It is pleasant to know that at last, and '°Jafter many years of discussion and disappointment, we possess a Hlotilla of thirty most superior passenger steamers on our grand old river, and when their commanders have got a little more used to managing: the piers and avoiding the buttresses and sundry other obstacles which are at.prosent source of some embarrassment to them, it will be pos-ttle trips een Hammersmith and Greenwich \—who ki possibly whitebait dinners at the latter place may once more become the fashion. The Prince of Wales inaugurated the rst season of the Steamboats (which have been provided by the London County Council) last Saturday. The weather behaved so badly that the undertaking must have been anything, but pleasant, though all the same his Royal Highness paid his fare with smiling face and geo med quite to enjoy afternoon on the river. Each day ince the steamers have boon crowder and several minor accidents have cccurcluding one loss. of. owing of one of the steamers on Sun-when they seem to have been altother too crowded, a my overboard and was drowned, Afters time believe it is intended to run express boats which shall only stop at about every fourth pier during the journey; these will be far more pleasant to travel by as now one's whole time seems to be taken up in stopping at piers and getting away from them, both of which feats appear to me to be managed somewhat clumsily.
pect that in a week or two every. thing will work more smoothly, in which cise a trip to London Bridge by river will be vastly preferable to ti journey underground, where the system is still a dream of the future Yet Another Dream of which I was reading a fow days ago moving footpath, which is suggested '8 means of decreasing the traffic in our all too crowded stroots. It is a and doubt its 6 bough all the same understand influential people think well of believe the ides would be to reduce the width of the present footpath and run the moving one beside it. It would be only worked at such a rate as to allow to step on and off at will, and would certainly be " great saving in fatigue; how fares would be collected la not explained, but if, the scheme could be taken up by the various municipal ities and the expense of the path ineladed in the rates, I should think the idea might be a good one. In fact, it sounds delightful, but all the same don't think it will commend itself to shopkeepers as they would lose an infinite amount of custom if ladies ceased to lavic in thole windows.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.