In 1870 Messrs. Flinn, Main & Montgomery despatched the ST. LOUIS from Liverpool to New Orleans. She was the pioneer steamer of a Company promoted by the firm named for the purpose of trading between Liverpool and New Orleans, and called the Liverpool and Mississippi Steamship Co. The views of the promoters becoming enlarged, they changed the name of the Company in 1872 to the Mississippi and Dominion Steamship Co., and entered into the Canadian trade. For many years the steamers of the Line sailed only between Liverpool and Quebec and Montreal, but about 1891 a second service was established, with sailings to and from Bristol and the ports on the St. Lawrence. In 1894 Messrs. Flinn, Main & Montgomery retired, and the two sections of the business were taken over—the Liverpool service by Messrs. Richards, Mills & Co., and the Bristol service by Messrs. Elder, Dempster & Co.; the former continued to be known as the “Dominion Line,” but the latter service was merged into the Beaver Line, and as such formed part of the fleet purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway Co., referred to in a preceding paragraph. In 1902 the Dominion Line was acquired by the American Shipping Combine, and in October, 1903, a further change was made by the transference of the latest and best steamers of the fleet to the White Star flag. CHAPTER XXIV. Railway Companies as Steamship Owners.—South Eastern and Chatham.—London, Brighton and South Coast.—London and South Western.—Great Western.—London and North Western.—Lancashire and Yorkshire.—Stranraer and Larne.—Caledonian.—Glasgow and South Western.—North British.—Great Central.—Great Eastern. There are in Great Britain, as well as in the United States of America, many steamship lines which are either owned or controlled by railway corporations. On the south coast of England, from Harwich to Falmouth inclusive, almost the whole of the Anglo-continental passenger traffic is held by the great railway companies, who have made the various ports along that stretch of coast their termini. In the North Country, both on the east and west coasts, with a few important exceptions, the cross-channel and over-sea traffic is operated by steamship companies, which, while running in connection with the railway systems of their respective ports, are entirely separate and independent undertakings. The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Co. has now running between Dover and Calais, the new turbine steamer THE QUEEN, and the fast and large paddle steamers EMPRESS, VICTORIA, DOVER, CALAIS, LORD WARDEN, LE NORD, and LE PAS DE CALAIS. In connection with the same Company’s service via Folkestone and Boulogne, the fast and powerful steamers MABEL GRACE, PRINCESS OF WALES, and DUCHESS OF YORK are employed.