The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-03 00:00:00

SPORTING MAGAZINE.

We have here two engravings—one a portrait of
Flush, a famous sporting d%,, holding a dead partridge
in his mouth ; and the other representing a hunting
scene over a fine open tract of country, with a refrac-
tory horse in the foreground, whom his rider is in vain
endeavouring to lead over a hedge, at which the ani-
mal has most unceremoniously stopped short. Both
engravings are well executed. The literary depart-
ment of the Magazine is neither better nor worse than
usual.

STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF SCOTLAND.
There is a considerable amount of useful statistical
information contained in this Part, which is the
fiftieth, and is chiefly devoted to a consideration Of
the geographical, antiquarian, and other pcculiaritie4
of the county of Fileshire.

FREEMASONS' QUARTERLY REVIEW.
This is a new series of a Quarterly Journal, Vnich
appeals chiefly to the tastes of the Masonic bre (bre)),
and reports with much minuteness their pro; ding's
throughout the kingdom duzing the last 0;00 months,

► LONDON and CROYDON RAILWAY

COMPANY.

A special general meeting of the Shareholders was
held at the London-bridge station yesterday, for the
purpose of considering the expediency of applications
being made to Parliament, in the ensuing session, for
powers to enable the London and Croydon Railway
Company to effect the felloseing objects :—The
widening or enlargement of the London and Croydon,
the London and Greenwich, and the Bricklayers'
Arms Branch Railways, with a view to an additional
line, or additional lines, of railway, upon the atmo-
spheric principle of traction ; the formation of a rail-
way from the Croydon Railway to Chatham, with a
branch to Gravesend; an extension of the Chatham
line, to join the Canterbury, Margate, and Ramsgate
Railway, at or near Chatham, with branches to Sheer-
ness and Faversham Creek; the formation of a railway
from the Croydon Railway to Maidstone, with a
branch to 'Tunbridge; an extension of the
Maidstone line to join the South-Eastern (Dover)
Railway at or near Ashford; an extension of the
Epsom Railway to Dorking, unless provided for by
the direct London and Portsmouth Railway; a branch
from the Croydon Railway to Orpington, unless pro-
vided for by the Chatham line; and also to adopt
such measures with reference to the said several
matters, or either of them, and to the capital necessary
to be provided for then), or any of them, as to such
meeting shall seem expedient.
At one o'clock the chair was taken by Mr. Wil-
Jainism], the Chairman of the Company.
The notice having been read,
The CHAIRMAN!, after some preliminary observa-
tions, proceeded to refer to the schemes of the Direc-
tors, as stated above. Some of those schemes, he
said, were merely duplicate schemes, to be carried out
as the success or failure of the other plans might
render desirable. Contemplating, for instance,
the possibility of the Portsmouth Company
failing to get their Bill, the enlargement of the
Croydon Company was a scheme for which it was
neccessary to provide, and a similar remark would
apply to one or two other projects. But with re-
spect to the main plans of the Directors, after giving
their hest consideration to the subject, and taking the
best advice that could be obtained, the Directors were
of opinion, and after calling together and obtaining
the concurrence of a meeting of gentlemen holding
100 shares the Directors felt the greatest confidence,
in asking the sum ort of the Proprietors in carrying
out their views. The main purpose for which they
had convened the meeting, was to propos? the making
of a line from Sydenham to Ashford, Maidstone, and.
Tunbridge.—(Hear, hear.) The necessity for this
project had arisen from the declaration of the views of
the South-Eastern Company, made at their general
meeting by Mr. M‘Gregor in December last, inti-
mating most clearly that it was the intention of thatCom-
pony to make a direct line to Tunbridge which should I
avoid the Croydon line. Believing, as they did, that there
was no necessity for a measure which should include
the avoidance of the Croydon line, the Directors
thought themselves entitled to propose that this Com-
pany should carry out the scheme instead of the
South-Eastern Company.—(Hear, hear.) The latter
Company had proclaimed to all the world, for the
last nine months, that it was about to supply all
Kent with railways. At present, however, it: did
nothing whatever towards fulfilling its promise. It
now proposed to accommodate the public by avoiding
the Croydon Railway. Were that the sole object,
their only course would be to acquiesce, for unques-
tionably the public benefit was the grand thing to be
considered. But the question was, whether the public
benefit could not be equally well provided for without
the avoidance of the Croydon Railway? The Directors
of the Croydon Company believed that it could, and
as they formed part of the public, they had
a right to expect that their interests should
not be forgotten. The Dover Company pro-
posed to snake a line from the Greenwich Railway.
He then proceeded to explain, by the aid of a chart,
the course of the lines proposed by the two Com-
panies, and dwelt on the superior advantages which
would be afforded to the public by the direct line to
Maidstone. They proposed to continue the line as far
as Ashford ; and not only so, but, by making an at-
mospheric line, they would be enabled to convey the
public cheaper and quicker than the Soitth-tastern
Company. He saw nothing inconsistent of. im-
proper in so small a Company embarking in this un-
dertaking., provided only the public convenience
was consulted. On that point everything must de-
pend, whatever might be the length of railway which
it was proposed to construct. He had heard It said
that the great interests of the Dover. Company Ithmild
not be hampered by those of ad insignificant a Company
as the Croydon. Granted; but the question was, which
was the Dover Company ? He was prepared to contend
that,for all public purposes, that was the Dover Com-
pany, because it had the power which the other had
not, of making the line vv ich should be Most conve-
nient for the public. (Heat) hear.) 'the Dover
Company had for the last hille months placarded the
country with announcements of its intentions with
respect to the county of Kent ; but these announce-
ments 1110 all ended in nothing, and theirs was, at that
time, the only body which was in a condition to affi)rd
that accommodation to the public which the Dover
Company had confessed to he necessary for the public
interesta—(llear, hear.) The Dover Company was
a day or two too late in putting in its plans ; and
though this difficulty might possibly be surmounted,
he thought they (the Croydon Company) should take
care that their own interests were protected. The
Dover Company proposed to amend their line by a plan
not so convenient as theirs; and, under all the
circumstances, both morally and politically, the pro-
prietors of the Croydon Company would be justified
in the course which they were asked to pursue. He
did not mean to promise them entire success, whether
in carrying out their own plans, or in opposing those
of others ; but considering the impartiality and intel-
ligence of the Legislature, their chance of success
i
was certainly such as would justify them n proceed-
ing. Sir Robert Peel had laid down the principle,
that a railway should not be allowed to be made by
the side of an existing one, solely for the purpose of
absorbing the profit—that money should not be taken
out of the pocket of A solely to be put into that of
B ; " but," said he, "if the advancement of science,
or the improvement of machinery, enables one company
to accommodate the public much better than another,,
then the public advantage must be considered first."
Applying that principle, he thought they had a good
chance of success in the projects which they were
called upon to undertake ; and he felt the greatest
confidence, therefore, in proposing them for accept-
ance. A great deal was said at the present time
about amalgamation. He was not prepared to say
that such a result would not be attended with mu-
tual advantages. They had, however, made a pro-
position to the Brighton Company. They had put
to them this question—" Will you guarantee either
that the whole of the traffic shall come by one rail-
way, or that such traffic as may come shall pay us
the present amount, viz., 20,0001.?" and, in case
of compliance, they offered to remit half the toll at
present levied. That proposition was declined, and it
would be too much to expect that it should be
repeated after their opponents had been defeated in
Parliament.—(bear, hear.) In cases of amalgama-
tion it was generally expected that the party seeking
it would give up some advantages. Though they
were willing to amalgamate, they would not consent
to sacrifice their interests to those of their rivals.
He then went into a calculation, for the purpose of
proving that it was impossible that the Dover Com-
pany could obtain a sufficient profit to make their
scheme successful, taking into account all the ex-
penses and obligations which would be incurred, and
setting against them the probable returns. Since the
opening of the Dover Railway the average receipts
had been about 4500/. ; and, with all the expected
increase of continental traffic, he could not think that
the increase would be sufficient. After some further
observations, he concluded by proposing a series of
resolutions (banded on the several schemes stated in
the notice.

