THE ST. JAMES BENEFIT BUILDING SOCIETY. THE St. James Benefit Building Society was established in Montego Bay in July 1874. At the close of its first financial year it had registered 98 members and 285 shares, and on 31st July, 1894, 524 members and 2,461 shares. Paid-up shares in the Society at £14 48. each are allotted on the terminable principle and become matured and of their full value of £20 each at the end of seven years from date of issue. Subscription shares are payable by monthly instalments of 4s. each for 84 consecutive months. Interest is credited on each share at the close of the financial year. Both subscription and paid-up shares participate in the bonus of the financial year in which they become perfected and matured. The bonus declared on the matured shares perfected in 1893-94 was £2 15s. per share, and on 31st July, 1894, the gross surplus including reserve fund was £2,231 58. 4d. The members of the Society are now considering the alteration and extension of the rates, and the Society will now issue Subscription Shares with a monthly subscription of 2s. 6d. to run for 10 years and to value £20 when matured and perfected. Loans are effected on the mortgage of real estate and on the security of shares of the Society at 9 per cent. per annum and are conterminous with the shares. Interest on loans is payable monthly. The total amount of shares on the 31st July, 1894, was £17,553 and of loans £18,774. Office (No. 22 St. James Street, Montego Bay) open for general business daily from 10 to 4; and for receiving the monthly contributions on the evening of first and third Monday of each month from 7 to 9 p.m. In the Report for 1894 the Directors congratulate the members on the acquisition of the complete set of Rules which were recently adopted, all the amendments and additions having been certified by his honour the Attorney General. The amended rules were being printed, and a copy will be supplied to each member shortly. THE ST. ELIZABETH BENEFIT BUILDING SOCIETY. THIS Society was established in 1882. Its progress has been steady and successful. Its object is to provide for the purchase and for the erection, repair or improvement of freeholds in general and to provide improved dwellings for the working classes. The report for the year ended 31st December, 1893, shewed that the paid-up and subscription shares then amounted to £26,359 10s. 8d. and the loans to £30,354 5s. Interest on loans has been reduced from 9 per cent. to 7 per cent. and the Directors in their report for 1891 record "with satisfaction a continued steady increase in the principal items of account The Ven. Archdeacon Ramson T. S. McNeel TRUSTEES. John W. Earle A. J. Hendriks, Esqs. C. G. Farquharson, Esq., Chairman E. T. Forrest W. N. C. Farquharson A. N. Williams J. V. Calder, Esqs. THE JAMAICA RAILWAY COMPANY. THE old Jamaica Railway Company was incorporated in the year 1843, under the 7th Victoria, cap. 25, and the lines were opened for traffic on the 21st November, 1845. In a prospectus issued on 24th February, 1844, it was proposed that the capital of the Company should be £150,000 in 30,000 shares of £5 each. The projectors were Mr. William Smith, of Manchester, England, and Mr. David Smith, of Kingston, Jamaica, and they engaged the services of Mr. James Anderson, of Edinburgh, a Civil Engineer, who had resided some time in Jamaica and had been engaged in a minute survey of the locality, to furnish a map, report and estimates of the proposed undertaking. The result of Mr. Anderson's estimate was as follows:- I. Expense of a main line between Kingston and Spanish Town ... II. Expense in continuation of main line to terminus beyond III. Branch to Port Henderson of a single track Add contingencies 10 per cent. Total £95,379 0 0 18,563 0 0 14,734 0 0 8,531 0 £137,207 0 13,720 0 0 £150,927 0 0 Had these works been carried out for the sum estimated there is no doubt the line would have proved highly remunerative, but unfortunatly the estimate was greatly exceeded, and eventually the Company opened the line for traffic with only a single track to the Angels, 14 miles 5 furlongs in length, and representing a capital of £222,250. From this period until the year 1867 railway enterprise appears to have been at a standstill in Jamaica, but in that year the Railway Company obtained from the Legislature powers to extend their line from Spanish Town to the Village of Old Harbour, a distance of eleven miles. The extension was completed and opened for traffic on the 1st July, 1869, at a cost of £60,000. The revenue of the Company, which amounted to £10,722 in 1868, the year immediately preceding the opening of the extension line, did not at first increase as largely and as rapidly as was expected, but it showed a steady and gradual improvement until the year 1875 when it reached the sum of £24,200, the largest amount ever received by the Company. During the administration of Sir John Grant efforts were made in vain to induce the Government to guarantee the cost of a Railway to Porus. These efforts were renewed during Sir William Grey's tenure of office, but he too declined to do anything to encourage the enterprise, and all hopes of getting the railway further than Old Harbour were abandoned by those who had interested themselves in the matter, and who saw in railway extension the surest means of developing the resources of the country. In the year 1877 Sir Anthony Musgrave assumed the government of the island and he was not slow to perceive the immense benefits likely to accrue from a more extended system of railway communication, and a few months after his arrival in the colony he entered into negotiations with the Railway Company and eventually the then existing line, which extended from Kingston to Old Harbour, 23 miles, with a branch to Angels, 3 miles, was purchased by the Government for the sum of £93,932 including legal and other expenses. The Company had been engaged