The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-09-14 00:00:00

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1838.

fro be i,et.

rrHE FOURTEENTH ANNUAL EXHIBITION of
the LIVERPOOL ACADEMY of WORKS of
MODERN ARTISTS WILL OPEN on MONDAY next,
the 17th instant, in PosToFFIcE-PLAcE.
Open from Nine in the Morning until Dusk. Catalogues,
One Shilling ; Season Tickets, Five Shillings.
SAML. EGLINGTON,
Secretary to the Academy.
Exhibition Rooms, Postoffice-place, 10th Sept., 183E4

MANCHESTER AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY
SECOND HALF-YEARLY GENERAL MEETING.

qpilli HALF-YEARLYGENERAL MEETING of
It the PROPRIETORS was held on WEDNESDAY. the
sth day of September instant, at Twelve o'clock in the Fore-
noon, at the York Hotel, in Manchester.
ROBERT BARBOUR, Esq., in the Chair; when the fol-
lowing Resolutions were unanimously passed;—
On the motion of David Pryce, Esq., seconded by Samuel
Alcock, Esq.;
That the seal of the company be affixed to the register of
proprietors now produced.
On the motion of Edward Davies Davenport, Esq., se-
conded by the Rev. William Gaskell;
That the reports, wilh the accompanying; statement of ac-
counts now read,* be adopted and printed, and a copy sent to
each proprietor.
On the motion of Cooke, Esq., seconded by David
Dockray, Esq.;
That Messrs. Sharp, Westhead, Tootal, Fro3t and Swan-
wick, who this day retire by ballot from the Board of Direc-
tors, be, and they are hereby re-elected Directors of the Com-
pany. . _

On the motion of Francis Parker, Esq., seconded by Win.
Henry Wilson, Esq.;
That the thanks of the Proprietors be hereby given to the
Board of Directors fur their unifurm attention to the interests
of the Company.

ROBERT BARBOUR, Chairman.
Mr. Barb9ur having left the chair, and Edward Davies
Davenport, Esq., having been called thereto, it was unani-
mously.—That the best thanks of the meeting are due to the
Chairman for the manner in which he has cohducted the bu-
siness of the day.

E. D. DAVENPORT.

REPORT,

At a meeting of propi7lZirsin'April last, the directors,
deeming it their duty on the first occasion that offered to sub-
mit the undertaking to a searching inquiry, entered at length
into a history of the company, its objects, its then condition,
and its prospects. On this occasion their duty will be limited
to a summary of the more important facts and proceedings
which have since transpired; and they are happy to intimate
that their report, though more brief than its predecessor, will,
as they hope and believe, be quite satisfactory to the propri-
etors.

THE LINE FROM MANCHESTER TO STOCKPORT.
The directors stated in their former report that the plans
for the line from Manchester to Stockport were ia an ad-
vanced state, and were expected to be ready for the contrac-
tors in six weeks from that period. They fuiliter stated that
in the opinion of the engineer this portion of the line might
be completed in two years from the letting of the works.
The plans in question, which comprise the entire line be-
tween the two towns, excepting that part of it which passes
from Store-street to Fairfield-street, were completed by the
time named, and on the 19th May last, tenders for the execu-
tion of the works were advertised for in the usual way. The
contracts, four in number, have since been let, and the direc-
tors are happy to say, in every instance, to respectable and
responsible contractors, who have entered into engagements,
under which the line connecting Manchester to Stockport is
to be completed and prepared for the public in May, 1840.
There are two cheering circumstances to be communicated
in reference to this portion of the railway. The one is, that
by a variation of section effected without detriment to the line
in an engineering point of view, and assented to wherever
necessary under the act of the landowners interested, a saving
will he secured in the construction, of £50,090, in addition to
which the further result has been attained, that the period fur
completion of the works will be brought within a limit of time
less, as the directors are advised, by upwards of a year, than
the period necessary to execute the line according to the Par-
liamentary section.
The other circumstance to be referred to is, that the con-
tracts have been let within the estimates, and thus whilst the
cost of construction has in the first place been diminished by
the change of section, a saving has secondly been effected in
the cost at which the line has been undertaken as compared
with the cost at which its construction was estimated.

PURCHASES OF LAND AND POSSESSION BY CONTRACTORS.
The purchases of land upon the line are proceeding upon
the whole satisfactorily. The directors do not disguise that
they have had many difficulties to contend with in this depart-
ment of their duty, owing to the large demands made upon
them by certain landowners, and to claims arising out of other
circumstances, but they are happy to be able io state that
those difficulties are being rapidly overcome. It is but just
to the landed proprietors as a body to add, that in very many
instances the overtures of the company have been met in ii.
spirit of fairness and candour; and the directors take this op-
portunity of avowing their anxious wish to cultivate the best
understanding mith the landowners whom the railway may
affect, and of meeting their views to the utmost extent com-
patible with the paramount claims of the country.
The contractors have been severally put into possession of
such part of the land as was immediately needful to them,
and the works upon the line are now actively commenced.
The directors will make it their special care to anticipate
the wantc tho oontractora ,vita cc and to the possession of
the remaining land comprised in their contracts,
so that no obstruction may occur to the satisfactory prosecu-
tion and timely completion of the railway in this important
district.