The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1854-01-14
LOCAL MATTERS.

MEETING OF THE STOCKHOLDERS OF THE
JAMES RIVER AND KANAwHA CoMpANY-- The
meeting was called to order ut O'Clock p NJ when
T. A. Myers. Esq. was appointed Chairman, and
VIM r. Muniord, Esq, acted as Secretary
The object OF the call was briefly stated to be the
consideration OF the question whether It is advisa.
Bile to offer the said Company's work to the State
at such price as may be agreed upon by the State
and the stockholders of converting the debt now
due by said Company to the State into stock of the
Company at such price as may be agreed upon by
the parties aforesaid.
President Ellis then read his report TO the meet
ing.
Geo. N. johnson offered the following resolution
which was discussed at length and then rejected !:
''Rcsolred. That the Commonwealth by hei
position to seli to the State the stock in the Com
pany held BY others than the State"
Mr.. D. P. Gooch offered the following resolution
which was discussed until nearly l2 O'Clock when
at o'clock.
Resolved, That IL in the Judgment of the Legisa-
| ture the interest of the Commonwealth would be
promoted by purchase on the part of the State the
interest OF the stockholders of the James River and
kanawha Company, and transfer of their interest
in said company to the State, we, the stockholders
Will not oppose any obstacle to said sale upon fair
and equitable terms, to be agreed upon by COM
mttee OF nine, who are to be constituted follows
That IS to saytwo t on the part ofshe city Of Rich
on the part of the corporation of Lynchburg, and
four on the part ofthe shareholders at large.
| FISHERMEN IN TRoUBLE.-.James CLAW
ter, dealer in fish of various kinds was brought
| before the Mayor yesterday to answer to the
| charge OF abusing Walter s. Chandler, a brother
| chip, and creating so much noise in the second
market as to disturb the peace and quiet of those
| persons who had occasion 10 visit that public
| place. Judging from the evidence Jim is a whole
| team in 6sh women's slang, and when once started
can pour out such volleys of abuse as sturgeon
mongers only are supposed to be possessed Of All
| the witnesses concurred in the opinion that he
| was public annoyance, and one of them-a yerv
intelligent gentleman neither engaged in the bi-
valve nor finny trade-described his usual demean.
| or, as rude, uncouth, unbecoming and ungeutle.
manly" Ifthere is any thing in appearance the
| prisoner must be sort ofsecond wild man of the
| woods, as hairy a BEAR and as i'll natured as a
| hyena. But appearances are sometimes deceptive
as In this case. tor while Jim has an unbridled
tongue, and knows but little better the meaning of
| his words than does parrot he ia as timid as a
fawn. The court thought the case suitable one
for the nterposition of the law and therefore held
the accused to bail for his good behavior in the sum
| of $l50.
! BELIsARIo.-This magnificent opera was
| performed most admirably on Wednesday night, by
the operate corps at the Theatre Il is certainly
one OF the grandest we ever listened to- and is alone
sn1hclent to have secured an enduring fame Doni-
Zeth- Madame DE VRIES improves and gains upon
| our appreciation every time see her Her SIM.
ing and acting Wednesday, worthy of all COM
| mendation We never saw TAFFANELLI appear to
such advantage As the blind Belisario, he excited
the highest admiration. ARNoLDI acquitted himself
| with his usual success and Signora SEIDENBURG
sung with better spirit and effect than on any pre-
vlous occasion The entire entertainment was wor-
thy of the highest appreciation. The Orchestra and
the great ARDIT fresh laurels for the masterIy
| style in which the Instrumentation was done
| In consequence of the triumphant reception of
BELIsARIo, Notwithstanding the inclemency of the
| weather Wednesday night,) and the many requests
that have been made of the company they have de.
termined to repeat that grand opera tonight Satur-
day night, the company WILL for the benefit of those
| who cannot go to the Theatre, perform Rossinis
''Stabat Mater" and part of 'Moses in Egypt" at
Metropolitan Hail. The entire strength of the com
pany will be, for the first tme brought out at once
The ITALIAN OPERA TROUPE will repeat
this evening, and for the last time the beautiful opera
OF 'Belisario," which was received with such warm
| and rapturous applause by the largest and most
| fashionable house of the season. on Wednesday
night last The history from which this opera is
made up is familiar to ALL and we therefore deem
it useless to do more than speak of its stage effect
which was OF the happiest character. During some
of the most interesting scenes, the audience seemed
to have been transported back to the days when the
| Roman arms, under Belsarius, conquered the East
Goths OF Italy and captured their king Madame de
Vries always very fine vocalist, even surpassed
herself on this OCCASION while others of the troupe
were not less successful in bringing down the hearty
applause Of the house. 1t il really gratifying to wit
ness the growing taste for music, and particularly
for operate performances in our city, among all
classes Its effect upon morals is most happy, while
| it will increase the desire among parents to give
their children musical educatons and see them be-
come prohcients in science which adds so largely
| to other accomplishments. As an innocent enter
| tainment good opera is surpassed by none other
nor are its portraitures OF character, scenes and
country, SO easily erased from memory as when
produced by less impressive causes. Fer this rea-
son advise all to see .'Besario' tonight that
| they may behold panorama of the past which has
never failed to excite deep interest in the mind of
the reader of history of the days of '.Besarius,"
when victors were drawn in triumphal cara and the
people fairly worshpped them
SPIKE MAcHIsE-This invention of Mr.
Joshua Cary, for the manufacture of railroad spikes
is found to work well that Mr.. Joseph r. Ander-
son. at the Iredegar Works, is having the third
put up in order to supply spikes more rapidly than
he is able to do. Mr.. Cary is resident OF
CITY, most worthy, industrious. enterprsine me-
chanc, and sincerely hope that his ingenious in
vention will prove valuable to him than Cali
fornia gold mine.
Coop DEC1sIoN-PersOns having busi.
ness at the Mayors Court, shohld bear in mind
| that His Honor takes his seat punctually at 10
o'clock in the morning, and that he is determined
in future to reopen case that may be disposed
of after that hour, account of the absence of
counsel or parties Interested He has been forced
to adopt this plan inorder to relieve his night officers
who are frequently kept there unnecessarily long
by the want OF punctuality the part of persons
who desire to hesrheir evidence. Our readers will
bear in mind this admonition, and, in future when
hey have business before the Mayor, remember
| that his Court commences at 10 o'clock. Rc...z-
CLERK OF THE HUsTNes CoURT.--For
month or two past, the Office OF Clerk of the Hus
ings Court has been filled with marked aoiiity Dy
Mr. Robert Howard in the absence OF his brother
MIR. Charles Howard who has been and Is now par
tally confined to his from serious aeenon
of the throat We notice the fact IN Jnstlce 20 the
..:...x fsin~ir ,,ho NOT only accommodating,