for some years prior to the sale in paying off the £60,000 raised for the Old Harbour Branch, and had succeeded in reducing that amount by £15,000 when the Government concluded the purchase. At the time, therefore, of the transfer of the line to the Government, the 1st April, 1879, the railway represented a capital of £267,250. For some years previous to its acquisition by the Government the works, stations and rolling stock of the railway had been falling into disrepair, and the train service was very irregular and unsatisfactory and was with difficulty carried on at all. It was therefore indispensable that no time should be lost in putting the line into thorough order. The permanent way was relaid and ballasted throughout-steel rails being substituted for the old iron rails. The channel of the Rio Cobre, which had for several years been neglected, and for a considerable distance had become completely filled up and obliterated, was re-opened, by which means the line across the lagoon, which had previously been frequently submerged, was freed from water excepting during excessive floods. All the gully courses across the line were also cleaned and improved-a new strait cut, a quarter of a mile long, 30 feet wide and 20 feet deep, being made for the Nightingale Grove Gully. The old wooden bridges and drains were replaced by 28 bridges, with solid concrete abutments and wingwalls and wrought iron superstructures, 6 arched bridges entirely of solid concrete, 45 solid concrete culverts, and 1,200 lineal yards of earthenware pipe drains. Solid concrete abutments and wingwalls were also built for the large iron bridge over the Rio Cobre. The terminal station at Kingston was considerably enlarged and improved and the Spanish Town station was thoroughly repaired. New stations were built at Grange Lane, Gregory Park, Hartlands, Bushy Park and Old Harbour. The Prince's Wharf and store were extended and accommodation was made available for the steamers of the Atlas Company which paid for such accommodation according to a scale agreed upon in the year 1881. The cost of these repairs and improvements was £107,260, so that the old line was purchased, reconstructed and equipped at a cost of £201,192, In the first complete year's working, after the Government took possession (1879-80), the railway earned a net profit after paying working expenses and interest of £5,621, In 1880-81, in consequence of the bad state of trade, the net revenue was but £4,382. In 1881-82 the net revenue went up to £6,960, which exceeded the highest net revenue previously earned on the line. From then the revenue of the old line continued to yield a sun that more than sufficed to provide for all expenses in connection with it, including interest and sinking fund. As soon as the old railway was taken over the Government ordered surveys and estimates to be made to extend the line from Old Harbour, through Clarendon, to Porus in Manchester, 24 miles, and from Angels, through St. Thomas in the Vale, to Ewarton in St. Catherine, 14 miles. The surveys were made by Mr. Valentine Bell, C.E., and the extensions were authorised by Law 8 of 1880. The works were begun in May, 1881, and carried on by the Public Works Department until the end of the year. On the 16th December, 1881, a contract was entered into by the Crown Agents for the olonies, on behalf of the Government of Jamaica, with Messrs. Reid and McKay for the execution of the extensions for the sum of £280,924 7s. Od. The firm took possession of the works in the month of January, 1882, and the line from Old Harbour to Porus was opened for traffic on the 2nd March, 1885, and that from Spanish Town to Ewarton on the 17th August in the same year. The following loans were raised for providing the means for meeting the expenditure for the construction and equipment of the two extensions, viz., £400,000, under Laws 8 and 17 of 1880 and £183,000 under Law 17 of 1884 (of which amount, however, £61,192 was to cover the excess of expenditure over the amount provided for the reconstruction of the old line). A further sum of £52,000 was raised under the authority of Law 14 of 1886 to meet the balance of expenditure on the extensions. This sum includes the award of £13,731 made by the Arbitrators to the Contrac tors as the result of the arbitration proceedings for extra services performed in consequence of departures from the original plans and the over valuation of the works executed by the Public Works Department before they entered on their contract. Governor Sir Henry Norman in announcing to the Legislative Council the settlement of the claim stated that although the Contractors had suffered nothing or next to nothing by flood and had had to pay nothing for extra labour they had made nothing or next to nothing by the enterprise. This showed that they had been closely supervised and that their rates were not too high. His Excellency added that he was sorry for that result because the Contractors had done their work well and had left the island with considerable credit to themselves for their just, kind and liberal treatment of the labourers under them. Law 16 of 1887 authorised the raising of a further loan of £70,000 for the following purposes mentioned in the schedule attached to the Law: 1. For surveying the proposed extension of the two existing branches of the Railway ... 2. For extending the West Street Wharf and connecting it with the Railway Line ... 3. For a Sea or Quay Wall, as the case may be ... £5,000 0 0 ... 5,000 0 0 40,000 0 0 ... 