The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-10-08 00:00:00

CHESTER AND BIRKENHEAD RAILWAY.

The half-yearly general meeting of the proprietors in the
Chester and Birkenhead Railway Company was held yester-
day, in the Clarendon-rooms, South John-street. The chair-
man of the directors, WILLIAM DIXON, Esq., presided.
There was a full attendance of proprietors.
The CHAIRMAN having opened the meeting,
Mr. MALLABY, law-clerk, read the report of the directors
for the past year,_of which the following is a copy_—

REPORT of the Directors of the Chester auilßirkenhead
Railway Company, to the General Half-yearly Meet-
ing of the Shareholders, on 7th October, 1841.

• Since the last meeting of the proprietors, many circum-
stances have arisen which render it imperative on the part
of the directors, to lay before the proprietors on the present
occasion, an ample statement of their proceedings, and more
detailed accounts of the company's transactions than have
hitherto been either practicable or expedient.
In the arrangement of the accounts, they have adopted the
30th day of June, and the 31st day of December, in each
year, as the periods to which the accounts of the company
will, in future, be made up, as being better calculated to
equalize the results of each half-year's working of the line,
than any other division of the year that could be fixed upon.
The accounts to be laid before this meeting commence
with the opening of the line on the 23d September, 1840,
and close with the 30th June, 1841, a period -of rather more
than nine months. The various items of which they consist
will be read to the meeting in detail. The following abstract
will shear the gross receipts, expenditure, and nett proceed 4
during that period.
The total amount received for the carriage of 191,402 pas.
sengers, and for the carriage of parcels and a small quantity
of merchandise, from 23d September, 1840, to 30th June,

1841, is

For casual passengers, per Monks' Ferry

£15,209 0 5

Expended during the same period
in the working of the line and
Monks' Ferry . £9,180 17 11
Interest on loans .. £2876 8 4
Deduct interest ref:eived 30 0 0 _

133 5 6

15,342 5 11

2,846 8 4
12,027 6 3

Surplus on traffic account to 30th June £3,314 19 8
As three months have elapsed since the period to which
the preceding statement refers, and as the proprietors may
be desirous of knowing the actual state of the funds of the
company at a later period, the directors have caused an ad-
ditional statement to be prepared? and laid before the meeting,
which will shew the entire receipts and expenditure of the
company, from the 30th June, to the 30th September last.
The amount received for the carriage of 111,811 passengers,
and for the carriage of parcels, &c., from the 30th of June
to the 30th September is £9oBl 6 5
• . .

The amount expended, and paid in
the same space of time is ...... 3314 19 8
The amount expended, but not yet
paid, less materials &c. on hand is 107 .15 0
3122 14 8

Leaving a surplus, on three months, of £5658 11 9
The expenditure, though great in proportion to the receipts,
does not arise from an extravagant expenditure in the work-
ing, of the line, but from a variety of causes which the direc-
tors will endeavour to explain. The following comparison
between the expense incurred in working this line and that
of other railways, which has been prepared and laid before
the directors by the company's chief engineer, Mr. John
Dixon, proves that many lines of railway.whose expenditure
in proportion to their gross receipts appear much less per
cent., is actually greater if viewed in the light of a charge
for the actual performance of work.
Mr. Dixon states that " the average rate of fare received

by the London and Birminghamßailway, as appears from

their last half-year's report, is 20. per passenger per mile.
" The Birmingham and Gloucester is stated to be 2id.
" The York and North Midland, as far as I can ascertain

from their report, about 3d:
" The Manchester, Bolton, and Bury, about 2d.
" I cannot obtain the necessary information respecting the

. Liverpool and Manchester, nor the Grand J unction, railways,
but it is a matter of public notoriety that their fares are (if a
little) not much lower than those lines before mentioned,
therefore, if instead of carrying passengers on our line during

