15 AUGUST 1874, Page 3

Tourists will not have pleasant Channel passages this autumn. Captain

Dicey's double-hulled steamer, with its splendid expanses of deck, has been launched, and will soon make its trial-trip, but it can scarcely be at work till November ; and Mr. Bessemer's steamer, with the saloon slung like a hammock, is still upon the stocks. It is announced that she will be ready before the end of autumn, but promises about time break down more often than any other. Have the Railways given any pledge that they will allow through tickets for passengers who intend to use these steamers, or do the projectors trust entirely to the horror of sea-sickness? To judge from experience, the Railway Com- panies will throw every possible obstacle of time, regulations, and competitive charges in the way of the success of steamers belong- ing to anybody but themselves. Sea-sickness costs Directors nothing.