15,893 0 0 4. To meet the cost of the flood damages and awards of the Arbitrators in respect thereto 5. Unforeseen expenses ... After the passing of the law a loan of £26,000 was raised and steps were taken for the survey of the proposed extensions. On the 10th February, 1888, the Director of Public Works reported on the proposed extension from Bog Walk through Annotto Bay to Port Antonio and submitted plans, sections and estimate of the line for the inspection of the Governor. The total length of the proposed line was 54 miles and the estimated cost £723,072 8s. ôd. or an average of £13,206 per mile. On the 28th March, 1888, a report, with plans, sections and estimate of cost of the proposed extension from Porus to Montego Bay was submitted. The total length of the proposed line was 644 miles and the estimated cost £832,399 11s. 10d. or an average of £12,893 88. 4d. per mile. Pending the sanction by the Legislature of the scheme for the carrying out of these extensions by the Government a proposal was made by Mr. Frederick Wesson and some other American capitalists for the purchase of the Railway from the Government. After some negotiations it was agreed that the Railway should be sold for £800,000, of which amount £100,000 should be paid in cash and the remaining £700,000 should be secured by second mortgage bonds on the security of the Railway, to bear interest at the rate of 4 per cent. per annum or such lower rate as the profits of the line may be sufficient to meet. The purchasers are also bound by their agreement to extend the existing Railway at the rate of 12 miles within 18 months of the passing of the Law for the incorporation of the Company and at the rate of 121 miles per annum thereafter until through communication is afforded between Kingston and Port Antonio and Kingston and Montego Bay. The Company were empowered to issue bonds to the extent of £320,000 immediately on their formation, and further issues of £200,000 on the completion of each section of 25 miles of the extensions until the full amount of £1,500,000 is reached. A Law, 12 of 1889, was passed to give effect to this arrangement and on the Company paying the amount and lodging the second mortgage bonds, as required by the Law, the Railway was transferred to them on the 1st January, 1890. On that day the first meeting of the Directors of the Company was held on the Railway premises, all the Directors being present. On the 30th day of December, 1889, a first mortgage amounting to £1,500,000 and bonds to a like amount were executed, and second mortgage bonds amounting to £800,000, together with £100,000 of share capital, were issued in accordance with Law 12 of 1889. The Trustees for the first mortgage are:-Harry Hankey Dobree, Alban George Henry Gibbs, and Henry William Birch, respectively, of the City of London, England, Esquires. On the 22nd day of January, 1891, a section of 12 miles from Porus which had been constructed by the West India Improvement Company, having been examined and approved by the Director of Public Works, was iucorporated with the Jamaica Railway, and a notice to that effect published in the Jamaica Gazette of February, 12th, 1891, by order of the Governor. On the 10th day of March, 1892, a further Section of 18 miles (making 30 miles from Porus), having been examined and approved by the Director of Public Works, was incorporated with the Jamaica Railway. Two other sections consisting of 12 miles at the Montego Bay end and 9 miles from Appleton to Ipswich were completed and vested in the Railway Company, on the 15th February, 1894, and, on the 14th June, 1894, a further length of 2 miles to Cambridge, on the Montego Bay side, was approved and handed over, thus making a total length of 54 miles of new line opened for general traffic. The intermediate section of about 12 miles, between Ipswich and Cambridge has just been constructed and the Extension between Porus and Montego Bay is thus completed. In June, 1894, work was commenced on the Port Antonio Exteusion, between Bog Walk and Port Antonio and a length of about 9 miles has been built. L. F. Mackinnon, Esq., General Manager and Secretary to the Directors. THE JAMAICA STREET CAR COMPANY (LIMITED). THIS undertaking has proved one of the most successful of local enterprises and the laying down of the Tramway was one of the quickest operations that Jamaica has ever seen. When application was made to the Governor and Legislative Council for the necessary parliamentary powers for laying the line the bulk of the community believed that this would be one of those still-born projects which would not go further than the obtaining of the bill. The inception of the enterprise is due to Mr. Tracy Robinson, an American Engineer, formerly on the Panama Railway Company, and Samuel Constantine Burke, Esq. Mr. Robinson on arrival in Jamaica saw that facilities of locomotion were largely needed in the city of Kingston and the suburbs, which numbered 40,000 inhabitants, and he proposed if Mr. Burke would raise the necessary capital they should jointly operate for the purpose of establishing a Tramway. Mr. Burke having investigated the plans as to expense of laying, equipping and working the line, and the calculations as to traffic, became satisfied that a Tramway would not only be of great importance to Kingston but would prove a financial success. He therefore agreed to obtain the necessary capital and to finance the concern. Six gentlemen agreed to find the capital and the Company was started. The subscribed capital at the beginning of operations was £6,150 in 1,230 paid-up shares at £5 per share. It having become necessary to raise further capital to complete the lines debentures were issued to the amount of £4,000, bearing interest at 10 per cent. per annum, the same having been first offered to the public at 6 per cent. without success. The first four miles and 51 chains of the Tramway were completed and opened for traffic on the 13th November, 1876. In 1878 the principal line was extended to Halfway-Tree; and in the following year a line was laid down from the Kingston Parade, along East Queen Street, to Paradise Street. The cost of the extension of the two last lines amounted to £4,000, which was taken from the profit arising from the working of the former lines, making the cost of the then entire line £14,150. |