- . . .
the last twelve months at an average rate of tare not exceeding

11d. per passenger per mile, we had obtained the same re:
muneration as the - London and Birmingham Railway, viz.,
24th per passenger per mile, our receipts (provided we had
had the same traffic that we have had) would have increased
£15,906, making our gross income £39,769, without being
obliged to incur any additional expense, as it costs nearly the
same sum to convey a passenger along a railway, whether he
pays ld., or 2.1 d. per mile."
It thus appears that one cause of the excessive expenditure,
in proportion to the receipts on the Chester and Birken-
head line, arises from the extreme lowness of the fares. Under
present circumstances nothing inure can be done to obviate

this evil than what the directors have already accomplished.
There is one heavy item of expenditure to which the Chester
and Birkenhead railway is at present liable, which no other

- .
line its England is subject to, that is the expense incurred in
carrying the passengers from Liverpool to the terminus in
Grange-lane, and from thence to Liverpool.
Besides the interest of money expended in the purchase of
Monk's Ferry, which ferry is devoted almost exclusively to
the conveyance of railway passengers, and the cost and dete-

. rioration of the boats, the enormous sum of £2BOO per annum
has been paid for wages, coal, and other expenses in working
the ferry and in the hire of omnibuses. The directors wish
to draw the attention of the proprietors to this matter, be-
cause they consider it a subject for grave consideration, whe-
ther such an incubus upon the income of the railway (borne
down us it is by low fares) should be suffered to exist.
The directors had indulged a hope that a portion of this
evil would have been obviated by the construction of a tun-
nel from the station at Grange-lane to the Monks' Ferry,
and they were induced to believe that the commissioners of
Birkenhead would readily give the company their permission
to break the surface of- one of their streets, for the purpose
of commenciog- the tunnel, the directors therefore purchased
the land necessary for this purpose, and opened a negotiation
with the commissioners of Birkenhead on the subject, never
doubting but that their proposal would be acceded to ; but, to
their surprise and regret, their propositions, which were fair
and liberal in the extreme, and calculated to have provo.i
. .

beneficial to all parties, were met on the part of the cam-
missioners, by demands of so irrelevant and extraordinary a
nature, as compelled the directors to abandon the negociation
they had commenced, and, with it, their hopes of being able
to construct a tunnel, until a time should arrive when a more
rational view of the matter would be taken by the Birken-
head commissioners, and when the funds of the company
would be in a state more equal to so great an undertaking
than they are at the present moment.
The maintenance of the railway, which hitherto has been
borne by the contractors in performance of their several con-
tracts is now about to fall upon the funds of the company.
The directors have therefore caused a survey to be made of
the whole line by their engineer, and they have also availed
themselves of the opinion and great practical experience of
George Stephenson, Esq., relative to the present state of the
line, and from the high character given of the complete order
and stability of all parts of the works, the directors hope they
will be able to contract for the maintenance of the way on
favourable terms.
It is not the intention of the directors to propose a dividend
out of the surplus on the traffic account at present. They
are aware that, should the proprietors insist upon it, the act
of incorporation gives them a right to enforce the division of
that surplus, but the directors feel assured that a careful in-
spection of the accounts will convince each proprietor of the
inexpediency of any dividend being made until the time of
next meeting, when the present surplus along with the pro-
fits which may accrue during the present half year will be
available. The directors hope that the trifling delay will be
the last sacrifice the proprietors will be called upon to make
towards the future well being of the undertaking.

The strong opinion expressed by the proprietors at the
last meeting, relative to the management of their ferry pro-
perty, together with the large capital which the company has
invested in the ferries, and the hitherto unprofitable nature
of that investment, have made them a subject of deep interest
to the directors : they have carried into effect the wishes of
the proprietors by placing the management of them in the
hands of members selected from the board of directors to the
exclusion of all parties not elected by, and therefore not re-
sponsible to, the proprietors, and having found that the rate
charged to persons contracting for ferryage by the year was
so low that it would not pay the expenditure which it
caused ; that the system of contracts opened a wide door
to fraud, and deprived the board of all check upon the
management of the funds derived from the ferries,
the directors resolved to decline entering into any further
contracts with the public, and to put up check gates, each
person passing through to pay his ferry fare, which being
only two pence ought not to be complained of. • This altera-
tion, although it has proved obnoxious to a few respectable
individuals, will not affect the great mass of the passengers ;
and it appears to the directors the only effectual mode they
could adopt that would enable them to discharge their duty
to the public, with a due regard to the interests of the pro-

