The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-31 00:00:00

COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT.

Frederick Pratt Barlow, Esq., London,
Directors of the Great
. Thomas Richard Guppy, Esq., Bristol,
Western Railway
Henry Simonds, Esq., Reading, Company.
William Tothill, Esq., Bristol,
John Rogers, Esq., Chester.
Mr. George B. Thorneycroft, iron master, Wolverhampton.
Mr. John Barker, iron master, Wolverhampton.
Mr. Joseph Walker, merchant, Wolverhampton.
Mr. John Perks, edgetool.manufacturcr, Wolverhampton.
Edward Terry, Esq., Mayor of Dudley.
Thomas Badger, Esq., Dudley.
Mr. J. Joseph Bramah, iron master, Dudley.
Mr. William Mathews, iron master, Corbyn's Hall, Kingswinford.
Mr. Benjamin Gibbons, iron master, Shut-end House, Kingswinford.
James Foster, Esq., iron master, Stourton Castle, Stourbridge.
Michael Grazebrook, Esq., iron master, Audnam, Stourbridge.
Richard Hickman, Esq., Clay Works, Stourbridge.
Joseph King, Esq., Stourbridge.
Mr. Francis Rufford, banker, Stourbridge.
Thomas Simcox Lea, Esq., Astley Hall, Kidderminster.
Mr. George Hooman, carpet manufacturer, Kidderminster.
Arthur Skey, Esq., Spring-grove Bewdley.
Mr. Enoch Baldwin,ironfounder, Stourport.
William Lewis, Esq.. Mayor of Worcester.
John Lilly, Esq., High Alderman of Worcester,
John Parker, Esq., Worcester.
Mr. William Stallard, jun., wine-merchant, Worcester.
George B. Hudson, Esq., Wick, near Pershore
Mr. Thomas N. Foster, merchant, Evesham.
Mr. H. G. Busby, merchant, Moreton-in-the-Marsh.
Mr. Robert Beaman, merchant, Stow-on-the- Wold.
With power to add to their number.
ENGINEER—I. K. Brunel, Esq.
/1"-- BANKERS.
Messrs. Spooner, Attwoods, and Co., Londol.
Messrs. Ruffords and Wragge, Steurbridge.
WEIR CORRESPONDENTS.
City and County Bank, Worcester
The Royal Bank, Liverpool
The Union Bank, Manchester
The Yorkshire Banking Company, Leeds
The Yorkshire Banking Company, Hull
Attwoods, Spooner, and Co., Birmingham
The West of England Bank, Bristol
Messrs. Sanders, Barnes, and Co., Exeter.
SOLICITORS.
Messrs. W. 0. and. W. Hunt, Whitehall, London.
Mr. Robert Rising, / Worcester.
Mr. Fred. Thomas Elgie,
SECRETARY—MI. Noel T. Smith.

The COMMITTEE of MANAGEMENT of this COMPANY
having determined to take the DIRECT LINE from Oxford to
Worcester (being the line upon which the Government Commis-
sioners favourably reported in the year 1840), in preference to the
line round by Banbury, by which there will be a saving of eleven
miles in distance; an arrangement has been this day entered into
with the Great Western Company, by which that Company have
agreed to lease the line in perpetuity, at a rent equal to 3 per
cent. on the above capital, with half surplus profits, and with a
further arrangement for payment of the interest on any capital
beyond such sum borrowed under the powers usually contained in
a Railway Act of Parliament, not exceeding 250,0001.
Interest on the Deposits will be allowed at the rate of 41. per
cent. per annum, from the time of payment into the Bankers' hands.
Prospectuses, with P 1 In, may be had of the Solicitors to the Com-
pany.
Infirmary Walk, Worcester, October 22, 1844.

OXFORD, WORCESTER. and WOLVER-
HAMPTON RAILWAY.
Notice is hereby given, that the period fixed for receiving Appli-
cations for Shares in this Company having expired, and those Ap-
plications far exceeding the number which the Committee have to
allot, a FINAL ALLOTMENT will be made at the Office of the
Company, at Worcester, on FRIDAY, the lst day of November
next.
SOLICITORS—W. 0. and W. Hunt, Robert Rising, Frederick
Thomas Elgie.
Worcester, October 24, 1844.

COTTISH MIDLAND JUNCTION
RAILWAY.

