The Sun.
London, England, 1842-03-11 00:00:00

LONDON AND CROYDON RAIL-
WAY COMPANY.

The thirteenth Half-yearlz General Meeting of the Pro-
prietors of the London and Croydon Railway Company, took
place yesterday at one o'clock, at the London Tavern, Bishop,.
gate-street, W. A. Wilkinson, E.g., in the Chair.
The seal of the Company was affixed to the list of the Pro-
prietors, and the advertisement calling the meeting having
been read,
The CHAIRMAN called upon the Secretary to read
THE REPORT.

" Gentlemen,—Since our last General Meeting your Direc-
tors have had to contend with difficulties of a most vexatious
and unprecedented character, difficulties which not only could
not be foreseen, but which could not fail to be seriously detri-
mental to the traffic of the railway, and, in consequence, they
are obliged to submit a Report and statement of accounts very
different from those which they had hoped they should have
been enabled to present, and which the concluding paragraph
of the last Report had, doubtless, led the Pi opaietor s to expect.
" From the period of its opening to November last, then
nearly two years and a half, the traffic of your line had never
once been interrupted, not eves, by the partial closing of one
rail, a matter of frequent occurrence on railways, although
through the whole of that time the earthworks have been a
constant source of trouble and expense; but on the 2d of that
month, a land slip occurred at New-cross, by which many
thousand tons of earth were thrown upon the line, so as to
block it up, and entirely prevent the passage of the trains.
"In the unfortunate position in which your Directors were
placed by this circumstance, they felt it to be their duty to
adopt the readiest measures, so that as little inconvenience as
p ssible might be sustained by the Croydon and Brighton pas-
sengers; they were perfectly aware that the best arrangements
they cold,' make could not but be attended with considerable
discomfort to travellers, and no exertions were wanting on
their part, Jr on that of your resident eng neer, and the other
officers of the Company, to render the state of things as little
annoying and uncomfortable as the nature of their misfortnne
would admit. The slip took place at about nine o'clock in the
evening, and before the first train of the next morning a path.
way had been cut, boarded and sanded on the opposite slope,
about 300 yards in length, for the purpose of enabling the pas-
sengers to walk past the obstruction from one train of carriages
t another placed ready to receive them ; as this path, how-
ever, was necessarily very steep and exposed to the weather,
omnibuses were likewise provided at the Dartmouth Arms in
time for the first train, by which the passengers were con-
veyed to New -cross. This mode incurring a considerable loss
of time, as well as great expense, was afterwards abandoned
with the concurrence of the passengers, and a covered way
was constructed lower down the slope by which they passed
over with very slight inconvenience and delay. The most
energetic measures were at the same time adopted to clear the
lino under the advice of your consulting engir eer, Mr. Cubitt,
who %est!, immediately on the spot, and by a large force of men
working day and night, this was effected in about seventeen
days, the trains again passed regularly, and your Directors had
every reason tohope that they would continue so to do. On the
2d of December, however, another slip took place, which again
blocked up the line until the 23d of that month. Again, on
the 7th of January, an extension ;of the slip at New-cross
covered both lines of railway, and from that time almost to the
present, with scarcely an interval, one fall after another has oc-
curred, by which, although !through the greatest exertions of
the officers of the Company, the means of traversing the line at
the slip have always been
.presented to the passengers, the
traffic has been nevertheless greatly and seriously interrupted.
Your Directors are conscious that the traffic of the Brighton
Railway has suffered materially from this interruption, and they
desire to bets: testimony to the great g od nature and forbear-
an .e with which the necessary inconveniences have been sub-
mitted to by all parties, and the readiness with which assist-
ance has been afforded by the Directors of the Companies on
tither side of them. But the disasters on the Croydon Rail-
way have not been the only impediment to the development of
the Brighton traffic. The unfortunate occurrences on thatillail-
way soon after its opening, by which the weekly receipts were
reduced from 3,584/. to little more than half that amount, pre-
vious to the first obstruction on the Croydon line, have no
doubt contributed largely to the defalcation of those receipts.
" It mast be expected that in consequence of these inter-
ruptions to the traffic, and the bad state of the weather, the in-
come of your railway, both from fares and toll, has fallen very
short of the former anticipation of your Directors, and that
under these circumstances, the hope previously held out of a
division of profits, at the present time would be likely to be dis-
appointed ; nevertheless, as will appear by the annexed account,
the result of your own traffic for the last half-year, together
with the toll received from the Brighton Company, have suf-
ficed to defray the ordinary expenses of the railway, and pay the
interest of your borrowed capital ; and as the position of the
Company is such that its income can scarcely fail to improve
very considerably in the next six months, the Proprietors may
perhaps be justified in div ding the remainder of the suns ac-
cumulated to the credit of the traffic account, to which course,
if it -hould be desired, your Directors do not wish to snake any
objection, since the only item fairly chargeable to this account
is the depreciation of the Company's stock, which, under the
circumstances above alluded to, may doubtless be safely deferred.
" Your Directors regret to say that the serious character of
the land slips at New-cross, ForestAill, and indeed throughout
the cuttings on the inclined plane, together with the necessa-
rily great cost of removing these slips, and the attendant ex-
penses of working the traffic under the existing circumstances,
will not only exhaust the whole of their available funds, but
will render it necessary eventually to make amication to the
Proprietors for a further advance of capital, which, six months
ago, your Directors hoped that their arrangements had enabled
them to avoid. Your Directors, however, trust that this appli-
cation will not be required until the resources of the railway
have been still further developed.
" Your Directors are happy to inform you that they have
concluded an arran:ement with the South Eastern Company,
for the j •Tint working and management of their locomotive
power, upon the principle that the cost to each Company shall
be in proportion to the use thereof. By this arrangement the
economyand twhiel
further b e etr e cbt ee dn ,e afi nt dw
lhl ea
cpcurbul
ei c
tsoa ftehtiys
Company, t•
ietotwedill be thus enabled, without unnecessary loss,
to accommodate the quantity of its traffic to the operation of the
egsrsreantteisatllpyopshsraiobtml
toll levied, or to be levied for the future, by the Greenwich
Company.
" Your Directors cannot allude to this subject without draw-
ing the attention of the Proprietors to the toll arrangement
about to he concluded between the Northern and Eastern and
Eastern Counties Companies. These Companies are somewhat
similarly situated to the Croydon and Greenwich Companies,
havini an agreement for a 4d. toll for a distance of 33 miles.
The Eastern Counties Company is reported to have agreed to a
reduction of this toll to 3d., 20., and 2d., for the first, second,
and third class passengers respectively. between Ponders-end
and London, which for the distance of the Eastern Counties
Railway used, is equivalent to an average of less than id. per
mile, while the present charge of the Greenwich Company to
the Croydon is more than lid. per mile, and the contemplated
charge more than 2id. per mile. The fact that the. Eastern
Counties Company has seen the good policy of modifying their
original agreement, is a strong proof of the soundness of the
sews of your Directors upon this subject, and will, it is to be
hope.!, sooner or later, carry conviction to the minds of the
Proprietors of the Greenwich Railway.
With a view to facilitate access to the Croydon and other
lines from the western end of London, and to afford a goods
and cattle station for the South Eastern Railway, which can-
not be so conveniently obtained at London -bridge, your Direc-
tors have entertained a proposition, for which the necessary
Parliamentary notices have been given, to join the latter Com-
pany in procuring an.approach to your railway at Corbees-
lane, from the Grange-road, a spot about two miles from West-
minster-bridge. The Bill for this object, however, will be
submitted to your consideration at a special meeting to be called
for that purpose.
" The Directors who go out by rotation, pursuant to the Com-
pany's Act of Parliament, are James Whiskin and John Lewis
Ricardo, Esquires, who are eligible for re-election.
" Your Directors have received the resignation of Newman
Smith, Esq., and -have elected Charles Sedgfield Crowley,
Esq., of Croydon, in his place. Your Directors have likewise
received the resignation of Hebert Hollond, Esq , M. P., but
as this gentleman, and John Lewis Ricardo, Esq., M.P., who
goes out by rotation, have ceased to take any active part in the
direction of your affairs during the past six months, in pursu-
ance of an understanding with the Proprietors that the number
of Directors should be reduced, it is proposed that the va-
cancies occasioned by the retirement of these gentlemen shall
not be filled up.
" The vacancy among the Auditors, occasioned by the re-
signation of Henry Tudor, Esq., has been filled up by the elec-
tion of John Norbury, Esq., and Richard Sterry, Esq., is pro-
posed in the room of Charles Sedgfield Crossley, Esq., who has
been elected a Director.

