{"id":3074,"date":"2018-04-19T18:59:42","date_gmt":"2018-04-19T18:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/?p=3074"},"modified":"2018-04-19T19:33:09","modified_gmt":"2018-04-19T19:33:09","slug":"george-robert-stephenson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/?p=3074","title":{"rendered":"<span>George &#038; Robert Stephenson<\/span>"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\">\n<p>body {\n    margin-left: 10%;\n    margin-right: 10%;\n}<\/p>\n<p>    h1 {\n    text-align: center;\n    clear: both;\n    margin-top: 2em;\n    margin-bottom: 2em;\n    word-spacing: 0.2em;\n    font-size: 200%;\n}<\/p>\n<p>    h2 {\n    text-align: center;\n    clear: both;\n    margin-top: 1em;\n    margin-bottom: 1em;\n    word-spacing: 0.2em;\n    letter-spacing: 0.075em;\n    font-size: 150%;\n}<\/p>\n<p>    h3 {\n    text-align: center;\n    clear: both;\n}<\/p>\n<p>    h4 {\n    text-align: center;\n    clear: both;\n    margin-top: .75em;\n    margin-bottom: .75em;\n    word-spacing: 0.2em;\n    letter-spacing: 0.075em;\n    font-size: 80%;\n    font-weight: normal;\n}<\/p>\n<p>p {\n    margin-top: .51em;\n    text-align: justify;\n    margin-bottom: .49em;\n    text-indent: 1em;\n}<\/p>\n<p>.p2       {margin-top: 2em;}\n.p4       {margin-top: 4em;}<\/p>\n<p>.negidt1   {margin-left: 1em; 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display: none;}\n@media handheld {\n  .customcover {visibility: visible; display: block;}\n}<\/p>\n<\/style>\n<div class=\"transnote\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1.0625rem;\">THE LIFE OF&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 1.0625rem;\">George Stephenson and his son Robert Stephenson<\/span><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/frontis.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"598\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3077\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/frontis.jpg 450w, https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/frontis-300x399.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tpage\">\n<p class=\"xs\">Comprising also a history of the invention and introduction of the railway locomotive.  By Samual Smiles<\/p>\n<p class=\"small\" style=\"font-family: Mathematica6 Bold, Old English Text MT, Engravers Old English BT, Old English, Collins Old English, New Old English, serif;\">With Portraits and Numerous Illustrations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gesperrt\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_iii\" name=\"Page_iii\"><\/a>[iii]<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"pfs150 gesperrt\"><a id=\"PREFACE\" name=\"PREFACE\"><\/a>PREFACE.<\/h3>\n<p>The present is a revised edition of the Life of George Stephenson<br \/>\nand of his son Robert Stephenson, to which is prefixed a history<br \/>\nof the Railway and the Locomotive in its earlier stages, uniform<br \/>\nwith the early history of the Steam-engine given in vol. iv.<br \/>\nof &#8220;Lives of the Engineers&#8221; containing the memoirs of Boulton<br \/>\nand Watt. A memoir of Richard Trevithick has also been included<br \/>\nin this introductory portion of the book, which will probably<br \/>\nbe found more complete than any notice which has yet appeared<br \/>\nof that distinguished mechanical engineer.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"tb\">\n<p>Since the appearance of this Life in its original form ten years<br \/>\nago, the construction of Railways has continued to make extraordinary<br \/>\nprogress. The length of lines then open in Europe was<br \/>\nestimated at about 18,000 miles: it is now more than 50,000<br \/>\nmiles. Although Great Britain, first in the field, had then, after<br \/>\nabout twenty-five years&#8217; work, expended nearly 300 millions sterling<br \/>\nin the construction of 8300 miles of double railway, it has<br \/>\nduring the last ten years expended about 200 millions more in<br \/>\nconstructing 5600 additional miles.<\/p>\n<p>But the construction of railways has proceeded with equal rapidity<br \/>\non the Continent. France has now 9624 miles at work;<br \/>\nGermany (including Austria), 13,392 miles; Spain, 3161 miles;<br \/>\nSweden, 1100 miles; Belgium, 1073 miles; Switzerland, 795<br \/>\nmiles; Holland, 617 miles; besides railways in other states.<br \/>\nThese have, for the most part, been constructed and opened during<br \/>\nthe last ten years, while a considerable length is still under<br \/>\nconstruction. Austria is actively engaged in carrying new lines<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_iv\" name=\"Page_iv\"><\/a>[iv]<\/span><br \/>\nacross the plains of Hungary to the frontier of Turkey, which<br \/>\nTurkey is preparing to meet by lines carried up the valley of the<br \/>\nLower Danube; and Russia, with 2800 miles already at work, is<br \/>\noccupied with extensive schemes for connecting Petersburg and<br \/>\nMoscow with her ports in the Black Sea on the one hand, and<br \/>\nwith the frontier towns of her Asiatic empire on the other.<\/p>\n<p>Italy also is employing her new-born liberty in vigorously extending<br \/>\nrailways throughout her dominions. The length of Italian<br \/>\nlines in operation in 1866 was 2752 miles, of which not less<br \/>\nthan 680 were opened in that year. Already has a direct line of<br \/>\ncommunication been opened between Germany and Italy through<br \/>\nthe Brenner Pass, by which it is now possible to make the entire<br \/>\njourney by railway (excepting only the short sea-passage across<br \/>\nthe English Channel) from London to Brindisi on the southeastern<br \/>\nextremity of the Italian peninsula; and, in the course of a<br \/>\nfew more years, a still shorter route will be opened through France,<br \/>\nwhen that most formidable of all railway borings, the seven-mile<br \/>\ntunnel under Mont Cenis, has been completed.<\/p>\n<p>During the last ten years, nearly the whole of the existing Indian<br \/>\nrailways have been made. When Edmund Burke in 1783<br \/>\narraigned the British government for their neglect of India in<br \/>\nhis speech on Mr. Fox&#8217;s Bill, he said, &#8220;England has built no<br \/>\nbridges, made no high roads, cut no navigations, dug out no reservoirs&#8230;.<br \/>\nWere we to be driven out of India this day, nothing<br \/>\nwould remain to tell that it had been possessed, during the inglorious<br \/>\nperiod of our dominion, by any thing better than the orang-outang<br \/>\nor the tiger.&#8221; But that reproach no longer applies. Some<br \/>\nof the greatest bridges erected in modern times\u2014such as those<br \/>\nover the Sone near Patna, and over the Jamna at Allahabad\u2014have<br \/>\nbeen erected in connection with the Indian railways, of<br \/>\nwhich there are already 3637 miles at work, and above 2000 more<br \/>\nunder construction. When these lines have been completed, at<br \/>\nan expenditure of about \u00a388,000,000 of British capital guaranteed<br \/>\nby the British government, India will be provided with a<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_v\" name=\"Page_v\"><\/a>[v]<\/span><br \/>\nmagnificent system of internal communication, connecting the<br \/>\ncapitals of the three Presidencies\u2014uniting Bombay with Madras<br \/>\non the south, and with Calcutta on the northeast\u2014while a great<br \/>\nmain line, 2200 miles in extent, passing through the northwestern<br \/>\nprovinces, and connecting Calcutta with Lucknow, Delhi, Lahore,<br \/>\nMoultan, and Kurrachee, will unite the mouths of the Hooghly<br \/>\nin the Bay of Bengal with those of the Indus in the Arabian Sea.<\/p>\n<p>When the first edition of this work appeared in the beginning<br \/>\nof 1857, the Canadian system of railways was but in its infancy.<br \/>\nThe Grand Trunk was only begun, and the Victoria Bridge\u2014the<br \/>\ngreatest of all railway structures\u2014was not half erected. Now,<br \/>\nthat fine colony has more than 2200 miles in active operation<br \/>\nalong the great valley of the St. Lawrence, connecting Rivi\u00e8re du<br \/>\nLoup at the mouth of that river, and the harbor of Portland in<br \/>\nthe State of Maine, <em>via<\/em> Montreal and Toronto, with Sarnia on<br \/>\nLake Huron, and with Windsor, opposite Detroit, in the State of<br \/>\nMichigan. The Australian Colonies also have during the same<br \/>\ntime been actively engaged in providing themselves with railways,<br \/>\nmany of which are at work, and others are in course of formation.<br \/>\nEven the Cape of Good Hope has several lines open,<br \/>\nand others making. France also has constructed about 400 miles<br \/>\nin Algeria, while the Pasha of Egypt is the proprietor of 360<br \/>\nmiles in operation across the Egyptian desert.<\/p>\n<p>But in no country has railway construction been prosecuted<br \/>\nwith greater vigor than in the United States. There the railway<br \/>\nfurnishes not only the means of intercommunication between already<br \/>\nestablished settlements, as in the Old World, but it is regarded<br \/>\nas the pioneer of colonization, and as instrumental in<br \/>\nopening up new and fertile territories of vast extent in the west\u2014the<br \/>\nfood-grounds of future nations. Hence railway construction<br \/>\nin that country was scarcely interrupted even by the great<br \/>\nCivil War; at the commencement of which Mr. Seward publicly<br \/>\nexpressed the opinion that &#8220;physical bonds, such as highways,<br \/>\nrailroads, rivers, and canals, are vastly more powerful for holding<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_vi\" name=\"Page_vi\"><\/a>[vi]<\/span><br \/>\ncivil communities together than any mere covenants, though<br \/>\nwritten on parchment or engraved on iron.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The people of the United States were the first to follow the<br \/>\nexample of England, after the practicability of steam locomotion<br \/>\nhad been proved on the Stockton and Darlington and Liverpool<br \/>\nand Manchester Railways. The first sod of the Baltimore and<br \/>\nOhio Railway was cut on the 4th of July, 1828, and the line was<br \/>\ncompleted and opened for traffic in the following year, when it<br \/>\nwas worked partly by horse-power, and partly by a locomotive<br \/>\nbuilt at Baltimore, which is still preserved in the Company&#8217;s<br \/>\nworkshops. In 1830 the Hudson and Mohawk Railway was begun,<br \/>\nwhile other lines were under construction in Pennsylvania,<br \/>\nMassachusetts, and New Jersey; and in the course of ten years,<br \/>\n1843 miles were finished and in operation. In ten more years,<br \/>\n8827 miles were at work; at the end of 1864, not less than 35,000<br \/>\nmiles, mostly single tracks; while about 15,000 miles more were<br \/>\nunder construction. One of the most extensive trunk-lines still<br \/>\nunfinished is the Great Pacific Railroad, connecting the lines in<br \/>\nthe valleys of the Mississippi and the Missouri with the city of<br \/>\nSan Francisco on the shores of the Pacific, by which, when completed,<br \/>\nit will be possible to make the journey from England to<br \/>\nHong Kong, <em>via<\/em> New York, in little more than a month.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"tb\">\n<p>The results of the working of railways have been in many respects<br \/>\ndifferent from those anticipated by their projectors. One<br \/>\nof the most unexpected has been the growth of an immense passenger-traffic.<br \/>\nThe Stockton and Darlington line was projected<br \/>\nas a coal line only, and the Liverpool and Manchester as a merchandise<br \/>\nline. Passengers were not taken into account as a<br \/>\nsource of revenue; for, at the time of their projection, it was not<br \/>\nbelieved that people would trust themselves to be drawn upon<br \/>\na railway by an &#8220;explosive machine,&#8221; as the locomotive was described<br \/>\nto be. Indeed, a writer of eminence declared that he<br \/>\nwould as soon think of being fired off on a ricochet rocket as<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_vii\" name=\"Page_vii\"><\/a>[vii]<\/span><br \/>\ntravel on a railway at twice the speed of the old stage-coaches.<br \/>\nSo great was the alarm which existed as to the locomotive, that<br \/>\nthe Liverpool and Manchester Committee pledged themselves in<br \/>\ntheir second prospectus, issued in 1825, &#8220;not to require any clause<br \/>\nempowering its use;&#8221; and as late as 1829, the Newcastle and<br \/>\nCarlisle Act was conceded on the express condition that it should<br \/>\nnot be worked by locomotives, but by horses only.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, the Liverpool and Manchester Company obtained<br \/>\npowers to make and work their railway without any such restriction;<br \/>\nand when the line was made and opened, a locomotive<br \/>\npassenger-train was ordered to be run upon it by way of experiment.<br \/>\nGreatly to the surprise of the directors, more passengers<br \/>\npresented themselves as travelers by the train than could conveniently<br \/>\nbe carried.<\/p>\n<p>The first arrangements as to passenger-traffic were of a very<br \/>\nprimitive character, being mainly copied from the old stage-coach<br \/>\nsystem. The passengers were &#8220;booked&#8221; at the railway office,<br \/>\nand their names were entered in a way-bill which was given to<br \/>\nthe guard when the train started. Though the usual stage-coach<br \/>\nbugleman could not conveniently accompany the passengers, the<br \/>\ntrains were at first played out of the terminal stations by a lively<br \/>\ntune performed by a trumpeter at the end of the platform, and<br \/>\nthis continued to be done at the Manchester Station until a comparatively<br \/>\nrecent date.<\/p>\n<p>But the number of passengers carried by the Liverpool and<br \/>\nManchester line was so unexpectedly great, that it was very soon<br \/>\nfound necessary to remodel the entire system. Tickets were introduced,<br \/>\nby which a great saving of time was effected. More<br \/>\nroomy and commodious carriages were provided, the original<br \/>\nfirst-class compartments being seated for four passengers only.<br \/>\nEvery thing was found to have been in the first instance made<br \/>\ntoo light and too slight. The prize &#8220;Rocket,&#8221; which weighed<br \/>\nonly 4-1\/2 tons when loaded with its coke and water, was found<br \/>\nquite unsuited for drawing the increasingly heavy loads of passengers.<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_viii\" name=\"Page_viii\"><\/a>[viii]<\/span><br \/>\nThere was also this essential difference between the old<br \/>\nstage-coach and the new railway train, that, whereas the former<br \/>\nwas &#8220;full&#8221; with six inside and ten outside, the latter must be<br \/>\nable to accommodate whatever number of passengers came to be<br \/>\ncarried. Hence heavier and more powerful engines, and larger<br \/>\nand more substantial carriages, were from time to time added to<br \/>\nthe carrying stock of the railway.<\/p>\n<p>The speed of the trains was also increased. The first locomotives<br \/>\nused in hauling coal-trains ran at from four to six miles an<br \/>\nhour. On the Stockton and Darlington line the speed was increased<br \/>\nto about ten miles an hour; and on the Liverpool and<br \/>\nManchester line the first passenger-trains were run at the average<br \/>\nspeed of seventeen miles an hour, which at that time was<br \/>\nconsidered very fast. But this was not enough. When the London<br \/>\nand Birmingham line was opened, the mail-trains were run<br \/>\nat twenty-three miles an hour; and gradually the speed went up,<br \/>\nuntil now the fast trains are run at from fifty to sixty miles an<br \/>\nhour\u2014the pistons in the cylinders, at sixty miles, traveling at the<br \/>\ninconceivable rapidity of 800 feet per minute!<\/p>\n<p>To bear the load of heavy engines run at high speeds, a much<br \/>\nstronger and heavier road was found necessary; and shortly after<br \/>\nthe opening of the Liverpool and Manchester line, it was entirely<br \/>\nrelaid with stronger materials. Now that express passenger-engines<br \/>\nare from thirty to thirty-five tons each, the weight of<br \/>\nthe rails has been increased from 35 lbs. to 75 lbs. or 86 lbs. to<br \/>\nthe yard. Stone blocks have given place to wooden sleepers;<br \/>\nrails with loose ends resting on the chairs, to rails with their<br \/>\nends firmly &#8220;fished&#8221; together; and in many places, where the<br \/>\ntraffic is unusually heavy, iron rails have been replaced by those<br \/>\nof steel.<\/p>\n<p>And now see the enormous magnitude to which railway passenger-traffic<br \/>\nhas grown. In the year 1866, 274,293,668 passengers<br \/>\nwere carried by day tickets in Great Britain alone. But<br \/>\nthis was not all; for in that year 110,227 periodical tickets were<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_ix\" name=\"Page_ix\"><\/a>[ix]<\/span><br \/>\nissued by the different railways; and assuming half of them to<br \/>\nbe annual, one fourth half-yearly, and the remainder quarterly<br \/>\ntickets, and that their holders made only five journeys each way<br \/>\nweekly, this would give an additional number of 39,405,600 journeys,<br \/>\nor a total of 313,699,268 passengers carried in Great Britain<br \/>\nin one year.<\/p>\n<p>It is difficult to grasp the idea of the enormous number of persons<br \/>\nrepresented by these figures. The mind is merely bewildered<br \/>\nby them, and can form no adequate notion of their magnitude.<br \/>\nTo reckon them singly would occupy twenty years, counting<br \/>\nat the rate of one a second for twelve hours every day. Or<br \/>\ntake another illustration. Supposing every man, woman, and<br \/>\nchild in Great Britain to make ten journeys by rail yearly, the<br \/>\nnumber would fall short of the passengers carried in 1866.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Porter, in his &#8220;Progress of the Nation,&#8221; estimated that<br \/>\nthirty millions of passengers, or about eighty-two thousand a<br \/>\nday, traveled by coaches in Great Britain in 1834, an average<br \/>\ndistance of twelve miles each, at an average cost of 5<i>s.<\/i> a passenger,<br \/>\nor at the rate of 5<i>d.<\/i> a mile; whereas above 313 millions are<br \/>\nnow carried by railway an average distance of 8-1\/2 miles each, at<br \/>\nan average cost of 1<i>s.<\/i> 1-1\/2<i>d.<\/i> per passenger, or about three half-pence<br \/>\nper mile, in considerably less than half the time.<\/p>\n<p>But, besides the above number of passengers, one hundred and<br \/>\ntwenty-four million tons of minerals and merchandise were<br \/>\ncarried by railway in the United Kingdom in 1866, and fifteen<br \/>\nmillions of cattle, besides mails, parcels, and other traffic. The<br \/>\ndistance run by passenger and goods trains in the year was<br \/>\n142,807,853 miles, to accomplish which it is estimated that four<br \/>\nmiles of railway on an average must be covered by running<br \/>\ntrains during every second all the year round.<\/p>\n<p>To perform this service, there were, in 1866, 8125 locomotives<br \/>\nat work in the United <span class=\"corr\" title=\"Transcriber's Note\u2014original text: 'Kingdon'\">Kingdom<\/span>, consuming about three million<br \/>\ntons of coal and coke, and flashing into the air every minute<br \/>\nsome thirty tons of water in the form of steam in a high state<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_x\" name=\"Page_x\"><\/a>[x]<\/span><br \/>\nof elasticity. There were also 19,228 passenger-carriages, 7276<br \/>\nvans and breaks attached to passenger-trains, and 242,947 trucks,<br \/>\nwagons, and other vehicles appropriated to merchandise. Buckled<br \/>\ntogether, buffer to buffer, the locomotives and tenders would<br \/>\nextend for a length of about 54 miles, or more than the distance<br \/>\nfrom London to Brighton; while the carrying vehicles, joined<br \/>\ntogether, would form two trains occupying a double line of railway<br \/>\nextending from London to beyond Inverness.<\/p>\n<p>A notable feature in the growth of railway traffic of late years<br \/>\nhas been the increase in the number of third-class passengers,<br \/>\ncompared with first and second class. Sixteen years since, the<br \/>\nthird-class passengers constituted only about one third; ten years<br \/>\nlater they were about one half; whereas now they form nearly<br \/>\ntwo thirds of the whole number carried. Thus George Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\nprediction &#8220;that the time would come when it would be<br \/>\ncheaper for a working man to make a journey by railway than<br \/>\nto walk on foot&#8221; is already realized.<\/p>\n<p>The degree of safety with which this great traffic has been<br \/>\nconducted is not the least remarkable of its features. Of course,<br \/>\nso long as railways are worked by men, they will be liable to the<br \/>\nimperfections belonging to all things human. Though their machinery<br \/>\nmay be perfect, and their organization as complete as<br \/>\nskill and forethought can make it, workmen will at times be forgetful<br \/>\nand listless, and a moment&#8217;s carelessness may lead to the<br \/>\nmost disastrous results. Yet, taking all circumstances into account,<br \/>\nthe wonder is that traveling by railway at high speeds<br \/>\nshould have been rendered comparatively so safe.<\/p>\n<p>To be struck by lightning is one of the rarest of all causes of<br \/>\ndeath, yet more persons were killed by lightning in Great Britain,<br \/>\nin 1866, than were killed on railways from causes beyond their<br \/>\nown control; the number in the former case having been nineteen,<br \/>\nand in the latter fifteen, or one in every twenty millions of<br \/>\npassengers carried. Most persons would consider the probability<br \/>\nof their dying by hanging to be extremely remote; yet, according<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xi\" name=\"Page_xi\"><\/a>[xi]<\/span><br \/>\nto the Registrar General&#8217;s returns for 1867, it is thirty times<br \/>\ngreater than that of being killed by railway accident. Taking<br \/>\nthe number of persons who traveled in Great Britain in 1866 at<br \/>\n313,699,268, of whom fifteen were accidentally killed, it would<br \/>\nappear that, even supposing a person to have a permanent existence,<br \/>\nand to make a journey by railway daily, the probability of<br \/>\nhis being killed in an accident would occur on an average once<br \/>\nin above 50,000 years.<\/p>\n<p>The remarkable safety with which railway traffic is on the<br \/>\nwhole conducted, is due to constant watchfulness and highly-applied<br \/>\nskill. The men who work the railways are for the most<br \/>\npart the picked men of the country, and every railway station<br \/>\nmay be regarded as a practical school of industry, attention, and<br \/>\npunctuality. Where railways fail in these respects, it will usually<br \/>\nbe found that it is because the men are personally defective,<br \/>\nor because better men are not to be had. It must also be added<br \/>\nthat the onerous and responsible duties which railway workmen<br \/>\nare called upon to perform require a degree of consideration on<br \/>\nthe part of the public which is not very often extended to them.<\/p>\n<p>Few are aware of the complicated means and agencies that are<br \/>\nin constant operation on railways day and night to insure the<br \/>\nsafety of the passengers to their journeys&#8217; end. The road is under<br \/>\na system of continuous inspection, under gangs of men\u2014about<br \/>\ntwelve to every five miles, under a foreman or &#8220;ganger&#8221;\u2014whose<br \/>\nduty it is to see that the rails and chairs are sound, all<br \/>\ntheir fastenings complete, and the line clear of obstructions.<\/p>\n<p>Then, at all the junctions, sidings, and crossings, pointsmen are<br \/>\nstationed, with definite instructions as to the duties to be performed<br \/>\nby them. At these places signals are provided, worked<br \/>\nfrom the station platforms, or from special signal-boxes, for the<br \/>\npurpose of protecting the stopping or passing trains. When the<br \/>\nfirst railways were opened the signals were of a very simple kind.<br \/>\nThe station-men gave them with their arms stretched out in different<br \/>\npositions; then flags of different colors were used; next<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xii\" name=\"Page_xii\"><\/a>[xii]<\/span><br \/>\nfixed signals, with arms or discs, or of rectangular or triangular<br \/>\nshape. These were followed by a complete system of semaphore<br \/>\nsignals, near and distant, protecting all junctions, sidings, and<br \/>\ncrossings.<\/p>\n<p>When government inspectors were first appointed by the Board<br \/>\nof Trade to examine and report upon the working of railways,<br \/>\nthey were alarmed by the number of trains following each other<br \/>\nat some stations in what then seemed to be a very rapid succession.<br \/>\nA passage from a Report written in 1840 by Sir Frederick<br \/>\nSmith, as to the traffic at &#8220;Taylor&#8217;s Junction,&#8221; on the York and<br \/>\nNorth Midland Railway, contrasts curiously with the railway life<br \/>\nand activity of the present day: &#8220;Here,&#8221; wrote the alarmed inspector,<br \/>\n&#8220;the passenger trains from York, as well as Leeds and<br \/>\nSelby, meet four times a day. No less than 23 passenger-trains<br \/>\nstop at or pass this station in the 24 hours\u2014an amount of traffic<br \/>\nrequiring not only the most perfect arrangements on the part<br \/>\nof the management, but the utmost vigilance and energy in the<br \/>\nservants of the Company employed at this place.&#8221; Contrast this<br \/>\nwith the state of things now. On the Metropolitan Line, 667<br \/>\ntrains pass a given point in one direction or the other during the<br \/>\neighteen hours of the working day, or an average of 36 trains an<br \/>\nhour. At the Cannon-street Station of the Southeastern Railway,<br \/>\n527 trains pass in and out daily, many of them crossing<br \/>\neach others&#8217; tracks under the protection of the station signals.<br \/>\nForty-five trains run in and out between 9 and 10 A.M., and an<br \/>\nequal number between 4 and 5 P.M. Again, at the Clapham<br \/>\nJunction, near London, about 700 trains pass or stop daily; and<br \/>\nthough to the casual observer the succession of trains coming and<br \/>\ngoing, running and stopping, coupling and shunting, appears a<br \/>\nscene of inextricable confusion and danger, the whole is clearly<br \/>\nintelligible to the signal-men in their boxes, who work the trains<br \/>\nin and out with extraordinary precision and regularity.<\/p>\n<p>The inside of a signal-box reminds one of a piano-forte on a<br \/>\nlarge scale, the lever-handles corresponding with the keys of the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xiii\" name=\"Page_xiii\"><\/a>[xiii]<\/span><br \/>\ninstrument; and, to an uninstructed person, to work the one<br \/>\nwould be as difficult as to play a tune on the other. The signal-box<br \/>\noutside Cannon-street Station contains 67 lever-handles, by<br \/>\nmeans of which the signal-men are enabled at the same moment<br \/>\nto communicate with the drivers of all the engines on the line<br \/>\nwithin an area of 800 yards. They direct by signs, which are<br \/>\nquite as intelligible as words, the drivers of the trains starting<br \/>\nfrom inside the station, as well as those of the trains arriving<br \/>\nfrom outside. By pulling a lever-handle, a distant signal, perhaps<br \/>\nout of sight, is set some hundred yards off, which the approaching<br \/>\ndriver\u2014reading it quickly as he comes along\u2014at once<br \/>\ninterprets, and stops or advances, as the signal may direct.<\/p>\n<p>The precision and accuracy of the signal-machinery employed<br \/>\nat important stations and junctions have of late years been much<br \/>\nimproved by an ingenious contrivance, by means of which the<br \/>\nsetting of the signal prepares the road for the coming train.<br \/>\nWhen the signal is set at &#8220;Danger,&#8221; the points are at the same<br \/>\ntime worked, and the road is &#8220;locked&#8221; against it; and when at<br \/>\n&#8220;Safety,&#8221; the road is open\u2014the signal and the points exactly<br \/>\ncorresponding.<\/p>\n<p>The Electric Telegraph has also been found a valuable auxiliary<br \/>\nin insuring the safe working of large railway traffics.<br \/>\nThough the locomotive may run at sixty miles an hour, electricity,<br \/>\nwhen at its fastest, travels at the rate of 288,000 miles a second,<br \/>\nand is therefore always able to herald the coming train.<br \/>\nThe electric telegraph may, indeed, be regarded as the nervous<br \/>\nsystem of the railway. By its means the whole line is kept<br \/>\nthrobbing with intelligence. The method of working electric<br \/>\nsignals varies on different lines; but the usual practice is to divide<br \/>\na line into so many lengths, each protected by its signal-stations,<br \/>\nthe fundamental law of telegraph working being that two<br \/>\nengines are not to be allowed to run on the same line between<br \/>\ntwo signal-stations at the same time. When a train passes one<br \/>\nof such stations, it is immediately signaled on\u2014usually by electric<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xiv\" name=\"Page_xiv\"><\/a>[xiv]<\/span><br \/>\nsignal-bells\u2014to the station in advance, and that interval of<br \/>\nrailway is &#8220;blocked&#8221; until the signal has been received from the<br \/>\nstation in advance that the train has passed it. Thus <em>an interval<br \/>\nof space<\/em> is always secured between trains following each other,<br \/>\nwhich are thereby alike protected before and behind. And thus,<br \/>\nwhen a train starts on a journey of it may be hundreds of miles,<br \/>\nit is signaled on from station to station, and &#8220;lives along the<br \/>\nline,&#8221; until at length it reaches its destination, and the last signal<br \/>\nof &#8220;train in&#8221; is given. By this means an immense number of<br \/>\ntrains can be worked with regularity and safety. On the Southeastern<br \/>\nRailway, where the system has been brought to a state of<br \/>\nhigh efficiency, it is no unusual thing during Easter week to send<br \/>\n570,000 passengers through the London Bridge Station alone;<br \/>\nand on some days as many as 1200 trains a day.<\/p>\n<p>While such are the expedients adopted to insure safety, others<br \/>\nequally ingenious are adopted to insure speed. In the case of<br \/>\nexpress and mail trains, the frequent stopping of the engines to<br \/>\ntake in a fresh supply of water occasions a considerable loss of<br \/>\ntime on a long journey, each stoppage for this purpose occupying<br \/>\nfrom ten to fifteen minutes. To avoid such stoppages larger<br \/>\ntenders have been provided, capable of carrying as much as 2000<br \/>\ngallons of water each. But as a considerable time is occupied in<br \/>\nfilling these, a plan has been contrived by Mr. Ramsbottom, the<br \/>\nlocomotive engineer of the London and Northwestern Railway,<br \/>\nby which the engines are made to <em>feed themselves<\/em> while running<br \/>\nat full speed! The plan is as follows: An open trough, about<br \/>\n440 feet long, is laid longitudinally between the rails. Into this<br \/>\ntrough, which is filled with water, a dip-pipe, or scoop attached<br \/>\nto the bottom of the tender of the running train, is lowered, and,<br \/>\nat a speed of 50 miles an hour, as much as 1070 gallons of water<br \/>\nare scooped up in the course of a few minutes. The first of such<br \/>\ntroughs was laid down between Chester and Holyhead, to enable<br \/>\nthe Express Mail to run the distance of 84-3\/4 miles in two hours<br \/>\nand five minutes without stopping; and similar troughs have<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xv\" name=\"Page_xv\"><\/a>[xv]<\/span><br \/>\nsince been laid down at Bushey, near London; at Castlethorpe,<br \/>\nnear Wolverton; and at Parkside, near Liverpool. At these four<br \/>\ntroughs about 130,000 gallons of water are scooped up daily.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"tb\">\n<p>Wherever railways have been made, new towns have sprung<br \/>\nup, and old towns and cities been quickened into new life.<br \/>\nWhen the first English lines were projected, great were the<br \/>\nprophecies of disaster to the inhabitants of the districts through<br \/>\nwhich they were proposed to be forced. Such fears have long<br \/>\nsince been dispelled in this country. The same prejudices existed<br \/>\nin France. When the railway from Paris to Marseilles was<br \/>\nprojected to pass through Lyons, a local prophet predicted that<br \/>\nif the line were made the city would be ruined\u2014&#8221;<i lang=\"fr\">Ville travers\u00e9e,<br \/>\nville perdue<\/i>;&#8221; while a local priest denounced the locomotive and<br \/>\nthe electric telegraph as heralding the reign of Antichrist. But<br \/>\nsuch nonsense is no longer uttered. Now it is the city without<br \/>\nthe railway that is regarded as the &#8220;city lost;&#8221; for it is in a<br \/>\nmeasure shut out from the rest of the world, and left outside the<br \/>\npale of civilization.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the most striking of all the illustrations that could be<br \/>\noffered of the extent to which railways facilitate the locomotion,<br \/>\nthe industry, and the subsistence of the population of large<br \/>\ntowns and cities, is afforded by the working of the railway system<br \/>\nin connection with the capital of Great Britain.<\/p>\n<p>The extension of railways to London has been of comparatively<br \/>\nrecent date, the whole of the lines connecting it with the provinces<br \/>\nand terminating at its outskirts having been opened during<br \/>\nthe last thirty years, while the lines inside London have for the<br \/>\nmost part been opened within the last ten years.<\/p>\n<p>The first London line was the Greenwich Railway, part of<br \/>\nwhich was opened for traffic to Deptford in February, 1836.<br \/>\nThe working of this railway was first exhibited as a show, and<br \/>\nthe usual attractions were employed to make it &#8220;draw.&#8221; A band<br \/>\nof musicians in the garb of the Beef-eaters was stationed at the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xvi\" name=\"Page_xvi\"><\/a>[xvi]<\/span><br \/>\nLondon end, and another band at Deptford. For cheapness&#8217;<br \/>\nsake, the Deptford band was shortly superseded by a large barrel-organ,<br \/>\nwhich played in the passengers; but when the traffic<br \/>\nbecame established, the barrel-organ, as well as the Beef-eater<br \/>\nband at the London end, were both discontinued. The whole<br \/>\nlength of the line was lit up at night by a row of lamps on either<br \/>\nside like a street, as if to enable the locomotives or the passengers<br \/>\nto see their way in the dark; but these lamps also were<br \/>\neventually discontinued as unnecessary.<\/p>\n<p>As a show, the Greenwich Railway proved tolerably successful.<br \/>\nDuring the first eleven months it carried 456,750 passengers,<br \/>\nor an average of about 1300 a day. But the railway having<br \/>\nbeen found more convenient to the public than either the<br \/>\nriver boats or the omnibuses, the number of passengers rapidly<br \/>\nincreased. When the Croydon, Brighton, and Southeastern Railways<br \/>\nbegan to pour their streams of traffic over the Greenwich<br \/>\nViaduct, its accommodation was found much too limited, and it<br \/>\nwas widened from time to time, until now nine lines of railway<br \/>\nare laid side by side, over which more than twenty millions of<br \/>\npassengers are carried yearly, or an average of about 60,000 a<br \/>\nday all the year round.<\/p>\n<p>Since the partial opening of the Greenwich Railway in 1836,<br \/>\na large extent of railways has been constructed in and about the<br \/>\nmetropolis, and convenient stations have been established almost<br \/>\nin the heart of the city. Sixteen of these stations are within a<br \/>\ncircle of half a mile radius from the Mansion House, and above<br \/>\nthree hundred stations are in actual use or in course of construction<br \/>\nwithin about five miles of Charing Cross. The most important<br \/>\nlines recently opened for the accommodation of the London<br \/>\nlocal traffic have been the London, Chatham and Dover Metropolitan<br \/>\nExtensions (1861), the Metropolitan (1863), the North<br \/>\nLondon Extension to Liverpool Street (1865), the Charing Cross<br \/>\nand Cannon-street Extensions of the Southeastern Railway<br \/>\n(1864-6), and the South London Extension of the Brighton<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xvii\" name=\"Page_xvii\"><\/a>[xvii]<\/span><br \/>\nRailway (1866). Of these railways, the London, Chatham and<br \/>\nDover carried 5,228,418 passengers in 1867; the Metropolitan,<br \/>\n23,405,282; the North London, 17,535,502; the Southeastern,<br \/>\n17,473,934; and the Brighton, 12,686,417. The total number<br \/>\ncarried into and out of London, as well as from station to station<br \/>\nin London, in the same year, was 104 millions of passengers.<\/p>\n<p>To accommodate this vast traffic, not fewer than 3600 local<br \/>\ntrains are run in and out daily, besides 340 trains which depart<br \/>\nto and arrive from distant places, north, south, east, and west.<br \/>\nIn the morning hours, between 8 30 and 10 30, when business<br \/>\nmen are proceeding inward to their offices and counting-houses,<br \/>\nand in the afternoon between four and six, when they are returning<br \/>\noutward to their homes, as many as two thousand stoppages<br \/>\nare made in the hour, within the metropolitan district, for the<br \/>\npurpose of taking up and setting down passengers, while about<br \/>\ntwo miles of railway are covered by the running trains.<\/p>\n<p>One of the remarkable effects of railways has been to extend<br \/>\nthe residential area of all large towns and cities. This is especially<br \/>\nnotable in the case of London. Before the introduction<br \/>\nof railways, the residential area of the metropolis was limited by<br \/>\nthe time occupied by business men in making the journey outward<br \/>\nand inward daily; and it was for the most part bounded<br \/>\nby Bow on the east, by Hampstead and Highgate on the north,<br \/>\nby Paddington and Kensington on the west, and by Clapham<br \/>\nand Brixton on the south. But now that stations have been established<br \/>\nnear the centre of the city, and places so distant as<br \/>\nWaltham, Barnet, Watford, Hanwell, Richmond, Epsom, Croydon,<br \/>\nReigate, and Erith can be more quickly reached by rail than the<br \/>\nold suburban quarters were by omnibus, the metropolis has become<br \/>\nextended in all directions along its railway lines, and the<br \/>\npopulation of London, instead of living in the city or its immediate<br \/>\nvicinity as formerly, have come to occupy a residential area<br \/>\nof not less than six hundred square miles!<\/p>\n<p>The number of new towns which have consequently sprung<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xviii\" name=\"Page_xviii\"><\/a>[xviii]<\/span><br \/>\ninto existence near London within the last twenty years has been<br \/>\nvery great; towns numbering from ten to twenty thousand inhabitants,<br \/>\nwhich before were but villages, if, indeed, they existed.<br \/>\nThis has especially been the case along the lines south of the<br \/>\nThames, principally in consequence of the termini of those lines<br \/>\nbeing more conveniently situated for city men of business. Hence<br \/>\nthe rapid growth of the suburban towns up and down the river,<br \/>\nfrom Richmond and Staines on the west, to Erith and Gravesend<br \/>\non the east, and the hives of population which have settled on the<br \/>\nhigh grounds south of the Thames, in the neighborhood of Norwood<br \/>\nand the Crystal Palace, rapidly spreading over the Surrey<br \/>\nDowns, from Wimbledon to Guildford, and from Bromley to<br \/>\nCroydon, Epsom, and Dorking. And now that the towns on the<br \/>\nsouth and southeast coast can be reached by city men in little<br \/>\nmore time than it takes to travel to Clapham or Bayswater by<br \/>\nomnibus, such places have become, as it were, parts of the great<br \/>\nmetropolis, and Brighton and Hastings are but marine suburbs of<br \/>\nLondon.<\/p>\n<p>The improved state of the communications of the city with the<br \/>\ncountry has had a marked effect upon its population. While the<br \/>\naction of the railways has been to add largely to the number of<br \/>\npersons living in London, it has also been accompanied by their<br \/>\ndispersion over a much larger area. Thus the population of the<br \/>\ncentral parts of London is constantly decreasing, whereas that of<br \/>\nthe suburban districts is as constantly increasing. The population<br \/>\nof the city fell off more than 10,000 between 1851 and 1861;<br \/>\nand during the same period, that of Holborn, the Strand, St Martin&#8217;s-in-the-Fields,<br \/>\nSt. James&#8217;s, Westminster, East and West London,<br \/>\nshowed a considerable decrease. But, as regards the whole<br \/>\nmass of the metropolitan population, the increase has been enormous,<br \/>\nespecially since the introduction of railways. Thus, starting<br \/>\nfrom 1801, when the population of London was 958,863, we<br \/>\nfind it increasing in each decennial period at the rate of between<br \/>\ntwo and three hundred thousand, until the year 1841, when it<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xix\" name=\"Page_xix\"><\/a>[xix]<\/span><br \/>\namounted to 1,948,369. Railways had by that time reached<br \/>\nLondon, after which its population increased at nearly double the<br \/>\nformer ratio. In the ten years ending 1851, the increase was<br \/>\n413,867; and in the ten years ending 1861, 441,753; until now,<br \/>\nto quote the words of the Registrar General in his last annual<br \/>\nReport, &#8220;the population within the registration limits is by estimate<br \/>\n2,993,513; but beyond this central mass there is a ring of<br \/>\nlife growing rapidly, and extending along railway lines over a<br \/>\ncircle of fifteen miles from Charing Cross. The population<br \/>\nwithin that circle, patrolled by the metropolitan police, is about<br \/>\n3,463,771!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The aggregation of so vast a number of persons within so comparatively<br \/>\nlimited an area\u2014the immense quantity of food required<br \/>\nfor their daily sustenance, as well as of fuel, clothing, and<br \/>\nother necessaries\u2014would be attended with no small inconvenience<br \/>\nand danger but for the facilities again provided by the<br \/>\nrailways. The provisioning of a garrison of even four thousand<br \/>\nmen is considered a formidable affair; how much more so the<br \/>\nprovisioning of nearly four millions of people!<\/p>\n<p>The whole mystery is explained by the admirable organization<br \/>\nof the railway service, and the regularity and dispatch with which<br \/>\nit is conducted. We are enabled by the courtesy of the general<br \/>\nmanagers of the London railways to bring together the following<br \/>\nbrief summary of facts relating to the food supply of London,<br \/>\nwhich will probably be regarded by most readers as of a very remarkable<br \/>\ncharacter.<\/p>\n<p>Generally speaking, the railways to the south of the Thames<br \/>\ncontribute comparatively little toward the feeding of London.<br \/>\nThey are, for the most part, passenger and residential lines, traversing<br \/>\na limited and not very fertile district bounded by the sea-coast,<br \/>\nand, excepting in fruit and vegetables, milk and hops, they<br \/>\nprobably carry more food from London than they bring to it.<br \/>\nThe principal supplies of grain, flour, potatoes, and fish are<br \/>\nbrought by railway from the eastern counties of England and<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xx\" name=\"Page_xx\"><\/a>[xx]<\/span><br \/>\nScotland; and of cattle and sheep, beef and mutton, from the<br \/>\ngrazing counties of the west and northwest of Britain, as far as<br \/>\nfrom the Highlands of Scotland, which, through the instrumentality<br \/>\nof railways, have become part of the great grazing-grounds<br \/>\nof the metropolis.<\/p>\n<p>Take first &#8220;the staff of life&#8221;\u2014bread and its constituents. Of<br \/>\nwheat, not less than 222,080 quarters were brought into London<br \/>\nby railway in 1867, besides what was brought by sea; of oats,<br \/>\n151,757 quarters; of barley, 70,282 quarters; of beans and peas,<br \/>\n51,448 quarters. Of the wheat and barley, by far the largest<br \/>\nproportion was brought by the Great Eastern Railway, which delivered<br \/>\nin London last year 155,000 quarters of wheat and 45,500<br \/>\nquarters of barley, besides 600,429 quarters more in the form of<br \/>\nmalt. The largest quantity of oats was brought by the Great<br \/>\nNorthern Railway, principally from the north of England and<br \/>\nthe east of Scotland\u2014the quantity delivered by that company in<br \/>\n1867 having been 97,500 quarters, besides 24,664 quarters of<br \/>\nwheat, 5560 quarters of barley, and 103,917 quarters of malt.<br \/>\nAgain, of 1,250,566 sacks of flour and meal delivered in London<br \/>\nlast year, the Great Eastern brought 654,000 sacks, the Great<br \/>\nNorthern 232,022 sacks, and the Great Western 136,312 sacks;<br \/>\nthe principal contribution of the London and Northwestern Railway<br \/>\ntoward the London bread-stores being 100,760 boxes of<br \/>\nAmerican flour, besides 24,300 sacks of English. The total<br \/>\nquantity of malt delivered at the London railway stations in<br \/>\n1867 was thirteen hundred thousand sacks.<\/p>\n<p>Next, as to flesh meat. Last year not fewer than 172,300 head<br \/>\nof cattle were brought into London by railway, though this was<br \/>\nconsiderably less than the number carried before the cattle<br \/>\nplague, the Great Eastern Railway alone having carried 44,672<br \/>\nless than in 1864. But this loss has since been more than made<br \/>\nup by the increased quantities of fresh beef, mutton, and other<br \/>\nkinds of meat imported in lieu of the live animals. The principal<br \/>\nsupplies of cattle are brought, as we have said, by the western,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xxi\" name=\"Page_xxi\"><\/a>[xxi]<\/span><br \/>\nnorthern, and eastern lines: by the Great Western from the<br \/>\nwestern counties and Ireland; by the London and Northwestern,<br \/>\nthe Midland, and the Great Northern, from the northern counties<br \/>\nand from Scotland; and by the Great Eastern from the eastern<br \/>\ncounties, and from the ports of Harwich and Lowestoft.<\/p>\n<p>Last year also, 1,147,609 sheep were brought to London by railway,<br \/>\nof which the Great Eastern delivered not less than 265,371<br \/>\nhead. The London and Northwestern and Great Northern between<br \/>\nthem brought 390,000 head from the northern English<br \/>\ncounties, with a large proportion from the Scotch Highlands;<br \/>\nwhile the Great Western brought up 130,000 head from the<br \/>\nWelsh mountains, and from the rich grazing districts of Wilts,<br \/>\nGloucester, Somerset, and Devon. Another important freight of<br \/>\nthe London and Northwestern Railway consists of pigs, of which<br \/>\nthey delivered 54,700 in London last year, principally Irish;<br \/>\nwhile the Great Eastern brought up 27,500 of the same animal,<br \/>\npartly foreign.<\/p>\n<p>While the cattle plague has had the effect of greatly reducing<br \/>\nthe number of live-stock brought into London yearly, it has given<br \/>\na considerable impetus to the Fresh Meat traffic. Thus, in addition<br \/>\nto the above large numbers of cattle and sheep delivered<br \/>\nin London last year, the railways brought 76,175 tons of meat,<br \/>\nwhich\u2014taking the meat of an average beast at 800 lbs., and of<br \/>\nan average sheep at 64 lbs.\u2014would be equivalent to about 112,000<br \/>\nmore cattle, and 1,267,500 more sheep. The Great Northern<br \/>\nbrought the largest quantity; next, the London and Northwestern\u2014these<br \/>\ntwo companies having brought up between them, from<br \/>\ndistances as remote as Aberdeen and Inverness, about 42,000 tons<br \/>\nof fresh meat in 1867, at an average freight of about 1\/2<i>d.<\/i> a lb.<\/p>\n<p>Again, as regards Fish, of which six tenths of the whole quantity<br \/>\nconsumed in London is now brought by rail. The Great<br \/>\nEastern and the Great Northern are by far the largest importers<br \/>\nof this article, and justify their claim to be regarded as the great<br \/>\nfood lines of London. Of the 61,358 tons of fish brought by railway<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xxii\" name=\"Page_xxii\"><\/a>[xxii]<\/span><br \/>\nin 1867, not less than 24,500 tons were delivered by the former,<br \/>\nand 22,000 tons, brought from much longer distances, by the<br \/>\nlatter company. The London and Northwestern brought about<br \/>\n6000 tons last year, the principal part of which was salmon from<br \/>\nScotland and Ireland. The Great Western also brought about<br \/>\n4000 tons, partly salmon, but the greater part mackerel from the<br \/>\nsouthwest coast. During the mackerel season, as much as a hundred<br \/>\ntons at a time are brought into the Paddington Station by<br \/>\nexpress fish-train from Cornwall.<\/p>\n<p>The Great Eastern and Great Northern Companies are also the<br \/>\nprincipal carriers of turkeys, geese, fowls, and game, the quantity<br \/>\ndelivered in London last year by the former company having been<br \/>\n5042 tons. In Christmas week no fewer than 30,000 turkeys and<br \/>\ngeese were delivered at the Bishopsgate Station, besides about<br \/>\n300 tons of poultry, 10,000 barrels of beer, and immense quantities<br \/>\nof fish, oysters, and other kinds of food. As much as 1600<br \/>\ntons of poultry and game were brought last year by the Southwestern<br \/>\nRailway; 600 tons by the Great Northern Railway; and<br \/>\n130 tons of turkeys, geese, and fowls by the London, Chatham<br \/>\nand Dover line, principally from France.<\/p>\n<p>Of miscellaneous articles, the Great Northern and Midland<br \/>\neach brought about 3000 tons of cheese, the Southwestern 2600<br \/>\ntons, and the London and Northwestern 10,034 cheeses in number;<br \/>\nwhile the Southwestern and Brighton lines brought a splendid<br \/>\ncontribution to the London breakfast-table in the shape of<br \/>\n11,259 <em>tons<\/em> of French eggs; these two companies delivering between<br \/>\nthem an average of more than three millions of eggs a<br \/>\nweek all the year round! The same companies last year delivered<br \/>\nin London 14,819 tons of butter, for the most part the produce<br \/>\nof the farms of Normandy, the greater cleanness and neatness<br \/>\nwith which the Normandy butter is prepared for market<br \/>\nrendering it a favorite both with dealers and consumers of late<br \/>\nyears compared with Irish butter. The London, Chatham and<br \/>\nDover Company also brought from Calais 96 tons of eggs.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xxiii\" name=\"Page_xxiii\"><\/a>[xxiii]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Next, as to the potatoes, vegetables, and fruit brought by rail.<br \/>\nForty years since, the inhabitants of London relied for their supply<br \/>\nof vegetables on the garden-grounds in the immediate neighborhood<br \/>\nof the metropolis, and the consequence was that they<br \/>\nwere both very dear and limited in quantity. But railways,<br \/>\nwhile they have extended the grazing-grounds of London as far<br \/>\nas the Highlands, have at the same time extended the garden-grounds<br \/>\nof London into all the adjoining counties\u2014into East<br \/>\nKent, Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk, the vale of Gloucester, and<br \/>\neven as far as Penzance in Cornwall. The London, Chatham<br \/>\nand Dover, one of the youngest of our main lines, brought up<br \/>\nfrom East Kent last year 5279 tons of potatoes, 1046 tons of vegetables,<br \/>\nand 5386 tons of fruit, besides 542 tons of vegetables<br \/>\nfrom France. The Southeastern brought 25,163 tons of the<br \/>\nsame produce. The Great Eastern brought from the eastern<br \/>\ncounties 21,315 tons of potatoes, and 3596 tons of vegetables and<br \/>\nfruit; while the Great Northern brought no less than 78,505<br \/>\ntons of potatoes\u2014a large part of them from the east of Scotland\u2014and<br \/>\n3768 tons of vegetables and fruit. About 6000 tons of<br \/>\nearly potatoes were last year brought from Cornwall, with about<br \/>\n5000 tons of brocoli, and the quantities are steadily increasing.<br \/>\n&#8220;Truly London hath a large belly,&#8221; said old Fuller two hundred<br \/>\nyears since. But how much more capacious is it now!<\/p>\n<p>One of the most striking illustrations of the utility of railways<br \/>\nin contributing to the supply of wholesome articles of food to<br \/>\nthe population of large cities is to be found in the rapid growth<br \/>\nof the traffic in Milk. Readers of newspapers may remember<br \/>\nthe descriptions published some years since of the horrid dens in<br \/>\nwhich London cows are penned, and of the odious compound<br \/>\nsold by the name of milk, of which the least deleterious ingredient<br \/>\nin it was supplied by the &#8220;cow with the iron tail.&#8221; That<br \/>\nstate of affairs is now completely changed. What with the<br \/>\ngreatly improved state of the London dairies and the better<br \/>\nquality of the milk supplied by them, together with the large<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xxiv\" name=\"Page_xxiv\"><\/a>[xxiv]<\/span><br \/>\nquantities brought by railway from a range of a hundred miles<br \/>\nand more all round London, even the poorest classes in the metropolis<br \/>\nare now enabled to obtain as wholesome a supply of the<br \/>\narticle as the inhabitants of most country towns.<\/p>\n<p>The milk traffic has in some cases been rapid, almost sudden,<br \/>\nin its growth. Though the Great Western is at present the<br \/>\ngreatest of the milk lines, it brought very little into London prior<br \/>\nto the year 1865. In the month of August in that year it<br \/>\nbrought 23,474 gallons, and in the month of October following<br \/>\nthe quantity had increased to 103,214 gallons. Last year the<br \/>\ntotal quantity delivered in London by this single railway was<br \/>\n1,514,836 gallons, or an average of 30,000 gallons a week. The<br \/>\nlargest proportion of this milk was brought from beyond Swindon<br \/>\nin Wiltshire, about 100 miles from London; but considerable<br \/>\nquantities were also brought from the vale of Gloucester<br \/>\nand from Somerset. The London and Southwestern also is a<br \/>\ngreat milk-carrying line, having brought as much as 1,480,272<br \/>\ngallons to London last year, or an average of 28,000 gallons a<br \/>\nweek. The Great Eastern brought nearly the same quantity,<br \/>\n1,322,429 gallons, or an average of about 25,400 gallons a<br \/>\nweek. The London and Northwestern ranks next, having<br \/>\nbrought 643,432 gallons in 1867; then the Great Northern,<br \/>\n455,916 gallons; the Southeastern, 435,668 gallons; and the<br \/>\nBrighton, 419,254 gallons. The total quantity of milk delivered<br \/>\nin London by railway last year was 6,309,446 gallons, or<br \/>\nabove 120,000 gallons a week. Yet this traffic, large though it<br \/>\nmay appear, is as yet but in its infancy, and in the course of a<br \/>\nfew more years it will be found very largely increased, according<br \/>\nas facilities are provided for its accommodation and transit.<\/p>\n<p>These great streams of food, which we have thus so summarily<br \/>\ndescribed, flow into London so continuously and uninterruptedly,<br \/>\nthat comparatively few persons are aware of the magnitude and<br \/>\nimportance of the process thus daily going forward. Though<br \/>\ngathered from an immense extent of country\u2014embracing England,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xxv\" name=\"Page_xxv\"><\/a>[xxv]<\/span><br \/>\nScotland, Wales, and Ireland\u2014the influx is so unintermitted<br \/>\nthat it is relied upon with as much certainty as if it only<br \/>\ncame from the counties immediately adjoining London. The<br \/>\nexpress meat-train from Aberdeen arrives in town as punctually<br \/>\nas the Clapham omnibus, and the express milk-train from Aylesbury<br \/>\nis as regular in its delivery as the penny post. Indeed,<br \/>\nLondon now depends so much upon railways for its subsistence,<br \/>\nthat it may be said to be fed by them from day to day, having<br \/>\nnever more than a few days&#8217; food in stock. And the supply is<br \/>\nso regular and continuous, that the possibility of its being interrupted<br \/>\nnever for a moment occurs to any one. Yet, in these<br \/>\ndays of strikes among workmen, such a contingency is quite<br \/>\nwithin the limits of possibility. Another contingency, arising in<br \/>\na state of war, is probably still more remote. But, were it possible<br \/>\nfor a war to occur between England and a combination of<br \/>\nforeign powers possessed of stronger iron-clads than ours, and<br \/>\nthat they were able to ram our ships back into port and land an<br \/>\nenemy of overpowering force on the Essex coast, it would be sufficient<br \/>\nfor them to occupy or cut the railways leading from the<br \/>\nnorth, to starve London into submission in less than a fortnight.<\/p>\n<p>Besides supplying London with food, railways have also been<br \/>\ninstrumental in insuring the more regular and economical supply<br \/>\nof fuel\u2014a matter of almost as vital importance to the population<br \/>\nin a climate such as that of England. So long as the market<br \/>\nwas supplied with coal brought by sea in sailing ships, fuel in<br \/>\nwinter often rose to a famine price, especially during long-continued<br \/>\neasterly winds. But, now that railways are in full work,<br \/>\nthe price is almost as steady in winter as in summer, and the supply<br \/>\nis more regular at all seasons. The following statement of<br \/>\nthe coals brought into London by sea and by railway, at decennial<br \/>\nperiods since 1827, as supplied by Mr. J. R. Scott, Registrar of<br \/>\nthe Coal Exchange, shows the effect of railways in increasing the<br \/>\nsupply of fuel, at the same time that they have lowered the price<br \/>\nto the consumer:<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xxvi\" name=\"Page_xxvi\"><\/a>[xxvi]<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"center \">\n<table border=\"1\" summary=\"Coal to London\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th align=\"center\">Years.<\/th>\n<th align=\"center\">Sea-borne Coal.<\/th>\n<th align=\"center\">Coals brought by<br \/>\nRailway.<\/th>\n<th align=\"center\">Price per Ton.<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"center br\">&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td class=\"center br\">Tons.<\/td>\n<td class=\"center br\">Tons.<\/td>\n<td align=\"center\">&nbsp; <i>s.<\/i>&nbsp; <i>d.<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"center br\">1827<\/td>\n<td class=\"center br\">1,882,321<\/td>\n<td class=\"center br\">nil<\/td>\n<td align=\"center\">28 &nbsp; 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"center br\">1847<\/td>\n<td class=\"center br\">3,280,420<\/td>\n<td class=\"center br\">&nbsp; &nbsp; 19,336<\/td>\n<td align=\"center\">20 10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"center br\">1857<\/td>\n<td class=\"center br\">3,133,459<\/td>\n<td class=\"center br\">1,206,775<\/td>\n<td align=\"center\">18 &nbsp; 8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"center br\">1867<\/td>\n<td class=\"center br\">3,016,416<\/td>\n<td class=\"center br\">3,295,652<\/td>\n<td align=\"center\">20 &nbsp; 8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"inno\">Thus the price of coal has been reduced 7<i>s.<\/i> 10<i>d.<\/i> a ton since 1827,<br \/>\nwhile the quantity delivered has been enormously increased, the<br \/>\ntotal saving on the quantity consumed in the metropolis in 1867,<br \/>\ncompared with 1827, being equal to \u00a32,388,000.<\/p>\n<p>But the carriage of food and fuel to London forms but a small<br \/>\npart of the merchandise traffic carried by railway. Above<br \/>\n600,000 tons of goods of various kinds yearly pass through one<br \/>\nstation only, that of the London and Northwestern Company, at<br \/>\nCamden Town; and sometimes as many as 20,000 parcels daily.<br \/>\nEvery other metropolitan station is similarly alive with traffic inward<br \/>\nand outward, London having since the introduction of railways<br \/>\nbecome more than ever a great distributive centre, to which<br \/>\nmerchandise of all kinds converges, and from which it is distributed<br \/>\nto all parts of the country. Mr. Bazley, M.P., stated at a<br \/>\nlate public meeting at Manchester that it would probably require<br \/>\nten millions of horses to convey by road the merchandise traffic<br \/>\nwhich is now annually carried by railway.<\/p>\n<p>Railways have also proved of great value in connection with<br \/>\nthe Cheap Postage system. By their means it has become possible<br \/>\nto carry letters, newspapers, books, and post parcels in any<br \/>\nquantity, expeditiously and cheaply. The Liverpool and Manchester<br \/>\nline was no sooner opened in 1830 than the Post-office<br \/>\nauthorities recognized its utility, and used it for carrying the<br \/>\nmails between the two towns. When the London and Birmingham<br \/>\nline was opened eight years later, mail trains were at once<br \/>\nput on, the directors undertaking to perform the distance of 113<br \/>\nmiles within 5 hours by day and 5-1\/2 hours by night. As additional<br \/>\nlines were opened, the old four-horse mail-coaches were<br \/>\ngradually discontinued, until, in 1858, the last of them, the &#8220;Derby<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xxvii\" name=\"Page_xxvii\"><\/a>[xxvii]<\/span><br \/>\nDilly,&#8221; which ran between Manchester and Derby, was taken<br \/>\noff on the opening of the Midland line to Rowsley.<\/p>\n<p>The increased accommodation provided by railways was found<br \/>\nof essential importance, more particularly after the adoption of<br \/>\nthe Cheap Postage system; and that such accommodation was<br \/>\nneeded will be obvious from the extraordinary increase which<br \/>\nhas taken place in the number of letters and packets sent by post.<br \/>\nThus, in 1839, the number of chargeable letters carried was only<br \/>\n76 millions, and of newspapers 44-1\/2 millions; whereas, in 1865,<br \/>\nthe number of letters had increased to 720 millions, and in 1867<br \/>\nto 775 millions, or more than tenfold, while the number of newspapers,<br \/>\nbooks, samples, and patterns (a new branch of postal business<br \/>\nbegun in 1864) had increased, in 1865, to 98-1\/2 millions.<\/p>\n<p>To accommodate this largely-increasing traffic, the bulk of<br \/>\nwhich is carried by railway, the mileage run by mail trains in the<br \/>\nUnited Kingdom has increased from 25,000 miles a day in 1854<br \/>\n(the first year of which we have any return of the mileage run) to<br \/>\n60,000 miles a day in 1867, or an increase of 240 per cent. The<br \/>\nPost-office expenditure on railway service has also increased, but<br \/>\nnot in like proportion, having been \u00a3364,000 in the former year,<br \/>\nand \u00a3559,575 in the latter, or an increase of 154 per cent. The<br \/>\nrevenue, gross and net, has increased still more rapidly. In 1841,<br \/>\nthe first complete year of the Cheap Postage system, the gross<br \/>\nrevenue was \u00a31,359,466, and the net revenue \u00a3500,789; in 1854,<br \/>\nthe gross revenue was \u00a32,574,407, and the net revenue \u00a31,173,723;<br \/>\nand in 1867, the gross revenue was \u00a34,548,129, and the net revenue<br \/>\n\u00a32,127,125, being an increase of 420 per cent. compared with<br \/>\n1841, and of 180 per cent. compared with 1854. How much of<br \/>\nthis net increase might fairly be credited to the Railway Postal<br \/>\nservice we shall not pretend to say, but assuredly the proportion<br \/>\nmust be very considerable.<\/p>\n<p>One of the great advantages of railways in connection with<br \/>\nthe postal service is the greatly increased frequency of communication<br \/>\nwhich they provide between all the large towns. Thus<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xxviii\" name=\"Page_xxviii\"><\/a>[xxviii]<\/span><br \/>\nLiverpool has now six deliveries of Manchester letters daily, while<br \/>\nevery large town in the kingdom has two or more deliveries of<br \/>\nLondon letters daily. In 1863, 393 towns had two mails daily<br \/>\nfrom London; 50 had three mails daily; 7 had four mails a day<br \/>\n<em>from<\/em> London, and 15 had four mails a day <em>to<\/em> London; while 3<br \/>\ntowns had five mails a day <em>from<\/em> London, and 6 had five mails a<br \/>\nday <em>to<\/em> London.<\/p>\n<p>Another feature of the railway mail train, as of the passenger<br \/>\ntrain, is its capacity to carry any quantity of letters and post parcels<br \/>\nthat may require to be carried. In 1838, the aggregate<br \/>\nweight of all the evening mails dispatched from London by twenty-eight<br \/>\nmail-coaches was 4 tons 6 cwt., or an average of about<br \/>\n3-1\/4 cwt. each, though the maximum contract weight was 15 cwt.<br \/>\nThe mails now are necessarily much heavier, the number of letters<br \/>\nand packets having, as we have seen, increased more than<br \/>\ntenfold since 1839. But it is not the ordinary so much as the<br \/>\nextraordinary mails that are of considerable weight, more particularly<br \/>\nthe American, the Continental, and the Australian mails.<br \/>\nIt is no unusual thing, we are informed, for the last-mentioned<br \/>\nmail to weigh as much as 40 tons. How many of the old mail-coaches<br \/>\nit would take to carry such a mail the 79 miles&#8217; journey<br \/>\nto Southampton, with a relay of four horses every five or seven<br \/>\nmiles, is a problem for the arithmetician to solve. But even supposing<br \/>\neach coach to be loaded to the maximum weight of 15<br \/>\ncwt. per coach, it would require about sixty vehicles and about<br \/>\n1700 horses to carry the 40 tons, besides the coachmen and guards.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"tb\">\n<p>A few words, in conclusion, as to the number of men employed<br \/>\nin working and maintaining railways. According to Mr. Mills,<a id=\"FNanchor_1\" name=\"FNanchor_1\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_1\">[1]<\/a><br \/>\n166,047 men and officers were employed in the working of 13,289<br \/>\nmiles open in the United Kingdom in 1865, besides 53,923 employed<br \/>\non lines then under construction. The most numerous<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xxix\" name=\"Page_xxix\"><\/a>[xxix]<\/span><br \/>\nbody of workmen is that of the laborers (81,284) employed in the<br \/>\nmaintenance of the permanent way. Being mostly picked men<br \/>\nfrom the laboring class of the adjoining districts, they are paid<br \/>\nconsiderably higher wages, and hence one of the direct effects<br \/>\nof railways on the laboring population (besides affording them<br \/>\ngreater facilities for locomotion) has been to raise the standard<br \/>\nof wages of ordinary labor at least 2<i>s<\/i>. a week in all the districts<br \/>\ninto which they have penetrated. The workmen next in number<br \/>\nis that of the artificers (40,167) employed in constructing and repairing<br \/>\nthe rolling-stock; the porters (25,381), the plate-layers<br \/>\n(12,901), guards and brakesmen (5799), firemen (5266), and engine-drivers<br \/>\n(5171). But, besides the employ\u00e9s directly engaged<br \/>\nin the working and maintenance of railways, large numbers of<br \/>\nworkmen are also occupied in the manufacture of locomotives<br \/>\nand rolling-stock, and in providing the requisite materials for the<br \/>\npermanent way. Thus the consumption of rails alone averages<br \/>\nnearly 400,000 tons a year in the United Kingdom alone, while<br \/>\nthe replacing of decayed sleepers requires about 10,000 acres of<br \/>\nforest to be cut down annually and sawn into sleepers. Taking<br \/>\nthe various railway workmen into account, with their families, it<br \/>\nwill be found that they represent a total of about three quarters<br \/>\nof a million persons, or about one in fifty of our population, who<br \/>\nare dependent on railways for their subsistence.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"tb\">\n<p>While the practical working of railways has, on the whole,<br \/>\nbeen so satisfactory, the case has been very different as regards<br \/>\ntheir direction and financial management. The men employed<br \/>\nin the working of railways make it their business to learn it, and,<br \/>\nbeing responsible, they are under the necessity of taking pains to<br \/>\ndo it well; whereas the men who govern and direct them are<br \/>\npractically irresponsible, and may possess no qualification whatever<br \/>\nfor the office excepting only the holding of so much stock.<br \/>\nThe consequence has been much blundering on the part of these<br \/>\namateurs, and great loss on the part of the public. Indeed, what<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xxx\" name=\"Page_xxx\"><\/a>[xxx]<\/span><br \/>\nbetween the confused, contradictory, and often unjust legislation<br \/>\nof Parliament on the one hand, and the carelessness or incompetency<br \/>\nof directors on the other, many once flourishing concerns<br \/>\nhave been thrown into a state of utter confusion and muddle,<br \/>\nuntil railway government has become a by-word of reproach.<\/p>\n<p>And this state of things will probably continue until the fatal<br \/>\ndefect of government by Boards\u2014an extremely limited responsibility,<br \/>\nor no responsibility at all\u2014has been rectified by the appointment,<br \/>\nas in France, of executives consisting of a few men of<br \/>\nspecial ability and trained administrative skill, personally responsible<br \/>\nto their constituents for the due performance of their respective<br \/>\nfunctions. But the discussion of this subject would require<br \/>\na treatise, whereas we are now but writing a preface.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever may be said of the financial mismanagement of railways,<br \/>\nthere can be no doubt as to the great benefits conferred by<br \/>\nthem on the public wherever made. Even those railways which<br \/>\nhave exhibited the most &#8220;frightful examples&#8221; of scheming and<br \/>\nfinancing, so soon as placed in the hands of practical men to<br \/>\nwork, have been found to prove of unquestionable public convenience<br \/>\nand utility. And notwithstanding all the faults and imperfections<br \/>\nthat are alleged against railways have been admitted,<br \/>\nwe think that they must, nevertheless, be recognized as by far the<br \/>\nmost valuable means of communication between men and nations<br \/>\nthat has yet been given to the world.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"tb\">\n<p>The author&#8217;s object in publishing this book in its original form,<br \/>\nsome ten years since, was to describe, in connection with the<br \/>\n&#8220;Life of George Stephenson,&#8221; the origin and progress of the railway<br \/>\nsystem, and to show by what moral and material agencies<br \/>\nits founders were enabled to carry their ideas into effect, and to<br \/>\nwork out results which even then were of a remarkable character,<br \/>\nthough they have since, as above described, become so much<br \/>\nmore extraordinary. The favor with which successive editions<br \/>\nof the book have been received has justified the author in his anticipation<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xxxi\" name=\"Page_xxxi\"><\/a>[xxxi]<\/span><br \/>\nthat such a narrative would prove of general, if not of<br \/>\npermanent interest, and he has taken pains, in preparing for the<br \/>\npress the present, and probably final edition, to render it, by careful<br \/>\namendment and revision, more worthy of the public acceptance.<\/p>\n<p><em>London, May, 1868.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xxxii\" name=\"Page_xxxii\"><\/a>[xxxii]<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xxxiii\" name=\"Page_xxxiii\"><\/a>[xxxiii]<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"pfs150 gesperrt\"><a id=\"PREFACE8TH\" name=\"PREFACE8TH\"><\/a>PREFACE<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"pfs80\">TO THE EIGHTH EDITION, 1864.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The following is a revised and improved edition of &#8220;The Life<br \/>\nof George Stephenson,&#8221; with which is incorporated a Memoir of<br \/>\nhis son Robert, late President of the Institute of Civil Engineers.<br \/>\nSince its original appearance in 1857, much additional information<br \/>\nhas been communicated to the author relative to the early<br \/>\nhistory of Railways and the men principally concerned in establishing<br \/>\nthem, of which he has availed himself in the present<br \/>\nedition.<\/p>\n<p>In preparing the original work for publication, the author enjoyed<br \/>\nthe advantage of the cordial co-operation and assistance of<br \/>\nRobert Stephenson, on whom he mainly relied for information<br \/>\nas to the various stages through which the Locomotive passed,<br \/>\nand especially as to his father&#8217;s share in its improvement.<br \/>\nThrough Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s instrumentality also, the author was<br \/>\nenabled to obtain much valuable information from gentlemen<br \/>\nwho had been intimately connected with his father and himself<br \/>\nin their early undertakings\u2014among others, from Mr. Edward<br \/>\nPease, of Darlington; Mr. Dixon, C.E.; Mr. Sopwith, F.R.S.;<br \/>\nMr. Charles Parker; and Sir Joshua Walmsley.<\/p>\n<p>Most of the facts relating to the early period of George Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\ncareer were collected from colliers, brakesmen, engine-men,<br \/>\nand others, who had known him intimately, or been fellow-workmen<br \/>\nwith him, and were proud to communicate what they<br \/>\nremembered of his early life. The information obtained from<br \/>\nthese old men\u2014most of them illiterate, and some broken down<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xxxiv\" name=\"Page_xxxiv\"><\/a>[xxxiv]<\/span><br \/>\nby hard work\u2014though valuable in many respects, was confused,<br \/>\nand sometimes contradictory; but, to insure as much accuracy<br \/>\nand consistency of narrative as possible, the author submitted the<br \/>\nMS. to Mr. Stephenson, and had the benefit of his revision of it<br \/>\nprevious to publication.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Stephenson took a lively interest in the improvement of<br \/>\nthe &#8220;Life&#8221; of his father, and continued to furnish corrections<br \/>\nand additions for insertion in the successive editions of the book<br \/>\nwhich were called for by the public. After the first two editions<br \/>\nhad appeared, he induced several gentlemen, well qualified to<br \/>\nsupply additional authentic information, to communicate their<br \/>\nrecollections of his father, among whom may be mentioned Mr.<br \/>\nT. L. Gooch, C.E.; Mr. Vaughan, of Snibston; Mr. F. Swanwick,<br \/>\nC.E.; and Mr. Binns, of Clayross, who had officiated as private<br \/>\nsecretaries to George Stephenson at different periods of his life,<br \/>\nand afterward held responsible offices either under him or in conjunction<br \/>\nwith him.