The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-09-02 00:00:00

DIRECTORS' REPORT.

The period has again tarrived;, when it is due fromthose
placed in the direction o'l' the affairs of this undertaking, to
report to the proprietary such changes in its state and cir-
cumstances as have arisen since they met that body in
February last, In performing this duty the directors feel
that they have only one course to pursue—to give an honest
and impartial exposition of facts, neither holding out expec-
tations that may prove delusive, nor representing future
prospects other than they appear; and to render a just and
true account of the expenditure of such portion of the com-
pany's funds as has passed through their hands.
In their last report the directors announced a partial open-
ing of the line, under prospects deemed by them to be very
encouraging. They are now able to lay before the share-
holders the results of the traffic upon this small part of the
railway, during a period of little more than seven months.
If those results should not prove all that could be des;red,
they will perhaps be allowed to pass for all that could be
reasonably calculated upon. From the 17th November to
the 30th of June last, the receipts for the carriage of passen-
gers and parcels only amounted to £8333 10s. 7d., and the
' expenses to £5942 25., leaving a surplus of £2391 Bs. 7d.,
from which should be deducted some outstanding claims,
the amount of which could not be ascertained. The num-
' ber of passengers conveyed during this period has been about
220,000-8509 having passed over this part of the line in one
day. Although the passengers have been thus numerous,
the directors have to congratulate the shareholders, as well
as themselves, that, in the conveyance of them, not the
slightest accident has occurred, nor has the most trifling in-
! jury been sustained by a single individual—passenger or
servant—since this portion of the railway came into opera-
tion.

The attention of the directors has been, and will continue
to be, devoted to increase the receipts, by encouraging every
species of profitable traffic ; and in furtherance of this
object they are now engaged in perfecting arrangements for
the transit of coal, from the collieries near Dukinfield, to
Manchester and other places. When these shall be com-
plete, the directors believe that a considerable revenue will
be produced from this source, while at the same time the
inhabitants of a populous manufacturing district will be in-
sured a good supply of this essential article at a reduced
price.
In order to render this railway as accessible as possible to
those towns and districts which appear likely to yield profit-
able traffic, the Directors have turned their attention to the
formation of two distinct branches ; one to connect the towns
of Ashton-under-Lyne and Stalybridge, with this under-
taking; another to form a junction with the North Midland
Railway, from Osspring to Royston, past the town of Barns-
ley. There is no doubt that the present communication with
the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne and Stalybridge is not
defects, but, by yielding
such as it ought to be, whether we. consider the convenience
of the inhabitants, or the exclusion of all competition by
coaches. The Directors are, however, persuaded that the
armost valuable adjunct to our
contemplated connection with those towns, by a short existingrail-
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