The Sun.
London, England, 1845-09-26 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE

SHEFFIELD, ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE, AND MAN-
CHESTER.
This Company held their half-yearly meeting onWednesday at their
offices la the Manchester station, at which there was a very nume-
rous attendance of shareholders. John Parker, Esq., M.P. for
Sheffield, Chairman of the Board of Directors, having taken the
chair, the Secretary, Mr. John Platford, read the advertisement
92% calling the meeting, and the report of the Directors, which stated
5% that, with the exception of the tunnel, the works on the line had
been completed since the last report, and were open to the public
since the 14th of July last. That amongst other subjects of con.
gratulation, the Directors could refer to none more encouraging
than the result of the imperfect experiment cn the prisbable traffic
on the line; for, in spite of every interruption of four miles of
mountain road, the transit over which was necessarily most tedious,
and the total absence of goods traffic from by far the greater
- portion of the line, the Proprietors could not but recognise
- in the amount of weekly produce the certain indications of
- an ample eventual return. The statement of the goods and
passenger traffic then followed, by which it appeared that from
December, 1843, to June, 1845, the gross sum received by the
Company for the transmission of goods and passengers along their
- line amounted to over 52,1591.; and that the profit to the Corn-
- pany on the goods and passengers' traffic, for the half year ending
- June, 1845, amounted to 9,1171. The report then went on to
- state, that the Board had equal reason to congratulate the Pro-
-
prietors upon the result of their Parliamentary proceedings of last
session; for of the seven Bills in the fate of which the Company
- were more or less interested, no fewer than five, all of them con-
- tributing to this line, had received the royal assent. Those Bills
- were, the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal, the
Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction, the Great Grimsby Railway,
the Great Grimsby Docks, the South Junction and Altrincham.
- A sixth, the Sheffield and Lincolnshire, from its unfortunate po-
- sitien in the London and York group, was barred by lapse of time
- from obtaining in the House of Lords that success which its
- riority over the rival lines secured it. One only, the Barnsley
Junction, was unsuccessful, and the Directors had already: taken
- steps to repair and improve the disaster. That the Bill for
- leasing the line to the Birmingham, Midland, and Manchester
- Companies had been withdrawn, in obedience to a vote of the
- Shareholders. That shares to the amount of 287,500/. had been
created, under the Ashton and Staley-bridge and South Junction
- and Altrincham Acts, for the completion of the railway works.
- That the Barnsley Junction Company had been amalgamated
- with this Company, on the terms of the original understanding,
• and scrip for this and other objects, amounting to 1,030,0004, was
in the course of being issued. That it was the intention of the
Directors to solicit Acts, in the next seuion of Parliament,
for several extensions. That a line from Dukinfield and Heyfield
was required for the increasing population of that neighbourhood.
That the minerals of the Barnsley district would be fully opened
by well-considered branches, to be concerted between this Company
and the landowners; but, as the proprietors of the Don Naviga-
tion had just come to the conclusion to form themselves, in
conjunction with other interests, into a Canal and Rail-
way Company, and had given the Directors to understand
that a formal invitation to participate therein would be
shortly addressed to them, it was obvious that an exact specifica-
tion of branches would be at present premature, and that the de-
, signs already entertained might require modification. That inde-
pendent of the above the Board intended to prosecute with energy
the extensions via Barnsley to the eastward, and that arrangements
had been all but concluded with a powerful party at Hull, which
would not only give access to Goole in a manner at least equal to
that hitherto advertised, but place the Company in possession of a
far shorter road to the first-mentioned most important sea port of
the Humber. That a treaty for the amalgamation of their line
with the Sheffield and Lincolnshire and Great Grimsby Companies,
involving a further amalgamation with the Great Grimsby Dock
Company and the East Lincolnshire Company, had been brought
to a successful termination. That it would become the duty of the
Directors within a short period to call the Shareholders together for
the consideration of the subject, and they would of course
5., avail themselves of the occasion to state the result of the negotia-
tions now pending, and to make a final settlement of
the branches. In the meantime they had only to repeat their
trot conviction that the possession of friendly and independent
outlets if possible from sea to Sea, was as essential as ever to their
-- prosperity. With the South Junction already in their hands, and
with access to the German Sea already within their reach, there
must arise In the public mind an increased confidence in the
- stability of their affairs. And that so convinced were they of the