<\/p>\n<p>The author states these facts to show that the information contained<br \/>\nin this book is of an authentic character, and has been obtained<br \/>\nfrom the most trustworthy sources. Whether he has used<br \/>\nit to the best purpose or not, he leaves others to judge. This<br \/>\nmuch, however, he may himself say\u2014that he has endeavored, to<br \/>\nthe best of his ability, to set forth the facts communicated to him<br \/>\nin a simple, faithful, and straightforward manner; and, even if<br \/>\nhe has not wholly succeeded in doing this, he has, at all events,<br \/>\nbeen the means of collecting information on a subject originally<br \/>\nunattractive to professional literary men, and thereby rendered<br \/>\nits farther prosecution comparatively easy to those who may feel<br \/>\ncalled upon to undertake it.<\/p>\n<p>The author does not pretend to have steered clear of errors in<br \/>\ntreating a subject so extensive, and, before he undertook the labor,<br \/>\ncomparatively uninvestigated; but, wherever errors have<br \/>\nbeen pointed out, he has taken the earliest opportunity of correcting<br \/>\nthem. With respect to objections taken to the book because<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xxxv\" name=\"Page_xxxv\"><\/a>[xxxv]<\/span><br \/>\nof the undue share of merit alleged to be therein attributed<br \/>\nto the Stephensons in respect of the Railway and the Locomotive,<br \/>\nthere will necessarily be various opinions. There is<br \/>\nscarcely an invention or improvement in mechanics but has been<br \/>\nthe subject of dispute, and it was to be expected that those who<br \/>\nhad counter claims would put them forward in the present case;<br \/>\nnor has the author any reason to complain of the manner in<br \/>\nwhich this has been done.<\/p>\n<p>While George Stephenson is the principal subject in the following<br \/>\nbook, his son Robert also forms an essential part of it.<br \/>\nFather and son were so intimately associated in the early period<br \/>\nof their career, that it is difficult, if not impossible, to describe<br \/>\nthe one apart from the other. The life and achievements of the<br \/>\nson were in a great measure the complement of the life and<br \/>\nachievements of the father. The care, also, with which the elder<br \/>\nStephenson, while occupying the position of an obscure engine-wright,<br \/>\ndevoted himself to his son&#8217;s education, and the gratitude<br \/>\nwith which the latter repaid the affectionate self-denial of his<br \/>\nfather, furnish some of the most interesting illustrations of the<br \/>\npersonal character of both.<\/p>\n<p>These views were early adopted by the author and carried out<br \/>\nby him in the preparation of the original work, with the concurrence<br \/>\nof Robert Stephenson, who supplied the necessary particulars<br \/>\nrelating to himself. Such portions of these were accordingly<br \/>\nembodied in the narrative as could with propriety be published<br \/>\nduring his life-time, and the remaining portions are now added<br \/>\nwith the object of rendering more complete the record of the<br \/>\nson&#8217;s life, as well as the early history of the Railway System.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xxxvi\" name=\"Page_xxxvi\"><\/a>[xxxvi]<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xxxvii\" name=\"Page_xxxvii\"><\/a>[xxxvii]<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"CONTENTS\" name=\"CONTENTS\"><\/a>CONTENTS.<\/h2>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p class=\"pfs120 gesperrt\">PART I.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER I.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">Schemers and Projectors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">Man&#8217;s Desire for rapid Transit.\u2014Origin of the Railway.\u2014Early Coal Wagon-ways<br \/>\nin the North of England.\u2014Early Attempts to apply the Power of Wind to drive<br \/>\nCarriages.\u2014Sailing-coaches.\u2014Sir Isaac Newton&#8217;s Proposal to employ Steam-power.\u2014Dr.<br \/>\nDarwin&#8217;s Speculations on the Subject.\u2014Mr. Edgeworth&#8217;s Speculations.\u2014Dr.<br \/>\nDarwin&#8217;s Prophecy.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_47\">Page 47<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER II.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">Early Locomotive Models.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">Watt and Robison&#8217;s proposed Steam-carriage.\u2014Memoir of Joseph Cugnot and his<br \/>\nRoad-locomotive.\u2014Francis Moore.\u2014James Watt&#8217;s Specification of a Locomotive-engine.\u2014William<br \/>\nMurdoch&#8217;s Model.\u2014William Symington&#8217;s model Steam-carriage.\u2014Oliver<br \/>\nEvans&#8217;s model Locomotive.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_60\">60<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER III.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">The Cornish Locomotive\u2014Memoir of Trevithick.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">Early Welsh Railway Acts.\u2014Wandsworth, Croydon, and Merstham Railway.\u2014Boyhood<br \/>\nof Trevithick.\u2014Becomes an Engineer.\u2014His Career.\u2014Constructs a<br \/>\nSteam-carriage.\u2014Its Exhibition in London.\u2014Constructs a Tram-engine.\u2014Its<br \/>\nTrial on the Merthyr Railroad.\u2014Trevithick&#8217;s Improvements in the Steam-engine.\u2014Attempts<br \/>\nto construct a Tunnel under the Thames.\u2014His numerous Inventions<br \/>\nand Patents.\u2014Engines ordered of him for Peru.\u2014Trevithick a Mining Engineer<br \/>\nin South America.\u2014Is ruined by the Peruvian Revolution.\u2014His return Home.\u2014His<br \/>\nlast Patents.\u2014Death and Characteristics.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_73\">73<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"pfs120 gesperrt\">PART II.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER I.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">The Newcastle Coal-field\u2014George Stephenson&#8217;s Early Years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">Newcastle in ancient Times.\u2014The Coal-trade.\u2014Modern Newcastle.\u2014The Colliery<br \/>\nWorkmen.\u2014The Pumping-engines.\u2014The Pitmen.\u2014The Keelmen.\u2014Wylam Colliery<br \/>\nand Village.\u2014George Stephenson&#8217;s Birthplace.\u2014The Stephenson Family.\u2014Old<br \/>\nRobert Stephenson.\u2014George&#8217;s Boyhood.\u2014Employed as a Herd-boy.\u2014Makes<br \/>\nClay Engines.\u2014Employed as Corf-bitter.\u2014Drives the Gin-horse.\u2014Appointed assistant<br \/>\nFireman.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_97\">97<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xxxviii\" name=\"Page_xxxviii\"><\/a>[xxxviii]<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER II.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">Newburn and Callerton\u2014George Stephenson learns to be an Engine-man.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">Stephenson&#8217;s Life at Newburn.\u2014Appointed Engine-man.\u2014Duties of Plugman.\u2014Study<br \/>\nof the Steam-engine.\u2014Experiments in Bird-hatching.\u2014Learns to Read.\u2014His<br \/>\nSchoolmasters.\u2014Progress in Arithmetic.\u2014His Dog.\u2014Learns to Brake.\u2014Duties<br \/>\nof Brakesman.\u2014Begins Shoe-mending.\u2014Fight with a Pitman.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_111\">111<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER III.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">Engine-man at Willington Quay and Killingworth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">Sobriety and Studiousness.\u2014Removal to Willington Quay, and Marriage.\u2014Attempts<br \/>\na Perpetual-motion Machine.\u2014William Fairbairn, C.E., and George Stephenson.\u2014Ballast-heaving.\u2014Cottage<br \/>\nChimney takes fire\u2014Birth of his son Robert.\u2014Removal<br \/>\nto West Moor, Killingworth.\u2014Death of his Wife.\u2014Appointed Engine-man<br \/>\nat Montrose.\u2014Return to Killingworth.\u2014Appointed Brakesman at West Moor.\u2014Is<br \/>\ndrawn for the Militia.\u2014Thinks of Emigrating.\u2014Takes a contract for Brakeing.\u2014Improves<br \/>\nthe Winding-engine.\u2014Cures a Pumping-engine.\u2014Is appointed Engine-wright<br \/>\nof the Colliery.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_121\">121<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER IV.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">The Stephensons at Killingworth\u2014Education and Self-education.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">Efforts at Self-improvement.\u2014John Wigham.\u2014Studies in Natural Philosophy.\u2014Education<br \/>\nof Robert Stephenson.\u2014Sent to Bruce&#8217;s School, Newcastle.\u2014His boyish<br \/>\nTricks.\u2014Stephenson&#8217;s Cottage, West Moor.\u2014Mechanical Contrivances.\u2014The<br \/>\nSun-dial at West Moor.\u2014Stephenson&#8217;s various Duties as Colliery Engineer.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_137\">137<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER V.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">The Locomotive Engine\u2014George Stephenson begins its Improvement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">Slow Progress heretofore made in the Improvement of the Locomotive.\u2014The Wylam<br \/>\nWagon-way.\u2014Mr. Blackett orders a Locomotive.\u2014Mr. Blenkinsop&#8217;s Leeds<br \/>\nLocomotive.\u2014Mr. Blackett&#8217;s second Engine a Failure.\u2014The improved Wylam<br \/>\nEngine.\u2014George Stephenson&#8217;s Study of the Subject.\u2014His first Locomotive constructed.\u2014His<br \/>\nImprovement of the Engine, as described by his Son.\u2014Invention<br \/>\nof the Steam-blast.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_152\">152<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER VI.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">Invention of the &#8220;Geordy&#8221; Safety-lamp.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">Frequency of Colliery Explosions.\u2014Accidents in the Killingworth Pit.\u2014Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\nheroic Conduct.\u2014Proposes to invent a Safety-lamp.\u2014His first Lamp and<br \/>\nits Trial.\u2014Cottage Experiments with Coal-gas.\u2014His second and third Lamps.\u2014Scene<br \/>\nat the Newcastle Institute.\u2014The Stephenson and Davy Controversy.\u2014The<br \/>\nDavy and Stephenson Testimonials.\u2014Merits of the &#8220;Geordy&#8221; Lamp.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_175\">175<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER VII.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">George Stephenson&#8217;s Farther Improvements in the Locomotive\u2014Robert<br \/>\nStephenson as Viewer&#8217;s Apprentice and Student.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">Stephenson&#8217;s Improvements in the Mine-machinery.\u2014Farther Improvements in the<br \/>\nLocomotive and in the Road.\u2014Experiments on Friction.\u2014Early Neglect of the<br \/>\nLocomotive.\u2014Stephenson again meditates emigrating to America.\u2014Employed as<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xxxix\" name=\"Page_xxxix\"><\/a>[xxxix]<\/span><br \/>\nEngineer of the Hetton Railway.\u2014Robert Stephenson put Apprentice to a Coal-viewer.\u2014His<br \/>\nFather sends him to Edinburg University.\u2014His Studies there.\u2014Geological<br \/>\nTour in the Highlands.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_198\">198<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER VIII.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">George Stephenson Engineer of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">Failure of the first public Railways near London.\u2014Want of improved communications<br \/>\nin the Bishop Auckland Coal-district.\u2014Various Projects devised.\u2014A Railway<br \/>\nprojected at Darlington.\u2014Edward Pease.\u2014George Stephenson employed as<br \/>\nEngineer.\u2014Mr. Pease&#8217;s Visit to Killingworth.\u2014A Locomotive Factory begun at<br \/>\nNewcastle.\u2014The Stockton and Darlington Line constructed.\u2014The public Opening.\u2014The<br \/>\nCoal-traffic.\u2014The first Passenger-traffic by Railway.\u2014The Town of<br \/>\nMiddlesborough-on-Tees created by the Railway.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_216\">216<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER IX.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">The Liverpool and Manchester Railway Projected.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">Insufficiency of the Communication between Liverpool and Manchester.\u2014A Tram-road<br \/>\nprojected by Mr. Sandars.\u2014The Line surveyed by William James.\u2014The<br \/>\nSurvey a failure.\u2014George Stephenson appointed Engineer.\u2014A Company formed<br \/>\nand a Railroad projected.\u2014The first Prospectus issued.\u2014Opposition to the Survey.\u2014Speculations<br \/>\nas to Railway Speed.\u2014George Stephenson&#8217;s Views thought extravagant.\u2014Article<br \/>\nin the &#8220;Quarterly&#8221;.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_247\">247<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER X.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">Parliamentary Contest on the Liverpool and Manchester Bill.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">The Bill before Parliament.\u2014The Evidence.\u2014George Stephenson in the Witness-box.\u2014Examined<br \/>\nas to Speed.\u2014His Cross-examination.\u2014Examined as to the possibility<br \/>\nof constructing a Line on Chat Moss.\u2014Mr. Harrison&#8217;s Speech.\u2014Mr. Giles&#8217;s<br \/>\nEvidence as to Chat Moss.\u2014Mr. Alderson&#8217;s Speech.\u2014The Bill lost.\u2014Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\nVexation.\u2014The Bill revived, with the Messrs. Rennie as Engineers.\u2014Sir<br \/>\nIsaac Coffin&#8217;s prophecies of Disaster.\u2014The Act passed.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_265\">265<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER XI.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">Chat Moss\u2014Construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">George Stephenson again appointed Engineer of the Railway.\u2014Chat Moss described.\u2014The<br \/>\nresident Engineers of the Line.\u2014George Stephenson&#8217;s Theory of a Floating<br \/>\nRoad on the Moss.\u2014Operations begun.\u2014The Tar-barrel Drains.\u2014The Embankment<br \/>\nsinks in the Moss.\u2014Proposed Abandonment of the Works.\u2014Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\nPerseverance.\u2014The Obstacles conquered.\u2014The Tunnel at Liverpool.\u2014The<br \/>\nOlive Mount Cutting.\u2014The Sankey Viaduct.\u2014Stephenson&#8217;s great Labors.\u2014His<br \/>\ndaily Life.\u2014Evenings at Home.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_281\">281<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER XII.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">Robert Stephenson&#8217;s Residence in Colombia and Return\u2014The &#8220;Battle<br \/>\nof the Locomotive.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">Robert Stephenson appointed Mining Engineer in Colombia.\u2014Mule Journey to Bogot\u00e1.\u2014Mariquita.\u2014Silver<br \/>\nMining.\u2014Difficulties with the Cornishmen.\u2014His Cottage<br \/>\nat Santa Anna.\u2014Resigns his Appointment.\u2014Meeting with Trevithick.\u2014Voyage<br \/>\nto New York, and Shipwreck.\u2014Returns to Newcastle, and takes Charge<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xl\" name=\"Page_xl\"><\/a>[xl]<\/span><br \/>\nof the Locomotive Factory.\u2014Discussion as to the Working Power of the Liverpool<br \/>\nand Manchester Railway.\u2014Walker and Rastrick&#8217;s Report.\u2014A Prize offered<br \/>\nfor the best Locomotive.\u2014Invention of the Multitubular Boiler.\u2014Henry Booth.\u2014Construction<br \/>\nof the &#8220;Rocket.&#8221;\u2014The Locomotive Competition at Rainhill.\u2014Triumph<br \/>\nof the &#8220;Rocket&#8221;.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_301\">301<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER XIII.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and Extension of<br \/>\nthe Railway System.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">The Railway finished.\u2014Organization of the Working.\u2014The public Opening.\u2014Fatal<br \/>\nAccident to Mr. Huskisson.\u2014The Traffic begun.\u2014Improvements in the Road,<br \/>\nRolling Stock, and Locomotive.\u2014Steam-carriages tried on common Roads.\u2014New<br \/>\nRailway Projects.\u2014Opposition to Railways in the South of England.\u2014Robert<br \/>\nStephenson appointed Engineer of Leicester and Swannington Railway.\u2014George<br \/>\nremoves to Snibston and sinks for Coal.\u2014His character as a Master.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_329\">329<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER XIV.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">Robert Stephenson constructs the London and Birmingham Railway.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">The London and Birmingham Railway projected.\u2014George and Robert Stephenson<br \/>\nappointed Engineers.\u2014An Opposition organized.\u2014Public Meetings against the<br \/>\nScheme.\u2014Robert Stephenson&#8217;s Interview with Sir A. Cooper.\u2014The Survey obstructed.\u2014The<br \/>\nLine resurveyed.\u2014The Bill in Parliament.\u2014Thrown out in the<br \/>\nLords.\u2014The Project revived.\u2014The Act obtained.\u2014The Works let in Contracts.\u2014Difficulties<br \/>\nof the Undertaking.\u2014The Line described.\u2014Blisworth Cutting.\u2014Primrose<br \/>\nHill Tunnel.\u2014Kilsby Tunnel.\u2014Its Construction described.\u2014Failures<br \/>\nof Contractors.\u2014Magnitude of the Works.\u2014The Railway navvies.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_349\">349<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER XV.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">Manchester and Leeds, Midland, and other Railways\u2014General Extension<br \/>\nof Railways and their results.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">Projection of new Lines.\u2014Dutton Viaduct on the Grand Junction.\u2014The Manchester<br \/>\nand Leeds.\u2014Incident in Committee.\u2014Summit Tunnel, Littleborough.\u2014The<br \/>\nMidland Railway.\u2014The Works compared with the Simplon Road.\u2014Slip near<br \/>\nAmbergate.\u2014Bull Bridge.\u2014The York and North Midland.\u2014The Scarborough<br \/>\nBranch.\u2014George Stephenson on Estimates.\u2014Stephenson on his Surveys.\u2014His<br \/>\nquick Observation.\u2014His extensive Labors.\u2014Traveling and Correspondence.\u2014Life<br \/>\nat Alton Grange.\u2014Stephenson&#8217;s London Office.\u2014Journeys to Belgium.\u2014Interviews<br \/>\nwith the King.\u2014Public Openings of English Railways.\u2014Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\nAssistants.\u2014Results of Railroads.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_365\">365<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER XVI.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">George Stephenson&#8217;s Coal-mines\u2014Opinions on Railway Speeds\u2014Railway<br \/>\nMania.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">George Stephenson on Railways and Coal Traffic.\u2014Leases the Claycross Estate.\u2014His<br \/>\nResidence at Tapton.\u2014His Appearance at Mechanics&#8217; Institutes.\u2014His Views<br \/>\non Railway Speed.\u2014Undulating Lines favored.\u2014Stephenson on Railway Speculation.\u2014Atmospheric<br \/>\nRailways projected.\u2014Opposed by Stephenson.\u2014The Railway<br \/>\nMania.\u2014Action of Parliament.\u2014Rage for direct Lines.\u2014Stephenson&#8217;s Letter to<br \/>\nPeel.\u2014George Hudson, the &#8220;Railway King.&#8221;\u2014His Fall.\u2014Stephenson again visits<br \/>\nBelgium.\u2014Interview with King Leopold.\u2014Journey into Spain.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_392\">392<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xli\" name=\"Page_xli\"><\/a>[xli]<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER XVII.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">Robert Stephenson&#8217;s Career\u2014East Coast Route to Scotland\u2014High-Level<br \/>\nBridge, Newcastle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">Robert Stephenson&#8217;s Career.\u2014His extensive Employment as Parliamentary Engineer.\u2014His<br \/>\nrival, Brunel.\u2014The Great Western Railway.\u2014Width of Gauge.\u2014Robert<br \/>\nStephenson&#8217;s caution as to Investments.\u2014The Newcastle and Berwick Railway.\u2014Contest<br \/>\nin Parliament.\u2014George Stephenson&#8217;s Interview with Lord Howick.\u2014The<br \/>\nRoyal Border Bridge, Berwick.\u2014Progress of Iron Bridge-building.\u2014Robert<br \/>\nStephenson constructs the High-Level Bridge, Newcastle.\u2014Pile-driving by<br \/>\nSteam.\u2014Merits of the Structure.\u2014The through Railway to Scotland completed.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_421\">421<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER XVIII.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">Chester and Holyhead Railway\u2014Menai and Conway Bridges.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">George Stephenson Surveys a line from Chester to Holyhead.\u2014Robert Stephenson<br \/>\nafterward appointed Engineer.\u2014The Railway Works under Penmaen Mawr.\u2014The<br \/>\nCrossing of the Menai Strait.\u2014Various Plans proposed.\u2014A Tubular Beam<br \/>\ndetermined on.\u2014Strength of wrought-iron Tubes.\u2014Mr. William Fairbairn consulted.\u2014His<br \/>\nExperiments.\u2014Professor Hodgkinson.\u2014Chains proposed, and eventually<br \/>\ndiscarded.\u2014The Bridge Works.\u2014The Conway Bridge.\u2014Britannia Bridge<br \/>\ndescribed.\u2014Floating of the Tubes.\u2014Robert Stephenson&#8217;s great Anxiety.\u2014Raising<br \/>\nof the Tubes.\u2014The Hydraulic Press bursts.\u2014The Works completed.\u2014Merits of<br \/>\nthe Britannia Bridge.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_438\">438<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER XIX.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">Closing Years of George Stephenson&#8217;s Life\u2014Illness and Death.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">George Stephenson&#8217;s Life at Tapton.\u2014Experiments in Horticulture.\u2014His Farming<br \/>\nOperations.\u2014Affection for Animals.\u2014Bee-keeping.\u2014Reading and Conversation.\u2014Rencounter<br \/>\nwith Lord Denman.\u2014Hospitality at Tapton.\u2014His Microscope.\u2014A<br \/>\n&#8220;Crowdie Night.&#8221;\u2014Visits to London.\u2014Visits Sir Robert Peel at Drayton<br \/>\nManor.\u2014His Conversation.\u2014Encounter with Dr. Buckland.\u2014Coal formed by the<br \/>\nSun&#8217;s Light.\u2014Opening of the Trent Valley Line and its Celebration.\u2014Meeting<br \/>\nwith Emerson.\u2014Illness, Death, and Funeral.\u2014Statues of George Stephenson.\u2014Personal<br \/>\nCharacteristics.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_460\">460<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">CHAPTER XX.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\"><span class=\"smcap\">Robert Stephenson&#8217;s Victoria Bridge, Lower Canada\u2014Illness and Death\u2014The<br \/>\nStephenson Characteristics.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\">Robert Stephenson&#8217;s gradual Retirement from the profession of Engineer.\u2014His Tubular<br \/>\nBridge over the Nile.\u2014Railways in Canada.\u2014Proposed Bridge at Montreal.\u2014A<br \/>\nTubular Bridge proposed.\u2014Robert Stephenson appointed Engineer.\u2014Design<br \/>\nof the Victoria Bridge.\u2014The Piers.\u2014Getting in of the Foundations.\u2014Progress<br \/>\nof the Works.\u2014Erection of the Tubes.\u2014Scene at the breaking-up of the Ice in<br \/>\n1858.\u2014The Night-work.\u2014Erection of main central Tube.\u2014Completion of the<br \/>\nWorks.\u2014Robert Stephenson in Parliament.\u2014His Opinion of the Suez Canal.\u2014His<br \/>\nHonors.\u2014Launch of the Great Eastern.\u2014Last Illness and Death.\u2014The Stephenson<br \/>\nCharacteristics.\u2014Conclusion.<span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_474\">474<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"negidt1\"><span class=\"smcap\">Index<\/span><span class=\"pgnum\"><a href=\"#Page_497\">497<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xlii\" name=\"Page_xlii\"><\/a>[xlii]<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xliii\" name=\"Page_xliii\"><\/a>[xliii]<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS\" name=\"LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS\"><\/a>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.<\/h2>\n<div class=\"center\">\n<table border=\"0\" summary=\"List of Illustrations\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"4\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\">PAGE<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Portrait of George Stephenson<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#FPIECE\"><em>to face Title Page.<\/em><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Portrait of Trevithick<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_46\">46<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Tyne Coal-staith<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_49\">49<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Flange-rail<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_50\">50<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Cugnot&#8217;s Steam-carriage<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_62\">62<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Murdock&#8217;s Model Locomotive<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_66\">66<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Symington&#8217;s Model Steam-carriage<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_69\">69<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Oliver Evans&#8217;s Model Locomotive<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_70\">70<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Trevithick&#8217;s Tram-engine<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_81\">81<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">High-Level Bridge, Newcastle<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_96\">96<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Map of Newcastle District<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_98\">98<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Wylam<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_103\">103<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">High-Street House, Wylam<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_104\">104<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Colliery Wagons<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_110\">110<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Newburn<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_111\">111<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Colliery Gin<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_120\">120<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Stephenson&#8217;s Cottage at Willington Quay<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_121\">121<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Stephenson&#8217;s Signature<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_123\">123<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">West Moor Colliery<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_127\">127<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Killingworth High Pit<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_136\">136<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Glebe Farm-house, Benton<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_137\">137<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Rutter&#8217;s School-house at Long Benton<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_140\">140<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Bruce&#8217;s School, Newcastle<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_142\">142<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Stephenson&#8217;s Cottage, West Moor<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_146\">146<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Sun-dial, Killingworth<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_149\">149<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Colliers&#8217; Cottages, Long Benton<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_151\">151<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Blenkinsop&#8217;s Leeds Engine<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_155\">155<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">The Wylam Engine<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_160\">160<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Spur-gear<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_164\">164<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Killingworth Locomotive (Section)<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_168\">168<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Colliery Whimsey<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_174\">174<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Pit-head, West Moor<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_177\">177<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Davy&#8217;s and Stephenson&#8217;s Safety-lamps<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_187\">187<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Literary and Philosophical Institute, Newcastle<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_189\">189<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">The Stephenson Tankard<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_197\">197<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Half-lap Joint<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_200\">200<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Old Killingworth Locomotive<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_201\">201<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">West Moor Pit, Killingworth<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_214\">214<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Portrait of Edward Pease<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_223\">223<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Map of Stockton and Darlington Railway<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_224\">224<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Opening of Stockton and Darlington Railway<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_238\">238<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">The First Railway Coach<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_241\">241<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">No. 1 Engine at Darlington<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_244\">244<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Middlesborough-on-Tees<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_246\">246<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Map of Liverpool and Manchester Railway<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_250\">250-1<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Surveying on Chat Moss<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_264\">264<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Olive Mount Cutting<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_291\">291<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Sankey Viaduct<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_292\">292<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Baiting-place at Sankey<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_295\">295<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Chat Moss\u2014Works in progress<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_299\">299<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Robert Stephenson&#8217;s Cottage at Santa Anna<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_306\">306<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">The &#8220;Rocket&#8221;<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_321\">321<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Locomotive Competition at Rainhill<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_324\">324<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Railway <em>versus<\/em> Road<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_328\">328<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Map of Leicester and Swannington Railway<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_343\">343<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Alton Grange<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_346\">346<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Portrait of Robert Stephenson<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_347\">347<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Map of London and Birmingham Railway<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_354\">354<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Blisworth Cutting<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_355\">355<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Shafts, Kilsby Tunnel<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_357\">357<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Kilsby Tunnel (North end)<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_363\">363<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Dutton Viaduct<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_366\">366<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Littleborough Tunnel (West entrance)<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_368\">368<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Littleborough Tunnel (Walsden end)<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_369xx\">369<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Map of Midland Railway<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_370\">370<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Land-slip, Ambergate<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_372\">372<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Bull Bridge<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_373\">373<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Coalville and Snibston Colliery<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_391\">391<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Tapton House<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_392\">392<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Lime-works, Ambergate<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_394\">394<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Forth-Street Works, Newcastle<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_396xx\">396<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Claycross Works<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_420\">420<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Newcastle from High-Level Bridge<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_421\">421<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Royal Border Bridge, Berwick<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_429\">429<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Elevation and Plan of Arch, High-Level Bridge<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_435\">435<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Railway at Penmaen Mawr<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_440\">440<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Map of Menai Strait; Britannia Bridge<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_442\">442<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Construction of Britannia Tube on Staging<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_450\">450<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Conway Bridge<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_451\">451<\/a><br \/>\n<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_xliv\" name=\"Page_xliv\"><\/a>[xliv]<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Menai Bridge<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_456\">456<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Floating First Tube, Conway Bridge<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_459\">459<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">View in Tapton Gardens<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_460\">460<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Footpath to Tapton House<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_465\">465<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Trinity Church, Chesterfield<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_471\">471<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Tablet in Trinity Church<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_473\">473<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Victoria Bridge, Montreal<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_474\">474<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Elevation of Pier, Victoria Bridge<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_478\">478<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Works in Progress, Victoria Bridge<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_480\">480<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Erection of the Main Central Tube, Victoria Bridge<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_483\">483<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Stephenson Memorial Schools, Willington<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><a href=\"#Page_496\">496<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_45\" name=\"Page_45\"><\/a>[45]<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 300px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/048wavyline.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"90\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"no-break\"><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">EARLY INVENTORS IN LOCOMOTION.<\/a><\/h2>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 300px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/048wavyline.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"90\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><!-- Every chapter in its own indented div\/div for epub --><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_46\" name=\"Page_46\"><\/a>[46]<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 450px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_049.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"612\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>RICHARD TREVITHICK, C.E.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<hr class=\"chap pg-brk\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_47\" name=\"Page_47\"><\/a>[47]<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"pfs150\">EARLY INVENTORS IN LOCOMOTION.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"r15\">\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER I.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>SCHEMERS AND PROJECTORS.<\/h4>\n<p>It is easy to understand how rapid transit from place to place<br \/>\nshould, from the earliest times, have been an object of desire.<br \/>\nThe marvelous gift of speed conferred by Fortunatus&#8217;s Wishing<br \/>\nCap was what all must have envied: it conferred power. It also<br \/>\nconferred pleasure. &#8220;Life has not many things better than this,&#8221;<br \/>\nsaid Samuel Johnson as he rolled along in the post-chaise. But<br \/>\nit also conferred comfort and well-being; and hence the easy and<br \/>\nrapid transit of persons and commodities became in all countries<br \/>\nan object of desire in proportion to their growth in civilization.<\/p>\n<p>We have elsewhere<a id=\"FNanchor_2\" name=\"FNanchor_2\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_2\">[2]<\/a> endeavored to describe the obstructions<br \/>\nto the progress of society occasioned by the defective internal<br \/>\ncommunications of Britain in early times, which were to a considerable<br \/>\nextent removed by the adoption of the canal system,<br \/>\nand the improvement of our roads and highways, toward the end<br \/>\nof last century. But the progress of industry was so rapid\u2014the<br \/>\ninvention of new tools, machines, and engines so greatly increased<br \/>\nthe productive wealth of the nation\u2014that some forty years since<br \/>\nit was found that these roads and canals, numerous and excellent<br \/>\nthough they might be, were altogether inadequate for the accommodation<br \/>\nof the traffic of the country, which was increasing in<br \/>\nalmost a direct ratio with the increased application of steam-power<br \/>\nto the purposes of productive industry.<\/p>\n<p>The inventive minds of the nation, always on the alert\u2014the<br \/>\n&#8220;schemers&#8221; and the &#8220;projectors,&#8221; to whom society has in all times<br \/>\nbeen so greatly indebted\u2014proceeded to apply themselves to the<br \/>\nsolution of the problem of how the communications of the country<br \/>\nwere best to be improved; and the result was, that the power<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_48\" name=\"Page_48\"><\/a>[48]<\/span><br \/>\nof steam itself was applied to remedy the inconveniences which<br \/>\nit had caused.<\/p>\n<p>Like most inventions, that of the Steam Locomotive was very<br \/>\ngradually made. The idea of it, born in one age, was revived in<br \/>\nthe ages that followed. It was embodied first in one model,<br \/>\nthen in another\u2014the labors of one inventor being taken up by<br \/>\nhis successors\u2014until at length, after many disappointments<br \/>\nand many failures, the practicable working locomotive was<br \/>\nachieved.<\/p>\n<p>The locomotive engine was not, however, sufficient for the<br \/>\npurposes of cheap and rapid transit. Another expedient was absolutely<br \/>\nessential to its success\u2014that of the Railway: the smooth<br \/>\nrail to bear the load, as well as the steam-engine to draw it.<\/p>\n<p>Expedients were early adopted for the purpose of diminishing<br \/>\nfriction between the wheels of vehicles and the roads along which<br \/>\nthey were dragged by horse-power. The Romans employed stone<br \/>\nblocks with that object; and the streets of the long-buried city<br \/>\nof Pompeii still bear the marks of the ancient Roman chariot-wheels,<br \/>\nas the stone track for heavy vehicles on our modern London<br \/>\nBridge shows the wheel-marks of the wagons which cross it.<br \/>\nThese stone blocks were merely a simple expedient to diminish<br \/>\nfriction, and were the first steps toward a railroad.<\/p>\n<p>The railway proper doubtless originated in the coal districts<br \/>\nof the North of England and Wales, where it was found useful<br \/>\nin facilitating the transport of coals from the pits to the shipping-places.<br \/>\nAt an early period the coal was carried to the boats in<br \/>\npanniers, or in sacks upon horses&#8217; backs. Next carts were used,<br \/>\nand tram-ways of flag-stone were laid down, along which they<br \/>\nwere easily hauled. The carts were then converted into wagons,<br \/>\nand mounted on four wheels instead of two.<\/p>\n<p>Still farther to facilitate the haulage of the wagons, pieces of<br \/>\nplanking were laid parallel upon wooden sleepers, or imbedded<br \/>\nin the ordinary track. It is said that these wooden rails were<br \/>\nfirst employed by a Mr. Beaumont, a gentleman from the South,<br \/>\nwho, about the year 1630, adventured in the northern mines with<br \/>\nabout thirty thousand pounds, and after introducing many improvements<br \/>\nin the working of the coal, as well as in the methods<br \/>\nof transporting it to the staithes on the river, was ruined by his<br \/>\nenterprise, and &#8220;within a few Years,&#8221; to use the words of the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_49\" name=\"Page_49\"><\/a>[49]<\/span><br \/>\nancient chronicler, &#8220;he consumed all his Money, and rode Home<br \/>\nupon his light Horse.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_3\" name=\"FNanchor_3\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_3\">[3]<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 600px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_052.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"357\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">COAL-STAITH ON THE TYNE.<\/span> &nbsp; [By R. P. Leitch.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The use of wooden rails gradually extended, and they were<br \/>\nlaid down between most of the collieries on the Tyne and the<br \/>\nplaces at which the coal was shipped. Roger North, in 1676,<br \/>\nfound the practice had become extensively adopted, and he<br \/>\nspeaks of the large sums then paid for way-leave\u2014that is, the<br \/>\npermission granted by the owners of lands lying between the<br \/>\ncoal-pits and the river-side to lay down a tram-way for the purpose<br \/>\nof connecting the one with the other.<\/p>\n<p>A century later, Arthur Young observed that not only had<br \/>\nthese roads become greatly multiplied, but formidable works had<br \/>\nbeen constructed to carry them along upon the same level. &#8220;The<br \/>\ncoal wagon-roads from the pits to the water,&#8221; he says, &#8220;are great<br \/>\nworks, carried over all sorts of inequalities of ground, so far as<br \/>\nthe distance of nine or ten miles. The tracks of the wheels are<br \/>\nmarked with pieces of wood let into the road for the wheels of<br \/>\nthe wagons to run on, by which one horse is enabled to draw, and<br \/>\nthat with ease, fifty or sixty bushels of coals.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_4\" name=\"FNanchor_4\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_4\">[4]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Saint Fond, the French traveler, who visited Newcastle in 1791,<br \/>\ndescribed the colliery wagon-ways in that neighborhood as superior<br \/>\nto any thing of the kind he had seen. The wooden rails<br \/>\n<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_50\" name=\"Page_50\"><\/a>[50]<\/span>were formed with a rounded upper surface, like a projecting<br \/>\nmoulding, and the wagon-wheels being &#8220;made of cast iron, and<br \/>\nhollowed in the manner of a metal pulley,&#8221; readily fitted the<br \/>\nrounded surface of the rails. The economy with which the coal<br \/>\nwas thus hauled to the shipping-places was urged by Saint Fond<br \/>\nas an inducement to his own countrymen to adopt a like method<br \/>\nof transit.<a id=\"FNanchor_5\" name=\"FNanchor_5\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_5\">[5]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Similar wagon-roads were early laid down in the coal districts<br \/>\nof Wales, Cumberland, and Scotland. At the time of the Scotch<br \/>\nrebellion in 1745, a tram-road existed between the Tranent coal-pits<br \/>\nand the small harbor of Cockenzie, in East Lothian; and a<br \/>\nportion of the line was selected by General Cope as a position<br \/>\nfor his cannon at the battle of Prestonpans.<\/p>\n<p>In these rude wooden tracks we find the germ of the modern<br \/>\nrailroad. Improvements were gradually made in them. Thus,<br \/>\nat some collieries, thin plates of iron were nailed upon their upper<br \/>\nsurface, for the purpose of protecting the parts most exposed<br \/>\nto friction. Cast-iron rails were also tried, the wooden rails having<br \/>\nbeen found liable to rot. The first iron rails are supposed to<br \/>\nhave been laid down at Whitehaven as early as 1738. This cast-iron<br \/>\nroad was denominated a &#8220;plate-way,&#8221; from the plate-like<br \/>\nform in which the rails were cast. In 1767, as appears from the<br \/>\nbooks of the Coalbrookdale Iron Works, in Shropshire, five or six<br \/>\ntons of rails were cast, as an experiment, on the suggestion of Mr.<br \/>\nReynolds, one of the partners; and they were shortly after laid<br \/>\ndown to form a road.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figleft\" style=\"width: 200px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_053.jpg\" alt=\"(Flange-rail)\" width=\"200\" height=\"258\"><\/div>\n<p>In 1776, a cast-iron tram-way, nailed to<br \/>\nwooden sleepers, was laid down at the<br \/>\nDuke of Norfolk&#8217;s colliery near Sheffield.<br \/>\nThe person who designed and constructed<br \/>\nthis coal line was Mr. John Curr, whose<br \/>\nson has erroneously claimed for him the<br \/>\ninvention of the cast-iron railway. He<br \/>\ncertainly adopted it early, and thereby met<br \/>\nthe fate of men before their age; for his<br \/>\nplan was opposed by the laboring people<br \/>\nof the colliery, who got up a riot, in which<br \/>\nthey tore up the road and burned the coal-staith, while Mr. Curr<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_51\" name=\"Page_51\"><\/a>[51]<\/span><br \/>\nfled into a neighboring wood for concealment, and lay there<br \/>\n<em>perdu<\/em> for three days and nights, to escape the fury of the populace.<a id=\"FNanchor_6\" name=\"FNanchor_6\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_6\">[6]<\/a><br \/>\nThe plates of these early tram-ways had a ledge cast on<br \/>\ntheir outer edge to guide the wheel along the road, after the manner<br \/>\nshown in the preceding cut.<\/p>\n<p>In 1789, Mr. William Jessop constructed a railway at Loughborough,<br \/>\nin Leicestershire, and there introduced the cast-iron<br \/>\nedge-rail, with flanches cast upon the tire of the wagon-wheels to<br \/>\nkeep them on the track, instead of having the margin or flanch<br \/>\ncast upon the rail itself; and this plan was shortly after adopted<br \/>\nin other places. In 1800, Mr. Benjamin Outram, of Little Eaton,<br \/>\nDerbyshire (father of the distinguished General Outram), used<br \/>\nstone props instead of timber for supporting the ends or joinings<br \/>\nof the rails. Thus the use of railroads, in various forms, gradually<br \/>\nextended, until they became generally adopted in the mining<br \/>\ndistricts.<\/p>\n<p>Such was the growth of the railroad, which, it will be observed,<br \/>\noriginated in necessity, and was modified according to experience;<br \/>\nprogress in this, as in all departments of mechanics, having been<br \/>\neffected by the exertions of many men; one generation entering<br \/>\nupon the labors of that which preceded it, and carrying them onward<br \/>\nto farther stages of improvement. The invention of the<br \/>\nlocomotive was in like manner made by successive steps. It was<br \/>\nnot the invention of one man, but of a succession of men, each<br \/>\nworking at the proper hour, and according to the needs of that<br \/>\nhour; one inventor interpreting only the first word of the problem<br \/>\nwhich his successors were to solve after long and laborious<br \/>\nefforts and experiments. &#8220;The locomotive is not the invention<br \/>\nof one man,&#8221; said Robert Stephenson at Newcastle, &#8220;but of a nation<br \/>\nof mechanical engineers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Down to the end of last century, and indeed down almost to<br \/>\nour own time, the only power used in haulage was that of the<br \/>\nhorse. Along the common roads of the country the poor horses<br \/>\nwere &#8220;tearing their hearts out&#8221; in dragging cumbersome vehicles<br \/>\nbehind them, and the transport of merchandise continued to be<br \/>\nslow, dear, and in all respects unsatisfactory. Many expedients<br \/>\nwere suggested with the view of getting rid of the horse. The<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_52\" name=\"Page_52\"><\/a>[52]<\/span><br \/>\npower of wind was one of the first expedients proposed. It was<br \/>\ncheap, though by no means regular. It impelled ships by sea;<br \/>\nwhy should it not be used to impel carriages by land?<\/p>\n<p>The first sailing-coach was invented by one Simon Stevinius,<br \/>\nor Stevins, a Fleming, toward the end of the sixteenth century.<br \/>\nPierre Gassendi gives an account of its performances as follows:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;Purposing to visit Grotius, Peireskius went to Scheveling that<br \/>\nhe might satisfy himself of the carriage and swiftness of a coach a<br \/>\nfew years before invented, and made with that artifice that with<br \/>\nexpanded sails it would fly upon the shore as a ship upon the sea.<br \/>\nHe had formerly heard that Count Maurice, a little after his victory<br \/>\nat Nieuport [1600], had put himself thereinto, together with Francis<br \/>\nMendoza, his prisoner, on purpose to make trial thereof, and that,<br \/>\nwithin two hours, they arrived at Putten, which is distant from<br \/>\nScheveling fourteen leagues, or two-and-forty miles. He had, therefore,<br \/>\na mind to make the experiment himself, and he would often<br \/>\ntell us with what admiration he was seized when he was carried<br \/>\nwith a quick wind and yet perceived it not, the coach&#8217;s motion being<br \/>\nequally quick.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_7\" name=\"FNanchor_7\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_7\">[7]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The sailing-coach, however, was only a curiosity. As a practicable<br \/>\nmachine, it proved worthless, for the wind could not be<br \/>\ndepended upon for land locomotion. The coach could not tack<br \/>\nas the ship did. Sometimes the wind did not blow at all, while<br \/>\nat other times it blew a hurricane. After being used for some<br \/>\ntime as a toy, the sailing-coach was given up as impracticable,<br \/>\nand the project speedily dropped out of sight.<\/p>\n<p>But, strange to say, the expedient of driving coal-wagons by<br \/>\nthe wind was revived in Wales about a century later. On this<br \/>\noccasion, Sir Humphry Mackworth, an ingenious coal-miner at<br \/>\nNeath, was the projector. Waller, in his &#8220;Essay on Mines,&#8221; published<br \/>\nin 1698, takes the opportunity of eulogizing Sir Humphry&#8217;s<br \/>\n&#8220;new sailing-wagons, for the cheap carriage of his coal to the<br \/>\nwater-side, whereby one horse does the work of ten at all times;<br \/>\nbut when any wind is stirring (which is seldom wanting near the<br \/>\nsea), one man and a small sail do the work of twenty.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_8\" name=\"FNanchor_8\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_8\">[8]<\/a> It does<br \/>\n<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_53\" name=\"Page_53\"><\/a>[53]<\/span>not, however, appear that any other coal-owner had the courage<br \/>\nto follow Sir Humphry&#8217;s example, and the sailing-wagon was forgotten<br \/>\nuntil, after the lapse of another century, it was revived by<br \/>\nMr. Edgeworth.<\/p>\n<p>The employment of steam-power as a means of land locomotion<br \/>\nwas the subject of much curious speculation long before any<br \/>\npractical attempt was made to carry it into effect. The merit<br \/>\nof promulgating the first idea with reference to it probably belongs<br \/>\nto no other than the great Sir Isaac Newton. In his &#8220;Explanation<br \/>\nof the Newtonian Philosophy,&#8221; written in 1680, he figured<br \/>\na spherical generator, supported on wheels, and provided<br \/>\nwith a seat for a passenger in front, and a long jet-pipe behind,<br \/>\nand stated that &#8220;the whole is to be mounted on little wheels, so as<br \/>\nto move easily on a horizontal plane, and if the hole, or jet-pipe,<br \/>\nbe opened, the vapor will rush out violently one way, and the<br \/>\nwheels and the ball at the same time will be carried the contrary<br \/>\nway.&#8221; This, it will be observed, was but a modification of the<br \/>\nearliest known steam-engine, or \u0152olopile, of Hero of Alexandria.<br \/>\nIt is not believed that Sir Isaac Newton ever made any experiment<br \/>\nof his proposed method of locomotion, or did more than<br \/>\nmerely throw out the idea for other minds to work upon.<\/p>\n<p>The idea of employing steam in locomotion was revived from<br \/>\ntime to time, and formed the subject of much curious speculation.<br \/>\nAbout the middle of last century we find Benjamin Franklin,<br \/>\nthen agent in London for the United Provinces of America,<br \/>\nMatthew Boulton, of Birmingham, and Erasmus Darwin, of Lichfield,<br \/>\nengaged in a correspondence relative to steam as a motive<br \/>\npower. Boulton had made a model of a fire-engine, which he<br \/>\nsent to London for Franklin&#8217;s inspection; and though the original<br \/>\npurpose for which the engine had been contrived was the<br \/>\npumping of water, it was believed to be practicable to employ it<br \/>\nalso as a means of locomotion. Franklin was too much occupied<br \/>\nat the time by grave political questions to pursue the subject;<br \/>\nbut the sanguine and speculative mind of Erasmus Darwin was<br \/>\ninflamed by the idea of a &#8220;fiery chariot,&#8221; and he pressed his<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_54\" name=\"Page_54\"><\/a>[54]<\/span><br \/>\nfriend Boulton to prosecute the contrivance of the necessary<br \/>\nsteam machine.<a id=\"FNanchor_9\" name=\"FNanchor_9\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_9\">[9]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Erasmus Darwin was in many respects a remarkable man. In<br \/>\nhis own neighborhood he was highly esteemed as a physician, and<br \/>\nby many intelligent readers of his day he was greatly prized as a<br \/>\npoet. Horace Walpole said of his &#8220;Botanic Garden&#8221; that it was<br \/>\n&#8220;the most delicious poem upon earth,&#8221; and he declared that he<br \/>\n&#8220;could read it over and over again forever.&#8221; The doctor was<br \/>\naccustomed to write his poems with a pencil on little scraps of<br \/>\npaper while riding about among his patients in his &#8220;sulky.&#8221; The<br \/>\nvehicle, which was worn and bespattered outside, had room within<br \/>\nit for the doctor and his appurtenances only. On one side of<br \/>\nhim was a pile of books reaching from the floor to nearly the<br \/>\nfront window of the carriage, while on the other was a hamper<br \/>\ncontaining fruit and sweetmeats, with a store of cream and sugar,<br \/>\nwith which the occupant regaled himself during his journey.<br \/>\nLashed on to the place usually appropriated to the &#8220;boot&#8221; was a<br \/>\nlarge pail for watering the horses, together with a bag of oats<br \/>\nand a bundle of hay. Such was the equipage of a fashionable<br \/>\ncountry physician of the last century.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Darwin was a man of large and massive person, bearing a<br \/>\nrather striking resemblance to his distinguished townsman, Dr.<br \/>\nJohnson, in manner, deportment, and force of character. He was<br \/>\nfull of anecdote, and his conversation was most original and entertaining.<br \/>\nHe was a very outspoken man, vehemently enunciating<br \/>\ntheories which some thought original and others dangerous.<br \/>\nAs he drove through the country in his &#8220;sulky,&#8221; his mind<br \/>\nteemed with speculation on all subjects, from zoonomy, botany,<br \/>\nand physiology, to physics, \u00e6sthetics, and mental philosophy.<br \/>\nThough his speculations were not always sound, they were clever<br \/>\nand ingenious, and, at all events, they had the effect of setting<br \/>\nother minds a-thinking and speculating on science and the methods<br \/>\nfor its advancement. From his &#8220;Loves of the Plants&#8221;\u2014afterward<br \/>\nso cleverly parodied by George Canning in his &#8220;Loves<br \/>\nof the Triangles&#8221;\u2014it would appear that the doctor even entertained<br \/>\na theory of managing the winds by a little philosophic<br \/>\nartifice. His scheme of a steam locomotive was of a more practical<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_55\" name=\"Page_55\"><\/a>[55]<\/span><br \/>\ncharacter. This idea, like so many others, first occurred to<br \/>\nhim in his &#8220;sulky.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;As I was riding home yesterday,&#8221; he wrote to his friend Boulton<br \/>\nin the year 1765, &#8220;I considered the scheme of the fiery chariot,<br \/>\nand the longer I contemplated this favorite idea, the more practicable<br \/>\nit appeared to me. I shall lay my thoughts before you, crude<br \/>\nand undigested though they may appear to be, telling you as well<br \/>\nwhat I thought would not do as what would do, as by those hints<br \/>\nyou may be led into various trains of thinking upon this subject,<br \/>\nand by that means (if any hints can assist your genius, which, without<br \/>\nhints, is above all others I am acquainted with) be more likely<br \/>\nto improve or disapprove. And as I am quite mad of this scheme,<br \/>\nI beg you will not mention it, or show this paper to Wyat or any<br \/>\nbody.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;These things are required: 1st, a rotary motion; 2d, easily altering<br \/>\nits direction to any other direction; 3d, to be accelerated,<br \/>\nretarded, destroyed, revived instantly and easily; 4th, the bulk, the<br \/>\nweight, and expense of the machine to be as small as possible in<br \/>\nproportion to its use.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_10\" name=\"FNanchor_10\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_10\">[10]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>He then goes on to throw out various suggestions as to the<br \/>\nform and arrangement of the machine, the number of wheels on<br \/>\nwhich it was to run, and the mode of applying the power. The<br \/>\ntext of this letter is illustrated by rough diagrams, showing a<br \/>\nvehicle mounted on three wheels, the foremost or guiding wheel<br \/>\nbeing under the control of the driver; but in a subsequent passage<br \/>\nhe says, &#8220;I think four wheels will be better.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;Let there be two cylinders,&#8221; he proceeds. &#8220;Suppose one piston<br \/>\nup, and the vacuum made under it by the <i lang=\"fr\">jet d&#8217;eau froid<\/i>. That piston<br \/>\ncan not yet descend because the cock is not yet opened which<br \/>\nadmits the steam into its antagonist cylinder. Hence the two pistons<br \/>\nare in equilibrio, being either of them pressed by the atmosphere.<br \/>\nThen I say, if the cock which admits the steam into the<br \/>\nantagonist cylinder be opened gradually and not with a jerk, that<br \/>\nthe first-mentioned [piston in the] cylinder will descend gradually<br \/>\nand not less forcibly. Hence, by the management of the steam<br \/>\ncocks, the motion may be accelerated, retarded, destroyed, revived<br \/>\ninstantly and easily. And if this answers in practice as it does in<br \/>\ntheory, the machine can not fail of success! Eureka!<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_56\" name=\"Page_56\"><\/a>[56]<\/span><br \/>\n&#8220;The cocks of the cold water may be moved by the great work,<br \/>\nbut the steam cocks must be managed by the hand of the charioteer,<br \/>\nwho also directs the rudder-wheel. [Then follow his rough<br \/>\ndiagrams.] The central wheel ought to have been under the rollers,<br \/>\nso as it may be out of the way of the boiler.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_11\" name=\"FNanchor_11\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_11\">[11]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>After farther explaining himself, he goes on to say:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;If you could learn the expense of coals to a common fire-engine<br \/>\nand the weight of water it draws, some certain estimate may be<br \/>\nmade if such a scheme as this would answer. Pray don&#8217;t show<br \/>\nWyat this scheme, for if you think it feasible and will send me a<br \/>\ncritique upon it, I will certainly, if I can get somebody to bear half<br \/>\nthe expense with me, endeavor to build a fiery chariot, and, if it<br \/>\nanswers, get a patent. If you choose to be partner with me in the<br \/>\nprofit, and expense, and trouble, let me know, as I am determined<br \/>\nto execute it if you approve of it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Please to remember the pulses of the common fire-engines, and<br \/>\nsay in what manner the piston is so made as to keep out the air in<br \/>\nits motion. By what way is the <i lang=\"fr\">jet d&#8217;eau froid<\/i> let out of the cylinder?<br \/>\nHow full of water is the boiler? How is it supplied, and<br \/>\nwhat is the quantity of its waste of water?&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_12\" name=\"FNanchor_12\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_12\">[12]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>It will be observed from these remarks that the doctor&#8217;s notions<br \/>\nwere of the crudest sort, and, as he obviously contemplated<br \/>\nbut a modification of the Newcomen engine, then chiefly employed<br \/>\nin pumping water from mines, the action of which was<br \/>\nslow, clumsy, and expensive, the steam being condensed by injection<br \/>\nof cold water, it is clear that, even though Boulton had taken<br \/>\nup and prosecuted Darwin&#8217;s idea, it could not have issued in a<br \/>\npracticable or economical working locomotive.<\/p>\n<p>But, although Darwin himself\u2014his time engrossed by his increasing<br \/>\nmedical practice\u2014proceeded no farther with his scheme<br \/>\nof a &#8220;fiery chariot,&#8221; he succeeded in inflaming the mind of his<br \/>\nyoung friend, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, who had settled for a<br \/>\ntime in his neighborhood, and induced him to direct his attention<br \/>\nto the introduction of improved means of locomotion by steam.<br \/>\nIn a letter written by Dr. Small to Watt in 1768, we find him<br \/>\ndescribing Edgeworth as &#8220;a gentleman of fortune, young, mechanical,<br \/>\nand indefatigable, who has taken a resolution to move<br \/>\nland and water carriages by steam, and has made considerable<br \/>\n<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_57\" name=\"Page_57\"><\/a>[57]<\/span>progress in the short space of time that he has devoted to the<br \/>\nstudy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>One of the first-fruits of Edgeworth&#8217;s investigations was his<br \/>\npaper &#8220;On Railroads,&#8221; which he read before the Society of Arts<br \/>\nin 1768, and for which he was awarded the society&#8217;s gold medal.<br \/>\nHe there proposed that four iron railroads be laid down on one<br \/>\nof the great roads out of London; two for carts and wagons, and<br \/>\ntwo for light carriages and stage-coaches. The post-chaises and<br \/>\ngentlemen&#8217;s carriages might, he thought, be made to go at eight<br \/>\nmiles an hour, and the stage-coaches at six miles an hour, drawn<br \/>\nby a single horse. He urged that such a method of transport<br \/>\nwould be attended with great economy of power and consequent<br \/>\ncheapness. Many years later, in 1802, he published his views on<br \/>\nthe same subject in a more matured form. By that time Watt&#8217;s<br \/>\nsteam-engine had come into general use, and he suggested that<br \/>\nsmall stationary engines should be fixed along his proposed railroad,<br \/>\nand made, by means of circulating chains, to draw the carriages<br \/>\nalong with a great diminution of horse labor and expense.<\/p>\n<p>It is creditable to Mr. Edgeworth&#8217;s forethought that both the<br \/>\nmodels proposed by him have since been adopted. Horse-traction<br \/>\nof carriages on railways is now in general use in the towns<br \/>\nof the United States; and omnibuses on the same principle regularly<br \/>\nply between the Place de la Concorde at Paris and St.<br \/>\nCloud, both being found highly convenient for the public, and<br \/>\nprofitable to the proprietors. The system of working railways<br \/>\nby fixed engines was also regularly employed on some lines in<br \/>\nthe infancy of the railway system, though it has since fallen into<br \/>\ndisuse, in consequence of the increased power given to the modern<br \/>\nlocomotive, which enables it to surmount gradients formerly<br \/>\nconsidered impracticable.<\/p>\n<p>Besides his speculations on railways worked by horse and<br \/>\nsteam power, Mr. Edgeworth\u2014unconscious of the early experiments<br \/>\nof Stevins and Mackworth\u2014made many attempts to apply<br \/>\nthe power of the wind with the same object. It is stated in his<br \/>\n&#8220;Memoirs&#8221; that he devoted himself to locomotive traction by various<br \/>\nmethods for a period of about forty years, during which he<br \/>\nmade above a hundred working models, in a great variety of<br \/>\nforms; and though none of his schemes were attended with practical<br \/>\nsuccess, he adds that he gained far more in amusement than<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_58\" name=\"Page_58\"><\/a>[58]<\/span><br \/>\nhe lost by his unsuccessful labors. &#8220;The only mortification that<br \/>\naffected me,&#8221; he says, &#8220;was my discovery, many years after I had<br \/>\ntaken out my patent [for the sailing-carriage], that the rudiments<br \/>\nof my whole scheme were mentioned in an obscure memoir of<br \/>\nthe French Academy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The sailing-wagon scheme, as revived by Mr. Edgeworth, was<br \/>\ndoubtless of a highly ingenious character, though it was not practicable.<br \/>\nOne of his expedients was a portable railway, of a kind<br \/>\nsomewhat similar to that since revived by Mr. Boydell. Many<br \/>\nexperiments were tried with the new wagons on Hare Hatch<br \/>\nCommon, but they were attended with so much danger when the<br \/>\nwind blew strong\u2014the vehicles seeming to fly rather than roll<br \/>\nalong the ground\u2014that farther experiments were abandoned, and<br \/>\nMr. Edgeworth himself at length came to the conclusion that a<br \/>\npower so uncertain as that of the wind could never be relied<br \/>\nupon for the safe conduct of ordinary traffic. His thoughts<br \/>\nfinally settled on steam as the only practicable power for this<br \/>\npurpose; but, though his enthusiasm in the cause of improved<br \/>\ntransit of persons and of goods remained unabated, he was now<br \/>\ntoo far advanced in life to prosecute his investigations in that direction.<br \/>\nWhen an old man of seventy he wrote to James Watt<br \/>\n(7th August, 1813): &#8220;I have always thought that steam would<br \/>\nbecome the universal lord, and that we should in time scorn post-horses.<br \/>\nAn iron railroad would be a cheaper thing than a road<br \/>\non the common construction.&#8221; Four years later he died, and left<br \/>\nthe problem, which he had nearly all his life been trying ineffectually<br \/>\nto solve, to be worked out by younger men.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Darwin had long before preceded him into the silent land.<br \/>\nDown to his death in 1802, Edgeworth had kept up a continuous<br \/>\ncorrespondence with him on his favorite topic; but it does not<br \/>\nappear that Darwin ever revived his project of the &#8220;fiery chariot.&#8221;<br \/>\nHe was satisfied to prophesy its eventual success in the<br \/>\nlines which are perhaps more generally known than any he has<br \/>\nwritten\u2014for, though Horace Walpole declared that he could<br \/>\n&#8220;read the Botanic Garden over and over again forever,&#8221; the<br \/>\npoetry of Darwin is now all but forgotten. The following was<br \/>\nhis prophecy, published in 1791, before any practical locomotive<br \/>\nor steam-boat had been invented:<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_59\" name=\"Page_59\"><\/a>[59]<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"poem\">\n<div class=\"stanza\"><span class=\"i0\">&#8220;Soon shall thy arm, unconquered steam, afar<br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"i0\">Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car;<br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"i0\">Or on wide-waving wings expanded bear<br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"i0\">The flying chariot through the fields of air.<br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"i0\">Fair crews triumphant, leaning from above,<br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"i0\">Shall wave their flutt&#8217;ring kerchiefs as they move;<br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"i0\">Or warrior bands alarm the gaping crowd,<br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"i0\">And armies shrink beneath the shadowy cloud.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The prophecy embodied in the first two lines of the passage<br \/>\nhas certainly been fulfilled, but the triumph of the steam balloon<br \/>\nhas yet to come.<\/p>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_60\" name=\"Page_60\"><\/a>[60]<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER II.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>EARLY LOCOMOTIVE MODELS.<\/h4>\n<p>The application of steam-power to the driving of wheel-carriages<br \/>\non common roads was in 1759 brought under the notice<br \/>\nof James Watt by his young friend John Robison, then a student<br \/>\nat the University of Glasgow. Robison prepared a rough sketch<br \/>\nof his suggested steam-carriage, in which he proposed to place<br \/>\nthe cylinder with its open end downward, to avoid the necessity<br \/>\nfor using a working beam. Watt was then only twenty-three<br \/>\nyears old, and was very much occupied in conducting his business<br \/>\nof a mathematical instrument maker, which he had only recently<br \/>\nestablished. Nevertheless, he proceeded to construct a<br \/>\nmodel locomotive provided with two cylinders of tin-plate, intending<br \/>\nthat the pistons and their connecting-rods should act alternately<br \/>\non two pinions attached to the axles of the carriage-wheels.<br \/>\nBut the model, when made, did not answer Watt&#8217;s expectations;<br \/>\nand when, shortly after, Robison left college to go to<br \/>\nsea, he laid the project aside, and did not resume it for many<br \/>\nyears.<\/p>\n<p>In the mean time, an ingenious French mechanic had taken up<br \/>\nthe subject, and proceeded to make a self-moving road engine<br \/>\nworked by steam-power. It has been incidentally stated that a<br \/>\nM. Pouillet was the first to make a locomotive machine,<a id=\"FNanchor_13\" name=\"FNanchor_13\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_13\">[13]<\/a> but no<br \/>\nparticulars are given of the invention, which is more usually attributed<br \/>\nto Nicholas Joseph Cugnot, a native of Void, in Lorraine,<br \/>\nwhere he was born in 1729. Not much is known of Cugnot&#8217;s<br \/>\nearly history beyond that he was an officer in the army, that he<br \/>\npublished several works on military science, and that on leaving<br \/>\nthe army he devoted himself to the invention of a steam-carriage<br \/>\nto be run on common roads.