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■—I,At a meeting of the General Screw Steam Company held onfollowingadopted :—The contract with the Soeiete Oenerale des Clippers Fran lt;jais for the purchase and sale of eight of this company’s largest ships, referred tp by the directors in their last report, was duly executed on the 26th March last, and the sum of £25,000, the amount of deposit therein named, was paid ; the purchasers, however, having failed to fulfil their agreement, the deposit has been foreited under the conditions of the contract, and that amount has become, and now is, the absolute property of this company. Since the avoidance of that contract the board have had under their anxious consideration the question of the employment or disposal of the company’s fleet; and under all these circumstances they are of opinion that it is for the interest of the shareholders that measures should now be taken for dissolving the company, and realising their property under the provisions of the deed of settlement; and if the proprietors now present concur in such a course they propose to call two special meetings at an early day, to give effect to those views. To this important proposition the directors invite the earnest and deliberate attention of the proprietors. The accounts and balance-sheet now submitted require little comment on the part of the board. The transport service, in which the larger vessels of the company have been employed during the half-year just concluded, leaves a considerable balance to the credit of the revenue account, after writing off all debts and liabilities which stood on the books unclosed. In communicating the discontinuance of this service the directors, feel satisfaction in stating that the government authorities have upon several occasions expressed themselves in terms of approbation of tiie efficiency of the company’s fleet, and have borne frequent testimony to the energy and zeal with which their onerous duties were always discharged by their commanders and officers. The directors regret to state that the Argo met with a serious accident near the Island of Marmora, having come in collision with the French line-of-battle ship, Tourville, on the morning of the 30th May last. She, however, although with some difficulty, readied Constantinople, where she was repaired under the care of her commander, Captain Benson, and also of the company’s superintendent, Captain J. Y. Hall, whb proceeded as soon as possible after the accident to give his assistance to Captain Benson. The ship since made a voyage to Balaclava, from whence she took the last of the English army, and has recently reached Southampton. The necessary steps will be immediately taken to obtain compensation from the French government for the losses which the company suffered from this collision, and the board have no doubt their application will be entertained and dealt with in a fair and honourable spirit. The Continental Trade.-^—Although the ships i this service do not show a large balance to credit of earnings upon the working of the last half-year, they have been as productive as during the same season in 1855. The repairs, however, which were found necessary to keep them in efficient condition, have considerably reduced their available profit. The insurance Fund has been increased duringthe half-year by the sum of £4,000, and now stands at £49,775 3s Id. The Heserve Fund, which has received the addition of £20,I4i4j 7s 8d, amounts to £159,768 10s lid. To carry into absolute effect the dissolution of this company, it will be necessary that two extraordinary general meetings, with the interval of one month between each meeting, shall be held, at which two-thirds of the shareholders, both in .number and value, must be present either personally or by proxy. The first of those meetings will be called at once, and should the shareholders then agree to the resolution to dissolve the company, the second meeting to confirm that resolution will be held with the least possible delay. So soon as the proprietors thus place themselves legally in liquidation, the directors will be enabled to repay the capital of the company, as it shall from time to time become liberated, and they will commence this repayment by returning £3 per share to tne credit of capital immediately after the shareholders have empowered them to do so.
Newspaper Details
Bankers Circular
London, Middlesex, GB
Sat, Aug 16, 1856
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Jim B.
USA 19 Mar 2023
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