prietors.
.The directors have obtained from Mr. Price a renewal of
his previous offer of the sale of his ferry right in perpetuity,
and which offer they have formally accepted. It has there-
fore become necessary to make application to parliament for
permission to make such addition to the capital of the com-
pany as will enable the company to pay Mr. Price, and dis-
charge other liabilities which press upon the establishment.
The directors have instructed the law clerk to take the usual
steps for having this matter effected, in the mode agreed
upon at the last meeting of the proprietors.
The directors have devoted a large portion of their attention
to the details of the several departments of the establishment,
with a view to the effecting a diminution in the expenditure
wherever that could be done, without prejudice to the efficient
working of the line—the savings yet made are trifling; a propo-
sal has, however, been made to the board by one of the sub-
committees for permission to place the whole responsibility of
the establishment (under the directors) upon the chiefengineer
Mr. Dixon, and to dispense with the services of a paid trea-
surer. It was urged that, by the adoption of this plan, a
more vigorous, efficient, and economical system of manage-
ment would be introduced, a considerable expense avoided,
and the evils attending a divided responsibility got rid of.
This pi-nposition was the subject of discussion at several
meetings of the board ordinary and special ; the considera-
tion of the subject was postponed till the 23d October. Since
this decision took place the resignation of the treasurer has
forced the matter again on the directors, who will give it their
serious consideration.
Since the last meeting of the proprietors, the postmaster-
general has ordered the London mail for Dublin to be for-
warded by the Crewe and Birkenhead railways to the packet
station off Birkenhead; this arrangement, though likely to
be an unprofitable one to the company, aas
Proved a boon
to those who travel between London
than it
rre andDubeloinu,ldthheajvoeubrneeeny
having been more rapidly p
done by any other route, and with much less inconvenience
to the travelle:. The directors have made it a point to ar-
range the arrivals and departures of their several trains. so
as to harmonize with the arrangements made by the Grand Junction Company on the Chester and Crewe line, and be-
lieving as they do that it is the interest ot• both companies to
act in perfect harmony with each other, they will at all times
endeavour to co-operate with the Grand Junction Company
as far as in their power.
It is with feelings of gratitude and thankfulness that the di-
rectors are enabled to inform the proprietors that, although
the passenger traffic has increased, till it has on the average
of the last three months reached to 1,240 persons per day,
no accident has occurred either to passengers, contractors,
or workmen on the line, nor has there been any injury sus-
tained by the engines or carriages from any collision, although
many of the persons employed as assistants were inexperi-
enced. hands, the arrangements in many instances imperfect,
and the rate of travelling on the line equal on the average to
any line in the kingdom.
In conclusion, the directors consider that they are justifi-
able even in the midst of the many difficulties which still ex-
ist, in congratulating the proprietors that so much has been
accomplished. and that the prospects for the future are so en-
couraging. They feel the most.perfect assurance that the ele-
ments of prosperity exist abundantly in this undertaking,
and that firmness and zeal in the management, coupled
with
the support and confidence of the proprietors, will ere long
enable them to surmount all difficulties, and bring the affairs
of the company to a prosperous issue.
• WILLIAM DIXON.
Mr. MALLABY then said he was prepared to make a com-
munication at the request of the directors, which was that
negociations had to a certain extent been resumed upon the
subject of the ferries ; but they took place at so late a hour
yesterday, that they could not properly be incorporated in the
report just read. They were, however, still under the cots-
sideration of the directors. (Rear, hear.)

