The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-27 00:00:00

THE THAMES STEAM-PACKET

COMPANIES.

(From the Steam Shipping Chronicle.)
To the tens of thousands of persons who, from
day to day, watch the busy steamvessels which
ply up and down the Thames, it may be a matter of
surprise to know that scarcely a quarter of a cen-
tury ago there was no means of communication
whatever, as far as river navigation is concerned,

between the City and any of the numerous towns
and villages which line the banks of the Thames.
The General Steam Navigation Company (the only
company that has stood firm against the inluences
which have plunged so many of its compeers into
ruin) was then in its infancy, and Ramsgate was
then, we believe, the town nearest to London to

which its vessels plied. The science of steam wasliterally in its infancy; the cost of building a steam-
vssel, and of manufacturing its engines, was extra-
vagantly high ; coals were dear ; engines liable to,
constant " tweaks down ;" and a rate of speed of
five or six miles an hour against the tide was deemed

a triumph. Passengers, of course, were comparatively
few, and even the few who wished to travel wero
deterred from carrying their wishes into effect by the
high rates charged for conveyance. At that time the
fare to Margate—which is at present 4s. 6d., and
has been considerably lower—was 15s. ; and at a
later period the fares to Woolwich were 9d. and ls.,
and those to GI ayes( nd 2s 6d. and 3s. As the

'demand for travelling increased, various joint-
stock companies were formed for the purpose of
meeting the requirements of the public; and al-
though many of these companies for years paid
good dividends, their property ultimately became
depreciated, and they ceased to exist. Amor gst
these may be enumerated the Commercial Steam-
packet Company, started chiefly by licensed vic-
tuallers as a rival to the General Steam Navigation

Company ; the Margate Steam-packet Company;
the Herne Bay and Margate Company, the Star
and the Diamond Gravesend Steam-packet Com-

panics, the Old and New Greenwich Steam-packet
Companies, not to mention a host of private steam
speculators, the most noteworthy of whom was Mr.
Napier, of Millwall, whose boats, the Eclipse, Isle
of Thanet, and Fawn, ran for some years between

Dover and London.
It may be interesting to trace the causes Which
led to the decay of these companies, and to the con-
sequent sacrifice of interests involving hundreds of
thousands of pounds. Reckless mismanagement no
doubt existed in some cases, but the two dominant
evils were the employment of vessels of a larger
size than was necessary for the trade, and the too
exact deference paid to the wishes of a few inha-
bitants of remote localities by running boats
for their convenience during the winter season.
he former of these causes entailed permanently a