- policy of amalgamation on fair and equitable terms, and upon a
• basis of interest common to the three companies, that they had not
• the smallest hesitation in recommending it for the adoptiors of the
• Shareholders.
▪ The Engineer's report was next read, from which it appears that
• by the report of that officer, made in March last, he expressed his
• conviction that the completion of the tunnel was likely to take
' place in the following July; but he regretted to say that his anti-
cipations had not been realised ; that the difficulty of obtaining
men and keeping them at their work in such a situation as the
tunnel, was stated by the contractors to be ;the reason why
their proceedings had not Leen so vigorous as they had hoped;
but he was convinced that no exertions had been spared in order
to push on the work, though great inducements had been held out
to the men ; but still, in such a work of unparalleled magnitude, it
would be quite impossible to speak with any degree of certainty
3% as to the time of completion. The total length of excavation yet
- remaining to be removed was 80 lineal yards, and about 230 yards
- to be lined with masonry. From the progress hitherto made with
the work, he was inclined to believe that this would be completed
in about eight weeks; after which about 800 yards of ballasting
- would remain to be laid, which would be finished in about a month,
- and that therefore the whole would be completed by the end of the
year. He concluded by stating that the work had been exceed-
- ingly well and substantially executed, but regretted that the an-
fortunate accident which happened to one of the viaducts on the
. Ashton branch, as well as the difficulty of obtaining the land, had
• prevented its being completed; but every arrangement had since
• been made, and the viaduct had been rebuilt.
A generafabstract of the receipts and expenditure of the Com-
pany since its formation in 1836 to June, 1845, was laid upon the
table, and by the statements it contained it appeared that the
amount of the sum received for deposit was 430,695/., that the
4% sum received for re-issued shares amounted to 133,310/. 19s. Bd.,
3 the loan account to 446,6711., the traffic receipts to 86,6901., and
- the gross account, including minor items, to 1,313,225/. On the
debit side of the account there appeared an item for law charges to
- the amount of 1,195,701/., stock 54,230/., traffic department,
- 34,5811, to the Manchester and Birmingham Company, including
- tolls, &c., 21,3111.; and leaving a balance to the credit of the
Company, to the amount of 45,398/.
The CHAIRMAN addressed the meeting at very great length, upon
_ the general state of the affairs of the Company, and dwelt upon the
- fact of their having obtained last session five Bills out of seven, as a
- most important and cheering feature in their favour. He went over
in review, and with great minuteness, the position and peculiarities
of each of the Company's proposed branch's. He said he conceived
_ that the Directors were warranted in opening to the public as
_ much of the line as had been completed, even though it was not
- expected to pay. He was aware that their arrrangements for the
- conveyance of passengers along the line were very incomplete,
and often gave rise to complaints; but he had reason to believe
their subsequent arrangements had been found more satisfactory.
He admitted that laying the account of the receipts and expendi-
• ture before the Company as it appeared to-day was rather a clumsy
• mode of doing it, but they could adopt no other course while the
entire line was open. With regard to the Lincolnshire line, he
had every hope, from the favour their other project had met with,
that it would pass next session; for it would only require to be
reproduced in tie House of Lords, having passed the Commons.
With regard to their je 'action with the Great. Grimsby Com-
pany, he had no doubt but that at their nex tmeeting he would
be enabled to congratulate them upon that matter having been
brought to a satisfactory conclusion. The only terms upon
which the Liverpool and Great Grimsby people would join
them, were what they called terms of perfect equality,
but these terms would be found fair and reasonable.
when they came to consider the expense of their line as compared
to the cheapness of the other. The East Lincoln Company was as
yet only a project, to be brought before Parliament next year; but
they too could, if they chose, join this Cumpany. The meeting
would not to.day be called upon to come to a vote upon the pro-
posed terms of amalgamation, but they would be read, and the
Shareholders would be afforded sufficient time to consider them
fully. With respect to the River Don Company, he had their
permission to say that they would in a very short time state the
terms in which they would• ask the aid of this Company. The
Barnsley Junction line, he trusted, would be prsevered in, for it
was lost last year, not on its merits, but on a point of form. Mr.
Hudson said, at elate meeting, that the line was a most important
one, and if no company could be got to snake it, he would. He
concluded by moving the adoption of the report.
A short discussion followed, on some matters of figures, after
which the report was adopted, and the usual votes of thanks
having been passed, the meeting separated at four o'clock, having
sat three hours.

