The Sun.
London, England, 1845-08-18 00:00:00

OXFORD AND CHELTENHAM.

A public meeting of the inhabitants of itney, Ox-
fordshire, was held at the Town-hall, on Thursday last,
la pursuance of a requisition addressed to the bailiffs, to
eansider the best course for the formation and mainte-
11'nee of the interests of the town with reference to the
, 'Nected lines between Oxford and Cheltenham.
Mr. J. W. Clinch, banker, presided, and Mr. Leake
attended on behalf of the Great Western Company.
Mr. J. WESTALL remarked that the subject of rail-
wa3' Communication between Oxford and Cheltenham
11.ati recently been sufficiently before the public. Several
lines had been proposed, but until the independent line
Oxford to Cheltenham was brought forward, the town
between the
stood no chance of any direct communication
the Great Western and the Wolverhampton
lines
; and supposing the Handborough branch to be
-'4le therefrom to Witney, they would be no nearer
oxford than at home. The present was the only oppor-
iZtlitY to carry out and secure a line which would be
then
to the town. The traffic of the town had
en ascertained to amount to 17,000/.. per annum, and
therefore theta could be little doubt as to the profit which
a railway company could derive.
BATEMAN, of Asthally, proposed the first reso-
'tan :—" That it is essentially to the interests of the
of Witney and its neighbourhood to obtain
,:,", secure the best possible railway communi-
ti;"°a between Oxford and Cheltenham, and
QrabY eastward of London, and westward to
kmleester, the Forest of Dean, Monmouthshire, and
nth Wales, whereby the traffic flowing thence
th tePagh Witney. before the construction of the Great
eatern Railway would be restored, the trade and ma-
nlaetures of the; town largely increased, and the wel-
t
fe
re and comforts of its population, especially those of
Poor, Le I roluoted by the due competition which
mustll thereby be excited between the Dean Forest and
elsh coal-fis Ida, and those of Staffordshire and the
north, which latter are readily made available by means
0
the Oxford Worcester, and Wolverhampton Rail-
'W
, a-V, by a bran h to it from any branch lice passing
Witney."
the E. EARLY, of Witney, manufacturer, seconded
6 believed there
Lookieg at the merits of the different lines,
''elieved there were some considerable advantages in
e nandborough branch, but these were benefits which
.I„l.believed would equally arise from the direct line,
.4:1101 would be a more general good. As a manufac-
s he expected, upon the introduction of coals at a
itie need rate, that steam might be advantageously used
du their town. Thus, increase of labour would be pro-
theed, the trade of the town would be increased, and
e,,eondition of the poorer classes would be ameliorated.
resolution was carried nem. dis.
r' JOHN EARLY, of Witney, moved the next resolu-
te," That none but a main trunk line of railway be-
it, 'ea Oxford and Cheltenham can afford to the public
an general, and confer on the town of Witney, such ac-
-rtno 11:Iodation and advantages, and that therefore the
ladP°sed 6 Ox!Ord, Witney, Cheltenham, and Gloucester
se,tiePendent Railway' is best calculated to promote and
41_1.° those desirable objects ; and that the projected
a.
In', teemed the Cheltenham and Oxford,' diverging as
haNere branch from the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolver-
seajton Railway, at or near Shipton-under-Wychwood,
ei 1.1:11 he most inimical to tile interests of the town and
hourhood, by diverting instead of restoring the an-
resee, and moreover effectually destroying all poi
Irea,ltY of future advantages by extension and branches
Nvealclermini, which a main trunk line offers, while it
eatd: increase the distance between Witney and Ox-
Ailid Cheltenham also."
carried • WARRINGTON seconded the resolution, which was
unanimously.
pitt,,,e°n3raittel/ was then formed to confer with the Corn-
in favour of which the resolution was passed, con-
ks °I the following gentlemen :—Mr. J. W. Clench,
b "hn Earltitter, y, sen., Mr. Edward Early, Mr. William
and 0
~ Mr.
Jait Warrington, Mr. J. Clinch, Mr. D. Westell,
_tprnan.
tressv
°I e
of thanks to the chairman concluded the busi.
the day.