Larger cost for coals, crew, &c., than was necessary,
whilst it also added a larger sum to the capital
upon which a dividend had to be paid. Tempted
by the fact that on some specially fine days in the
height of the season the boats were crowded by
passengers, the directors provided vessels not to
meet the general average of the season, but those
exceptional cases which only occurred once or twice
in the course of the year. The result was that the
first cost of the vessel was at least fifty per cent.
more than it ought to have been, and the working
expenses of the engines afterwards were quite as
much in excess. A larger crew had also to be en-
gaged, which was another important addition to
the expenses. If we take the item of coals alone,
we shall see how great is the saving effected by the
use of boats of smaller power and tonnage. The
consumption of coals in one of the Diamond funnel
steam packets, p ying between Gravesend and Hun-
gerford, and making one passage to and from Lon-
don daily, is less than 3 tons, say 21 tons, whilst
the boats of the Star or Diamond Packets consumed
at least five tons, and some of the larger boats six,
and even seven tons. The passage by both steamers
occupied about the same length of time, and on
every six days out of seven the smaller boats
were quite adequate to the number of persons de-
sirous of travelling. Estimating the cost of coal
at 18s. a ton (a price which it sometimes reaches),
here is a saving of at least 24 tons rer diem, or
£2 ss. per diem, or of little less than £BOO per an-
num, if the vessels should run, as used to be the
case, throughout the year. The first cost of one of
the vessels now plying to Gravesend is about £3,500,
whilst the cost of one of the boats of the old school
ranged between £5,500 and £B,OOO, so that the
itiviur,° in the first cost of construction averaged at
least, £3,000. Estimating the interest and depreci-
.
:gum at 15 per cent. per annum on this sum, we
have a saving of £450 per annum, which, added to
the £BOO already referred to for coals, and an addi-
tional £l5O for crew, &c., shows a total of £1,400
per annum on the cost of working a single boat.
Against this has to be set the extra earnings of the
larger boats on a few fine Sundays and holidays,
which certainly would not realise more than £4OO
or £5OO per annum.
Still more important as a cause of ruin to the older
companies was the practice of running boats during
the winter season, when casualties were numerous
and passengers were few. The total earnings of
one of these boats during the winter season would
not cover the cost of the coals burnt on the pas-
sage, leaving the company heavy losers by every
trip their vessels made. The winters, in fact, were
to them what Pharaoh's lean kine were to his fat
ones—they devoured the whole of the profits rained
during summer days. So well is this now under-
stood that it is a principle with the executive of
steamboat companies never to retain a boat upon a
station a single week after the traffic has ceased to
cover the working expenses; and towards the end
of the season a single shower of rain, or a cold day
with an easterly wind, is sufficient to "shut up" a
Let, and to send it to winter quarters, where, if it
earas no money, it at least wastes none.
We must not suppose that the managers of the
older companies were altogether ignorant of this
fact, or of some at least of its baneful consequences;
hut in their time there Were no railroads, and to
withdraw the boats altogether in the winter season
was to throw back the inhabitants of the districts to
the primitive mode of travelling by coach—an .evil
of a very serious character. Every attempt of this
kind was followed by the threat on the part of the
inhabitants of starting a rival company—a threat
which would in many eases have been realised ,'is
the public were then anxious to invest their money
in steam-boat shares. The directors, moreover,
were in many cases connected with the towns. to
which their vessels ran, and did not like, by a per-
emptory mandate, to shut off the inhabitants from
all communication with the metropolis.
These causes were undoubtedly the principal in-
gredients in the ruin of the older steam-packet com-
panies ; but there were others which, though of
subordinate importance, are not to be overlooked.
One of these was the extravagant charge made for
pier dues on land
and so long ascompetinging
companies embarking;
the
proprietors of the landing piers dictated their own
existed,pssaen
terms to the companies, because if one company re-
fused to accede to their demands, the other was
always ready to step in and occupy the vacant
lace. In the balance-sheet of a company the item
I) • •
of pier dues formed a conspicuouS element, and
usu illy ran up to one or two thousand pounds.
w ;11;
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monopoly of the trade, and the ruinously low fares
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which were charged when there was an opposition.
The former operated as a prohibitory tax upon vo-
luetary travelling, the latter brought in heavy re-
turns but with still heaviers expenses. The golden
'mean of the lowest fares consistent with profit was
never adopted ; and directors who charged pounds
when their reign was omnipotent, descended to
pence when it was disputed. We have already seen
that the fare to Margate was at one time 155., but
not many years afterwards, during a strong opposi-
tion, the charge to Ramsgate fell as low as ls., and
it is said that some years before this, when there
was a vigorous opposition to Sheerness, the steam-
boats not only carried passengers for nothing, but
gave them a good dinner to boot! This may be a
mere hyperbole, but it expresses the reckless folly
which distinguishes public companies during periods
of opposition.
Nor in considering the causes of the downfall of
steam packet companies must the competition re-
eently established by railways be forgotten. The
Margate boatshave now to contend with the South-
Eastern Railway on the one hand, and the 'lhames
Haven line on the other. Gravesend possesses two
railroads and Woolwich two ; and the superior
speed and regularity of locomotive travelling
render the railroad too potent a• rival to the " silent
higliwsy." This fact renders it still more necessary
for the river steam packets to confine-their trips to'
fine weather, when pleasuresseekers predominate
over these who travel for business purposes only.
Esreri,mee h «supplied the directors of existing
eomp cares with the wane of economising their res
sources to a great extent. Formerly all their en-
gineeering and shipwright work, whether of con
.st rue! ion or repair, was done by shipbuilders and
engineers. As far as building was concerned, the
expense was the subject of contract ; but as re-
The companies finding this a serious
ttfeat.l,2l,lril,irtLyaie ce s, nspecific agreement could besen-
it•in in their accounts, resolved to establish fac-
tories for themselves, with the view of executing
the mepairs.of their own machinery. From repairs
they proceeded to the manufacture of engines, and
now' the majority of the companies execute their
entire work, both of construction and repair. The
General Steam Navigation Company has an exten-
sive factory at Deptford, where their boats are
buiit and the engines made; the Waterman and
Woolwich Steam-packet Companies have factories
at Woolwich, where they employ a large number
of shipwrights and engineers; and the Citizen