New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-09-08
THE CHANNEL PASSAGE.


suFRMAN's CUSTOMS OFFICERS AND TIE CIVIL
FRENCH INSPECTORS
cvaor THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF rHE TRIBUNE !
DuPpF Aug 19.-We had done the sixty
miles from Newhaven to Dieppe in four hours and
half or nj the rate of thirteen knots an hour.
White star steamship averages more than that all
the way across the Atlantic in all weathers. fogs in
cludcd The speed is not remarkable but it is fair,
and his is a route on which one is thankful for
small mercies | remember when the average pas
sage was SIX hours and sometimes seven, plus the
chance Of arriving late for the tide, aud lying six
or seven hours more off the bay i'll 4 heavy swell
When the London and Brighton directors composed
their poetcal advertisement about the shortest
route from London to Paris. they forgot TO mention
that a fourth of the journey and more must be done
by sea or rather by Channel. The sixty miles
of stormy brine the true reason why this eau
never be quick route. or generally popu-
lar route or a route to be recommended to
people whe really suffer from seasckness. Ii
is one OF the worst parts of the Channel,
and the large and powerful steamers are the merest
eggShel.S in 4 gale of wind. After crossing Mr..
GladStone silver streak at point and in every
sort of weather. some hundreds of times in all.
have known nothing Orse than two out Of the half
dozen passages | remember from Newhaven TO
Deppc Ihave known ladies SO i'll during those SIX aw-
full hours that they had be carried from the deck of
cover for week more afterward. Such cases are
rare but they do occur. and people with delicate
stomachs and sensitive nervous systems must take
them account. Nor will any previous experience
ON the Atlantic elsewhere on big ships season the
sufferer, give him notion of what he has to
endure. am not recounting my own mIscries, for
I am not often ILL., and have no dread of the sea.
and, as said the other day, too much is sometimes
made of the horrors of the Channel But the rea-
son for saying too much is made is this, that the
passage is often a good one.
Ii is the notion that the Channel is always stormy
which absurd. If you are lucky you may cross
twenty times without running out of zapnyrs and
sunshine. and | am certain have made fifty pass
ages between Dover and Calais or Folkestone and
Boulogne when the sea was as smooth as a waXed
lor 1t Is none the less true that when il is bad it
is very bad and that not one of the companies con-
cerned take decent care Of their passengers Two
hundred and three hundred-I have heard Of four
hundred-people packed on board steamers
which even in ordinary weather cannot carry one
hundred comfortably. Not quarter of them can
find shelter in the cabins. They must stay on an
open deck; and steamer thus loaded is sent out Of
port when a gale is blowing and heavy run
hing and when every officer knows that her decks
will be swept aglil and again by the waves. The
misery of a Cunard storage can hardly be
greater. Summer and winter tie same thing
Is DONE year in and year out and
beyond grumble now and then a newspaper
you don, much about il. unless You chance to
meet somebody who is an invalid III consequence Of
the drenching. MIR. Tilden-;hough | don't mean
that that hearty young man is an iuyalid-or Mr.
Bgelow. who was with him on his last journey, Will
tell you, If YOU ask them, what their experience was
The ship packed with human live stock 10 private
tabin prOOurable possibly because somebody else
had br5sd the steward. the decks flooded, Mr. Til
lien sitting mp to his knees III water. dimly vlslby
10 the minds eve through continuing showers OF
spray. and aiterward travelling up to London
wet through, like his fcilow.voyagers, and
In the doctors hands for week after
II would be perfectly possible AVOID. at least the
DVeTcrowdlug, Two steamers could be dispatched
Instead Of one. There is ample notice. or time for
notice. Ii known, or might be known, at Dover
or Folkestcue or Ncwhaveu, two hours before
the PASSENGERS arrive from London, what their
nun Der is. A. the French ports the time for pre-
paration is twice as long; besides which, the
average is calculabe, and crowd al certain seasons
Ind certain daJes may be predicted with accuracy.
But an extra steamship would cost money and the
passengers comfort is just about as much regarded
rs that If his trunk and the trunk often fre5 the
better of the two. .
What woIld happen in case of a collision or other
serious accident Is a thing one had rather not reflect
upOn lHcSt steamers carry bbNtS hHi'h, II th'J
fould be launched and if the crows were drilled to
handle them. and If everything went smoothly,
might hid fourth or even half of the
touls on board. Something did happen not
long ago on the FolkcstOne hne-not
collision but an accident-which may serve
rs a mild illustration of what might be
expected ia a serious case. 4 man fell overheard.
An attempt WAS made TO lower a boat. The boat
was haf fun OF water the ropes at one end damned
In the blocks. and the crew were spilled out into
tie sea- One or two men were drowned. One was
saved by the second mate. whOjumped III after him.
An official inquiry was held. Ii was proved that
the boat, and tackle were unservlccable from long
disuse and neglect. The captain went scot free.
The harbor-master or some such tuEctiorary was
admonished hat he should keep better watch
over tnes condition Of the steamers.
The only person censured was the second
mate. who rlskcd his life to save one of his
men. and who was found guilty of being absent
from his post. The incident made stir at the time.
aud is now forgotten. The ships come ana 90 as be-
fore carving the same beats and the same multi
tudes of passengers. Their captains certainly are
picked men, aud the steamers are handled at sea
and taken in and out of port with admirable skill.
But the best captains with the most admirable skill
ARE not infalble and you Will bear some day OF an
"accldent" with consequences which Will not be
forgotten as the drowning oil sailor or TWO.
Ask the captains what they think OF the orders
which compel them to race across he Straits OF
Dover in fog. playing blindman's-buif with the
commerce OF half the world.
But enough Of criticism and croaking-toO much,
dare say yet what / have said is but small
part of what have SEEM and of what ought to be
said over and over again, not III an American. but
In every English journal TIL some reform is OBJ
tanned By o'clock we were off the entrance to
Dieppe in another half hour we had warped up,
not too ceverly to the wharf, and the usual scram-
bic and confusion of landing had begun. The shed
which does dnty for station and custom house and