The accounts were then read by Mr. Mallaby. The first
was the general statement of the receipts and disbursements
of the company up to the 31st August ' • another was a state-
ment of accounts from the 23d September, 1840, to the 30th
June, 1841 ; and the third a statement of accounts from the
30th June to the 30th September inclusive, the leading fea-
tures of which arc detailed in the directors' report.
• Mr. JAMES MULLENEUX said he rose to express his
satisfaction at the report just read, and his entire approval of
all the measures addopted by the directors; as far as that re-
port had put the proprietorsin possession of them, carrying
out, as he conceived they had, the views and intentions of the
last special meeting. He begged to congratulate the chair-
man and the meeting upon the improved prospects now held
out, that, by attention, the Chester and Birkenhead Railway
would yield something like a fair remuneration for the capi-
tal invested in it ; but to obtain that object would require no
ordinary degree of judgment and decision in their future
operations, and he trusted that that meeting, and the pro-
prietors generally, would accede to them their decided sup-
port. It appeared to him that upon the two points alluded
to in that report would depend the prosperity of the concern
—he meant the management of terries, and the abandonment
of the system of conveying passengers from the ferry to
Grange-lane. With regard to the ferries he was aware that
much unpleasant feeling was created in the minds of many
interested parties; but he did not hesitate to say, even though
it might draw upon him a part of the odium which attached to
this measure, that he trusted the directors would not allow
any consideration of abuse or cajolery to cause them to de-
viate from the equitable principle they had adopted of
making every individual pay the same for his passage across
the water. This appeared to him only just and equitable;
to those who objected and found fault with it, he would say
" we have purchased a property, and the change we are about
to make is to give us a reasonable remuneration for the capi-
tal we have expended." (Hear, hear.) What right had the
proprietors of land or houses in Birkenhead to call up.oi the
company to make a sacrifice for the sake of promoting their
interest ? (Hear.) He thought it quite unreasonable. If
the company must consent to it as a boon to one part of the
community, let them not give it to the opulent owners of
land or magnificent mansions, but to the squalid inhabitants
of courts and cellars. Let them have a passpge across the
river at least upon equal terms with the rich. Besides, it
appeared from the statements made, that there were between
9,000 and 10,000 inhabitants at Birkenhead and Woodside,
whilst there were only 800 who contracted. So, these 800
were to be on a very different footing to those who could
not, he supposed, afford to pay a large account at once!
Therefore they gave an advantage to the rich which the poor
were deprived of. With these observations he begged to
move the adoption of the report, and the statement of ac-
counts.

r. GERARD seconded the motion.
Mr. H UDSON complained that the average charge per mile
for carrying passengers on the York and North Midland line,
stated in the report, ou the authority of the engineer, at
3d. was fallacious.

Mr. DIXON, the engineer, explained the mode by which
he had arrived at that result ; and a long. conversation of no
interest ensued upon the subject. A motion was made by
Mr. HUDSON, and seconded by Mr. JONES, that the passage
be expunged altogether, but on a division it was lost. The
report was then confirmed, and ordered to be printed.
A resolution was next passed, on the motion of Mr.
HUDSON, seconded by Mr. JONES, requesting the directors
hereafter to have the report and a 'statement of the accounts
printed and ready for delivery at the offices of the company
one day before the general meeting.
Another resolution was passed, on the motion of Mr.
HEALING, seconded by Mr. LAW, to the effect that when
directors were to be appointed a list of those shareholders,
who were eligible for the office, should accompany the circu-
lar convening the meeting.
Mr. MALLS BY, in answer to a question from Mr. MAR-
TINDALE, said there had been a report prepared by the
Woodside Ferry directors, to the board of directors, but it
was not now in the room ; but, if it were the wish of the
meeting, it could be printed along with the report. The ac-
counts, however, were in his hands, and they could, of course,
be read.—He then read the accounts for the year ending the
sth of August, from which it appeared there was a balance of
profit, in the year, of .0,539 19s. Id.
Sir J. WALMSLEY said this statement should not ha al-
lowed to-go before the public without some observation. The
statement spewed so much profit, whilst there was a considera-
ble loss by the working of the ferry. In that account there was
no notice taken of the interest upon £25,000 the purchase
money, nor was there any account taken of the depreciation
of stock, which had bten very considerable, for when taken
it was valued at £26,000, and, according to a valuation made
yesterday, it was worthy only £12,000. These and several
other items would reduce the £2,500 profit to £m. This
he considered was sufficient to justify the directors in no
longer contracting to ferry passengers over the water.
Mr. SOWERBY said he had a few questions to ask the di-
rectors concerning this Woodside Ferry. The first was, when
were the directors of the Chester and Birkenhead ailway
Company authorized to purchase the lease of the ferry ?
Mr. MALLABY read a resolution of the directors on this
subject, which was moved by the Rev. Mr. Folliott, and se-
conded by Mr. James Marshall, and the proprietors were in-
formed of it on. the 10th of April, 1839.
Mr. LAWRENCE said Mr. Sandars spoke strongly in fa-
vour of the proposition at the time, and he himself opposed it
as strongly.
Mr. So wER111( enquired what amount the directors had in-
vested in the concern?