<\/p>\n<p>It appears from documents collected by M. Morin that Cugnot<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_61\" name=\"Page_61\"><\/a>[61]<\/span><br \/>\nconstructed his first carriage at the Arsenal in 1769, at the cost<br \/>\nof the Comte de Saxe, by whom he was patronized and liberally<br \/>\nhelped. It ran on three wheels, and was put in motion by an engine<br \/>\ncomposed of two single-acting cylinders, the pistons of which<br \/>\nacted alternately on the single front wheel. While this machine<br \/>\nwas in course of construction, a Swiss officer, named Planta,<br \/>\nbrought forward a similar project; but, on perceiving that Cugnot&#8217;s<br \/>\ncarriage was superior to his own, he proceeded no farther<br \/>\nwith it.<\/p>\n<p>When Cugnot&#8217;s carriage was ready, it was tried in the presence<br \/>\nof the Duc de Choiseul, the Comte de Saxe, and other military<br \/>\nofficers. On being first set in motion, it ran against a stone wall<br \/>\nwhich stood in its way, and threw it down. There was thus no<br \/>\ndoubt about its power, though there were many doubts about its<br \/>\nmanageableness. At length it was got out of the Arsenal and<br \/>\nput upon the road, when it was found that, though only loaded<br \/>\nwith four persons, it could not travel faster than about two and a<br \/>\nquarter miles an hour; and that, the size of the boiler not being<br \/>\nsufficient, it would not continue at work for more than twelve or<br \/>\nfifteen minutes, when it was necessary to wait until sufficient<br \/>\nsteam had been raised to enable it to proceed farther.<\/p>\n<p>The experiment was looked upon with great interest, and admitted<br \/>\nto be of a very remarkable character; and, considering<br \/>\nthat it was a first attempt, it was not by any means regarded as<br \/>\nunsuccessful. As it was believed that such a machine, if properly<br \/>\nproportioned, might be employed to drag cannon into the<br \/>\nfield independent of horse-power, the Minister of War authorized<br \/>\nCugnot to proceed with the construction of a new and improved<br \/>\nmachine, which was finished and ready for trial in the<br \/>\ncourse of the following year. The new locomotive was composed<br \/>\nof two parts, one being a carriage supported on two wheels,<br \/>\nsomewhat resembling a small brewer&#8217;s cart, furnished with a seat<br \/>\nfor the driver, while the other contained the machinery, which<br \/>\nwas supported on a single driving-wheel 4 ft. 2 in. in diameter.<br \/>\nThe engine consisted of a round copper boiler with a furnace inside<br \/>\nprovided with two small chimneys, two single-acting 13-in.<br \/>\nbrass cylinders communicating with the boiler by a steam-pipe,<br \/>\nand the arrangements for communicating the motion of the pistons<br \/>\nto the driving-wheel, together with the steering-gear.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_62\" name=\"Page_62\"><\/a>[62]<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_065.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"198\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>CUGNOT&#8217;S ENGINE.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The two parts of the machine were united by a movable pin<br \/>\nand a toothed sector fixed on the framing of the front or machine<br \/>\npart of the carriage. When one of the pistons descended, the<br \/>\npiston-rod drew with it a crank, the catch of which caused the<br \/>\ndriving-wheel to make a quarter of a revolution by means of the<br \/>\nratchet-wheel fixed on the axle of the driving-wheel. At the<br \/>\nsame time, a chain fixed to the crank on the same side also descended<br \/>\nand moved a lever, the opposite end of which was thereby<br \/>\nraised, restoring the second piston to its original position at<br \/>\nthe top of the cylinder by the interposition of a second chain and<br \/>\ncrank. The piston-rod of the descending piston, by means of a<br \/>\ncatch, set other levers in motion, the chain fixed to them turning<br \/>\na half-way cock so as to open the second cylinder to the steam<br \/>\nand the first to the atmosphere. The second piston, then descending<br \/>\nin turn, caused the driving-wheel to make another<br \/>\nquarter revolution, restoring the first piston to its original position;<br \/>\nand the process being repeated, the machine was thereby<br \/>\nkept in motion. To enable it to run backward, the catch of the<br \/>\ncrank was arranged in such a manner that it could be made to<br \/>\nact either above or below, and thereby reverse the action of the<br \/>\nmachinery on the driving-wheel. It will thus be observed that<br \/>\nCugnot&#8217;s locomotive presented a simple and ingenious form of a<br \/>\nhigh-pressure engine; and, though of rude construction, it was a<br \/>\nhighly-creditable piece of work, considering the time of its appearance<br \/>\nand the circumstances under which it was constructed.<\/p>\n<p>Several successful trials were made with the new locomotive<br \/>\nin the streets of Paris, which excited no small degree of interest.<br \/>\nUnhappily, however, an accident which occurred to it in one of<br \/>\nthe trials had the effect of putting a stop to farther experiments.<br \/>\nTurning the corner of a street near the Madeleine one day, when<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_63\" name=\"Page_63\"><\/a>[63]<\/span><br \/>\nthe machine was running at a speed of about three miles an hour,<br \/>\nit became overbalanced, and fell over with a crash; after which,<br \/>\nthe running of the vehicle being considered dangerous, it was<br \/>\nthenceforth locked up securely in the Arsenal to prevent its doing<br \/>\nfarther mischief.<\/p>\n<p>The merit of Cugnot was, however, duly recognized. He was<br \/>\ngranted a pension of 300 livres, which continued to be paid to<br \/>\nhim until the outbreak of the Revolution. The Girondist Roland<br \/>\nwas appointed to examine the engine and report upon it to<br \/>\nthe Convention; but his report, which was favorable, was not<br \/>\nadopted; on which the inventor&#8217;s pension was stopped, and he<br \/>\nwas left for a time without the means of living. Some years<br \/>\nlater, Bonaparte, on his return from Italy after the peace of<br \/>\nCampo Formio, interested himself in Cugnot&#8217;s invention, and expressed<br \/>\na favorable opinion of his locomotive before the Academy;<br \/>\nbut his attention was shortly after diverted from the subject<br \/>\nby the Expedition to Egypt. Napoleon, however, succeeded<br \/>\nin restoring Cugnot&#8217;s pension, and thus soothed his declining<br \/>\nyears. He died in Paris in 1804, at the age of seventy-five.<br \/>\nCugnot&#8217;s locomotive is still to be seen in the Museum of the Conservatoire<br \/>\ndes Arts et M\u00e9tiers at Paris; and it is, without exception,<br \/>\nthe most venerable and interesting of all the machines extant<br \/>\nconnected with the early history of locomotion.<\/p>\n<p>While Cugnot was constructing his first machine at Paris, one<br \/>\nFrancis Moore, a linen-draper, was taking out a patent in London<br \/>\nfor moving wheel-carriages by steam. On the 14th of<br \/>\nMarch, 1769, he gave notice of a patent for &#8220;a machine made of<br \/>\nwood or metal, and worked by fire, water, or air, for the purpose<br \/>\nof moving bodies on land or water,&#8221; and on the 13th of July following<br \/>\nhe gave notice of another &#8220;for machines made of wood<br \/>\nand metal, moved by power, for the carriage of persons and<br \/>\ngoods, and for accelerating boats, barges, and other vessels.&#8221;<br \/>\nBut it does not appear that Moore did any thing beyond lodging<br \/>\nthe titles of his inventions, so that we are left in the dark as to<br \/>\nwhat was their precise character.<\/p>\n<p>James Watt&#8217;s friend and correspondent, Dr. Small, of Birmingham,<br \/>\nwhen he heard of Moore&#8217;s intended project, wrote to the<br \/>\nGlasgow inventor with the object of stimulating him to perfect<br \/>\nhis steam-engine, then in hand, and urging him to apply it, among<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_64\" name=\"Page_64\"><\/a>[64]<\/span><br \/>\nother things, to purposes of locomotion. &#8220;I hope soon,&#8221; said<br \/>\nSmall, &#8220;to travel in a fiery chariot of your invention.&#8221; Watt replied<br \/>\nto the effect that &#8220;if Linen-draper Moore does not use my<br \/>\nengines to drive his carriages, he can&#8217;t drive them by steam. If<br \/>\nhe does, I will stop them.&#8221; But Watt was still a long way from<br \/>\nperfecting his invention. The steam-engine capable of driving<br \/>\ncarriages was a problem that remained to be solved, and it was a<br \/>\nproblem to the solution of which Watt never fairly applied himself.<br \/>\nIt was enough for him to accomplish the great work of<br \/>\nperfecting his condensed engine, and with that he rested content.<\/p>\n<p>But Watt continued to be so strongly urged by those about him<br \/>\nto apply steam-power to purposes of locomotion that, in his comprehensive<br \/>\npatent of the 24th of August, 1784, he included an<br \/>\narrangement with that object. From his specification we learn<br \/>\nthat he proposed a cylindrical or globular boiler, protected outside<br \/>\nby wood strongly hooped together, with a furnace inside entirely<br \/>\nsurrounded by the water to be heated except at the ends.<br \/>\nTwo cylinders working alternately were to be employed, and the<br \/>\npistons working within them were to be moved by the elastic<br \/>\nforce of the steam; &#8220;and after it has performed its office,&#8221; he<br \/>\nsays, &#8220;I discharge it into the atmosphere by a proper regulating<br \/>\nvalve, or I discharge it into a condensing vessel made air-tight,<br \/>\nand formed of thin plates and pipes of metal, having their outsides<br \/>\nexposed to the wind;&#8221; the object of this latter arrangement<br \/>\nbeing to economize the water, which would otherwise be<br \/>\nlost. The power was to be communicated by a rotative motion<br \/>\n(of the nature of the &#8220;sun and planet&#8221; arrangement) to the axle<br \/>\nof one or more of the wheels of the carriage, or to another axis<br \/>\nconnected with the axle by means of toothed wheels; and in other<br \/>\ncases he proposed, instead of the rotative machinery, to employ<br \/>\n&#8220;toothed racks, or sectors of circles, worked with reciprocating<br \/>\nmotion by the engines, and acting upon ratched wheels fixed on<br \/>\nthe axles of the carriage.&#8221; To drive a carriage containing two<br \/>\npersons would, he estimated, require an engine with a cylinder 7<br \/>\nin. in diameter, making sixty strokes per minute of 1 ft. each, and<br \/>\nso constructed as to act both on the ascent and descent of the piston;<br \/>\nand, finally, the elastic force of the steam in the boiler must<br \/>\nbe such as to be occasionally equal to supporting a pillar of mercury<br \/>\n30 in. high.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_65\" name=\"Page_65\"><\/a>[65]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Though Watt repeatedly expressed his intention of constructing<br \/>\na model locomotive after his specification, it does not appear<br \/>\nthat he ever carried it out. He was too much engrossed with<br \/>\nother work; and, besides, he never entertained very sanguine<br \/>\nviews as to the practicability of road locomotion by steam. He<br \/>\ncontinued, however, to discuss the subject with his partner Boulton,<br \/>\nand from his letters we gather that his mind continued undetermined<br \/>\nas to the best plan to be pursued. Only four days<br \/>\nafter the date of the above specification (<em>i.e.<\/em>, on the 28th of August,<br \/>\n1784) we find him communicating his views on the subject<br \/>\nto Boulton at great length, and explaining his ideas as to how<br \/>\nthe proposed object might best be accomplished. He first addressed<br \/>\nhimself to the point of whether 80 lbs. was a sufficient<br \/>\npower to move a post-chaise on a tolerably good and level road<br \/>\nat four miles an hour; secondly, whether 8 ft. of boiler surface<br \/>\nexposed to the fire would be sufficient to evaporate a cube foot<br \/>\nof water per hour without much waste of fuel; thirdly, whether<br \/>\nit would require steam of more than eleven and a half times atmospheric<br \/>\ndensity to cause the engine to exert a power equal to<br \/>\n6 lbs. on the inch. &#8220;I think,&#8221; he observed, &#8220;the cylinder must<br \/>\neither be made larger or make more than sixty strokes per minute.<br \/>\nAs to working gear, stopping and backing, with steering<br \/>\nthe carriage, I think these things perfectly manageable.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;My original ideas on the subject,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;were prior to<br \/>\nmy invention of these improved engines, or before the crank, or<br \/>\nany other of the rotative motions were thought of. My plan then<br \/>\nwas to have two inverted cylinders, with toothed racks instead of<br \/>\npiston-rods, which were to be applied to two ratchet-wheels on the<br \/>\naxle-tree, and to act alternately; and I am partly of opinion that this<br \/>\nmethod might be applied with advantage yet, because it needs no fly<br \/>\nand has some other conveniences. From what I have said, and from<br \/>\nmuch more which a little reflection will suggest to you, you will see<br \/>\nthat without several circumstances turn out more favorable than<br \/>\nhas been stated, the machine will be clumsy and defective, and that<br \/>\nit will cost much time to bring it to any tolerable degree of perfection,<br \/>\nand that for me to interrupt the career of our business would<br \/>\nbe imprudent; I even grudge the time I have taken to make these<br \/>\ncomments on it. There is, however, another way in which much<br \/>\nmechanism might be saved if it be in itself practicable, which is to<br \/>\napply to it one of the self-moving rotatives, which has no regulators,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_66\" name=\"Page_66\"><\/a>[66]<\/span><br \/>\nbut turns like a mill-wheel by the constant influx and efflux<br \/>\nof steam; but this would not abridge the size of the boiler, and I<br \/>\nam not sure that such engines are practicable.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>It will be observed from these explanations that Watt&#8217;s views<br \/>\nas to road locomotion were still crude and undefined; and, indeed,<br \/>\nhe never carried them farther. While he was thus discussing<br \/>\nthe subject with Boulton, William Murdock, one of the<br \/>\nmost skilled and ingenious workmen of the Soho firm\u2014then living<br \/>\nat Redruth, in Cornwall\u2014was occupying himself during his<br \/>\nleisure hours, which were but few, in constructing a model locomotive<br \/>\nafter a design of his own. He had doubtless heard of the<br \/>\nproposal to apply steam to locomotion, and, being a clever inventor,<br \/>\nhe forthwith set himself to work out the problem. The plan<br \/>\nhe pursued was very simple and yet efficient. His model was of<br \/>\nsmall dimensions, standing little more than a foot high, but it was<br \/>\nsufficiently large to demonstrate the soundness of the principle on<br \/>\nwhich it was constructed. It was supported on three wheels, and<br \/>\ncarried a small copper boiler, heated<br \/>\nby a spirit-lamp, with a flue passing<br \/>\nobliquely through it. The cylinder,<br \/>\nof 3\/4 in. diameter and 2 in.<br \/>\nstroke, was fixed in the top of the<br \/>\nboiler, the piston-rod being connected<br \/>\nwith the vibrating beam attached<br \/>\nto the connecting-rod which<br \/>\nworked the crank of the driving-wheel.<br \/>\nThis little engine worked<br \/>\nby the expansive force of the steam only, which was discharged<br \/>\ninto the atmosphere after it had done its work of alternately raising<br \/>\nand depressing the piston in the cylinder.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figleft\" style=\"width: 200px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_069.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"164\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>SECTION OF MURDOCK&#8217;S MODEL.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Mr. Murdock&#8217;s son informed the author that this model was invented<br \/>\nand constructed in 1781, but, from the correspondence of<br \/>\nBoulton and Watt, we infer that it was not ready for trial until<br \/>\n1784. The first experiment with it was made in Murdock&#8217;s own<br \/>\nhouse at Redruth, when it successfully hauled a model wagon<br \/>\nround the room\u2014the single wheel placed in front of the engine,<br \/>\nand working in a swivel frame, enabling it to run round in a<br \/>\ncircle.<\/p>\n<p>Another experiment was made out of doors, on which occasion,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_67\" name=\"Page_67\"><\/a>[67]<\/span><br \/>\nsmall though the engine was, it fairly outran the speed of its inventor.<br \/>\nIt seems that one night, after returning from his duties<br \/>\nat the Redruth mine, Murdock determined to try the working of<br \/>\nhis model locomotive. For this purpose he had recourse to the<br \/>\nwalk leading to the church, about a mile from the town. It was<br \/>\nrather narrow, and was bounded on each side by high hedges.<br \/>\nThe night was dark, and Murdock set out alone to try his experiment.<br \/>\nHaving lit his lamp, the water soon boiled, when off started<br \/>\nthe engine, with the inventor after it. Shortly after he heard<br \/>\ndistant shouts of terror. It was too dark to perceive objects; but<br \/>\nhe found, on following up the machine, that the cries proceeded<br \/>\nfrom the worthy pastor of the parish, who, going toward the town,<br \/>\nwas met on this lonely road by the hissing and fiery little monster,<br \/>\nwhich he subsequently declared he had taken to be the Evil<br \/>\nOne in <i lang=\"la\">propria persona<\/i>!<\/p>\n<p>Watt was by no means pleased when he learned that Murdock<br \/>\nwas giving his mind to these experiments. He feared that it<br \/>\nmight have the effect of withdrawing him from the employment<br \/>\nof the firm, to which his services had become almost indispensable;<br \/>\nfor there was no more active, skillful, or ingenious workman<br \/>\nin all their concern. Watt accordingly wrote to Boulton, recommending<br \/>\nhim to advise Murdock to give up his locomotive-engine<br \/>\nscheme; but, if he could not succeed in that, then, rather than<br \/>\nlose Murdock&#8217;s services, Watt proposed that he should be allowed<br \/>\nan advance of \u00a3100 to enable him to prosecute his experiments,<br \/>\nand if he succeeded within a year in making an engine capable<br \/>\nof drawing a post-chaise carrying two passengers and the driver<br \/>\nat four miles an hour, it was suggested that he should be taken<br \/>\nas partner into the locomotive business, for which Boulton and<br \/>\nWatt were to provide the necessary capital.<\/p>\n<p>Two years later (in September, 1786) we find Watt again expressing<br \/>\nhis regret to Boulton that Murdock was &#8220;busying himself<br \/>\nwith the steam-carriage.&#8221; &#8220;I have still,&#8221; said he, &#8220;the same<br \/>\nopinion concerning it that I had, but to prevent as much as possible<br \/>\nmore fruitless argument about it, I have one of some size<br \/>\nunder hand, and am resolved to try if God will work a miracle<br \/>\nin favor of these carriages. I shall in some future letter send<br \/>\nyou the words of my specification on that subject. In the mean<br \/>\ntime I wish William could be brought to do as we do, to mind<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_68\" name=\"Page_68\"><\/a>[68]<\/span><br \/>\nthe business in hand, and let such as Symington and Sadler throw<br \/>\naway their time and money in hunting shadows.&#8221; In a subsequent<br \/>\nletter Watt expressed his gratification at finding &#8220;that William<br \/>\napplies to his business.&#8221; From that time Murdock as well<br \/>\nas Watt dropped all farther speculation on the subject, and left<br \/>\nit to others to work out the problem of the locomotive engine.<br \/>\nMurdock&#8217;s model remained but a curious toy, which he himself<br \/>\ntook pleasure in exhibiting to his intimate friends; and though<br \/>\nhe long continued to speculate about road locomotion, and was<br \/>\npersuaded of its practicability, he refrained from embodying his<br \/>\nideas of it in any more complete working form.<\/p>\n<p>Symington and Sadler, &#8220;the hunters of shadows&#8221; referred to<br \/>\nby Watt, did little to advance the question. Of Sadler we know<br \/>\nnothing beyond that in 1786 he was making experiments as to<br \/>\nthe application of steam-power to the driving of wheel-carriages.<br \/>\nThis came to the knowledge of Boulton and Watt, who gave him<br \/>\nnotice, on the 4th of July of the same year, that &#8220;the sole privilege<br \/>\nof making steam-engines by the elastic force of steam acting<br \/>\non a piston, with or without condensation, had been granted<br \/>\nto Mr. Watt by Act of Parliament, and also that among other<br \/>\nimprovements and applications of his principle he hath particularly<br \/>\nspecified the application of steam-engines for driving wheel<br \/>\ncarriages in a patent which he took out in the year 1784.&#8221; They<br \/>\naccordingly cautioned him against proceeding farther in the<br \/>\nmatter; and as we hear no more of Sadler&#8217;s steam-carriage, it is<br \/>\nprobable that the notice had its effect.<\/p>\n<p>The name of William Symington is better known in connection<br \/>\nwith the history of steam locomotion by sea. He was born<br \/>\nat Leadhills, in Scotland, in 1763. His father was a practical<br \/>\nmechanic, who superintended the engines and machinery of the<br \/>\nMining Company at Wanlockhead, where one of Boulton and<br \/>\nWatt&#8217;s pumping-engines was at work. Young Symington was<br \/>\nof an ingenious turn of mind from his boyhood, and at an early<br \/>\nperiod he seems to have conceived the idea of employing the<br \/>\nsteam-engine to drive wheel-carriages. His father and he worked<br \/>\ntogether, and by the year 1786, when the son was only twenty-three<br \/>\nyears of age, they succeeded in completing a working model<br \/>\nof a road locomotive. Mr. Meason, the manager of the mine,<br \/>\nwas so much pleased with the model, the merit of which principally<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_69\" name=\"Page_69\"><\/a>[69]<\/span><br \/>\nbelonged to young Symington, that he sent him to Edinburg<br \/>\nfor the purpose of exhibiting it before the scientific gentlemen<br \/>\nof that city, in the hope that it might lead, in some way,<br \/>\nto his future advancement in life. Mr. Meason also allowed the<br \/>\nmodel to be exhibited at his own house there, and he invited<br \/>\nmany gentlemen of distinction to inspect it.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_072.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"246\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>SYMINGTON&#8217;S MODEL STEAM-CARRIAGE, 1786.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The machine consisted of a carriage and locomotive behind,<br \/>\nsupported on four wheels. The boiler was cylindrical, communicating<br \/>\nby a steam-pipe with the two horizontal cylinders, one on<br \/>\neach side of the engine. When the piston was raised by the action<br \/>\nof the steam, a vacuum was produced by the condensation<br \/>\nof the steam in a cold-water tank placed underneath the engine,<br \/>\non which the piston was again forced back by the pressure of the<br \/>\natmosphere. The motion was communicated to the wheels by<br \/>\nrack-rods connected with the piston-rod, which worked on each<br \/>\nside of a drum fixed on the hind axle, the alternate action of<br \/>\nwhich rods upon the tooth and ratchet wheels with which the<br \/>\ndrum was provided producing the rotary motion. It will thus<br \/>\nbe observed that Symington&#8217;s engine was partly atmospheric and<br \/>\npartly condensing, the condensation being effected by a separate<br \/>\nvessel and air-pump, as patented by Watt; and though the arrangement<br \/>\nwas ingenious, it is clear that, had it ever been brought<br \/>\ninto use, the traction by means of such an engine would have<br \/>\nbeen of the very slowest kind.<\/p>\n<p>But Symington&#8217;s engine was not destined to be applied to road<br \/>\nlocomotion. He was completely diverted from employing it for<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_70\" name=\"Page_70\"><\/a>[70]<\/span><br \/>\nthat purpose by his connection with Mr. Miller, of Dalswinton,<br \/>\nthen engaged in experimenting on the application of mechanical<br \/>\npower to the driving of his double paddle-boat. The power of<br \/>\nmen was first tried, but the labor was found too severe; and when<br \/>\nMr. Miller went to see Symington&#8217;s model, and informed the inventor<br \/>\nof his difficulty in obtaining a regular and effective power<br \/>\nfor driving his boat, Symington\u2014his mind naturally full of his<br \/>\nown invention\u2014at once suggested his steam-engine for the purpose.<br \/>\nThe suggestion was adopted, and Mr. Miller authorized<br \/>\nhim to proceed with the construction of a steam-engine to be<br \/>\nfitted into his double pleasure boat on Dalswinton Lock, where<br \/>\nit was tried in October, 1788. This was followed by farther experiments,<br \/>\nwhich eventually led to the construction of the <i>Charlotte<br \/>\nDundas<\/i> in 1801, which may be regarded as the first practical<br \/>\nsteam-boat ever built.<\/p>\n<p>Symington took out letters patent in the same year, securing<br \/>\nthe invention, or rather the novel combination of inventions, embodied<br \/>\nin his steam-boat, but he never succeeded in getting it introduced<br \/>\ninto practical use. From the date of completing his invention,<br \/>\nfortune seemed to run steadily against him. The Duke<br \/>\nof Bridgewater, who had ordered a number of Symington&#8217;s steam-boats<br \/>\nfor his canal, died, and his executors countermanded the<br \/>\norder. Symington failed in inducing any other canal company<br \/>\nto make trial of his invention. Lord Dundas also took the <i>Charlotte<br \/>\nDundas<\/i> off the Forth and Clyde Canal, where she had been<br \/>\nat work, and from that time the vessel was never more tried.<br \/>\nSymington had no capital of his own to work upon, and he seems<br \/>\nto have been unable to make friends among capitalists. The<br \/>\nrest of his life was for the most part thrown away. Toward the<br \/>\nclose of it his principal haunt was London, amid whose vast population<br \/>\nhe was one of the many waifs and strays. He succeeded<br \/>\nin obtaining a grant of \u00a3100 from the Privy Purse in 1824, and<br \/>\nafterward an annuity of \u00a350, but he did not live long to enjoy it,<br \/>\nfor he died in March, 1831, and was buried in the church-yard<br \/>\nof St. Botolph, Aldgate, where there is not even a stone to mark<br \/>\nthe grave of the inventor of the first practicable steam-boat.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_074.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"274\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>OLIVER EVANS&#8217;S MODEL LOCOMOTIVE.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>While the inventive minds of England were thus occupied,<br \/>\nthose of America were not idle. The idea of applying steam-power<br \/>\nto the propulsion of carriages on land is said to have occurred<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_71\" name=\"Page_71\"><\/a>[71]<\/span><br \/>\nto John Fitch in 1785; but he did not pursue the idea<br \/>\n&#8220;for more than a week,&#8221; being diverted from it by his scheme of<br \/>\napplying the same power to the propulsion of vessels on the water.<a id=\"FNanchor_14\" name=\"FNanchor_14\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_14\">[14]<\/a><br \/>\nAbout the same time, Oliver Evans, a native of Newport,<br \/>\nDelaware, was occupied with a project for driving steam-carriages<br \/>\non common roads; and in 1786 the Legislature of Maryland<br \/>\ngranted him the exclusive right for that state. Several<br \/>\nyears, however, passed before he could raise the means for erecting<br \/>\na model carriage, most of his friends regarding the project as<br \/>\naltogether chimerical and impracticable. In 1800 or 1801, Evans<br \/>\nbegan a steam-carriage at his own expense; but he had not<br \/>\nproceeded far with it when he altered his intention, and applied<br \/>\nthe engine intended for the driving of a carriage to the driving<br \/>\nof a small grinding-mill, in which it was found efficient. In<br \/>\n1804 he constructed at Philadelphia a second engine of five-horse<br \/>\npower, working on the high-pressure principle, which was<br \/>\nplaced on a large flat or scow, mounted upon wheels. &#8220;This,&#8221;<br \/>\nsays his biographer, &#8220;was considered a fine opportunity to show<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_72\" name=\"Page_72\"><\/a>[72]<\/span><br \/>\nthe public that his engine could propel both land and water conveyances.<br \/>\nWhen the machine was finished, Evans fixed under<br \/>\nit, in a rough and temporary manner, wheels with wooden axle-trees.<br \/>\nAlthough the whole weight was equal to two hundred<br \/>\nbarrels of flour, yet his small engine propelled it up Market<br \/>\nStreet, and round the circle to the water-works, where it was<br \/>\nlaunched into the Schuylkill. A paddle-wheel was then applied<br \/>\nto its stern, and it thus sailed down that river to the Delaware, a<br \/>\ndistance of sixteen miles, in the presence of thousands of spectators.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_15\" name=\"FNanchor_15\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_15\">[15]<\/a><br \/>\nIt does not, however, appear that any farther trial was<br \/>\nmade of this engine as a locomotive; and, having been dismounted<br \/>\nand applied to the driving of a small grinding-mill, its employment<br \/>\nas a traveling engine was shortly forgotten.<\/p>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_73\" name=\"Page_73\"><\/a>[73]<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER III.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>THE CORNISH LOCOMOTIVE\u2014MEMOIR OF RICHARD TREVITHICK.<\/h4>\n<p>While the discussion of steam-power as a means of locomotion<br \/>\nwas proceeding in England, other projectors were advocating the<br \/>\nextension of wagon-ways and railroads. Mr. Thomas, of Denton,<br \/>\nnear Newcastle-on-Tyne, read a paper before the Philosophical<br \/>\nSociety of that town in 1800, in which he urged the laying down<br \/>\nof railways throughout the country, on the principle of the coal<br \/>\nwagon-ways, for the general carriage of goods and merchandise;<br \/>\nand Dr. James Anderson, of Edinburg, about the same time published<br \/>\nhis &#8220;Recreations of Agriculture,&#8221; wherein he recommended<br \/>\nthat railways should be laid along the principal turnpike-roads,<br \/>\nand worked by horse-power, which, he alleged, would have the<br \/>\neffect of greatly reducing the cost of transport, and thereby stimulating<br \/>\nall branches of industry.<\/p>\n<p>Railways were indeed already becoming adopted in places<br \/>\nwhere the haulage of heavy loads was for short distances; and<br \/>\nin some cases lines were laid down of considerable length. One<br \/>\nof the first of such lines constructed under the powers of an Act<br \/>\nof Parliament was the Cardiff and Merthyr railway or tram-road,<br \/>\nabout twenty-seven miles in length, for the accommodation of the<br \/>\niron-works of Plymouth, Pen-y-darran, and Dowlais, all in South<br \/>\nWales, the necessary Act for which was obtained in 1794. Another,<br \/>\nthe Sirhoway railroad, about twenty-eight miles in length,<br \/>\nwas constructed under the powers of an act obtained in 1801; it<br \/>\naccommodated the Tredegar and Sirhoway Iron-works and the<br \/>\nTrevill Lime-works, as well as the collieries along its route.<\/p>\n<p>In the immediate neighborhood of London there was another<br \/>\nvery early railroad, the Wandsworth and Croydon tram-way, about<br \/>\nten miles long, which was afterward extended southward to Merstham,<br \/>\nin Surrey, for about eight miles more, making a total length<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_74\" name=\"Page_74\"><\/a>[74]<\/span><br \/>\nof nearly eighteen miles. The first act for the purpose of authorizing<br \/>\nthe construction of this road was obtained in 1800.<\/p>\n<p>All these lines were, however, worked by horses, and in the case<br \/>\nof the Croydon and Merstham line, donkeys shared in the work,<br \/>\nwhich consisted chiefly in the haulage of stone, coal, and lime.<br \/>\nNo proposal had yet been made to apply the power of steam as<br \/>\na substitute for horses on railways, nor were the rails then laid<br \/>\ndown of a strength sufficient to bear more than a loaded wagon<br \/>\nof the weight of three tons, or, at the very outside, of three and a<br \/>\nquarter tons.<\/p>\n<p>It was, however, observed from the first that there was an immense<br \/>\nsaving in the cost of haulage; and on the day of opening<br \/>\nthe southern portion of the Merstham Railroad in 1805, a train<br \/>\nof twelve wagons laden with stone, weighing in all thirty-eight<br \/>\ntons, was drawn six miles in an hour by one horse, with apparent<br \/>\nease, down an incline of 1 in 120; and this was bruited about as<br \/>\nan extraordinary feat, highly illustrative of the important uses of<br \/>\nthe new iron-ways.<\/p>\n<p>About the same time, the subject of road locomotion was again<br \/>\nbrought into prominent notice by an important practical experiment<br \/>\nconducted in a remote corner of the kingdom. The experimenter<br \/>\nwas a young man, then obscure, but afterward famous,<br \/>\nwho may be fairly regarded as the inventor of the railway locomotive,<br \/>\nif any single individual be entitled to that appellation.<br \/>\nThis was Richard Trevithick, a person of extraordinary mechanical<br \/>\nskill but of marvelous ill fortune, who, though the inventor<br \/>\nof many ingenious contrivances, and the founder of the fortunes<br \/>\nof many, himself died in cold obstruction and in extreme poverty,<br \/>\nleaving behind him nothing but his great inventions and the recollection<br \/>\nof his genius.<\/p>\n<p>Richard Trevithick was born on the 13th of April, 1771, in the<br \/>\nparish of Illogan, a few miles west of Redruth, in Cornwall. In<br \/>\nthe immediate neighborhood rises Castle-Carn-brea, a rocky eminence,<br \/>\nsupposed by Borlase to have been the principal seat of<br \/>\nDruidic worship in the West of England. The hill commands<br \/>\nan extraordinary view over one of the richest mining fields of<br \/>\nCornwall, from Chacewater and Redruth to Camborne.<\/p>\n<p>Trevithick&#8217;s father acted as purser at several of the mines.<br \/>\nThough a man in good position and circumstances, he does not<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_75\" name=\"Page_75\"><\/a>[75]<\/span><br \/>\nseem to have taken much pains with his son&#8217;s education. Being<br \/>\nan only child, he was very much indulged\u2014among other things,<br \/>\nin his dislike for the restraints and discipline of school; and he<br \/>\nwas left to wander about among the mines, spending his time in<br \/>\nthe engine-rooms, picking up information about pumping-engines<br \/>\nand mining machinery.<\/p>\n<p>His father, observing the boy&#8217;s strong bent toward mechanics,<br \/>\nplaced him for a time as pupil with William Murdock, while the<br \/>\nlatter lived at Redruth superintending the working and repairs<br \/>\nof Boulton and Watt&#8217;s pumping-engines in that neighborhood.<br \/>\nDuring his pupilage, young Trevithick doubtless learned much<br \/>\nfrom that able mechanic. It is probable that he got his first idea<br \/>\nof the high-pressure road locomotive which he afterward constructed<br \/>\nfrom Murdock&#8217;s ingenious little model above described,<br \/>\nthe construction and action of which must have been quite familiar<br \/>\nto him, for no secret was ever made of it, and its performances<br \/>\nwere often exhibited.<\/p>\n<p>Many new pumping-engines being in course of erection in the<br \/>\nneighborhood about that time, there was an unusual demand for<br \/>\nengineers, which it was found difficult to supply; and young<br \/>\nTrevithick, whose skill was acknowledged, had no difficulty in<br \/>\ngetting an appointment. The father was astonished at his boy&#8217;s<br \/>\npresumption (as he supposed it to be) in undertaking such a responsibility,<br \/>\nand he begged the mine agents to reconsider their<br \/>\ndecision. But the result showed that they were justified in making<br \/>\nthe appointment; for young Trevithick, though he had not<br \/>\nyet attained his majority, proved fully competent to perform the<br \/>\nduties devolving upon him as engineer.<\/p>\n<p>So long as Boulton and Watt&#8217;s patent continued to run, constant<br \/>\nattempts were made in Cornwall and elsewhere to upset it.<br \/>\nTheir engines had cleared the mines of water, and thereby rescued<br \/>\nthe mine lords from ruin, but it was felt to be a great hardship<br \/>\nthat they should have to pay for the right to use them. They<br \/>\naccordingly stimulated the ingenuity of the local engineers to<br \/>\ncontrive an engine that should answer the same purpose, and enable<br \/>\nthem to evade making any farther payments to Boulton and<br \/>\nWatt. The first to produce an engine that seemed likely to answer<br \/>\nthe purpose was Jonathan Hornblower, who had been employed<br \/>\nin erecting Watt&#8217;s engines in Cornwall. After him one<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_76\" name=\"Page_76\"><\/a>[76]<\/span><br \/>\nEdward Bull, who had been first a stoker and then an assistant-tender<br \/>\nof Watt&#8217;s engines, turned out another pumping-engine,<br \/>\nwhich promised to prove an equally safe evasion of the existing<br \/>\npatent. But Boulton and Watt having taken the necessary steps<br \/>\nto defend their right, several actions were tried, in which they<br \/>\nproved successful, and then the mine lords were compelled to disgorge.<br \/>\nWhen they found that Hornblower could be of no farther<br \/>\nuse to them, they abandoned him\u2014threw him away like a<br \/>\nsucked orange; and shortly after we find him a prisoner for debt<br \/>\nin the King&#8217;s Bench, almost in a state of starvation. Nor do we<br \/>\nhear any thing more of Edward Bull after the issue of the Boulton<br \/>\nand Watt trial.<\/p>\n<p>Like the other Cornish engineers, young Trevithick took an<br \/>\nactive part from the first in opposing the Birmingham patent, and<br \/>\nhe is said to have constructed several engines, with the assistance<br \/>\nof William Bull (formerly an erector of Watt&#8217;s machines), with<br \/>\nthe object of evading it. These engines are said to have been<br \/>\nhighly creditable to their makers, working to the entire satisfaction<br \/>\nof the mine-owners. The issue of the Watt trial, however,<br \/>\nwhich declared all such engines to be piracies, brought to an end<br \/>\nfor a time a business which would otherwise have proved a very<br \/>\nprofitable one, and Trevithick&#8217;s partnership with Bull then came<br \/>\nto an end.<\/p>\n<p>While carrying on his business, Trevithick had frequent occasion<br \/>\nto visit Mr. Harvey&#8217;s iron foundery at Hayle, then a small<br \/>\nwork, but now one of the largest in the West of England, the<br \/>\nCornish pumping-engines turned out by Harvey and Co. being<br \/>\nthe very best of their kind. During these visits Trevithick became<br \/>\nacquainted with the various members of Mr. Harvey&#8217;s family,<br \/>\nand in course of time he contracted an engagement with one<br \/>\nof his daughters, Miss Jane Harvey, to whom he was married in<br \/>\nNovember, 1797.<\/p>\n<p>A few years later we find Trevithick engaged in partnership<br \/>\nwith his cousin, Andrew Vivian, also an engineer. They carried<br \/>\non their business of engine-making at Camborne, a mining town<br \/>\nsituated in the midst of the mining district, a few miles south of<br \/>\nRedruth. Watt&#8217;s patent-right expired in 1800, and from that<br \/>\ntime the Cornish engineers were free to make engines after their<br \/>\nown methods. Trevithick was not content to follow in the beaten<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_77\" name=\"Page_77\"><\/a>[77]<\/span><br \/>\npaths, but, being of a highly speculative turn, he occupied himself<br \/>\nin contriving various new methods of employing steam with<br \/>\nthe object of economizing fuel and increasing the effective power<br \/>\nof the engine.<\/p>\n<p>From an early period he entertained the idea of making the<br \/>\nexpansive force of steam act directly on both sides of the piston<br \/>\non the high-pressure principle, and thus getting rid of the process<br \/>\nof condensation as in Watt&#8217;s engines. Although Cugnot had employed<br \/>\nhigh-pressure steam in his road locomotive, and Murdock<br \/>\nin his model, and although Watt had distinctly specified the action<br \/>\nof steam at high-pressure as well as low in his patents of<br \/>\n1769, 1782, and 1784, the idea was not embodied in any practicable<br \/>\nworking engine until the subject was taken in hand by Trevithick.<br \/>\nThe results of his long and careful study were embodied<br \/>\nin the patent which he took out in 1802, in his own and Vivian&#8217;s<br \/>\nname, for an improved steam-engine, and &#8220;the application thereof<br \/>\nfor driving carriages and for other purposes.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The arrangement of Trevithick&#8217;s engine was exceedingly ingenious.<br \/>\nIt exhibited a beautiful simplicity of parts; the machinery<br \/>\nwas arranged in a highly effective form, uniting strength<br \/>\nwith solidity and portability, and enabling the power of steam to<br \/>\nbe employed with very great rapidity, economy, and force. Watt&#8217;s<br \/>\nprincipal objection to using high-pressure steam consisted in the<br \/>\ndanger to which the boiler was exposed of being burst by internal<br \/>\npressure. In Trevithick&#8217;s engine, this was avoided by using<br \/>\na cylindrical wrought-iron boiler, being the form capable of presenting<br \/>\nthe greatest resistance to the expansive force of steam.<br \/>\nBoilers of this kind were not, however, new. Oliver Evans, of<br \/>\nDelaware, had made use of them in his high-pressure engines<br \/>\nprior to the date of Trevithick&#8217;s patent; and, as Evans did not<br \/>\nclaim the cylindrical boiler, it is probable that the invention was<br \/>\nin use before his time. Nevertheless, Trevithick had the merit<br \/>\nof introducing the round boilers into Cornwall, where they are<br \/>\nstill known as &#8220;Trevithick boilers.&#8221; The saving in fuel effected<br \/>\nby their use was such that in 1812 the Messrs. Williams, of Scorrier,<br \/>\nmade Trevithick a present of \u00a3300, in acknowledgment of<br \/>\nthe benefits arising to their mines from that source alone.<\/p>\n<p>Trevithick&#8217;s steam-carriage was the most compact and handsome<br \/>\nvehicle of the kind that had yet been invented, and, indeed,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_78\" name=\"Page_78\"><\/a>[78]<\/span><br \/>\nas regards arrangement, it has scarcely to this day been surpassed.<br \/>\nIt consisted of a carriage capable of accommodating some<br \/>\nhalf-dozen passengers, underneath which was the engine and machinery<br \/>\ninclosed, about the size of an orchestra drum, the whole<br \/>\nbeing supported on four wheels\u2014two in front, by which it was<br \/>\nguided, and two behind, by which it was driven. The engine<br \/>\nhad but one cylinder. The piston-rod outside the cylinder was<br \/>\ndouble, and drove a cross-piece, working in guides, on the opposite<br \/>\nside of the cranked axle to the cylinder, the crank of the<br \/>\naxle revolving between the double parts of the piston-rod.<br \/>\nToothed wheels were attached to this axle, which worked into<br \/>\nother toothed wheels fixed on the axle of the driving-wheels.<br \/>\nThe steam-cocks were opened and shut by a connection with the<br \/>\ncrank-axle; and the force-pump, with which the boiler was supplied<br \/>\nwith water, was also worked from it, as were the bellows to<br \/>\nblow the fire and thereby keep up the combustion in the furnace.<\/p>\n<p>The specification clearly alludes to the use of the engine on<br \/>\nrailroads as follows: &#8220;It is also to be noticed that we do occasionally,<br \/>\nor in certain cases, make the external periphery of the<br \/>\nwheels uneven by projecting heads of nails or bolts, or cross<br \/>\ngrooves or fittings to railroads where required, and that in cases<br \/>\nof hard pull we cause a lever, belt, or claw to project through the<br \/>\nrim of one or both of the said wheels, so as to take hold of the<br \/>\nground, but that, in general, the ordinary structure or figure of<br \/>\nthe external surface of those wheels will be found to answer the<br \/>\nintended purpose.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The specification also shows the application of the high-pressure<br \/>\nengine on the same principle to the driving of a sugar-mill,<br \/>\nor for other purposes where a fixed power is required, dispensing<br \/>\nwith condenser, cistern, air-pump, and cold-water pump. In the<br \/>\nyear 1803, a small engine of this kind was erected after Trevithick&#8217;s<br \/>\nplan at Marazion, which worked by steam of at least 30<br \/>\nlbs. on the inch above atmospheric pressure, and gave much satisfaction.<\/p>\n<p>The first experimental steam-carriage was constructed by Trevithick<br \/>\nand Vivian in their workshops at Camborne in 1803, and<br \/>\nwas tried by them on the public road adjoining the town, as well<br \/>\nas in the street of the town itself. John Petherick, a native of<br \/>\nCamborne, who was alive in 1858, stated in a letter to Mr. Edward<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_79\" name=\"Page_79\"><\/a>[79]<\/span><br \/>\nWilliams that he well remembered seeing the engine, worked<br \/>\nby Mr. Trevithick himself, come through the place, to the<br \/>\ngreat wonder of the inhabitants. He says, &#8220;The experiment was<br \/>\nsatisfactory only as long as the steam pressure could be kept up.<br \/>\nDuring that continuance Trevithick called upon the people to<br \/>\n&#8216;jump up,&#8217; so as to create a load on the engine; and it soon became<br \/>\ncovered with men, which did not seem to make any difference<br \/>\nto the power or speed so long as the steam was kept up.<br \/>\nThis was sought to be done by the application of a cylindrical<br \/>\nhorizontal bellows worked by the engine itself; but the attempt<br \/>\nto keep up the power of the steam for any considerable time<br \/>\nproved a failure.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Trevithick, however, made several alterations in the engine<br \/>\nwhich had the effect of improving it, and its success was such<br \/>\nthat he determined to take it to London and exhibit it there as<br \/>\nthe most recent novelty in steam mechanism. It was successfully<br \/>\nrun by road from Camborne to Plymouth, a distance of about<br \/>\nninety miles. At Plymouth it was shipped for London, where<br \/>\nit shortly after arrived in safety, and excited considerable curiosity.<br \/>\nIt was run on the waste ground in the vicinity of the<br \/>\npresent Bethlehem Hospital, as well as on Lord&#8217;s cricket-ground.<br \/>\nThere Sir Humphry Davy, Mr. Davies Gilbert, and other scientific<br \/>\ngentlemen inspected the machine and rode upon it. Several<br \/>\nof them took the steering of the carriage by turns, and they<br \/>\nexpressed their satisfaction with the mechanism by which it was<br \/>\ndirected. Sir Humphry, writing to a friend in Cornwall, said,<br \/>\n&#8220;I shall soon hope to hear that the roads of England are the<br \/>\nhaunts of Captain Trevithick&#8217;s dragons\u2014a characteristic name.&#8221;<br \/>\nAfter the experiment at Lord&#8217;s, the carriage was run along the<br \/>\nNew-road, and down Gray&#8217;s-Inn Lane, to the premises of a carriage-builder<br \/>\nin Long Acre. To show the adaptability of the engine<br \/>\nfor fixed uses, Trevithick had it taken from the carriage on<br \/>\nthe day after this trial and removed to the shop of a cutler,<br \/>\nwhere he applied it with success to the driving of the machinery.<\/p>\n<p>The steam-carriage shortly became the talk of the town, and<br \/>\nthe public curiosity being on the increase, Trevithick resolved on<br \/>\ninclosing a piece of ground on the site of the present Euston station<br \/>\nof the London and Northwestern Railway, and admitting<br \/>\npersons to see the exhibition of his engine at so much a head.<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_80\" name=\"Page_80\"><\/a>[80]<\/span><br \/>\nHe had a tram-road laid down in an elliptical form within the<br \/>\ninclosure, and the carriage was run round it on the rails in the<br \/>\nsight of a great number of spectators. On the second day another<br \/>\ncrowd collected to see the exhibition, but, for what reason is<br \/>\nnot known, although it is said to have been through one of Trevithick&#8217;s<br \/>\nfreaks of temper, the place was closed and the engine removed.<br \/>\nIt is, however, not improbable that the inventor had<br \/>\ncome to the conclusion that the state of the roads at that time<br \/>\nwas such as to preclude its coming into general use for purposes<br \/>\nof ordinary traffic.<\/p>\n<p>While the steam-carriage was being exhibited, a gentleman was<br \/>\nlaying heavy wagers as to the weight which could be hauled by<br \/>\na single horse on the Wandsworth and Croydon iron tram-way;<br \/>\nand the number and weight of wagons drawn by the horse were<br \/>\nsomething surprising. Trevithick very probably put the two<br \/>\nthings together\u2014the steam-horse and the iron-way\u2014and kept the<br \/>\nperformance in mind when he proceeded to construct his second<br \/>\nor railway locomotive. In the mean time, having dismantled his<br \/>\nsteam-carriage, sent back the phaeton to the coach-builder to<br \/>\nwhom it belonged, and sold the little engine which had worked<br \/>\nthe machine, he returned to Camborne to carry on his business.<br \/>\nIn the course of the year 1803 he went to Pen-y-darran, in South<br \/>\nWales, to erect a forge engine for the iron-works there; and,<br \/>\nwhen it was finished, he began the erection of a railway locomotive\u2014the<br \/>\nfirst ever constructed. There were already, as above<br \/>\nstated, several lines of rail laid down in the district for the accommodation<br \/>\nof the coal and iron works. That between Merthyr<br \/>\nTydvil and Cardiff was the longest and most important, and<br \/>\nit had been at work for some years. It had probably occurred<br \/>\nto Trevithick that here was a fine opportunity for putting to practical<br \/>\ntest the powers of the locomotive, and he proceeded to construct<br \/>\none accordingly in the workshops at Pen-y-darran.<\/p>\n<p>This first railway locomotive was finished and tried upon the<br \/>\nMerthyr tram-road on the 21st of February, 1804. It had a cylindrical<br \/>\nwrought-iron boiler with flat ends. The furnace and<br \/>\nflue were inside the boiler, the flue returning, having its exit at<br \/>\nthe same end at which it entered, so as to increase the heating<br \/>\nsurface. The cylinder, 4-3\/4 in. in diameter, was placed horizontally<br \/>\nin the end of the boiler, and the waste steam was thrown into<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_81\" name=\"Page_81\"><\/a>[81]<\/span><br \/>\nthe stack. The wheels were worked in the same manner as in<br \/>\nthe carriage engine already described; and a fly-wheel was added<br \/>\non one side, to secure a continuous rotary motion at the end<br \/>\nof each stroke of the piston. The pressure of the steam was<br \/>\nabout 40 lbs. on the inch. The engine ran upon four wheels,<br \/>\ncoupled by cog-wheels, and those who remember the engine say<br \/>\nthat the four wheels were smooth.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_084.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"321\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>TREVITHICK&#8217;S HIGH-PRESSURE TRAM-ENGINE.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>On the first trial, this engine drew for a distance of nine miles<br \/>\nten tons of bar iron, together with the necessary carriages, water,<br \/>\nand fuel, at the rate of five and a half miles an hour. Rees Jones,<br \/>\nan old engine-fitter, who helped to erect the engine, and was alive<br \/>\nin 1858, gave Mr. Menelaus the following account of its performances:<br \/>\n&#8220;When the engine was finished, she was used for bringing<br \/>\ndown metal from the old forge. She worked very well; but<br \/>\nfrequently, from her weight, broke the tram-plates, and also the<br \/>\nhooks between the trams. After working for some time in this<br \/>\nway, she took a journey of iron from Pen-y-darran down the<br \/>\nBasin Road, upon which road she was intended to work. On the<br \/>\njourney she broke a great many of the tram-plates; and, before<br \/>\nreaching the Basin, she ran off the road, and was brought back to<br \/>\nPen-y-darran by horses. The engine was never used as a locomotive<br \/>\nafter this; but she was used as a stationary engine, and<br \/>\nworked in this way for several years.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_82\" name=\"Page_82\"><\/a>[82]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>So far as the locomotive was concerned it was a remarkable<br \/>\nsuccess. The defect lay not in the engine so much as in the road.<br \/>\nThis was formed of plate-rails of cast iron, with a guiding flange<br \/>\nupon the rail instead of on the engine wheels, as in the modern<br \/>\nlocomotive. The rails were also of a very weak form, considering<br \/>\nthe quantity of iron in them; and, though they were sufficient<br \/>\nto bear the loaded wagons mounted upon small wheels, as<br \/>\nordinarily drawn along them by horses, they were found quite<br \/>\ninsufficient to bear the weight of Trevithick&#8217;s engine. To relay<br \/>\nthe road of sufficient strength would have involved a heavy outlay,<br \/>\nwhich the owners were unwilling to incur, not yet perceiving<br \/>\nthe advantage, in an economical point of view, of employing engine<br \/>\nin lieu of horse power. The locomotive was accordingly<br \/>\ntaken off the road, and the experiment, successful though it had<br \/>\nbeen, was brought to an end.<\/p>\n<p>Trevithick had, however, by means of his Pen-y-darran engine,<br \/>\nin a great measure solved the problem of steam locomotion on<br \/>\nrailways. He had produced a compact engine, working on the<br \/>\nhigh-pressure principle, capable of carrying fuel and water sufficient<br \/>\nfor a journey of considerable length, and of drawing loaded<br \/>\nwagons at five and a half miles an hour. He had shown by his<br \/>\nsmooth-wheeled locomotive that the weight of the engine had<br \/>\ngiven sufficient adhesion for the haulage of the load. He had<br \/>\ndischarged the steam into the chimney, though not for the purpose<br \/>\nof increasing the draught, as he employed bellows for that<br \/>\npurpose. It appears, however, that Trevithick&#8217;s friend, Mr. Davies<br \/>\nGilbert, afterward President of the Royal Society, especially<br \/>\nnoticed the effect of discharging the waste steam into the chimney<br \/>\nof the Pen-y-darran engine. He observed that when the engine<br \/>\nmoved, at each puff the fire brightened, while scarcely any<br \/>\nvisible steam or smoke came from the chimney.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Gilbert published the result of his observations in &#8220;Nicholson&#8217;s<br \/>\nJournal&#8221; for September, 1805, and the attention of Mr.<br \/>\nNicholson, the editor, having thereby been called to the subject,<br \/>\nhe proceeded to make a series of experiments, the result of which<br \/>\nwas that in 1806 he took out a patent for a steam-blasting apparatus,<br \/>\nby which he proposed to apply high-pressure steam to force<br \/>\nalong currents of air for various useful purposes, including the<br \/>\nurging of furnace and other fires. It is thus obvious that the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_83\" name=\"Page_83\"><\/a>[83]<\/span><br \/>\nprinciple of the blast-pipe was known to both Gilbert and Nicholson<br \/>\nat this early period; but it is somewhat remarkable that<br \/>\nTrevithick himself should have remained skeptical as to its use,<br \/>\nfor as late as 1815 we find him taking out a patent, in which,<br \/>\namong other improvements, he included a method of urging his<br \/>\nfire by fanners, similar to a winnowing machine.<\/p>\n<p>In the mean time Trevithick occupied himself in carrying on<br \/>\nthe various business of a general engineer, and was ready to embark<br \/>\nin any enterprise likely to give scope for his inventive skill.<br \/>\nIn whatever work he was employed, he was sure to introduce new<br \/>\nmethods and arrangements, if not new inventions. He was full<br \/>\nof speculative enthusiasm, a great theorist, and yet an indefatigable<br \/>\nexperimenter. At the beginning of 1806\u2014the year after the<br \/>\nlocomotive had been taken off the Merthyr Tydvil tram-road\u2014he<br \/>\nmade arrangements for entering into a contract for ballasting all<br \/>\nthe shipping in the Thames. At the end of a letter written by<br \/>\nhim on the 18th of February in that year to Davies Gilbert, respecting<br \/>\na <em>puffer<\/em> engine, he said, &#8220;I am about to enter into a contract<br \/>\nwith the Trinity Board for lifting up ballast out of the bottom<br \/>\nof the Thames for all the shipping. The first quantity stated<br \/>\nwas 300,000 tons a year, but now they state 500,000 tons. I am<br \/>\nto do nothing but wind up the chain for 6<i>d.<\/i> per ton, which is now<br \/>\ndone by men. They never lift it above twenty-five feet high\u2014a<br \/>\nman will now get up ten tons for 7<i>s.<\/i> My engine at Dalcoath<br \/>\nhas lifted about 100 tons that height with one bushel of coals. I<br \/>\nhave two engines already finished for the purpose, and shall be<br \/>\nin town in about fifteen days for to set them to work. They propose<br \/>\nto engage with me for twenty-one years.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_16\" name=\"FNanchor_16\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_16\">[16]<\/a> The contract was<br \/>\nnot, however, entered into. Trevithick quarreled with the capitalists<br \/>\nwho had found the money for the trials, and the &#8220;Blazer&#8221; and<br \/>\n&#8220;Plymouth,&#8221; the vessels in which his engines and machinery had<br \/>\nbeen fitted, fell into other hands.<\/p>\n<p>Trevithick, nevertheless, seems to have been on the highway to<br \/>\nfortune, for, at the beginning of 1806, he had received orders for<br \/>\nnine engines in one month, all for Cornwall; and he expected<br \/>\norders for four others. He had also in view the construction of<br \/>\na railway; but nothing came of this project. More hopeful still,<br \/>\nas regarded immediate returns, was the Cornish engine business,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_84\" name=\"Page_84\"><\/a>[84]<\/span><br \/>\nwhich presented a very wide field. Now that the trade had been<br \/>\nthrown open by the expiry of Boulton and Watt&#8217;s patent, competition<br \/>\nhad sprung up, and many new makers and inventors of engines<br \/>\nwere ready to supply the demand.<\/p>\n<p>Among the most prominent of these were Trevithick and Woolf.<br \/>\nTrevithick was the most original and speculative, Woolf the most<br \/>\nplodding and practical, and the most successful. Trevithick&#8217;s ingenuity<br \/>\nexhibited itself in his schemes for working Boulton and<br \/>\nWatt&#8217;s pumping-engine by high-pressure steam, by means of his<br \/>\ncylindrical wrought-iron boiler. He proposed to expand the<br \/>\nsteam down to low pressure previous to condensation, thereby anticipating<br \/>\nby many years the Cornish engine now in use. The<br \/>\nsuggestion was not, however, then acted on, and he fell back on<br \/>\nhis original design of a simple non-condensing high-pressure engine.<br \/>\nOne of these was erected at Dalcoath mine to draw the<br \/>\nores there. It was called &#8220;the puffer&#8221; by the mining people, from<br \/>\nits puffing the steam direct into the air; but its performances did<br \/>\nnot compare favorably with those of the ordinary condensing<br \/>\nengines of Boulton and Watt, and the engine did not come into<br \/>\ngeneral use.<\/p>\n<p>Trevithick was not satisfied to carry on a prosperous engine<br \/>\nbusiness in Cornwall. Camborne was too small for him, and the<br \/>\nCornish mining districts presented too limited a field for his ambitious<br \/>\nspirit. So he came to London, the Patent-office drawing<br \/>\nhim as the loadstone does the needle. In 1808 he took out two<br \/>\npatents, one for &#8220;certain machinery for towing, driving, or forcing<br \/>\nand discharging ships and other vessels of their cargoes,&#8221; and the<br \/>\nother for &#8220;a new method of stowing cargoes of ships.&#8221; In 1809<br \/>\nhe took out another patent for constructing docks, ships, etc., and<br \/>\npropelling vessels.<\/p>\n<p>In these patents, Trevithick was associated with one Robert<br \/>\nDickinson, of Great Queen Street, but his name stands first in<br \/>\nthe specification, wherein he describes himself as &#8220;of Rotherhithe,<br \/>\nin the county of Surrey, engineer.&#8221; By the first of these<br \/>\npatents he proposed to tow vessels by means of a rowing wheel<br \/>\nshaped like an undershot water-wheel furnished with floats placed<br \/>\nvertically in a box, and worked by a steam-engine, which he also<br \/>\nproposed to employ in the loading and unloading of the vessel,<br \/>\nbut it is not known that the plan was ever introduced into practical<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_85\" name=\"Page_85\"><\/a>[85]<\/span><br \/>\nuse. The patent of 1809 included a floating dock or caisson<br \/>\nmade of wrought-iron plates, in which a ship might be docked<br \/>\nwhile afloat, and, after the water had been pumped out of the<br \/>\ncaisson, repaired without moving her stores, masts, or furniture.<br \/>\nThis invention has since been carried out in practice by the<br \/>\nMessrs. Rennie in the floating iron dock which they have recently<br \/>\nconstructed for the Spanish government. Another invention<br \/>\nincluded in the specification was the construction of merchant<br \/>\nand war ships of wrought-iron plates strongly riveted together,<br \/>\nwith their decks supported by wrought-iron beams, and the masts,<br \/>\nbowsprits, and booms also of tubular wrought iron, thereby anticipating<br \/>\nby many years the form and structure of vessels now<br \/>\nin common use.<\/p>\n<p>While Trevithick lived at Rotherhithe, he entered upon a remarkable<br \/>\nenterprise\u2014no less than the construction of a tunnel<br \/>\nunder the Thames\u2014a work which was carried out with so much<br \/>\ndifficulty by Sir Isambard Brunel some twenty years later. Several<br \/>\nschemes had been proposed at different times for connecting<br \/>\nthe two banks of the river by an underground communication.<br \/>\nAs early as 1798, Ralph Dodd suggested a tunnel under<br \/>\nthe Thames between Gravesend and Tilbury, and in 1802 Mr.<br \/>\nVazie projected a tunnel from Rotherhithe to Limehouse. A<br \/>\ncompany was formed to carry out the latter scheme, and a shaft<br \/>\nwas sunk, at considerable expense, to a depth of 76 feet below<br \/>\nhigh water. The works were from time to time suspended, and<br \/>\nit was not until the year 1807, when Trevithick was appointed<br \/>\nengineer of the work, that arrangements were made for proceeding<br \/>\nwith the driftway under the bed of the Thames. After about<br \/>\nfive months&#8217; working, the drift was driven for a length of 953<br \/>\nfeet, when the roof gave way and the water burst in. The opening<br \/>\nwas, however, plugged by clay in bags thrown into the river,<br \/>\nand the work proceeded until 1028 feet had been accomplished.<br \/>\nThen the water burst in again, and the process of plugging and<br \/>\npumping the water out of the drift was repeated. After seventy<br \/>\nmore feet had been added to the excavation, there was another<br \/>\nirruption, which completely flooded the driftway, and the water<br \/>\nrose nearly to the top of the shaft. This difficulty was, however,<br \/>\nagain overcome, and with great danger twenty more feet were<br \/>\naccomplished; but the bursts of water became so frequent and<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_86\" name=\"Page_86\"><\/a>[86]<\/span><br \/>\nunmanageable that at length the face of the drift was timbered<br \/>\nup and the work abandoned. Trevithick, who had been promised<br \/>\na reward of \u00a31000 if the tunnel succeeded, thus lost both<br \/>\nhis labor and his reward. The only remuneration he received<br \/>\nfrom the Company was a hundred guineas, which were paid to<br \/>\nhim according to agreement, provided he carried the excavation<br \/>\nto the extent of 1000 yards, which he did.<\/p>\n<p>Trevithick returned to Camborne in 1809, where we find him<br \/>\nbusily occupied with new projects, and introducing his new engine<br \/>\nworked by water-power, the first of which was put up at the<br \/>\nDruid mine, as well as in perfecting his high-pressure engine and<br \/>\nits working by expansion. One of the first of such engines was<br \/>\nerected at the Huel Prosper mine, of which he was engineer;<br \/>\nand this, as well as others subsequently constructed on the same<br \/>\nprinciple, proved quite successful.<\/p>\n<p>In 1815 Trevithick took out a farther patent, embodying several<br \/>\nimportant applications of steam-power. One of these consisted<br \/>\nin &#8220;causing steam of a high pressure to spout out against<br \/>\nthe atmosphere, and by its recoiling force to produce motion in a<br \/>\ndirection contrary to the issuing steam, similar to the motion produced<br \/>\nin a rocket, or to the recoil of a gun.&#8221; This was, however,<br \/>\nbut a revival of the ancient \u0152olipile described by Hero, and<br \/>\nknown as &#8220;Hero&#8217;s engine.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In another part of his specification Trevithick described the<br \/>\nscrew-propeller as &#8220;a screw or a number of leaves placed obliquely<br \/>\nround an axis similar to the vanes of a smoke-jack, which<br \/>\nshall be made to revolve with great speed in a line with the required<br \/>\nmotion of the ship, or parallel to the same line of motion.&#8221;<br \/>\nIn a second part of the specification, he described a plunger or<br \/>\npole-engine in which the steam worked at high-pressure. The<br \/>\nfirst engine of this kind was erected by Trevithick at Herland in<br \/>\n1815, but the result was not equal to his expectations, though the<br \/>\nprinciple was afterward successfully applied by Mr. William Sims,<br \/>\nwho purchased the patent-right.<\/p>\n<p>In this specification Trevithick also described a tubular boiler<br \/>\nof a new construction for the purpose of more rapidly producing<br \/>\nhigh-pressure steam, the heating surface being extended by constructing<br \/>\nthe boiler of a number of small perpendicular tubes,<br \/>\nclosed at the bottom, but all opening at the top into a common<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_87\" name=\"Page_87\"><\/a>[87]<\/span><br \/>\nreservoir, from whence they received their water, and into which<br \/>\nthe steam of all the tubes was united.<\/p>\n<p>While Trevithick was engaged in these ingenious projects, an<br \/>\nevent occurred which, though it promised to issue in the most<br \/>\nsplendid results, proved the greatest misfortune of his life. We<br \/>\nrefer to his adventures in connection with the gold mines of Peru.<br \/>\nMany of the richest of them had been drowned out, the pumping<br \/>\nmachinery of the country being incapable of clearing them of<br \/>\nwater. The districts in which they were situated were almost inaccessible<br \/>\nto ordinary traffic, all transport being conducted on the<br \/>\nbacks of men or of mules. The parts of an ordinary condensing<br \/>\nengine were too ponderous to be carried up these mountain<br \/>\nheights, and it was evident that, unless some lighter sort of engine<br \/>\ncould be employed, the mines in question must be abandoned.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Uvill\u00e9, a Swiss gentleman interested in South American<br \/>\nmining, came over from Peru to England in 1811 for the purpose<br \/>\nof making inquiries about such an engine, but he received no encouragement.<br \/>\nHe was about to return to Lima, in despair of accomplishing<br \/>\nhis object, when, one day, accidentally passing a shop-window<br \/>\nin Fitzroy Square, he caught sight of an engine exposed<br \/>\nfor sale which immediately attracted his attention. It was the<br \/>\nengine constructed by Trevithick for his first locomotive, which<br \/>\nhe had sold some years before, on the sudden abandonment of<br \/>\nthe exhibition of its performances in London. Mr. Uvill\u00e9 was<br \/>\nso much pleased with its construction and mode of action that<br \/>\nhe at once purchased it and took it out with him to South America.<br \/>\nArrived there, he had the engine transported across the<br \/>\nmountains to the rich mining district of Pasco, about a hundred<br \/>\nmiles north of Lima, to try its effects on the highest mountain<br \/>\nridges.<\/p>\n<p>The experiment was so satisfactory that an association of influential<br \/>\ngentlemen was immediately formed to introduce the engine<br \/>\non a large scale, and enter into contracts with the mine-owners<br \/>\nfor clearing their shafts of the water which drowned them.<br \/>\nThe Viceroy of Peru approved the plan, and the association dispatched<br \/>\nMr. Uvill\u00e9 to England to purchase the requisite engines.<br \/>\nHe took ship for Falmouth about the end of 1812 for the purpose<br \/>\nof finding out Trevithick. He only knew of Trevithick by name,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_88\" name=\"Page_88\"><\/a>[88]<\/span><br \/>\nand that he lived in Cornwall, but nothing farther. Being full<br \/>\nof his subject, however, he could not refrain from conversing on<br \/>\nthe subject with the passengers on board the ship by which he<br \/>\nsailed, and it so happened that one of them\u2014a Mr. Teague\u2014was<br \/>\na relative of Trevithick, who promised, shortly after their landing,<br \/>\nto introduce him to the inventor.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Teague was as good as his word, and in the course of a few<br \/>\ndays Uvill\u00e9 was enabled to discuss the scheme with Trevithick at<br \/>\nhis own house at Camborne, where he still resided. The result<br \/>\nwas an order for a number of high-pressure pumping-engines,<br \/>\nwhich were put in hand at once; and on the 1st of September,<br \/>\n1814, nine of them were shipped at Portsmouth for Lima, accompanied<br \/>\nby Uvill\u00e9 and three Cornish engineers, one of whom was<br \/>\nWilliam Bull, of Chasewater, Trevithick&#8217;s first partner.<\/p>\n<p>The engines reached Lima in safety, and were welcomed by a<br \/>\nroyal salute and with public rejoicings. Such, however, was the<br \/>\ndifficulty of transporting the materials across the mountains, that<br \/>\nit was not until the middle of the year 1816 that the first engine<br \/>\nwas erected and set to work to pump out the Santa Rosa mine,<br \/>\nin the royal mineral territory of Ya\u00fcricocha. The association of<br \/>\ngentlemen to whom the engines belonged had entered into a contract<br \/>\nto drain this among other mines, on condition of sharing in<br \/>\nthe gross produce of the ores to the extent of about 25 per cent.<br \/>\nof the whole amount raised. The result of the first working of<br \/>\nthe engine was so satisfactory that the projectors were filled with<br \/>\nno less astonishment than delight, and they characterized the undertaking<br \/>\nas one from which they &#8220;anticipated a torrent of silver<br \/>\nthat would fill surrounding nations with astonishment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In the mean time Trevithick was proceeding at home with the<br \/>\nmanufacture of the remaining engines, as well as new coining apparatus<br \/>\nfor the Peruvian mint, and furnaces for purifying silver<br \/>\nore by fusion; and with these engines and apparatus he set sail<br \/>\nfor America in October, 1816, reaching Lima in safety in the following<br \/>\nFebruary. He was received with almost royal honors.<br \/>\nThe government &#8220;Gazette&#8221; officially announced &#8220;the arrival of<br \/>\nDon Ricardo Trevithick, an eminent professor of mechanics, machinery,<br \/>\nand mineralogy, inventor and constructor of the engines<br \/>\nof the last patent, and who directed in England the execution of<br \/>\nthe machinery now at work in Pasco.&#8221; The lord warden was ordered<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_89\" name=\"Page_89\"><\/a>[89]<\/span><br \/>\nby the viceroy to escort Trevithick to the mines accompanied<br \/>\nby a guard of honor. The news of his expected arrival there<br \/>\noccasioned great rejoicings, and the chief men of the district came<br \/>\ndown the mountains to meet and welcome him. Uvill\u00e9 wrote to<br \/>\nhis associates that Trevithick had been sent out &#8220;by heaven for<br \/>\nthe prosperity of the mines, and that the lord warden proposed to<br \/>\nerect his statue in solid silver.&#8221; Trevithick himself wrote home<br \/>\nto his friends in Cornwall that he had before him the prospect of<br \/>\nalmost boundless wealth, having, in addition to his emoluments as<br \/>\npatentee, obtained a fifth share in the Lima Company, which, he<br \/>\nexpected, on a moderate computation, would yield him about<br \/>\n\u00a3100,000 a year!<\/p>\n<p>But these brilliant prospects were suddenly blasted by the Peruvian<br \/>\nrevolution which broke out in the following year. While<br \/>\nMr. Boaze was reading his paper<a id=\"FNanchor_17\" name=\"FNanchor_17\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_17\">[17]<\/a> before the Royal Geological<br \/>\nSociety of Cornwall, in which these anticipations of Trevithick&#8217;s<br \/>\nfame and fortune were so glowingly described, Lord Cochrane<br \/>\nwas on his way to South America to take the command of the<br \/>\nChilian fleet in its attack of the ports of Peru, still in the possession<br \/>\nof the Spaniards.<\/p>\n<p>Toward the end of 1818, Lord Cochrane hoisted his flag, and<br \/>\nshortly after proceeded to assail the Spanish fleet in Callao Harbor.