In 1848 the Admiralty, which had been responsible for the steam mail packets service (as also we have seen earlier in this book they had charge of the transatlantic mails), handed over their charge to the Post Office. But neither of these Governmental branches was able to make a success of this, and after a time the Post Office withdrew their mail packets and in 1854 put the carrying out to contract. A Mr. Churchyard was accepted as the contractor, and his agreement continued until 1862. It will be recollected that two years previous to the latter date the London, Chatham and Dover Company had connected their line to Dover, and they obtained the contract in succession to Churchyard for carrying the mails from Dover to Calais. At the same time the South Eastern Railway Company withdrew their steamboat service to Folkestone. It should be mentioned that the General Steam Navigation Company had also withdrawn from this route owing to the competition on the part of the railway companies, who were in a superior position by being able to run their passengers on both their own railways and their own steamboats. The general character of these early cross-channel steam-craft was very similar to that of the _Cambria_. Some of the steamboats employed on this Dover-Calais route have been marked by the possession of exceptional features. It was in 1875 that the _Bessemer_ was designed with the object of making the dreaded passage across the Straits of Dover less disagreeable and free from the infliction of sea-sickness. To this end she was given a unique apparatus which was to swing with the motion of the vessel, and in such a manner that the passengers would always be kept on a level, however much the ship might roll. She was built double-ended, so that she would not have to be turned round when she reached the French port. But emphatically she resulted in a complete failure, for not only was this ingenious deck found to be unworkable, and had to be fixed, but the _Bessemer_ collided with Calais Pier, and succeeded in knocking away about fifty yards thereof. [Illustration: THE “ATALANTA” (1841). _From a Painting. By permission of the London and South Western Railway Co._] [Illustration: THE “LYONS” (1856). _From the Model in the Victoria and Albert Museum._] [Illustration: THE “EMPRESS” LEAVING DOVER HARBOUR. _From a Photograph. By permission of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway Co._]