TO 7113 EDITOR OF TIIF: SUN.
Dundee, October 28, 1844.
SIR,—I have read the " Notes" issued by the authority of this
Company, and they have afforded me much amusement by their
specious plausibility. As, however, they contain unfounded state-
ments, gratuitously advanced, in disparagement of undertakings
which have already obtained the cordial support of the public; and
are filled with exaggerations and arguments calculated to mislead
those who are unacquainted with the true state of the facts; it is
only right to make the public aware of the real character of the
undertaking, In support of which these notes have been published.
The line of the Midland Junction runs from Perth to Forfar,
where, by the Prospectus, it is promised a junction will be formed
with the Aberdeen Railway. The Prospectus farther states that
"the district is fertile and populous, and studded with towns and
villages, and is the seat of important manufactures."
It is intended that the two existing lines in Strathmore, namely,

" the Newtyle and Coupar-Angus" and the " Newtyle and Glam.
miss" Railways, shall form a part of the Midland Junction line.
These are to constitute the back.bone of this new line of railway
communication, from which very great benefits are expected to
flow to the Shareholders of the new Company. The Shareholders
of the old, it is understood, are to get new stock for their interest
in the existing lines. Again, immense advantages are promised
to the new undertaking from its joining "the Dundee and New-
tyle Railway."
These are the great inducements held out for the formation of
the Midland Junction, and it is my wish candidly to examine into
the different advantages referred to.

1. The proposed line is to be carried through a district where
there is no traffic to support a railway. There is no trade, no com.
merce, and no adequate population upon the route. Cuupar.
Angus is an unimportant village, and has a population of 2,745.
Newtyle is a still less important place, the population being about
465 ; Glammiss, 556 ; and Forfar, 7,981. There is no direct
coach from Perth to Forfar; such a thing was never thought of;
and, I am sure, were one started, it would not be continued for a
week. The Defiance coach from Edinburgh to Aberdeen passes
along this line of road, but, were the passengers by it from Perth
to Forfar abstracted, they would not amount to two per day. There
are no mills or manufactories on the line ; it is a purely agricul.
tural district, thinly populated.
2. The" Aberdeen Railway" is not to join the Scottish Midland
Junction Railway at Forfar, as stated in the Prospectus. At one time
the Aberdeen line was intended to terminate there, but Mr. Cubitt,
of London, was selected as referee to decide upon the best line to
the North ; and at.er examining the district, and investigating
the subject, he has recommended that the line should not be car.
ried by Forfar, and away from the seats of trade, commerce, and
population, but should be brought by the large manufacturing
towns upon the coast, thus joining Aberdeen, Montrose, Arbroath,
and Dundee (which contain alone a population of 150,000), and
thence to Edinburgh by the lines of railway through Fife. This
recommendation has been wisely adopted by the Aberdeen Rail.
way Company, whereby they have now got the cordial support of
these large towns. The Midland Junction must now, therefore,
end at Forfar.
3. The advantages expected to arise to the Midland Junction
from getting the Newtyle and Glammiss and Newtyle and Coupar.
Angus lines merged into the New Company, are more than ques-
tionable. It is now seven years since those lines were opened for
traffic, and they have never paid the Shareholders one single far.
thing in the shape of dividend. On the contrary, the gentlemen
of the Committee on these lines are under personal obligation for
a large debt, which will be readily handed over to the Midland
Junction as an additional advantage. A meeting of the Share.
holders of the old lines hes been held, and they, as may naturally
be supposed, readily agreed to give over their works, and take new
stock for the amount—some of them shrewdly observing, " We
cannot be worse." To show the utter insignificance of the traffic
upon the Newtyle and Glammiss and Coupar-Angus lines, which
are to form the stay of the New Company, neither of them has
been able to maintain a locomotive engine, or even one between
them. This fact, to parties versant in railway statistics, requires
no comment.
4. The advantages anticipated from the junction with the New.
tyle line are equally " imaginary." This line is ten miles in length,
having three inclined planes. with three stationary engines and a
tunnel. It has been open for about twelve years, and has never
yielded any dividend to the Shareholders, and is considered to be a
total loss. Its shares can be got at Is. each. The debt upon it is
somewhere about 30,0001., and the Midland Junction will, it is
believed, be made welcome to it at 10s. per pound.
These statements I would not have hazarded had I thought
they could be gainsaid; but I am sure there is no member of the
Provisional Committee of the Scottish Midland Junction Railway
who can controvert one single fact I have stated. I invite them
to do so.

This scheme has been before the public for many months, with-
out even an attempt to allocate the stock, and in this quarter it has
met with almost no pecuniary support, being looked upon as chime-
rical, and will be allowed to fall to the ground, without the aid of
capital from a distance.
A L ARGE HOLDER IN SCOTTISH RAILWAY
STOCKS.