The resolution was seconded, and, after a short
conversation, was carried unanimously.
In reply to a question from a Proprietor,
The CHAIRMAN stated that the agreement made
with the Chatham Committee was this :—The Croy-
don Company undertook to pay the expenses of the
application to Parliament ; and, in case of failure, the
Chatham Company would either receive back their
money with five per cent. upon it, or have the option
of taking Croydon shares bearing five per cent.
A vote of thanks was given to the Chairman and
Directors, and the meeting then separated.

ATTEMPT TO ROB THE UNION BANK AT THORN-
KILL—FURTHER PARTICULARS.—On Sunday last the
branch of the Glasgow Union Bank, at Thornhill, was
forcibly entered while the inmates were at church, in the
forenoon. Entrance was obtained by a stable adjoining
the banking house, from which the thief passed through a
small opening into the back kitchen, and thence up stairs
to the apartments occupied by the accountant, where he
forced the lock of a chest, from which he took three 1/.
notes and some silver. In this chest were deposited the
keys of the sate. which contained a considerable amount
of money; but, it is fortunate that he was satisfied with
the 3L He, however, carried off one key belonging to
the safe, venich was afterwards found in a neighbouring
garden. The robbery was discovered immediately on
the return of the inmates from church, and notice being
give n to the office of police, the premises were searched,
and, the neighbouring gardens, &c., examined; and we
understand, that from what then appeared, and from cir-
c ainstances that have since transpired, there are good
grounds for suspecting that the perpetrator of the house•
breaking and theft is not far from the village of Thorn-
hill. A investigation is now going on, and a little time
will show whether these suspicions are correct or not.—
DinVries Paper.
John Plummer, Esq., of New Parks, the owner of
Alice Hawthorn, has generously proposed to give the
whole of the in onoy which this celebrated mare may
realise in 1845, to the inhabitants of Easingwold, pro-
vided they will construct a branch railway from that
town"to thq Greg North of England Railway.—Tyne
gercury: