Sir Samuel Instone's delightful scheme for a service of fast
passenger motor-boats on the Thames to which we referred lately has taken shape. He sends us an attractive pamphlet addressed to the Chairman and members of the London County Council, in which he asks them to co-operate with his company. They are to put up the piers and landing stages, give facilities, and in return receive a toll. We confess that we began reading his case for the Thames as a national highway with a certain regretful feeling that, however charming it would be to have a service of smart, fast motor-boats on the river, their utility for getting business men from place to place would not be very great. But we must admit that the promoters of the company do a good deal to dispel this idea. They point out the immense inefficiency and slowness of London traffic, and the interesting fact that most of the riverside areas, such as Chelsea and, on the south side, Greenwich, Wands- worth and Lambeth, are not at all well served by railways and 'buses. It is asserted that for any journey exceeding two miles the river would be quicker than 'bus.
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