6%
7656 d

The following are the resolutions to which the Chairman alluded
in his speech as these which would be proposed or read, containing
the terms on which the amalgamation was to take place. First,
that the Sheffield and Manchester, Great Grimsby and Sheffield,and
the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Companies, be amalgamated.
Secondly, that presuming it to be the intention of the Great
Grimsby Dock Company to amalgamate with the Great Grimsby
and the Sheffield Railway Company, it is proposed to include the
Dock Company in the amalgamation. Thirdly, that the parties
present recommend that the East Lincolnshire Company be also
subsequently included in the amalgamation, if that company
should obtain their Act in the next cession, and coincide in
such measure. Fourthly, that the amalgamation company be
taken at par, and all liabilities be paid in full. Fifth, that in
lieu of dividend, interest at the rate of four per cent. be allowed
upon the capital to the Shareholders of the different companies
amalgamating with the Sheffield and Manchester Company, upon
the amounts paid up by them, until the opening of the Great
Grimsby and Sheffield and Sheffield and Lincolnshire lines through-
out. Sixth, that during the payment of the 51. per cent., the in-
tee thomeearising from the partial opening of each of the lines be placed
Great Gcrredimsit byofancdapSihtaeltieldB
veenndt hs,
htehtna te
Ind n tai
dthe
nocpeeine
eo of
ntehse
the income arising from the Sheffield and Manchester
line be
divided amongst the Proprietors of that Company. Eighth, that
the capital of the Leeds and Wakefield and Pontefract
and Goole
Companies for the purchase of the land for the bran Banter and Caistor, and for shortening the line toßcahresn to
and Welby, belong only to the Proprietors of the Great GriinslsbeyY
and Sheffield Company, and that all future issue of stocks by any
of the amalgamating Companies be appropriated to the Share.
holders of the amalgamated Companies pro rata. Ninth, that
until the Act for amalgamation be obtained, each Company con-
duct its own affairs, and that after the amalgamation the Directors

