These boats were most elaborately and comfortably fitted up, and
many people of my age, who were in the habit of travelling
constantly to Ireland, retain a feeling of almost personal
affection for those old paddle-wheel mailboats which carried them
so often in safety across St. George's Channel. It is possible
that this feeling may be stronger in those who, like myself, are
unaffected by sea-sickness. I think that we all took a pride in
the finest Channel steamers then afloat, and, as a child, I was
always conscious of a little added dignity and an extra ray of
reflected glory when crossing in the Leinster or the Connaught,
for they had four funnels each. I think that I am correct in
saying that these splendid seaboats never missed one single
passage, whatever the weather, for nearly forty years, until they
were superseded by the present three thousand tons, twenty-four
knot twin-screw boats. The old paddle-wheelers were rejuvenated in
1883, when they were fitted with forced draught, and their paddles
were submerged deeper, giving them an extra speed of two knots.
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