The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-29 00:00:00

AUSTRALIAN

. - -
COMPANY.
The annual meeting of this Company was held yester
day at one o'cb c.k, at the King's Arms-yard.
Mr. BrowNRIGG. the Chairman of the Board of Direc,.
tors, said that he would not delay the meeting by malting:
any prefatory observationt;, but, *O.llO, in the lirst in-
stance, tread the riport, and would then be happy to give
any eXplanation that any Proprietor might require, anp
Which it was in his power to give.
The report was then read, from which it appeared
that there were grounds to hope for returning prosperity,
and that the colony was emerging from the extreme
state of depression under which it had been lately
suffering. The report then Went oh to state the circum-
stances of the Company with regard to their stock of
various kinds in the colony.
The CHAIRMAN then said that there was a surplus of
5.5821. after the expenses were paid, IN hfch had during
the last year bees, considerably diminished, and from
this, and the stnall surplus which remained last year,
it was proposed to declare a dividend of 155., or 2i per
cent., on the paid-up capital, which would be paid on
Wednesday, the sth of February next.
The dividend was declared, and the report adopted.
It was then proposed and seconded, that R. W. Blaine,
Esq., be appointed Deputy-Governor in the room of W.
Brown, Esq., deceased.
John Lock, Esq., W. S. Dawson, Esq.. and J. Hodgson,
Esq., the outgoing Directors' were re-elected.
G. W. Thornton, Barclay, Esq., Knox, Esq.,
and Abel Smith, Esq., were appointed auditors.
A vote of thanks was then passed to the Directors,
for which the Chairman returned thanks, and the meet-
ing then separated.

NEW BRITISH IRON COMPANY.
The general meeting of the Proprietors of the
icew British Iron Company was held yesterday at

the offices, New Brod-sireet, Mr. W. Routh in
the chair.

Mr. W. SMITH, the Secretary, having read the
notice of the present, and the minutes of the last
meeting,
The CISAIRMAN said they were called together in
conformity with their deed of settlement, which re-
quired their accounts to be made up on the 30th of
September, and that their general meeting should be
held between the Ist of January and the 20th of
February. It would he scarcely necessary for him
to add anything to the report that would be laid
before them ; the state of trade during the past year
had been rather of a chequered character, but on the
whole tending towards improvement ; the result had
been, that instead of subjecting the Proprietors to a
loss, as under the old Company, there had been some-
thing like a profit. He also had to congratulate the
Proprietors on the improved prosperity of business
for the ensuing year. He then read the
report, which stated the balance in favour
of the Company to be 8,0501. 19s. 2d. ; from
this, there is to be deducted the interest of deben-
tures and other expenses, leaving 3,961/. is. 6d., out
of which the Provisional Committee recommended a
dividend on the paid-up capital of the Company,
equal to the interest paid on debentures, 4 per cent. ;
and a sum of 9611. ss. 6d. to be carried forward to the
next year. The Committee had great pleasure in
congratulating the Proprietors on the decided im-
provement that had lately taken place in the trade; as
the demand was legitimate and not speculative, the
improvement was likely to be permanent. The pre-
sent weekly " make " of the Company was stated to
be nearly 1.000 tons of iron, and was likely to be
considerably exceeded. As the functions of the Pro-
viSional Committee now expired, it became necessary
to appoint twelve Directors. The parties forming
the Provisional Committee would, with a few excep-
tions, he proposed to them as Directors.
The report was then received and approved, and a
resolution, declaring a dividend of 3s. per share, was
carried unanimously, after a short discussion.

The following gentlemen were then proposed, and
declared duly elected to fill the office of Directors of
the Company :—Mr. G. P. Barclay, Mr. Brownrigg,
M.P., Mr. D. B. Chapman, Mr. M. Harrison, Mr. J.
Hoare, Mr. C. Kerr, Mr. J. Horsley Palmer, Mr.
J. J. H. Ravenshaw, Mr. Samson Ricardo, Mr. W.
Routh, Mr. J. Abel Smith, and Mr. Alex. Wilson.
The following gentlemen were elected as auditors :
—Mr. Ricardo, Mr. J. Bruce, Mr. S. Smith.

The CIAIRMAN returned thanks on behalf of him-
self and his brother Directors, and the proceedings
terminated.

SPANISH BONDS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,--As an old subscriber to your widely-disse-
minated and popular journal, I would feel much
obliged if you could inform me, (and numbers in the
country similarly situated with myself), what is now
doing with regard to the overdue Coupons on the
Spanish Active Five per Cent. Bonds. lam a con-
siderable holder of this stock, and there was four

