Although the usual method of landing is fore and aft, gangways have been provided at the sides for side-landing should it become necessary. The general appearance of one of these boats may be likened to that of a floating street-car. Finally, a small apartment, provided with benches, is provided for the use of those passengers who might be taken sick, or for office purposes, if need be. The total weight of one of the boats is divided up as follows: Forty passengers................ 6,200 pounds, Engine and boiler............... 6,600 " Ballast, water, and equipment... 9,900 " Deck and superstructure......... 6,600 " Hull and accessories............12,500 " ______ Total...........................41,800 " or a displacement of about 700 cubic feet, corresponding to a maximum draught of 3.7 feet. The mean speed is 4 knots, or 4½ miles per hour, a great velocity being unnecessary, owing to the small distance to cross in a port often obstructed by the general movement of vessels taking place therein. The engine is from 16 to 18 horse-power. Its frame is inclined perpendicularly to the direction of the screw-shaft, the extremity of which is supported near the screw by a strengthened cross-stay serving as a pillow-block. The cylinder is 8 inches in diameter, and the piston has a stroke of 6 inches, causing the screw (which is 3¼ feet diameter) to make 200 revolutions per minute. The screw, although it has a wide surface of thrust, gives, nevertheless, a recoil of about 30 per cent., because of its location between the hulls and its oblique action on the shaft. The steam is furnished by a tubular boiler having an internal fireplace and a heating surface of sixteen square meters, the draught being effected by the exhaust of the engine. This boiler, which is tested up to 14 pounds, is fed by a steam pump, or by a pump actuated by the engine. The feed pumps take water successively from one or the other of the reservoirs in the hulls. The reservoirs are filled in the morning, and their level is ascertained by two small and ingenious Decondun indicators, the dials of which are placed against the walls of the engine-room. Taken altogether, these little boats are well arranged and quite handsome; and, since they were put into service in June, 1880, they have proved a great convenience to the hard-working and active population for which they were built. * * * * * OPENING OF A NEW ENGLISH DOCK.