<br \/>\nThis proved the signal for a general insurrection, during<br \/>\nthe continuance of which the commercial and industrial affairs<br \/>\nof the province were completely paralyzed. The pumping-engines<br \/>\nof Trevithick were now of comparatively little use in<br \/>\npumping water out of mines in which the miners would no longer<br \/>\nwork. Although Lima was abandoned by the Spaniards toward<br \/>\nthe end of 1821, the civil war continued to rage for several<br \/>\nyears longer, until at length the independence of Peru was<br \/>\nachieved; but it was long before the population were content to<br \/>\nsettle down as before, and follow the ordinary pursuits of industry<br \/>\nand commerce.<\/p>\n<p>The result to Trevithick was, that he and his partners in the<br \/>\nMining Company were consigned to ruin. It has been said that<br \/>\nthe engineer joined the patriotic party, and invented for Lord<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_90\" name=\"Page_90\"><\/a>[90]<\/span><br \/>\nCochrane an ingenious gun-carriage centred and equally balanced<br \/>\non pivots, and easily worked by machinery; but of this no mention<br \/>\nis made by Lord Cochrane in his &#8220;Memoirs.&#8221; The Patriots<br \/>\nkept Trevithick on the mountains as a sort of patron and protector<br \/>\nof their interests; but for this very reason he became proportionately<br \/>\nobnoxious to the Royalists, who, looking upon him as<br \/>\nthe agent through whom the patriotic party obtained the sinews<br \/>\nof war, destroyed his engines, and broke up his machinery wherever<br \/>\nthey could. At length he determined to escape from Peru,<br \/>\nand fled northward across the mountains, accompanied by a single<br \/>\nfriend, making for the Isthmus of Panam\u00e1. In the course of<br \/>\nthis long, toilsome, and dangerous journey, he encountered great<br \/>\nprivations; he slept in the forest at night, traveled on foot by day,<br \/>\nand crossed the streams by swimming. At length, his clothes torn,<br \/>\nworn, and hanging almost in shreds, and his baggage all lost, he<br \/>\nsucceeded in reaching the port of Cartagena, on the Gulf of Darien,<br \/>\nalmost destitute.<\/p>\n<p>Here he encountered Robert Stephenson, who was waiting at<br \/>\nthe one inn of the place until a ship was ready to set sail for England.<br \/>\nStephenson had finished his engagement with the Colombian<br \/>\nMining Company for which he had been working, and was<br \/>\neager to return home. When Trevithick entered the room in<br \/>\nwhich he was sitting, Stephenson at once saw that he was an Englishman.<br \/>\nHe stood some six feet in height, and, though well<br \/>\nproportioned when in ordinary health, he was now gaunt and hollow,<br \/>\nthe picture of privation and misery.<\/p>\n<p>Stephenson made up to the stranger, and was not a little surprised<br \/>\nto find that he was no other than the famous engineer,<br \/>\nTrevithick, the builder of the first patent locomotive, and who,<br \/>\nwhen he last heard of him, was accumulating so gigantic a fortune<br \/>\nin Peru. Though now penniless, Trevithick was as full of<br \/>\nspeculation as ever, and related to Stephenson that he was on his<br \/>\nway home for the purpose of organizing another gold-mining<br \/>\ncompany, which should make the fortunes of all who took part<br \/>\nin it. He was, however, in the mean time, unable to pay for his<br \/>\npassage, and Stephenson lent him the requisite money for the<br \/>\npurpose of reaching his home in Cornwall.<\/p>\n<p>As there was no vessel likely to sail for England for some time,<br \/>\nStephenson and Trevithick took the first ship bound for New<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_91\" name=\"Page_91\"><\/a>[91]<\/span><br \/>\nYork. After a stormy passage, full of adventure and peril, the<br \/>\nvessel was driven on a lee-shore, and the passengers and crew<br \/>\nbarely escaped with their lives. On reaching New York, Trevithick<br \/>\nimmediately set sail for England, and he landed safe at Falmouth<br \/>\nin October, 1827, bringing back with him a pair of silver<br \/>\nspurs, the only remnant which he had preserved of those &#8220;torrents<br \/>\nof silver&#8221; which his engines were to raise from the mines<br \/>\nof Peru.<\/p>\n<p>Immediately on his return home, Trevithick memorialized the<br \/>\ngovernment for some remuneration adequate to the great benefit<br \/>\nwhich the country had derived from his invention of the high-pressure<br \/>\nsteam-engine, and his introduction of the cylindrical<br \/>\nboiler. The petition was prepared in December, 1827, and was<br \/>\ncheerfully signed by the leading mine-owners and engineers in<br \/>\nCornwall; but there their efforts on his behalf ended.<\/p>\n<p>He took out two more patents\u2014one in 1831, for a new method<br \/>\nof heating apartments, and another in 1832, for improvements in<br \/>\nthe steam-engine, and the application of steam-power to navigation<br \/>\nand locomotion; but neither of them seems to have proved<br \/>\nof any service to him. His new improvement in the steam-engine<br \/>\nwas neither more nor less than the invention of an apparatus similar<br \/>\nto that which has quite recently come into use for employing<br \/>\nsuperheated steam as a means of working the engine more effectively<br \/>\nand economically. The patent also included a method of<br \/>\npropelling ships by ejecting water through a tube with great force<br \/>\nand speed in a direction opposite to the course of the vessel, a<br \/>\nmethod since reinvented in many forms, though not yet successfully<br \/>\nintroduced in practice.<\/p>\n<p>Strange to say, though Trevithick had been so intimately connected<br \/>\nwith the practical introduction of the Locomotive, he<br \/>\nseems to have taken but little interest in its introduction upon<br \/>\nrailways, but confined himself to advocating its employment on<br \/>\ncommon roads as its most useful application.<a id=\"FNanchor_18\" name=\"FNanchor_18\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_18\">[18]<\/a> Though in many<br \/>\nthings he was before his age, here he was unquestionably behind<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_92\" name=\"Page_92\"><\/a>[92]<\/span><br \/>\nit. But Trevithick was now an old man; his constitution was<br \/>\nbroken, and his energy worked out. Younger men were in the<br \/>\nfield, less ingenious and speculative, but more practical and energetic;<br \/>\nand in the blaze of their fame the Cornish engineer was<br \/>\nforgotten.<\/p>\n<p>During the last year of his life Trevithick resided at Dartford,<br \/>\nin Kent. He had induced the Messrs. Hall, the engineers of that<br \/>\nplace, to give him an opportunity of testing the value of his last invention\u2014that<br \/>\nof a vessel driven by the ejection of water through<br \/>\na tube\u2014and he went there to superintend the construction of the<br \/>\nnecessary engine and apparatus. The vessel was duly fitted up,<br \/>\nand several experiments were made with it in the adjoining creek,<br \/>\nbut it did not realize a speed of more than four miles an hour.<br \/>\nTrevithick, being of opinion that the engine-power was insufficient,<br \/>\nproceeded to have a new engine constructed, to the boiler<br \/>\nof which, within the furnace, numerous tubes were attached,<br \/>\nround which the fire played. So much steam was raised by this<br \/>\narrangement that the piston &#8220;blew;&#8221; but still the result of the<br \/>\nexperiments was unsatisfactory. While laboring at these inventions,<br \/>\nand planning new arrangements never to be carried out, the<br \/>\nengineer was seized by the illness of which he died, on the 22d of<br \/>\nApril, 1833, in the 62d year of his age.<\/p>\n<p>As Trevithick was entirely without means at his death, besides<br \/>\nbeing some sixty pounds in debt to the landlord of the Bull Inn,<br \/>\nwhere he had been lodging for nearly a year, he would probably<br \/>\nhave been buried at the expense of the parish but for the Messrs.<br \/>\nHall and their workmen, who raised a sum sufficient to give the<br \/>\n&#8220;great inventor&#8221; a decent burial; and they followed his remains<br \/>\nto the grave in Deptford Church-yard, where he lies without a<br \/>\nstone to mark his resting-place.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"tb\">\n<p>There can be no doubt as to the great mechanical ability of<br \/>\nTrevithick. He was a man of original and intuitive genius in<br \/>\ninvention. Every mechanical arrangement which he undertook<br \/>\nto study issued from his hands transformed and improved. But<br \/>\nthere he rested. He struck out many inventions, and left them<br \/>\nto take care of themselves. His great failing was the want of<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_93\" name=\"Page_93\"><\/a>[93]<\/span><br \/>\nperseverance. His mind was always full of projects; but his very<br \/>\ngenius led him astray in search of new things, while his imagination<br \/>\noften outran his judgment. Hence his life was but a series<br \/>\nof beginnings.<\/p>\n<p>Look at the extraordinary things that Trevithick began. He<br \/>\nmade the first railway locomotive, and cast the invention aside,<br \/>\nleaving it to others to take it up and prosecute it to a successful<br \/>\nissue. He introduced, if he did not invent, the cylindrical boiler<br \/>\nand the high-pressure engine, which increased so enormously the<br \/>\nsteam-power of the world; but he reaped the profits of neither.<br \/>\nHe invented an oscillating engine and a screw propeller; he took<br \/>\nout a patent for using superheated steam, as well as for wrought-iron<br \/>\nships and wrought-iron floating docks; but he left it to others<br \/>\nto introduce these several inventions.<\/p>\n<p>Never was there such a series of splendid mechanical beginnings.<br \/>\nHe began a Thames Tunnel and abandoned it. He went<br \/>\nto South America with the prospect of making a gigantic fortune,<br \/>\nbut he had scarcely begun to gather in his gold than he was<br \/>\nforced to fly, and returned home destitute. This last event, however,<br \/>\nwas a misfortune which no efforts on his part could have<br \/>\nprevented. But even when he had the best chances, Trevithick<br \/>\nthrew them away. When he had brought his road locomotive to<br \/>\nLondon to exhibit, and was beginning to excite the curiosity of<br \/>\nthe public respecting it, he suddenly closed the exhibition in a fit<br \/>\nof caprice, removed the engine, and returned to Cornwall in a<br \/>\ntiff. The failure, also, of the railroad on which his locomotive<br \/>\ntraveled so provoked him that he at once abandoned the enterprise<br \/>\nin disgust.<\/p>\n<p>There may have been some moral twist in the engineer&#8217;s character,<br \/>\ninto which we do not seek to pry; but it seems clear that<br \/>\nhe was wanting in that resolute perseverance, that power of fighting<br \/>\nan up-hill battle, without which no great enterprise can be<br \/>\nconducted to a successful issue. In this respect the character of<br \/>\nRichard Trevithick presents a remarkable contrast to that of<br \/>\nGeorge Stephenson, who took up only one of the many projects<br \/>\nwhich the other had cast aside, and by dint of application, industry,<br \/>\nand perseverance, carried into effect one of the most remarkable<br \/>\nbut peaceful revolutions which has ever been accomplished<br \/>\nin any age or country.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_94\" name=\"Page_94\"><\/a>[94]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>We now proceed to describe the history of this revolution in<br \/>\nconnection with the Life of George Stephenson, and to trace the<br \/>\nlocomotive through its several stages of development until we<br \/>\nfind it recognized as one of the most vigorous and untiring workers<br \/>\nin the entire world of industry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_95\" name=\"Page_95\"><\/a>[95]<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 300px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/048wavyline.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"90\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"no-break\"><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">LIVES<br \/>\n<span class=\"xs\">OF<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n<p>GEORGE AND ROBERT STEPHENSON.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 300px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/048wavyline.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"90\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_96\" name=\"Page_96\"><\/a>[96]<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 450px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_099.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"607\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE AND THE HIGH-LEVEL BRIDGE.<br \/>\n[By R. P. Leitch, after his Original Drawing.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap pg-brk\">\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_97\" name=\"Page_97\"><\/a>[97]<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"pfs150\">LIFE OF GEORGE STEPHENSON, <span class=\"smcap\">Etc.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr class=\"r15\">\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER I.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>THE NEWCASTLE COAL-FIELD\u2014GEORGE STEPHENSON&#8217;S EARLY YEARS.<\/h4>\n<p>In no quarter of England have greater changes been wrought<br \/>\nby the successive advances made in the practical science of engineering<br \/>\nthan in the extensive colliery districts of the North, of<br \/>\nwhich Newcastle-upon-Tyne is the centre and the capital.<\/p>\n<p>In ancient times the Romans planted a colony at Newcastle,<br \/>\nthrowing a bridge across the Tyne near the site of the low-level<br \/>\nbridge shown in the prefixed engraving, and erecting a strong<br \/>\nfortification above it on the high ground now occupied by the<br \/>\nCentral Railway Station. North and northwest lay a wild country,<br \/>\nabounding in moors, mountains, and morasses, but occupied<br \/>\nto a certain extent by fierce and barbarous tribes. To defend<br \/>\nthe young colony against their ravages, a strong wall was built<br \/>\nby the Romans, extending from Wallsend on the north bank of<br \/>\nthe Tyne, a few miles below Newcastle, across the country to<br \/>\nBurgh-upon-Sands on the Solway <span class=\"corr\" title=\"Transcriber's Note\u2014original text: 'Frith'\">Firth<\/span>. The remains of the<br \/>\nwall are still to be traced in the less populous hill-districts of<br \/>\nNorthumberland. In the neighborhood of Newcastle they have<br \/>\nbeen gradually effaced by the works of succeeding generations,<br \/>\nthough the &#8220;Wallsend&#8221; coal consumed in our household fires still<br \/>\nserves to remind us of the great Roman work.<\/p>\n<p>After the withdrawal of the Romans, Northumbria became<br \/>\nplanted by immigrant Saxons from North Germany and Norsemen<br \/>\nfrom Scandinavia, whose eorls or earls made Newcastle their<br \/>\nprincipal seat. Then came the Normans, from whose <em>New<\/em> Castle,<br \/>\nbuilt some eight hundred years since, the town derives its<br \/>\npresent name. The keep of this venerable structure, black with<br \/>\nage and smoke, still stands entire at the northern end of the noble<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_98\" name=\"Page_98\"><\/a>[98]<\/span><br \/>\nhigh-level bridge\u2014the utilitarian work of modern times thus<br \/>\nconfronting the warlike relic of the older civilization.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/files\/46229\/46229-h\/images\/i_101-large.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_101.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"227\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>MAP OF NEWCASTLE DISTRICT.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The nearness of Newcastle to the Scotch Border was a great<br \/>\nhinderance to its security and progress in the middle ages of English<br \/>\nhistory. Indeed, the district between it and Berwick continued<br \/>\nto be ravaged by moss-troopers long after the union of the<br \/>\ncrowns. The gentry lived in their strong Peel castles; even the<br \/>\nlarger farm-houses were fortified; and blood-hounds were trained<br \/>\nfor the purpose of tracking the cattle-reavers to their retreats in<br \/>\nthe hills. The judges of Assize rode from Carlisle to Newcastle<br \/>\nguarded by an escort armed to the teeth. A tribute called &#8220;dagger<br \/>\nand protection money&#8221; was annually paid by the sheriff of<br \/>\nNewcastle for the purpose of providing daggers and other weapons<br \/>\nfor the escort; and, though the need of such protection has<br \/>\nlong since ceased, the tribute continues to be paid in broad gold<br \/>\npieces of the time of Charles the First.<\/p>\n<p>Until about the middle of last century the roads across Northumberland<br \/>\nwere little better than horse-tracks, and not many<br \/>\nyears since the primitive agricultural cart with solid wooden<br \/>\nwheels was almost as common in the western parts of the county<br \/>\nas it is in Spain now. The track of the old Roman road long<br \/>\ncontinued to be the most practicable route between Newcastle<br \/>\nand Carlisle, the traffic between the two towns having been carried<br \/>\non pack-horses until within a comparatively recent period.<\/p>\n<p>Since that time great changes have taken place on the Tyne.<br \/>\nWhen wood for firing became scarce and dear, and the forests of<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_99\" name=\"Page_99\"><\/a>[99]<\/span><br \/>\nthe South of England were found inadequate to supply the increasing<br \/>\ndemand for fuel, attention was turned to the rich stores<br \/>\nof coal lying underground in the neighborhood of Newcastle and<br \/>\nDurham. It then became an article of increasing export, and<br \/>\n&#8220;sea-coal&#8221; fires gradually superseded those of wood. Hence an<br \/>\nold writer describes Newcastle as &#8220;the Eye of the North, and the<br \/>\nHearth that warmeth the South parts of this kingdom with Fire.&#8221;<br \/>\nFuel became the staple product of the district, the quantity exported<br \/>\nincreasing from year to year, until the coal raised from<br \/>\nthese northern mines amounts to upward of sixteen millions of<br \/>\ntons a year, of which not less than nine millions are annually conveyed<br \/>\naway by sea.<\/p>\n<p>Newcastle has in the mean time spread in all directions far beyond<br \/>\nits ancient boundaries. From a walled medi\u00e6val town of<br \/>\nmonks and merchants, it has been converted into a busy centre<br \/>\nof commerce and manufactures inhabited by nearly 100,000 people.<br \/>\nIt is no longer a Border fortress\u2014a &#8220;shield and defense<br \/>\nagainst the invasions and frequent insults of the Scots,&#8221; as described<br \/>\nin ancient charters\u2014but a busy centre of peaceful industry,<br \/>\nand the outlet for a vast amount of steam-power, which is exported<br \/>\nin the form of coal to all parts of the world. Newcastle<br \/>\nis in many respects a town of singular and curious interest, especially<br \/>\nin its older parts, which are full of crooked lanes and narrow<br \/>\nstreets, wynds, and chares, formed by tall, antique houses,<br \/>\nrising tier above tier along the steep northern bank of the Tyne,<br \/>\nas the similarly precipitous streets of Gateshead crowd the opposite<br \/>\nshore.<\/p>\n<p>All over the coal region, which extends from the Coquet to the<br \/>\nTees, about fifty miles from north to south, the surface of the soil<br \/>\nexhibits the signs of extensive underground workings. As you<br \/>\npass through the country at night, the earth looks as if it were<br \/>\nbursting with fire at many points, the blaze of coke-ovens, iron-furnaces,<br \/>\nand coal-heaps reddening the sky to such a distance that<br \/>\nthe horizon seems like a glowing belt of fire.<\/p>\n<p>Among the upper-ground workmen employed at the coal-pits,<br \/>\nthe principal are the firemen, engine-men, and brakesmen, who<br \/>\nfire and work the engines, and superintend the machinery by<br \/>\nmeans of which the collieries are worked. Previous to the introduction<br \/>\nof the steam-engine, the usual machine employed for the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_100\" name=\"Page_100\"><\/a>[100]<\/span><br \/>\npurpose was what is called a &#8220;gin.&#8221; The gin consists of a large<br \/>\ndrum placed horizontally, round which ropes attached to buckets<br \/>\nand corves are wound, which are thus drawn up or sent down the<br \/>\nshafts by a horse traveling in a circular track or &#8220;gin race.&#8221;<br \/>\nThis method was employed for drawing up both coals and water,<br \/>\nand it is still used for the same purpose in small collieries; but<br \/>\nwhere the quantity of water to be raised is great, pumps worked<br \/>\nby steam-power are called into requisition.<\/p>\n<p>Newcomen&#8217;s atmospheric engine was first made use of to work<br \/>\nthe pumps, and it continued to be so employed long after the<br \/>\nmore powerful and economical condensing engine of Watt had<br \/>\nbeen invented. In the Newcomen or &#8220;fire-engine,&#8221; as it was<br \/>\ncalled, the power is produced by the pressure of the atmosphere<br \/>\nforcing down the piston in the cylinder, on a vacuum being produced<br \/>\nwithin it by condensation of the contained steam by means<br \/>\nof cold-water injection. The piston-rod is attached to one end<br \/>\nof a lever, while the pump-rod works in connection with the other,<br \/>\nthe hydraulic action employed to raise the water being exactly<br \/>\nsimilar to that of a common sucking-pump.<\/p>\n<p>The working of a Newcomen engine was a clumsy and apparently<br \/>\na very painful process, accompanied by an extraordinary<br \/>\namount of wheezing, sighing, creaking, and bumping. When the<br \/>\npump descended, there was heard a plunge, a heavy sigh, and a<br \/>\nloud bump; then, as it rose, and the sucker began to act, there<br \/>\nwas heard a creak, a wheeze, another bump, and then a rush of<br \/>\nwater as it was lifted and poured out. Where engines of a more<br \/>\npowerful and improved description were used, as is now the case,<br \/>\nthe quantity of water raised is enormous\u2014as much as a million<br \/>\nand a half gallons in the twenty-four hours.<\/p>\n<p>The pitmen, or &#8220;the lads belaw,&#8221; who work out the coal below<br \/>\nground, are a peculiar class, quite distinct from the workmen on<br \/>\nthe surface. They are a people with peculiar habits, manners,<br \/>\nand character, as much so as fishermen and sailors, to whom, indeed,<br \/>\nthey bear, in some respects, a considerable resemblance.<br \/>\nSome fifty years since, they were a much rougher and worse educated<br \/>\nclass than they are now; hard workers, but very wild and<br \/>\nuncouth; much given to &#8220;steeks,&#8221; or strikes; and distinguished,<br \/>\nin their hours of leisure and on pay-nights, for their love of cock-fighting,<br \/>\ndog-fighting, hard drinking, and cuddy races. The pay-night<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_101\" name=\"Page_101\"><\/a>[101]<\/span><br \/>\nwas a fortnightly saturnalia, in which the pitman&#8217;s character<br \/>\nwas fully brought out, especially when the &#8220;yel&#8221; was good.<br \/>\nThough earning much higher wages than the ordinary laboring<br \/>\npopulation of the upper soil, the latter did not mix nor intermarry<br \/>\nwith them, so that they were left to form their own communities,<br \/>\nand hence their marked peculiarities as a class. Indeed, a<br \/>\nsort of traditional disrepute seems long to have clung to the pitmen,<br \/>\narising perhaps from the nature of their employment, and<br \/>\nfrom the circumstance that the colliers were among the last classes<br \/>\nenfranchised in England, as they were certainly the last in<br \/>\nScotland, where they continued bondmen down to the end of last<br \/>\ncentury. The last thirty years, however, have worked a great<br \/>\nimprovement in the moral condition of the Northumbrian pitmen;<br \/>\nthe abolition of the twelve months&#8217; bond to the mine, and<br \/>\nthe substitution of a month&#8217;s notice previous to leaving, having<br \/>\ngiven them greater freedom and opportunity for obtaining employment;<br \/>\nand day-schools and Sunday-schools, together with the<br \/>\nimportant influences of railways, have brought them fully up to<br \/>\na level with the other classes of the laboring population.<\/p>\n<p>The coals, when raised from the pits, are emptied into the wagons<br \/>\nplaced alongside, from whence they are sent along the rails<br \/>\nto the staiths erected by the river-side, the wagons sometimes descending<br \/>\nby their own gravity along inclined planes, the wagoner<br \/>\nstanding behind to check the speed by means of a convoy or<br \/>\nwooden brake bearing upon the rims of the wheels. Arrived at<br \/>\nthe staiths, the wagons are emptied at once into the ships waiting<br \/>\nalongside for cargo. Any one who has sailed down the Tyne<br \/>\nfrom Newcastle Bridge can not but have been struck with the<br \/>\nappearance of the immense staiths, constructed of timber, which<br \/>\nare erected at short distances from each other on both sides of<br \/>\nthe river.<\/p>\n<p>But a great deal of the coal shipped from the Tyne comes from<br \/>\nabove-bridge, where sea-going craft can not reach, and is floated<br \/>\ndown the river in &#8220;keels,&#8221; in which the coals are sometimes piled<br \/>\nup according to convenience when large, or, when the coal is<br \/>\nsmall or tender, it is conveyed in tubs to prevent breakage. These<br \/>\nkeels are of a very ancient model\u2014perhaps the oldest extant in<br \/>\nEngland: they are even said to be of the same build as those in<br \/>\nwhich the Norsemen navigated the Tyne centuries ago. The<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_102\" name=\"Page_102\"><\/a>[102]<\/span><br \/>\nkeel is a tubby, grimy-looking craft, rounded fore and aft, with a<br \/>\nsingle large square sail, which the keel-bullies, as the Tyne watermen<br \/>\nare called, manage with great dexterity; the vessel being<br \/>\nguided by the aid of the &#8220;swape,&#8221; or great oar, which is used as<br \/>\na kind of rudder at the stern of the vessel. These keelmen are an<br \/>\nexceedingly hardy class of workmen, not by any means so quarrelsome<br \/>\nas their designation of &#8220;bully&#8221; would imply\u2014the word<br \/>\nbeing merely derived from the obsolete term &#8220;boolie,&#8221; or beloved,<br \/>\nan appellation still in familiar use among brother workers in the<br \/>\ncoal districts. One of the most curious sights on the Tyne is the<br \/>\nfleet of hundreds of these black-sailed, black-hulled keels, bringing<br \/>\ndown at each tide their black cargoes for the ships at anchor<br \/>\nin the deep water at Shields and other parts of the river below<br \/>\nNewcastle.<\/p>\n<p>These preliminary observations will perhaps be sufficient to explain<br \/>\nthe meaning of many of the occupations alluded to, and<br \/>\nthe phrases employed, in the course of the following narrative,<br \/>\nsome of which might otherwise have been comparatively unintelligible<br \/>\nto the reader.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"tb\">\n<p>The colliery village of Wylam is situated on the north bank of<br \/>\nthe Tyne, about eight miles west of Newcastle. The Newcastle<br \/>\nand Carlisle Railway runs along the opposite bank; and the traveler<br \/>\nby that line sees the usual signs of a colliery in the unsightly<br \/>\npumping-engines surrounded by heaps of ashes, coal-dust, and<br \/>\nslag, while a neighboring iron-furnace in full blast throws out<br \/>\ndense smoke and loud jets of steam by day and lurid flames at<br \/>\nnight. These works form the nucleus of the village, which is almost<br \/>\nentirely occupied by coal-miners and iron-furnace-men.<br \/>\nThe place is remarkable for its large population, but not for its<br \/>\ncleanness or neatness as a village; the houses, as in most colliery<br \/>\nvillages, being the property of the owners or lessees, who employ<br \/>\nthem in temporarily accommodating the work-people, against<br \/>\nwhose earnings there is a weekly set-off for house and coals.<br \/>\nAbout the end of last century, the estate of which Wylam forms<br \/>\npart belonged to Mr. Blackett, a gentleman of considerable celebrity<br \/>\nin coal-mining, then more generally known as the proprietor<br \/>\nof the &#8220;Globe&#8221; newspaper.<\/p>\n<p>There is nothing to interest one in the village itself. But a<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_103\" name=\"Page_103\"><\/a>[103]<\/span><br \/>\nfew hundred yards from its eastern extremity stands a humble<br \/>\ndetached dwelling, which will be interesting to many as the birthplace<br \/>\nof one of the most remarkable men of our times\u2014George<br \/>\nStephenson, the Railway Engineer. It is a common, two-storied,<br \/>\nred-tiled, rubble house, portioned off into four laborers&#8217; apartments.<br \/>\nIt is known by the name of High-street House, and was<br \/>\noriginally so called because it stands by the side of what used to<br \/>\nbe the old riding post-road or street between Newcastle and Hexham,<br \/>\nalong which the post was carried on horseback within the<br \/>\nmemory of persons living.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_106.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"373\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">WYLAM COLLIERY AND VILLAGE.<\/span> &nbsp; [By R. P. Leitch.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The lower room in the west end of this house was the home of<br \/>\nthe Stephenson family, and there George Stephenson was born,<br \/>\nthe second of a family of six children, on the 9th of June, 1781.<br \/>\nThe apartment is now, what it was then, an ordinary laborer&#8217;s<br \/>\ndwelling; its walls are unplastered, its floor is of clay, and the<br \/>\nbare rafters are exposed overhead.<\/p>\n<p>Robert Stephenson, or &#8220;Old Bob,&#8221; as the neighbors familiarly<br \/>\ncalled him, and his wife Mabel, were a respectable couple, careful<br \/>\nand hard-working. Robert Stephenson&#8217;s father was a Scotchman,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_104\" name=\"Page_104\"><\/a>[104]<\/span><br \/>\nwho came into England in the capacity of a gentleman&#8217;s<br \/>\nservant.<a id=\"FNanchor_19\" name=\"FNanchor_19\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_19\">[19]<\/a> Mabel, his wife, was the second daughter of Robert<br \/>\nCarr, a dyer at Ovingham. The Carrs were for several generations<br \/>\nthe owners of a house in that village adjoining the church-yard;<br \/>\nand the family tomb-stone may still be seen standing<br \/>\nagainst the east end of the chancel of the parish church, underneath<br \/>\nthe centre lancet window, as the tomb-stone of Thomas<br \/>\nBewick, the wood-engraver, occupies the western gable. Mabel<br \/>\nStephenson was a woman of somewhat delicate constitution, and<br \/>\ntroubled occasionally, as her neighbors said, with &#8220;the vapors.&#8221;<br \/>\nBut those who remembered her concurred in describing her as<br \/>\n&#8220;a real canny body;&#8221; and a woman of whom this is said by<br \/>\ngeneral consent in the Newcastle district may be pronounced a<br \/>\nworthy person indeed, for it is about the highest praise of a woman<br \/>\nwhich Northumbrians can express.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_107.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"376\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">HIGH-STREET HOUSE, WYLAM.<\/span> &nbsp; [By R. P. Leitch.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_105\" name=\"Page_105\"><\/a>[105]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>For some time after their marriage, Robert resided with his<br \/>\nwife at Walbottle, a village situated between Wylam and Newcastle,<br \/>\nwhere he was employed as a laborer at the colliery; after<br \/>\nwhich the family removed to Wylam, where he found employment<br \/>\nas fireman of the old pumping-engine at that colliery.<\/p>\n<p>George Stephenson was the second of a family of six children.<a id=\"FNanchor_20\" name=\"FNanchor_20\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_20\">[20]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>It does not appear that the birth of any of the children was<br \/>\nregistered in the parish books, the author having made an unsuccessful<br \/>\nsearch in the registers of Ovingham and Heddon-on-the-Wall<br \/>\nto ascertain the fact.<\/p>\n<p>An old Wylam collier, who remembered George Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\nfather, thus described him: &#8220;Geordie&#8217;s fayther war like a peer o&#8217;<br \/>\ndeals nailed thegither, an&#8217; a bit o&#8217; flesh i&#8217; th&#8217; inside; he war as<br \/>\nqueer as Dick&#8217;s hatband\u2014went thrice aboot, an&#8217; wudn&#8217;t tie. His<br \/>\nwife Mabel war a delicat&#8217; boddie, an&#8217; varry flighty. They war<br \/>\nan honest family, but sair hadden doon i&#8217; th&#8217; world.&#8221; Indeed,<br \/>\nthe earnings of old Robert did not amount to more than twelve<br \/>\nshillings a week; and, as there were six children to maintain,<br \/>\nthe family, during their stay at Wylam, were necessarily in very<br \/>\nstraitened circumstances. The father&#8217;s wages being barely sufficient,<br \/>\neven with the most rigid economy, for the sustenance of<br \/>\nthe household, there was little to spare for clothing, and nothing<br \/>\nfor education, so that none of the children were sent to school.<\/p>\n<p>Old Robert was a general favorite in the village, especially<br \/>\namong the children, whom he was accustomed to draw about him<br \/>\nwhile tending the engine-fire, and feast their young imaginations<br \/>\nwith tales of Sinbad the Sailor and Robinson Crusoe, besides others<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_106\" name=\"Page_106\"><\/a>[106]<\/span><br \/>\nof his own invention; so that &#8220;Bob&#8217;s engine-fire&#8221; came to be<br \/>\nthe most popular resort in the village. Another feature in his<br \/>\ncharacter, by which he was long remembered, was his affection<br \/>\nfor birds and animals; and he had many tame favorites of both<br \/>\nsorts, which were as fond of resorting to his engine-fire as the<br \/>\nboys and girls themselves. In the winter time he had usually a<br \/>\nflock of tame robins about him; and they would come hopping<br \/>\nfamiliarly to his feet to pick up the crumbs which he had saved<br \/>\nfor them out of his humble dinner. At his cottage he was rarely<br \/>\nwithout one or more tame blackbirds, which flew about the house,<br \/>\nor in and out at the door. In summer time he would go bird-nesting<br \/>\nwith his children; and one day he took his little boy<br \/>\nGeorge to see a blackbird&#8217;s nest for the first time. Holding him<br \/>\nup in his arms, he let the wondering boy peep down, through the<br \/>\nbranches held aside for the purpose, into a nest full of young<br \/>\nbirds\u2014a sight which the boy never forgot, but used to speak of<br \/>\nwith delight to his intimate friends when he himself had grown<br \/>\nan old man.<\/p>\n<p>The boy George led the ordinary life of working people&#8217;s children.<br \/>\nHe played about the doors; went bird-nesting when he<br \/>\ncould; and ran errands to the village. He was also an eager listener,<br \/>\nwith the other children, to his father&#8217;s curious tales, and he<br \/>\nearly imbibed from him his affection for birds and animals. In<br \/>\ncourse of time he was promoted to the office of carrying his father&#8217;s<br \/>\ndinner to him while at work, and at home he helped to<br \/>\nnurse his younger brothers and sisters. One of his earliest duties<br \/>\nwas to see that the other children were kept out of the way<br \/>\nof the chaldron wagons, which were then dragged by horses<br \/>\nalong the wooden tram-road immediately in front of the cottage<br \/>\ndoor.<\/p>\n<p>This wagon-way was the first in the northern district on which<br \/>\nthe experiment of a locomotive engine was tried. But, at the<br \/>\ntime of which we speak, the locomotive had scarcely been dreamt<br \/>\nof in England as a practicable working power; horses only were<br \/>\nused to haul the coal; and one of the first sights with which the<br \/>\nboy was familiar was the coal-wagons dragged by them along the<br \/>\nwooden railway at Wylam.<\/p>\n<p>Thus eight years passed; after which, the coal having been<br \/>\nworked out on the north side, the old engine, which had grown<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_107\" name=\"Page_107\"><\/a>[107]<\/span><br \/>\n&#8220;dismal to look at,&#8221; as an old workman described it, was pulled<br \/>\ndown; and then old Robert, having obtained employment as a<br \/>\nfireman at the Dewley Burn Colliery, removed with his family to<br \/>\nthat place.<\/p>\n<p>Dewley Burn, at this day, consists of a few old-fashioned, low-roofed<br \/>\ncottages standing on either side of a babbling little stream.<br \/>\nThey are connected by a rustic wooden bridge, which spans the<br \/>\nrift in front of the doors. In the central one-roomed cottage of<br \/>\nthis group, on the right bank, Robert Stephenson lived for a time<br \/>\nwith his family, the pit at which he worked standing in the rear<br \/>\nof the cottages.<\/p>\n<p>Young though he was, George was now of an age to be able to<br \/>\ncontribute something toward the family maintenance; for, in a<br \/>\npoor man&#8217;s house, every child is a burden until his little hands<br \/>\ncan be turned to profitable account. That the boy was shrewd<br \/>\nand active, and possessed of a ready mother-wit, will be evident<br \/>\nenough from the following incident. One day his sister Nell<br \/>\nwent into Newcastle to buy a bonnet, and Geordie went with her<br \/>\n&#8220;for company.&#8221; At a draper&#8217;s shop in the Bigg Market Nell<br \/>\nfound a &#8220;chip&#8221; quite to her mind, but on pricing it, alas! it was<br \/>\nfound to be fifteen pence beyond her means. Girl-like, she had<br \/>\nset her mind upon that bonnet, and no other would please her.<br \/>\nShe accordingly left the shop very much dejected. But Geordie<br \/>\nsaid, &#8220;Never heed, Nell; come wi&#8217; me, and I&#8217;ll see if I canna win<br \/>\nsiller enough to buy the bonnet; stand ye there till I come back.&#8221;<br \/>\nAway ran the boy, and disappeared amid the throng of the market,<br \/>\nleaving the girl to wait his return. Long and long she waited,<br \/>\nuntil it grew dusk, and the market-people had nearly all left.<br \/>\nShe had begun to despair, and fears crossed her mind that Geordie<br \/>\nmust have been run over and killed, when at last up he came<br \/>\nrunning, almost breathless. &#8220;I&#8217;ve gotten the siller for the bonnet,<br \/>\nNell!&#8221; cried he. &#8220;Eh, Geordie!&#8221; she said, &#8220;but hoo hae ye<br \/>\ngotten it?&#8221; &#8220;Hauddin the gentlemen&#8217;s horses!&#8221; was the exultant<br \/>\nreply. The bonnet was forthwith bought, and the two returned<br \/>\nto Dewley in triumph.<\/p>\n<p>George&#8217;s first regular employment was of a very humble sort.<br \/>\nA widow, named Grace Ainslie, then occupied the neighboring<br \/>\nfarm-house of Dewley. She kept a number of cows, and had the<br \/>\nprivilege of grazing them along the wagon-ways. She needed a<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_108\" name=\"Page_108\"><\/a>[108]<\/span><br \/>\nboy to herd the cows, to keep them out of the way of the wagons,<br \/>\nand prevent their straying or trespassing on the neighbors&#8217; &#8220;liberties;&#8221;<br \/>\nthe boy&#8217;s duty was also to bar the gates at night after all<br \/>\nthe wagons had passed. George petitioned for this post, and, to<br \/>\nhis great joy, he was appointed, at the wage of twopence a day.<\/p>\n<p>It was light employment, and he had plenty of spare time on<br \/>\nhis hands, which he spent in bird-nesting, making whistles out of<br \/>\nreeds and scrannel straws, and erecting Liliputian mills in the little<br \/>\nwater-streams that ran into the Dewley bog. But his favorite<br \/>\namusement at this early age was erecting clay engines in conjunction<br \/>\nwith his playmate, Bill Thirlwall. The place is still<br \/>\npointed out where the future engineers made their first essays in<br \/>\nmodeling. The boys found the clay for their engines in the adjoining<br \/>\nbog, and the hemlocks which grew about supplied them<br \/>\nwith imaginary steam-pipes. They even proceeded to make a<br \/>\nminiature winding-machine in connection with their engine, and<br \/>\nthe apparatus was erected upon a bench in front of the Thirlwalls&#8217;<br \/>\ncottage. Their corves were made out of hollowed corks;<br \/>\ntheir ropes were supplied by twine; and a few bits of wood<br \/>\ngleaned from the refuse of the carpenters&#8217; shop completed their<br \/>\nmaterials. With this apparatus the boys made a show of sending<br \/>\nthe corves down the pit and drawing them up again, much to<br \/>\nthe marvel of the pitmen. But some mischievous person about<br \/>\nthe place seized the opportunity early one morning of smashing<br \/>\nthe fragile machinery, greatly to the grief of the young engineers.<br \/>\nWe may mention, in passing, that George&#8217;s companion<br \/>\nafterward became a workman of repute, and creditably held the<br \/>\noffice of engineer at Shilbottle, near Alnwick, for a period of<br \/>\nnearly thirty years.<\/p>\n<p>As Stephenson grew older and abler to work, he was set to<br \/>\nlead the horses when plowing, though scarce big enough to stride<br \/>\nacross the furrows; and he used afterward to say that he rode to<br \/>\nhis work in the mornings at an hour when most other children of<br \/>\nhis age were asleep in their beds. He was also employed to hoe<br \/>\nturnips, and do similar farm-work, for which he was paid the advanced<br \/>\nwage of fourpence a day. But his highest ambition was<br \/>\nto be taken on at the colliery where his father worked; and he<br \/>\nshortly joined his elder brother James there as a &#8220;corf-bitter,&#8221; or<br \/>\n&#8220;picker,&#8221; to clear the coal of stones, bats, and dross. His wages<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_109\" name=\"Page_109\"><\/a>[109]<\/span><br \/>\nwere then advanced to sixpence a day, and afterward to eightpence<br \/>\nwhen he was sent to drive the gin-horse.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after, George went to Black Callerton Colliery to drive<br \/>\nthe gin there; and, as that colliery lies about two miles across the<br \/>\nfields from Dewley Burn, the boy walked that distance early in<br \/>\nthe morning to his work, returning home late in the evening. One<br \/>\nof the old residents at Black Callerton, who remembered him at<br \/>\nthat time, described him to the author as &#8220;a grit growing lad,<br \/>\nwith bare legs an&#8217; feet;&#8221; adding that he was &#8220;very quick-witted,<br \/>\nand full of fun and tricks: indeed, there was nothing under the<br \/>\nsun but he tried to imitate.&#8221; He was usually foremost also in<br \/>\nthe sports and pastimes of youth.<\/p>\n<p>Among his first strongly developed tastes was the love of birds<br \/>\nand animals, which he inherited from his father. Blackbirds<br \/>\nwere his special favorites. The hedges between Dewley and<br \/>\nBlack Callerton were capital bird-nesting places, and there was<br \/>\nnot a nest there that he did not know of. When the young birds<br \/>\nwere old enough, he would bring them home with him, feed<br \/>\nthem, and teach them to fly about the cottage unconfined by<br \/>\ncages. One of his blackbirds became so tame that, after flying<br \/>\nabout the doors all day, and in and out of the cottage, it would<br \/>\ntake up its roost upon the bed-head at night. And, most singular<br \/>\nof all, the bird would disappear in the spring and summer<br \/>\nmonths, when it was supposed to go into the woods to pair and<br \/>\nrear its young, after which it would reappear at the cottage, and<br \/>\nresume its social habits during the winter. This went on for<br \/>\nseveral years. George had also a stock of tame rabbits, for<br \/>\nwhich he built a little house behind the cottage, and for many<br \/>\nyears he continued to pride himself upon the superiority of his<br \/>\nbreed.<\/p>\n<p>After he had driven the gin for some time at Dewley and<br \/>\nBlack Callerton, he was taken on as assistant to his father in firing<br \/>\nthe engine at Dewley. This was a step of promotion which<br \/>\nhe had anxiously desired, his only fear being lest he should be<br \/>\nfound too young for the work. Indeed, he afterward used to relate<br \/>\nhow he was wont to hide himself when the owner of the colliery<br \/>\nwent round, in case he should be thought too little a boy to<br \/>\nearn the wages paid him. Since he had modeled his clay engines<br \/>\nin the bog, his young ambition was to be an engine-man;<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_110\" name=\"Page_110\"><\/a>[110]<\/span><br \/>\nand to be an assistant fireman was the first step toward this position.<br \/>\nGreat, therefore, was his joy when, at about fourteen years<br \/>\nof age, he was appointed assistant fireman, at the wage of a shilling<br \/>\na day.<\/p>\n<p>But the coal at Dewley Burn being at length worked out, the<br \/>\npit was ordered to be &#8220;laid in,&#8221; and old Robert and his family<br \/>\nwere again under the necessity of shifting their home; for, to use<br \/>\nthe common phrase, they must &#8220;follow the wark.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 400px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_113.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"303\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>(Colliery Wagons)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_111\" name=\"Page_111\"><\/a>[111]<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_114.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"422\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">NEWBURN ON THE TYNE<\/span>. &nbsp; [By R. P. Leitch.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER II.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>NEWBURN AND CALLERTON\u2014GEORGE STEPHENSON LEARNS TO BE<br \/>\nAN ENGINE-MAN.<\/h4>\n<p>On quitting their humble home at Dewley Burn, the Stephenson<br \/>\nfamily removed to a place called Jolly&#8217;s Close, a few miles to<br \/>\nthe south, close behind the village of Newburn, where another<br \/>\ncoal-mine belonging to the Duke of Northumberland, called &#8220;the<br \/>\nDuke&#8217;s Winnin,&#8221; had recently been opened out.<\/p>\n<p>One of the old persons in the neighborhood, who knew the<br \/>\nfamily well, describes the dwelling in which they lived as a poor<br \/>\ncottage of only one room, in which the father, mother, four sons,<br \/>\nand two daughters lived and slept. It was crowded with three<br \/>\nlow-poled beds. The one apartment served for parlor, kitchen,<br \/>\nsleeping-room, and all.<\/p>\n<p>The children of the Stephenson family were now growing<br \/>\napace, and several of them were old enough to be able to earn<br \/>\nmoney at various kinds of colliery work. James and George,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_112\" name=\"Page_112\"><\/a>[112]<\/span><br \/>\nthe two eldest sons, worked as assistant firemen; and the younger<br \/>\nboys worked as wheelers or pickers on the bank-tops; while the<br \/>\ntwo girls helped their mother with the household work.<\/p>\n<p>Other workings of the coal were opened out in the neighborhood,<br \/>\nand to one of these George was removed as fireman on his<br \/>\nown account. This was called the &#8220;Mid Mill Winnin,&#8221; where<br \/>\nhe had for his mate a young man named Coe. They worked together<br \/>\nthere for about two years, by twelve-hour shifts, George<br \/>\nfiring the engine at the wage of a shilling a day. He was now<br \/>\nfifteen years old. His ambition was as yet limited to attaining<br \/>\nthe standing of a full workman, at a man&#8217;s wages, and with that<br \/>\nview he endeavored to attain such a knowledge of his engine as<br \/>\nwould eventually lead to his employment as engine-man, with its<br \/>\naccompanying advantage of higher pay. He was a steady, sober,<br \/>\nhard-working young man, but nothing more in the estimation of<br \/>\nhis fellow-workmen.<\/p>\n<p>One of his favorite pastimes in by-hours was trying feats of<br \/>\nstrength with his companions. Although in frame he was not<br \/>\nparticularly robust, yet he was big and bony, and considered very<br \/>\nstrong for his age. At throwing the hammer George had no<br \/>\ncompeer. At lifting heavy weights off the ground from between<br \/>\nhis feet, by means of a bar of iron passed through them\u2014placing<br \/>\nthe bar against his knees as a fulcrum, and then straightening his<br \/>\nspine and lifting them sheer up\u2014he was also very successful.<br \/>\nOn one occasion he lifted as much as sixty stones&#8217; weight\u2014a<br \/>\nstriking indication of his strength of bone and muscle.<\/p>\n<p>When the pit at Mid Mill was closed, George and his companion<br \/>\nCoe were sent to work another pumping-engine erected near<br \/>\nThrockley Bridge, where they continued for some months. It<br \/>\nwas while working at this place that his wages were raised to 12s.<br \/>\na week\u2014an event to him of great importance. On coming out<br \/>\nof the foreman&#8217;s office that Saturday evening on which he received<br \/>\nthe advance, he announced the fact to his fellow-workmen,<br \/>\nadding triumphantly, &#8220;I am now a made man for life!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The pit opened at Newburn, at which old Robert Stephenson<br \/>\nworked, proving a failure, it was closed, and a new pit was sunk<br \/>\nat Water-row, on a strip of land lying between the Wylam wagon-way<br \/>\nand the River Tyne, about half a mile west of Newburn<br \/>\nChurch. A pumping-engine was erected there by Robert Hawthorn,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_113\" name=\"Page_113\"><\/a>[113]<\/span><br \/>\nthe duke&#8217;s engineer, and old Stephenson went to work it<br \/>\nas fireman, his son George acting as the engine-man or plugman.<br \/>\nAt that time he was about seventeen years old\u2014a very youthful<br \/>\nage at which to fill so responsible a post. He had thus already<br \/>\ngot ahead of his father in his station as a workman; for the plugman<br \/>\nholds a higher grade than the fireman, requiring more practical<br \/>\nknowledge and skill, and usually receiving higher wages.<\/p>\n<p>George&#8217;s duties as plugman were to watch the engine, to see<br \/>\nthat it kept well in work, and that the pumps were efficient in<br \/>\ndrawing the water. When the water-level in the pit was lowered,<br \/>\nand the suction became incomplete through the exposure of<br \/>\nthe suction-holes, it was then his duty to proceed to the bottom<br \/>\nof the shaft and plug the tube so that the pump should draw:<br \/>\nhence the designation of &#8220;plugman.&#8221; If a stoppage in the engine<br \/>\ntook place through any defect which he was incapable of<br \/>\nremedying, it was his duty to call in the aid of the chief engineer<br \/>\nto set it to rights.<\/p>\n<p>But from the time that George Stephenson was appointed fireman,<br \/>\nand more particularly afterward as engine-man, he applied<br \/>\nhimself so assiduously and successfully to the study of the engine<br \/>\nand its gearing\u2014taking the machine to pieces in his leisure hours<br \/>\nfor the purpose of cleaning it and understanding its various parts\u2014that<br \/>\nhe soon acquired a thorough practical knowledge of its<br \/>\nconstruction and mode of working, and very rarely needed to call<br \/>\nthe engineer of the colliery to his aid. His engine became a sort<br \/>\nof pet with him, and he was never wearied of watching and inspecting<br \/>\nit with admiration.<\/p>\n<p>There is, indeed, a peculiar fascination about an engine to the<br \/>\nperson whose duty it is to watch and work it. It is almost sublime<br \/>\nin its untiring industry and quiet power; capable of performing<br \/>\nthe most gigantic work, yet so docile that a child&#8217;s hand<br \/>\nmay guide it. No wonder, therefore, that the workman who is<br \/>\nthe daily companion of this life-like machine, and is constantly<br \/>\nwatching it with anxious care, at length comes to regard it with<br \/>\na degree of personal interest and regard. This daily contemplation<br \/>\nof the steam-engine, and the sight of its steady action, is an<br \/>\neducation of itself to an ingenious and thoughtful man. And it<br \/>\nis a remarkable fact, that nearly all that has been done for the<br \/>\nimprovement of this machine has been accomplished, not by philosophers<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_114\" name=\"Page_114\"><\/a>[114]<\/span><br \/>\nand scientific men, but by laborers, mechanics, and engine-men.<br \/>\nIndeed, it would appear as if this were one of the departments<br \/>\nof practical science in which the higher powers of the<br \/>\nhuman mind must bend to mechanical instinct.<\/p>\n<p>Stephenson was now in his eighteenth year, but, like many of<br \/>\nhis fellow-workmen, he had not yet learned to read. All that he<br \/>\ncould do was to get some one to read for him by his engine-fire,<br \/>\nout of any book or stray newspaper which found its way into the<br \/>\nneighborhood. Bonaparte was then overrunning Italy, and astounding<br \/>\nEurope by his brilliant succession of victories; and there<br \/>\nwas no more eager auditor of his exploits, as read from the newspaper<br \/>\naccounts, than the young engine-man at the Water-row Pit.<\/p>\n<p>There were also numerous stray bits of information and intelligence<br \/>\ncontained in these papers which excited Stephenson&#8217;s interest.<br \/>\nOne of them related to the Egyptian method of hatching<br \/>\nbirds&#8217; eggs by means of artificial heat. Curious about every thing<br \/>\nrelating to birds, he determined to test it by experiment. It was<br \/>\nspring time, and he forthwith went bird-nesting in the adjoining<br \/>\nwoods and hedges. He gathered a collection of eggs of various<br \/>\nsorts, set them in flour in a warm place in the engine-house, covered<br \/>\nthe whole with wool, and waited the issue. The heat was<br \/>\nkept as steady as possible, and the eggs were carefully turned every<br \/>\ntwelve hours; but, though they chipped, and some of them<br \/>\nexhibited well-grown chicks, they never hatched. The experiment<br \/>\nfailed, but the incident shows that the inquiring mind of<br \/>\nthe youth was fairly at work.<\/p>\n<p>Modeling of engines in clay continued to be another of his favorite<br \/>\noccupations. He made models of engines which he had<br \/>\nseen, and of others which were described to him. These attempts<br \/>\nwere an improvement upon his first trials at Dewley Burn bog,<br \/>\nwhen occupied there as a herd-boy. He was, however, anxious to<br \/>\nknow something of the wonderful engines of Boulton and Watt,<br \/>\nand was told that they were to be found fully described in books,<br \/>\nwhich he must search for information as to their construction, action,<br \/>\nand uses. But, alas! Stephenson could not read; he had not<br \/>\nyet learned even his letters.<\/p>\n<p>Thus he shortly found, when gazing wistfully in the direction<br \/>\nof knowledge, that to advance farther as a skilled workman, he<br \/>\nmust master this wonderful art of reading\u2014the key to so many<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_115\" name=\"Page_115\"><\/a>[115]<\/span><br \/>\nother arts. Only thus could he gain an access to books, the depositories<br \/>\nof the wisdom and experience of the past. Although<br \/>\na grown man, and doing the work of a man, he was not ashamed<br \/>\nto confess his ignorance, and go to school, big as he was, to learn<br \/>\nhis letters. Perhaps, too, he foresaw that, in laying out a little of<br \/>\nhis spare earnings for this purpose, he was investing money judiciously,<br \/>\nand that, in every hour he spent at school, he was really<br \/>\nworking for better wages.<\/p>\n<p>His first schoolmaster was Robin Cowens, a poor teacher in the<br \/>\nvillage of Walbottle. He kept a night-school, which was attended<br \/>\nby a few of the colliers&#8217; and laborers&#8217; sons in the neighborhood.<br \/>\nGeorge took lessons in spelling and reading three nights<br \/>\nin the week. <span class=\"corr\" title=\"Transcriber's Note\u2014original text: Robin Cowen's\">Robin Cowens&#8217;s<\/span> teaching cost threepence a week;<br \/>\nand though it was not very good, yet George, being hungry for<br \/>\nknowledge and eager to acquire it, soon learned to read. He also<br \/>\npracticed &#8220;pot-hooks,&#8221; and at the age of nineteen he was proud<br \/>\nto be able to write his own name.<\/p>\n<p>A Scotch dominie, named Andrew Robertson, set up a night-school<br \/>\nin the village of Newburn in the winter of 1799. It was<br \/>\nmore convenient for George to attend this school, as it was nearer<br \/>\nhis work, being only a few minutes&#8217; walk from Jolly&#8217;s Close.<br \/>\nBesides, Andrew had the reputation of being a good arithmetician,<br \/>\nand this was a branch of knowledge that Stephenson was<br \/>\nvery desirous of acquiring. He accordingly began taking lessons<br \/>\nfrom him, paying fourpence a week. Robert Gray, junior fireman<br \/>\nat the Water-row Pit, began arithmetic at the same time;<br \/>\nand Gray afterward told the author that George learned &#8220;figuring&#8221;<br \/>\nso much faster than he did, that he could not make out how<br \/>\nit was\u2014&#8221;he took to figures so wonderful.&#8221; Although the two<br \/>\nstarted together from the same point, at the end of the winter<br \/>\nGeorge had mastered &#8220;reduction,&#8221; while Robert Gray was still<br \/>\nstruggling with the difficulties of simple division. But George&#8217;s<br \/>\nsecret was his perseverance. He worked out the sums in his by-hours,<br \/>\nimproving every minute of his spare time by the engine-fire,<br \/>\nthere studying the arithmetical problems set for him upon<br \/>\nhis slate by the master. In the evenings he took to Robertson<br \/>\nthe sums which he had &#8220;worked,&#8221; and new ones were &#8220;set&#8221; for<br \/>\nhim to study out the following day. Thus his progress was rapid,<br \/>\nand, with a willing heart and mind, he soon became well advanced<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_116\" name=\"Page_116\"><\/a>[116]<\/span><br \/>\nin arithmetic. Indeed, Andrew Robertson became very<br \/>\nproud of his scholar; and shortly after, when the Water-row Pit<br \/>\nwas closed, and George removed to Black Callerton to work there,<br \/>\nthe poor schoolmaster, not having a very extensive connection in<br \/>\nNewburn, went with his pupils, and set up his night-school at<br \/>\nBlack Callerton, where he continued his lessons.<\/p>\n<p>George still found time to attend to his favorite animals while<br \/>\nworking at the Water-row Pit. Like his father, he used to tempt<br \/>\nthe robin-redbreasts to hop and fly about him at the engine-fire<br \/>\nby the bait of bread-crumbs saved from his dinner. But his chief<br \/>\nfavorite was his dog\u2014so sagacious that he almost daily carried<br \/>\nGeorge&#8217;s dinner to him at the pit. The tin containing the meal<br \/>\nwas suspended from the dog&#8217;s neck, and, thus laden, he proceeded<br \/>\nfaithfully from Jolly&#8217;s Close to Water-row Pit, quite through<br \/>\nthe village of Newburn. He turned neither to left nor right, nor<br \/>\nheeded the barking of curs at his heels. But his course was not<br \/>\nunattended with perils. One day the big, strange dog of a passing<br \/>\nbutcher, espying the engine-man&#8217;s messenger with the tin can<br \/>\nabout his neck, ran after and fell upon him. There was a terrible<br \/>\ntussle and worrying, which lasted for a brief while, and, shortly<br \/>\nafter, the dog&#8217;s master, anxious for his dinner, saw his faithful<br \/>\nservant approaching, bleeding but triumphant. The tin can was<br \/>\nstill round his neck, but the dinner had been spilled in the struggle.<br \/>\nThough George went without his dinner that day, he was<br \/>\nprouder of his dog than ever when the circumstances of the combat<br \/>\nwere related to him by the villagers who had seen it.<\/p>\n<p>It was while working at the Water-row Pit that Stephenson<br \/>\nlearned the art of brakeing an engine. This being one of the<br \/>\nhigher departments of colliery labor, and among the best paid,<br \/>\nGeorge was very anxious to learn it. A small winding-engine<br \/>\nhaving been put up for the purpose of drawing the coals from<br \/>\nthe pit, Bill Coe, his friend and fellow-workman, was appointed the<br \/>\nbrakesman. He frequently allowed George to try his hand<br \/>\nat the machine, and instructed him how to proceed. Coe was,<br \/>\nhowever, opposed in this by several of the other workmen, one of<br \/>\nwhom, a banksman named William Locke,<a id=\"FNanchor_21\" name=\"FNanchor_21\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_21\">[21]<\/a> went so far as to<br \/>\nstop the working of the pit because Stephenson had been called<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_117\" name=\"Page_117\"><\/a>[117]<\/span><br \/>\nin to the brake. But one day, as Mr. Charles Nixon, the manager<br \/>\nof the pit, was observed approaching, Coe adopted an expedient<br \/>\nwhich put a stop to the opposition. He called upon Stephenson<br \/>\nto &#8220;come into the brake-house and take hold of the machine.&#8221;<br \/>\nLocke, as usual, sat down, and the working of the pit was stopped.<br \/>\nWhen requested by the manager to give an explanation, he said<br \/>\nthat &#8220;young Stephenson couldn&#8217;t brake, and, what was more, never<br \/>\nwould learn, he was so clumsy.&#8221; Mr. Nixon, however, ordered<br \/>\nLocke to go on with the work, which he did; and Stephenson,<br \/>\nafter some farther practice, acquired the art of brakeing.<\/p>\n<p>After working at the Water-row Pit and at other engines near<br \/>\nNewburn for about three years, George and Coe went to Black<br \/>\nCallerton early in 1810. Though only twenty years of age, his<br \/>\nemployers thought so well of him that they appointed him to the<br \/>\nresponsible office of brakesman at the Dolly Pit. For convenience&#8217;<br \/>\nsake, he took lodgings at a small farmer&#8217;s in the village,<br \/>\nfinding his own victuals, and paying so much a week for lodging<br \/>\nand attendance. In the locality this was called &#8220;picklin in his<br \/>\nawn poke neuk.&#8221; It not unfrequently happens that the young<br \/>\nworkman about the collieries, when selecting a lodging, contrives<br \/>\nto pitch his tent where the daughter of the house ultimately becomes<br \/>\nhis wife. This is often the real attraction that draws<br \/>\nthe youth from home, though a very different one may be pretended.<\/p>\n<p>George Stephenson&#8217;s duties as brakesman may be briefly described.<br \/>\nThe work was somewhat monotonous, and consisted in<br \/>\nsuperintending the working of the engine and machinery by<br \/>\nmeans of which the coals were drawn out of the pit. Brakesmen<br \/>\nare almost invariably selected from those who have had considerable<br \/>\nexperience as engine-firemen, and borne a good character<br \/>\nfor steadiness, punctuality, watchfulness, and &#8220;mother wit.&#8221;<br \/>\nIn George Stephenson&#8217;s day the coals were drawn out of the<br \/>\npit in corves, or large baskets made of hazel rods. The corves<br \/>\nwere placed together in a cage, between which and the pit-ropes<br \/>\nthere was usually from fifteen to twenty feet of chain. The approach<br \/>\nof the corves toward the pit mouth was signaled by a<br \/>\nbell, brought into action by a piece of mechanism worked from<br \/>\nthe shaft of the engine. When the bell sounded, the brakesman<br \/>\nchecked the speed by taking hold of the hand-gear connected<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_118\" name=\"Page_118\"><\/a>[118]<\/span><br \/>\nwith the steam-valves, which were so arranged that by their<br \/>\nmeans he could regulate the speed of the engine, and stop or set<br \/>\nit in motion when required. Connected with the fly-wheel was<br \/>\na powerful wooden brake, acting by pressure against its rim,<br \/>\nsomething like the brake of a railway carriage against its wheels.<br \/>\nOn catching sight of the chain attached to the ascending corve-cage,<br \/>\nthe brakesman, by pressing his foot upon a foot-step near<br \/>\nhim, was enabled, with great precision, to stop the revolutions of<br \/>\nthe wheel, and arrest the ascent of the corves at the pit mouth,<br \/>\nwhen they were forthwith landed on the &#8220;settle-board.&#8221; On the<br \/>\nfull corves being replaced by empty ones, it was then the duty of<br \/>\nthe brakesman to reverse the engine, and send the corves down<br \/>\nthe pit to be filled again.<\/p>\n<p>The monotony of George Stephenson&#8217;s occupation as a brakesman<br \/>\nwas somewhat varied by the change which he made, in his<br \/>\nturn, from the day to the night shift. His duty, on the latter occasions,<br \/>\nconsisted chiefly in sending men and materials into the<br \/>\nmine, and in drawing other men and materials out. Most of the<br \/>\nworkmen enter the pit during the night shift, and leave it in the<br \/>\nlatter part of the day, while coal-drawing is proceeding. The requirements<br \/>\nof the work at night are such that the brakesman has<br \/>\na good deal of spare time on his hands, which he is at liberty to<br \/>\nemploy in his own way. From an early period, George was accustomed<br \/>\nto employ those vacant night hours in working the sums<br \/>\nset for him by Andrew Robertson upon his slate, practicing writing<br \/>\nin his copy-book, and mending the shoes of his fellow-workmen.<br \/>\nHis wages while working at the Dolly Pit amounted to<br \/>\nfrom \u00a31 15<i>s<\/i>. to \u00a32 in the fortnight; but he gradually added to<br \/>\nthem as he became more expert at shoe-mending, and afterward<br \/>\nat shoe-making.<\/p>\n<p>Probably he was stimulated to take in hand this extra work by<br \/>\nthe attachment he had by this time formed for a young woman<br \/>\nnamed Fanny Henderson, who officiated as servant in the small<br \/>\nfarmer&#8217;s house in which he lodged. We have been informed that<br \/>\nthe personal attractions of Fanny, though these were considerable,<br \/>\nwere the least of her charms. Mr. William Fairbairn, who<br \/>\nafterward saw her in her home at Willington Quay, describes her<br \/>\nas a very comely woman. But her temper was one of the sweetest;<br \/>\nand those who knew her were accustomed to speak of the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_119\" name=\"Page_119\"><\/a>[119]<\/span><br \/>\ncharming modesty of her demeanor, her kindness of disposition,<br \/>\nand, withal, her sound good sense.<\/p>\n<p>Among his various mendings of old shoes at Callerton, George<br \/>\nwas on one occasion favored with the shoes of his sweetheart to<br \/>\nsole. One can imagine the pleasure with which he would linger<br \/>\nover such a piece of work, and the pride with which he would<br \/>\nexecute it. A friend of his, still living, relates that, after he had<br \/>\nfinished the shoes, he carried them about with him in his pocket<br \/>\non the Sunday afternoon, and that from time to time he would<br \/>\npull them out and hold them up, exclaiming &#8220;what a capital job<br \/>\nhe had made of them!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Not long after he began to work at Black Callerton as brakesman<br \/>\nhe had a quarrel with a pitman named Ned Nelson, a roystering<br \/>\nbully, who was the terror of the village. Nelson was a<br \/>\ngreat fighter, and it was therefore considered dangerous to quarrel<br \/>\nwith him. Stephenson was so unfortunate as not to be able<br \/>\nto please this pitman by the way in which he drew him out of<br \/>\nthe pit, and Nelson swore at him grossly because of the alleged<br \/>\nclumsiness of his brakeing. George defended himself, and appealed<br \/>\nto the testimony of the other workmen. Nelson had not<br \/>\nbeen accustomed to George&#8217;s style of self-assertion, and, after a<br \/>\ngreat deal of abuse, he threatened to kick the brakesman, who<br \/>\ndefied him to do so. Nelson ended by challenging Stephenson<br \/>\nto a pitched battle, and the latter accepted the challenge, when a<br \/>\nday was fixed on which the fight was to come off.<\/p>\n<p>Great was the excitement at Black Callerton when it was<br \/>\nknown that George Stephenson had accepted Nelson&#8217;s challenge.<br \/>\nEvery body said he would be killed. The villagers, the young<br \/>\nmen, and especially the boys of the place, with whom George was<br \/>\na great favorite, all wished that he might beat Nelson, but they<br \/>\nscarcely dared to say so. They came about him while he was at<br \/>\nwork in the engine-house to inquire if it was really true that he<br \/>\nwas &#8220;goin&#8217; to fight Nelson.&#8221; &#8220;Ay; never fear for me; I&#8217;ll fight<br \/>\nhim.&#8221; And fight him he did. For some days previous to the<br \/>\nappointed day of battle, Nelson went entirely off work for the<br \/>\npurpose of keeping himself fresh and strong, whereas Stephenson<br \/>\nwent on doing his daily work as usual, and appeared not in the<br \/>\nleast disconcerted by the prospect of the affair. So, on the evening<br \/>\nappointed, after George had done his day&#8217;s labor, he went<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_120\" name=\"Page_120\"><\/a>[120]<\/span><br \/>\ninto the Dolly Pit Field, where his already exulting rival was<br \/>\nready to meet him. George stripped, and &#8220;went in&#8221; like a practiced<br \/>\npugilist, though it was his first and last fight. After a few<br \/>\nrounds, George&#8217;s wiry muscles and practiced strength enabled him<br \/>\nseverely to punish his adversary and to secure an easy victory.<\/p>\n<p>This circumstance is related in illustration of Stephenson&#8217;s personal<br \/>\npluck and courage, and it was thoroughly characteristic of<br \/>\nthe man. He was no pugilist, and the reverse of quarrelsome.<br \/>\nBut he would not be put down by the bully of the colliery, and<br \/>\nhe fought him. There his pugilism ended; they afterward shook<br \/>\nhands, and continued good friends. In after life Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\nmettle was often as hardly tried, though in a different way, and<br \/>\nhe did not fail to exhibit the same courage in contending with<br \/>\nthe bullies of the railway world as he showed in his encounter<br \/>\nwith Ned Nelson, the fighting pitman of Callerton.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 400px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_123.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"310\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>(Colliery Gin)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_121\" name=\"Page_121\"><\/a>[121]<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_124.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"377\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">STEPHENSON&#8217;S COTTAGE AT WILLINGTON QUAY.<\/span> &nbsp; [By R. P. Leitch.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER III.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>ENGINE-MAN AT WILLINGTON QUAY AND KILLINGWORTH.<\/h4>\n<p>George Stephenson had now acquired the character of an expert<br \/>\nworkman. He was diligent and observant while at work,<br \/>\nand sober and studious when the day&#8217;s work was done. His<br \/>\nfriend Coe described him to the author as &#8220;a standing example<br \/>\nof manly character.&#8221; On pay-Saturday afternoons, when the pitmen<br \/>\nheld their fortnightly holiday, occupying themselves chiefly<br \/>\nin cock-fighting and dog-fighting in the adjoining fields, followed<br \/>\nby adjournments to the &#8220;yel-house,&#8221; George was accustomed to<br \/>\ntake his engine to pieces, for the purpose of obtaining &#8220;insight,&#8221;<br \/>\nand he cleaned all the parts and put the machine in thorough<br \/>\nworking order before leaving her. His amusements continued<br \/>\nto be principally of the athletic kind, and he found few that<br \/>\ncould beat him at lifting heavy weights, leaping, and throwing<br \/>\nthe hammer.<\/p>\n<p>In the evenings he improved himself in the arts of reading and<br \/>\nwriting, and occasionally he took a turn at modeling. It was at<br \/>\nCallerton, his son Robert informed us, that he began to try his<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_122\" name=\"Page_122\"><\/a>[122]<\/span><br \/>\nhand at original invention, and for some time he applied his attention<br \/>\nto a machine of the nature of an engine-brake, which reversed<br \/>\nitself by its own action. But nothing came of the contrivance,<br \/>\nand it was eventually thrown aside as useless. Yet not<br \/>\naltogether so; for even the highest skill must undergo the inevitable<br \/>\ndiscipline of experiment, and submit to the wholesome correction<br \/>\nof occasional failure.<\/p>\n<p>After working at Callerton for about two years, Stephenson received<br \/>\nan offer to take charge of the engine on Willington Ballast<br \/>\nHill at an advanced wage. He determined to accept it, and<br \/>\nat the same time to marry Fanny Henderson, and begin housekeeping<br \/>\non his own account. Though he was only twenty-one<br \/>\nyears old, he had contrived, by thrift, steadiness, and industry, to<br \/>\nsave as much money as enabled him, with the help of Fanny&#8217;s<br \/>\nsmall hoard, to take a cottage dwelling at Willington Quay, and<br \/>\nfurnish it in a humble but comfortable style for the reception of<br \/>\nhis bride.<\/p>\n<p>Willington Quay lies on the north bank of the Tyne, about six<br \/>\nmiles below Newcastle. It consists of a line of houses straggling<br \/>\nalong the river side, and high behind it towers up the huge mound<br \/>\nof ballast emptied out of the ships which resort to the quay for<br \/>\ntheir cargoes of coal for the London market. The ballast is<br \/>\nthrown out of the ships&#8217; holds into wagons laid alongside. When<br \/>\nfilled, a train of these is dragged to the summit of the Ballast<br \/>\nHill, where they are run out, and their contents emptied on to<br \/>\nthe monstrous accumulation of earth, chalk, and Thames mud already<br \/>\nlaid there, probably to form a puzzle for future antiquaries<br \/>\nand geologists when the origin of these immense hills along<br \/>\nthe Tyne has been forgotten. At the foot of this great mound<br \/>\nof shot rubbish was a fixed engine, which drew the trains of<br \/>\nladen wagons up the incline by means of ropes working over<br \/>\npulleys, and of this engine George Stephenson acted as brakesman.<\/p>\n<p>The cottage in which he took up his abode was a small two-storied<br \/>\ndwelling, standing a little back from the quay, with a bit<br \/>\nof garden ground in front;<a id=\"FNanchor_22\" name=\"FNanchor_22\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_22\">[22]<\/a> but he only occupied the upper<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_123\" name=\"Page_123\"><\/a>[123]<\/span><br \/>\nroom in the west end of the cottage. Close behind rose the Ballast<br \/>\nHill.