0 STATISTICS OF THE SESSION.
pri n Priday a return was issued, occupying 14 closely
be-lited Pages, giving a list of 218 Bills for Railway
the'°re Parliament during the past session,.. together with
n proceedings upon each, consisting of the date of
sitertilltiosla presenqed, of first, second, and third readings,.
and
receiving the royal assent. From an analysis,
t
ttiPears that 218 Bills have passed, or partially passed,
• tueßh these processes this session.
the ese appear to have been read. a first time, with
Pet't•lcePtion of the following 36, which only presented
ordi,i"ns, and were thrown out before the standing
trlin:hs :-enhead, Manchester, and Cheshire
116,7°11 and Gloucester Railway Acts Amendmert,
raina` 'lad Gloucester, Bristol and Gloucester and Bir-
tiv,;,:nal and Gloucester ; Chester, Manchester, and
1ec71)%1 Junction ; Churnet Valley, Direct Northern,
eh, t Northern (Lincoln to York), Diss and Col-
tuei'ter junction, East Derehain and Norwich, Eastern
')11 4rld Bury St. Edmund's, Eastern Union and
b:twieh, ditto and Harwich Harwich, Harwich and
stern
Counties Junction, Hull and Gains-
liZttngh, Liverpool and Manchester, North Union,
~atiand Leigh and Kenyon and Leigh Amalga-
b„".; Liverpool, Ormskirk, and Preston ; Liverpool,
Hilo akirk and Preston (Skelmersdale) ; London mid Btr-
tinrgsiliea, London and Brithton (Dorking Branch), ditto
(~41 Bran,A, ditto Wandsworth Branch, London,
...."qt...-,?Ycl,c)„4 (Kentish Lines). London and bouth
'114114; (Epsom 13rancii), Manchester and Buxton,
(13irtningham and Gloucester and Bristol and
QM /Per), Port4rlington and Tullamore, Shrewsbury
uth
Shrewsbury and Grand Junction,
dock ~astern. ditto -Lenisiiam to Tonbridge d Pad••
good Branch, Staines and Richmond,an Sunder.

land, Durham, and Auckland Union, Surrey Iron Rail-
way, Taff Vale, Wells and Dereham.
Of the remainder, thirty-eight have been read a first
and second, but not a third time, owing to their having.
been rejected by the Select Committee on the merits.
They are as fellow :—Barnsloy Junction, Birmingham
and Gloucester (Wolverhampton line), ditto Cheltenham
Extension, ditto Worcester Deviation, Cambridge and
Lincoln, Chester and Holyhead (Mold Branch and pur-
chase! of Chester and Birkenhead), Coventry, Bed-
worth, and Nuneaton, Eastern Counties (Cambridge
and Bury St. Edmund's), ditto Hertford and Biggles-
wade. Epsom and Dorking, Glasgow, Dumfries, and
Carlisle; Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock, and Ayr (Barr-
head Branch), Goole and Doncaster, Grand Junction,
Launceston and South Devon, London and Norwich
direct, London, Worcester, and South Stafford-
shire (Dudley and Sedgley Branch), London,
Chatham, and North Kent ; London, Worcester, and
South Staffordshire (Extension from Dudley to Wol-
verhampton) ; London, Worcester, and South Stafford
shire ; Manchester, Leeds, and Hull Associated Com-
panies ; Manchester, Sheffield, and Midland Junction ;
Midland, Ely to Lincoln, ditto Swinton to Lincoln,
Newark to Sheffield, Northumberland (Atmospheric),
Rye and Tenterden, St. Ive's Junction, Sheffield and
Line(inshire, South Devon (Tavistock and Branches),
South• Eastern (Maidstone to Rochester), Southport
and Euxton Junction, Tottenham and Farringdon-street
Extension, West Cornwall, West Yorkshire ; Wexford,
Carlow, and Dublin Junction, York and North Midland
(Doncaster Extension), York and North Midland (Goole
Branch).
Those that have been read a third time, but without
receiving royal assent, are five in number, namely, the
Cornwall, Leeds and West Riding, London and York,
and Irish Great Western (Dublin to Galway). The
two former were thrown out in Committee on the merits
by the House of Lords, and the two latter were stopped
short in their further progress for the session on the
ground of invalidity of subscription contract. The Di-
rect London and Portsmouth (a fifth) was thrown out
by a majority of two in the Lords, and, with its com-
petitor, the Guildford, Chichester, and Portsmouth, re-
mains as yet undecided.
