The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-29 00:00:00

blishment could furnish such minute and correct
details, as the enormous amount of information is
obtained by the employment of each letter-carrier in
his own district, after the completion of his official
duties. The work does great credit to Mr. Kelly,
and we have no doubt that the excellent manner in
which it is prepared, and the information which it
conveys, will ensure for it universal approbation and
complete success.

FRENCH RAILWAY NEWS.
(From the Railway Express.)
PARIS, TUESDAY, DEC. 23.—The great event of the
week has been the adjudication of the Lyons and St.
Quentin Railways. In both cases circumstances arose
to give unusual interest to the proceedings. As there
was only one company for the Lyons line, the engineers
having withdrawn, it was considered a certainty that the
fused company must obtain it ; and in consequence, the
prices of promises rose in the market, and the definitive
shares went up from 60 francs premium to 80 francs
premium. For the St. Quentin line, it was believed, that
tour companies, independently of the Northern, would
send in tenders, and the most formidable opponent to the
latter was considered to be the Company Cordier, for-
merly known by the name of the Company Kysaeus.
All the four companies, however, were considered so
weak when compared with Rothschild's, that their pro-
mises were all at a discount ; and it was looked on as a
certainty, that if any other company but the Northern
obtained the line, the shares of such successful
company would go considerably below par, as
was seen in the case of the Fampoux line.
Hence the subscribers of the several companies, strange
as it may seem, were all most anxious for the success of
the Rothschild Company, the day before the adjudica-
tion; when the caution money of 3,000,000 francs was
to be paid in by each, it was rumoured about, that the
Cordier Company was unable to sends its quota. This,
on inquiry, was discovered to be true, and the cause was
said to be the refusal of the English Committee to pay
its portion of the funds This, again, was found to be
the fact, for the representative of the English subscribers,
who had brought over the necessary funds to Paris, re-
fused absolutely to sacrifice the interests of his consti-
tuents to the ruinously low raise which the French Com-
mittee were inclined to propose. He declared that if
the figure, which he named, and which was such as
would not endanger the interests of the Company, was
adopted by the French Committee, he would at once hand
forth the English subscription. This being refused, he
on his part held back the money, and the Company
could not send in a tender.
Various rumours were afloat that an understanding
had been come to between Rothschild and the others;
but though such a course was more than once attempted,
it was found impossible tcraccomplish it, from the heavy
penalties imposed by the French code on any attempts
to impede the course of fair competition, once that the
various lists had been deposited with the Minister of
Public Works. The Directdrs could, it is true, have
made a bargain for themiAves, but as this could be
affected only by throwing the subscribers overboard, it
is not wonderful that they avoided so disgraceful a
course of proceeding.
At last the day arrived (Saturday) in which
the decision was to take place. The crowd in
the court-yard of the hotel of the Minister of Public
Works was immense ' • and when, at last, the doors
were opened, the crush was tremendous. After a quar-
ter of an hour's battling, the public got wedged into
their places in the adjudication-room, and M. Dumon,
the Minister of Public Works, opened the proceedings
by reading the law of July 15, 1845, authorising the ad-
judication of the Lyons line for 45 years at most, and of
the St. Quentin for 75 yers at most; each Company,
in the former case, to depc4t 16,000,000 francs as cer-
tain money; and on the latter 3,000,000 francs. He next
placed on the table two sealed packets, containing the
maximum of lease, which, in accordance to the law, he had
himself fixed, and beyond which no tender could be
valid. The offer of the fused Company for Lyons was
then opened, and it appeared that they consented to a
diminution of two years and six months, leaving the
length of the lease at 42 years and six months. The
Minister then broke the seal of one of the packets which
he had laid on the table, and read from the paper en-
closed in it that he had fixed the lease at 41 years and
90 days. " Consequently," observed M. Dumon, " the
tender just presented, being higher than that determined
on by the Government, could not be accepted, and the
adjudication was accordingly adjourned." This most
logical deduction of the honourable Minister's, fell most
unpleasantly on the ears of the parties most deeply con-
cerned. I scarcely ever beheld longer faces, for this
denouement was never for a moment contemplated by a
single person present. The agitation was for a few
minutes extreme ; but when at last it had subsided, the
adjudication of the other line was proceeded to. The
maximum of the lease alloWed by the Chambers was 75
years, and the offers made were these :-
1. The Company Colbert offered to
take the line for 36 years 350 days
2. The Company Ardoin Arnoux,
and Meares des Poste: 49 yrs 2 mths 15 dys
3. The Company Carrettret Min-

guet 4B years 285 days
4. The Company Rothschild 24 years 335 days
A loud burst of laughter greeted this latter announce
merit, which the Minister immediately declared to be
accepted, being lower than the term which he had named
in his sealed packet. A rush to the Bourse immediately
ensued, although the incidents of the day were not yet
at an end ; for M. C. Laffitte immediately rose and pro-
posed, in the name of the fused Company, of which h•
was a member, to take the Lyons line for a term of years
fixed by the Hon. Minister. M. Dumon replied that he
could not return a decided answer at that moment. The
crowd then slowly withdrew, many hundred persons
being still in the court-yaid for an hour after.
The scene at the Bourse, we are informed, was most
extraordinary: when the first messenger arrived from the
Minister's hotel, whether intentionally or not cannot be
said, though the former is to be presumed, the person
who first ran up the steps cried out that Carrette and
Minguet had got the St. Quentin line. A tremendous
shout at once burst forth, as if the defeat of Rothschild
was a universal benefit. The commotion was so great,
that the agens de change were obliged to desist from
business for a minute or two. When they resumed,
the Northern went down in about five minutes
from 740 francs to 700 francs I Just before
the bell rang the true state of the case became known,
and they then rallied to 715 francs. Yesterday they
opened at 740 francs, were done at 745, and closed at
737 francs 80 cents. It 4,,probable that after so great a
rise they will decline for' some days, from sales being
effected to realise profits.
The offer of the Great Fused Company for the Lyons
line has been since accepted by the Minister of Public
Works. Having declared the length of the lease which
he thought the line ought to be taken at, he could not
well do otherwise.
Since my last, the market has been firm, and the
prices of both French funds and railway shares have
advanced.
The Orleans to Bordeaux line is not now expected to
be opened to Tours at the beginning of the year, as was
expected. That event will not take place for a couple
of months later. The works on the Northern line are
not either altogether as far advanced as has been stated
in some of the public prints.