The Sun.
London, England, 1850-09-03 00:00:00

SIR J. FRANKLIA'S EXPEDITION.

The United States brig Advance, belonging to the
American expedition in search of Sir John Franklin,
reached Whalefi-h Island, on the west coast of Green-
land, on the 24th of June, in 32 days from New
York. The Rescue arrived on the 27(h. A letter
from a gentleman on board, published in the New
York Herald, says :

" On our arrival here we found an English barque at
anchor; she is a store-ship, having brought stores and
coal out for the squadron, which, by the way, sailed
from here yesterday, consisting of trto barques of about
300 t n each, carrying sixty men, and steamers of about
100 tons each, with from forty to fifty men; they are all
bound in ivarch of Sir J,hri Franklin. The barque sails
in about a neck for Engla;,d, which wiil give us all a
fine opportunity to write, the only on. I am afraid we
shall have for some time to come. We have been very
fortunate in sending letters thus far, for I boarded
ve,sel off Newfoundland, bound in to St John's, about
the lit of this month. We ell sent letters by her. They
went from Sr. John's by steamer to Halifax, and from
thence to the United States.

"After lcaviug New Yu, k, we kept company with the
Rescue, by keopiug under short sail, until the 19:h ult.,
when, finning it itepossible for h( r to keep up, we made
sail and lost sight of her in a few hours. The days after
leaving New York gradually grew longer mitt' the 16th
of this month (in GO deg. 50min. N. tat.), when we could
really say wo had constant thy, so much so that we
were able to steer without lighting the binnacle lamp, a
thing I never saw betore; but now we hale sunshine
the whole twenty -f.ur hours. We have not got used to
it yet, and hardly know when turning iu time cmies.
You have no idea how strange it appears to come on
deck at midnight (or rather what ought to be midnight)
and find it broad daylight, with the sun up. We still
discriminate one twelve hours from the other, by calling
them night and day, and appropriate the part we call
night fir sleeping, or rather a portion of it.
" After leaving the coast of Newfoundland, we fell in
with no ice until we were about to make the coast of
Greenland, when we found the icebergs in great numbers.
We made Greenland on the 21st; it certainly is the most
dismal, reeky, bat rencountry 1 ever saw or ever expect
to see.

I. We expect to get to a place called Uppermarik,
about two hundred miles from here; from thence we go
to Melville Bay, thence across to Lancaster Sound to
Cape Walker; from Cape Walker we shall try to ger
up to Melville Island, and as much further as we can.
We expect to winter at M.lviile Isle, but that, of course,
will depend on circumstances. This is the last opportu-
nity we shall have of writing for a long time, unless we
have the good luck to fall in with a whaler bound either
home or to England."

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

GLOUCESTER AND DEAN FORES C.

The half•yearly meeting of this company was held
at the Bell Hotel, Gloucester, op Saturday last (31st
ult.); S. Baker, Esq., in the chair.
The accounts presented to the meeting showed a
balance in hand of 26,5271. 155. 7d.
The report of the directors referred with much sa-
tisfaction to the progress which had been made in the
works since the last meeting, and especially to the
state of the company's .fintit cep, which showed a
balance in hand of upwards of 26,0001. up to the 30th
of June last. Since that period, however, this amount
had been considerably increased by the proceeds of
another call, and by payments which some of the
shareholders had made in advance of calls. The
directors, therefore, had now in their hands ample
means for meeting the demands which would be made
upon them between now and Christmas for the rapid
progress of the work. It was the present intention of
the directors to proceed w►th the completion of the
work so as to have the line ready for opening in the
beginning of the ensuing year, by which time, accord-
ing to the report made by the engineer to the South
Wales Company, the portion of the South Wales
line from Chepstow to Grange, joining the line at the
latter place, would be compieted. By this junction a
direct line of railway communication on the broad
gauge would be established between Gloucester and
Swansea, and by a junction at Gloucester with other
railways (the Great Western and Midland) railway
communication between South Wales and the whole
of the kingdom would be established. The directors
reported that the Bill which had been promoted by
the South \Vales Company, and supported by this
company, for effecting certain accommodation with
the mineral district in Dean Forest, had not re-
ceived
the royal assent. This Bill was for convert-
ing the B illo Pill tramway, leading into the Forest
mineral district, into a broad gauge locomotive rail-
way, formic g a junction with this line. At the meet-
ing last February . the directors reported that an
agreement had been entered into with the South
Wales Company, upon whicb the Bill was to be
framed. The Bill pissed the House of Commons, and
had gone into the Lords, when the Great Western
Company unexpectedly withdrew their assent to it,
and the Bill was therefore necessarily withdrawn, and
this te,mpany was now thrown back on the provisions
of their Bill of 1847. Two directors, 'Messrs. Caleb
Trotter and Hughes, and one auditor, Mr. James
Hooper, retired by rotation, but were eligible for re-
election.