The number of withdrawn Bills are ten, namely, the
Bristol and Gloucester (No. 2), at its third reading; the
Direct Northern, at its first; Diss, Beccles, and Yar-
mouth, at its third; Eastern Union Harwich, at its first;
Erewash Valley (No. 1), at its third; London and Croy-
don (Orpington Branch), at its first; Manchester and
Leeds (No. 1), at its third; Manchester, Bury, and Ros-
sendale, at its third; Manchester, Leeds, and Hull As-
sociated, at its second; Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne,
and Manchester, at its third.

The number passing intact through the various stages
of petition, standing orders, first, second, and third read-
ings, and ultimately receiving the royal assent, amount
to 115, and are—The Aberdare, Aberdeen, Ashton,
Stalybridge, and Liverpool Junction (Ardwick and
Guide Branches); Bedford and London and Birming-
ham, Belraq and Ballymena, Berks and Hants, Birming-
ham and Gloucester (Gloucester Extension Stoke
Branch and Midland Junction), Blackburn and Preston,
Blackburn, Burnley, Accrington, and Colne ; Bolton and
Leigh, Kenyon and Leigh, North Union, Liverpool and
Manchester and Grand Junction Amalgamations, Brigh-
ton and Chichester (Portsmouth Extension), Brighton,
Lewes, and Hastings (Keymer Branch), Brighton, Lewes,
and Hastings (Hastings, Rye, and Ashford Extension);
Bristol and Exeter Branches, Caledonian, Chester and
Birkenhead Extension, Chester and Holyhead, Clydes-
dale Junction, Cockermouth and Workington, Cork
and Bandon, Dublin and Belfast Junction (Branch to
Kells), Dublin to Drogheda, Dunkalk to Enniskelleu,
Dundee and Perth, Dunstable and London and Birming-
ham, Eastern Counties (Cambridge and Huntingdon),
ditto Ely and Whittlesea Deviation, Eastern Union,
ditto and Bury St. Edmund's, Edinburgh and Glasgow,
Edinburgh and Hawick, Edinburgh and Northern, Ely
and Huntingdon, Epping, Erewash Valley (No. 2),
Exeter and Crediton, Glasgow, Barrhead, and Neilston;
Glasgow, Garnkirk, and Coatbridge ; Glasgow Junc-
tion, Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr ; Graves-
end and Rochester, Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junc-
tion, Great North of England (Clarence and Hartlepool
Junction), Great North of England and Richmond,
Great Southern and Western (Ireland), Great Western
(Ireland, Dublin, Mullingar, and Athlone) ; Guildford
Junction, Huddersfield and Manchester, and Canal ;
Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction, Hull and Selby
(Bridlington Branch), Kendal and Windermere,
Lancaster and Carlisle, Leeds and Bradford
Extension (Shipley and Colue) ; Leeds and
Thirsk, Leeds, Dewsbury and Manchester ; Li-
verpool and Bury (Bolton, Wigan, Liverpool, and
Bury Extension) ; Liverpool and Manchester, London
and Brighton (Horsham Branch), London and Croydon
Enlargement, London and Greenwich, London and
South-Western (Metropolitan Extension) No. 1, ditto
No. 2, Londonderry and Coleraine, Londonderry and
Enniskillen, Lowestoft and Harbour, Lynn and Dereham,
Lynn and Ely, Manchester and Birmingham (Ashton
Branch), Manchester and Leeds (No. 2), ditto Burnley
Branch and Oldham and Heywood Extensions ; Man-
chester, Bury, and Rossendale; Manchester South Junc-
tion and Altrincham ; Middlesborough and Redcar, Mid-
land (Nottingham and Lincoln), ditto Syston to Peter-
borough. Monkland and Kirkintilloch, Monmouth and
Hereford, Newcastle and Berwick, Newcastle and Dar-
lington (Brandling Junction), Newcastle-upon-Tyne and
North Shields (Tynemouth Extension), Newport and
Pontypool, Newry and Enniskillen, North British, North
Union and Ribble, North Wales, North Wales Mineral,
North Woolwich, Norwich and Brandon Deviation, and
Diss and Dereham branches, Oxford and Rugby, Oxford,
Worcester, and Wolverhampton ; Preston and Wyre,
Richmond, Surrey ; St Helens, Scottish Central, Scot
tish Midland, Sheffield and Rotherham, Shrewsbury,
Oswestry. and Chester, Southampton and Dorchester,
South-Eastern (branches to Deal, Canterbury, Ramsgate,
and Margate), South-Eastern (Tonbridge to Tonbridge
Wells, ditto (London and Greenwich), South Wales,
Trent Valley, Uliter Extension ; Wakefield, Pontefract,
and Goole ; Waterford and Kilkenny, Waterford and
Limerick, Wear Valley, W est London, Whitby and
Pickering, W hitehaven and Furness ; Wilts, Somerset,
and Weymouth ; Yarmouth and Norwich, York and
North Midland (Bridlington branch), ditto (Harrogate
branch), York and Scarborough. These having re-
ceived the royal assent are in a position to commence
operations. Several have already done so, and others
are making preparations.