<\/p>\n<p>When the cottage dwelling had been made snug and was ready<br \/>\nfor his wife&#8217;s reception, the marriage took place. It was celebrated<br \/>\nin Newburn Church on the 28th of November, 1802.<br \/>\nGeorge Stephenson&#8217;s signature, as it stands in the register, is that<br \/>\nof a person who seems to have just learned to write. With all<br \/>\nthe writer&#8217;s care, however, he had not been able to avoid a blotch.<br \/>\nThe name of Frances Henderson has the appearance of being<br \/>\nwritten by the same hand.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_126.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"164\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>(Signatures of George Stephenson and Frances Henderson)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>After the ceremony, George and his newly-wedded partner<br \/>\nproceeded to the house of old Robert Stephenson and his wife<br \/>\nMabel at Jolly Close. The old man was now becoming infirm,<br \/>\nthough he still worked as an engine-fireman, and contrived with<br \/>\ndifficulty &#8220;to keep his head above water.&#8221; When the visit had<br \/>\nbeen paid, the bridal party prepared to set out for their new<br \/>\nhome at Willington Quay. They went in a style which was quite<br \/>\ncommon before traveling by railway had been invented. Two<br \/>\nfarm-horses, borrowed from a neighboring farmer, were each provided<br \/>\nwith a saddle and a pillion, and George having mounted<br \/>\none, his wife seated herself behind him, holding on by her arms<br \/>\nround his waist. The brideman and bridemaid in like manner<br \/>\nmounted the other horse, and in this wise the wedding party rode<br \/>\nacross the country, passing through the old streets of Newcastle,<br \/>\nand then by Wallsend to Willington Quay\u2014a long ride of about<br \/>\nfifteen miles.<\/p>\n<p>George Stephenson&#8217;s daily life at Willington was that of a<br \/>\nsteady workman. By the manner, however, in which he continued<br \/>\nto improve his spare hours in the evening, he was silently<br \/>\nand surely paving the way for being something more than a manual<br \/>\nlaborer. He diligently set himself to study the principles of<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_124\" name=\"Page_124\"><\/a>[124]<\/span><br \/>\nmechanics, and to master the laws by which his engine worked.<br \/>\nFor a workman, he was even at that time more than ordinarily<br \/>\nspeculative, often taking up strange theories, and trying to sift<br \/>\nout the truth that was in them. While sitting by the side of his<br \/>\nyoung wife in his cottage dwelling in the winter evenings, he was<br \/>\nusually occupied in studying mechanical subjects or in modeling<br \/>\nexperimental machines.<\/p>\n<p>Among his various speculations while at Willington, he tried<br \/>\nto discover a means of Perpetual Motion. Although he failed,<br \/>\nas so many others had done before him, the very efforts he made<br \/>\ntended to whet his inventive faculties and to call forth his dormant<br \/>\npowers. He actually went so far as to construct the model<br \/>\nof a machine for the purpose. It consisted of a wooden wheel,<br \/>\nthe periphery of which was furnished with glass tubes filled with<br \/>\nquicksilver; as the wheel rotated, the quicksilver poured itself<br \/>\ndown into the lower tubes, and thus a sort of self-acting motion<br \/>\nwas kept up in the apparatus, which, however, did not prove to be<br \/>\nperpetual. Where he had first obtained the idea of this machine\u2014whether<br \/>\nfrom conversation, or reading, or his own thoughts, is<br \/>\nnot known; but his son Robert was of opinion that he had heard<br \/>\nof an apparatus of this kind as described in the &#8220;History of Inventions.&#8221;<br \/>\nAs he had then no access to books, and, indeed, could<br \/>\nscarcely yet read, it is probable that he had been told of the invention,<br \/>\nand set about testing its value according to his own methods.<\/p>\n<p>Much of his spare time continued to be occupied by labor more<br \/>\nimmediately profitable, regarded in a pecuniary point of view.<br \/>\nIn the evenings, after his day&#8217;s labor at his engine, he would occasionally<br \/>\nemploy himself for a few hours in casting ballast out<br \/>\nof the collier ships, by which means he was enabled to earn a few<br \/>\nshillings weekly. Mr. William Fairbairn, of Manchester, has informed<br \/>\nthe author that, while Stephenson was employed at the<br \/>\nWillington Ballast Hill, he himself was working in the neighborhood<br \/>\nas an engine apprentice at the Percy Main Colliery. He<br \/>\nwas very fond of George, who was a fine, hearty fellow, besides<br \/>\nbeing a capital workman. In the summer evenings young Fairbairn<br \/>\nwas accustomed to go down to Willington to see his friend,<br \/>\nand on such occasions he would frequently take charge of<br \/>\nGeorge&#8217;s engine for a few hours, to enable him to take a two or<br \/>\nthree hours&#8217; turn at heaving ballast out of the ships&#8217; holds. It is<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_125\" name=\"Page_125\"><\/a>[125]<\/span><br \/>\npleasant to think of the future President of the British Association<br \/>\nthus helping the future Railway Engineer to earn a few extra<br \/>\nshillings by overwork in the evenings, at a time when both<br \/>\noccupied the rank but of humble working men in an obscure<br \/>\nnorthern village.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Fairbairn was also a frequent visitor at George&#8217;s cottage<br \/>\non the Quay, where, though there was no luxury, there was comfort,<br \/>\ncleanness, and a pervading spirit of industry. Even at home<br \/>\nGeorge was never for a moment idle. When there was no ballast<br \/>\nto heave, he took in shoes to mend; and from mending he<br \/>\nproceeded to making them, as well as shoe-lasts, in which he was<br \/>\nadmitted to be very expert. William Coe, who continued to live<br \/>\nat Willington in 1851, informed the author that he bought a pair<br \/>\nof shoes from George Stephenson for 7<i>s.<\/i> 6<i>d.<\/i>, and he remembered<br \/>\nthat they were a capital fit, and wore very well.<\/p>\n<p>But an accident occurred in Stephenson&#8217;s household about this<br \/>\ntime which had the effect of directing his industry into a new<br \/>\nand still more profitable channel. The cottage chimney took fire<br \/>\none day in his absence, when the alarmed neighbors, rushing in,<br \/>\nthrew quantities of water upon the flames; and some, in their<br \/>\nzeal, even mounted the ridge of the house, and poured buckets of<br \/>\nwater down the chimney. The fire was soon put out, but the<br \/>\nhouse was thoroughly soaked. When George came home, he<br \/>\nfound the water running out of the door, every thing in disorder,<br \/>\nand his new furniture covered with soot. The eight-day clock,<br \/>\nwhich hung against the wall\u2014one of the most highly-prized articles<br \/>\nin the house\u2014was seriously damaged by the steam with<br \/>\nwhich the room had been filled. Its wheels were so clogged by<br \/>\nthe dust and soot that it was brought to a complete stand-still.<\/p>\n<p>George was advised to send the article to the clock-maker, but<br \/>\nthat would cost money; and he declared that he would repair it<br \/>\nhimself\u2014at least he would try. The clock was accordingly taken<br \/>\nto pieces and cleaned; the tools which he had been accumulating<br \/>\nfor the purpose of constructing his Perpetual Motion machine<br \/>\nreadily enabled him to do this, and he succeeded so well that,<br \/>\nshortly after, the neighbors sent him their clocks to clean, and he<br \/>\nsoon became one of the most expert clock-cleaners in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p>It was while living at Willington Quay that George Stephenson&#8217;s<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_126\" name=\"Page_126\"><\/a>[126]<\/span><br \/>\nonly son was born on the 16th of October, 1803.<a id=\"FNanchor_23\" name=\"FNanchor_23\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_23\">[23]<\/a> The<br \/>\nchild was from the first, as may well be imagined, a great favorite<br \/>\nwith his father, and added much to the happiness of his evening<br \/>\nhours. George Stephenson&#8217;s strong &#8220;philoprogenitiveness,&#8221;<br \/>\nas phrenologists call it, had in his boyhood expended itself on<br \/>\nbirds, and dogs, and rabbits, and even on the poor old gin-horses<br \/>\nwhich he had driven at the Callerton Pit, and now he found in<br \/>\nhis child a more genial object for the exercise of his affection.<\/p>\n<p>The christening of the boy took place in the school-house at<br \/>\nWallsend, the old parish church being at the time in so dilapidated<br \/>\na condition from the &#8220;creeping&#8221; or subsidence of the ground,<br \/>\nconsequent upon the excavation of the coal, that it was considered<br \/>\ndangerous to enter it.<a id=\"FNanchor_24\" name=\"FNanchor_24\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_24\">[24]<\/a> On this occasion, Robert Gray and<br \/>\nAnne Henderson, who had officiated as brideman and bridemaid<br \/>\nat the wedding, came over again to Willington, and stood godfather<br \/>\nand godmother to little Robert, as the child was named, after<br \/>\nhis grandfather.<\/p>\n<p>After working for about three years as a brakesman at the<br \/>\nWillington machine, George Stephenson was induced to leave his<br \/>\nsituation there for a similar one at the West Moor Colliery, Killingworth.<br \/>\nIt was not without considerable persuasion that he<br \/>\nwas induced to leave the Quay, as he knew that he should thereby<br \/>\ngive up the chance of earning extra money by casting ballast<br \/>\nfrom the keels. At last, however, he consented, in the hope of<br \/>\nmaking up the loss in some other way.<\/p>\n<p>The village of Killingworth lies about seven miles north of<br \/>\nNewcastle, and is one of the best-known collieries in that neighborhood.<br \/>\n<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_127\" name=\"Page_127\"><\/a>[127]<\/span>The workings of the coal are of vast extent, and give<br \/>\nemployment to a large number of work-people. To this place<br \/>\nStephenson first came as a brakesman about the end of 1804. He<br \/>\nhad not been long in his new home ere his wife died of consumption,<br \/>\nleaving him with his only child Robert. George deeply<br \/>\nfelt the loss, for his wife and he had been very happy together.<br \/>\nTheir lot had been sweetened by daily successful toil. George<br \/>\nhad been hard-working, and his wife had made his hearth so<br \/>\nbright and his home so snug, that no attraction could draw him<br \/>\nfrom her side in the evening hours. But this domestic happiness<br \/>\nwas all to pass away, and the bereaved husband felt for a time as<br \/>\none that had thenceforth to tread the journey of life alone.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_130.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"377\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">WEST MOOR COLLIERY.<\/span> &nbsp; [By R. P. Leitch.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Shortly after this event, while his grief was still fresh, he received<br \/>\nan invitation from some gentlemen concerned in large<br \/>\nspinning-works near Montrose, in Scotland, to proceed thither<br \/>\nand superintend the working of one of Boulton and Watt&#8217;s engines.<br \/>\nHe accepted the offer, and made arrangements to leave<br \/>\nKillingworth for a time.<\/p>\n<p>Having left his boy in charge of a respectable woman who<br \/>\nacted as his housekeeper, he set out on the journey to Scotland<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_128\" name=\"Page_128\"><\/a>[128]<\/span><br \/>\non foot, with his kit upon his back. While working at Montrose,<br \/>\nhe gave a striking proof of that practical ability in contrivance<br \/>\nfor which he was afterward so distinguished. It appears that<br \/>\nthe water required for the purposes of his engine, as well as for<br \/>\nthe use of the works, was pumped from a considerable depth, being<br \/>\nsupplied from the adjacent extensive sand strata. The<br \/>\npumps frequently got choked by the sand drawn in at the bottom<br \/>\nof the well through the snore-holes, or apertures through<br \/>\nwhich the water to be raised is admitted. The barrels soon became<br \/>\nworn, and the bucket and clack leathers destroyed, so that<br \/>\nit became necessary to devise a remedy; and with this object,<br \/>\nthe engine-man proceeded to adopt the following simple but<br \/>\noriginal expedient. He had a wooden box or boot made, twelve<br \/>\nfeet high, which he placed in the sump or well, and into this he<br \/>\ninserted the lower end of the pump. The result was, that the<br \/>\nwater flowed clear from the outer part of the well over into the<br \/>\nboot, and was drawn up without any admixture of sand, and the<br \/>\ndifficulty was thus conquered.<a id=\"FNanchor_25\" name=\"FNanchor_25\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_25\">[25]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>During his stay in Scotland, Stephenson, being paid good<br \/>\nwages, contrived to save a sum of \u00a328, which he took back with<br \/>\nhim to Killingworth, after an absence of about a year. Longing<br \/>\nto get back to his kindred, and his heart yearning for the boy<br \/>\nwhom he had left behind, our engine-man bade adieu to his Montrose<br \/>\nemployers, and trudged back to Killingworth on foot as he<br \/>\nhad gone. He related to his friend Coe, on his return, that when<br \/>\non the borders of Northumberland, late one evening, footsore<br \/>\nand wearied with his long day&#8217;s journey, he knocked at a small<br \/>\nfarmer&#8217;s cottage door, and requested shelter for the night. It<br \/>\nwas refused; and then he entreated that, being sore tired and<br \/>\nunable to proceed any farther, they would permit him to lie<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_129\" name=\"Page_129\"><\/a>[129]<\/span><br \/>\ndown in the out-house, for that a little clean straw would serve<br \/>\nhim. The farmer&#8217;s wife appeared at the door, looked at the<br \/>\ntraveler, then retiring with her husband, the two confabulated a<br \/>\nlittle apart, and finally they invited Stephenson into the cottage.<br \/>\nAlways full of conversation and anecdote, he soon made himself<br \/>\nat home in the farmer&#8217;s family, and spent with them some pleasant<br \/>\nhours. He was hospitably entertained for the night, and<br \/>\nwhen he left the cottage in the morning, he pressed them to<br \/>\nmake some charge for his lodging, but they refused to accept<br \/>\nany recompense. They only asked him to remember them kindly,<br \/>\nand if he ever came that way, to be sure and call again.<br \/>\nMany years after, when Stephenson had become a thriving man,<br \/>\nhe did not forget the humble pair who had thus succored and<br \/>\nentertained him on his way; he sought their cottage again when<br \/>\nage had silvered their hair; and when he left the aged couple on<br \/>\nthat occasion, they may have been reminded of the old saying<br \/>\nthat we may sometimes &#8220;entertain angels unawares.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Reaching home, Stephenson found that his father had met<br \/>\nwith a serious accident at the Blucher Pit, which had reduced<br \/>\nhim to great distress and poverty. While engaged in the inside<br \/>\nof an engine, making some repairs, a fellow-workman inadvertently<br \/>\nlet in the steam upon him. The blast struck him full in<br \/>\nthe face; he was terribly scorched, and his eyesight was irretrievably<br \/>\nlost. The helpless and infirm man had struggled for a time<br \/>\nwith poverty; his sons who were at home, poor as himself, were<br \/>\nlittle able to help him, while George was at a distance in Scotland.<br \/>\nOn his return, however, with his savings in his pocket, his<br \/>\nfirst step was to pay off his father&#8217;s debts, amounting to about<br \/>\n\u00a315; and, shortly after, he removed the aged pair from Jolly&#8217;s<br \/>\nClose to a comfortable cottage adjoining the tram-road near the<br \/>\nWest Moor at Killingworth, where the old man lived for many<br \/>\nyears, supported by his son.<\/p>\n<p>Stephenson was again taken on as a brakesman at the West<br \/>\nMoor Pit. He does not seem to have been very hopeful as to<br \/>\nhis prospects in life at the time. Indeed, the condition of the<br \/>\nworking classes was then very discouraging. England was engaged<br \/>\nin a great war, which pressed upon the industry, and severely<br \/>\ntried the resources of the country. Heavy taxes were imposed<br \/>\nupon all the articles of consumption that would bear them.<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_130\" name=\"Page_130\"><\/a>[130]<\/span><br \/>\nThere was a constant demand for men to fill the army, navy, and<br \/>\nmilitia. Never before had England witnessed such drumming<br \/>\nand fifing for recruits. In 1805, the gross forces of the United<br \/>\nKingdom amounted to nearly 700,000 men, and early in 1808<br \/>\nLord Castlereagh carried a measure for the establishment of a<br \/>\nlocal militia of 200,000 men. These measures were accompanied<br \/>\nby general distress among the laboring classes. There were riots<br \/>\nin Manchester, Newcastle, and elsewhere, through scarcity of<br \/>\nwork and lowness of wages. The working people were also liable<br \/>\nto be pressed for the navy, or drawn for the militia; and<br \/>\nthough people could not fail to be discontented under such circumstances,<br \/>\nthey scarcely dared even to mutter their discontent<br \/>\nto their neighbors.<\/p>\n<p>George Stephenson was one of those drawn for the militia.<br \/>\nHe must therefore either quit his work and go a-soldiering, or<br \/>\nfind a substitute. He adopted the latter course, and borrowed<br \/>\n\u00a36, which, with the remainder of his savings, enabled him to<br \/>\nprovide a militia-man to serve in his stead. Thus the whole of<br \/>\nhis hard-won earnings were swept away at a stroke. He was almost<br \/>\nin despair, and contemplated the idea of leaving the country,<br \/>\nand emigrating to the United States. Although a voyage<br \/>\nthither was then a much more formidable thing for a working<br \/>\nman to accomplish than a voyage to Australia is now, he seriously<br \/>\nentertained the project, and had all but made up his mind to<br \/>\ngo. His sister Ann, with her husband, emigrated about that<br \/>\ntime, but George could not raise the requisite money, and they<br \/>\ndeparted without him. After all, it went sore against his heart<br \/>\nto leave his home and his kindred, the scenes of his youth and<br \/>\nthe friends of his boyhood, and he struggled long with the idea,<br \/>\nbrooding over it in sorrow. Speaking afterward to a friend of<br \/>\nhis thoughts at the time, he said: &#8220;You know the road from my<br \/>\nhouse at the West Moor to Killingworth. I remember once<br \/>\nwhen I went along that road I wept bitterly, for I knew not<br \/>\nwhere my lot in life would be cast.&#8221; But his poverty prevented<br \/>\nhim from prosecuting the idea of emigration, and rooted him to<br \/>\nthe place where he afterward worked out his career so manfully<br \/>\nand victoriously.<\/p>\n<p>In 1808, Stephenson, with two other brakesmen, took a small<br \/>\ncontract under the colliery lessees, brakeing the engines at the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_131\" name=\"Page_131\"><\/a>[131]<\/span><br \/>\nWest Moor Pit. The brakesmen found the oil and tallow; they<br \/>\ndivided the work among them, and were paid so much per score<br \/>\nfor their labor. There being two engines working night and day,<br \/>\ntwo of the three men were always on duty, the average earnings<br \/>\nof each amounting to from 18<i>s.<\/i> to 20<i>s.<\/i> a week. It was the interest<br \/>\nof the brakesmen to economize the working as much as possible,<br \/>\nand George no sooner entered upon the contract than he proceeded<br \/>\nto devise ways and means of making the contract &#8220;pay.&#8221;<br \/>\nHe observed that the ropes with which the coal was drawn out<br \/>\nof the pit by the winding-engine were badly arranged; they<br \/>\n&#8220;glued&#8221; and wore each other to tatters by the perpetual friction.<br \/>\nThere was thus great wear and tear, and a serious increase in the<br \/>\nexpenses of the pit. George found that the ropes which, at other<br \/>\npits in the neighborhood, lasted about three months, at the West<br \/>\nMoor Pit became worn out in about a month. He accordingly<br \/>\nset himself to ascertain the cause of the defect; and, finding that<br \/>\nit was occasioned by excessive friction, he proceeded, with the<br \/>\nsanction of the head engine-wright and of the colliery owners, to<br \/>\nshift the pulley-wheels so that they worked immediately over the<br \/>\ncentre of the pit. By this expedient, accompanied by an entire<br \/>\nrearrangement of the gearing of the machine, he shortly succeeded<br \/>\nin greatly lessening the wear and tear of the ropes, to the advantage<br \/>\nof the owners as well as of the workmen, who were thus<br \/>\nenabled to labor more continuously and profitably.<\/p>\n<p>About the same time he attempted an improvement in the<br \/>\nwinding-engine which he worked, by placing a valve between<br \/>\nthe air-pump and condenser. This expedient, although it led to<br \/>\nno practical result, showed that his mind was actively engaged in<br \/>\nstudying new mechanical adaptations. It continued to be his<br \/>\nregular habit, on Saturdays, to take his engine to pieces, for the<br \/>\npurpose at the same time of familiarizing himself with its action,<br \/>\nand of placing it in a state of thorough working order; and by<br \/>\nmastering the details of the engine, he was enabled, as opportunity<br \/>\noccurred, to turn to practical account the knowledge thus diligently<br \/>\nand patiently acquired.<\/p>\n<p>Such an opportunity was not long in presenting itself. In the<br \/>\nyear 1810, a pit was sunk by the &#8220;Grand Allies&#8221; (the lessees of<br \/>\nthe mines) at the village of Killingworth, now known as the<br \/>\nKillingworth High Pit. An atmospheric or Newcomen engine,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_132\" name=\"Page_132\"><\/a>[132]<\/span><br \/>\noriginally made by Smeaton, was fixed there for the purpose of<br \/>\npumping out the water from the shaft; but, somehow or other,<br \/>\nthe engine failed to clear the pit. As one of the workmen has<br \/>\nsince described the circumstance\u2014&#8221;She couldn&#8217;t keep her jack-head<br \/>\nin water: all the engine-men in the neighborhood were<br \/>\ntried, as well as Crowther of the Ouseburn, but they were clean<br \/>\nbet.&#8221; The engine had been fruitlessly pumping for nearly twelve<br \/>\nmonths, and came to be regarded as a total failure. Stephenson<br \/>\nhad gone to look at it when in course of erection, and then observed<br \/>\nto the over-man that he thought it was defective; he also<br \/>\ngave it as his opinion that if there were much water in the mine,<br \/>\nthe engine could never keep it under. Of course, as he was only<br \/>\na brakesman, his opinion was considered to be worth very little<br \/>\non such a point. He continued, however, to make frequent visits<br \/>\nto the engine to see &#8220;how she was getting on.&#8221; From the bank-head<br \/>\nwhere he worked his brake he could see the chimney smoking<br \/>\nat the High Pit; and as the workmen were passing to and<br \/>\nfrom their work, he would call out and inquire &#8220;if they had gotten<br \/>\nto the bottom yet.&#8221; And the reply was always to the same<br \/>\neffect\u2014the pumping made no progress, and the workmen were<br \/>\nstill &#8220;drowned out.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>One Saturday afternoon he went over to the High Pit to examine<br \/>\nthe engine more carefully than he had yet done. He had<br \/>\nbeen turning the subject over in his mind, and, after a long examination,<br \/>\nhe seemed to have satisfied himself as to the cause of the<br \/>\nfailure. Kit Heppel, one of the sinkers, asked him, &#8220;Weel, George,<br \/>\nwhat do you mak&#8217; o&#8217; her? Do you think you could do any thing<br \/>\nto improve her?&#8221; &#8220;Man,&#8221; said George, in reply, &#8220;I could alter<br \/>\nher and make her draw: in a week&#8217;s time from this I could send<br \/>\nyou to the bottom.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Heppel at once reported this conversation to Ralph Dodds, the<br \/>\nhead viewer, who, being now quite in despair, and hopeless of<br \/>\nsucceeding with the engine, determined to give George&#8217;s skill a<br \/>\ntrial. George had already acquired the character of a very clever<br \/>\nand ingenious workman, and, at the worst, he could only fail,<br \/>\nas the rest had done. In the evening Dodds went in search of<br \/>\nStephenson, and met him on the road, dressed in his Sunday&#8217;s<br \/>\nsuit, on his way to &#8220;the preaching&#8221; in the Methodist Chapel,<br \/>\nwhich he at that time attended. &#8220;Well, George,&#8221; said Dodds,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_133\" name=\"Page_133\"><\/a>[133]<\/span><br \/>\n&#8220;they tell me that you think you can put the engine at the High<br \/>\nPit to rights.&#8221; &#8220;Yes, sir,&#8221; said George, &#8220;I think I could.&#8221; &#8220;If<br \/>\nthat&#8217;s the case, I&#8217;ll give you a fair trial, and you must set to work<br \/>\nimmediately. We are clean drowned out, and can not get a step<br \/>\nfarther. The engineers hereabouts are all bet; and if you really<br \/>\nsucceed in accomplishing what they can not do, you may depend<br \/>\nupon it I will make you a man for life.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Stephenson began his operations early next morning. The<br \/>\nonly condition that he made, before setting to work, was that he<br \/>\nshould select his own workmen. There was, as he knew, a good<br \/>\ndeal of jealousy among the &#8220;regular&#8221; men that a colliery brakesman<br \/>\nshould pretend to know more about their engine than they<br \/>\nthemselves did, and attempt to remedy defects which the most<br \/>\nskilled men of their craft, including the engineer of the colliery,<br \/>\nhad failed to do. But George made the condition a <i lang=\"la\">sine qu\u00e2 non<\/i>.<br \/>\n&#8220;The workmen,&#8221; said he, &#8220;must either be all Whigs or all Tories.&#8221;<br \/>\nThere was no help for it, so Dodds ordered the old hands<br \/>\nto stand aside. The men grumbled, but gave way; and then<br \/>\nGeorge and his party went in.<\/p>\n<p>The engine was taken entirely to pieces. The cistern containing<br \/>\nthe injection water was raised ten feet; the injection cock,<br \/>\nbeing too small, was enlarged to nearly double its former size,<br \/>\nand it was so arranged that it should be shut off quickly at the<br \/>\nbeginning of the stroke. These and other alterations were necessarily<br \/>\nperformed in a rough way, but, as the result proved, on<br \/>\ntrue principles. Stephenson also, finding that the boiler would<br \/>\nbear a greater pressure than five pounds to the inch, determined<br \/>\nto work it at a pressure of ten pounds, though this was contrary<br \/>\nto the directions of both Newcomen and Smeaton.<\/p>\n<p>The necessary alterations were made in about three days, and<br \/>\nmany persons came to see the engine start, including the men<br \/>\nwho had put her up. The pit being nearly full of water, she had<br \/>\nlittle to do on starting, and, to use George&#8217;s words, &#8220;came bounce<br \/>\ninto the house.&#8221; Dodds exclaimed, &#8220;Why, she was better as she<br \/>\nwas; now, she will knock the house down.&#8221; After a short time,<br \/>\nhowever, the engine got fairly to work, and by ten o&#8217;clock that<br \/>\nnight the water was lower in the pit than it had ever been before.<br \/>\nThe engine was kept pumping all Thursday, and by the Friday<br \/>\nafternoon the pit was cleared of water, and the workmen were<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_134\" name=\"Page_134\"><\/a>[134]<\/span><br \/>\n&#8220;sent to the bottom,&#8221; as Stephenson had promised. Thus the alterations<br \/>\neffected in the pumping apparatus proved completely<br \/>\nsuccessful.<a id=\"FNanchor_26\" name=\"FNanchor_26\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_26\">[26]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mr. Dodds was particularly gratified with the manner in which<br \/>\nthe job had been done, and he made Stephenson a present of ten<br \/>\npounds, which, though very inadequate when compared with the<br \/>\nvalue of the work performed, was accepted with gratitude. George<br \/>\nwas proud of the gift as the first marked recognition of his skill<br \/>\nas a workman; and he used afterward to say that it was the biggest<br \/>\nsum of money he had up to that time earned in one lump.<br \/>\nRalph Dodds, however, did more than this; he released the brakesman<br \/>\nfrom the handles of his engine at West Moor, and appointed<br \/>\nhim engine-man at the High Pit, at good wages, during the time<br \/>\nthe pit was sinking\u2014the job lasting for about a year; and he also<br \/>\nkept him in mind for farther advancement.<\/p>\n<p>Stephenson&#8217;s skill as an engine-doctor soon became noised<br \/>\nabroad, and he was called upon to prescribe remedies for all the<br \/>\nold, wheezy, and ineffective pumping-machines in the neighborhood.<br \/>\nIn this capacity he soon left the &#8220;regular&#8221; men far behind,<br \/>\nthough they, in their turn, were very much disposed to treat<br \/>\nthe Killingworth brakesman as no better than a quack. Nevertheless,<br \/>\nhis practice was really founded upon a close study of the<br \/>\nprinciples of mechanics, and on an intimate practical acquaintance<br \/>\nwith the details of the pumping-engine.<\/p>\n<p>Another of his smaller achievements in the same line is still<br \/>\ntold by the people of the district. At the corner of the road leading<br \/>\nto Long Benton there was a quarry from which a peculiar<br \/>\nand scarce kind of ochre was taken. In the course of working<br \/>\nit out, the water had collected in considerable quantities; and<br \/>\nthere being no means of draining it off, it accumulated to such an<br \/>\nextent that the farther working of the ochre was almost entirely<br \/>\nstopped. Ordinary pumps were tried, and failed; and then a<br \/>\nwindmill was tried, and failed too. On this, George was asked<br \/>\nwhat ought to be done to clear the quarry of the water. He said<br \/>\n&#8220;he would set up for them an engine, little bigger than a kailpot,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_135\" name=\"Page_135\"><\/a>[135]<\/span><br \/>\nthat would clear them out in a week.&#8221; And he did so. A<br \/>\nlittle engine was speedily erected, by means of which the quarry<br \/>\nwas pumped dry in the course of a few days. Thus his skill as<br \/>\na pump-doctor soon became the marvel of the district.<\/p>\n<p>In elastic muscular vigor Stephenson was now in his prime,<br \/>\nand he still continued zealous in measuring his strength and agility<br \/>\nwith his fellow-workmen. The competitive element in his<br \/>\nnature was always strong, and his success in these feats of rivalry<br \/>\nwas certainly remarkable. Few, if any, could lift such weights,<br \/>\nthrow the hammer and put the stone so far, or cover so great a<br \/>\nspace at a standing or running leap. One day, between the engine<br \/>\nhour and the rope-rolling hour, Kit Heppel challenged him<br \/>\nto leap from one high wall to another, with a deep gap between.<br \/>\nTo Heppel&#8217;s surprise and dismay, George took the standing leap,<br \/>\nand cleared the eleven feet at a bound. Had his eye been less<br \/>\naccurate, or his limbs less agile and sure, the feat must have cost<br \/>\nhim his life.<\/p>\n<p>But so full of redundant muscular vigor was he, that leaping,<br \/>\nputting, or throwing the hammer, were not enough for him. He<br \/>\nwas also ambitious of riding on horseback; and, as he had not<br \/>\nyet been promoted to an office enabling him to keep a horse of<br \/>\nhis own, he sometimes borrowed one of the gin-horses for a ride.<br \/>\nOn one of these occasions he brought the animal back reeking,<br \/>\nwhen Tommy Mitcheson, the bank horse-keeper, a rough-spoken<br \/>\nfellow, exclaimed to him, &#8220;Set such fellows as you on horseback,<br \/>\nand you&#8217;ll soon ride to the De&#8217;il.&#8221; But Tommy Mitcheson lived<br \/>\nto tell the story, and to confess that, after all, there had been a<br \/>\nbetter issue of George&#8217;s horsemanship than what he had predicted.<\/p>\n<p>Old Cree, the engine-wright at Killingworth High Pit, having<br \/>\nbeen killed by an accident, George Stephenson was, in 1812, appointed<br \/>\nengine-wright of the colliery at the salary of \u00a3100 a year.<br \/>\nHe was also allowed the use of a galloway to ride upon in his visits<br \/>\nof inspection to the collieries leased by the &#8220;Grand Allies&#8221; in<br \/>\nthat neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p>The &#8220;Grand Allies&#8221; were a company of gentlemen, consisting<br \/>\nof Sir Thomas Liddell (afterward Lord Ravensworth), the Earl of<br \/>\nStrathmore, <span class=\"corr\" title=\"Transcriber's Note\u2014original text: 'and, and Mr.'\">and Mr.<\/span> Stuart Wortley (afterward Lord Wharncliffe),<br \/>\nthe lessees of the Killingworth collieries. Having been informed<br \/>\nof the merits of Stephenson, of his indefatigable industry,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_136\" name=\"Page_136\"><\/a>[136]<\/span><br \/>\nand the skill which he had displayed in the repairs of the pumping-engines,<br \/>\nthey readily acceded to Mr. Dodds&#8217;s recommendation<br \/>\nthat he should be appointed the colliery engine-wright; and, as<br \/>\nwe shall afterward find, they continued to honor him by distinguished<br \/>\nmarks of their approval.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 400px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_139.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"233\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>KILLINGWORTH HIGH PIT.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_137\" name=\"Page_137\"><\/a>[137]<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_140.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"294\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">GLEBE FARM-HOUSE, BENTON.<\/span> &nbsp; [By R. P. Leitch.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER IV.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>THE STEPHENSONS AT KILLINGWORTH\u2014EDUCATION AND SELF-EDUCATION<br \/>\nOF FATHER AND SON.<\/h4>\n<p>George Stephenson had now been diligently employed for<br \/>\nseveral years in the work of self-improvement, and he experienced<br \/>\nthe usual results in increasing mental strength, capability,<br \/>\nand skill. Perhaps the secret of every man&#8217;s best success in life<br \/>\nis to be found in the alacrity and industry with which he takes<br \/>\nadvantage of the opportunities which present themselves for well-doing.<br \/>\nOur engine-man was an eminent illustration of the importance<br \/>\nof cultivating this habit of life. Every spare moment<br \/>\nwas laid under contribution by him, either for the purpose of<br \/>\nadding to his earnings or to his knowledge. He missed no opportunity<br \/>\nof extending his observations, especially in his own department<br \/>\nof work, aiming at improvement, and trying to turn all<br \/>\nthat he did know to useful practical account.<\/p>\n<p>He continued his attempts to solve the mystery of Perpetual<br \/>\nMotion, and contrived several model machines with the object of<br \/>\nembodying his ideas in a practical working shape. He afterward<br \/>\nused to lament the time he had lost in these futile efforts, and said<br \/>\nthat if he had enjoyed the opportunities which most young men<br \/>\nnow have, of learning from books what previous experimenters<br \/>\nhad accomplished, he would have been spared much labor and<br \/>\nmortification. Not being acquainted with what other mechanics<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_138\" name=\"Page_138\"><\/a>[138]<\/span><br \/>\nhad done, he groped his way in pursuit of some idea originated<br \/>\nby his own independent thinking and observation, and, when he<br \/>\nhad brought it into some definite form, lo! he found that his supposed<br \/>\ninvention had long been known and recorded in scientific<br \/>\nbooks. Often he thought he had hit upon discoveries which he<br \/>\nsubsequently found were but old and exploded fallacies. Yet<br \/>\nhis very struggle to overcome the difficulties which lay in his<br \/>\nway was of itself an education of the best sort. By wrestling<br \/>\nwith them, he strengthened his judgment and sharpened his skill,<br \/>\nstimulating and cultivating his inventiveness and mechanical ingenuity.<br \/>\nBeing very much in earnest, he was compelled to consider<br \/>\nthe subject of his special inquiry in all its relations, and thus<br \/>\nhe gradually acquired practical ability through his very efforts<br \/>\nafter the impracticable.<\/p>\n<p>Many of his evenings were spent in the society of John Wigham,<br \/>\nwhose father occupied the Glebe farm at Benton close at<br \/>\nhand. John was a fair penman and good arithmetician, and Stephenson<br \/>\nfrequented his society chiefly for the purpose of improving<br \/>\nhimself in writing and &#8220;figuring.&#8221; Under Andrew Robertson<br \/>\nhe had never quite mastered the Rule of Three, and it was<br \/>\nonly when Wigham took him in hand that he made progress in<br \/>\nthe higher branches of arithmetic. He generally took his slate<br \/>\nwith him to the Wighams&#8217; cottage, when he had his sums set, that<br \/>\nhe might work them out while tending his engine on the following<br \/>\nday. When too busy with other work to be able to call upon<br \/>\nWigham in person, he sent the slate by a fellow-workman to have<br \/>\nthe former sums corrected and new ones set. Sometimes also, at<br \/>\nleisure moments, he was enabled to do a little &#8220;figuring&#8221; with<br \/>\nchalk upon the sides of the coal-wagons. So much patient perseverance<br \/>\ncould not but eventually succeed; and by dint of practice<br \/>\nand study, Stephenson was enabled to master the successive<br \/>\nrules of arithmetic.<\/p>\n<p>John Wigham was of great use to his pupil in many ways. He<br \/>\nwas a good talker, fond of argument, an extensive reader as country<br \/>\nreading went in those days, and a very suggestive thinker.<br \/>\nThough his store of information might be comparatively small<br \/>\nwhen measured with that of more highly cultivated minds, much<br \/>\nof it was entirely new to Stephenson, who regarded him as a very<br \/>\nclever and extraordinary person. Wigham also taught him to draw<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_139\" name=\"Page_139\"><\/a>[139]<\/span><br \/>\nplans and sections, though in this branch Stephenson proved so<br \/>\napt that he soon surpassed his master. A volume of &#8220;Ferguson&#8217;s<br \/>\nLectures on Mechanics&#8221; which fell into their hands was a great<br \/>\ntreasure to both the students. One who remembers their evening<br \/>\noccupations says he &#8220;used to wonder what they meant by<br \/>\nweighing the air and water in so odd a way.&#8221; They were trying<br \/>\nthe specific gravities of objects; and the devices which they employed,<br \/>\nthe mechanical shifts to which they were put, were often<br \/>\nof the rudest kind. In these evening entertainments the mechanical<br \/>\ncontrivances were supplied by Stephenson, while Wigham<br \/>\nfound the scientific rationale. The opportunity thus afforded to<br \/>\nthe former of cultivating his mind by contact with one wiser<br \/>\nthan himself proved of great value, and in after life Stephenson<br \/>\ngratefully remembered the assistance which, when a humble<br \/>\nworkman, he had received from John Wigham, the farmer&#8217;s son.<\/p>\n<p>His leisure moments thus carefully improved, it will be inferred<br \/>\nthat Stephenson continued a sober man. Though his notions<br \/>\nwere never extreme on this point, he was systematically temperate.<br \/>\nIt appears that on the invitation of his master, Ralph Dodds\u2014and<br \/>\nan invitation from a master to a workman is not easy to<br \/>\nresist\u2014he had, on one or two occasions, been induced to join him<br \/>\nin a forenoon glass of ale in the public house of the village. But<br \/>\none day, about noon, when Mr. Dodds had got him as far as the<br \/>\npublic-house door, on his invitation to &#8220;come in and take a glass<br \/>\no&#8217; yel,&#8221; Stephenson made a dead stop, and said, firmly, &#8220;No, sir,<br \/>\nyou must excuse me; I have made a resolution to drink no more<br \/>\nat this time of day.&#8221; And he went back. He desired to retain<br \/>\nthe character of a steady workman; and the instances of men<br \/>\nabout him who had made shipwreck of their character through<br \/>\nintemperance were then, as now, unhappily too frequent.<\/p>\n<p>But another consideration besides his own self-improvement<br \/>\nhad already begun to exercise an important influence upon his<br \/>\nlife. This was the training and education of his son Robert, now<br \/>\ngrowing up an active, intelligent boy, as full of fun and tricks as<br \/>\nhis father had been. When a little fellow, scarce big enough to<br \/>\nreach so high as to put a clock-head on when placed upon the<br \/>\ntable, his father would make him mount a chair for the purpose;<br \/>\nand to &#8220;help father&#8221; was the proudest work which the boy then,<br \/>\nand ever after, could take part in. When the little engine was<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_140\" name=\"Page_140\"><\/a>[140]<\/span><br \/>\nset up at the Ochre Quarry to pump it dry, Robert was scarcely<br \/>\nabsent for an hour. He watched the machine very eagerly when<br \/>\nit was set to work, and he was very much annoyed at the fire<br \/>\nburning away the grates. The man who fired the engine was a<br \/>\nsort of wag, and thinking to get a laugh at the boy, he said,<br \/>\n&#8220;Those bars are getting varra bad, Robert; I think we maun cut<br \/>\nup some of that hard wood, and put it in instead.&#8221; &#8220;What would<br \/>\nbe the use of that, you fool?&#8221; said the boy, quickly. &#8220;You would<br \/>\nno sooner have put them in than they would be burnt out again!&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_143.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"363\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">RUTTER&#8217;S SCHOOL-HOUSE, LONG BENTON.<\/span> &nbsp; [By R. P. Leitch.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>So soon as Robert was of a proper age, his father sent him<br \/>\nover to the road-side school at Long Benton, kept by Rutter, the<br \/>\nparish clerk. But the education which he gave was of a very<br \/>\nlimited kind, scarcely extending beyond the primer and pothooks.<br \/>\nWhile working as a brakesman on the pit-head at Killingworth,<br \/>\nthe father had often bethought him of the obstructions he had<br \/>\nhimself encountered in life through his want of schooling, and<br \/>\nhe formed the determination that no labor, nor pains, nor self-denial<br \/>\non his part should be spared to furnish his son with the<br \/>\nbest education that it was in his power to bestow.<\/p>\n<p>It is true, his earnings were comparatively small at that time.<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_141\" name=\"Page_141\"><\/a>[141]<\/span><br \/>\nHe was still maintaining his infirm parents, and the cost of living<br \/>\ncontinued excessive. But he fell back, as before, upon his old<br \/>\nexpedient of working up his spare time in the evenings at home,<br \/>\nor during the night shifts when it was his turn to tend the engine,<br \/>\nin mending and making shoes, cleaning clocks and watches,<br \/>\nmaking shoe-lasts for the shoemakers of the neighborhood, and<br \/>\ncutting out the pitmen&#8217;s clothes for their wives; and we have<br \/>\nbeen told that to this day there are clothes worn at Killingworth<br \/>\nmade after &#8220;Geordy Steevie&#8217;s cut.&#8221; To give his own words:<br \/>\n&#8220;In the earlier period of my career,&#8221; said he, &#8220;when Robert was<br \/>\na little boy, I saw how deficient I was in education, and I made<br \/>\nup my mind that he should not labor under the same defect, but<br \/>\nthat I would put him to a good school, and give him a liberal<br \/>\ntraining. I was, however, a poor man; and how do you think<br \/>\nI managed? I betook myself to mending my neighbors&#8217; clocks<br \/>\nand watches at nights, after my daily labor was done, and thus I<br \/>\nprocured the means of educating my son.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_27\" name=\"FNanchor_27\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_27\">[27]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>By dint of such extra labor in his by-hours, with this object,<br \/>\nStephenson contrived to save a sum of \u00a3100, which he accumulated<br \/>\nin <em>guineas<\/em>, each of which he afterward sold to Jews, who<br \/>\nwent about buying up gold coins (then dearer than silver), at<br \/>\ntwenty-six shillings apiece; and he lent out the proceeds at interest.<br \/>\nHe was now, therefore, a comparatively thriving man.<\/p>\n<p>When he was appointed engine-wright of the colliery, he was,<br \/>\nof course, still easier in his circumstances; and, carrying out the<br \/>\nresolution which he had formed as to his boy&#8217;s education, Robert<br \/>\nwas sent to Mr. Bruce&#8217;s school in Percy Street, Newcastle, at mid-summer,<br \/>\n1815, when he was about twelve years old. His father<br \/>\nbought for him a donkey, on which he rode into Newcastle and<br \/>\nback daily; and there are many still living who remember the<br \/>\nlittle boy, dressed in his suit of homely gray stuff cut out by his<br \/>\nfather, cantering along to school upon the &#8220;cuddy,&#8221; with his wallet<br \/>\nof provisions for the day and his bag of books slung over his<br \/>\nshoulder.<\/p>\n<p>When Robert went to Mr. Bruce&#8217;s school he was a shy, unpolished<br \/>\ncountry lad, speaking the broad dialect of the pitmen; and<br \/>\nthe other boys would occasionally tease him, for the purpose of<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_142\" name=\"Page_142\"><\/a>[142]<\/span><br \/>\nprovoking an outburst of his Killingworth Doric. As the shyness<br \/>\ngot rubbed off by familiarity, his love of fun began to show<br \/>\nitself, and he was found able enough to hold his own among the<br \/>\nother boys. As a scholar he was steady and diligent, and his<br \/>\nmaster was accustomed to hold him up to the laggards of the<br \/>\nschool as an example of good conduct and industry. But his<br \/>\nprogress, though satisfactory, was by no means extraordinary.<br \/>\nHe used in after life to pride himself on his achievements in<br \/>\nmensuration, though another boy, John Taylor, beat him at arithmetic.<br \/>\nHe also made considerable progress in mathematics; and<br \/>\nin a letter written to the son of his teacher, many years after, he<br \/>\nsaid, &#8220;It was to Mr. Bruce&#8217;s tuition and methods of modeling the<br \/>\nmind that I attribute much of my success as an engineer, for it<br \/>\nwas from him that I derived my taste for mathematical pursuits,<br \/>\nand the facility I possess of applying this kind of knowledge to<br \/>\npractical purposes, and modifying it according to circumstances.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_145.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"382\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">BRUCE&#8217;S SCHOOL, NEWCASTLE.<\/span> &nbsp; [By R. P. Leitch.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>During the time Robert attended school at Newcastle, his father<br \/>\nmade the boy&#8217;s education instrumental to his own. Robert<br \/>\nwas accustomed to spend some of his spare time at the rooms of<br \/>\nthe Literary and Philosophical Institute, and when he went home<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_143\" name=\"Page_143\"><\/a>[143]<\/span><br \/>\nin the evening he would recount to his father the results of his<br \/>\nreading. Sometimes he was allowed to take with him to Killingworth<br \/>\na volume of the &#8220;Repertory of Arts and Sciences,&#8221; which<br \/>\nfather and son studied together. But many of the most valuable<br \/>\nworks belonging to the Newcastle Library were not permitted to<br \/>\nbe removed from the rooms; these Robert was instructed to read<br \/>\nand study, and bring away with him descriptions and sketches<br \/>\nfor his father&#8217;s information. His father also practiced him in<br \/>\nthe reading of plans and drawings without at all referring to the<br \/>\nwritten descriptions. He used to observe to his son, &#8220;A good<br \/>\ndrawing or plan should always explain itself;&#8221; and, placing a<br \/>\ndrawing of an engine or machine before the youth, he would say,<br \/>\n&#8220;There, now, describe that to me\u2014the arrangement and the action.&#8221;<br \/>\nThus he taught him to read a drawing as easily as he<br \/>\nwould read a page of a book. Both father and son profited by<br \/>\nthis excellent practice, which shortly enabled them to apprehend<br \/>\nwith the greatest facility the details of even the most difficult<br \/>\nand complicated mechanical drawing.<\/p>\n<p>While Robert went on with his lessons in the evenings, his father<br \/>\nwas usually occupied with his watch and clock cleaning, or<br \/>\ncontriving models of pumping-engines, or endeavoring to embody<br \/>\nin a tangible shape the mechanical inventions which he found described<br \/>\nin the odd volumes on Mechanics which fell in his way.<br \/>\nThis daily and unceasing example of industry and application,<br \/>\nworking on before the boy&#8217;s eyes in the person of a loving and<br \/>\nbeloved father, imprinted itself deeply upon his mind in characters<br \/>\nnever to be effaced. A spirit of self-improvement was thus<br \/>\nearly and carefully planted and fostered in him, which continued<br \/>\nto influence his character through life; and toward the close of<br \/>\nhis career he was proud to confess that if his professional success<br \/>\nhad been great, it was mainly to the example and training of his<br \/>\nfather that he owed it.<\/p>\n<p>Robert was not, however, exclusively devoted to study, but, like<br \/>\nmost boys full of animal spirits, he was very fond of fun and<br \/>\nplay, and sometimes of mischief. Dr. Bruce relates that an old<br \/>\nKillingworth laborer, when asked by Robert, on one of his last<br \/>\nvisits to Newcastle, if he remembered him, replied with emotion,<br \/>\n&#8220;Ay, indeed! Haven&#8217;t I paid your head many a time when you<br \/>\ncame with your father&#8217;s bait, for you were always a sad hempy?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_144\" name=\"Page_144\"><\/a>[144]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The author had the pleasure, in the year 1854, of accompanying<br \/>\nRobert Stephenson on a visit to his old home and haunts at<br \/>\nKillingworth. He had so often traveled the road upon his donkey<br \/>\nto and from school that every foot of it was familiar to him,<br \/>\nand each turn in it served to recall to mind some incident of his<br \/>\nboyish days.<a id=\"FNanchor_28\" name=\"FNanchor_28\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_28\">[28]<\/a> His eyes glistened when he came in sight of Killingworth<br \/>\npit head. Pointing to a humble red-tiled house by the<br \/>\nroadside at Benton, he said, &#8220;You see that house\u2014that was Rutter&#8217;s,<br \/>\nwhere I learned my A B C, and made a beginning of my<br \/>\nschool learning; and there,&#8221; pointing to a colliery chimney on<br \/>\nthe left, &#8220;there is Long Benton, where my father put up his first<br \/>\npumping-engine; and a great success it was. And this humble<br \/>\nclay-floored cottage you see here is where my grandfather lived<br \/>\ntill the close of his life. Many a time have I ridden straight<br \/>\ninto the house, mounted on my cuddy, and called upon grandfather<br \/>\nto admire his points. I remember the old man feeling the<br \/>\nanimal all over\u2014he was then quite blind\u2014after which he would<br \/>\ndilate upon the shape of his ears, fetlocks, and quarters, and usually<br \/>\nend by pronouncing him to be a &#8216;real blood.&#8217; I was a great<br \/>\nfavorite with the old man, who continued very fond of animals,<br \/>\nand cheerful to the last; and I believe nothing gave him greater<br \/>\npleasure than a visit from me and my cuddy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>On the way from Benton to High Killingworth, Mr. Stephenson<br \/>\npointed to a corner of the road where he had once played<br \/>\na boyish trick upon a Killingworth collier. &#8220;Straker,&#8221; said he,<br \/>\n&#8220;was a great bully, a coarse, swearing fellow, and a perfect tyrant<br \/>\namong the women and children. He would go tearing into<br \/>\nold Nanny the huxter&#8217;s shop in the village, and demand in a savage<br \/>\nvoice, &#8216;What&#8217;s ye&#8217;r best ham the pund?&#8217; &#8216;What&#8217;s floor the<br \/>\nhunder?&#8217; &#8216;What d&#8217;ye ax for prime bacon?&#8217;\u2014his categories usually<br \/>\nending with the miserable order, accompanied with a tremendous<br \/>\noath, of &#8216;Gie&#8217;s a penny rrow (roll) an&#8217; a baubee herrin&#8217;!&#8217;<br \/>\nThe poor woman was usually set &#8216;all of a shake&#8217; by a visit from<br \/>\nthis fellow. He was also a great boaster, and used to crow over<br \/>\nthe robbers whom he had put to flight; mere men in buckram,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_145\" name=\"Page_145\"><\/a>[145]<\/span><br \/>\nas every body knew. We boys,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;believed him to<br \/>\nbe a great coward, and determined to play him a trick. Two<br \/>\nother boys joined me in waylaying Straker one night at that corner,&#8221;<br \/>\npointing to it. &#8220;We sprang out and called upon him, in<br \/>\nas gruff voices as we could assume, to &#8216;stand and deliver!&#8217; He<br \/>\ndropped down upon his knees in the dirt, declaring he was a poor<br \/>\nman, with a sma&#8217; family, asking for &#8216;mercy,&#8217; and imploring us, as<br \/>\n&#8216;gentlemen, for God&#8217;s sake, t&#8217; let him a-be!&#8217; We couldn&#8217;t stand<br \/>\nthis any longer, and set up a shout of laughter. Recognizing<br \/>\nour boys&#8217; voices, he sprang to his feet again and rattled out a<br \/>\nvolley of oaths, on which we cut through the hedge, and heard<br \/>\nhim shortly after swearing his way along the road to the yel-house.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>On another occasion Robert played a series of tricks of a somewhat<br \/>\ndifferent character. Like his father, he was very fond of<br \/>\nreducing his scientific reading to practice; and after studying<br \/>\nFranklin&#8217;s description of the lightning experiment, he proceeded<br \/>\nto expend his store of Saturday pennies in purchasing about half<br \/>\na mile of copper wire at a brazier&#8217;s shop in Newcastle. Having<br \/>\nprepared his kite, he set it up in the field opposite his father&#8217;s<br \/>\ndoor, and bringing the wire, insulated by means of a few feet of<br \/>\nsilk cord, over the backs of some of Farmer Wigham&#8217;s cows, he<br \/>\nsoon had them skipping about the field in all directions with their<br \/>\ntails up. One day he had his kite flying at the cottage-door as<br \/>\nhis father&#8217;s galloway was hanging by the bridle to the paling,<br \/>\nwaiting for the master to mount. Bringing the end of the wire<br \/>\njust over the pony&#8217;s crupper, so smart an electric shock was given<br \/>\nit that the brute was almost knocked down. At this juncture<br \/>\nhis father issued from the house, riding-whip in hand, and was<br \/>\nwitness to the scientific trick just played off upon his galloway.<br \/>\n&#8220;Ah! you mischievous scoondrel!&#8221; cried he to the boy, who ran<br \/>\noff, himself inwardly chuckling with pride, nevertheless, at Robert&#8217;s<br \/>\nsuccessful experiment.<a id=\"FNanchor_29\" name=\"FNanchor_29\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_29\">[29]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>At this time, and for many years after, Stephenson dwelt in a<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_146\" name=\"Page_146\"><\/a>[146]<\/span><br \/>\ncottage standing by the side of the road leading from the West<br \/>\nMoor Pit to Killingworth. The railway from West Moor crosses<br \/>\nthis road close by the easternmost end of the cottage. The dwelling<br \/>\noriginally consisted of but one apartment on the ground floor,<br \/>\nwith a garret overhead, to which access was obtained by means<br \/>\nof a step-ladder. With his own hands Stephenson built an oven,<br \/>\nand in the course of time he added rooms to the cottage, until<br \/>\nit became expanded into a comfortable four-roomed dwelling, in<br \/>\nwhich he remained as long as he lived at Killingworth.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_149.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"367\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">STEPHENSON&#8217;S COTTAGE, WEST MOOR.<\/span> &nbsp; [By R. P. Leitch.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>He continued as fond of birds and animals as ever, and seemed<br \/>\nto have the power of attaching them to him in a remarkable degree.<br \/>\nHe had a blackbird at Killingworth so fond of him that<br \/>\nit would fly about the cottage, and on holding out his finger the<br \/>\nbird would come and perch upon it directly. A cage was built<br \/>\nfor &#8220;blackie&#8221; in the partition between the passage and the room,<br \/>\na square of glass forming its outer wall; and Robert used afterward<br \/>\nto take pleasure in describing the oddity of the bird, imitating<br \/>\nthe manner in which it would cock its head on his father&#8217;s<br \/>\nentering the house, and follow him with its eye into the inner<br \/>\napartment.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_147\" name=\"Page_147\"><\/a>[147]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Neighbors were accustomed to call at the cottage and have<br \/>\ntheir clocks and watches set to rights when they went wrong.<br \/>\nOne day, after looking at the works of a watch left by a pitman&#8217;s<br \/>\nwife, George handed it to his son: &#8220;Put her in the oven, Robert,&#8221;<br \/>\nsaid he, &#8220;for a quarter of an hour or so.&#8221; It seemed an odd way<br \/>\nof repairing a watch; nevertheless, the watch was put into the<br \/>\noven, and at the end of the appointed time it was taken out,<br \/>\ngoing all right. The wheels had merely got clogged by the oil<br \/>\ncongealed by the cold, which at once explains the rationale of the<br \/>\nremedy adopted.<\/p>\n<p>There was a little garden attached to the cottage, in which,<br \/>\nwhile a workman, Stephenson took a pride in growing gigantic<br \/>\nleeks and astonishing cabbages. There was great competition in<br \/>\nthe growing of vegetables among the villagers, all of whom he<br \/>\nexcelled excepting one, whose cabbages sometimes outshone his.<br \/>\nTo protect his garden-crops from the ravages of the birds, he invented<br \/>\na strange sort of &#8220;fley-craw,&#8221; which moved its arms with<br \/>\nthe wind; and he fastened his garden-door by means of a piece<br \/>\nof ingenious mechanism, so that no one but himself could enter<br \/>\nit. His cottage was quite a curiosity-shop of models of engines,<br \/>\nself-acting planes, and perpetual-motion machines. The last<br \/>\nnamed contrivances, however, were only unsuccessful attempts to<br \/>\nsolve a problem which had already baffled hundreds of preceding<br \/>\ninventors.<\/p>\n<p>His odd and eccentric contrivances often excited great wonder<br \/>\namong the Killingworth villagers. He won the women&#8217;s admiration<br \/>\nby connecting their cradles with the smoke-jack, and making<br \/>\nthem self-acting. Then he astonished the pitmen by attaching<br \/>\nan alarm to the clock of the watchman whose duty it was to<br \/>\ncall them betimes in the morning. He also contrived a wonderful<br \/>\nlamp which burned under water, with which he was afterward<br \/>\nwont to amuse the Brandling family at Gosforth\u2014going<br \/>\ninto the fish-pond at night, lamp in hand, attracting and catching<br \/>\nthe fish, which rushed wildly toward the flame.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Bruce tells of a competition which Stephenson had with<br \/>\nthe joiner at Killingworth as to which of them could make the<br \/>\nbest shoe-last; and when the former had done his work, either<br \/>\nfor the humor of the thing or to secure fair play from the appointed<br \/>\njudge, he took it to the Morrisons in Newcastle, and got<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_148\" name=\"Page_148\"><\/a>[148]<\/span><br \/>\nthem to put their stamp upon it; so that it is possible the Killingworth<br \/>\nbrakesman, afterward the inventor of a safety-lamp and<br \/>\noriginator of the locomotive railway system, and John Morrison,<br \/>\nthe last-maker, afterward the translator of the Scriptures into the<br \/>\nChinese language, may have confronted each other in solemn<br \/>\ncontemplation of the successful last, which won the verdict coveted<br \/>\nby its maker.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes George would endeavor to impart to his fellow-workmen<br \/>\nthe results of his scientific reading. Every thing that<br \/>\nhe learned from books was so new and so wonderful to him, that<br \/>\nhe regarded the facts he drew from them in the light of discoveries,<br \/>\nas if they had been made but yesterday. Once he tried to<br \/>\nexplain to some of the pitmen how the earth was round, and kept<br \/>\nturning round. But his auditors flatly declared the thing to be<br \/>\nimpossible, as it was clear that &#8220;at the bottom side they must fall<br \/>\noff!&#8221; &#8220;Ah!&#8221; said George, &#8220;you don&#8217;t quite understand it yet.&#8221;<br \/>\nHis son Robert also early endeavored to communicate to others<br \/>\nthe information which he had gathered at school; and Dr. Bruce<br \/>\nrelates that, when visiting Killingworth on one occasion, he found<br \/>\nhim engaged in teaching algebra to such of the pitmen&#8217;s boys as<br \/>\nwould become his pupils.<\/p>\n<p>While Robert was still at school, his father proposed to him<br \/>\nduring the holidays that he should construct a sun-dial, to be<br \/>\nplaced over their cottage-door at West Moor. &#8220;I expostulated<br \/>\nwith him at first,&#8221; said Robert, &#8220;that I had not learned sufficient<br \/>\nastronomy and mathematics to enable me to make the necessary<br \/>\ncalculations. But he would have no denial. &#8216;The thing is to be<br \/>\ndone,&#8217; said he, &#8216;so just set about it at once.&#8217; Well, we got a &#8216;Ferguson&#8217;s<br \/>\nAstronomy,&#8217; and studied the subject together. Many a<br \/>\nsore head I had while making the necessary calculations to adapt<br \/>\nthe dial to the latitude of Killingworth. But at length it was<br \/>\nfairly drawn out on paper, and then my father got a stone, and<br \/>\nwe hewed, and carved, and polished it, until we made a very respectable<br \/>\ndial of it; and there it is, you see,&#8221; pointing to it over<br \/>\nthe cottage door, &#8220;still quietly numbering the hours when the sun<br \/>\nshines. I assure you, not a little was thought of that piece of<br \/>\nwork by the pitmen when it was put up, and began to tell its<br \/>\ntale of time.&#8221; The date carved upon the dial is &#8220;August 11th,<br \/>\n<span class=\"smcap\">MDCCCXVI<\/span>.&#8221; Both father and son were in after life very proud of<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_149\" name=\"Page_149\"><\/a>[149]<\/span><br \/>\ntheir joint production. Many<br \/>\nyears after, George took a party<br \/>\nof savans, when attending<br \/>\nthe meeting of the British Association<br \/>\nat Newcastle, over to<br \/>\nKillingworth to see the pits,<br \/>\nand he did not fail to direct<br \/>\ntheir attention to the sun-dial;<br \/>\nand Robert, on the last visit<br \/>\nwhich he made to the place, a<br \/>\nshort time before his death,<br \/>\ntook a friend into the cottage,<br \/>\nand pointed out to him the<br \/>\nvery desk, still there, at which<br \/>\nhe had sat when making his calculations of the latitude of Killingworth.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figleft\" style=\"width: 300px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_152.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"330\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>(Sun-dial, Killingworth)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>From the time of his appointment as engineer at the Killingworth<br \/>\nPit, George Stephenson was in a measure relieved from<br \/>\nthe daily routine of manual labor, having, as we have seen, advanced<br \/>\nhimself to the grade of a higher-class workman. He had<br \/>\nnot ceased to be a worker, though he employed his industry in a<br \/>\ndifferent way. It might, indeed, be inferred that he had now the<br \/>\ncommand of greater leisure; but his spare hours were as much<br \/>\nas ever given to work, either necessary or self-imposed. So far<br \/>\nas regarded his social position, he had already reached the summit<br \/>\nof his ambition; and when he had got his hundred a year,<br \/>\nand his dun galloway to ride on, he said he never wanted to be<br \/>\nany higher. When Robert Wetherly offered to give him an old<br \/>\ngig, his traveling having so much increased of late, he accepted<br \/>\nit with great reluctance, observing that he should be ashamed to<br \/>\nget into it, &#8220;people would think him so proud.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>When the High Pit had been sunk and the coal was ready for<br \/>\nworking, Stephenson erected his first winding-engine to draw the<br \/>\ncoals out of the pit, and also a pumping-engine for Long Benton<br \/>\ncolliery, both of which proved quite successful. Among other<br \/>\nworks of this time, he projected and laid down a self-acting incline<br \/>\nalong the declivity which fell toward the coal-loading place<br \/>\nnear Willington, where he had formerly officiated as brakesman;<br \/>\nand he so arranged it that the full wagons, descending, drew the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_150\" name=\"Page_150\"><\/a>[150]<\/span><br \/>\nempty wagons up the railroad. This was one of the first self-acting<br \/>\ninclines laid down in the district.<\/p>\n<p>The following is Stephenson&#8217;s own account of his various duties<br \/>\nand labors at this period of his life, as given before a Committee<br \/>\nof the House of Commons in 1835:<a id=\"FNanchor_30\" name=\"FNanchor_30\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_30\">[30]<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;After making some improvements in the steam-engines above<br \/>\nground, I was requested by the manager of the colliery to go underground<br \/>\nalong with him, to see if any improvements could be made<br \/>\nin the mines by employing machinery as a substitute for manual<br \/>\nlabor and horse-power in bringing the coals out of the deeper workings<br \/>\nof the mine. On my first going down the Killingworth pit,<br \/>\nthere was a steam-engine underground for the purpose of drawing<br \/>\nwater from a pit that was sunk at some distance from the first shaft.<br \/>\nThe Killingworth coal-field is considerably dislocated. After the<br \/>\ncolliery was opened, at a very short distance from the shaft, one of<br \/>\nthose dislocations was met with. The coal was thrown down about<br \/>\nforty yards. Considerable time was spent in sinking another pit to<br \/>\nthis depth. And on my going down to examine the work, I proposed<br \/>\nmaking the engine (which had been erected some time previously)<br \/>\nto draw the coals up an inclined plane which descended<br \/>\nimmediately from the place where it was fixed. A considerable<br \/>\nchange was accordingly made in the mode of working the colliery,<br \/>\nnot only in applying the machinery, but in employing putters instead<br \/>\nof horses in bringing the coals from the hewers; and by those<br \/>\nchanges the number of horses in the pit was reduced from about<br \/>\n100 to 15 or 16. During the time I was engaged in making these<br \/>\nimportant alterations, I went round the workings in the pit with<br \/>\nthe viewer almost every time that he went into the mine, not only<br \/>\nat Killingworth, but at Mountmoor, Derwentcrook, Southmoor, all<br \/>\nof which collieries belonged to Lord Ravensworth and his partners;<br \/>\nand the whole of the machinery in all these collieries was put under<br \/>\nmy charge.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>It will thus be observed that Stephenson had now much better<br \/>\nopportunities for improving himself in mechanics than he had<br \/>\nheretofore possessed. His practical knowledge of the steam-engine<br \/>\ncould not fail to prove of the greatest value to him. His<br \/>\nshrewd insight, together with his intimate acquaintance with its<br \/>\nmechanism, enabled him to apprehend, as if by intuition, its most<br \/>\nabstruse and difficult combinations. The study which he had<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_151\" name=\"Page_151\"><\/a>[151]<\/span><br \/>\ngiven to it when a workman, and the patient manner in which<br \/>\nhe had groped his way through all the details of the machine,<br \/>\ngave him the power of a master in dealing with it as applied to<br \/>\ncolliery purposes.<\/p>\n<p>Sir Thomas Liddell was frequently about the works, and took<br \/>\npleasure in giving every encouragement to the engine-wright in<br \/>\nhis efforts after improvement. The subject of the locomotive engine<br \/>\nwas already occupying Stephenson&#8217;s careful attention, although<br \/>\nit was still regarded in the light of a curious and costly<br \/>\ntoy, of comparatively little real use. But he had at an early period<br \/>\nrecognized its practical value, and formed an adequate conception<br \/>\nof the might which as yet slumbered within it, and he<br \/>\nnow proceeded to bend the whole faculties of his mind to the development<br \/>\nof its powers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_154.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"291\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">COLLIERS&#8217; COTTAGES AT LONG BENTON.<\/span> &nbsp; [By R. P. Leitch.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_152\" name=\"Page_152\"><\/a>[152]<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER V.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>THE LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE\u2014GEORGE STEPHENSON BEGINS ITS IMPROVEMENT.<\/h4>\n<p>The rapid increase in the coal-trade of the Tyne about the beginning<br \/>\nof the present century had the effect of stimulating the<br \/>\ningenuity of mechanics, and encouraging them to devise improved<br \/>\nmethods of transporting the coal from the pits to the<br \/>\nshipping-places. From our introductory chapter, it will have<br \/>\nbeen observed that the improvements which had thus far been<br \/>\neffected were confined almost entirely to the road. The railway<br \/>\nwagons still continued to be drawn by horses. By improving<br \/>\nand flattening the tram-way, considerable economy in horse-power<br \/>\nhad been secured; but, unless some more effective method of<br \/>\nmechanical traction could be devised, it was clear that railway<br \/>\nimprovement had almost reached its limits.<\/p>\n<p>Notwithstanding Trevithick&#8217;s comparatively successful experiment<br \/>\nwith the first railway locomotive on the Merthyr Tydvil<br \/>\ntram-road in 1804, described in a former chapter, he seems to<br \/>\nhave taken no farther steps to bring his invention into notice.<br \/>\nHe was probably discouraged by the breakage of the cast-iron<br \/>\nplates, of which the road was formed, which were crushed under<br \/>\nthe load of his engine, and could not induce the owners of the<br \/>\nline to relay it with better materials so as to give his locomotive<br \/>\na fair trial.<\/p>\n<p>An imaginary difficulty, also, seems to have tended, among<br \/>\nother obstacles, to prevent the adoption of the locomotive, viz.,<br \/>\nthe idea that, if a heavy weight were placed behind the engine,<br \/>\nthe &#8220;grip&#8221; or &#8220;bite&#8221; of its smooth wheels upon the equally<br \/>\nsmooth iron rail must necessarily be so slight that they would<br \/>\nwhirl round upon it, and, consequently, that the machine would<br \/>\nnot make any progress.<a id=\"FNanchor_31\" name=\"FNanchor_31\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_31\">[31]<\/a> Hence Trevithick, in his patent, provided<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_153\" name=\"Page_153\"><\/a>[153]<\/span><br \/>\nthat the periphery of the driving-wheels should be made<br \/>\nrough by the projection of bolts or cross-grooves, so that the adhesion<br \/>\nof the wheels to the road might thereby be better secured.<\/p>\n<p>Trevithick himself does not seem to have erected another engine,<br \/>\nbut we gather from the evidence given by Mr. Rastrick in<br \/>\nthe committee on the Liverpool and Manchester Bill in 1825,<br \/>\nthat ten or twelve years before that time he had made an engine<br \/>\nfor Trevithick after his patent, and that the engine was exhibited<br \/>\nin London. &#8220;A circular railroad was laid down,&#8221; said Mr. Rastrick,<br \/>\n&#8220;and it was stated that this engine was to run against a<br \/>\nhorse, and that which went a sufficient number of miles was to<br \/>\nwin.&#8221; It is not known what afterward became of this engine.<\/p>\n<p>There were, however, at a much earlier period, several wealthy<br \/>\nand enterprising men, both in Yorkshire and Northumberland,<br \/>\nwho were willing to give the locomotive a fair trial; and had<br \/>\nTrevithick but possessed the requisite tenacity of purpose\u2014had<br \/>\nhe not been too soon discouraged by partially successful experiments\u2014he<br \/>\nmight have risen to both fame and fortune, not only<br \/>\nas the inventor of the locomotive, but as the practical introducer<br \/>\nof railway locomotion.