The Sun.
London, England, 1868-08-06 00:00:00

THE IVEIV DOCK AT BOULOGNE,

The floating dock at Boulogne has been open to
all descriptions of shipping, if towed by the steam-
tug attached to it, since the Ist inst. It had pre-
viously been entered by several vessels, cspeciilly
by the English steamer Garrison, from-Archangel,
which entered it on the 11th of July, and dis-
charged 5,474 quarters of oats in five days; and
the restriction obliging the aid of a tug will no
longer be obligatory in a few weeks' time, when
the channel leading to the lock-gates has been
deepened to its full width. It will take some
months before the accessories of the dock are com-
pletely finished, and it is possible that the public
inauguration, at which the presence of the Emperor
is fully expected, may be delayed to that extent ;
but as the dock is now virtually opened fur ship-
ping it seems the right moment to notice a great
work which will exercise a very considerable in-
fluence on the progress and prosperity of the
port of Boulogne, and which is of material import-
ance viewed in relation to the international traffic
of which Boulogne is the chief port. The floating
deck at Boulogne was co:nmenced in the year 1859,
and has thus been nine years in course of comple-
tion. The total cost has been a little under £300,000,
but would have been much more had not the whole
of the space it occupies on the west side of Bou-
logne harbour, at Capecure, been already in the
possession of the French Government, so that there
was no land to purchase ; while, as it partly occu-
pies the site of the old semicircular basin, there
was, to that extent, less excavation required. Had
the funds been granted more freely it could easily
have been finished in half the time. Such an
establishment had become of the utmost ne-
cessity in the port of Boulogne, which is
not only one of the most important of the trad-
ing ports of France, but has for many years occu-
pied the principal place is the international trade
between France and England, which, since the in-
troduction of a more liberal commercial system in
France, has acquired such vast proportions. While,
on account of the mail service, Calais divides the
passenger traffic with Boulogne, the great bulk of
the goods traffic is concentrated at. Boulogne, and a
few figures will give some idea of its extent. In
1867 the number of vessels that entered Boulogne
was 2,346, and their tonnage 384,131 tons. The
tonnage weight of imported goods was 195,302, and
the number of passengers arriving or departing by
sea 152,931. The Customs' dues were £164,986,
while at Calais they amounted only to £31,116.
In the same year the movement of passengers at
the Boulogne Railway station was 323,183, and of
goods 388,782 tons ; and the total receipts at the
railway stations were £169,524; at Dunkirk they
were £123,748 ; and at Calais £11.4,583. The
movement of bullion at Boulogne was £12,523,488,
and at Calais £708,940. These figures more or
less represent the trade occupying the lines of
steamers between London and Boulogne, and
Folkestone and Boulogne, but there are other ele-
ments of trade at Boulogne. In 1867 the imports
of coal from England were 98,818 tons. There is a
large Baltic timber trade, and there were belonging
to Boulogne 156 boats employed in the fisheri.s, of
an aggregate tonnage of 6,635 tons. Moreover,
the position of Boulogne, its facility of access, the
rise of the tide, which exceeds that at Dunkirk by
over three feet, and its frequent use as a port of
refuse in bad weather, all combine to make a float-
ing dock, easily accessible, and permitting large
vessels always to remain afloat, a matter of the
first necessity. Until now ships have had to take
the mud at low water. The basin now opened for
shipping occupies a superficies of more than
17 acres, with a quay wall frontage of 3,600 ft., and
a superficial quay space of over 240,000 square
feet for the stowage of goods. It is of irregular
shape, and about 1,300 ft. in greatest length, and
630 ft. in greatest breadth. It is excavated to a
uniform depth of ' about 30ft. below high water
spring tides, and is intended to contain a depth of
from 20ft. to 25ft. of water. It is entered directly
from the Channel between the piers of Boulogne
harbour, making ingress and egress easily at all
times, through a lock with two sets of gates, so con-
structed as to admit the largest vessels, but gene-
rally intended to act as a half-tide basin, and to
accommodate several vessels of medium tonnage at
a time. The lock, or half-tide basin, is 32ft. in
length and 68ft. in breadth, with a depth over
the rill of the gates of 29ft. at high water
spring ties, and 23ft. at high water neap tides.
It is evident, therefore, that if the harbour and
external channel were sufficiently deepened, so
as to be in harmony with the entrance to the
dock, it would be always accessible to the largest
trading vessels. But this is not the case, and the
facility of entering it is measured not by its own
depth, but by that of the channel leading to it over
the bar of Boulogne harbour. This is stated by
the most recent measurements to be about 24i ft.
at high water spring tides, and 19ft. at high water
neap tides. From these figures about 3ft. must be
deducted for the fall of the waves, the allowance
to be made for not following the exact channel
and other causes ; and, finally, the maritime autho-
rities of Boulogne declare the harbour to be easily
accessible under all circumstances to vessels draw-
ing 21ift. water at high water spring tides and
16ft. at high water neap tides. Consequently a
vessel drawing 16 feet to 16 feet 6 inches may
be sure to enter the bassin-à-fluts any day
that it may present itself at the entrance of
the port, and this measures at present the facilities
extended to commerce and the navigation of the
channel by the new dock just opened at Boulogne.
As it is, vessels of this size have to wait several days

before they can enter the harbour of Dunkirk if
they happen to present themselves before it at neap
tide, so that even at this moment the opening of
the new dock at Boulogne marks an important im-

provement in the facilities presented to navigation
by the harbours on the north coast of France. Rails
in connection with the station of the Chemin de fer
du Nord run along the margin of the bassin, enabling
vessels to discharge direct into the railway waggons
without transshipment, and it is intended before the
close of the year to provide cranes and all the most
improved appliances to facilitate the loading and
unloading of vessels.

THE ABBEY MILLS PUMPING STATION.

During the present week the vestrymen of the
various districts of the metropolis have been invited
by the Metropolitan Board of Works to inspect the
new pumping mills at Abbey Mills, on the banks
of the Thames. In order that the several boards
might have a good opportunity of seeing these
splendid works in operation, it was arranged that
on the first four days of this week a party of
the vestrymen should be asked down to the
Mills. On Monday and Tuesday the members
of the Eastern and Northern boards visited the
new works, and yesterday the representatives
of Fulham, Kensington, Paddington, Chelsea,
11IaryIebone, St. Pancras, Hampstead, and Lewis-
ham were present. Four steamers were chartered
for the purpose, and these left Westminster-bridge
at noon, calling at sonic of the intermediate piers
on their way down the-river to North Woolwich.
The trip ou the Thames was for the purpose of
enabling those who had been invited to view
the progress which has been mad) with the
Thames Embankment. At North Woolwich
the party, which numbered some 700 or
800, was conveyed bj special train to the
Mills. A full description of these works having
been given in the accmut of the formal opening
of them by Sir John Tawaites last week, it is only
nec,!.sSary to say that those who inspected the
buildings and engines yesterday, and ou the two
other days, wars greatly pleased with the admirable
manner in which they have been executed. Each
party has been entertained at luncheon. To-day
the representatives of the Soatheru districts will
visit the works, and this will complete the inspec-
tion. Influential members of the Board have been
present each day. Mr. ChamLers, M.P., and Mr.
William Newton, candidate for the Tuwer Hamlets,
were present.

All receive with satisfaction the announcement, that in
consequence of the 11,3duction in Duty, Horniman s Pure
Teas are sold Bd. per pound Cheaper. 2,500 Authorised
Agents—Confectioners in London and Chemists, &e., in
the provinces—supply Horniman's Tea only in Pclckcts.