Mr. MALLABY said £24,850. The arrangement was that
one railway share of £5O should be given for two £25 shares
in the ferry company, which were to be taken at par. There
were 1,000 shares in the ferry company, all of which were
taken except six, and the 994 came to £24,850.
Mr. SOWERBY asked whether the Woodside company
were not in debt very largely at the time of that transaction ?
Mr. MALLABY replied that they were, but he did not
know the amount.

Mr. SOWERBY said the concern was insolvent, and he
asked•the treasurer (Mr. James) if he knew how much they
owed?

Mr. JAMES was understood to reply in the negative.
Mr. MALLABY said the purchase of the ferry by this com-
pany was made exactly as it stood, giving the proprietors
the amount of their shares at par, which was £25. What-
ever debts the ferry company had, of course the railway
company purchased them.
Mr. SOWERBY had always thought as much.
Mr. MAy said the statement of debts ought to have been

furnished to the proprietors at the time of purchase
Mr: LAWRENCE said it was most desirable the proprie-
tors should know the amount of debt, otherwise they could
not tell what they had actually paid for-the concern.
Mr. M AY said that at a meeting subsequent to that which
confirmed the purchase of this property, Mr. Maffei)), eulo-
gised.it. To eulogise it, and be instrumental in the pur-
chase, without having a statement of all the liabilities of the
concern, was most extraordinary and strange.
Mr. MALLABY called upon the meeting to hear him.
Every proprietor at all conversant with the proceedings of
that day, would know he had abstained from every thing
that was not legitimately his duty as clerk.
Mr. MAY said he alluded to an occasion subsequent to the
purchase, when Mr. Mallaby was better acquainted with all
the circumstances. Mr. May then quoted a passage from a
speech of Mr. Mallaby, in which he spoke of the purchase of
this ferry being likely to yield a handsome per centage of
profit.
Mr. MALLABY said if that were language of his, he main-
tained it was correct, as he understood the matter ; and lie
maintained, at this hour, that the purchase was likely to be
most beneficial to the railway. That was what he said then,
and now repeated.
Sir J. WALMSLEY said that, in consequence of the recent
proceedings of the directors in doing away with the contracts,
or of something else which he knew not, the directors last
night, at four o'clock, received an oiler from a gentleman
now present, who informed the directors that he was prepared
to carry it out, by himself and others, to purchase the Wood-
side Ferry—to give to the company the whole amount of their
purchase money of the ferry £25,000,.4:6090 for their boats,
which would make £31,000, and £42,000 the whole amount to
Mr. Price for the fee simple of the ferry. paying back to the
proprietors of the railway the whole amount they had ex-
pended, including the sum to be paid to Mr. Price, and giv-
ing them the Monks' Ferry right in perpetuity, to carry rail-
way passengers only to and from Liverpool. Going a step
further, they said that, if necessary, they would carry the
whole of the railway passengers across the river at a rate to
be agreed upon, which rate he (Sir J. Wahusley) believed
would be a very moderate one, and make the condition of
the purchase dependent entirely upon their power to make
the tunnel, which was requisite to make the railway perfect,
and complete it to the water's edge. This offer was not now
in a' very formal state ; but Mr. Jackson, one of the directors,
had made it to the directors, and it would be for consideration
of the direetors,and then of t he proprietors,whether they would
sanction such a sale of their property. Some of the directors
objected to the sale on this ground, and he did so too, that
they would riot obtain the right of perpetuity of carrying all
passengers, whether railway or otherwise, by Monk's Ferry.
This, then, was the present bone of contention. If the
proprietors thought fit to accept the offer, and to sanction
the sale, it would give them full and entire means either of