<\/p>\n<p>One of Trevithick&#8217;s early friends and admirers was Mr. Blackett,<br \/>\nof Wylam. The Wylam wagon-way is one of the oldest in<br \/>\nthe north of England. Down to the year 1807 it was formed of<br \/>\nwooden spars or rails, laid down between the colliery at Wylam\u2014where<br \/>\nold Robert Stephenson worked\u2014and the village of Lemington,<br \/>\nsome four miles down the Tyne, where the coals were<br \/>\nloaded into keels or barges, and floated down past Newcastle, to<br \/>\nbe shipped for London. Each chaldron-wagon had a man in<br \/>\ncharge of it, and was originally drawn by one horse. The rate<br \/>\nat which the wagons were hauled was so slow that only two journeys<br \/>\nwere performed by each man and horse in one day, and<br \/>\nthree on the day following. This primitive wagon-way passed,<br \/>\nas before stated, close in front of the cottage in which George<br \/>\nStephenson was born, and one of the earliest sights which met<br \/>\nhis infant eyes was this wooden tram-road worked by horses.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_154\" name=\"Page_154\"><\/a>[154]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Mr. Blackett was the first colliery owner in the North who<br \/>\ntook an active interest in the locomotive. He had witnessed the<br \/>\nfirst performances of Trevithick&#8217;s steam-carriage in London, and<br \/>\nwas so taken with the idea of its application to railway locomotion<br \/>\nthat he resolved to have an engine erected after the new<br \/>\npatent for use upon his tram-way at Wylam. He accordingly<br \/>\nobtained from Trevithick, in October, 1804, a plan of his engine,<br \/>\nprovided with &#8220;friction-wheels,&#8221; and employed Mr. John Whinfield,<br \/>\nof Pipewellgate, Gateshead, to construct it at his foundery<br \/>\nthere. The engine was made under the superintendence of one<br \/>\nJohn Steele,<a id=\"FNanchor_32\" name=\"FNanchor_32\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_32\">[32]<\/a> an ingenious mechanic, who had been in Wales,<br \/>\nand worked under Trevithick in fitting the engine at Pen-y-darran.<br \/>\nWhen the Gateshead locomotive was finished, a temporary<br \/>\nway was laid down in the works, on which it was run backward<br \/>\nand forward many times. For some reason or other, however\u2014it<br \/>\nis said because the engine was too light for drawing the<br \/>\ncoal-trains\u2014it never left the works, but was dismounted from<br \/>\nthe wheels, and set to blow the cupola of the foundery, in which<br \/>\nservice it long continued to be employed.<\/p>\n<p>Several years elapsed before Mr. Blackett took any farther<br \/>\nsteps to carry out his idea. The final abandonment of Trevithick&#8217;s<br \/>\nlocomotive at Pen-y-darran perhaps contributed to deter<br \/>\nhim from proceeding farther; but he had the Wylam wooden<br \/>\ntram-way taken up in 1808, and a plate-way of cast iron laid<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_155\" name=\"Page_155\"><\/a>[155]<\/span><br \/>\ndown instead\u2014a single line furnished with sidings to enable the<br \/>\nladen wagons to pass the empty ones. The new iron road proved<br \/>\nso much smoother than the old wooden one, that a single horse,<br \/>\ninstead of drawing one, was enabled to draw two, or even three<br \/>\nladen wagons.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_158.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"475\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>BLENKINSOP&#8217;S LEEDS ENGINE.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Although the locomotive seemed about to be lost sight of, it<br \/>\nwas not forgotten. In 1811, Mr. Blenkinsop, the manager of the<br \/>\nMiddleton Collieries, near Leeds, revived the idea of employing<br \/>\nit in lieu of horses to haul the coals along his tram-way. Mr.<br \/>\nBlenkinsop, in the patent which he took out for his proposed engine,<br \/>\nfollowed in many respects the design of Trevithick; but,<br \/>\nwith the help of Matthew Murray, of Leeds, one of the most ingenious<br \/>\nmechanics of his day, he introduced several important<br \/>\nand valuable modifications. Thus he employed two cylinders of<br \/>\n8 in. diameter instead of one, as in Trevithick&#8217;s engine. These<br \/>\ncylinders were placed vertically, and immersed for more than<br \/>\nhalf their length in the steam space of the boiler. The eduction<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_156\" name=\"Page_156\"><\/a>[156]<\/span><br \/>\npipes met in a single tube at the top, and threw the steam into<br \/>\nthe air. The boiler was cylindrical in form, but of cast iron.<br \/>\nIt had one flue, the fire being at one end and the chimney at the<br \/>\nother. The engine was supported on a carriage without springs,<br \/>\nresting directly upon two pairs of wheels and axles unconnected<br \/>\nwith the working parts, and which merely served to carry the<br \/>\nengine upon the rails. The motion was effected in this way:<br \/>\nthe piston-rods, by means of cross-heads, worked the connecting-rods,<br \/>\nwhich came down to two cranks on each side below the<br \/>\nboiler, placed at right angles in order to pass their centres with<br \/>\ncertainty. These cranks worked two shafts fixed across the engine,<br \/>\non which were small-toothed wheels working into a larger<br \/>\none between them; and on the axis of this large wheel, outside<br \/>\nthe framing, were the driving-wheels, one of which was toothed,<br \/>\nand worked into a rack on one side of the railway.<\/p>\n<p>It will be observed that the principal new features in this engine<br \/>\nwere the two cylinders and the toothed-wheel working into<br \/>\na rack-rail. Mr. Blenkinsop contrived the latter expedient in order<br \/>\nto insure sufficient adhesion between the wheel and the road,<br \/>\nsupposing that smooth wheels and smooth rails would be insufficient<br \/>\nfor the purpose. Clumsy and slow though the engine was<br \/>\ncompared with modern locomotives, it was nevertheless a success.<br \/>\nIt was the first engine that plied regularly upon any railway,<br \/>\ndoing useful work; and it continued so employed for more than<br \/>\ntwenty years. What was more, it was a commercial success, for<br \/>\nits employment was found to be economical compared with horse-power.<br \/>\nIn a letter to Sir John Sinclair, Mr. Blenkinsop stated<br \/>\nthat his engine weighed five tons; consumed two thirds of a hundred<br \/>\nweight of coals and fifty gallons of water per hour; drew<br \/>\ntwenty-seven wagons, weighing ninety-four tons, on a dead level,<br \/>\nat three and a half miles an hour, or fifteen tons up an ascent<br \/>\nof 2 in. in the yard; that when &#8220;lightly loaded&#8221; it traveled at a<br \/>\nspeed of ten miles an hour; that it did the work of sixteen horses<br \/>\nin twelve hours; and that its cost was \u00a3400. Such was Mr. Blenkinsop&#8217;s<br \/>\nown account of the performances of his engine, which<br \/>\nwas for a long time regarded as one of the wonders of the neighborhood.<a id=\"FNanchor_33\" name=\"FNanchor_33\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_33\">[33]<\/a><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_157\" name=\"Page_157\"><\/a>[157]<\/span><br \/>\nThe Messrs. Chapman, of Newcastle, in 1812 endeavored to<br \/>\novercome the same fictitious difficulty of the want of adhesion<br \/>\nbetween the wheel and the rail by patenting a locomotive to<br \/>\nwork along the road by means of a chain stretched from one end<br \/>\nof it to the other. This chain was passed once round a grooved<br \/>\nbarrel-wheel under the centre of the engine, so that when the<br \/>\nwheel turned, the locomotive, as it were, dragged itself along the<br \/>\nrailway. An engine constructed after this plan was tried on the<br \/>\nHeaton Railway, near Newcastle; but it was so clumsy in action,<br \/>\nthere was so great a loss of power by friction, and it was found<br \/>\nto be so expensive and difficult to keep in repair, that it was very<br \/>\nsoon abandoned. Another remarkable expedient was adopted by<br \/>\nMr. Brunton, of the Butterley Works, Derbyshire, who in 1813<br \/>\npatented his Mechanical Traveler, to go <em>upon legs<\/em> working alternately<br \/>\nlike those of a horse.<a id=\"FNanchor_34\" name=\"FNanchor_34\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_34\">[34]<\/a> But this engine never got beyond<br \/>\nthe experimental state, for, at its very first trial, the driver,<br \/>\nto make sure of a good start, overloaded the safety-valve, when<br \/>\nthe boiler burst and killed a number of the by-standers, wounding<br \/>\nmany more. These, and other contrivances with the same object,<br \/>\nprojected about the same time, show that invention was busily at<br \/>\nwork, and that many minds were anxiously laboring to solve the<br \/>\nproblem of steam locomotion on railways.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Blackett, of Wylam, was encouraged by the success of Mr.<br \/>\nBlenkinsop&#8217;s experiment, and again he resolved to make a trial<br \/>\nof the locomotive upon his wagon-way. Accordingly, in 1812,<br \/>\nhe ordered a second engine, which was so designed as to work<br \/>\nwith a toothed driving-wheel upon a rack-rail as at Leeds. This<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_158\" name=\"Page_158\"><\/a>[158]<\/span><br \/>\nlocomotive was constructed by Thomas Waters, of Gateshead,<br \/>\nunder the superintendence of Jonathan Foster, Mr. Blackett&#8217;s<br \/>\nprincipal engine-wright. It was a combination of Trevithick&#8217;s<br \/>\nand Blenkinsop&#8217;s engines; but it was of a more awkward construction<br \/>\nthan either. Like Trevithick&#8217;s, it had a single cylinder<br \/>\nwith a fly-wheel, which Blenkinsop had discarded. The boiler<br \/>\nwas of cast iron. Jonathan Foster described it to the author in<br \/>\n1854 as &#8220;a strange machine, with lots of pumps, cog-wheels, and<br \/>\nplugs, requiring constant attention while at work.&#8221; The weight<br \/>\nof the whole was about six tons.<\/p>\n<p>When finished, it was conveyed to Wylam on a wagon, and<br \/>\nthere mounted upon a wooden frame, supported by four pairs of<br \/>\nwheels, which had been constructed for its reception. A barrel<br \/>\nof water, placed on another frame upon wheels, was attached to<br \/>\nit as a tender. After a great deal of labor, the cumbrous machine<br \/>\nwas got upon the road. At first it would not move an<br \/>\ninch. Its maker, Tommy Waters, became impatient, and at length<br \/>\nenraged, and, taking hold of the lever of the safety-valve, declared<br \/>\nin his desperation that &#8220;either <em>she<\/em> or <em>he<\/em> should go.&#8221; At length<br \/>\nthe machinery was set in motion, on which, as Jonathan Foster<br \/>\ndescribed to the author, &#8220;she flew all to pieces, and it was the<br \/>\nbiggest wonder i&#8217; the world that we were not all blewn up.&#8221; The<br \/>\nincompetent and useless engine was declared to be a failure; it<br \/>\nwas shortly after dismounted and sold; and Mr. Blackett&#8217;s praiseworthy<br \/>\nefforts thus far proved in vain.<\/p>\n<p>He was still, however, desirous of testing the practicability of<br \/>\nemploying locomotive power in working the coal down to Lemington,<br \/>\nand he determined on making yet another trial. He accordingly<br \/>\ndirected his engine-wright, Jonathan Foster, to proceed<br \/>\nwith the building of a third engine in the Wylam workshops.<br \/>\nThis new locomotive had a single 8-inch cylinder, was provided<br \/>\nwith a fly-wheel like its predecessor, and the driving-wheel was<br \/>\ncogged on one side to enable it to travel in the rack-rail laid<br \/>\nalong the road. The engine proved more successful than the<br \/>\nformer one, and it was found capable of dragging eight or nine<br \/>\nloaded wagons, though at the rate of little more than a mile an<br \/>\nhour, from the colliery to the shipping-place. It sometimes took<br \/>\nsix hours to perform the journey of five miles. Its weight was<br \/>\nfound too great for the road, and the cast-iron plates were constantly<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_159\" name=\"Page_159\"><\/a>[159]<\/span><br \/>\nbreaking. It was also very apt to get off the rack-rail,<br \/>\nand then it stood still. The driver was one day asked how he<br \/>\ngot on. &#8220;Get on?&#8221; said he, &#8220;we don&#8217;t get on; we only get off!&#8221;<br \/>\nOn such occasions, horses had to be sent out to drag the wagons<br \/>\nas before, and others to haul the engine back to the workshops.<br \/>\nIt was constantly getting out of order; its plugs, pumps, or cranks<br \/>\ngot wrong, and it was under repair as often as at work. At length<br \/>\nit became so cranky that the horses were usually sent after it to<br \/>\ndrag it along when it gave up, and the workmen generally declared<br \/>\nit to be a &#8220;perfect plague.&#8221; Mr. Blackett did not obtain<br \/>\ncredit among his neighbors for these experiments. Many laughed<br \/>\nat his machines, regarding them only in the light of crotchets\u2014frequently<br \/>\nquoting the proverb of &#8220;a fool and his money are<br \/>\nsoon parted.&#8221; Others regarded them as absurd innovations on<br \/>\nthe established method of hauling coal, and pronounced that they<br \/>\nwould &#8220;never answer.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Notwithstanding, however, the comparative failure of the second<br \/>\nlocomotive, Mr. Blackett persevered with his experiments.<br \/>\nHe was zealously assisted by Jonathan Foster, the engine-wright,<br \/>\nand William Hedley, the viewer of the colliery, a highly ingenious<br \/>\nperson, who proved of great use in carrying out the experiments<br \/>\nto a successful issue. One of the chief causes of failure<br \/>\nbeing the rack-rail, the idea occurred to Mr. Hedley that it might<br \/>\nbe possible to secure sufficient adhesion between the wheel and<br \/>\nthe rail by the mere weight of the engine, and he proceeded to<br \/>\nmake a series of experiments for the purpose of determining this<br \/>\nproblem. He had a frame placed on four wheels, and fitted up<br \/>\nwith windlasses attached by gearing to the several wheels. The<br \/>\nframe having been properly weighted, six men were set to work<br \/>\nthe windlasses, when it was found that the adhesion of the smooth<br \/>\nwheels on the smooth rails was quite sufficient to enable them to<br \/>\npropel the machine without slipping. Having then found the<br \/>\nproportion which the power bore to the weight, he demonstrated<br \/>\nby successive experiments that the weight of the engine would<br \/>\nof itself produce sufficient adhesion to enable it to draw upon a<br \/>\nsmooth railroad the requisite number of wagons in all kinds of<br \/>\nweather. And thus was the fallacy which had heretofore prevailed<br \/>\non this subject completely exploded, and it was satisfactorily<br \/>\nproved that rack-rails, toothed wheels, endless chains, and<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_160\" name=\"Page_160\"><\/a>[160]<\/span><br \/>\nlegs, were alike unnecessary for the efficient traction of loaded<br \/>\nwagons upon a moderately level road.<a id=\"FNanchor_35\" name=\"FNanchor_35\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_35\">[35]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>From this time forward, considerably less difficulty was experienced<br \/>\nin working the coal-trains upon the Wylam tram-road.<br \/>\nAt length the rack-rail was dispensed with. The road was laid<br \/>\nwith heavier rails; the working of the old engine was improved;<br \/>\nand a new engine was shortly after built and placed upon the<br \/>\nroad, still on eight wheels, driven by seven rack-wheels working<br \/>\ninside them\u2014with a wrought-iron boiler through which the flue<br \/>\nwas returned so as largely to increase the heating surface, and<br \/>\nthus give increased power to the engine.<a id=\"FNanchor_36\" name=\"FNanchor_36\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_36\">[36]<\/a> Below is a representation<br \/>\nof this improved Wylam engine.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_163.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"377\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>WYLAM ENGINE.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_161\" name=\"Page_161\"><\/a>[161]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>As may readily be imagined, the jets of steam from the piston,<br \/>\nblowing off into the air at high pressure while the engine was in<br \/>\nmotion, caused considerable annoyance to horses passing along<br \/>\nthe Wylam road, at that time a public highway. The nuisance<br \/>\nwas felt to be almost intolerable, and a neighboring gentleman<br \/>\nthreatened to have it put down. To diminish the noise as much<br \/>\nas possible, Mr. Blackett gave orders that so soon as any horse, or<br \/>\nvehicle drawn by horses, came in sight, the locomotive was to be<br \/>\nstopped, and the frightful blast of the engine thus suspended until<br \/>\nthe passing animals had got out of sight. Much interruption was<br \/>\nthus caused to the working of the railway, and it excited considerable<br \/>\ndissatisfaction among the workmen. The following plan<br \/>\nwas adopted to abate the nuisance: a reservoir was provided immediately<br \/>\nbehind the chimney (as shown in the opposite cut)<br \/>\ninto which the waste steam was thrown after it had performed its<br \/>\noffice in the cylinder, and from this reservoir the steam gradually<br \/>\nescaped into the atmosphere without noise. This arrangement<br \/>\nwas devised with the express object of preventing a blast in the<br \/>\nchimney, the value of which, as we shall subsequently find, was<br \/>\nnot detected until George Stephenson, adopting it with a preconceived<br \/>\ndesign and purpose, demonstrated its importance and value\u2014as<br \/>\nbeing, in fact, the very life-breath of the locomotive engine.<\/p>\n<p>While Mr. Blackett was thus experimenting and building locomotives<br \/>\nat Wylam, George Stephenson was anxiously studying<br \/>\nthe same subject at Killingworth. He was no sooner appointed<br \/>\nengine-wright of the collieries than his attention was directed to<br \/>\nthe means of more economically hauling the coal from the pits to<br \/>\nthe river side. We have seen that one of the first important improvements<br \/>\nwhich he made, after being placed in charge of the<br \/>\ncolliery machinery, was to apply the surplus power of a pumping<br \/>\nsteam-engine fixed underground, for the purpose of drawing the<br \/>\ncoals out of the deeper workings of the Killingworth mines, by<br \/>\nwhich he succeeded in effecting a large reduction in the expenditure<br \/>\non manual and horse labor.<\/p>\n<p>The coals, when brought above ground, had next to be laboriously<br \/>\ndragged by means of horses to the shipping staiths on the<br \/>\nTyne, several miles distant. The adoption of a tram-road, it is<br \/>\ntrue, had tended to facilitate their transit; nevertheless, the haulage<br \/>\nwas both tedious and expensive. With the view of economizing<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_162\" name=\"Page_162\"><\/a>[162]<\/span><br \/>\nlabor, Stephenson laid down inclined planes where the nature<br \/>\nof the ground would admit of this expedient being adopted.<br \/>\nThus a train of full wagons let down the incline by means of a<br \/>\nrope running over wheels laid along the tram-road, the other end<br \/>\nof which was attached to a train of empty wagons placed at the<br \/>\nbottom of the parallel road on the same incline, dragged them up<br \/>\nby the simple power of gravity. But this applied only to a comparatively<br \/>\nsmall part of the road. An economical method of<br \/>\nworking the coal-trains, instead of by means of horses\u2014the keep<br \/>\nof which was at that time very costly, in consequence of the high<br \/>\nprice of corn\u2014was still a great desideratum, and the best practical<br \/>\nminds in the collieries were actively engaged in trying to solve<br \/>\nthe problem.<\/p>\n<p>In the first place, Stephenson resolved to make himself thoroughly<br \/>\nacquainted with what had already been done. Mr. Blackett&#8217;s<br \/>\nengines were working daily at Wylam, past the cottage where<br \/>\nhe had been born, and thither he frequently went<a id=\"FNanchor_37\" name=\"FNanchor_37\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_37\">[37]<\/a> to inspect the<br \/>\nimprovements made by Mr. Blackett from time to time both in<br \/>\nthe locomotive and in the plate-way along which it worked. Jonathan<br \/>\nFoster informed us that, after one of these visits, Stephenson<br \/>\ndeclared to him his conviction that a much more effective engine<br \/>\nmight be made, that should work more steadily and draw<br \/>\nthe load more effectively.<\/p>\n<p>He had also the advantage, about the same time, of seeing one<br \/>\nof Blenkinsop&#8217;s Leeds engines, which was placed on the tram-way<br \/>\nleading from the collieries of Kenton and Coxlodge, on the 2d of<br \/>\nSeptember, 1813. This locomotive drew sixteen chaldron wagons,<br \/>\ncontaining an aggregate weight of seventy tons, at the rate<br \/>\nof about three miles an hour. George Stephenson and several of<br \/>\nthe Killingworth men were among the crowd of spectators that<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_163\" name=\"Page_163\"><\/a>[163]<\/span><br \/>\nday; and after examining the engine and observing its performances,<br \/>\nhe remarked to his companions that &#8220;he thought he could<br \/>\nmake a better engine than that, to go upon legs.&#8221; Probably he<br \/>\nhad heard of the invention of Brunton, whose patent had by this<br \/>\ntime been published, and proved the subject of much curious<br \/>\nspeculation in the colliery districts. Certain it is that, shortly<br \/>\nafter the inspection of the Coxlodge engine, he contemplated the<br \/>\nconstruction of a new locomotive, which was to surpass all that<br \/>\nhad preceded it. He observed that those engines which had been<br \/>\nconstructed up to this time, however ingenious in their arrangements,<br \/>\nwere in a great measure practical failures. Mr. Blackett&#8217;s<br \/>\nwas as yet both clumsy and expensive. Chapman&#8217;s had been removed<br \/>\nfrom the Heaton tram-way in 1812, and was regarded as<br \/>\na total failure. And the Blenkinsop engine at Coxlodge was<br \/>\nfound very unsteady and costly in its working; besides, it pulled<br \/>\nthe rails to pieces, the entire strain being upon the rack-rail on<br \/>\none side of the road. The boiler, however, having shortly blown<br \/>\nup, there was an end of that engine, and the colliery owners did<br \/>\nnot feel encouraged to try any farther experiment.<\/p>\n<p>An efficient and economical working locomotive engine, therefore,<br \/>\nstill remained to be invented, and to accomplish this object<br \/>\nStephenson now applied himself. Profiting by what his predecessors<br \/>\nhad done, warned by their failures and encouraged by<br \/>\ntheir partial successes, he commenced his labors. There was<br \/>\nstill wanting the man who should accomplish for the locomotive<br \/>\nwhat James Watt had done for the steam-engine, and combine<br \/>\nin a complete form the best points in the separate plans of others,<br \/>\nembodying with them such original inventions and adaptations<br \/>\nof his own as to entitle him to the merit of inventing the<br \/>\nworking locomotive, as James Watt is to be regarded as the inventor<br \/>\nof the working condensing engine. This was the great<br \/>\nwork upon which George Stephenson now entered, though probably<br \/>\nwithout any adequate idea of the ultimate importance of<br \/>\nhis labors to society and civilization.<\/p>\n<p>He proceeded to bring the subject of constructing a &#8220;Traveling<br \/>\nEngine,&#8221; as he then denominated the locomotive, under the<br \/>\nnotice of the lessees of the Killingworth Colliery, in the year<br \/>\n1813. Lord Ravensworth, the principal partner, had already<br \/>\nformed a very favorable opinion of the new colliery engine-wright<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_164\" name=\"Page_164\"><\/a>[164]<\/span><br \/>\nfrom the improvements which he had effected in the colliery<br \/>\nengines, both above and below ground; and, after considering<br \/>\nthe matter, and hearing Stephenson&#8217;s explanations, he authorized<br \/>\nhim to proceed with the construction of a locomotive,<br \/>\nthough his lordship was by some called a fool for advancing<br \/>\nmoney for such a purpose. &#8220;The first locomotive that I made,&#8221;<br \/>\nsaid Stephenson, many years after,<a id=\"FNanchor_38\" name=\"FNanchor_38\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_38\">[38]<\/a> when speaking of his early<br \/>\ncareer at a public meeting in Newcastle, &#8220;was at Killingworth<br \/>\nColliery, and with Lord Ravensworth&#8217;s money. Yes, Lord Ravensworth<br \/>\nand partners were the first to intrust me, thirty-two<br \/>\nyears since, with money to make a locomotive engine. I said to<br \/>\nmy friends, there was no limit to the speed of such an engine, if<br \/>\nthe works could be made to stand.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Our engine-wright had, however, many obstacles to encounter<br \/>\nbefore he could get fairly to work with the erection of his locomotive.<br \/>\nHis chief difficulty was in finding workmen sufficiently<br \/>\nskilled in mechanics and in the use of tools to follow his instructions<br \/>\nand embody his designs in a practical shape. The tools<br \/>\nthen in use about the collieries were rude and clumsy, and there<br \/>\nwere no such facilities as now exist for turning out machinery<br \/>\nof an entirely new character. Stephenson was under the necessity<br \/>\nof working with such men and tools as were at his command,<br \/>\nand he had in a great measure to train and instruct the workmen<br \/>\nhimself. The engine was built in the workshops at the West<br \/>\nMoor, the leading mechanic being John Thirlwall, the colliery<br \/>\nblacksmith, an excellent mechanic in his way, though quite new<br \/>\nto the work now intrusted to him.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figright\" style=\"width: 300px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_167.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"136\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>THE SPUR-GEAR.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In this first locomotive constructed at Killingworth, Stephenson<br \/>\nto some extent followed the plan of Blenkinsop&#8217;s engine.<br \/>\nThe wrought-iron boiler was cylindrical, eight feet in length and<br \/>\nthirty-four inches in diameter, with an internal flue-tube twenty<br \/>\ninches wide passing through it. The engine had two vertical<br \/>\ncylinders of eight inches diameter<br \/>\nand two feet stroke let into<br \/>\nthe boiler, which worked the propelling<br \/>\ngear with cross-heads and<br \/>\nconnecting-rods. The power of<br \/>\nthe two cylinders was combined<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_165\" name=\"Page_165\"><\/a>[165]<\/span><br \/>\nby means of spur-wheels, which communicated the motive power<br \/>\nto the wheels supporting the engine on the rail, instead of, as in<br \/>\nBlenkinsop&#8217;s engine, to cog-wheels which acted on the cogged<br \/>\nrail independent of the four supporting wheels. The engine<br \/>\nthus worked upon what is termed the second motion. The chimney<br \/>\nwas of wrought iron, round which was a chamber extending<br \/>\nback to the feed-pumps, for the purpose of heating the water<br \/>\nprevious to its injection into the boiler. The engine had no<br \/>\nsprings, and was mounted on a wooden frame supported on four<br \/>\nwheels. In order to neutralize as much as possible the jolts and<br \/>\nshocks which such an engine would necessarily encounter from<br \/>\nthe obstacles and inequalities of the then very imperfect plate-way,<br \/>\nthe water-barrel which served for a tender was fixed to the<br \/>\nend of a lever and weighted, the other end of the lever being<br \/>\nconnected with the frame of the locomotive carriage. By this<br \/>\nmeans the weight of the two was more equally distributed,<br \/>\nthough the contrivance did not by any means compensate for<br \/>\nthe total absence of springs.<\/p>\n<p>The wheels of the locomotive were all smooth, Stephenson<br \/>\nhaving satisfied himself by experiment that the adhesion between<br \/>\nthe wheels of a loaded engine and the rail would be sufficient for<br \/>\nthe purpose of traction. Robert Stephenson informed us that<br \/>\nhis father caused a number of workmen to mount upon the wheels<br \/>\nof a wagon moderately loaded, and throw their entire weight<br \/>\nupon the spokes on one side, when he found that the wagon<br \/>\ncould thus be easily propelled forward without the wheels slipping.<br \/>\nThis, together with other experiments, satisfied him, as it<br \/>\nhad already satisfied Mr. Hedley, of the expediency of adopting<br \/>\nsmooth wheels on his engine, and it was so made accordingly.<\/p>\n<p>The engine was, after much labor and anxiety, and frequent<br \/>\nalterations of parts, at length brought to completion, having been<br \/>\nabout ten months in hand. It was placed upon the Killingworth<br \/>\nRailway on the 25th of July, 1814, and its powers were tried on<br \/>\nthe same day. On an ascending gradient of 1 in 450, the engine<br \/>\nsucceeded in drawing after it eight loaded carriages of thirty<br \/>\ntons&#8217; weight at about four miles an hour; and for some time after<br \/>\nit continued regularly at work.<\/p>\n<p>Although a considerable advance upon previous locomotives,<br \/>\n&#8220;Blucher&#8221; (as the engine was popularly called) was nevertheless<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_166\" name=\"Page_166\"><\/a>[166]<\/span><br \/>\na somewhat cumbrous and clumsy machine. The parts were<br \/>\nhuddled together. The boiler constituted the principal feature;<br \/>\nand, being the foundation of the other parts, it was made to do<br \/>\nduty not only as a generator of steam, but also as a basis for the<br \/>\nfixings of the machinery and for the bearings of the wheels and<br \/>\naxles. The want of springs was seriously felt; and the progress<br \/>\nof the engine was a succession of jolts, causing considerable derangement<br \/>\nto the machinery. The mode of communicating the<br \/>\nmotive power to the wheels by means of the spur-gear also caused<br \/>\nfrequent jerks, each cylinder alternately propelling or becoming<br \/>\npropelled by the other, as the pressure of the one upon the wheels<br \/>\nbecame greater or less than the pressure of the other; and, when<br \/>\nthe teeth of the cog-wheels became at all worn, a rattling noise<br \/>\nwas produced during the traveling of the engine.<\/p>\n<p>As the principal test of the success of the locomotive was its<br \/>\neconomy as compared with horse-power, careful calculations were<br \/>\nmade with the view of ascertaining this important point. The<br \/>\nresult was, that it was found the working of the engine was at<br \/>\nfirst barely economical; and at the end of the year the steam-power<br \/>\nand the horse-power were ascertained to be as nearly as<br \/>\npossible upon a par in point of cost.<\/p>\n<p>We give the remainder of the history of George Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\nefforts to produce an economical working locomotive in the words<br \/>\nof his son Robert, as communicated to the author in 1856, for<br \/>\nthe purposes of his father&#8217;s &#8220;Life.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;A few months of experience and careful observation upon the<br \/>\noperation of this (his first) engine convinced my father that the complication<br \/>\narising out of the action of the two cylinders being combined<br \/>\nby spur-wheels would prevent their coming into practical application.<br \/>\nHe then directed his attention to an entire change in the<br \/>\nconstruction and mechanical arrangements, and in the following<br \/>\nyear took out a patent, dated February 28th, 1815, for an engine<br \/>\nwhich combined in a remarkable degree the essential requisites of<br \/>\nan economical locomotive\u2014that is to say, few parts, simplicity in<br \/>\ntheir action, and great simplicity in the mode by which power was<br \/>\ncommunicated to the wheels supporting the engine.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This second engine consisted as before of two vertical cylinders,<br \/>\nwhich communicated directly with each pair of the four wheels that<br \/>\nsupported the engine by a cross-head and a pair of connecting-rods;<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_167\" name=\"Page_167\"><\/a>[167]<\/span><br \/>\nbut, in attempting to establish a direct communication between the<br \/>\ncylinders and the wheels that rolled upon the rails, considerable difficulties<br \/>\npresented themselves. The ordinary joints could not be<br \/>\nemployed to unite the engine, which was a rigid mass, with the<br \/>\nwheels rolling upon the irregular surface of the rails; for it was evident<br \/>\nthat the two rails of the line of railway could not always be<br \/>\nmaintained at the same level with respect to each other\u2014that one<br \/>\nwheel at the end of the axle might be depressed into a part of the<br \/>\nline which had subsided, while the other would be elevated. In<br \/>\nsuch a position of the axle and wheels it was clear that a rigid<br \/>\ncommunication between the cross-head and the wheels was impracticable.<br \/>\nHence it became necessary to form a joint at the top of<br \/>\nthe piston-rod where it united with the cross-head, so as to permit<br \/>\nthe cross-head always to preserve complete parallelism with the<br \/>\naxle of the wheels with which it was in communication.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In order to obtain the flexibility combined with direct action<br \/>\nwhich was essential for insuring power and avoiding needless friction<br \/>\nand jars from irregularities in the rail, my father employed the<br \/>\n&#8216;ball and socket&#8217; joint for effecting a union between the ends of the<br \/>\ncross-heads where they united with the connecting-rods, and between<br \/>\nthe end of the connecting-rods where they were united with<br \/>\nthe crank-pins attached to each driving-wheel. By this arrangement<br \/>\nthe parallelism between the cross-head and the axle was at all<br \/>\ntimes maintained, it being permitted to take place without producing<br \/>\njar or friction upon any part of the machine.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The next important point was to combine each pair of wheels<br \/>\nby some simple mechanism, instead of the cog-wheels which had<br \/>\nformerly been used. My father began by inserting each axle into<br \/>\ntwo cranks at right angles to each other, with rods communicating<br \/>\nhorizontally between them. An engine was made on this plan, and<br \/>\nanswered extremely well. But at that period (1815) the mechanical<br \/>\nskill of the country was not equal to the task of forging cranked<br \/>\naxles of the soundness and strength necessary to stand the jars incident<br \/>\nto locomotive work; so my father was compelled to fall back<br \/>\nupon a substitute which, though less simple and less efficient, was<br \/>\nwithin the mechanical capabilities of the workmen of that day,<br \/>\neither for construction or repair. He adopted a chain which rolled<br \/>\nover indented wheels placed on the centre of each axle, and so arranged<br \/>\nthat the two pairs of wheels were effectually coupled and<br \/>\nmade to keep pace with each other. But these chains after a few<br \/>\nyears&#8217; use became stretched, and then the engines were liable to irregularity<br \/>\nin their working, especially in changing from working<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_168\" name=\"Page_168\"><\/a>[168]<\/span><br \/>\nback to forward again. Nevertheless, these engines continued in<br \/>\nprofitable use upon the Killingworth Colliery Railway for some<br \/>\nyears. Eventually the chain was laid aside, and the front and hind<br \/>\nwheels were united by rods on the <em>outside<\/em>, instead of by rods and<br \/>\ncrank-ankles <em>inside<\/em>, as specified in the original patent; and this expedient<br \/>\ncompletely answered the purpose required, without involving<br \/>\nany expensive or difficult workmanship.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_171.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"478\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>SECTION OF KILLINGWORTH LOCOMOTIVE, 1815.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;Another important improvement was introduced in this engine.<br \/>\nThe eduction steam had hitherto been allowed to escape direct into<br \/>\nthe open atmosphere; but my father, having observed the great velocity<br \/>\nwith which the waste-steam escaped, compared with the velocity<br \/>\nwith which the smoke issued from the chimney of the same engine,<br \/>\nthought that by conveying the eduction steam into the chimney,<br \/>\nand there allowing it to escape in a vertical direction, its velocity<br \/>\nwould be imparted to the smoke from the engine, or to the ascending<br \/>\ncurrent of air in the chimney. The experiment was no sooner<br \/>\nmade than the power of the engine became more than doubled;<br \/>\ncombustion was stimulated, as it were, by a blast; consequently,<br \/>\nthe power of the boiler for generating steam was increased, and,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_169\" name=\"Page_169\"><\/a>[169]<\/span><br \/>\nin the same proportion, the useful duty of the engine was augmented.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Thus, in 1815, my father had succeeded in manufacturing an engine<br \/>\nwhich included the following important improvements on all<br \/>\nprevious attempts in the same direction: simple and direct communication<br \/>\nbetween the cylinder and the wheels rolling upon the rails;<br \/>\njoint adhesion of all the wheels, attained by the use of horizontal<br \/>\nconnecting-rods; and, finally, a beautiful method of exciting the<br \/>\ncombustion of fuel by employing the waste steam which had formerly<br \/>\nbeen allowed uselessly to escape. It is, perhaps, not too much<br \/>\nto say that this engine, as a mechanical contrivance, contained the<br \/>\ngerm of all that has since been effected. It may be regarded, in<br \/>\nfact, as a type of the present locomotive engine.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In describing my father&#8217;s application of the waste steam for the<br \/>\npurpose of increasing the intensity of combustion in the boiler, and<br \/>\nthus increasing the power of the engine without adding to its<br \/>\nweight, and while claiming for this engine the merit of being a type<br \/>\nof all those which have been successfully devised since the commencement<br \/>\nof the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, it is necessary<br \/>\nto observe that the next great improvement in the same direction,<br \/>\nthe &#8216;multitubular boiler,&#8217; which took place some years later,<br \/>\ncould never have been used without the help of that simple expedient,<br \/>\n<em>the steam-blast<\/em>, by which power only the burning of coke was<br \/>\nrendered possible.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I can not pass over this last-named invention of my father&#8217;s<br \/>\nwithout remarking how slightly, as an original idea, it has been appreciated;<br \/>\nand yet how small would be the comparative value of<br \/>\nthe locomotive engine of the present day without the application<br \/>\nof that important invention!<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Engines constructed by my father in the year 1818 upon the<br \/>\nprinciples just described are in use on the Killingworth Colliery<br \/>\nRailway to this very day (1856), conveying, at the speed of perhaps<br \/>\nfive or six miles an hour, heavy coal-trains, probably as economically<br \/>\nas any of the more perfect engines now in use.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There was another remarkable piece of ingenuity in this machine,<br \/>\nwhich was completed so many years before the possibility of<br \/>\nsteam-locomotion became an object of general commercial interest<br \/>\nand Parliamentary inquiry. I have before observed that up to and<br \/>\nafter the year 1818 there was no such class of skilled mechanics,<br \/>\nnor were there such machinery and tools for working in metals, as<br \/>\nare now at the disposal of inventors and manufacturers. Among<br \/>\nother difficulties of a similar character, it was not possible at that<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_170\" name=\"Page_170\"><\/a>[170]<\/span><br \/>\ntime to construct springs of sufficient strength to support the improved<br \/>\nengines. The rails then used being extremely light, the<br \/>\nroads became worn down by the traffic, and occasionally the whole<br \/>\nweight of the engine, instead of being uniformly distributed over<br \/>\nfour wheels, was thrown almost diagonally upon two. In order to<br \/>\navoid the danger arising from such irregularities in the road, my<br \/>\nfather arranged the boiler so that it was supported upon the frame<br \/>\nof the engine by four cylinders which opened into the interior of<br \/>\nthe boiler. These cylinders were occupied by pistons with rods,<br \/>\nwhich passed downward and pressed upon the upper side of the<br \/>\naxles. The cylinders, opening into the interior of the boiler, allowed<br \/>\nthe pressure of steam to be applied to the upper side of the piston,<br \/>\nand that pressure being nearly equal to the support of one<br \/>\nfourth of the weight of the engine, each axle, whatever might be<br \/>\nits position, had the same amount of weight to bear, and consequently<br \/>\nthe entire weight was at all times nearly equally distributed<br \/>\namong the wheels. This expedient was more necessary in<br \/>\nthis case, as the weight of the new locomotive engines far exceeded<br \/>\nthat of the carriages which had hitherto been used upon colliery<br \/>\nrailways, and therefore subjected the rails to much greater risk<br \/>\nfrom breakage. And this mode of supporting the engine remained<br \/>\nin use until the progress of spring-making had considerably advanced,<br \/>\nwhen steel springs of sufficient strength superseded this<br \/>\nhighly ingenious mode of distributing the weight of the engine uniformly<br \/>\namong the wheels.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The invention of the Steam-blast by George Stephenson in<br \/>\n1815 was fraught with the most important consequences to railway<br \/>\nlocomotion, and it is not saying too much to aver that the<br \/>\nsuccess of the locomotive has been in a great measure the result<br \/>\nof its adoption. Without the steam-blast, by means of which the<br \/>\nintensity of combustion is maintained at its highest point, producing<br \/>\na correspondingly rapid evolution of steam, high rates of<br \/>\nspeed could not have been kept up; the advantages of the multitubular<br \/>\nboiler (afterward invented) could never have been fully<br \/>\ntested; and locomotives might still have been dragging themselves<br \/>\nunwieldily along at little more than five or six miles an<br \/>\nhour.<\/p>\n<p>As this invention has been the subject of considerable controversy,<br \/>\nit becomes necessary to add a few words respecting it in<br \/>\nthis place. It has been claimed as the invention of Trevithick<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_171\" name=\"Page_171\"><\/a>[171]<\/span><br \/>\nin 1804, of Hedley in 1814, of Goldsworthy Gurney in 1820, and<br \/>\nof Timothy Hackworth in 1829. With respect to Trevithick, it<br \/>\nappears that he discharged the waste steam into the chimney<br \/>\nof his engine, but without any intention of thereby producing a<br \/>\nblast;<a id=\"FNanchor_39\" name=\"FNanchor_39\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_39\">[39]<\/a> and that he attached no value to the expedient is sufficiently<br \/>\nobvious from the fact that in 1815 he took out a patent<br \/>\nfor urging the fire by means of fanners, similar to a winnowing<br \/>\nmachine. The claim put forward on behalf of William Hedley,<br \/>\nthat he invented the blast-pipe for the Wylam engine, is sufficiently<br \/>\ncontradicted by the fact that the Wylam engine had <em>no<\/em><br \/>\nblast-pipe. &#8220;I remember the Wylam engine,&#8221; Robert Stephenson<br \/>\nwrote to the author in 1857, &#8220;and I am positive there was no<br \/>\nblast-pipe.&#8221; On the contrary, the Wylam engine embodied a contrivance<br \/>\nfor the express purpose of <em>preventing<\/em> a blast. This is<br \/>\nclearly shown by the drawing and description of it contained in<br \/>\nthe first edition of Nicholas Wood&#8217;s &#8220;Practical Treatise on Railroads,&#8221;<br \/>\npublished in 1825. This evidence is all the more valuable<br \/>\nfor our purpose as it was published long before any controversy<br \/>\nhad arisen as to the authorship of the invention, and, indeed,<br \/>\nbefore it was believed that any merit whatever belonged to<br \/>\nit. And it is the more remarkable, as Nicholas Wood himself,<br \/>\nwho published the first practical work on railways, did not at<br \/>\nthat time approve of the steam-blast, and referred to the Wylam<br \/>\nengine in illustration of how it might be prevented.<\/p>\n<p>The following passage from Mr. Wood&#8217;s book clearly describes<br \/>\nthe express object and purpose for which George Stephenson invented<br \/>\nand applied the steam-blast in the Killingworth engines.<br \/>\nDescribing their action, Mr. Wood says:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;The steam is admitted to the top and bottom of the piston by<br \/>\nmeans of a sliding valve, which, being moved up and down alternately,<br \/>\nopens a communication between the top and bottom of the<br \/>\ncylinder and the pipe that is <em>open into the chimney and turns up<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_172\" name=\"Page_172\"><\/a>[172]<\/span><br \/>\nwithin it<\/em>. The steam, after performing its office within the cylinder,<br \/>\nis thus thrown into the chimney, and the power with which it<br \/>\nissues will be proportionate to the degree of elasticity; and <em>the exit<br \/>\nbeing directed upward, accelerates the velocity of the current of heated<br \/>\nair accordingly<\/em>.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_40\" name=\"FNanchor_40\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_40\">[40]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>And again, at another part of the book, he says:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;There is another great objection urged against locomotives,<br \/>\nwhich is, the noise that the steam makes in escaping into the chimney;<br \/>\nthis objection is very singular, as it is not the result of any<br \/>\ninherent form in the organization of such engines, but an accidental<br \/>\ncircumstance. When the engines <em>were first made<\/em>, the steam escaped<br \/>\ninto the atmosphere, and made comparatively little noise; <em>it was<br \/>\nfound difficult then to produce steam in sufficient quantity to keep<br \/>\nthe engine constantly working, or rather to obtain an adequate rapidity<br \/>\nof current in the chimney to give sufficient intensity to the<br \/>\nfire. To effect a greater rapidity, or to increase the draught of the<br \/>\nchimney, Mr. Stephenson thought that by causing the steam to escape<br \/>\ninto the chimney through a pipe with its end turned upward, the velocity<br \/>\nof the current would be accelerated, and such was the effect<\/em>;<br \/>\nbut, in remedying one evil, another has been produced, which,<br \/>\nthough objectionable in some places, was not considered as objectionable<br \/>\non a private railroad. The tube through the boiler having<br \/>\nbeen increased, there is now no longer any occasion for the action<br \/>\nof the steam to assist the motion of the heated air in the chimney.<br \/>\nThe steam thrown in this manner into the chimney acts as a trumpet,<br \/>\nand certainly makes a very disagreeable noise. Nothing, however,<br \/>\nis more easy to remedy, and the very act of remedying this<br \/>\ndefect will also be the means of economizing the fuel.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_41\" name=\"FNanchor_41\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_41\">[41]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Mr. Wood then proceeds to show how the noise caused by the<br \/>\nblast\u2014how, in fact, the blast itself, might be effectually prevented<br \/>\nby adopting the expedient employed in the Wylam engine; which<br \/>\nwas, to send the exhaust steam, not into the chimney (where alone<br \/>\nthe blast could act with effect by stimulating the draught), but<br \/>\ninto a steam-reservoir provided for the purpose. His words are<br \/>\nthese:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;Nothing more is wanted to destroy the noise than <em>to cause the<br \/>\n<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_173\" name=\"Page_173\"><\/a>[173]<\/span>steam to expand itself into a reservoir, and then allow it to escape<br \/>\ngradually to the atmosphere through the chimney.<\/em> Upon the Wylam<br \/>\nrailroad the noise was made the subject of complaint by a neighboring<br \/>\ngentleman, and they adopted this mode, which had the effect<br \/>\nabove mentioned.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_42\" name=\"FNanchor_42\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_42\">[42]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>It is curious to find that Mr. Nicholas Wood continued to object<br \/>\nto the use of the steam-blast down even to the time when<br \/>\nthe Liverpool and Manchester Railway Bill was before Parliament.<br \/>\nIn his evidence before the Committee on that Bill in<br \/>\n1825, he said: &#8220;Those engines [at Killingworth] <em>puff very much,<br \/>\nand the object is to get an increased draught in the chimney<\/em>.<br \/>\nNow (by enlarging the flue-tube and giving it a double turn<br \/>\nthrough the boiler) we have got a sufficiency of steam without it,<br \/>\nand I have no doubt, by allowing the steam to exhaust itself in<br \/>\na reservoir, it would pass quietly into the chimney without that<br \/>\nnoise.&#8221; In fact, Mr. Wood was still in favor of the arrangement<br \/>\nadopted in the Wylam engine, by which the steam-blast had been<br \/>\ngot rid of altogether.<\/p>\n<p>If these statements, made in Mr. Wood&#8217;s book, be correct\u2014and<br \/>\nthey have never been disputed\u2014they render it perfectly clear that<br \/>\nGeorge Stephenson invented and applied the steam-blast for the<br \/>\nexpress purpose of quickening combustion in the furnace by increasing<br \/>\nthe draught in the chimney. Although urged by Wood<br \/>\nto abandon the blast, Stephenson continued to hold by it as one<br \/>\nof the vital powers of the locomotive engine. It is quite true that<br \/>\nin the early engines, with only a double flue passing through the<br \/>\nboiler, run as they were at low speeds, the blast was of comparatively<br \/>\nless importance. It was only when the improved passenger<br \/>\nengine, fitted with the multitubular boiler, was required to be run<br \/>\nat high speeds that the full merits of the blast were brought out;<br \/>\nand in detecting its essential uses in this respect, and sharpening<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_174\" name=\"Page_174\"><\/a>[174]<\/span><br \/>\nit for the purpose of increasing its action, the sagacity of Timothy<br \/>\nHackworth, of Darlington, is entitled to due recognition.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 400px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_177.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"275\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>(Colliery Whimsey)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_175\" name=\"Page_175\"><\/a>[175]<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER VI.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>INVENTION OF THE &#8220;GEORDY&#8221; SAFETY-LAMP.<\/h4>\n<p>Explosions of fire-damp were unusually frequent in the coal-mines<br \/>\nof Northumberland and Durham about the time when<br \/>\nGeorge Stephenson was engaged in the construction of his first<br \/>\nlocomotives. These explosions were often attended with fearful<br \/>\nloss of life and dreadful suffering to the work-people. Killingworth<br \/>\nColliery was not free from such deplorable calamities; and<br \/>\nduring the time that Stephenson was employed as brakesman at<br \/>\nthe West Moor, several &#8220;blasts&#8221; took place in the pit, by which<br \/>\nmany workmen were scorched and killed, and the owners of the colliery<br \/>\nsustained heavy losses. One of the most serious of these<br \/>\naccidents occurred in 1806, not long after he had been appointed<br \/>\nbrakesman, by which ten persons were killed. Stephenson was<br \/>\nnear the pit mouth at the time, and the circumstances connected<br \/>\nwith the explosion made a deep impression on his mind, as appears<br \/>\nfrom the graphic account which he gave of it to the Committee<br \/>\nof the House of Commons on accidents in mines, some<br \/>\nthirty years after the event.<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;The pit,&#8221; said he, &#8220;had just ceased drawing coals, and nearly<br \/>\nall the men had got out. It was some time in the afternoon, a little<br \/>\nafter midday. There were five men that went down the pit;<br \/>\nfour of them for the purpose of preparing a place for the furnace.<br \/>\nThe fifth was a person who went down to set them to work. I sent<br \/>\nthis man down myself, and he had just got to the bottom of the<br \/>\nshaft about two or three minutes when the explosion took place.<br \/>\nI had left the mouth of the pit, and had gone about fifty or sixty<br \/>\nyards away, when I heard a tremendous noise, looked round, and<br \/>\nsaw the discharge come out of the pit like the discharge of a cannon.<br \/>\nIt continued to blow, I think, for a quarter of an hour, discharging<br \/>\nevery thing that had come into the current. Wood came<br \/>\nup, stones came up, and trusses of hay that went up into the air<br \/>\nlike balloons. Those trusses had been sent down during the day,<br \/>\nand I think they had in some measure injured the ventilation of the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_176\" name=\"Page_176\"><\/a>[176]<\/span><br \/>\nmine. The ground all round the top of the pit was in a trembling<br \/>\nstate. I went as near as I durst go; every thing appeared cracking<br \/>\nand rending about me. Part of the brattice, which was very<br \/>\nstrong, was blown away at the bottom of the pits. Very large<br \/>\npumps were lifted from their places, so that the engine could not<br \/>\nwork. The pit was divided into four by partitions; it was a large<br \/>\npit, fourteen feet in diameter, and partitions were put down at right<br \/>\nangles, which made four compartments. The explosion took place<br \/>\nin one of those four quarters, but it broke through into all the others<br \/>\nat the bottom, and the brattice or partitions were set on fire at<br \/>\nthe first explosion.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Nobody durst go near the shafts for some time, for fear of another<br \/>\nexplosion taking place. At last we considered it necessary<br \/>\nto run the rope backward and forward, and give the miners, if there<br \/>\nwere any at the bottom of the shaft, an opportunity of catching the<br \/>\nrope as it came to the bottom. Several men were safely got up in<br \/>\nthis way; one man, who had got hold of the rope, was being drawn<br \/>\nup, when a farther explosion took place while he was still in the<br \/>\nshaft, and the increased current which came about him projected<br \/>\nhim as it were up the shaft; yet he was landed without injury: it<br \/>\nwas a singular case&#8230;. The pit continued to blast every two or<br \/>\nthree hours for about two days. It appears that the coal had taken<br \/>\nfire, and as soon as the carbureted hydrogen gas collected in sufficient<br \/>\nquantity to reach the part where it was burning, it ignited<br \/>\nagain; but none of the explosions were equal to the first, on account<br \/>\nof many parts of the mine having become filled with azotic<br \/>\ngas, or the <em>after-damp<\/em> of the mine. All the ditches in the countryside<br \/>\nwere stopped to get water to pour into the pit. We had fire-engines<br \/>\nbrought from Newcastle, and the water was poured in till<br \/>\nit came above the fire, and then it was extinguished. The loss to<br \/>\nthe owners of the colliery by this accident must have been about<br \/>\n\u00a320,000.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_43\" name=\"FNanchor_43\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_43\">[43]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Another explosion took place in the same pit in 1809, by which<br \/>\ntwelve persons lost their lives. The blast did not reach the shaft<br \/>\nas in the former case, the unfortunate persons in the pit having<br \/>\nbeen suffocated by the after-damp. More calamitous still were<br \/>\nthe explosions which took place in the neighboring collieries, one<br \/>\nof the worst being that of 1812, in the Felling Pit near Gateshead,<br \/>\na mine belonging to Mr. Brandling, by which no fewer than ninety<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_177\" name=\"Page_177\"><\/a>[177]<\/span><br \/>\nmen and boys were suffocated or burnt to death; and a similar<br \/>\naccident occurred in the same pit in the year following, by which<br \/>\ntwenty-two men and boys perished.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_180.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"293\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>The Pit Head, West Moor. &nbsp; [By R. P. Leitch.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It was natural that Stephenson should devote his attention to<br \/>\nthe causes of these deplorable accidents, and to the means by<br \/>\nwhich they might, if possible, be prevented. His daily occupation<br \/>\nled him to think much and deeply on the subject. As engine-wright<br \/>\nof a colliery so extensive as that of Killingworth, where<br \/>\nthere were nearly 160 miles of gallery excavation, in which he<br \/>\npersonally superintended the working of inclined planes, along<br \/>\nwhich the coals were sent to the pit entrance, he was necessarily<br \/>\nvery often under ground, and brought face to face with the dangers<br \/>\nof fire-damp. From fissures in the roofs of the galleries carbureted<br \/>\nhydrogen gas was constantly flowing; and in some of the<br \/>\nmore dangerous places it might be heard escaping from the crevices<br \/>\nof the coal with a hissing noise. Ventilation, firing, and all<br \/>\nconceivable modes of drawing out the foul air had been tried,<br \/>\nwhile the more dangerous parts of the galleries were built up.<br \/>\nStill the danger could not be wholly prevented. The miners must<br \/>\nnecessarily guide their steps through the extensive underground<br \/>\nways with lighted lamps or candles, the naked flame of which,<br \/>\ncoming in contact with the inflammable air, daily exposed them<br \/>\nand their fellow-workers in the pit to the risk of death in one of<br \/>\nits most dreadful forms.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_178\" name=\"Page_178\"><\/a>[178]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>One day in the year 1814, a workman hurried into Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\ncottage with the startling information that the deepest main<br \/>\nof the colliery was on fire! He immediately hastened to the pit-head,<br \/>\nabout a hundred yards off, whither the women and children<br \/>\nof the colliery were running, with wildness and terror depicted<br \/>\nin every face. In a commanding voice, Stephenson ordered the<br \/>\nengine-man to lower him down the shaft in the corve. There<br \/>\nwas danger, it might be death, before him, but he must go.<\/p>\n<p>He was soon at the bottom and in the midst of the men, who<br \/>\nwere paralyzed at the danger which threatened the lives of all in<br \/>\nthe pit. Leaping from the corve on its touching the ground, he<br \/>\ncalled out, &#8220;Are there six men among you who have the courage<br \/>\nto follow me? If so, come, and we will put the fire out.&#8221; The<br \/>\nKillingworth pitmen had the most perfect confidence in their engine-wright,<br \/>\nand they readily volunteered to follow him. Silence<br \/>\nsucceeded the frantic tumult of the previous minute, and the men<br \/>\nset to work with a will. In every mine, bricks, mortar, and tools<br \/>\nenough are at hand, and by Stephenson&#8217;s direction the materials<br \/>\nwere forthwith carried to the required spot, where, in a very<br \/>\nshort time, a wall was raised at the entrance to the main, he himself<br \/>\ntaking the most active part in the work. The atmospheric<br \/>\nair was by this means excluded, the fire was extinguished, most<br \/>\nof the people in the pit were saved from death, and the mine was<br \/>\npreserved.<\/p>\n<p>This anecdote of George Stephenson was related to the writer,<br \/>\nnear the pit-mouth, by one of the men, Kit Heppel, who had been<br \/>\npresent, and helped to build up the brick wall by which the fire<br \/>\nwas stayed, though several of the workmen were suffocated.<br \/>\nHeppel relates that, when down the pit some days after, seeking<br \/>\nout the dead bodies, the cause of the accident was the subject of<br \/>\nsome conversation between himself and Stephenson, and Heppel<br \/>\nthen asked him, &#8220;Can nothing be done to prevent such awful<br \/>\noccurrences?&#8221; Stephenson replied that he thought something<br \/>\nmight be done. &#8220;Then,&#8221; said Heppel, &#8220;the sooner you begin the<br \/>\nbetter, for the price of coal-mining now is <em>pitmen&#8217;s lives<\/em>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Fifty years since, many of the best pits were so full of the inflammable<br \/>\ngas given forth by the coal that they could not be<br \/>\nworked without the greatest danger, and for this reason some<br \/>\nwere altogether abandoned. The rudest possible means were<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_179\" name=\"Page_179\"><\/a>[179]<\/span><br \/>\nadopted of producing light sufficient to enable the pitmen to<br \/>\nwork by. The phosphorescence of decayed fish-skins was tried;<br \/>\nbut this, though safe, was very inefficient. The most common<br \/>\nmethod employed was what was called a steel mill, the notched<br \/>\nwheel of which, being made to revolve against a flint, struck a<br \/>\nsuccession of sparks, which scarcely served to do more than make<br \/>\nthe darkness visible. A boy carried the apparatus, working the<br \/>\nwheel; and by the imperfect light thus given forth the miner<br \/>\nplied his dangerous trade. Candles were only used in those parts<br \/>\nof the pit where gas was not abundant. Under this rude system<br \/>\nnot more than one third of the coal could be worked, while two<br \/>\nthirds were left.<\/p>\n<p>What the workmen, not less than the coal-owners, eagerly desired<br \/>\nwas a lamp that should give forth sufficient light, without<br \/>\ncommunicating flame to the inflammable gas which accumulated<br \/>\nin certain parts of the pit. Something had already been done<br \/>\ntoward the invention of such a lamp by Dr. Clanny, of Sunderland,<br \/>\nwho, in 1813, contrived an apparatus to which he gave air<br \/>\nfrom the mine through water, by means of bellows. This lamp<br \/>\nwent out of itself in inflammable gas. It was found, however, too<br \/>\nunwieldy to be used by the miners for the purposes of their work,<br \/>\nand did not come into general use. A committee of gentlemen<br \/>\ninterested in coal-mining was formed to investigate the causes of<br \/>\nthe explosions, and to devise, if possible, some means of preventing<br \/>\nthem. At the invitation of that committee, Sir Humphry<br \/>\nDavy, then in the full zenith of his reputation, was requested to<br \/>\nturn his attention to the subject. He accordingly visited the collieries<br \/>\nnear Newcastle on the 24th of August, 1815, and at the<br \/>\nclose of that year, on the 9th of November, 1815, he read before<br \/>\nthe Royal Society of London his celebrated paper &#8220;On the Fire-damp<br \/>\nof Coal Mines, and on Methods of Lighting the Mine so as<br \/>\nto prevent its Explosion.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But a humbler though not less diligent and original thinker<br \/>\nhad been at work before him, and had already practically solved<br \/>\nthe problem of the Safety-lamp. Stephenson was, of course, well<br \/>\naware of the desire which prevailed in the colliery districts for<br \/>\nthe invention of a lamp which should give light enough for the<br \/>\nminers to work by without exploding the fire-damp, and the painful<br \/>\nincidents above described only served to quicken his eagerness<br \/>\nto master the difficulty.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_180\" name=\"Page_180\"><\/a>[180]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>For several years he had been engaged, in his own rude way,<br \/>\nin making experiments with the fire-damp in the Killingworth<br \/>\nmine. The pitmen used to expostulate with him on these occasions,<br \/>\nbelieving the experiments to be fraught with danger. One<br \/>\nof the sinkers, called M&#8217;Crie, observing him holding up lighted<br \/>\ncandles to the windward of the &#8220;blower&#8221; or fissure from which<br \/>\nthe inflammable gas escaped, entreated him to desist; but Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\nanswer was, that &#8220;he was busy with a plan by which<br \/>\nhe hoped to make his experiments useful for preserving men&#8217;s<br \/>\nlives.&#8221; On these occasions the miners usually got out of the way<br \/>\nbefore he lit the gas.<\/p>\n<p>In 1815, although he was very much occupied with the business<br \/>\nof the collieries and the improvement of his locomotive engine,<br \/>\nhe was also busily engaged in making experiments upon<br \/>\nthe inflammable gas in the Killingworth Pit. As he himself afterward<br \/>\nrelated to the Committee of the House of Commons which<br \/>\nsat on the subject of Accidents in Mines in 1835, he imagined<br \/>\nthat if he could construct a lamp with a chimney so arranged as<br \/>\nto cause a strong current, it would not fire at the top of the chimney,<br \/>\nas the burnt air would ascend with such a velocity as to prevent<br \/>\nthe inflammable air of the pit from descending toward the<br \/>\nflame; and such a lamp, he thought, might be taken into a dangerous<br \/>\natmosphere without risk of exploding.<\/p>\n<p>Such was Stephenson&#8217;s theory, when he proceeded to embody<br \/>\nhis idea of a miner&#8217;s safety-lamp in a practical form. In the<br \/>\nmonth of August, 1815, he requested his friend Nicholas Wood,<br \/>\nthe head viewer, to prepare a drawing of a lamp according to the<br \/>\ndescription which he gave him. After several evenings&#8217; careful<br \/>\ndeliberations, the drawing was prepared, and it was shown to<br \/>\nseveral of the head men about the works. &#8220;My first lamp,&#8221; said<br \/>\nStephenson, describing it to the committee above referred to,<br \/>\n&#8220;had a chimney at the top of the lamp, and a tube at the bottom<br \/>\nto admit the atmospheric air, or fire-damp and air, to feed the<br \/>\nburner or combustion of the lamp. I was not aware of the precise<br \/>\nquantity required to feed the combustion; but to know what<br \/>\nquantity was necessary, I had a slide at the bottom of the tube<br \/>\nin my first lamp, to admit such a quantity of air as might eventually<br \/>\nbe found necessary to keep up the combustion.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Accompanied by his friend Wood, Stephenson went into Newcastle,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_181\" name=\"Page_181\"><\/a>[181]<\/span><br \/>\nand ordered a lamp to be made according to his plan by<br \/>\nthe Messrs. Hogg, tinmen, at the head of the Side\u2014a well-known<br \/>\nstreet in Newcastle. At the same time, he ordered a glass to be<br \/>\nmade for the lamp at the Northumberland Glass-house in the<br \/>\nsame town. This lamp was received from the makers on the<br \/>\n21st of October, and was taken to Killingworth for the purpose<br \/>\nof immediate experiment.<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;I remember that evening as distinctly as if it had been but<br \/>\nyesterday,&#8221; said Robert Stephenson, describing the circumstances<br \/>\nto the author in 1857. &#8220;Moodie came to our cottage about dusk,<br \/>\nand asked &#8216;if father had got back with the lamp.&#8217; &#8216;No.&#8217; &#8216;Then<br \/>\nI&#8217;ll wait till he comes,&#8217; said Moodie; &#8216;he can&#8217;t be long now.&#8217; In<br \/>\nabout half an hour, in came my father, his face all radiant. He<br \/>\nhad the lamp with him! It was at once uncovered and shown<br \/>\nto Moodie. Then it was filled with oil, trimmed, and lighted.<br \/>\nAll was ready, only the head viewer hadn&#8217;t arrived. &#8216;Run over<br \/>\nto Benton for Nichol, Robert,&#8217; said my father to me, &#8216;and ask<br \/>\nhim to come directly; say we&#8217;re going down the pit to try the<br \/>\nlamp.&#8217; By this time it was quite dark, and off I ran to bring<br \/>\nNicholas Wood. His house was at Benton, about a mile off.<br \/>\nThere was a short cut through Benton Church-yard, but just as<br \/>\nI was about to pass the wicket I saw what I thought was a white<br \/>\nfigure moving about among the grave-stones. I took it for a<br \/>\nghost! My heart fluttered, and I was in a great fright, but to<br \/>\nNichol&#8217;s house I must get, so I made the circuit of the church-yard;<br \/>\nand when I got round to the other side I looked, and, lo!<br \/>\nthe figure was still there. But what do you think it was? Only<br \/>\nthe grave-digger, plying his work at that late hour by the light<br \/>\nof his lantern set upon one of the grave-stones! I found Wood<br \/>\nat home, and in a few minutes he was mounted and off to my father&#8217;s.<br \/>\nWhen I got home I was told they had just left\u2014it was<br \/>\nthen about eleven\u2014and gone down the shaft to try the lamp in<br \/>\none of the most dangerous parts of the mine.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Arrived at the bottom of the shaft with the lamp, the party<br \/>\ndirected their steps toward one of the foulest galleries in the pit,<br \/>\nwhere the explosive gas was issuing through a blower in the roof<br \/>\nof the mine with a loud hissing noise. By erecting some deal<br \/>\nboarding round that part of the gallery into which the gas was<br \/>\nescaping, the air was thus made more foul for the purpose of the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_182\" name=\"Page_182\"><\/a>[182]<\/span><br \/>\nexperiment. After waiting about an hour, Moodie, whose practical<br \/>\nexperience of fire-damp in pits was greater than that of<br \/>\neither Stephenson or Wood, was requested to go into the place<br \/>\nwhich had thus been made foul; and, having done so, he returned,<br \/>\nand told them that the smell of the air was such that if<br \/>\na lighted candle were now introduced an explosion must inevitably<br \/>\ntake place. He cautioned Stephenson as to the danger both<br \/>\nto themselves and to the pit if the gas took fire; but Stephenson<br \/>\ndeclared his confidence in the safety of his lamp, and, having lit<br \/>\nthe wick, he boldly proceeded with it toward the explosive air.<br \/>\nThe others, more timid and doubtful, hung back when they came<br \/>\nwithin hearing of the blower; and, apprehensive of the danger,<br \/>\nthey retired into a safe place, out of sight of the lamp, which<br \/>\ngradually disappeared with its bearer in the recesses of the mine.<br \/>\nIt was a critical moment, and the danger was such as would have<br \/>\ntried the stoutest heart. Stephenson, advancing alone, with his<br \/>\nyet untried lamp, in the depths of those underground workings,<br \/>\ncalmly venturing his life in the determination to discover a mode<br \/>\nby which the lives of many might be saved, and death disarmed<br \/>\nin these fatal caverns, presented an example of intrepid nerve<br \/>\nand manly courage more noble even than that which, in the excitement<br \/>\nof battle and the collective impetuosity of a charge, carries<br \/>\na man up to the cannon&#8217;s mouth.<\/p>\n<p>Advancing to the place of danger, and entering within the<br \/>\nfouled air, his lighted lamp in hand, Stephenson held it firmly<br \/>\nout, in the full current of the blower, and within a few inches of<br \/>\nits mouth. Thus exposed, the flame of the lamp at first increased,<br \/>\nthen flickered, and then went out; but there was no explosion of<br \/>\nthe gas. Returning to his companions, who were still at a distance,<br \/>\nhe told them what had occurred. Having now acquired<br \/>\nsomewhat more confidence, they advanced with him to a point<br \/>\nfrom which they could observe the experiment repeated, but still<br \/>\nat a safe distance. They saw that when the lighted lamp was<br \/>\nheld within the explosive mixture, there was a great flame; the<br \/>\nlamp was almost full of fire; and then it seemed to be smothered<br \/>\nout. Again returning to his companions, he relighted the lamp,<br \/>\nand repeated the experiment. This was done several times, with<br \/>\nthe same result. At length Wood and Moodie ventured to advance<br \/>\nclose to the fouled part of the pit; and, in making some<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_183\" name=\"Page_183\"><\/a>[183]<\/span><br \/>\nof the later trials, Mr. Wood himself held up the lighted lamp to<br \/>\nthe blower.<a id=\"FNanchor_44\" name=\"FNanchor_44\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_44\">[44]<\/a> Such was the result of the first experiments with<br \/>\nthe <em>first practical Miner&#8217;s Safety-lamp<\/em>, and such was the daring<br \/>\nresolution of its inventor in testing its qualities.<\/p>\n<p>Before leaving the pit, Stephenson expressed his opinion that,<br \/>\nby an alteration of the lamp which he contemplated, he could<br \/>\nmake it burn better. This was by a change in the slide through<br \/>\nwhich the air was admitted into the lower part of the lamp, under<br \/>\nthe flame. After making some experiments on the air collected<br \/>\nat the blower, by means of bladders which were mounted<br \/>\nwith tubes of various diameters, he satisfied himself that, when<br \/>\nthe tube was reduced to a certain diameter, the explosion would<br \/>\nnot pass through; and he fashioned his slide accordingly, reducing<br \/>\nthe diameter of the tube until he conceived it was quite safe.