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
MANSION-HO USE.
The Lord Mayor received, on Wednesday, the following letter
from Mr. Reele, of theExcisc-office in Broad-street, relative to the
person who was committed as a rogue and vagabond on Tuesday,
for having fraudulently obtained alms of the Rev. Michael Gibbs,
Vicar of Christ Church :--
" May it please your Lordship,—A case is reported in the Times
of this morning relative to one George Stratford, calling himself
the legitimate sea of the present Earl of Aldborough.
" I beg leave most respectfully to state to your Lordship, that
I have had some dealings with the above person calling himself
George Stratford. Some years since he was introduced to my no-
tice by a highly respectable family residing in the north of Ireland.
The fellow had found out the friends and connexions of the pre-
sent and rightful Countess of Aldborough, whom I have had the
honour of knowing for twenty years and upwards. On telling his
tale, he passed hinltlf off as the son of the Earl of Aldborough,
and stated that he had been discarded by his father, and after
wandering about in Belgium for some time, he had shortly befcre
arrived in England, for the purpose of finding employment.
" Upon his representation, and knowing a little of the reputed
father's history, I then clothed him, raised a subscription, and
lastly procured a situation in the London Docks for him; but his
habits of idleness and lying had become so notorious, that I lost all
sight of the fellow for two or three years, until a few months back,
when he entered my office and informed me of the Earl of Aldho-
rough's decease at Carlsbad. He then named the executors, who
were residing in Dublin, and told me that he was left 501. per
annum by his father, finally requesting the loan of a sovereign, as
he was about to leave London by the packet that day for Antwerp,
toy oin his family.
" Having before made up my mind that the fellow was nothing
short of a thorough rogue and vagabond, subsisting by his plausible
tales upon the charitably disposed in London, I desired him to leave
my office, and I then addressed letters to the Countess of Aldbo-
rough and others living in Dublin, stating the information I had
that day received, and by return of post their answers exposed the
lying device, and showed that the whole of his story from begin-
ning to end was false ; and the present Earl of Aldborough, to the
best of my information and belief, is now alive and residing at Flo-
rence.—l have the honour to remain, your Lordship's most obe-
dient servant, " G. REELE.
" Broad.street, City, Sept. 24."
Mr. Thomas Buckland and Mr. Thomas Windle, two gentlemen
who, in the neighbourhood of the Stock Exchange, after the closing
of the inner market, had addressed each other in irritating lan
gua;e, and from words proceeded to blows, were brought before
the Lord Mayor by a policeman, charged with having obstructed
the pavement.
City policeman George White (24), an active officer stationed in
the vicinity of Capel-court, on account of the frequent obstructions
caused by the dealings between jobbers and " stags" and " ducks,"
and other "such small deer," observing that there was rather an
extraordinary bustle about Cspel-court, went up to the spot and
saw the two gentlemen fighting. Mr. Buckland was bleeding upon
the ground, although neither of the combatants appeared to have
any other arms than those with which nature had provided them,
and the affair occasioned very great impediment to the public.
The defendants said that there had been a misunderstanding
between them of a private nature, and that their differences had
been completely accommodated,
The LORD MAYOR observed, that the private misunderstandings
of gentlemen must nat be allowed to interfere with the conve-
nience of the public, and fined each of then 20s.
Mr. George Wetenhall, the printer of " Wetenhall's Stock and
Sharebrokers' List," was charged with having spat several times
in the face and upon the hat and clothes of Mr. F. R. Street, li.
brarian to the Stock Exchange.
Mr. Street stated, that he was librarian to the Stock Exchange,
and that on Saturday last Mr. Wetenhall committed the disgusting
assault of spitting upon him seven or eight times. The offence
was perpotrated in Leadenhall.street, at a little after two o'clock,
but how to account for it witness could not at all conjecture.
Mr. Wetenhall at the same time called witness a d—d stuttering
scoundrel.
Policeman 515 said that he heard an altercation between the
gentlemen, and he saw that ,Mr. Street's (the complainant's) face
and hat had been spat upon ; he did not see any person spit upon
Mr. Street, but he heard Mr. Wetenhall call him a d—d scamp,
or scoundrel.
The Loan MAYOR—Did you hear Mr. Street complain of having
been spat upon ? Policeman—l did.
The Loan MAYOR—Did you hear Mr. Wetenhall deny that he
had spat upon him ? Policeman-_I did not.
The LORD MAYOR—And you heard Mr. Wetenhall call him a
scamp when he complained ? Policeman—l did.
Mr. Wetenhall, who exhibited much impatience during this
brief statement of the occurrence, declared that he had never since
the day of his birth, which took place sixty years ago, done such a
thing, or contemplated such a thing, as he had been accused of.
But the fact was, that the complainant, who called himself libra-
rian to the Stock Exchange, was what was called a " stag,"
nothing but a " stag."—(Laughter.) Now he (defendant) was
publisher of the fiat calved " Wetenhall's List," and be certainly
had received provocation to use rough language, and to denounce
thatseeTnhaendLohleanrdmmtyoure._thlatnistihneeovtliidceenreken,ew.
the " stag." There were gentlemen present at the time who had
instead of denying that
you had spat upon the complainant when you were accused of hav-
ing
done so, you called him by an opprobrious name.
Mr. Wetenhall—My Lord, the officer did not come up at the
commencement.
The Loan SI/Nom—No, he did not see you spit upon the com-
plainant, but he heard you aggravate the offence by using abusive
language, instead of indignantly declaring that you had never done
anything of the kind.
Mr. Wetenhall—l now deny that I spat upon him.
The LORD MAYOR—I have no doubt upon the subject after what
I have heard, and I fine you 10s.
Mr. Wetenhall—l thank you, my Lord.
BOW-STREET.
Wednesday a respectable-looking woman, named Sturdy, Teal&
ng at 14, Crown-street, was charged with assaulting constable
102 F.

The constable deposed that, at about 11 o'clock, the defendant,
and two other persons, were standing on the foot-way in Crown..
street, engaged in conversation, in consequence of which he re-
quested them to move on. They refused, and witness was pro-
ceeding to compel them, when the assault took place.
The defendant, whose statements were corroborated on oath by
her daughter and another young woman, who were the parties
Present, said that she was merely talking to her daughter and the
other witness, opposite her own door, and without causing any
obstruction, when the constable came up and ordered them off,
and almost immediately afterwards pushed her (the defendant)

The inspector said that inquiries of that nature had been
already made of that lady, and it was found that no such suspicion
was entertained against any member of her household.
Mr. Cormionsfe, addressing the churchwardens, said that in
answer to their application every exertion should be used for the
purpose of detecting and bringing to justice the miscreant. He
would not be satisfied with a policeman merely watching for a few
hours in the day about a particular post-office where the letters
were posted, in order to discover the writer, but he should give
directions that the most rigid inquiry should be instituted, and
that instead of employing one policeman, three at least should be
engaged in the discovery of this offender of the worst description.

The answer to inquiry after the Earl of Verulam,
in Grosvernor-square, on Wednesday, was that his Lordship was de-
clared out of danger. Earl and Countess Craven are staying at Gor-
hanabury, on a Ytiit to the earl and countesa.