The (:',.AIRMAN addressed the proprietors, recapi-
tulating the various features in the directors report,
and commenting upon them. The shareholders'
he observed, was a most satisfactory one, and the
works were proceeding very satisfactorily towards a
conclusion. The rejection of the Bid introduced into
Parliament for opening access to the vast mineral
riches in the centre of the forest was greatly to be re-
gretted, and until there was some immediate prospect
of getting into that mineral district it would be pre-
mature to construct the branch line from the main
line at Gloucester to the docks there. Tne calls
upon the shareholders had hitherto been made in
small amounts, and frequently. As soon as 201. per
share should have been paid up, it would be for the
proprietors to raise money on debentures if they
thought fit.
The engineer's report was then read. It set forth
the progress made in the works since the last meet-
ing. The bridge over the western arm of the Severn,
at Gloucester, was completed, and the embankment
towards the eastern arm was progressing rapidly.
The effort made to have a solid instal of a swing
bridge made over the eastern arm of the Severn had
been rendered abortive from the development of cer-
tain difficulties not foreseen by this company or the
Severn Improvement Commissioners. The whole
line would be ready for opening early in 1851.
Mr. BRUNEL (the engineer), in answer to Mr.
Sturge, said there were no legal difficulties in the
way of the ready completion of the bridge over the
Wye at Chepstow. He had never heard of any such
difficulties as those suggested by Mr. Sturge. The
only legal matter which had been involved at all was
the compensation to the ship-builders and wharfingers.
There had been an official inquiry to assess this com-
pensation ; the parties had claimed 40,0001., and the
award had been for 1,4001.
The report was adopted and ordered to be printed,
and the retiring directors and auditors were re-
elected.
Mr. HUMPHREY BROWN, , then called attention
in a long speech to the recommendations which had
been made by the committee appointed at the special
meeting in December, for snaking arrangements fur
converting the Ballo Pill Tram way into a locomotive
railway. Those recommendations had been adopted
by the proprietors, but subsequently the director*
had departed from them. He concluded by moving
a resolution for appointing a committee to confer with
the Woods and Forests Commissioners on the subject
of opening a mineral branch into the forest.
A great deal of di>cussion and personal observation
followed, and after much explanation and iteration the
resolution was lost by a majority of one.
Mr. STURGE moved another resolution, calling
upon the directors to convene a special meeting to
confider the necessity of proceeding with the original
plan intended, of making a branch . into the mineral
district.
This, however, was subsequently withdrawn, and
after a vote of thanks to the chairman the meeting
separated.

BIRKENHEAD, LANCASHIRE, AND CHE-
SHIRE.
The half-yearly meeting of this company was held
in Birkenhead on Saturday ; Mr. James Bancroft,
chairman of the directors, presiding.
After the secretary had read the requisition calling
the meeting, a letter from the auditors was read,
which complained of several items of the expenditure
of the company, and urged the adoption of a system
of rigid economy. The expense of the Chester
station was next alluded to, and it was suggested
that a special committee should be appointed, to
ascertain where and what reductions could be
made in the several items of expenditure.
The report was then read, It referred to
the opening of the branch from Chester to
Walton as being at hand ; alluded to the late contest
which had been going on betv:cen the
BirmiShrewsbur ham
y
and Chester and the Shrewsbury and ng
lines against the company?, and justified the course
which had been taken to put an end to the monopoly.
It concluded by anticipating that a prosperous career
Was before the company if the proprietors were united.
The CHAIRMAN moved the adoption of the report
and accounts, which
The receipts passed.
on capital account to 30th June last
were stated to he 1,900,408/ 96. 4d., and the expen-
diture 1,410,4021. 106. 9d. The balance doh by tom-
missioners of Birkenhead was stated to be 21,787/.
16s. 7d. ; the balance required to make up dividend
to) 31st December, 1849, 94,964/ 124. (together
118,752/. Bs. 7d.); and discount and bonus on shares
issued, 373,253/. 1.W.; in the gross 490,0061. Bs. 7d.
The traffic receipts for the half-year were 27,0941.