LIVERPOOL, ORMSHIRIC, AND PRESTON.—Last week a
meeting of this Company was held at Liverpool, when it
was resolved to amalgamate with the Blackburn line,
and also with the Leeds and Bradford. By this arrange-
ment the traffic from Blackburn, Clitheroe, and other
localities, will go on to the Ormskirk line.
RICHMOND.—On Friday a meeting was held at Barnes,
Rev. E. Coplestone, the rector, in the chair ; when a
Committee, consisting of the Chairman, Messrs. Cross,
Palin, Watts, and Ratcliffe, were appointed to treat with
the Directors of this line respecting the land required.
MANCHESTER, BOLTON, AND BURY.—The Committee
of Management have given notiee that it is their inten-
_ Lion to apply to. Parliament in the next session for
powers to construct a railway from their main line to
pass through Tyldesley, and to terminate by a junction
with the Liverpool and Bury Railway, near Wigan, with
such branches as may be requisite to supply the wants
of the district, and that a survey is now in progress
under the direction of the Company's engineer.
CROYDON ATMOSPHERIC LINE. —Experiments have
been tried during the past ten days on the atmospheric
line of the London and Croydon Railway, under the su-
perintendence of Mr. Samuda, the patentee, and of Mr.
C. H. Gregory, the acting engineer, for the purpose of
trying the vacuum, testing the working main valves and
air pumps ; but as yet no carriage has been taken along
the line by atmospheric action, two out of the three en-
gines only being fixed and finished. The experiments,
we understand, go far to show that the apparatus was
found to be in an efficient state, and tended materially to
set at rest the two great questions raised by the oppo-
nents of the system—namely, those of leakage and
friction. From the vacuum tables it appeared, that the
experimenters exhausted fifteen inches in seven-and-a-
half minutes on the five miles of line; the difference be-
tween the one end of the line and the other, as indicated
by the electric telegraph, being seven-eighths of an inch
of the barometer. The ultimate exhaustion amounted
to 27.4, which leaves only two-eighths between that and
the atmosphere.
OXFORD, WITNEY, AND CHELTENHAM. The di-
rectors state that, having received reports from their en-
gineers, to the effect that material alterations had been
made in this line, whereby the trunk line had been re-
duced to about thirty-six miles, and that the cost of con-
struction, including stations, &c., will be under 500,0001.,
they have therefore determined on reducing the capital
to 600,0001.
It is intended that the station in connexion with the
London and Birmingham and Shrewsbury line, is to be
carried under Birmingham by a tunnel.
NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE.—An arrangement has been
entered into between the provisional Directors and the
managing Committee of the Trent and Mersey Naviga-
tion, by which the Railway Company agrees to take a
lease in perpetuity of the Trent and Mersey Canal on
the following terms : to guarantee absolutely and with
out reservation to the proprietors 5 per cent. per annum
interest on the present value of :heir shares (450/. each)
with a further contingency in the event of both under-
takings paying jointly more than 5 per cent. profit.