heads of the bill,
alformal resolution approving it was carried unani-
mously.
The meeting was then made special to consider
the propriety of authorizing the directors to exer-
cise the borrowing powers of the Strood and Maid-
stone Railway Act to the extent of £BO,OOO.
The CHAIRMAN said £363,000 had been expended
on the Strood and Maidstone line, including the
£BO,OOO which was owing to the South Eastern
Company, and which would be thus replaced.
Mr. CAIRD, M.P., wished to know whether the
directors held any of the stock of the East Kent
Company.
The CHAIRMAN—Not one.
Mr. CAIRD then adverted to the fall in the price
of the shares, which he believed had arisen from
the fear that they would be opposed in respect of
their Dover traffic. He thought that a 5 per cent.
dividend would entitle their shares to a higher
quotation in the market, unless there was some-
thing else that was not understood. He thought
their only security was in having a good under-
standing with other companies, accommodating the
public, and thus obtaining a liberal return for the
shareholders. It seemed to him most desirable they
should come to terms with their opponents, the

East Kent, and ,do so on reasonable terms in good
time.
Mr. MACLAURIN thotight these observations were
quite out of season.
The CHAIRMAN said the hon. gentleman was out
of order. He had allowed Mr. Caird to proceed, as
his observations were generally valuable, but if he
had anything to suggest the directors would be
appy to meet him,
, i
Mr. au thnt) thought he could suggest something
with regard to increasing the traffic on the line by
improving the accommodation to the public.
Mr. KAY, a director, felt it necessary to make an
observation in respect to the allusion by Mr. Caird
to the East Kent Railway. It was not the time to
talk of coming to terms with that company. Had
he (Mr. Kay) known that Mr. Caird was going to
introduce the subject, he would have been prepared
with statistics and facts that would have convinced
the meeting that this was not the time to deal with
that company.
The CHAIRMAN could assure the meeting that in
anything that might arise the directors would only ,
.consider the interests of the South Eastern Com-
pany
Mr. CAIRD said he did not intend to refer to the
East Kent Company.
Mr. BELT, said _they could not entertain. any
question but that for which the meeting was spe-
cially convened. ' •

The CHAIRMAN would be most thankful to Mr.
Caird for any inforMation he could give them.
The motion was then carried unanimously, and
a vote of thank's to the chairman and directozz
concluded the proceedings.

.110SPIT4L FOR CONSUMPTION,
BROMPTON:

_
Yesterday the eighteenth annual general court of
the governors of this valuable charity was held in
the board room of the hospital, the Right Hon.
Earl Manvers presiding ; and among those present
were General the Hon. T. Ashburnham, the Hon.
P. S. Pierrepont, the Rev. Sir H. Foulis Bart.,
General Dowling, &c.
Previous to the assemblage of the court, divine
service took place in the elegant chapel of the
institution.
The Hon. Secretary, Mr. P. ROSE, read the
general and financial reports, which showed that
during the latter part of last year the committee
were thankful to report that they had been able, by
an increase of the resources of the charity, to reopen
the building to the full complement of in-patients.
The number of in-patients who had been under
treatment during the year ending December 31,
1858, including 116 remaining in the hospital in
December, 1857, was 667, of whom 400 had been
discharged greatly benefited, 98 had died, and 169
remained on the 31st December last. The gover-
nors were urged to consider the importance of
using a prudent discrimination in the selection of
cases for recommendation. The applications for
admission were now more numerous than ever, and
the number on the books waiting for admission on
the 31st December last was no less than 120. Of
3,971 new out-patients who have beeen attended by
the physicians and supplied with medicine through-
out the year, many have been in the habit of coming
up from considerable distances in the country. At
the last annual report, from the pressure of debt it
was announced that one wing of the building would i
be closed, and admission to at least eighty beds sus-
pended, but it was great satisfaction• to be now
able to state that, owing to the receipt of
additional funds, all the wards were fully opened
in November last, and had still continued open.
It was gratifying to state that while the dona-
tions had in 1827 been £3,472 75., they had in
1858 increased to £6,089 15s. The church col-
lections had been £302 2s. 9d. •, the legacies were
£1,624 13s. 3d., and in 1857 had not been more
than £B6l 17s. ; and the general fund, which in
1857 had not exceeded £B,lOO ls. 6d., amounted
last year to £11,725 7s. sd. The committee hope,
from those continued memorials of interest (lega-
cies), to be able at no distant date to clear off the
mortgage on the hospital property. In consequence
of the improved state of the funds, a large portion
of the building had been put into thorough repair.
The committee felt entire satisfaction with the
ability and energy which had been manifested by
Mr. Henry Dobbin, the secretary, in the discharge
of his .duties, and in his exertions to promote the
2,,Lt.,..c.A.-,-....i. exic• *A.0..2.43. -----Th-iiik, .. elso a....., 4..... .1.„.
many friends of the institution for liberal aid, and
foremost stood the munificent contribution of £5OO,
the donor of which was known simply under the
name of " Jane Mary." The clergy were also
thanked for the valuable assistance already ren-
dered, as also for that promised. The committee
urged continued co-operation from the friends of
the hospital, and request visits, from a feeling of
satisfaction that visitors would be impressed with
the importance of the institution. It must be borne
in mind that the hospital, was u.nendowed, and that
there was still a heavy charge on the property, and
that a sum of no less than £B,OOO a year was
required to keep the charity in working order,
while but little more than £3,000 a year was de-
rived from annual subscriptions, thereby leaving
about £5,000 a year to be annually provided for.
The Chaplain's report, which was also read, and
was evidently highly satisfactory, was, together
with the foregoing, unanimously adopted.
The general audit committee, &c., having been
elected, an alteration was made in rule 18, giving
privileges to clergymen for each sum of six guineas
collected at sermons, was agreed to ; but a proposed
alteration of rules 19 and 125 having reference to
the admission of in-patients was withdrawn.
After thanks to the medical officers, &c., as also
to the noble chairman, the proceedings of the Court
concluded.