<br \/>\nIn about a fortnight the experiments were repeated in the pit, in<br \/>\na place purposely made foul as before. On this occasion a larger<br \/>\nnumber of persons ventured to witness the experiments, which<br \/>\nagain proved successful. The lamp was not yet, however, so efficient<br \/>\nas the inventor desired. It required, he observed, to be<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_184\" name=\"Page_184\"><\/a>[184]<\/span><br \/>\nkept very steady when burning in the inflammable gas, otherwise<br \/>\nit was liable to go out, in consequence, as he imagined, of the<br \/>\ncontact of the burnt air (as he then called it), or azotic gas, which<br \/>\nlodged round the exterior of the flame. If the lamp was moved<br \/>\nbackward and forward, the azote came in contact with the flame<br \/>\nand extinguished it. &#8220;It struck me,&#8221; said he, &#8220;that if I put more<br \/>\ntubes in, I should discharge the poisonous matter that hung round<br \/>\nthe flame by admitting the air to its exterior part.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Although he had then no access to scientific works, nor intercourse<br \/>\nwith scientific men, nor any thing that could assist<br \/>\nhim in his inquiries on the subject besides his own indefatigable<br \/>\nspirit of inquiry, Stephenson contrived a rude apparatus,<br \/>\nby means of which he proceeded to test the explosive properties<br \/>\nof the gas and the velocity of current (for this was the direction<br \/>\nof his inquiries) required to permit the explosion to pass through<br \/>\ntubes of different diameters. In making these experiments in<br \/>\nhis cottage at the West Moor, Nicholas Wood and George&#8217;s son<br \/>\nRobert usually acted as his assistants, and sometimes the gentlemen<br \/>\nof the neighborhood\u2014among others, William Brandling<br \/>\nand Matthew Bell, who were interested in coal-mining\u2014attended<br \/>\nas spectators. One who was present on such an occasion remembers<br \/>\nthat, when an experiment was about to be performed, and<br \/>\nall was ready, George called to Mr. Wood, who worked the stop-cocks<br \/>\nof the gasometer, &#8220;Wise on [turn on] the hydr\u014dgen,<br \/>\nNichol!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>These experiments were not performed without risk, for on<br \/>\none occasion the experimenting party had nearly blown off the<br \/>\nroof of the cottage. One of these &#8220;blows up&#8221; was described by<br \/>\nStephenson himself before the Committee on Accidents in Coal<br \/>\nMines in 1835:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;I made several experiments,&#8221; said he, &#8220;as to the velocity required<br \/>\nin tubes of different diameters, to prevent explosion from<br \/>\nfire-damp. We made the mixture in all proportions of light carbureted<br \/>\nhydrogen with atmospheric air in the receiver, and we<br \/>\nfound by the experiments that when a current of the most explosive<br \/>\nmixture that we could make was forced up a tube four tenths<br \/>\nof an inch in diameter, the necessary current was nine inches in a<br \/>\nsecond to prevent its coming down that tube. These experiments<br \/>\nwere repeated several times. We had two or three blows up in<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_185\" name=\"Page_185\"><\/a>[185]<\/span><br \/>\nmaking the experiments, by the flame getting down into the receiver,<br \/>\nthough we had a piece of very fine wire-gauze put at the<br \/>\nbottom of the pipe, between the receiver and the pipe through<br \/>\nwhich we were forcing the current. In one of these experiments<br \/>\nI was watching the flame in the tube, my son was taking the vibrations<br \/>\nof the pendulum of the clock, and Mr. Wood was attending<br \/>\nto give me the column of water as I called for it, to keep the current<br \/>\nup to a certain point. As I saw the flame descending in the<br \/>\ntube I called for more water, and Wood unfortunately turned the<br \/>\ncock the wrong way; the current ceased, the flame went down the<br \/>\ntube, and all our implements were blown to pieces, which at the<br \/>\ntime we were not very well able to replace.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The explosion of this glass receiver, which had been borrowed<br \/>\nfrom the stores of the Philosophical Society at Newcastle for the<br \/>\npurpose of making the experiments, caused the greatest possible<br \/>\ndismay among the party, and they dreaded to inform Mr. Turner,<br \/>\nthe secretary,<a id=\"FNanchor_45\" name=\"FNanchor_45\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_45\">[45]<\/a> of the calamity which had occurred. Fortunately,<br \/>\nnone of the experimenters were injured by the accident.<\/p>\n<p>Stephenson followed up these experiments by others of a similar<br \/>\nkind, with the view of ascertaining whether ordinary flame<br \/>\nwould pass through tubes of a small diameter, and with this object<br \/>\nhe filed off the barrels of several small keys. Placing these<br \/>\ntogether, he held them perpendicularly over a strong flame, and<br \/>\nascertained that it did not pass upward. This was a farther<br \/>\nproof to him of the soundness of the principle on which he had<br \/>\nbeen proceeding.<\/p>\n<p>In order to correct the defect of his first lamp, he accordingly<br \/>\nproceeded to alter it so as to admit the air to the flame by several<br \/>\ntubes of reduced diameter instead of by a single tube. He inferred<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_186\" name=\"Page_186\"><\/a>[186]<\/span><br \/>\nthat a sufficient quantity of air would thus be introduced<br \/>\ninto the lamp for the purposes of combustion, while the smallness<br \/>\nof the apertures would still prevent the explosion passing<br \/>\ndownward, at the same time that the &#8220;burnt air&#8221; (the cause, in<br \/>\nhis opinion, of the lamp going out) would be more effectually<br \/>\ndislodged. The requisite alterations were made in the lamp by<br \/>\nMr. Matthews, a tinman in Newcastle, and it was so altered that<br \/>\nthe air was admitted by three small tubes inserted in the bottom,<br \/>\nthe openings of which were placed on the outside of the<br \/>\nburner, instead of having (as in the original lamp) the one tube<br \/>\nopening directly under the flame.<\/p>\n<p>This second or altered lamp was tried in the Killingworth Pit<br \/>\non the 4th of November, and was found to burn better than the<br \/>\nfirst lamp, and to be perfectly safe. But, as it did not yet come<br \/>\nup entirely to the inventor&#8217;s expectations, he proceeded to contrive<br \/>\na third lamp, in which he proposed to surround the oil vessel with<br \/>\na number of capillary tubes. Then it struck him that if he cut<br \/>\noff the middle of the tubes, or made holes in metal plates, placed<br \/>\nat a distance from each other equal to the length of the tubes,<br \/>\nthe air would get in better, and the effect in preventing the communication<br \/>\nof explosion would be the same.<\/p>\n<p>He was encouraged to persevere in the completion of his safety-lamp<br \/>\nby the occurrence of several fatal accidents about this<br \/>\ntime in the Killingworth Pit. On the 9th of November a boy<br \/>\nwas killed by a blast in the <em>A<\/em> pit, at the very place where Stephenson<br \/>\nhad made the experiments with his first lamp; and, when<br \/>\ntold of the accident, he observed that if the boy had been provided<br \/>\nwith his lamp, his life would have been saved. On the 20th of<br \/>\nNovember he went over to Newcastle to order his third lamp from<br \/>\nMr. Watson, a plumber in that town. Mr. Watson referred him<br \/>\nto his clerk, Henry Smith, whom Stephenson invited to join him<br \/>\nat a neighboring public house, where they might quietly talk over<br \/>\nthe matter, and finally settle the plan of the new lamp. They<br \/>\nadjourned to the &#8220;Newcastle Arms,&#8221; near the present High-Level<br \/>\nBridge, where they had some ale, and a design of the lamp was<br \/>\ndrawn in pencil upon a half-sheet of foolscap, with a rough specification<br \/>\nsubjoined. The sketch, when shown to us by Robert<br \/>\nStephenson some years since, still bore the marks of the ale. It<br \/>\nwas a very rude design, but sufficient to work from. It was immediately<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_187\" name=\"Page_187\"><\/a>[187]<\/span><br \/>\nplaced in the hands of the workmen, finished in the<br \/>\ncourse of a few days, and experimentally tested in the Killingworth<br \/>\nPit like the previous lamps on the 30th of November, by<br \/>\nwhich date neither Stephenson nor Wood had heard of Sir Humphry<br \/>\nDavy&#8217;s experiments, nor of the lamp which that gentleman<br \/>\nproposed to construct.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_190.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"395\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>DAVY&#8217;S SAFETY-LAMP.<br \/>\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<br \/>\nSTEPHENSON&#8217;S SAFETY-LAMP. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>An angry controversy afterward took place as to the respective<br \/>\nmerits of George Stephenson and Sir Humphry Davy in respect<br \/>\nof the invention of the Safety-lamp. A committee was formed<br \/>\non both sides, and the facts were stated in various ways. It is<br \/>\nperfectly clear, however, that Stephenson had ascertained <em>the fact<\/em><br \/>\nthat flame will not pass through tubes of a certain diameter\u2014the<br \/>\nprinciple on which the safety-lamp is constructed\u2014before Sir<br \/>\nHumphry Davy had formed any definite idea on the subject, or<br \/>\ninvented the model lamp afterward exhibited by him before the<br \/>\nRoyal Society. Stephenson had actually constructed a lamp on<br \/>\nsuch a principle, and proved its safety, before Sir Humphry had<br \/>\ncommunicated his views on the subject to any person; and by the<br \/>\ntime that the first public intimation had been given of his discovery,<br \/>\nStephenson&#8217;s second lamp had been constructed and tested in<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_188\" name=\"Page_188\"><\/a>[188]<\/span><br \/>\nlike manner in the Killingworth Pit. The <em>first<\/em> was tried on the<br \/>\n21st of October, 1815; the <em>second<\/em> was tried on the 4th of November;<br \/>\nbut it was not until the 9th of November that Sir Humphry<br \/>\nDavy presented his first lamp to the public. And by the 30th of<br \/>\nthe same month, as we have seen, Stephenson had constructed and<br \/>\ntested his <em>third<\/em> safety-lamp.<\/p>\n<p>Stephenson&#8217;s theory of the &#8220;burnt air&#8221; and the &#8220;draught&#8221; was<br \/>\nno doubt wrong, but his lamp was right, and that was the great<br \/>\nfact which mainly concerned him. Torricelli did not know the<br \/>\nrationale of his tube, nor Otto von Guericke that of his air-pump;<br \/>\nyet no one thinks of denying them the merit of their inventions<br \/>\non that account. The discoveries of Volta and Galvani were in<br \/>\nlike manner independent of theory; the greatest discoveries consisting<br \/>\nin bringing to light certain grand facts, on which theories<br \/>\nare afterward framed. Our inventor had been pursuing the Baconian<br \/>\nmethod, though he did not think of that; his sole object<br \/>\nbeing to invent a safe lamp, which he knew could only be done<br \/>\nthrough the process of repeated experiment. Hence his numerous<br \/>\nexperiments on the fire-damp at the blowers in the mine, as<br \/>\nwell as on carbureted hydrogen gas in his cottage by means of<br \/>\nthe apparatus above described. By experiment he distinctly ascertained<br \/>\nthat the explosion of fire-damp could not pass through<br \/>\nsmall tubes; and he also did what had not before been done by<br \/>\nany inventor\u2014he constructed a lamp on this principle, and repeatedly<br \/>\nproved its safety at the risk of his life. At the same<br \/>\ntime, there is no doubt that it was to Sir Humphry Davy that the<br \/>\nmerit belonged of elucidating the true law on which the safety-lamp<br \/>\nis constructed.<\/p>\n<p>The subject of this important invention excited so much interest<br \/>\nin the northern mining districts, and Stephenson&#8217;s numerous<br \/>\nfriends considered his lamp so completely successful\u2014having<br \/>\nstood the test of repeated experiments\u2014that they urged him to<br \/>\nbring his invention before the Philosophical and Literary Society<br \/>\nof Newcastle, of whose apparatus he had availed himself in the<br \/>\ncourse of his experiments on fire-damp. After much persuasion<br \/>\nhe consented to do so, and a meeting was appointed for the purpose<br \/>\nof receiving his explanations on the evening of the 5th of<br \/>\nDecember, 1815. Stephenson was at that time so diffident in<br \/>\nmanner and unpracticed in speech, that he took with him his friend<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_189\" name=\"Page_189\"><\/a>[189]<\/span><br \/>\nNicholas Wood to act as his interpreter and expositor on the occasion.<br \/>\nFrom eighty to a hundred of the most intelligent members<br \/>\nof the society were present at the meeting, when Mr. Wood<br \/>\nstood forward to expound the principles on which the lamp had<br \/>\nbeen formed, and to describe the details of its construction. Several<br \/>\nquestions were put, to which Mr. Wood proceeded to give replies<br \/>\nto the best of his knowledge. But Stephenson, who up to<br \/>\nthat time had stood behind Wood, screened from notice, observing<br \/>\nthat the explanations given were not quite correct, could no longer<br \/>\ncontrol himself, and, standing forward, he proceeded in his strong<br \/>\nNorthumbrian dialect to describe the lamp down to its minutest<br \/>\ndetails. He then produced several bladders full of carbureted<br \/>\nhydrogen, which he had collected from the blowers in the Killingworth<br \/>\nmine, and proved the safety of his lamp by numerous<br \/>\nexperiments with the gas, repeated in various ways, his earnest<br \/>\nand impressive manner exciting in the minds of his auditors the<br \/>\nliveliest interest both in the inventor and his invention.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_192.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"417\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL INSTITUTE, NEWCASTLE.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Shortly after, Sir H. Davy&#8217;s model lamp was received and exhibited<br \/>\nto the coal-miners at Newcastle, on which occasion the<br \/>\nobservation was made by several gentlemen, &#8220;Why, it is the same<br \/>\nas Stephenson&#8217;s!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_190\" name=\"Page_190\"><\/a>[190]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Notwithstanding Stephenson&#8217;s claim to be regarded as the first<br \/>\ninventor of the Tube Safety-lamp, his merits do not seem to have<br \/>\nbeen generally recognized. Sir Humphry Davy carried off the<br \/>\nlarger share of the <em>\u00e9clat<\/em> which attached to the discovery. What<br \/>\nchance had the unknown workman of Killingworth with so distinguished<br \/>\na competitor? The one was as yet but a colliery engine-wright,<br \/>\nscarce raised above the manual-labor class, without<br \/>\nchemical knowledge or literary culture, pursuing his experiments<br \/>\nin obscurity, with a view only to usefulness; the other was the<br \/>\nscientific prodigy of his day, the pet of the Royal Society, the<br \/>\nfavorite of princes, the most brilliant of lecturers, and the most<br \/>\npopular of philosophers.<\/p>\n<p>No small indignation was expressed by the friends of Sir Humphry<br \/>\nDavy at Stephenson&#8217;s &#8220;presumption&#8221; in laying claim to the<br \/>\ninvention of the Safety-lamp. The scientific class united to ignore<br \/>\nhim entirely in the matter. In 1831, Dr. Paris, in his<br \/>\n&#8220;Life of Sir Humphry Davy,&#8221; thus wrote: &#8220;It will hereafter be<br \/>\nscarcely believed that an invention so eminently scientific, and<br \/>\nwhich could never have been derived but from the sterling treasury<br \/>\nof science, should have been claimed on behalf of an engine-wright<br \/>\nof Killingworth, of the name of Stephenson\u2014a person<br \/>\nnot even possessing a knowledge of the elements of chemistry.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But Stephenson was really far above claiming for himself an<br \/>\ninvention not his own. He had already accomplished a far<br \/>\ngreater thing even than the making of a safety-lamp: he had<br \/>\nconstructed a successful locomotive, which was to be seen in daily<br \/>\nwork on the Killingworth Railway. By the improvements he<br \/>\nhad made in the engine, he might almost be said to have <em>invented<\/em><br \/>\nit; yet no one\u2014not even the philosophers\u2014detected as yet the<br \/>\nsignificance of that wonderful machine. It excited no scientific<br \/>\ninterest, called forth no leading articles in the newspapers or the<br \/>\nreviews, and formed the subject of no eloquent lectures at the<br \/>\nRoyal Society; for railways were as yet comparatively unknown,<br \/>\nand the might which slumbered in the locomotive was scarcely,<br \/>\nas yet, even dreamed of. What railways were to become rested<br \/>\nin a great measure with that &#8220;engine-wright of Killingworth, of<br \/>\nthe name of Stephenson,&#8221; though he was scarcely known as yet<br \/>\nbeyond the bounds of his own district.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_191\" name=\"Page_191\"><\/a>[191]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>As to the value of the invention of the safety-lamp there could<br \/>\nbe no doubt, and the colliery owners of Durham and Northumberland,<br \/>\nto testify their sense of its importance, determined to<br \/>\npresent a testimonial to its inventor. The friends of Sir H. Davy<br \/>\nmet in August, 1816, to take steps to raise a subscription for the<br \/>\npurpose. The advertised object of the meeting was to present<br \/>\nhim with a reward for the invention of <em>his<\/em> safety-lamp. To<br \/>\nthis no objection could be taken; for, though the principle on<br \/>\nwhich the safety-lamps of Stephenson and Davy were constructed<br \/>\nwas the same, and although Stephenson&#8217;s lamp was unquestionably<br \/>\nthe first successful lamp that had been constructed on such<br \/>\nprinciple, and proved to be efficient, yet Sir H. Davy did invent<br \/>\na safety-lamp, no doubt quite independently of all that Stephenson<br \/>\nhad done; and having directed his careful attention to the<br \/>\nsubject, and elucidated the true theory of explosion of carbureted<br \/>\nhydrogen, he was entitled to all praise and reward for his labor.<br \/>\nBut when the meeting of coal-owners proposed to raise a subscription<br \/>\nfor the purpose of presenting Sir H. Davy with a reward<br \/>\nfor &#8220;his invention of <em>the<\/em> safety-lamp,&#8221; the case was entirely<br \/>\naltered, and Stephenson&#8217;s friends then proceeded to assert his<br \/>\nclaims to be regarded as its first inventor.<\/p>\n<p>Many meetings took place on the subject, and much discussion<br \/>\nensued, the result of which was that a sum of \u00a32000 was presented<br \/>\nto Sir Humphry Davy as &#8220;the inventor of the safety-lamp;&#8221;<br \/>\nbut, at the same time, a purse of 100 guineas was voted<br \/>\nto George Stephenson, in consideration of what he had done in<br \/>\nthe same direction. This result was, however, very unsatisfactory<br \/>\nto Stephenson, as well as to his friends; and Mr. Brandling,<br \/>\nof Gosforth, suggested to him that, the subject being now fairly<br \/>\nbefore the public, he should publish a statement of the facts on<br \/>\nwhich his claim was founded.<\/p>\n<p>But this was not at all in George Stephenson&#8217;s line. He had<br \/>\nnever appeared in print before, and it seemed to him a far more<br \/>\nformidable thing to write a letter for publication in &#8220;the papers&#8221;<br \/>\nthan even to invent a safety-lamp or design a locomotive. Having<br \/>\ncalled his son Robert to his assistance, he set him down before<br \/>\na sheet of foolscap, and when all was ready, he said, &#8220;Now,<br \/>\nput down there just what I tell you.&#8221; The composition of this<br \/>\nletter, as we were informed by the writer of it, occupied more<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_192\" name=\"Page_192\"><\/a>[192]<\/span><br \/>\nevenings than one; and when it was at length finished after<br \/>\nmany corrections, and fairly copied out, the father and son set<br \/>\nout\u2014the latter dressed in his Sunday&#8217;s round jacket\u2014to lay<br \/>\nthe joint production before Mr. Brandling, at Gosforth House.<br \/>\nGlancing over the letter, Mr. Brandling said, &#8220;George, this will<br \/>\nnever do.&#8221; &#8220;It is all true, sir,&#8221; was the reply. &#8220;That may be;<br \/>\nbut it is badly written.&#8221; Robert blushed, for he thought it was<br \/>\nthe penmanship that was called in question, and he had written<br \/>\nhis very best. Mr. Brandling then requested his visitors to sit<br \/>\ndown while he put the letter in a more polished form, which he<br \/>\ndid, and it was shortly after published in the local papers.<\/p>\n<p>As the controversy continued for some time longer to be carried<br \/>\non in the Newcastle papers, Mr. Stephenson, in the year<br \/>\n1817, consented to publish the detailed plans, with descriptions,<br \/>\nof the several safety-lamps which he had contrived for use in the<br \/>\nKillingworth Colliery. The whole forms a pamphlet of only<br \/>\nsixteen pages of letter-press.<a id=\"FNanchor_46\" name=\"FNanchor_46\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_46\">[46]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>His friends, being fully satisfied of his claims to priority as<br \/>\nthe inventor of the safety-lamp used in the Killingworth and<br \/>\nother collieries, proceeded to hold a public meeting for the purpose<br \/>\nof presenting him with a reward &#8220;for the valuable service<br \/>\nhe had thus rendered to mankind.&#8221; Charles J. Brandling, Esq.,<br \/>\noccupied the chair; and several resolutions were passed, of which<br \/>\nthe first and most important was as follows: &#8220;That it is the<br \/>\nopinion of this meeting that Mr. George Stephenson, having <em>discovered<br \/>\nthe fact<\/em> that explosion of hydrogen gas will not pass<br \/>\nthrough tubes and apertures of small dimensions, and having<br \/>\nbeen <em>the first to apply that principle in the construction of a<br \/>\nsafety-lamp<\/em>, is entitled to a public reward.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A subscription was immediately commenced with this object,<br \/>\nand a committee was formed, consisting of the Earl of Strathmore,<br \/>\nC. J. Brandling, and others. The subscription list was<br \/>\nheaded by Lord Ravensworth, one of the partners in the Killingworth<br \/>\nColliery, who showed his appreciation of the merits of<br \/>\nStephenson by giving 100 guineas. C. J. Brandling and partners<br \/>\ngave a like sum, and Matthew Bell and partners, and John<br \/>\nBrandling and partners, gave 50 guineas each.<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_193\" name=\"Page_193\"><\/a>[193]<\/span><br \/>\nWhen the resolutions appeared in the newspapers, the scientific<br \/>\nfriends of Sir Humphry Davy in London met, and passed a<br \/>\nseries of counter-resolutions, which they published, declaring<br \/>\ntheir opinion that Mr. Stephenson was <em>not<\/em> the author of the discovery<br \/>\nof the fact that explosion of hydrogen will not pass<br \/>\nthrough tubes and apertures of small dimensions, and that he<br \/>\nwas <em>not<\/em> the first to apply that principle to the construction of a<br \/>\nsafety-lamp. To these counter-resolutions were attached the<br \/>\nwell-known names of Sir Joseph Banks, P.R.S., William Thomas<br \/>\nBrande, Charles Hatchett, W. H. Wollaston, and Thomas Young.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s friends then, to make assurance doubly sure,<br \/>\nand with a view to set the question at rest, determined to take<br \/>\nevidence in detail as to the date of discovery by George Stephenson<br \/>\nof the fact in question, and its practical application by him<br \/>\nin the formation and actual trial of his safety-lamp. The witnesses<br \/>\nexamined were George Stephenson himself, Mr. Nicholas<br \/>\nWood, and John Moodie, who had been present at the first trial<br \/>\nof the lamp; the several tinmen who made the lamps; the secretary<br \/>\nand other members of the Literary and Philosophical Society<br \/>\nof Newcastle, who were present at the exhibition of the third<br \/>\nlamp; and some of the workmen who were present at the Killingworth<br \/>\nColliery, who had been witnesses of Stephenson&#8217;s experiments<br \/>\non fire-damp made with the lamps at different times<br \/>\nbefore Sir Humphry Davy&#8217;s investigations had been heard of.<br \/>\nThis evidence was quite conclusive to the minds of the gentlemen<br \/>\nwho investigated the subject, and they published it in 1817,<br \/>\ntogether with their Report, in which they declared that, &#8220;after a<br \/>\ncareful inquiry into the merits of the case, conducted, as they<br \/>\ntrust, in a spirit of fairness and moderation, they can perceive no<br \/>\nsatisfactory reason for changing their opinion.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_47\" name=\"FNanchor_47\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_47\">[47]<\/a><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_194\" name=\"Page_194\"><\/a>[194]<\/span><br \/>\nThe Stephenson subscription, when collected, amounted to<br \/>\n\u00a31000. Part of the money was devoted to the purchase of a<br \/>\nsilver tankard, which was presented to the inventor, together<br \/>\nwith the balance of the subscription, at a public dinner given in<br \/>\nthe Assembly Rooms at Newcastle.<a id=\"FNanchor_48\" name=\"FNanchor_48\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_48\">[48]<\/a> But what gave Stephenson<br \/>\neven greater pleasure than the silver tankard and purse of<br \/>\nsovereigns was the gift of a silver watch, purchased by small subscriptions<br \/>\ncollected among the colliers themselves, and presented<br \/>\nto him by them as a token of their esteem and regard for him as<br \/>\na man, as well as of their gratitude for the perseverance and<br \/>\nskill with which he had prosecuted his valuable and life-saving<br \/>\ninvention to a successful issue. To the last day of his life he<br \/>\nspoke with pride of this watch as the most highly-prized gift he<br \/>\nhad ever received.<\/p>\n<p>However great may be the merits of Stephenson in connection<br \/>\nwith the invention of the tube safety-lamp, they can not be regarded<br \/>\nas detracting in any degree from the reputation of Sir<br \/>\nHumphry Davy. His inquiries into the explosive properties of<br \/>\ncarbureted hydrogen gas were quite original, and his discovery<br \/>\nof the fact that explosion will not pass through tubes of a certain<br \/>\ndiameter was made independently of all that Stephenson had<br \/>\ndone in verification of the same fact. It would even appear<br \/>\nthat Mr. Smithson Tennant and Dr. Wollaston had observed the<br \/>\nsame fact several years before, though neither Stephenson nor<br \/>\nDavy knew of it while they were prosecuting their experiments.<br \/>\nSir Humphry Davy&#8217;s subsequent modification of the tube-lamp,<br \/>\nby which, while diminishing the diameter, he in the same ratio<br \/>\nshortened the tubes without danger, and in the form of wire-gauze<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_195\" name=\"Page_195\"><\/a>[195]<\/span><br \/>\nenveloped the safety-lamp by a multiplicity of tubes, was<br \/>\na beautiful application of the true theory which he had formed<br \/>\nupon the subject.<\/p>\n<p>The increased number of accidents which have occurred from<br \/>\nexplosions in coal-mines since the general introduction of the<br \/>\nDavy lamp led to considerable doubts being entertained as to its<br \/>\nsafety, and inquiries were consequently made as to the means by<br \/>\nwhich it might be farther improved; for experience has shown<br \/>\nthat, under certain circumstances, the Davy lamp is <em>not<\/em> safe.<br \/>\nStephenson was himself of opinion that the modification of his<br \/>\nown and Sir Humphry Davy&#8217;s lamp, by combining the glass cylinder<br \/>\nwith the wire-gauze, would give the best lamp. At the<br \/>\nsame time, it must be admitted that the Davy and the Geordy<br \/>\nlamps alike failed to stand the severe tests to which they were<br \/>\nsubmitted by Dr. Pereira, before the Committee on Accidents in<br \/>\nMines. Indeed, Dr. Pereira did not hesitate to say that, when<br \/>\nexposed to a current of explosive gas, the Davy lamp is &#8220;decidedly<br \/>\nunsafe,&#8221; and that the experiments by which its safety had<br \/>\nbeen &#8220;demonstrated&#8221; in the lecture-room had proved entirely<br \/>\n&#8220;fallacious.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It is worthy of remark that, under circumstances in which the<br \/>\nwire-gauze of the Davy lamp becomes red-hot from the high explosiveness<br \/>\nof the gas, the Geordy lamp is extinguished; and we<br \/>\ncan not but think that this fact testifies to the decidedly superior<br \/>\nsafety of the Geordy. An accident occurred in the Oaks Colliery<br \/>\nPit at Barnsley on the 20th of August, 1857, which strikingly<br \/>\nexemplified the respective qualities of the lamps. A sudden<br \/>\noutburst of gas took place from the floor of the mine along<br \/>\na distance of fifty yards. Fortunately, the men working in the<br \/>\npit at the time were all supplied with safety-lamps\u2014the hewers<br \/>\nwith Stephenson&#8217;s, and the hurriers with Davy&#8217;s. On this occasion,<br \/>\nthe whole of the Stephenson lamps, over a space of five<br \/>\nhundred yards, were extinguished almost instantaneously; whereas<br \/>\nthe Davy lamps were filled with fire and became red-hot, so<br \/>\nthat several of the men using them had their hands burnt by the<br \/>\ngauze. Had a strong current of air been blowing through the<br \/>\ngallery at the time, an explosion would most probably have taken<br \/>\nplace\u2014an accident which, it will be observed, could not, under<br \/>\nsuch circumstances, occur from the use of the Geordy,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_196\" name=\"Page_196\"><\/a>[196]<\/span><br \/>\nwhich is immediately extinguished as soon as the air becomes<br \/>\nexplosive.<a id=\"FNanchor_49\" name=\"FNanchor_49\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_49\">[49]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Nicholas Wood, a good judge, has said of the two inventions,<br \/>\n&#8220;Priority has been claimed for each of them\u2014I believe the inventions<br \/>\nto be parallel. By different roads they both arrived at<br \/>\nthe same result. Stephenson&#8217;s is the superior lamp. Davy&#8217;s is<br \/>\nsafe\u2014Stephenson&#8217;s is safer.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>When the question of priority was under discussion at Mr.<br \/>\nLough&#8217;s studio in 1857, Sir Matthew White Ridley asked Robert<br \/>\nStephenson, who was present, for his opinion on the subject. His<br \/>\nanswer was, &#8220;I am not exactly the person to give an unbiased<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_197\" name=\"Page_197\"><\/a>[197]<\/span><br \/>\nopinion; but, as you ask me frankly, I will as frankly say, that<br \/>\nif George Stephenson had never lived, Sir Humphry Davy could<br \/>\nand most probably would have invented the safety-lamp; but<br \/>\nagain, if Sir Humphry Davy had never lived, George Stephenson<br \/>\ncertainly would have invented the safety-lamp, as I believe<br \/>\nhe did, independently of all that Sir Humphry Davy had done in<br \/>\nthe matter.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>To this day the Geordy lamp continues in regular use in the<br \/>\nKillingworth Collieries, and the Killingworth pitmen have expressed<br \/>\nto the writer their decided preference for it compared<br \/>\nwith the Davy. It is certainly a strong testimony in its favor<br \/>\nthat no accident is known to have arisen from its use since it was<br \/>\ngenerally introduced into the Killingworth pits.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 400px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"375\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>THE STEPHENSON TANKARD.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_198\" name=\"Page_198\"><\/a>[198]<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER VII.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>GEORGE STEPHENSON&#8217;S FARTHER IMPROVEMENTS IN THE LOCOMOTIVE\u2014THE<br \/>\nHETTON RAILWAY\u2014ROBERT STEPHENSON AS VIEWER&#8217;S APPRENTICE<br \/>\nAND STUDENT.<\/h4>\n<p>Stephenson&#8217;s experiments on fire-damp, and his labors in connection<br \/>\nwith the invention of the safety-lamp, occupied but a<br \/>\nsmall portion of his time, which was necessarily devoted, for the<br \/>\nmost part, to the ordinary business of the colliery. From the<br \/>\nday of his appointment as engine-wright, one of the subjects<br \/>\nwhich particularly occupied his attention was the best practical<br \/>\nmethod of winning and raising the coal. Nicholas Wood has<br \/>\nsaid of him that he was one of the first to introduce steam machinery<br \/>\nunderground with that object. Indeed, the Killingworth<br \/>\nmines came to be regarded as the models of the district; and<br \/>\nwhen Mr. Robert Bald, the celebrated Scotch mining engineer,<br \/>\nwas requested by Dr. (afterward Sir David) Brewster to prepare<br \/>\nthe article &#8220;Mine&#8221; for the &#8220;Edinburg Encyclop\u00e6dia,&#8221; he proceeded<br \/>\nto Killingworth principally for the purpose of examining<br \/>\nStephenson&#8217;s underground machinery. Mr. Bald has favored us<br \/>\nwith an account of his visit made with that object in 1818, and<br \/>\nhe states that he was much struck with the novelty, as well as<br \/>\nthe remarkable efficiency of Stephenson&#8217;s arrangements, especially<br \/>\nin regard to what is called the underdip working.<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;I found,&#8221; he says, &#8220;that a mine had been commenced near the<br \/>\nmain pit-bottom, and carried forward down the dip or slope of the<br \/>\ncoal, the rate of dip being about one in twelve; and the coals were<br \/>\ndrawn from the dip to the pit-bottom by the steam machinery in a<br \/>\nvery rapid manner. The water which oozed from the upper winning<br \/>\nwas disposed of at the pit-bottom in a barrel or trunk, and<br \/>\nwas drawn up by the power of the engine which worked the other<br \/>\nmachinery. The dip at the time of my visit was nearly a mile in<br \/>\nlength, but has since been greatly extended. As I was considerably<br \/>\ntired by my wanderings in the galleries, when I arrived at the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_199\" name=\"Page_199\"><\/a>[199]<\/span><br \/>\nforehead of the dip, Mr. Stephenson said to me, &#8216;You may very<br \/>\nspeedily be carried up to the rise by laying yourself flat upon the<br \/>\ncoal-baskets,&#8217; which were laden and ready to be taken up the incline.<br \/>\nThis I at once did, and was straightway wafted on the wings<br \/>\nof fire to the bottom of the pit, from whence I was borne swiftly up<br \/>\nto the light by the steam machinery on the pit-head.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The whole of the working arrangements seemed to Mr. Bald<br \/>\nto be conducted in the most skillful and efficient manner, reflecting<br \/>\nthe highest credit on the colliery engineer.<\/p>\n<p>Besides attending to the underground arrangements, the improved<br \/>\ntransit of the coals above ground from the pit-head to the<br \/>\nshipping-place demanded an increasing share of Stephenson&#8217;s attention.<br \/>\nEvery day&#8217;s experience convinced him that the locomotive<br \/>\nconstructed by him after his patent of the year 1815 was far<br \/>\nfrom perfect, though he continued to entertain confident hopes<br \/>\nof its complete eventual success. He even went so far as to say<br \/>\nthat the locomotive would yet supersede every other traction-power<br \/>\nfor drawing heavy loads. It is true, many persons continued<br \/>\nto regard his traveling engine as little better than a dangerous<br \/>\ncuriosity; and some, shaking their heads, predicted for it &#8220;a<br \/>\nterrible blow-up some day.&#8221; Nevertheless, it was daily performing<br \/>\nits work with regularity, dragging the coal-wagons between<br \/>\nthe colliery and the staiths, and saving the labor of many men<br \/>\nand horses.<\/p>\n<p>There was not, however, so marked a saving in the expense of<br \/>\nhaulage as to induce the colliery masters to adopt locomotive<br \/>\npower generally as a substitute for horses. How it could be improved,<br \/>\nand rendered more efficient as well as economical, was<br \/>\nconstantly present to Stephenson&#8217;s mind. He was fully conscious<br \/>\nof the imperfections both in the road and the engine, and<br \/>\ngave himself no rest until he had brought the efficiency of both<br \/>\nup to a higher point. Thus he worked his way inch by inch,<br \/>\nslowly but surely, and every step gained was made good as a basis<br \/>\nfor farther improvements.<\/p>\n<p>At an early period of his labors, or about the time when he<br \/>\nhad completed his second locomotive, he began to direct his particular<br \/>\nattention to the state of the Road, perceiving that the extended<br \/>\nuse of the locomotive must necessarily depend in a great<br \/>\nmeasure upon the perfection, solidity, continuity, and smoothness<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_200\" name=\"Page_200\"><\/a>[200]<\/span><br \/>\nof the way along which the engine traveled. Even at that early<br \/>\nperiod he was in the habit of regarding the road and the locomotive<br \/>\nas one machine, speaking of the Rail and the Wheel as<br \/>\n&#8220;Man and Wife.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>All railways were at that time laid in a careless and loose manner,<br \/>\nand great inequalities of level were allowed to occur without<br \/>\nmuch attention being paid to repairs. The consequence was a<br \/>\ngreat loss of power, as well as much wear and tear of the machinery,<br \/>\nby the frequent jolts and blows of the wheels against the<br \/>\nrails. Stephenson&#8217;s first object, therefore, was to remove the inequalities<br \/>\nproduced by the imperfect junction between rail and<br \/>\nrail.<\/p>\n<p>At that time (1816) the rails were made of cast iron, each rail<br \/>\nbeing about three feet long; and sufficient care was not taken to<br \/>\nmaintain the points of junction on the same level. The chairs,<br \/>\nor cast-iron pedestals into which the rails were inserted, were flat<br \/>\nat the bottom, so that whenever any disturbance took place in the<br \/>\nstone blocks or sleepers supporting them, the flat base of the chair<br \/>\nupon which the rails rested being tilted by unequal subsidence,<br \/>\nthe end of one rail became depressed, while that of the other was<br \/>\nelevated. Hence constant jolts and shocks, the reaction of which<br \/>\nvery often caused the fracture of the rails, and occasionally threw<br \/>\nthe engine off the road.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figleft\" style=\"width: 300px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_203.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"120\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>HALF-LAP JOINT.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>To remedy this imperfection, Mr. Stephenson devised a new<br \/>\nchair, with an entirely new mode of fixing the rails therein. Instead<br \/>\nof adopting the <em>butt-joint<\/em> which had hitherto been used in<br \/>\nall cast-iron rails, he adopted the <em>half-lap joint<\/em>, by which means<br \/>\nthe rails extended a certain<br \/>\ndistance over each<br \/>\nother at the ends like a<br \/>\nscarf-joint. These ends,<br \/>\ninstead of resting on the<br \/>\nflat chair, were made to<br \/>\nrest upon the apex of a<br \/>\ncurve forming the bottom of the chair. The supports were also<br \/>\nextended from three feet to three feet nine inches or four feet<br \/>\napart. These rails were accordingly substituted for the old cast-iron<br \/>\nplates on the Killingworth Colliery Railway, and they were<br \/>\nfound to be a very great improvement on the previous system,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_201\" name=\"Page_201\"><\/a>[201]<\/span><br \/>\nadding both to the efficiency of the horse-power (still used on the<br \/>\nrailway) and to the smooth action of the locomotive engine, but<br \/>\nmore particularly increasing the efficiency of the latter.<\/p>\n<p>This improved form of the rail and chair was embodied in a<br \/>\npatent taken out in the joint names of Mr. Losh, of Newcastle,<br \/>\niron founder, and of Mr. Stephenson, bearing date the 30th of<br \/>\nSeptember, 1816. Mr. Losh being a wealthy, enterprising iron-manufacturer,<br \/>\nand having confidence in George Stephenson and<br \/>\nhis improvements, found the money for the purpose of taking<br \/>\nout the patent, which in those days was a very costly as well as<br \/>\ntroublesome affair. At the same time, Mr. Losh guaranteed Stephenson<br \/>\na salary of \u00a3100 per annum, with a share in the profits<br \/>\narising from his inventions, conditional on his attending at the<br \/>\nWalker Iron-works two days a week\u2014an arrangement to which<br \/>\nthe owners of the Killingworth Colliery cheerfully gave their<br \/>\nsanction.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_204.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"341\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>OLD KILLINGWORTH LOCOMOTIVE STILL IN USE.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The specification of 1816 included various important improvements<br \/>\nin the locomotive itself. The wheels of the engine were<br \/>\nimproved, being altered from cast to malleable iron, in whole or<br \/>\nin part, by which they were made lighter as well as more durable<br \/>\nand safe. The patent also included the ingenious and original<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_202\" name=\"Page_202\"><\/a>[202]<\/span><br \/>\ncontrivance by which the steam generated in the boiler was made<br \/>\nto serve as a substitute for springs\u2014an expedient already explained<br \/>\nin a preceding chapter.<\/p>\n<p>The result of the actual working of the new locomotive on the<br \/>\nimproved road amply justified the promises held forth in the<br \/>\nspecification. The traffic was conducted with greater regularity<br \/>\nand economy, and the superiority of the engine, as compared with<br \/>\nhorse traction, became still more marked. And it is a fact worthy<br \/>\nof notice, that the identical engines constructed by Stephenson in<br \/>\n1816 are to this day in regular useful work upon the Killingworth<br \/>\nRailway, conveying heavy coal-trains at the speed of between five<br \/>\nand six miles an hour, probably as economically as any of the<br \/>\nmore perfect locomotives now in use.<\/p>\n<p>George Stephenson&#8217;s endeavors having been attended with such<br \/>\nmarked success in the adaptation of locomotive power to railways,<br \/>\nhis attention was called by many of his friends, about the year<br \/>\n1818, to the application of steam to traveling on common roads.<br \/>\nIt was from this point, indeed, that the locomotive had started,<br \/>\nTrevithick&#8217;s first engine having been constructed with this special<br \/>\nobject. Stephenson&#8217;s friends having observed how far behind he<br \/>\nhad left the original projector of the locomotive in its application<br \/>\nto railroads, perhaps naturally inferred that he would be equally<br \/>\nsuccessful in applying it to the purpose for which Trevithick and<br \/>\nVivian had intended their first engine. But the accuracy with<br \/>\nwhich he estimated the resistance to which loads were exposed<br \/>\non railways, arising from friction and gravity, led him at a very<br \/>\nearly stage to reject the idea of ever applying steam-power economically<br \/>\nto common road traveling. In October, 1818, he made<br \/>\na series of careful experiments, in conjunction with Mr. Nicholas<br \/>\nWood, on the resistance to which carriages were exposed on railways,<br \/>\ntesting the results by means of a dynamometer of his own<br \/>\ncontrivance. The series of practical observations made by means<br \/>\nof this instrument were interesting, as the first systematic attempt<br \/>\nto determine the precise amount of resistance to carriages moving<br \/>\nalong railways. It was then for the first time ascertained by<br \/>\nexperiment that the friction was a constant quantity at all velocities.<br \/>\nAlthough this theory had long before been developed<br \/>\nby Vince and Coulomb, and was well known to scientific men as<br \/>\nan established truth, yet, at the time when Stephenson made his<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_203\" name=\"Page_203\"><\/a>[203]<\/span><br \/>\nexperiments, the deductions of philosophers on the subject were<br \/>\nneither believed in nor acted upon by practical engineers. To<br \/>\nquote again from the MS. account supplied to the author by<br \/>\nRobert Stephenson for the purposes of his father&#8217;s &#8220;Life:&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;It was maintained by many that the results of the experiments<br \/>\nled to the greatest possible mechanical absurdities. For instance,<br \/>\nit was maintained that, if friction were constant at all velocities<br \/>\nupon a level railway, when once a power was applied to a carriage<br \/>\nwhich exceeded the friction of that carriage by the smallest possible<br \/>\namount, that same small excess of power would be able to convey<br \/>\nthe carriage along a level railway at all conceivable velocities.<br \/>\nWhen this position was put by those who opposed the conclusions<br \/>\nat which my father had arrived, he felt great hesitation in maintaining<br \/>\nhis own views; for it appeared to him at first sight really<br \/>\nto be\u2014as it was put by his opponents\u2014an absurdity. Frequent<br \/>\nrepetition, however, of the experiments to which I have alluded,<br \/>\nleft no doubt upon his mind that his conclusion that friction was<br \/>\nuniform at all velocities was a fact which must be received as positively<br \/>\nestablished; and he soon afterward boldly maintained that<br \/>\nthat which was an apparent absurdity was, instead, a necessary<br \/>\nconsequence. I well remember the ridicule that was thrown upon<br \/>\nthis view by many of those persons with whom he was associated<br \/>\nat the time. Nevertheless, it is undoubted, that, could you practically<br \/>\nbe always applying a power in excess of the resistance, a<br \/>\nconstant increase of velocity would of necessity follow without any<br \/>\nlimit. This is so obvious to most professional men of the present<br \/>\nday, and is now so axiomatic, that I only allude to the discussion<br \/>\nwhich took place when these experiments of my father were announced<br \/>\nfor the purpose of showing how small was the amount of<br \/>\nscience at that time blended with engineering practice. A few<br \/>\nyears afterward, an excellent pamphlet was published by Mr. Silvester<br \/>\non this question; he took up the whole subject, and demonstrated<br \/>\nin a very simple and beautiful manner the correctness of all<br \/>\nthe views at which my father had arrived by his course of experiments.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The other resistances to which carriages were exposed were<br \/>\nalso investigated experimentally by my father. He perceived that<br \/>\nthese resistances were mainly three\u2014the first being upon the axles<br \/>\nof the carriage; the second, which may be called the rolling resistance,<br \/>\nbeing between the circumference of the wheel and the<br \/>\nsurface of the rail; and the third being the resistance of gravity.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_204\" name=\"Page_204\"><\/a>[204]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The amount of friction and gravity he accurately ascertained;<br \/>\nbut the rolling resistance was a matter of greater difficulty, for it<br \/>\nwas subject to great variation. He, however, satisfied himself that<br \/>\nit was so great, when the surface presented to the wheel was of a<br \/>\nrough character, that the idea of working steam-carriages economically<br \/>\non common roads was out of the question. Even so early as<br \/>\nthe period alluded to he brought his theoretical calculations to a<br \/>\npractical test; he scattered sand upon the rails when an engine<br \/>\nwas running, and found that a small quantity was quite sufficient<br \/>\nto retard and even stop the most powerful locomotive engine that<br \/>\nhe had at that time made. And he never failed to urge this conclusive<br \/>\nexperiment upon the attention of those who were wasting<br \/>\ntheir money and time upon the vain attempt to apply steam to<br \/>\ncommon roads.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The following were the principal arguments which influenced<br \/>\nhis mind to work out the use of the locomotive in a directly opposite<br \/>\ncourse to that pursued by a number of ingenious inventors,<br \/>\nwho, between 1820 and 1836, were engaged in attempting to apply<br \/>\nsteam-power to turnpike roads. Having ascertained that resistance<br \/>\nmight be taken as represented by 10 lbs. to a ton weight on a level<br \/>\nrailway, it became obvious to him that so small a rise as 1 in 100<br \/>\nwould diminish the useful effort of a locomotive by upward of fifty<br \/>\nper cent. This fact called my father&#8217;s attention to the question of<br \/>\ngradients in future locomotive lines. He then became convinced<br \/>\nof the vital importance, in an economical point of view, of reducing<br \/>\nthe country through which a railway was intended to pass to as<br \/>\nnear a level as possible. This originated in his mind the distinctive<br \/>\ncharacter of railway works as contradistinguished from all other<br \/>\nroads; for in railroads he early contended that large sums would<br \/>\nbe wisely expended in perforating barriers of hills with long tunnels,<br \/>\nand in raising low ground with the excess cut down from the<br \/>\nadjacent high ground. In proportion as these views fixed themselves<br \/>\nupon his mind, and were corroborated by his daily experience,<br \/>\nhe became more and more convinced of the hopelessness of<br \/>\napplying steam locomotion to common roads; for every argument<br \/>\nin favor of a level railway was an argument against the rough and<br \/>\nhilly course of a common road. He never ceased to urge upon the<br \/>\npatrons of road steam-carriages that if, by any amount of ingenuity,<br \/>\nan engine could be made which could by possibility traverse a<br \/>\nturnpike road at a speed at least equal to that obtainable by horse-power,<br \/>\nand at a less cost, such an engine, if applied to the more<br \/>\nperfect surface of a railway, would have its efficiency enormously<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_205\" name=\"Page_205\"><\/a>[205]<\/span><br \/>\nenhanced. For instance, he calculated that if an engine had been<br \/>\nconstructed, and had been found to travel uniformly between London<br \/>\nand Birmingham at an average speed of 10 miles an hour\u2014conveying,<br \/>\nsay, 20 or 30 passengers at a cost of 1<i>s<\/i>. per mile, it was<br \/>\nclear that the same engine, if applied to a railway, instead of conveying<br \/>\n20 or 30 people, would have conveyed 200 or 300 people,<br \/>\nand instead of a speed of 10 or 12 miles an hour, a speed of at least<br \/>\n30 to 40 miles an hour would have been obtained.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>At this day it is difficult to understand how the sagacious and<br \/>\nstrong common-sense views of Stephenson on this subject failed<br \/>\nto force themselves sooner upon the minds of those who were<br \/>\npersisting in their vain though ingenious attempts to apply locomotive<br \/>\npower to ordinary roads. For a long time they continued<br \/>\nto hold with obstinate perseverance to the belief that for such<br \/>\npurposes a soft road was better than a hard one\u2014a road easily<br \/>\ncrushed better than one incapable of being crushed; and they<br \/>\nheld to this after it had been demonstrated in all parts of the<br \/>\nmining districts that iron tram-ways were better than paved<br \/>\nroads. But the fallacy that iron was incapable of adhesion upon<br \/>\niron continued to prevail, and the projectors of steam-traveling<br \/>\non common roads only shared in the common belief. They still<br \/>\nconsidered that roughness of surface was essential to produce<br \/>\n&#8220;bite,&#8221; especially in surmounting acclivities; the truth being<br \/>\nthat they confounded roughness of surface with tenacity of surface<br \/>\nand contact of parts, not perceiving that a yielding surface<br \/>\nwhich would adapt itself to the tread of the wheel could never<br \/>\nbecome an unyielding surface to form a fulcrum for its progression.<\/p>\n<p>Although Stephenson&#8217;s locomotive engines were in daily use<br \/>\nfor many years on the Killingworth Railway, they excited comparatively<br \/>\nlittle interest. They were no longer experimental, but<br \/>\nhad become an established tractive power. The experience of<br \/>\nyears had proved that they worked more steadily, drew heavier<br \/>\nloads, and were, on the whole, considerably more economical than<br \/>\nhorses. Nevertheless, eight years passed before another locomotive<br \/>\nrailway was constructed and opened for the purposes of coal<br \/>\nor other traffic.<\/p>\n<p>It is difficult to account for this early indifference on the part<br \/>\nof the public to the merits of the greatest mechanical invention<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_206\" name=\"Page_206\"><\/a>[206]<\/span><br \/>\nof the age. Steam-carriages were exciting much interest, and<br \/>\nnumerous and repeated experiments were made with them. The<br \/>\nimprovements effected by M&#8217;Adam in the mode of constructing<br \/>\nturnpike roads were the subject of frequent discussions in the<br \/>\nLegislature, on the grants of public money being proposed, which<br \/>\nwere from time to time made to him. Yet here at Killingworth,<br \/>\nwithout the aid of a farthing of government money, a system<br \/>\nof road locomotion had been in existence since 1814, which was<br \/>\ndestined, before many years, to revolutionize the internal communications<br \/>\nof England and of the world, but of which the English<br \/>\npublic and the English government as yet knew nothing.<\/p>\n<p>But Stephenson had no means of bringing his important invention<br \/>\nprominently under the notice of the public. He himself<br \/>\nknew well its importance, and he already anticipated its eventual<br \/>\ngeneral adoption; but, being an unlettered man, he could not<br \/>\ngive utterance to the thoughts which brooded within him on the<br \/>\nsubject. Killingworth Colliery lay far from London, the centre<br \/>\nof scientific life in England. It was visited by no savans nor<br \/>\nliterary men, who might have succeeded in introducing to notice<br \/>\nthe wonderful machine of Stephenson. Even the local chroniclers<br \/>\nseem to have taken no notice of the Killingworth Railway.<br \/>\nThe &#8220;Puffing Billy&#8221; was doing its daily quota of hard work, and<br \/>\nhad long ceased to be a curiosity in the neighborhood. Blenkinsop&#8217;s<br \/>\nclumsier and less successful engine\u2014which has long since<br \/>\nbeen disused, while Stephenson&#8217;s Killingworth engines continue<br \/>\nworking to this day\u2014excited far more interest, partly, perhaps,<br \/>\nbecause it was close to the large town of Leeds, and used to be<br \/>\nvisited by strangers as one of the few objects of interest in that<br \/>\nplace. Blenkinsop was also an educated man, and was in communication<br \/>\nwith some of the most distinguished personages of his<br \/>\nday on the subject of his locomotive, which thus obtained considerable<br \/>\ncelebrity.<\/p>\n<p>The first engine constructed by Stephenson to order, after the<br \/>\nKillingworth model, was made for the Duke of Portland in 1817,<br \/>\nfor use upon his tram-road, about ten miles long, extending from<br \/>\nKilmarnock to Troon, in Ayrshire. It was employed to haul the<br \/>\ncoals from the duke&#8217;s collieries along the line to Troon harbor.<br \/>\nIts use was, however, discontinued in consequence of the frequent<br \/>\nbreakages of the cast-iron rails, by which the working of the line<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_207\" name=\"Page_207\"><\/a>[207]<\/span><br \/>\nwas interrupted, and accordingly horses were again employed as<br \/>\nbefore.<a id=\"FNanchor_50\" name=\"FNanchor_50\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_50\">[50]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>There seemed, indeed, to be so small a prospect of introducing<br \/>\nthe locomotive into general use, that Stephenson\u2014perhaps conscious<br \/>\nof the capabilities within him\u2014again recurred to his old<br \/>\nidea of emigrating to the United States. Before entering as<br \/>\nsleeping partner in a small foundery at Forth Banks, Newcastle,<br \/>\nmanaged by Mr. John Burrell, he had thrown out the suggestion<br \/>\nto the latter that it would be a good speculation for them to emigrate<br \/>\nto North America, and introduce steam-boats on the great<br \/>\ninland lakes there. The first steamers were then plying upon the<br \/>\nTyne before his eyes, and he saw in them the germ of a great<br \/>\nrevolution in navigation. It occurred to him that the great lakes<br \/>\nof North America presented the finest field for trying their wonderful<br \/>\npowers. He was an engineer, and Mr. Burrell was an<br \/>\niron-founder; and between them, he thought they might strike<br \/>\nout a path to fortune in the mighty West. Fortunately, this idea<br \/>\nremained a mere speculation so far as Stephenson was concerned,<br \/>\nand it was left to others to do what he had dreamed of achieving.<br \/>\nAfter all his patient waiting, his skill, industry, and perseverance<br \/>\nwere at length about to bear fruit.<\/p>\n<p>In 1819, the owners of the Hetton Colliery, in the county of<br \/>\nDurham, determined to have their wagon-way altered to a locomotive<br \/>\nrailroad. The result of the working of the Killingworth<br \/>\nRailway had been so satisfactory that they resolved to adopt the<br \/>\nsame system. One reason why an experiment so long continued<br \/>\nand so successful as that at Killingworth should have been so<br \/>\nslow in producing results perhaps was, that to lay down a railway<br \/>\nand furnish it with locomotives, or fixed engines where necessary,<br \/>\nrequired a very large capital, beyond the means of ordinary<br \/>\ncoal-owners; while the small amount of interest felt in railways<br \/>\nby the general public, and the supposed impracticability of<br \/>\nworking them to a profit, as yet prevented the ordinary capitalists<br \/>\nfrom venturing their money in the promotion of such undertakings.<br \/>\nThe Hetton Coal Company were, however, possessed of<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_208\" name=\"Page_208\"><\/a>[208]<\/span><br \/>\nadequate means, and the local reputation of the Killingworth<br \/>\nengine-wright pointed him out as the man best calculated to lay<br \/>\nout their line and superintend their works. They accordingly<br \/>\ninvited him to act as the engineer of the proposed railway. Being<br \/>\nin the service of the Killingworth Company, Stephenson felt<br \/>\nit necessary to obtain their permission to enter upon this new<br \/>\nwork. This was at once granted. The best feeling existed between<br \/>\nhim and his employers, and they regarded it as a compliment<br \/>\nthat their colliery engineer should be selected for a work so<br \/>\nimportant as the laying down of the Hetton Railway, which was<br \/>\nto be the longest locomotive line that had, up to that time, been<br \/>\nconstructed in the neighborhood. Stephenson accepted the appointment,<br \/>\nhis brother Robert acting as resident engineer and<br \/>\npersonally superintending the execution of the works.<\/p>\n<p>The Hetton Railway extended from the Hetton Colliery, situated<br \/>\nabout two miles south of Houghton-le-Spring, to the ship-places<br \/>\non the banks of the Wear, near Sunderland. Its length<br \/>\nwas about eight miles; and in its course it crossed Warden Law,<br \/>\none of the highest hills in the district. The character of the<br \/>\ncountry forbade the construction of a flat line, or one of <span class=\"corr\" title=\"Transcriber's Note\u2014original text: 'compararatively'\">comparatively<\/span><br \/>\neasy gradients, except by the expenditure of a much<br \/>\nlarger capital than was placed at Stephenson&#8217;s command. Heavy<br \/>\nworks could not be executed; it was therefore necessary to form<br \/>\nthe line with but little deviation from the natural conformation<br \/>\nof the district which it traversed, and also to adapt the mechanical<br \/>\nmethods employed for its working to the character of the gradients,<br \/>\nwhich in some places were necessarily heavy.<\/p>\n<p>Although George Stephenson had, with every step made toward<br \/>\nits increased utility, become more and more identified with<br \/>\nthe success of the locomotive engine, he did not allow his enthusiasm<br \/>\nto carry him away into costly mistakes. He carefully drew<br \/>\nthe line between the cases in which the locomotive could be usefully<br \/>\nemployed and those in which stationary engines were calculated<br \/>\nto be more economical. This led him, as in the instance<br \/>\nof the Hetton Railway, to execute lines through and over rough<br \/>\ncountries, where gradients within the powers of the locomotive<br \/>\nengine of that day could not be secured, employing in their stead<br \/>\nstationary engines where locomotives were not practicable. In<br \/>\nthe present case, this course was adopted by him most successfully.<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_209\" name=\"Page_209\"><\/a>[209]<\/span><br \/>\nOn the original Hetton line there were five self-acting<br \/>\ninclines\u2014the full wagons drawing the empty ones up\u2014and two<br \/>\ninclines worked by fixed reciprocating engines of sixty-horse power<br \/>\neach. The locomotive traveling engine, or &#8220;the iron horse,&#8221;<br \/>\nas the people of the neighborhood then styled it, worked the rest<br \/>\nof the line. On the day of the opening of the Hetton Railway,<br \/>\nthe 18th of November, 1822, crowds of spectators assembled from<br \/>\nall parts to witness the first operations of this ingenious and powerful<br \/>\nmachinery, which was entirely successful. On that day five<br \/>\nof Stephenson&#8217;s locomotives were at work upon the railway, under<br \/>\nthe direction of his brother Robert; and the first shipment of<br \/>\ncoal was then made by the Hetton Company at their new staiths<br \/>\non the Wear. The speed at which the locomotives traveled was<br \/>\nabout four miles an hour, and each engine dragged after it a<br \/>\ntrain of seventeen wagons weighing about sixty-four tons.<\/p>\n<p>While thus advancing step by step\u2014attending to the business<br \/>\nof the Killingworth Colliery, and laying out railways in the<br \/>\nneighborhood\u2014he was carefully watching over the education of<br \/>\nhis son. We have already seen that Robert was sent to school at<br \/>\nNewcastle, where he remained about four years. While Robert<br \/>\nwas at school, his father, as usual, made his son&#8217;s education instrumental<br \/>\nto his own. He entered him a member of the Newcastle<br \/>\nLiterary and Philosophical Institute, the subscription to<br \/>\nwhich was three guineas a year. Robert spent much of his leisure<br \/>\nhours there, reading and studying; and when he went home<br \/>\nin the afternoons, he was accustomed to carry home with him a<br \/>\nvolume of the &#8220;Repertory of Arts and Sciences,&#8221; or of some<br \/>\nwork on practical science, which furnished the subject of interesting<br \/>\nreading and discussion in the evening hours. Both father<br \/>\nand son were always ready to acknowledge the great advantages<br \/>\nthey had derived from the use of so excellent a library of books;<br \/>\nand, toward the close of his life, the latter, in recognition of his<br \/>\ndebt of gratitude to the institution, contributed a large sum for<br \/>\nthe purpose of clearing off the debt, but conditional on the annual<br \/>\nsubscription being reduced to a guinea, in order that the<br \/>\nusefulness of the Institute might be extended.<\/p>\n<p>Robert left school in the summer of 1819, and was put apprentice<br \/>\nto Mr. Nicholas Wood, the head viewer at Killingworth, to<br \/>\nlearn the business of the colliery. He served in that capacity for<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_210\" name=\"Page_210\"><\/a>[210]<\/span><br \/>\nabout three years, during which time he became familiar with<br \/>\nmost departments of underground work. His occupation was<br \/>\nnot unattended with peril, as the following incident will show.<br \/>\nThough the use of the Geordy lamp had become general in the<br \/>\nKillingworth pits, and the workmen were bound, under a penalty<br \/>\nof half a crown, not to use a naked candle, it was difficult to enforce<br \/>\nthe rule, and even the masters themselves occasionally broke<br \/>\nit. One day Nicholas Wood, the head viewer, Moodie, the under<br \/>\nviewer, and Robert Stephenson, were proceeding along one of the<br \/>\ngalleries, Wood with a naked candle in his hand, and Robert following<br \/>\nhim with a lamp. They came to a place where a fall of<br \/>\nstones from the roof had taken place, on which Wood, who was<br \/>\nfirst, proceeded to clamber over the stones, holding high the naked<br \/>\ncandle. He had nearly reached the summit of the heap, when<br \/>\nthe fire-damp, which had accumulated in the hollow of the roof,<br \/>\nexploded, and instantly the whole party were blown down, and the<br \/>\nlights extinguished. They were a mile from the shaft, and quite<br \/>\nin the dark. There was a rush of the work-people from all quarters<br \/>\ntoward the shaft, for it was feared that the fire might extend<br \/>\nto more dangerous parts of the pit, where, if the gas had exploded,<br \/>\nevery soul in the mine must inevitably have perished. Robert<br \/>\nStephenson and Moodie, on the first impulse, ran back at full<br \/>\nspeed along the dark gallery leading to the shaft, coming into collision,<br \/>\non their way, with the hind quarters of a horse stunned by<br \/>\nthe explosion. When they had gone half way, Moodie halted,<br \/>\nand bethought him of Nicholas Wood. &#8220;Stop, laddie!&#8221; said he<br \/>\nto Robert, &#8220;stop; we maun gang back and seek the maister.&#8221; So<br \/>\nthey retraced their steps. Happily, no farther explosion took<br \/>\nplace. They found the master lying on the heap of stones, stunned<br \/>\nand bruised, with his hands severely burnt. They led him to<br \/>\nthe bottom of the shaft; and he afterward took care not to venture<br \/>\ninto the dangerous parts of the mine without the protection<br \/>\nof a Geordy lamp.<\/p>\n<p>The time that Robert spent at Killingworth as viewer&#8217;s apprentice<br \/>\nwas of advantage both to his father and himself. The evenings<br \/>\nwere generally devoted to reading and study, the two from<br \/>\nthis time working together as friends and co-laborers. One who<br \/>\nused to drop in at the cottage of an evening well remembers the<br \/>\nanimated and eager discussions which on some occasions took<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_211\" name=\"Page_211\"><\/a>[211]<\/span><br \/>\nplace, more especially with reference to the growing powers of<br \/>\nthe locomotive engine. The son was even more enthusiastic than<br \/>\nhis father on the subject. Robert would suggest numerous alterations<br \/>\nand improvements in detail. His father, on the contrary,<br \/>\nwould offer every possible objection, defending the existing arrangements\u2014proud,<br \/>\nnevertheless, of his son&#8217;s suggestions, and often<br \/>\nwarmed and excited by his brilliant anticipations of the ultimate<br \/>\ntriumph of the locomotive.<\/p>\n<p>These discussions probably had considerable influence in inducing<br \/>\nStephenson to take the next important step in the education<br \/>\nof his son. Although Robert, who was only nineteen years of age,<br \/>\nwas doing well, and was certain, at the expiration of his apprenticeship,<br \/>\nto rise to a higher position, his father was not satisfied<br \/>\nwith the amount of instruction which he had as yet given him.<br \/>\nRemembering the disadvantages under which he had himself labored<br \/>\nthrough his ignorance of practical chemistry during his investigations<br \/>\nconnected with the safety-lamp, more especially with<br \/>\nreference to the properties of gas, as well as in the course of his<br \/>\nexperiments with the object of improving the locomotive engine,<br \/>\nhe determined to furnish his son with a better scientific culture<br \/>\nthan he had yet attained. He also believed that a proper training<br \/>\nin technical science was indispensable to success in the higher<br \/>\nwalks of the engineer&#8217;s profession, and he determined to give<br \/>\nRobert the education, in a certain degree, which he so much desired<br \/>\nfor himself. He would thus, he knew, secure an able co-worker<br \/>\nin the elaboration of the great ideas now looming before<br \/>\nhim, and with their united practical and scientific knowledge he<br \/>\nprobably felt that they would be equal to any enterprise.<\/p>\n<p>He accordingly took Robert from his labors as under viewer in<br \/>\nthe West Moor Pit, and in October, 1822, sent him for a short<br \/>\ncourse of instruction to the Edinburg University. Robert was<br \/>\nfurnished with letters of introduction to several men of literary<br \/>\neminence in Edinburg, his father&#8217;s reputation in connection with<br \/>\nthe safety-lamp being of service to him in this respect. He lodged<br \/>\nin Drummond Street, in the immediate vicinity of the college,<br \/>\nand attended the Chemical Lectures of Dr. Hope, the Natural<br \/>\nPhilosophy Lectures of Sir John Leslie, and the Natural History<br \/>\nClass of Professor Jameson. He also devoted several evenings<br \/>\nin each week to the study of practical Chemistry under Dr. John<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_212\" name=\"Page_212\"><\/a>[212]<\/span><br \/>\nMurray, himself one of the numerous designers of a safety-lamp.<br \/>\nHe took careful notes of the lectures, which he copied out at<br \/>\nnight before he went to bed, so that, when he returned to Killingworth,<br \/>\nhe might read them over to his father. He afterward had<br \/>\nthe notes bound up and placed in his library.<\/p>\n<p>Long years after, when conversing with Thomas Harrison, C.E.,<br \/>\nat his house in Gloucester Square, he rose from his seat and took<br \/>\ndown a volume from the shelves. Mr. Harrison observed that the<br \/>\nbook was in MS., neatly written out. &#8220;What have we here?&#8221; he<br \/>\nasked. The answer was, &#8220;When I went to college, I knew the<br \/>\ndifficulty my father had in collecting the funds to send me there.<br \/>\nBefore going I studied short-hand; while at Edinburg I took down<br \/>\nverbatim every lecture; and in the evenings, before I went to bed,<br \/>\nI transcribed those lectures word for word. You see the result<br \/>\nin that range of books.&#8221; From this it will be observed that the<br \/>\nmaxim of &#8220;Like father, like son,&#8221; was one that strictly applied to<br \/>\nthe Stephensons.<\/p>\n<p>Robert was not without the pleasure of social intercourse either<br \/>\nduring his stay at Edinburg. Among the letters of introduction<br \/>\nwhich he took with him was one to Robert Bald, the mining engineer,<br \/>\nwhich proved of much service to him. &#8220;I remember Mr.<br \/>\nBald very well,&#8221; he said on one occasion, when recounting his<br \/>\nreminiscences of his Edinburg college life. &#8220;He introduced me<br \/>\nto Dr. Hope, Dr. Murray, and several of the distinguished men of<br \/>\nthe North. Bald was the Buddle of Scotland. He knew my father<br \/>\nfrom having visited the pits at Killingworth, with the object<br \/>\nof describing the system of working them in his article intended<br \/>\nfor the &#8216;Edinburg Encyclop\u00e6dia.&#8217; A strange adventure befell<br \/>\nthat article before it appeared in print. Bald was living at Alloa<br \/>\nwhen he wrote it, and when finished he sent it to Edinburg<br \/>\nby the hands of young Maxton, his nephew, whom he enjoined<br \/>\nto take special care of it, and deliver it safely into the hands of<br \/>\nthe editor. The young man took passage for New Haven by one<br \/>\nof the little steamers which then plied on the Forth; but on the<br \/>\nvoyage down the <span class=\"corr\" title=\"Transcriber's Note\u2014original text: 'Frith'\">Firth<\/span> she struck upon a rock nearly opposite<br \/>\nQueen&#8217;s Ferry, and soon sank. When the accident happened,<br \/>\nMaxton&#8217;s whole concern was about his uncle&#8217;s article. He durst<br \/>\nnot return to Alloa if he lost it, and he must not go on to Edinburg<br \/>\nwithout it. So he desperately clung to the chimney chains<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_213\" name=\"Page_213\"><\/a>[213]<\/span><br \/>\nwith the paper parcel under his arm, while most of the other passengers<br \/>\nwere washed away and drowned. And there he continued<br \/>\nto cling until rescued by some boatmen, parcel and all, after<br \/>\nwhich he made his way to Edinburg, and the article duly appeared.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Returning to the subject of his life in Edinburg, Robert continued:<br \/>\n&#8220;Besides taking me with him to the meetings of the<br \/>\nRoyal and other societies, Mr. Bald introduced me to a very<br \/>\nagreeable family, relatives of his own, at whose house I spent<br \/>\nmany pleasant evenings. It was there I met Jeannie M\u2014\u2014.<br \/>\nShe was a bonnie lass, and I, being young and susceptible, fairly<br \/>\nfell in love with her. But, like most very early attachments,<br \/>\nmine proved evanescent. Years passed, and I had all but forgotten<br \/>\nJeannie, when one day I received a letter from her, from<br \/>\nwhich it appeared that she was in great distress through the ruin<br \/>\nof her relatives. I sent her a sum of money, and continued to do<br \/>\nso for several years; but the last remittance not being acknowledged,<br \/>\nI directed my friend Sanderson to make inquiries. I afterward<br \/>\nfound that the money had reached her at Portobello just<br \/>\nas she was dying, and so, poor thing, she had been unable to acknowledge<br \/>\nit.