carrying railway passengers themselves, or to have them
carried at a low price, and it would ensure to them a tunnel,
and a proper terminus to the railway. These considerations
would obviate some of the difficulties raised by Mr. Sowerby,
inasmuch as it would show there were other objects and views
in purchasing these ferries than at the moment met the eye
of those unacquainted with the details. If this offer was
carried out fully, then the proprietors would have all they
could desire.
Mr. JAcKsost took the credit, if any there was, and also
the blame, if any there was, for having been the originator
and the suggestor to his co-directors of the propriety of pun.'
chasing first of all the lease of Woodside ferry, and secondly,
the fee simple from Mr. Price. The first time the measure
was brought before the proprietors, he stated, very fully, the
necessity of having in their own hands full power and con-
trol over a ferry, otherwise they would he just as subject to
the caprice of a body of owners as the inhabitants of Birken-
head had, withinthe last three weeks, been subject to theirs.
He had proved, and he was borne out by the facts, that the
cost of transporting their passengers and merchandize from
Liverpool to the railway arid back, taking them at 1100 a
day, would be as much as the receipts of the ferry ; and lie
stated that unless they could get a better communication, the
ailway was not complete. To attain that object was his desire.
The directors entertained these views; they purchased the
lease of Woodside Ferry Company, and afterwards agreed
with Mr. Price for the fee simple, without which Monk's
Ferry could not be used, as the whole right of ferry between
Birkenhead and Woodside was vested in Mr. Price. He
felt proud in having accomplished all that the railway
required. A great deal of suspicion had been cast upon him
because he was interested in property at Birkenhead; but
he hoped and trusted that time would shew he had done his
duty to the proprietors in this company. (Hear, hear.) He
was prepared to offer, and would stand to the offer even if
deserted by those who had undertaken to assist him, to put
the company in the same position as if they had never bought
the ferry, with one exception, that they should have besides
the consent of the commissioners of Birkenhead to give them
the tunnel, and for ever have. the right of carrying passengers
of their own as they liked and when they likd. (Hear,
hear.) This, if they accepted it, would prevent the necessity
of their going to parliament ; and the money they would re-
ceive would enable them to discharge all their debts and
make the tunnel. He would ask them whether it was not
better to limit their capital, whether they were railway pro-
prietors or ferry proprietors ? His meaning was, that
Monks' Ferry should be used for the express purposes of
the railway, but not as a competing ferry with Woodside for
passengers. This offer he was prepared to carry out.
A long conversation followed upon the several points in.
vulved iu this offer, at the end of which Mr. HUDSON
moved, and Mr. H A.RDMAN seconded, a resolution to the
effect that the directors be authorised to treat with Mr.
Jackson and others for the sale of the Woodside Ferry, sub-
ject to the confirmation of their proceedings by a special
general meeting of the proprietors.
A. vote of thanks to the chairman and directors WAS then
passed, on the motion of 111 r. HUDSON, and the meeting
separated.

It is said that the Bishop of London intends to bring in a
bill in the ensuing session to prevent any further interments
in the city of London.

A noN VIVANT.—AN APPROPRIATE MONUMENT.—A
old
's death, while more melancholy, was equally re
ul
arkable with that of Anacreon himself, having been killer
by the explosion of a private still, whither he had gone IA
friend
purchase some kegs of " mountain dew." lie was at hi
own request interred by the side of the public road, and ove
his grave were piled, in a lofty pyramid, the Countless bottle,
which had been emptied at his hospitable board—a fittini
monument to raise above his generous and thirsty clay !-
Nimrod.