The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-10-05 00:00:00

RAILWAY MEMORANDA.

MIDLAND COUNTIES RAILWAY.—The following is the
amount of earth-work executed, and the number of men,
horses, and locomotive engines employed on the works of the
Midland Counties Railway Company, from the 27th of Au-
gust to the 22nd of September :—Earth-work, 203,037 cubic
yards; number of men, 4373; number of horses, 438; loco-
motive engine, 1.
NORTH UNION RAILWAY —As this highly important line
of railway advances towards completion, increased interest
appears to be felt respecting it. We believe we may state
with some degree of confidence, that the line from Wigan to
Preston will be opened and travelled upon by about the-15th
of next month. A further, but not, as we believe, a very pro-
tracted lapse of time will be necessarily required before the
" North Union" can open for full and permanent service.--
Preston Chronicle.
DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA RAILWAY.—The jury- empan-
nelled for awarding compensation to parties claiming da-
mages and purchase money for the land required for a portion
of this undertaking, have given in their verdict. The follow-
ing exhibits the various sums claimed and awarded. The
names of the claimants are awarded :—A claimed £6OO, ver-
dict £2l; B £3200, verdict £130; C £6O, verdict £11; D
£4OO, verdict £104; E £1250, verdict £428; F £2OOO, ver-
dict £438; G £l3OO, verdict £550. Total claimed £6BlO,
verdict £l3B2.—Dublin Paper.
CHELTENHAM AND GREAT WESTERN UNION RAILWAY.—
Four contracts for the works on this important line, to the
extent of above sixteen miles, are announced in our columns
to-day.—We are glad to see so much energy manifested by
the Directors to secure at the !earliest possible period the
advantages which must accrue to the shareholders and the
public on the completion of the line.—Bristol Journal,
EXTORTIONATE CLAIMS OF LANDOWNERS FOR COMPEN-
SATION IN RESPECT OF PROPERTY REQUIRED BY RAILWAY
COMPANIES.—We have had the curiosity to cast up the total
amounts of claim and award in a dozen cases lately decided
upon by juries, and find, that while the sum of -the, former
falls little short of £lOO,OOO the latter scarce reaches £.20,000,
or about one fifth of the modest demands made upon the
companies ! In individual instances the disproportion is
still more striking—the sum received being to the stun sued
for as 1t07,$ or 9 ! To judge from a paragraph in one of
the Paris papers of the week, they do not "manage: these
things better in France ;" for in the case of the St. Germain
Railway, we find that claims of 161,000, 423,000, and 622.000
francs respectively, have been cut down by juries to 5000,
65,000, and 89,000. In one instance the claim was 35,000
francs—the award only 150! We find, also, from the Irish
papers, that in the course of the week the Dublin and-Drog-
heda Railway Company have carried into court seven cases
of a similar character, in which the total sum claimed was
£6BlO, while the award of the juries was £1382.. One con-
scientious gentleman asked £1250 but was obliged to content
himself with £l2B, being just a fraction more than one-tenth
of his claim.—Railway Magazine. •
GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.—We understand that the
contract for executing the line between Ruscomb and Read-
ing, which was forfeited by Mr. Ranger, to the great-obstruc-
tion of the company's plans, is now subdivided ,into four
portions, and re-let to contractors who are bound to complete
the line within seven months. Should they succeed in their
undertaking, the whole distance between London and-Read-
ing will be opened for traffic in the course of the neat sum-
mer. Between Bath and Bristol, and on the easteru side of
Bath, increased activity is manifested by the various con-
tractors. We learn that a very large body of mere-recently
discharged in consequence of the completion of the London
and Birmingham Railway, have been set to work at various
points of the Great Western railway. The principal engi-
neer is strict in enforcing penalties for the non-completion of
a certain quantity of work within the time specified, and
every thing indicates much determination and energy in the
direction Still the operations are on such a gigantic scale
and the obstructions of tunnel work so formidable, that we do
not look for the completion of the line for a very long time.
The company will, however, be in the receipt of a. large in-
come.after the Reading line is opened, as the traffic will then
be wholly transferred to the railway, and the carrying trade
of this populous town is itself considerable- We think it
probable that a large accession of passengers will also be re-
ceived from the Oxfordshire side of the county; and as
Reading is within 28 miles of the University, it- is likely
that this route will be preferred to any other.--Berkshire
Chronicle.
THE MANCHESTER AND LEEDS RAILWAY.—The great
progress which has been madelin the works on the Manches-
ter and Leeds railway, between this town and Littleborough,
a distance of about 15 miles, will be seen by the following
particulars, extracted from the report of Mr. Gooch, the
company's engineer, which was read at the half-yearly meet-
ing of shareholders on the 17th September:—The total
quantity of earthwork on this district of the line' is about
2,110,000 cubic yards, of which 1,615,000 cubic yards have
been already executed, and no less than 1,100,000 yards
during the last SiX months. Again, the total quantity of brick
work and masonry may be stated at about 50,500 cubic yards,
of which 33,000 is completed. Several of the above works
were commenced so late as the month of March last, and none
of them earlier than September, 1837.—The report proceeds
to state that, from the great progress already made, should
the weather _prove tolerably fine, there is no reascin'to doubt
the completion of this portion of the line by the month of
May, 1839.
LONDON AND SOUTHAMPTON RAILWAY.—The farther
opening of the London and Southampton Railway took place
on Monday, according to the announcement made in our last
number. Vhe line is now opened for nearly half the entire
distance; and the most active efforts are being made to com-
plete the remainder at the earliest possible date. We un-
derstand that the result of this farther opening has-more than
fulfilled the expectations of the directors, and affordslbe best
possible grounds for continued confidence in the undertaking.
The obstructions which interested parties have thrown in its
way have only served to confirm still more the calculations
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