years' interest due on the Ist of November last, being
20 per cent. There was four years and a half capi-
talised in 1840 into the Three per Cent. Stock ;
since then we, the holders of the Active Bonds, have
not received one farthing in the shape of interest, and
as M. Mon, the Spanish Minister of Finance, has
converted nearly everything owing in Spain into this
stock, I, with the rest of the old bcndholders, hope
that something either has been done, or will shortly,
to convert this 20 per cent. owing into this stock, the
more especially as M. Mon made some slight allu-
sion to this measure shortly after the meeting of the
present Cortes. With the opinions which I and the
lovers of freedom entertain of the present Govern-
ment of Spain, it is not for me to enter upon. I only
wish to treat upon the interest which has so long
been overdue upon the debts owing to their British
creditors. Can you inform me and others, through
the medium of your journal, whether there e a Com-
mittee of Spanish Bondholders or not, to watch over
the interests of thems Ives and the other bondholders ?
I think there cannot be a Committee, or ere this some-
thing would have been done, and the more especially
so on the present instance, as there is rather an
appearance of some better intentions to do justice by
M. Mon than has been done by his predecessors in
office If you can do us any good, by drawing the
public attention to the subject, I should feel much
obliged.—l remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
A SPANISH BONDHOLDER.
Cleveland, Jan. 23, 1845.
[There is a Committee, but their labours have not
yet obtained their just reward.—En. Sun.]

GRAND CONCERT, SUSSEX HALL.—On Monday a
concert, on a grand scale, was given at the Sussex Hall,
Leadenhall-street, and was attended by an auditory of
more than 1,200 persons. The entertainment was opened
with Bishop's glee, " Sleep, gentle Lady," by the Misses
A. and M. Williams and Mr. Machin, which, both in the
execution and the reception, was a fine promise of what
was to follow. These young ladies are daily improv-
ing, and bid fair to stand, before long, in the very fore-
most rank of their profession. Mr. Machin in this glee
and in his other performances of the evening, was much
applauded. Without particularising the separate merits
of the several a, t;stes, it must suffice to say, that each
one was received with the utmost favour, and well
merited the applause awarded. We cannot omit to men-
tion Miss Lucombe, Miss Sarah Flower, and Madame
F. Lablache, with Mr. Allen and Mr. Russell. In the
course of the evening Mr. Cohen performed a fantasia
of his own composition upon " The Conquering Hero."
A burst of applause interrupted him at the close of the
first part, and at the conclusion he was honoured with
an encore, to which, by some unaccountable mistake he
did not attend otherwise than by the bow of thanks with
which he retired.

GALLANT ACT OF A LIEUTENANT OF 11Elt MA-
JESTY'S SHIP SUPERB IN HAMOAZE.—On Tuesday morn-
ing last, a private of the Royal Marines, belonging to
the above ship, accidentally tell overboard. A strong
ebb-tide was running at the time, and the poor fellow,
being unable to swim, must soon have been drowned, but
for the prompt and gallant act of bravery displayed by
Lieut. Stewart in jumping overboard, and keeping the
man from sinking, until, with the aid of ropes, he was
got out in a most exhausted state, and taken on board
the Bellona hulk, where the usual means for restoring
drowned persons were quickly resorted to by Dr. Coulter,
of the Superb, and happily proved efficacious in restoring
animation.—Plymouth Tines,
Sir Robert Peel's Parliamentary dinners are to be
continued every week until the Easter recess. We hear
it is in contemplation to have those official entertainments
on the same scale as last year ; that is to say, the Right
Hon. Baronet will receive about 40 Members of the
House of Commons at each dinner.

We understand the Board of Admiralty have de-
termined on withholding their assent to the proposed
viaduct over the Penryn river, as a part of the scheme
of the Plymouth and Falmouth Railway.—Falmouth
Packet.

HEARTLESS CONDUCT OF A SWEDISH CAPTAIN.—
On Tuesday morning, as the crew of a Deal boat called
the Princess Royal, were off the South Foreland, they
observed a brig, which, from certain evolutions, they
were led to conclude had a pilot to land. Impressed
with this belief, they proceeded to the vessel,
and on nearing her, the captain, to their asto-
nishment, called out that he had lost a boy
overboard, at the same time pointing to windward. The
conduct of the captain appeared so thoroughly heartless,
and unfeeling, that the boatmen bitterly exclaimed against
it in no very unmeassured terms, asking him why he
had not hove to, and lowered his boat, particularly as
there was nothing in the state of the weather to prevent
him doing so. No reply was made, and the brig pur-
sued the same undeviating course, going at the rate
of five knots an hour, leaving the poor boy every
, instant at a greater distance. The boatmen, with that
prompt alacrity and humanity for which they are
proverbial, proceeded in the direction indicated, and,
after malting two tacks, discovered the boy strug-
gling with the waves. To keep up his spirits they
loudlyhailed him, at the same time waving their bats, and
using every possible cheering demonstration. Strange to
say, they arrived at the critical period on which the boy's
fate seemed to depend—a few moments longer, and all
would inevitably have been lost. A firm grasp of the
arm soon rescued the sufferer, and brought him into the
boat. By judicious treatment the boy ultimately re-
covered, and was removed in a cart to Deal, where he
remains under the protection of the Vice-Consul Too
much praise cannot be given to the boatmen for their
noble and disinterested conduct. The name of the brig
is the Preia, Captain Hendtman, bound to Rio Janerio.
.Dover Telegraph.