1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



333 



February and March, tlurinir which period as 

 well as durins: the, month of April, there have 

 been three and ollcn fiuir entfines on the route 

 daily. There are now 70 cars ami 6 coaches on 

 the road. Two eisrht-wheeled coaches have been 

 contracted (or. One may be expected in a linv 

 davs, and the other in the course of a lew months. 

 I have also contracted lor 40 care, to be delivered 

 in the course of this year. 



The a<rents oC the company are all actinf^ un- 

 der the written regulations which were placed in 

 their hands when the road was first opened lor 

 transportation, (but which had been neglected,) 

 and not the slightest accident has occurred since 

 the 1st January. With the view to additional se- 

 curity and to guard against any delay that might 

 be caused by the machinery of" the passenger 

 train giving way, the freight is transported by a 

 separate engine following that which conveys the 

 passengers, and keeping just m sight. Tlie en- 

 gines are all provided with alarm bells, and the 

 train agent is directed to take his seat on the top 

 of the bajrgage car, where he can overlook the 

 train, and keep always in his hand, a rope at- 

 tached to the bell on the engine, and besides the 

 break which he himself can apply, the trainmen 

 are kept constantly at the breaks while the train 

 is in motion — and indeed every precaution dictat- 

 ed by experience here as well as elsewhere, has 

 been taken to guard against accident, which, 

 should it occur, t^provided the present regulations 

 are strictly enforced,) will be beyond the power 

 of human foresight to control or guard against. 

 By relerring to tiie annexed table, it will be seen 

 that the amount of the receipts during the past 

 year, is 849,371 11. For the months of .Janu- 

 ary, February and March, the receipts, are §11,- 

 479 43, and the expenditures on account of' the 

 repairs of locomotiv-es, cars, coaches, the repairs 

 of the road, and the salaries of agents and super- 

 intendents is §14,856 86— every item of which, 

 as will readily appear from what I have said, 

 must exceed by far the average expenses of the 

 road. By reference to the pay rolls Ifiled in the 

 treasurer's office, it will appear that the expendi- 

 tures in the shops for the month of March, amount 

 to very little more than one-halfof the expenses for 

 the month of January. In the latter, the amount 

 is Sl,867 41, making' a saving of §916 79. 



Supposing the fiscal year "to end on the 30lh 

 April, the accounts of the company for the ensu- 

 ing year may be staled as nearly as may be as 

 follows : 



Heceived. 



On loan from the state. §150,000 



For gross amount of transportation, 80,000 



Disbursed. 

 Paid the outstanding debts, 

 Charges on transportation including 



repairs to the road. 

 Interest on §150,000 at 5 per cent,, 

 For timber on hand, and sheds, 

 For cars and coaches, 

 For warehouse in Portsmouth, 

 For contingencies, 

 Cash on hand, 



230,000 



§115,000 



50,000 

 7,500 

 20,000 

 14.000 

 10,000 

 3,500 

 10,000 



$230,000 



It will be observed that, in the foregoing esti- 

 mates, I have anticipated an increase in the re- 

 ceipts of the road II)r the ensuing year of about 

 §30,000. "When it is considered that the receipts 

 have not fiillen off during the past, by liir the 

 most eventful year in the history of our country 

 — unparalleled in commercial distress, and the 

 prostration of every branch of industry, paralyz- 

 iuiz alike the most gigantic national enterprises, 

 and the efl'orls of the wealthiest as well as the 

 most humble individual. In retrospect of these 

 distresses which have pervaded our land from one 

 extremity to the other, and the many untoward 

 circumstances, which have tended to embarrass 

 the company, we have shown that the road has 

 prospered — may we not therefore anticipate an in- 

 crease in the receipts from the awakening ener- 

 gies of the country? 



In the discharge of the arduous and responsible 

 duties which have devolved on me during the last 

 lour months, I have been most efficiently aided 

 by Capt. Charles Dimmock, whom I would beg 

 leave to recommend as an able and efficient offi- 

 cer, every way worthy of trust and confidence. 



In conclusion, gentlemen, I have to state that 

 I now resign the office of^ "general agent and 

 superintendent of the aflairs of the company," so 

 flatteringly bestowed on me by a unanimous reso- 

 lution of your board of the 1st of January last. 



I am, gentlemen, very respectfully, your obedi- 

 ent servant, 



Walter Gwynn, Civil Engineer. 



Portsmouth, \st May, 1838. 



Report of the Annual Committee. 



The annual committee appointed at the last 

 general meeting in July, have, as far as practica- 

 ble, performed the several duties required of them, 

 by "examining into the condition of the road," 

 " inquiring into the management of the same, and 

 the manner in which the books are kept," and by 

 recommending to the directory, as far as they 

 were competent, such measures as in their opinion 

 would tend to promote the permanence and va- 

 lue of the road." 



They entered upon their duty about the middle 

 of November, by visiting and viewing the entire 

 line of the road. The first eighteen or twenty 

 miles of it commencing at Portsmouth, they found 

 to be in a decaying and disordered condition. 

 That portion of it, especially, which passes through 

 the Dismal Swamp, a few miles east of Suffolk, 

 was in a state which required immediate and ex- 

 tensive repairs. The balance of the line, includ- 

 ing excavations, embankments and bridges, was 

 in good order, with the exception of the iron on 

 the rails, the ends of which were, in many 

 places, so loose as to spring above the level of the 

 ways. 



The inquiries and examination o^ your commit- 

 tee into the general management and success of 

 the road, at the period above alluded to, were far 

 from affording a gratifying or satisfactory result. 

 The motive power was inefficient, the water sta- 

 tions at several important points, vvere deficient of 

 water, and a want of attention at these important 

 auxiliaries to the proposed and successflil man- 

 agement of a railroad, was manifest ; the trains 

 were delayed on the line, and the detention fi-om 

 this cause was such as to produce so much irregu- 