4. WILLIAM ARTHUR WILKINSON, Chairman."
The meeting decided to dispense with the reading of the
accounts, as each Proprietor had been furnished with a copy
of them.

Tee CHAIRMAN, in rising to move the reception of the
Report, trusted he might be permitted to make a few observa-
tions, to explain to the meeting the manner in which he pro-
posed their proceedings should be conducted, and as the organ
of the Directors, to lay before the meeting the view which the
Directors entertained of the policy which the Company ought
to pursue at the present crisis of their affairs. Ile trusted that
the Report would be received and adopted at once, and then he
proposed that they should proceed to discuss, with the Proprie-
tors, the various important matters on which the Directors had
thought it proper to seek the opinion and advice of the Pro-
prietors. He trusted the Report would be received with as
little discussion as possible, in order to save time. The Report
had been drawn up in such a manner as not to pledge the
Proprietors. In fact, the only part which could possibly pledge
the Proprietors, was the paragraph relating to the arrange-
ment with the South Eastern Company, and he did not
apprehend that there would be any Proprietor found.
who would dissent from that arrangement. The Direc-
tors were most anxious to lay before the Proprietors their
views of the general policy which the Company ought to
pursue in this, which might be called the crisis, of their fate,
for the time had at length arrived when, he trusted, they were
about to reap the fruit of their labours. Never had any body
of Directors better reasons for holding out bright prospects to
the Proprietors than they had had at the last meeting; but
since that period disaster had followed disaster. The Brighton
t line at that time had been opened, and the traffic on it was in •
creasing. The tolls from the Brighton Company which the
Croydon Company had a prospect of receiving, fully justified
them in anticipating that there would be a dividend of 10s. to
205.; but shortly after, the disaster had occurred on the Brigh-
ton line, which had retarded the development of the Brighton
traffic most materially, and this had been followed by the slips
•n their own line at New-cress. The Report was necessarily
long, because the Directors had thought it advisable to explain
fully the difficulties in which they had been placed, in conse-
quence of those disasters ; but no words could give any idea of
the labours which had devolved on the officers of the Company.
To Mr. Gregory, their engineer; to Mr. Coulson,
the superintendent of the works , to his son, Mr.
Henry Coulson, their store-keeper ; to Mr. Pulford,
and to all the officers of the Company, their thanks
wore eminently due for their exertions, day and night, to
remedy these disasters. With respect to the slip,lMr. Cubitt,
their engineer, who was present, would afford them any infor-
mation they might desire. With regard to the cause of the
slips, they had consulted Mr. Phillipps, the geological chemist,
who had reported that the accident was attributable to a pecu-
liar formation going on, which would account for the extraor-
dinary phenomena, for it was most extraordinary, that after a
cutting had remained two and a half years, such extensive slips
should take place. The Directors, however, had every reason
to hope that their frac would increase; and although they