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>One of the practical sciences in the study of which Robert<br \/>\nStephenson took special interest while at Edinburg was that of<br \/>\ngeology. The situation of the city, in the midst of a district of<br \/>\nhighly interesting geological formation, easily accessible to pedestrians,<br \/>\nis indeed most favorable to the pursuit of such a study;<br \/>\nand it was the practice of Professor Jameson frequently to head<br \/>\na band of his pupils, armed with hammers, chisels, and clinometers,<br \/>\nand take them with him on a long ramble into the country,<br \/>\nfor the purpose of teaching them habits of observation, and reading<br \/>\nto them from the open book of Nature itself. The professor<br \/>\nwas habitually grave and taciturn, but on such occasions he would<br \/>\nrelax and even become genial. For his own special science he<br \/>\nhad an almost engrossing enthusiasm, which on such occasions he<br \/>\ndid not fail to inspire into his pupils, who thus not only got their<br \/>\nknowledge in the pleasantest possible way, but also fresh air and<br \/>\nexercise in the midst of glorious scenery and in joyous company.<\/p>\n<p>At the close of this session, the professor took with him a select<br \/>\nbody of his pupils on an excursion along the Great Glen of<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_214\" name=\"Page_214\"><\/a>[214]<\/span><br \/>\nthe Highlands, in the line of the Caledonian Canal, and Robert<br \/>\nformed one of the party. They passed under the shadow of Ben<br \/>\nNevis, examined the famous old sea-margins known as the &#8220;parallel<br \/>\nroads of Glen Roy,&#8221; and extended their journey as far as<br \/>\nInverness, the professor teaching the young men, as they traveled,<br \/>\nhow to observe in a mountain country. Not long before<br \/>\nhis death, Robert Stephenson spoke in glowing terms of the great<br \/>\npleasure and benefit which he had derived from that interesting<br \/>\nexcursion. &#8220;I have traveled far, and enjoyed much,&#8221; he said,<br \/>\n&#8220;but that delightful botanical and geological tour I shall never<br \/>\nforget; and I am just about to start in the <i>Titania<\/i> for a trip<br \/>\nround the east coast of Scotland, returning south through the<br \/>\nCaledonian Canal, to refresh myself with the recollection of that<br \/>\nfirst and brightest tour of my life.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Toward the end of the summer the young student returned to<br \/>\nKillingworth to re-enter upon the active business of life. The<br \/>\nsix months&#8217; study had cost his father \u00a380\u2014a considerable sum to<br \/>\nhim in those days; but he was amply repaid by the additional<br \/>\nscientific culture which his son had acquired, and the evidence of<br \/>\nability and industry which he was enabled to exhibit in a prize<br \/>\nfor mathematics which he had won at the University.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_217.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"325\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>WEST MOOR PIT, KILLINGWORTH.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>We may here add that by this time George Stephenson, after<br \/>\nremaining a widower fourteen years, had married, in 1820, his<br \/>\nsecond wife, Elizabeth Hindmarsh, the daughter of a respectable<br \/>\nfarmer at Black Callerton. She was a woman of excellent character,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_215\" name=\"Page_215\"><\/a>[215]<\/span><br \/>\nsensible, and intelligent, and of a kindly and affectionate<br \/>\nnature. George&#8217;s son Robert, whom she loved as if he had been<br \/>\nher own, to the last day of his life spoke of her in the highest<br \/>\nterms; and it is unquestionable that she contributed in no small<br \/>\ndegree to the happiness of her husband&#8217;s home.<\/p>\n<p>The story was for some time current that, while living at Black<br \/>\nCallerton in the capacity of engine-man, twenty years before,<br \/>\nGeorge had made love to Miss Hindmarsh, and, failing to obtain<br \/>\nher hand, in despair he had married Paterson&#8217;s servant. But the<br \/>\nauthor has been assured by Mr. Thomas Hindmarsh, of Newcastle,<br \/>\nthe lady&#8217;s brother, that the story was mere idle gossip, and altogether<br \/>\nwithout foundation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_216\" name=\"Page_216\"><\/a>[216]<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER VIII.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>GEORGE STEPHENSON ENGINEER OF THE STOCKTON AND DARLINGTON RAILWAY.<\/h4>\n<p>It is not improbable that the slow progress made by railways<br \/>\nin public estimation was, in a considerable measure, due to the<br \/>\ncomparative want of success which had attended the first projects.<br \/>\nWe do not refer to the tram-roads and railroads which<br \/>\nconnected the collieries and iron-works with the shipping-places.<br \/>\nThese were found convenient and economical, and their use became<br \/>\ngeneral in Durham and Northumberland, in South Wales,<br \/>\nin Scotland, and throughout the colliery districts. But none of<br \/>\nthese were public railways. Though the Merthyr Tydvil Tram-road,<br \/>\nthe Sirhoway Railroad, and others in South Wales, were<br \/>\nconstructed under the powers of special acts,<a id=\"FNanchor_51\" name=\"FNanchor_51\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_51\">[51]<\/a> they were exclusively<br \/>\nused for the private purposes of the coal-owners and iron-masters<br \/>\nat whose expense they were made.<\/p>\n<p>The first <em>public<\/em> Railway Act was that passed in 1801, authorizing<br \/>\nthe construction of a line from Wandsworth to Croydon,<br \/>\nunder the name of &#8220;The Surrey Iron Railway.&#8221; By a subsequent<br \/>\nact, powers were obtained to extend the line to Reigate,<br \/>\nwith a branch to Godstone. The object of this railway was to<br \/>\nfurnish a more ready means for the transport of coal and merchandise<br \/>\nfrom the Thames to the districts of south London, and<br \/>\nat the same time to enable the lime-burners and proprietors of<br \/>\nstone-quarries to send the lime and stone to London. With this<br \/>\nobject, the railroad was connected with a dock or basin in Wandsworth<br \/>\nCreek capable of containing thirty barges, with an entrance<br \/>\nlock into the Thames.<\/p>\n<p>The works had scarcely been commenced ere the company got<br \/>\ninto difficulties, but eventually 26 miles of iron-way were constructed<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_217\" name=\"Page_217\"><\/a>[217]<\/span><br \/>\nand opened for traffic. Any person was then at liberty<br \/>\nto put wagons on the line, and to carry goods within the prescribed<br \/>\nrates, the wagons being worked by horses, mules, and<br \/>\ndonkeys. Notwithstanding the very sanguine expectations which<br \/>\nwere early formed as to the paying qualities of this railway, it<br \/>\nnever realized any adequate profit to the owners. But it continued<br \/>\nto be worked, principally by donkeys for the sake of cheapness,<br \/>\ndown to the passing of the act for constructing the London<br \/>\nand Brighton line in 1837, when the proprietors disposed of their<br \/>\nundertaking to the new company. The line was accordingly dismantled;<br \/>\nthe stone blocks and rails were taken up and sold; and<br \/>\nall that remains of the Wandsworth, Croydon, and Merstham Railway<br \/>\nis the track still observable to the south of Croydon, along<br \/>\nSmitham Bottom, nearly parallel with the line of the present<br \/>\nBrighton Railway, and an occasional cutting and embankment,<br \/>\nwhich still mark the route of this first public railway.<\/p>\n<p>The want of success of this undertaking doubtless had the effect<br \/>\nof deterring projectors from embarking in any similar enterprise.<br \/>\nIf a line of the sort could not succeed near London, it<br \/>\nwas thought improbable that it should succeed any where else.<br \/>\nThe Croydon and Merstham line was a beacon to warn capitalists<br \/>\nagainst embarking in railways, and many years passed before<br \/>\nanother was ventured upon.<\/p>\n<p>Sir Richard Phillips was one of the few who early recognized<br \/>\nthe important uses of the locomotive and its employment on a<br \/>\nlarge scale for the haulage of goods and passengers by railway.<br \/>\nIn his &#8220;Morning Walk to Kew&#8221; he crossed the line of the Wandsworth<br \/>\nand Croydon Railway, when the idea seems to have occurred<br \/>\nto him, as it afterwards did to Thomas Gray, that in the<br \/>\nlocomotive and the railway were to be found the germs of a<br \/>\ngreat and peaceful social revolution:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;I found delight,&#8221; said Sir Richard, in his book published in 1813,<br \/>\n&#8220;in witnessing at Wandsworth the economy of horse labor on the<br \/>\niron railway. Yet a heavy sigh escaped me as I thought of the inconceivable<br \/>\nmillions of money which have been spent about Malta,<br \/>\nfour or five of which might have been the means of extending<br \/>\ndouble lines of iron railway from London to Edinburg, Glasgow,<br \/>\nHolyhead, Milford, Falmouth, Yarmouth, Dover, and Portsmouth.<br \/>\nA reward of a single thousand would have supplied coaches and<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_218\" name=\"Page_218\"><\/a>[218]<\/span><br \/>\nother vehicles, of various degrees of speed, with the best tackle for<br \/>\nreadily turning out; and we might, ere this, have witnessed our<br \/>\nmail-coaches running at the rate of ten miles an hour drawn by a<br \/>\nsingle horse, or impelled fifteen miles an hour by Blenkinsop&#8217;s<br \/>\nsteam-engine. Such would have been a legitimate motive for over-stepping<br \/>\nthe income of a nation, and the completion of so great and<br \/>\nuseful a work would have afforded rational ground for public triumph<br \/>\nin general jubilee.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>There was, however, as yet, no general recognition of the advantages<br \/>\neither of railways or locomotives. The government of<br \/>\nthis country never leads in any work of public enterprise, and is<br \/>\nusually rather a drag upon industrial operations than otherwise.<br \/>\nAs for the general public, it was enough for them that the Wandsworth<br \/>\nand Croydon Railway did not pay.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Tredgold, in his &#8220;Practical Treatise on Railroads and Carriages,&#8221;<br \/>\npublished in 1825, observes:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;Up to this period railways have been employed with success<br \/>\nonly in the conveyance of heavy mineral products, and for short<br \/>\ndistances where immense quantities were to be conveyed. In the<br \/>\nfew instances where they have been intended for the general purposes<br \/>\nof trade, they have never answered the expectations of their<br \/>\nprojectors. But this seems to have arisen altogether from following<br \/>\ntoo closely the models adopted for the conveyance of minerals,<br \/>\nsuch modes of forming and using railways not being at all adapted<br \/>\nfor the general purposes of trade.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The ill success of railways was generally recognized. Joint-stock<br \/>\ncompanies for all sorts of purposes were formed during the<br \/>\njoint-stock mania of 1821, but few projectors were found daring<br \/>\nenough to propose schemes so unpromising as railways. Hence<br \/>\nnearly twenty years passed between the construction of the first<br \/>\nand the second public railway in England; and this brings<br \/>\nus to the projection of the Stockton and Darlington, which<br \/>\nmay be regarded as the parent public locomotive railway in the<br \/>\nkingdom.<\/p>\n<p>The district lying to the west of Darlington, in the county of<br \/>\nDurham, is one of the richest mineral fields of the North. Vast<br \/>\nstores of coal underlie the Bishop Auckland Valley, and from an<br \/>\nearly period it was felt to be an exceedingly desirable object to<br \/>\nopen up new communications to enable the article to be sent to<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_219\" name=\"Page_219\"><\/a>[219]<\/span><br \/>\nmarket. But the district lay a long way from the sea, and, the<br \/>\nTees being unnavigable, there was next to no vend for the Bishop<br \/>\nAuckland coal.<\/p>\n<p>It is easy to understand, therefore, how the desire to obtain an<br \/>\noutlet for this coal for land sale, as well as for its transport to<br \/>\nLondon by sea, should have early occupied the attention of the<br \/>\ncoal-owners in the Bishop Auckland district. The first idea that<br \/>\nfound favor was the construction of a canal. About a century<br \/>\nago, in 1766, shortly after the Duke of Bridgewater&#8217;s Canal had<br \/>\nbeen opened between Worsley and Manchester, a movement was<br \/>\nset on foot at Darlington with the view of having the country<br \/>\nsurveyed between that place and Stockton-on-Tees.<\/p>\n<p>Brindley was requested to lay out the proposed line of canal;<br \/>\nbut he was engrossed at the time by the prosecution of the works<br \/>\non the Duke&#8217;s Canal to Liverpool, and Whitworth, his pupil and<br \/>\nassistant, was employed in his stead; George Dixon, grandfather<br \/>\nof John Dixon, engineer of the future Stockton and Darlington<br \/>\nRailway, taking an active part in the survey. In October, 1768,<br \/>\nWhitworth presented his plan of the proposed canal from Stockton<br \/>\nby Darlington to Winston, and in the following year, to give<br \/>\nweight to the scheme, Brindley concurred with him in a joint<br \/>\nreport as to the plan and estimate.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing was, however, done in the matter. Enterprise was<br \/>\nslow to move. Stockton waited for Darlington, and Darlington<br \/>\nwaited for Stockton, but neither stirred until twenty years later,<br \/>\nwhen Stockton began to consider the propriety of straightening<br \/>\nthe Tees below that town, and thereby shortening and improving<br \/>\nthe navigation. When it became known that some engineering<br \/>\nscheme was afoot at Stockton, that indefatigable writer of<br \/>\nprospectuses and drawer of plans, Ralph Dodd, the first projector<br \/>\nof a tunnel under the Thames, the first projector of the Waterloo<br \/>\nBridge, and the first to bring a steam-boat from Glasgow<br \/>\ninto the Thames, addressed the Mayor and Corporation of Stockton<br \/>\nin 1796 on the propriety of forming a line of internal navigation<br \/>\nby Darlington and Staindrop to Winston. Still nothing<br \/>\nwas done. Four years later, another engineer, George Atkinson,<br \/>\nreported in favor of a water-way to connect the then projected<br \/>\nGreat Trunk Canal, from about Boroughbridge to Piersebridge,<br \/>\nwith the Tees above Yarm.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_220\" name=\"Page_220\"><\/a>[220]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>At length, in 1808, the Tees Navigation Company, slow in<br \/>\ntheir movements, obtained an act enabling them to make the<br \/>\nshort cut projected seventeen years before, and two years later<br \/>\nthe cut was opened, and celebrated by the inevitable dinner.<br \/>\nThe Stockton people, who adopted as the motto of their company<br \/>\n&#8220;Meliora speramus,&#8221; held a public meeting after the dinner to<br \/>\nmeditate upon and discuss the better things to come. They appointed<br \/>\na committee to inquire into the practicability and advantages<br \/>\nof forming <em>a railway<\/em> or canal from Stockton by Darlington<br \/>\nto Winston. Here, then, in 1810, we have the first glimpse<br \/>\nof the railway; but it was long before the idea germinated and<br \/>\nbore fruit. The collieries must be got at to make the new cut a<br \/>\nsuccess, but <em>how<\/em> for a long time remained the question.<\/p>\n<p>Sixteen months passed, and the committee at Stockton went to<br \/>\nsleep. But it came up again, and this time at Darlington, with<br \/>\nEdward Pease as one of the members. The Darlington committee<br \/>\nmet and made their report, but they could not decide between<br \/>\nthe respective merits of a railroad and a canal. It was felt that<br \/>\neither would be of great advantage. To settle the question, they<br \/>\ndetermined to call the celebrated engineer, John Rennie, to their<br \/>\naid, and he was ready with his report in 1813. His report was<br \/>\nnot published, but it is understood that he was in favor of a canal<br \/>\non Brindley and Whitworth&#8217;s line, though he afterward inclined<br \/>\nto a tram-road. Still nothing was done. War was on foot in<br \/>\nEurope, and enterprise was every where dormant. The scheme<br \/>\nmust therefore wait the advent of peace. At length peace came,<br \/>\nand with it a revival of former projects.<\/p>\n<p>At Newcastle, a plan was set on foot for connecting the Tyne<br \/>\nwith the Solway <span class=\"corr\" title=\"Transcriber's Note\u2014original text: 'Frith'\">Firth<\/span> by a canal. A county meeting was held<br \/>\non the subject in August, 1817, under the presidency of the high<br \/>\nsheriff. Previous to this time, Sir John Swinburne had stood up<br \/>\nfor a railway in preference to a canal; but when the meeting<br \/>\ntook place, the opinion of those present was in favor of a canal\u2014Mr.<br \/>\nWilliam Armstrong (father of the present Sir William) being<br \/>\none of the most zealous advocates of the water-road. Yet<br \/>\nthere were even then railroads in the immediate neighborhood of<br \/>\nNewcastle, at Wylam and Killingworth, which had been successfully<br \/>\nand economically worked by the locomotive for years past,<br \/>\nbut which the Northumbrians seem completely to have ignored.<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_221\" name=\"Page_221\"><\/a>[221]<\/span><br \/>\nThe public head is usually very thick, and it is difficult to hammer<br \/>\na new idea into it. Canals were established methods of conveyance,<br \/>\nand were every where recognized; whereas railways<br \/>\nwere new things, and were struggling hard to gain a footing.<br \/>\nBesides, the only public railway in England, the Wandsworth,<br \/>\nCroydon, and Merstham, had proved a commercial failure, and<br \/>\nwas held up as a warning to all speculators in tram-ways. But,<br \/>\nthough the Newcastle meeting approved of a canal in preference<br \/>\nto a railway from the Tyne to the Solway, nothing was really<br \/>\ndone to promote the formation of either.<\/p>\n<p>The movement in favor of a canal was again revived at Stockton.<br \/>\nA requisition, very numerously signed by persons of influence<br \/>\nin South Durham, was presented to the Mayor of Stockton<br \/>\nin May, 1818, requesting him to convene a public meeting &#8220;to<br \/>\nconsider the expediency of forming a canal for the conveyance<br \/>\nof coal, lime, etc., from Evenwood Bridge, near West Auckland,<br \/>\nto the River Tees, upon a plan recently made by Mr. George<br \/>\nLeatham, engineer.&#8221; Among the names attached to the petition<br \/>\nwe find those of Edward, John, and Thomas Pease, and John<br \/>\nDixon, Darlington. They were doubtless willing to pull with<br \/>\nany party that would open up a way, whether by rail or by water,<br \/>\nbetween the Bishop Auckland coal-field and Stockton, whether<br \/>\nthe line passed through Darlington or not.<\/p>\n<p>An enthusiastic meeting was held at Stockton, and a committee<br \/>\nwas appointed, by whom it was resolved to apply to Parliament<br \/>\nfor an act to make the intended canal &#8220;if funds are forthcoming.&#8221;<br \/>\nNever was there greater virtue in an <em>if<\/em>. Funds were<br \/>\n<em>not<\/em> forthcoming; the project fell through, and a great blunder<br \/>\nwas prevented. When the Stockton men had discussed and resolved<br \/>\nwithout any practical result, the leading men of Darlington<br \/>\ntook up the subject by themselves, determined, if possible, to<br \/>\nbring it to some practical issue. In September, 1818, they met<br \/>\nunder the presidency of Thomas Meynell, Esq. Mr. Overton,<br \/>\nwho had laid down several coal railways in Wales, was consulted,<br \/>\nand, after surveying the district between the Bishop Auckland<br \/>\ncoal-field and the Tees, sent in his report. Mr. Rennie also<br \/>\nwas again consulted. Both engineers gave their opinion in favor<br \/>\nof a railway by Darlington in preference to a canal by Auckland,<br \/>\n&#8220;whether taken as a line for the exportation of coal or as one<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_222\" name=\"Page_222\"><\/a>[222]<\/span><br \/>\nfor a local trade.&#8221; The committee accordingly reported in favor<br \/>\nof the railway.<\/p>\n<p>It is curious now to look back at the modest estimate of traffic<br \/>\nformed by the committee. They considered that the export trade<br \/>\nin coal &#8220;might be taken, perhaps, at 10,000 tons a year, which is<br \/>\nabout one cargo a week!&#8221; It was intended to haul the coal by<br \/>\nhorse-power; a subsequent report stating &#8220;on undoubted authority&#8221;<br \/>\nthat one horse of moderate power could easily draw downward<br \/>\non the railway, between Darlington and Stockton, about ten<br \/>\ntons, and upward about four tons of loading, exclusively of the<br \/>\nempty wagons. No allusion was made to passengers in any of<br \/>\nthe reports; nor did the committee at first contemplate the accommodation<br \/>\nof traffic of this description.<\/p>\n<p>A survey of the line was then ordered, and steps were taken to<br \/>\napply to Parliament for the necessary powers to construct the<br \/>\nrailway. But the controversy was not yet at an end. Stockton<br \/>\nstood by its favorite project of a canal, and would not subscribe<br \/>\na farthing toward the projected railway; but neither did it subscribe<br \/>\ntoward the canal. The landlords, the road trustees, the<br \/>\ncarriers, the proprietors of donkeys (by whom coals were principally<br \/>\ncarried for inland sale), were strenuously opposed to the new<br \/>\nproject; while the general public, stupid and skeptical, for the<br \/>\nmost part stood aloof, quoting old saws and keeping their money<br \/>\nin their pockets.<\/p>\n<p>Several energetic men, however, were now at the head of the<br \/>\nStockton and Darlington Railway project, and determined to<br \/>\npersevere with it. Among these, the Peases were the most zealous.<br \/>\nEdward Pease might be regarded as the back-bone of the<br \/>\nconcern. Opposition did not daunt him, nor failure discourage<br \/>\nhim. When apparently overthrown and prostrate, he would rise<br \/>\nagain like Ant\u00e6us, stronger than before, and renew his efforts<br \/>\nwith increased vigor. He had in him the energy and perseverance<br \/>\nof many men. One who knew him in 1818 said, &#8220;He was<br \/>\na man who could see a hundred years ahead.&#8221; When the author<br \/>\nlast saw him in 1854, a few years before his death, Mr. Pease was<br \/>\nin his eighty-eighth year; yet he still possessed the hopefulness<br \/>\nand mental vigor of a man in his prime. Still sound in health, his<br \/>\neye had not lost its brilliancy, nor his cheek its color, and there was<br \/>\nan elasticity in his step which younger men might have envied.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_223\" name=\"Page_223\"><\/a>[223]<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_226.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"530\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>EDWARD PEASE.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In getting up a company for surveying and forming a railway,<br \/>\nMr. Pease had great difficulties to encounter. The people of the<br \/>\nneighborhood spoke of it as a ridiculous undertaking, and predicted<br \/>\nthat it would be ruinous to all concerned in it. Even those<br \/>\nmost interested in the opening up of new markets for the sale of<br \/>\ntheir coal were indifferent, if not hostile. Mr. Pease nevertheless<br \/>\npersevered in the formation of a company, and he induced many<br \/>\nof his friends and relations to follow his example. The Richardsons<br \/>\nand Backhouses, members, like himself, of the Society of<br \/>\nFriends, influenced by his persuasion, united themselves with him;<br \/>\nand so many of the same denomination (having confidence in<br \/>\nthese influential Darlington names) followed their example and<br \/>\nsubscribed for shares, that the railway obtained the designation,<br \/>\nwhich it long retained, of &#8220;The Quakers&#8217; Line.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Stockton and Darlington scheme had to run the gauntlet<br \/>\nof a fierce opposition in three successive sessions of Parliament.<br \/>\nThe application of 1818 was defeated by the Duke of Cleveland,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_224\" name=\"Page_224\"><\/a>[224]<\/span><br \/>\nwho afterward profited so largely by the railway. The ground<br \/>\nof his opposition was that the line would interfere with one of<br \/>\nhis fox-covers, and it was mainly through his influence that the<br \/>\nbill was thrown out, but only by a majority of thirteen, upward<br \/>\nof one hundred members having voted for the bill. A nobleman<br \/>\nsaid, when he heard of the division, &#8220;Well, if the Quakers in these<br \/>\ntimes, when nobody knows any thing about railways, can raise<br \/>\nsuch a phalanx in their support, I should recommend the country<br \/>\ngentlemen to be very wary how they oppose them in future.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The next year, in 1819, an amended survey of the line was<br \/>\nmade, and, the duke&#8217;s fox-cover being avoided, his opposition was<br \/>\nthus averted; but, on Parliament becoming dissolved on the death<br \/>\nof George III., the bill was necessarily suspended until another<br \/>\nsession.<\/p>\n<p>In the mean time the local opposition to the measure revived,<br \/>\nand now it was led by the road trustees, who spread it abroad that<br \/>\nthe mortgagees of the tolls arising from the turnpike-road leading<br \/>\nfrom Darlington to West Auckland would be seriously injured<br \/>\nby the formation of the proposed railway. On this, Edward Pease<br \/>\nissued a printed notice, requesting any alarmed mortgagee to apply<br \/>\nto the company&#8217;s solicitors at Darlington, who were authorized<br \/>\nto purchase their securities at the prices originally given for them.<br \/>\nThis notice had the effect of allaying the alarm spread abroad;<br \/>\nand the bill, though still strongly opposed, passed both houses of<br \/>\nParliament in 1821.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/files\/46229\/46229-h\/images\/i_227-large.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_227.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"226\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>MAP OF STOCKTON AND DARLINGTON RAILWAY.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The preamble of the act sets forth the public utility of the proposed<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_225\" name=\"Page_225\"><\/a>[225]<\/span><br \/>\nline for the conveyance of coal and other commodities from<br \/>\nthe interior of the county of Durham to Stockton and the northern<br \/>\nparts of Yorkshire. Nothing was said about passengers, for<br \/>\npassenger-traffic was not yet contemplated; and nothing was said<br \/>\nabout locomotives, as it was at first intended to work the line entirely<br \/>\nby horse-power. The road was to be free to all persons<br \/>\nwho chose to place their wagons and horses upon it for the haulage<br \/>\nof coal and merchandise, provided they paid the tolls fixed<br \/>\nby the act.<\/p>\n<p>The company were empowered to charge fourpence a ton per<br \/>\nmile for all coal intended for land sale, but only a halfpenny a<br \/>\nton per mile for coal intended for shipment at Stockton. This<br \/>\nlatter proviso was inserted at the instance of Mr. Lambton, afterward<br \/>\nEarl of Durham, for the express purpose of preventing the<br \/>\nline being used in competition against his coal loaded at Sunderland;<br \/>\nfor it was not believed possible that coal could be carried<br \/>\nat that low rate except at a heavy loss. As it was, however, the<br \/>\nrate thus fixed by the act eventually proved the vital element of<br \/>\nsuccess in the working of the undertaking.<\/p>\n<p>While the Stockton and Darlington Railway scheme was still<br \/>\nbefore Parliament, we find Edward Pease writing letters to a<br \/>\nYork paper, urging the propriety of extending it southward into<br \/>\nYorkshire by a branch from Croft. It is curious now to look<br \/>\nback upon the arguments by which Mr. Pease sought to influence<br \/>\npublic opinion in favor of railways, and to observe the very<br \/>\nmodest anticipations which even its most zealous advocate entertained<br \/>\nas to their supposed utility and capabilities:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;The late improvements in the construction of railways,&#8221; Mr.<br \/>\nPease wrote, &#8220;have rendered them much more perfect than when<br \/>\nconstructed after the old plan. To such a degree of utility have<br \/>\nthey now been brought that they may be regarded as <em>very little inferior<br \/>\nto canals<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If we compare the railway with the best lines of common road,<br \/>\nit may be fairly stated that in the case of a level railway the work<br \/>\nwill be increased in at least an eightfold degree. The best horse is<br \/>\nsufficiently loaded with three quarters of a ton on a common road,<br \/>\nfrom the undulating line of its draught, while on a railway it is<br \/>\ncalculated that a horse will easily draw a load of ten tons. At<br \/>\nLord Elgin&#8217;s works, Mr. Stevenson, the celebrated engineer, states<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_226\" name=\"Page_226\"><\/a>[226]<\/span><br \/>\nthat he has actually seen a horse draw twenty-three tons thirteen<br \/>\ncwt. upon a railway which was in some parts level, and at other<br \/>\nparts presented a gentle declivity!<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The formation of a railway, if it creates no improvement in a<br \/>\ncountry, certainly bars none, as all the former modes of communication<br \/>\nremain unimpaired; and the public obtain, at the risk of the<br \/>\nsubscribers, another and better mode of carriage, which it will always<br \/>\nbe to the interest of the proprietors to make cheap and serviceable<br \/>\nto the community.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;On undertakings of this kind, when compared with canals, the<br \/>\nadvantages of which (where an ascending or descending line can<br \/>\nbe obtained) are nearly equal, it may be remarked that public opinion<br \/>\nis not easily changed on any subject. It requires the experience<br \/>\nof many years, sometimes ages, to accomplish this, even in<br \/>\ncases which by some may be deemed obvious. Such is the effect<br \/>\nof habit, and such the aversion of mankind to any thing like innovation<br \/>\nor change. Although this is often regretted, yet, if the<br \/>\nprinciple be investigated in all its ramifications, it will perhaps be<br \/>\nfound to be one of the most fortunate dispositions of the human<br \/>\nmind.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The system of cast-iron railways is as yet to be considered but<br \/>\nin its infancy. It will be found to be an immense improvement on<br \/>\nthe common road, and also on the wooden railway. It neither presents<br \/>\nthe friction of the tram-way, nor partakes of the perishable<br \/>\nnature of the wooden railway, and, as regards utility, it may be<br \/>\nconsidered as the medium between the navigable canal and the<br \/>\ncommon road. We may therefore hope that as this system develops<br \/>\nitself, our roads will be laid out as much as possible on <em>one<br \/>\nlevel<\/em>, and in connection with the great lines of communication<br \/>\nthroughout the country.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Such were the modest anticipations of Edward Pease respecting<br \/>\nrailways in the year 1821. Ten years later, an age of progress,<br \/>\nby comparison, had been effected.<\/p>\n<p>Some time elapsed before any active steps were taken to proceed<br \/>\nwith the construction of the railway. Doubts were raised<br \/>\nwhether the line was the best that could be adopted for the district,<br \/>\nand the subscribers generally were not so sanguine about<br \/>\nthe undertaking as to induce them to press it forward.<\/p>\n<p>One day, about the end of the year 1821, two strangers knocked<br \/>\nat the door of Mr. Pease&#8217;s house in Darlington, and a message<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_227\" name=\"Page_227\"><\/a>[227]<\/span><br \/>\nwas brought to him that some persons from Killingworth wanted<br \/>\nto speak with him. They were invited in, on which one of the<br \/>\nvisitors introduced himself as Nicholas Wood, viewer at Killingworth,<br \/>\nand then turning to his companion, he introduced him as<br \/>\nGeorge Stephenson, engine-wright, of the same place.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Pease entered into conversation with his visitors, and was<br \/>\nsoon told their object. Stephenson had heard of the passing of<br \/>\nthe Stockton and Darlington Act, and desiring to increase his<br \/>\nrailway experience, and also to employ in some larger field the<br \/>\npractical knowledge he had already acquired, he determined to<br \/>\nvisit the known projector of the undertaking, with the view of<br \/>\nbeing employed to carry it out. He had brought with him his<br \/>\nfriend Wood for the purpose at the same time of relieving his<br \/>\ndiffidence and supporting his application.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Pease liked the appearance of his visitor: &#8220;there was,&#8221; as<br \/>\nhe afterward remarked when speaking of Stephenson, &#8220;such an<br \/>\nhonest, sensible look about him, and he seemed so modest and<br \/>\nunpretending. He spoke in the strong Northumbrian dialect of<br \/>\nhis district, and described himself as &#8216;only the engine-wright at<br \/>\nKillingworth; that&#8217;s what he was.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Pease soon saw that our engineer was the very man for<br \/>\nhis purpose. The whole plans of the railway were still in an undetermined<br \/>\nstate, and Mr. Pease was therefore glad to have the<br \/>\nopportunity of profiting by Stephenson&#8217;s experience. In the<br \/>\ncourse of their conversation, the latter strongly recommended a<br \/>\n<em>railway<\/em> in preference to a tram-road. They also discussed the<br \/>\nkind of tractive power to be employed, Mr. Pease stating that<br \/>\nthe company had based their whole calculations on the employment<br \/>\nof <em>horse<\/em>-power. &#8220;I was so satisfied,&#8221; said he afterward,<br \/>\n&#8220;that a horse upon an iron road would draw ten tons for one ton<br \/>\non a common road, that I felt sure that before long the railway<br \/>\nwould become the king&#8217;s highway.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But Mr. Pease was scarcely prepared for the bold assertion<br \/>\nmade by his visitor, that the locomotive engine with which he<br \/>\nhad been working the Killingworth Railway for many years past<br \/>\nwas worth fifty horses, and that engines made after a similar<br \/>\nplan would yet entirely supersede all horse-power upon railroads.<br \/>\nStephenson was daily becoming more positive as to the superiority<br \/>\nof his locomotive, and hence he strongly urged Mr. Pease<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_228\" name=\"Page_228\"><\/a>[228]<\/span><br \/>\nto adopt it. &#8220;Come over to Killingworth,&#8221; said he, &#8220;and see<br \/>\nwhat my engines can do; seeing is believing, sir.&#8221; Mr. Pease<br \/>\naccordingly promised that on some early day he would go over<br \/>\nto Killingworth, and take a look at the wonderful machine that<br \/>\nwas to supersede horses.<\/p>\n<p>The result of the interview was, that Mr. Pease promised to<br \/>\nbring Stephenson&#8217;s application for the appointment of engineer<br \/>\nbefore the directors, and to support it with his influence; whereon<br \/>\nthe two visitors prepared to take their leave, informing Mr.<br \/>\nPease that they intended to return to Newcastle &#8220;by nip;&#8221; that<br \/>\nis, they expected to get a smuggled lift on the stage-coach by<br \/>\ntipping Jehu\u2014for in those days the stage-coachmen regarded all<br \/>\ncasual roadside passengers as their proper perquisites. They had,<br \/>\nhowever, been so much engrossed by their conversation that the<br \/>\nlapse of time was forgotten, and when Stephenson and his friend<br \/>\nmade inquiries about the return coach, they found the last had<br \/>\nleft, and they had to walk eighteen miles to Durham on their<br \/>\nway back to Newcastle.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Pease having made farther inquiries respecting Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\ncharacter and qualifications, and having received a very<br \/>\nstrong recommendation of him as the right man for the intended<br \/>\nwork, he brought the subject of his application before the directors<br \/>\nof the Stockton and Darlington Company. They resolved<br \/>\nto adopt his recommendation that a railway be formed instead of<br \/>\na tram-road; and they farther requested Mr. Pease to write to<br \/>\nStephenson, desiring him to undertake a resurvey of the line at<br \/>\nthe earliest practicable period.<\/p>\n<p>A man was dispatched on a horse with the letter, and when<br \/>\nhe reached Killingworth he made diligent inquiry after the person<br \/>\nnamed on the address, &#8220;George Stephenson, Esquire, Engineer.&#8221;<br \/>\nNo such person was known in the village. It is said that<br \/>\nthe man was on the point of giving up all farther search, when<br \/>\nthe happy thought struck some of the colliers&#8217; wives who had<br \/>\ngathered about him that it must be &#8220;Geordie the engine-wright&#8221;<br \/>\nthe man was in search of, and to Geordie&#8217;s cottage he accordingly<br \/>\nwent, found him at home, and delivered the letter.<\/p>\n<p>About the end of September Stephenson went carefully over<br \/>\nthe line of the proposed railway for the purpose of suggesting<br \/>\nsuch improvements and deviations as he might consider desirable.<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_229\" name=\"Page_229\"><\/a>[229]<\/span><br \/>\nHe was accompanied by an assistant and a chainman, his son<br \/>\nRobert entering the figures while his father took the sights. After<br \/>\nbeing engaged in the work at intervals for about six weeks,<br \/>\nStephenson reported the result of his survey to the Board of Directors,<br \/>\nand showed that, by certain deviations, a line shorter by<br \/>\nabout three miles might be constructed at a considerable saving<br \/>\nin expense, while at the same time more favorable gradients\u2014an<br \/>\nimportant consideration\u2014would be secured.<\/p>\n<p>It was, however, determined in the first place to proceed with<br \/>\nthe works at those parts of the line where no deviation was proposed,<br \/>\nand the first rail of the Stockton and Darlington Railway<br \/>\nwas laid with considerable ceremony, near Stockton, on the 23d<br \/>\nof May, 1822.<\/p>\n<p>It is worthy of note that Stephenson, in making his first estimate<br \/>\nof the cost of forming the railway according to the instructions<br \/>\nof the directors, set down, as part of the cost, \u00a36200 for<br \/>\nstationary engines, not mentioning locomotives at all. It was<br \/>\nthe intention of the directors, in the first place, to employ only<br \/>\nhorses for the haulage of the coals, and fixed engines and ropes<br \/>\nwhere horse-power was not applicable. The whole question of<br \/>\nsteam-locomotive power was, in the estimation of the public, as<br \/>\nwell as of practical and scientific men, as yet in doubt. The<br \/>\nconfident anticipations of George Stephenson as to the eventual<br \/>\nsuccess of locomotive engines were regarded as mere speculations;<br \/>\nand when he gave utterance to his views, as he frequently<br \/>\ntook the opportunity of doing, it even had the effect of shaking<br \/>\nthe confidence of some of his friends in the solidity of his judgment<br \/>\nand his practical qualities as an engineer.<\/p>\n<p>When Mr. Pease discussed the question with Stephenson, his<br \/>\nremark was, &#8220;Come over and see my engines at Killingworth,<br \/>\nand satisfy yourself as to the efficiency of the locomotive. I will<br \/>\nshow you the colliery books, that you may ascertain for yourself<br \/>\nthe actual cost of working. And I must tell you that the economy<br \/>\nof the locomotive engine is no longer a matter of theory,<br \/>\nbut a matter of fact.&#8221; So confident was the tone in which Stephenson<br \/>\nspoke of the success of his engines, and so important<br \/>\nwere the consequences involved in arriving at a correct conclusion<br \/>\non the subject, that Mr. Pease at length resolved on paying<br \/>\na visit to Killingworth in the summer of 1822, in company with<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_230\" name=\"Page_230\"><\/a>[230]<\/span><br \/>\nhis friend Thomas Richardson, a considerable subscriber to the<br \/>\nStockton and Darlington undertaking,<a id=\"FNanchor_52\" name=\"FNanchor_52\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_52\">[52]<\/a> to inspect the wonderful<br \/>\nnew power so much vaunted by their engineer.<\/p>\n<p>When Mr. Pease arrived at Killingworth village, he inquired<br \/>\nfor George Stephenson, and was told that he must go over to the<br \/>\nWest Moor, and seek for a cottage by the roadside with a dial<br \/>\nover the door\u2014&#8221;that was where George Stephenson lived.&#8221; They<br \/>\nsoon found the house with the dial, and, on knocking, the door<br \/>\nwas opened by Mrs. Stephenson. In answer to Mr. Pease&#8217;s inquiry<br \/>\nfor her husband, she said he was not in the house at present,<br \/>\nbut that she would send for him to the colliery. And in a<br \/>\nshort time Stephenson appeared before them in his working dress,<br \/>\njust as he had come out of the pit.<\/p>\n<p>He very soon had his locomotive brought up to the crossing<br \/>\nclose by the end of the cottage, made the gentlemen mount it,<br \/>\nand showed them its paces. Harnessing it to a train of loaded<br \/>\nwagons, he ran it along the railroad, and so thoroughly satisfied<br \/>\nhis visitors of its power and capabilities, that from that day Edward<br \/>\nPease was a declared supporter of the locomotive engine.<br \/>\nIn preparing the Amended Stockton and Darlington Act, at Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\nurgent request Mr. Pease had a clause inserted, taking<br \/>\npower to work the railway by means of locomotive engines, and<br \/>\nto employ them for the haulage of passengers as well as of merchandise<a id=\"FNanchor_53\" name=\"FNanchor_53\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_53\">[53]<\/a><br \/>\nThe act was obtained in 1823, on which Stephenson<br \/>\nwas appointed the company&#8217;s engineer, at a salary of \u00a3300 per<br \/>\nannum; and it was determined that the line should be constructed<br \/>\nand opened for traffic as soon as practicable.<\/p>\n<p>He at once proceeded, accompanied by his assistants, with the<br \/>\nworking survey of the line, laying out every foot of the ground<br \/>\nhimself. Railway surveying was as yet in its infancy, and was<br \/>\nslow and difficult work. It afterward became a separate branch<br \/>\nof railway business, and was intrusted to a special staff. Indeed,<br \/>\non no subsequent line did George Stephenson take the sights<br \/>\nthrough the spirit-level with his own hands and eyes as he did<br \/>\non this railway. He started very early\u2014dressed in a blue tailed<br \/>\n<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_231\" name=\"Page_231\"><\/a>[231]<\/span>coat, breeches, and top-boots\u2014and surveyed until dusk. He was<br \/>\nnot at any time particular as to his living; and, during the survey,<br \/>\nhe took his chance of getting a little milk and bread at<br \/>\nsome cottager&#8217;s house along the line, or occasionally joined in a<br \/>\nhomely dinner at some neighboring farm-house. The country<br \/>\npeople were accustomed to give him a hearty welcome when he<br \/>\nappeared at their door, for he was always full of cheery and<br \/>\nhomely talk, and, when there were children about the house, he<br \/>\nhad plenty of humorous chat for them as well as for their seniors.<\/p>\n<p>After the day&#8217;s work was over, George would drop in at Mr.<br \/>\nPease&#8217;s to talk over the progress of the survey, and discuss various<br \/>\nmatters connected with the railway. Mr. Pease&#8217;s daughters<br \/>\nwere usually present; and, on one occasion, finding the young<br \/>\nladies learning the art of embroidery, he volunteered to instruct<br \/>\nthem.<a id=\"FNanchor_54\" name=\"FNanchor_54\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_54\">[54]<\/a> &#8220;I know all about it,&#8221; said he, &#8220;and you will wonder<br \/>\nhow I learned it. I will tell you. When I was a brakesman at<br \/>\nKillingworth, I learned the art of embroidery while working the<br \/>\npitmen&#8217;s button-holes by the engine fire at nights.&#8221; He was never<br \/>\nashamed, but, on the contrary, rather proud, of reminding his<br \/>\nfriends of these humble pursuits of his early life. Mr. Pease&#8217;s<br \/>\nfamily were greatly pleased with his conversation, which was<br \/>\nalways amusing and instructive; full of all sorts of experience,<br \/>\ngathered in the oddest and most out-of-the-way places. Even at<br \/>\nthat early period, before he mixed in the society of educated persons,<br \/>\nthere was a dash of speculativeness in his remarks which<br \/>\ngave a high degree of originality to his conversation; and he<br \/>\nwould sometimes, in a casual remark, throw a flash of light upon<br \/>\na subject which called up a train of pregnant suggestions.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most important subjects of discussion at these meetings<br \/>\nwith Mr. Pease was the establishment of a manufactory at<br \/>\nNewcastle for the building of locomotive engines. Up to this<br \/>\ntime all the locomotives constructed after Stephenson&#8217;s designs<br \/>\nhad been made by ordinary mechanics working at the collieries<br \/>\nin the North of England. But he had long felt that the accuracy<br \/>\nand style of their workmanship admitted of great improvement,<br \/>\nand that upon this the more perfect action of the locomotive<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_232\" name=\"Page_232\"><\/a>[232]<\/span><br \/>\nengine, and its general adoption, in a great measure depended.<br \/>\nOne principal object that he had in view in establishing the<br \/>\nproposed factory was to concentrate a number of good workmen<br \/>\nfor the purpose of carrying out the improvements in detail which<br \/>\nhe was from time to time making in his engine; for he felt hampered<br \/>\nby the want of efficient help from skilled mechanics, who<br \/>\ncould work out in a practical form the ideas of which his busy<br \/>\nmind was always so prolific. Doubtless, too, he believed that the<br \/>\nmanufactory would prove a remunerative investment, and that,<br \/>\non the general adoption of the railway system which he anticipated,<br \/>\nhe would derive solid advantages from the fact of his establishment<br \/>\nbeing the only one of the kind for the special construction<br \/>\nof locomotive engines.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Pease approved of his design, and strongly recommended<br \/>\nhim to carry it into effect. But there was the question of means;<br \/>\nand Stephenson did not think he had capital enough for the purpose.<br \/>\nHe told Mr. Pease that he could advance \u00a31000\u2014the<br \/>\namount of the testimonial presented by the coal-owners for his<br \/>\nsafety-lamp invention, which he had still left untouched; but he<br \/>\ndid not think this sufficient for the purpose, and he thought that<br \/>\nhe should require at least another \u00a31000. Mr. Pease had been<br \/>\nvery much struck with the successful performances of the Killingworth<br \/>\nengine; and, being an accurate judge of character, he<br \/>\nbelieved that he could not go far wrong in linking a portion of<br \/>\nhis fortune with the energy and industry of George Stephenson.<br \/>\nHe consulted his friend Thomas Richardson in the matter, and<br \/>\nthe two consented to advance \u00a3500 each for the purpose of establishing<br \/>\nthe engine factory at Newcastle. A piece of land was<br \/>\naccordingly purchased in Forth Street, in August, 1823, on which<br \/>\na small building was erected\u2014the nucleus of the gigantic establishment<br \/>\nwhich was afterward formed around it; and active operations<br \/>\nwere begun early in 1824.<\/p>\n<p>While the Stockton and Darlington Railway works were in<br \/>\nprogress, our engineer had many interesting discussions with<br \/>\nMr. Pease on points connected with its construction and working,<br \/>\nthe determination of which in a great measure affected the<br \/>\nformation and working of future railways. The most important<br \/>\npoints were these: 1. The comparative merits of cast and<br \/>\nwrought iron rails. 2. The gauge of the railway. 3. The employment<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_233\" name=\"Page_233\"><\/a>[233]<\/span><br \/>\nof horse or engine power in working it when ready<br \/>\nfor traffic.<\/p>\n<p>The kind of rails to be laid down to form the permanent road<br \/>\nwas a matter of considerable importance. A wooden tram-road<br \/>\nhad been contemplated when the first act was applied for; but<br \/>\nStephenson having advised that an iron road should be laid down,<br \/>\nhe was instructed to draw up a specification of the rails. He<br \/>\nwent before the directors to discuss with them the kind of material<br \/>\nto be specified. He was himself interested in the patent for<br \/>\ncast-iron rails, which he had taken out in conjunction with Mr.<br \/>\nLosh in 1816, and, of course, it was to his interest that his articles<br \/>\nshould be used. But when requested to give his opinion on<br \/>\nthe subject, he frankly said to the directors, &#8220;Well, gentlemen, to<br \/>\ntell you the truth, although it would put \u00a3500 in my pocket to<br \/>\nspecify my own patent rails, I can not do so after the experience<br \/>\nI have had. If you take my advice, you will not lay down a<br \/>\nsingle cast-iron rail.&#8221; &#8220;Why?&#8221; asked the directors. &#8220;Because<br \/>\nthey will not stand the weight, and you will be at no end of expense<br \/>\nfor repairs and relays.&#8221; &#8220;What kind of road, then,&#8221; he<br \/>\nwas asked, &#8220;would you recommend?&#8221; &#8220;Malleable rails, certainly,&#8221;<br \/>\nsaid he; &#8220;and I can recommend them with the more confidence<br \/>\nfrom the fact that at Killingworth we have had some<br \/>\nSwedish bars laid down\u2014nailed to wooden sleepers\u2014for a period<br \/>\nof fourteen years, the wagons passing over them daily, and<br \/>\nthere they are, in use yet, whereas the cast rails are constantly<br \/>\ngiving way.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_55\" name=\"FNanchor_55\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_55\">[55]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The price of malleable rails was, however, so high\u2014being then<br \/>\nworth about \u00a312 per ton as compared with cast-iron rails at about<br \/>\n\u00a35 10<i>s.<\/i>\u2014and the saving of expense was so important a consideration<br \/>\nwith the subscribers, that Stephenson was directed to provide<br \/>\nin the specification that only one half of the rails required\u2014or<br \/>\nabout 800 tons\u2014should be of malleable iron, and the remainder<br \/>\nof cast iron. The malleable rails were of the kind called<br \/>\n&#8220;fish-bellied,&#8221; and weighed 28 lbs. to the yard, being 2-1\/4 inches<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_234\" name=\"Page_234\"><\/a>[234]<\/span><br \/>\nbroad at the top, with the upper flange 3\/4 inch thick. They were<br \/>\nonly 2 inches in depth at the points at which they rested on the<br \/>\nchairs, and 3-1\/4 inches in the middle or bellied part.<\/p>\n<p>When forming the road, the proper gauge had also to be determined.<br \/>\nWhat width was this to be? The gauge of the first<br \/>\ntram-road laid down had virtually settled the point. The gauge<br \/>\nof wheels of the common vehicles of the country\u2014of the carts<br \/>\nand wagons employed on common roads, which were first used<br \/>\non the tram-roads\u2014was about 4 feet 8-1\/2 inches. And so the first<br \/>\ntram-roads were laid down of this gauge. The tools and machinery<br \/>\nfor constructing coal-wagons and locomotives were formed<br \/>\nwith this gauge in view. The Wylam wagon-way, afterward the<br \/>\nWylam plate-way, the Killingworth railroad, and the Hetton railroad,<br \/>\nwere as nearly as possible on the same gauge. Some of<br \/>\nthe earth-wagons used to form the Stockton and Darlington road<br \/>\nwere brought from the Hetton Railway; and others which were<br \/>\nspecially constructed were formed of the same dimensions, these<br \/>\nbeing intended to be afterward employed in the working of the<br \/>\ntraffic.<\/p>\n<p>As the period drew near for the opening of the line, the question<br \/>\nof the tractive power to be employed was anxiously discussed.<br \/>\nAt the Brusselton incline, fixed engines must necessarily<br \/>\nbe made use of; but with respect to the mode of working the<br \/>\nrailway generally, it was decided that horses were to be largely<br \/>\nemployed, and arrangements were made for their purchase.<\/p>\n<p>Although locomotives had been regularly employed in hauling<br \/>\ncoal-wagons on the Middleton Colliery Railway, near Leeds, for<br \/>\nmore than twelve years, and on the Wylam and Killingworth<br \/>\nRailways near Newcastle for more than ten years, great skepticism<br \/>\nstill prevailed as to the economy of employing them for the<br \/>\npurpose in lieu of horses. In this case, it would appear that seeing<br \/>\nwas <em>not<\/em> believing. The popular skepticism was as great at<br \/>\nNewcastle, where the opportunities for accurate observation were<br \/>\nthe greatest, as any where else. In 1824 the scheme of a canal<br \/>\nbetween that town and Carlisle again came up, and, though a few<br \/>\ntimid voices were raised on behalf of a railway, the general opinion<br \/>\nwas still in favor of a canal. The example of the Hetton<br \/>\nRailway, which had been successfully worked by Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\nlocomotives for two years past, was pointed to in proof of the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_235\" name=\"Page_235\"><\/a>[235]<\/span><br \/>\npracticability of a locomotive line between the two places; but<br \/>\nthe voice of the press as well as of the public was decidedly<br \/>\nagainst the &#8220;new-fangled roads.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There has been some talk,&#8221; wrote the &#8220;Whitehaven Gazette,&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8220;from a puff criticism in the &#8216;Monthly Review,&#8217; of an improvement<br \/>\non the principle of railways; but we suspect that this improvement<br \/>\nwill turn out like the steam-carriages, of which we<br \/>\nhave been told so much, that were to supersede the use of horses<br \/>\nentirely, and travel <em>at a rate almost equal to the speed of the<br \/>\nfleetest horse<\/em>!&#8221; The idea was too chimerical to be entertained,<br \/>\nand the suggested railway was accordingly rejected as impracticable.<\/p>\n<p>The &#8220;Tyne Mercury&#8221; was equally decided against railways.<br \/>\n&#8220;What person,&#8221; asked the editor (November 16th, 1824), &#8220;would<br \/>\never think of <em>paying any thing<\/em> to be conveyed from Hexham to<br \/>\nNewcastle in something like a coal-wagon, upon a dreary wagon-way,<br \/>\nand to be dragged for the greater part of the distance by a<br \/>\n<span class=\"smcap\">ROARING STEAM-ENGINE<\/span>!&#8221; The very notion of such a thing was<br \/>\npreposterous, ridiculous, and utterly absurd.<\/p>\n<p>When such was the state of public opinion as to railway locomotion,<br \/>\nsome idea may be formed of the clearsightedness and<br \/>\nmoral courage of the Stockton and Darlington directors in ordering<br \/>\nthree of Stephenson&#8217;s locomotive engines, at a cost of several<br \/>\nthousand pounds, against the opening of the railway.<\/p>\n<p>These were constructed after Stephenson&#8217;s most matured designs,<br \/>\nand embodied all the improvements which he had contrived<br \/>\nup to that time. No. 1 engine, the &#8220;Locomotion,&#8221; which<br \/>\nwas first delivered, weighed about eight tons. It had one large<br \/>\nflue or tube through the boiler, by which the heated air passed<br \/>\ndirect from the furnace at one end, lined with fire-bricks, to the<br \/>\nchimney at the other. The combustion in the furnace was quickened<br \/>\nby the adoption of the steam-blast in the chimney. The<br \/>\nheat raised was sometimes so great, and it was so imperfectly abstracted<br \/>\nby the surrounding water, that the chimney became almost<br \/>\nred-hot. Such engines, when put to their speed, were found<br \/>\ncapable of running at the rate of from twelve to sixteen miles an<br \/>\nhour; but they were better adapted for the heavy work of hauling<br \/>\ncoal-trains at low speeds\u2014for which, indeed, they were specially<br \/>\nconstructed\u2014than for running at the higher speeds afterward<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_236\" name=\"Page_236\"><\/a>[236]<\/span><br \/>\nadopted. Nor was it contemplated by the directors as<br \/>\npossible, at the time when they were ordered, that locomotives<br \/>\ncould be made available for the purposes of passenger traveling.<br \/>\nBesides, the Stockton and Darlington Railway did not run through<br \/>\na district in which passengers were supposed to be likely to constitute<br \/>\nany considerable portion of the traffic.<\/p>\n<p>We may easily imagine the anxiety felt by George Stephenson<br \/>\nduring the progress of the works toward completion, and his mingled<br \/>\nhopes and doubts (though his doubts were but few) as to the<br \/>\nissue of this great experiment. When the formation of the line<br \/>\nnear Stockton was well advanced, the engineer one day, accompanied<br \/>\nby his son Robert and John Dixon, made a journey of<br \/>\ninspection of the works. The party reached Stockton, and proceeded<br \/>\nto dine at one of the inns there. After dinner, Stephenson<br \/>\nventured on the very unusual measure of ordering in a bottle<br \/>\nof wine, to drink success to the railway. John Dixon relates with<br \/>\npride the utterance of the master on the occasion. &#8220;Now, lads,&#8221;<br \/>\nsaid he to the two young men, &#8220;I venture to tell you that I think<br \/>\nyou will live to see the day when railways will supersede almost<br \/>\nall other methods of conveyance in this country\u2014when mail-coaches<br \/>\nwill go by railway, and railroads will become the great<br \/>\nhighways for the king and all his subjects. The time is coming<br \/>\nwhen it will be cheaper for a working man to travel on a railway<br \/>\nthan to walk on foot. I know there are great and almost insurmountable<br \/>\ndifficulties to be encountered, but what I have said<br \/>\nwill come to pass as sure as you now hear me. I only wish I<br \/>\nmay live to see the day, though that I can scarcely hope for, as<br \/>\nI know how slow all human progress is, and with what difficulty<br \/>\nI have been able to get the locomotive introduced thus far, notwithstanding<br \/>\nmy more than ten years&#8217; successful experiment at<br \/>\nKillingworth.&#8221; The result, however, outstripped even George<br \/>\nStephenson&#8217;s most sanguine anticipations; and his son Robert,<br \/>\nshortly after his return from America in 1827, saw his father&#8217;s<br \/>\nlocomotive adopted as the tractive power on railways generally.<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday, the 27th of September, 1825, was a great day for Darlington.<br \/>\nThe railway, after having been under construction for<br \/>\nmore than three years, was at length about to be opened. The<br \/>\nproject had been the talk of the neighborhood for so long that<br \/>\nthere were few people within a range of twenty miles who did<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_237\" name=\"Page_237\"><\/a>[237]<\/span><br \/>\nnot feel more or less interested about it. Was it to be a failure<br \/>\nor a success? Opinions were pretty equally divided as to the<br \/>\nrailway, but as regarded the locomotive the general belief was<br \/>\nthat it would &#8220;never answer.&#8221; However, there the locomotive<br \/>\nwas\u2014&#8221;No. 1&#8243;\u2014delivered on to the line, and ready to draw the<br \/>\nfirst train of wagons on the opening day.<\/p>\n<p>A great concourse of people assembled on the occasion. Some<br \/>\ncame from Newcastle and Durham, many from the Aucklands,<br \/>\nwhile Darlington held a general holiday, and turned out all its<br \/>\npopulation. To give <em>\u00e9clat<\/em> to the opening, the directors of the<br \/>\ncompany issued a programme of the proceedings, intimating the<br \/>\ntimes at which the procession of wagons would pass certain points<br \/>\nalong the line. The proprietors assembled as early as six in the<br \/>\nmorning at the Brusselton fixed engine, where the working of<br \/>\nthe inclined planes was successfully rehearsed. A train of wagons<br \/>\nladen with coals and merchandise was drawn up the western<br \/>\nincline by the fixed engine, a length of 1960 yards, in seven and<br \/>\na half minutes, and then lowered down the incline on the eastern<br \/>\nside of the hill, 880 yards, in five minutes.<\/p>\n<p>At the foot of the incline the procession of vehicles was formed,<br \/>\nconsisting of the locomotive engine No. 1, driven by George<br \/>\nStephenson himself; after it six wagons loaded with coals and<br \/>\nflour, then a covered coach containing directors and proprietors,<br \/>\nnext twenty-one coal-wagons fitted up for passengers (with which<br \/>\nthey were crammed), and lastly six more wagons loaded with<br \/>\ncoals.<\/p>\n<p>Strange to say, a man on a horse, carrying a flag, with the<br \/>\nmotto of the company inscribed on it, <i lang=\"la\">Periculum privatum utilitas<br \/>\npublica<\/i>, headed the procession! A lithographic view of the<br \/>\ngreat event, published shortly after, duly exhibits the horseman<br \/>\nand his flag. It was not thought so dangerous a place after all.<br \/>\nThe locomotive was only supposed to be able to go at the rate of<br \/>\nfrom four to six miles an hour, and an ordinary horse could easily<br \/>\nkeep ahead of that.<\/p>\n<p>Off started the procession, with the horseman at its head. A<br \/>\ngreat concourse of people stood along the line. Many of them<br \/>\ntried to accompany it by running, and some gentlemen on horseback<br \/>\ngalloped across the fields to keep up with the train. The<br \/>\nrailway descending with a gentle incline toward Darlington, the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_238\" name=\"Page_238\"><\/a>[238]<\/span><br \/>\nrate of speed was consequently variable. At a favorable part of<br \/>\nthe road Stephenson determined to try the speed of the engine,<br \/>\nand he called upon the horseman with the flag to get out of the<br \/>\nway! Most probably, deeming it unnecessary to carry his <i lang=\"la\">Periculum<br \/>\nprivatum<\/i> farther, the horseman turned aside, and Stephenson<br \/>\n&#8220;put on the steam.&#8221; The speed was at once raised to<br \/>\ntwelve miles an hour, and, at a favorable part of the road, to fifteen.<br \/>\nThe runners on foot, the gentlemen on horseback, and the<br \/>\nhorseman with the flag, were consequently soon left far behind.<br \/>\nWhen the train reached Darlington, it was found that four hundred<br \/>\nand fifty passengers occupied the wagons, and that the load<br \/>\nof men, coals, and merchandise amounted to about ninety tons.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_241.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"302\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>PROCESSION AT THE OPENING OF THE STOCKTON AND DARLINGTON RAILWAY.<br \/>\n[Fac-simile of a local lithograph.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>At Darlington the procession was rearranged. The six loaded<br \/>\ncoal-wagons were left behind, and other wagons were taken on<br \/>\nwith a hundred and fifty more passengers, together with a band<br \/>\nof music. The train then started for Stockton\u2014a distance of<br \/>\nonly twelve miles\u2014which was reached in about three hours. The<br \/>\nday was kept throughout the district as a holiday; and horses,<br \/>\ngigs, carts, and other vehicles, filled with people, stood along the<br \/>\nrailway, as well as crowds of persons on foot, waiting to see the<br \/>\ntrain pass. The whole population of Stockton turned out to receive<br \/>\nthe procession, and, after a walk through the streets, the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_239\" name=\"Page_239\"><\/a>[239]<\/span><br \/>\ninevitable dinner in the Town Hall wound up the day&#8217;s proceedings.<\/p>\n<p>All this, however, was but gala work. The serious business<br \/>\nof the company began on the following day. Upon the result<br \/>\nof the experiment now fairly initiated by the Stockton and Darlington<br \/>\nCompany the future of railways in a great measure depended.<br \/>\nIf it failed, like the Wandsworth, Croydon, and Merstham<br \/>\nundertaking, then a great check would unquestionably be<br \/>\ngiven to speculation in railways. If it succeeded, the Stockton<br \/>\nand Darlington enterprise would mark the beginning of a new<br \/>\nera, and issue in neither more nor less than a complete revolution<br \/>\nof the means of communication in all civilized countries.<\/p>\n<p>The circumstances were on the whole favorable, and boded<br \/>\nsuccess rather than failure. Prudent, careful, thoughtful men<br \/>\nwere at the head of the concern, interested in seeing it managed<br \/>\neconomically and efficiently; and they had the advantage of the<br \/>\nassistance of an engineer possessed of large resources of mother<br \/>\nwit, mechanical genius, and strong common sense. There was<br \/>\nan almost unlimited quantity of coal to be carried, the principal<br \/>\ndifficulty being in accommodating it satisfactorily. Yet it was<br \/>\nonly after the line had been at work for some time that the extensive<br \/>\ncharacter of the coal traffic began to be appreciated. At<br \/>\nfirst it was supposed that the chief trade would be in coal for<br \/>\nland sale. But the clause inserted in the <span class=\"corr\" title=\"Transcriber's Note\u2014original text: 'orginal'\">original<\/span> act, at the instance<br \/>\nof Mr. Lambton, by which the company were limited to<br \/>\n1\/2<i>d.<\/i> per ton per mile for coal led to Stockton for shipment, led to<br \/>\nthe most unexpected consequences. It was estimated that only<br \/>\nabout 10,000 tons a year would be shipped, and that principally<br \/>\nby way of ballast. Instead of which, in the course of a very few<br \/>\nyears, the coal carried on the line for export constituted the main<br \/>\nbulk of the traffic, while that carried for land sale was merely<br \/>\nsubsidiary.<a id=\"FNanchor_56\" name=\"FNanchor_56\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_56\">[56]<\/a><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_240\" name=\"Page_240\"><\/a>[240]<\/span><br \/>\nThe anticipations of the company as to passenger-traffic were<br \/>\nin like manner more than realized. At first passengers were<br \/>\nnot thought of, and it was only while the works were in progress<br \/>\nthat the starting of a passenger-coach was seriously contemplated.<br \/>\nSome eighty years since there was only one post-chaise in Darlington,<br \/>\nwhich ran on three wheels. There are people still living<br \/>\nwho remember when a coach ran from Stockton three days in<br \/>\nthe week, passing through Darlington and Barnard Castle; but<br \/>\nit was starved off the road for want of support. There was then<br \/>\nvery little intercourse between the towns, though they were so<br \/>\nnear to each other, and comparatively so populous; and it was<br \/>\nnot known whether people would trust themselves to the iron<br \/>\nroad. Nevertheless, it was determined to make trial of a railway<br \/>\ncoach, and George Stephenson was authorized to have one built<br \/>\nat Newcastle at the cost of the company. This was done accordingly,<br \/>\nand the first railway passenger-carriage was built after our<br \/>\nengineer&#8217;s design. It was, however, a very modest, and, indeed,<br \/>\na somewhat uncouth machine, more resembling a showman&#8217;s caravan<br \/>\nthan a passenger-coach of any extant form. A row of seats<br \/>\nran along each side of the interior, and a long deal table was<br \/>\nfixed in the centre, the access being by means of a door at the<br \/>\nback end, in the manner of an omnibus. This coach arrived<br \/>\nfrom Newcastle on the day before the opening, and formed part<br \/>\nof the procession above described. Stephenson was consulted as<br \/>\nto the name of the coach, and he at once suggested the &#8220;Experiment;&#8221;<br \/>\nand by this name it was called. Such was the sole passenger-carrying<br \/>\nstock of the Stockton and Darlington Company<br \/>\nin the year 1825. But &#8220;The Experiment&#8221; proved the forerunner<br \/>\nof a mighty traffic; and long time did not elapse before it was<br \/>\ndisplaced, not only by improved coaches (still drawn by horses),<br \/>\nbut afterward by long trains of passenger-carriages drawn by locomotive<br \/>\nengines.<\/p>\n<p>The &#8220;Experiment&#8221; was fairly started as a passenger-coach on<br \/>\nthe 10th of October, 1825, a fortnight after the opening of the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_241\" name=\"Page_241\"><\/a>[241]<\/span><br \/>\nline. It was drawn by one horse, and performed a journey daily<br \/>\neach way between the two towns, accomplishing the distance of<br \/>\ntwelve miles in about two hours. The fare charged was a shilling,<br \/>\nwithout distinction of class; and each passenger was allowed<br \/>\nfourteen pounds of luggage free. The &#8220;Experiment&#8221; was not,<br \/>\nhowever, worked by the company, but was let to contractors, who<br \/>\nworked it under an arrangement whereby toll was paid for the<br \/>\nuse of the line, rent of booking-cabins, etc.<a id=\"FNanchor_57\" name=\"FNanchor_57\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_57\">[57]<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_244.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"312\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>THE FIRST RAILWAY COACH.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The speculation answered so well that several private coaching<br \/>\ncompanies were shortly after got up by innkeepers at Darlington<br \/>\nand Stockton for the purpose of running other coaches upon the<br \/>\nrailroad, and an active competition for passenger-traffic sprang<br \/>\nup. The &#8220;Experiment,&#8221; being found too heavy for one horse to<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_242\" name=\"Page_242\"><\/a>[242]<\/span><br \/>\ndraw, besides being found an uncomfortable machine, was banished<br \/>\nto the coal district. Its place was then supplied by other<br \/>\nand better vehicles, though they were no other than old stage-coach<br \/>\nbodies purchased by the company, each mounted on an<br \/>\nunder-frame with flange wheels. These were let on hire to the<br \/>\ncoaching companies, who horsed and managed them under an arrangement<br \/>\nas to tolls, in like manner as the &#8220;Experiment&#8221; had<br \/>\nbeen worked. Now began the distinction of inside and outside<br \/>\npassengers, equivalent to first and second class, paying different<br \/>\nfares. The competition with each other upon the railway, and<br \/>\nwith the ordinary stage-coaches upon the road, soon brought up<br \/>\nthe speed, which was increased to ten miles an hour\u2014the mail-coach<br \/>\nrate of traveling in those days, and considered very fast.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Clephan, a native of the district, has communicated to the<br \/>\nauthor the following account of the competition between the<br \/>\nrival coach companies:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;There were two separate coach companies in Stockton, and<br \/>\namusing collisions sometimes occurred between the drivers, who<br \/>\nfound on the rail a novel element for contention. Coaches can not<br \/>\npass each other on the rail as on the road, and, as the line was single,<br \/>\nwith four sidings in the mile, when two coaches met, or two<br \/>\ntrains, or coach and train, the question arose which of the drivers<br \/>\nmust go back. This was not always settled in silence. As to<br \/>\ntrains, it came to be a sort of understanding that empty should give<br \/>\nway to loaded wagons; and as to trains and coaches, that passengers<br \/>\nshould have preference over coals; while coaches, when they<br \/>\nmet, must quarrel it out. At length, midway between sidings, a<br \/>\npost was erected, and the rule was laid down that he who had<br \/>\npassed the pillar must go on, and the &#8216;coming man&#8217; go back. At<br \/>\nthe Goose Pool and Early Nook it was common for the coaches to<br \/>\nstop, and there, as Jonathan would say, passengers and coachmen<br \/>\n&#8216;liquored.&#8217; One coach, introduced by an innkeeper, was a compound<br \/>\nof two mourning-coaches\u2014an approximation to the real railway-coach,<br \/>\nwhich still adheres, with multiplying exceptions, to the<br \/>\nstage-coach type. One Dixon, who drove the &#8216;Experiment&#8217; between<br \/>\nDarlington and Shildon, is the inventor of carriage-lighting<br \/>\non the rail. On a dark winter night, having compassion on his passengers,<br \/>\nhe would buy a penny candle, and place it lighted among<br \/>\nthem on the table of the &#8216;Experiment&#8217;\u2014the first railway-coach<br \/>\n(which, by the way, ended its days at Shildon as a railway cabin),<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_243\" name=\"Page_243\"><\/a>[243]<\/span><br \/>\nbeing also the first coach on the rail (first, second, and third class<br \/>\njammed all into one) that indulged its customers with light in<br \/>\ndarkness.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The traffic of all sorts increased so steadily and so rapidly that<br \/>\nconsiderable difficulty was experienced in working it satisfactorily.<br \/>\nIt had been provided by the first Stockton and Darlington<br \/>\nAct that the line should be free to all parties who chose to use it<br \/>\nat certain prescribed rates, and that any person might put horses<br \/>\nand wagons on the railway, and carry for himself. But this arrangement<br \/>\nled to increasing confusion and difficulty, and could<br \/>\nnot continue in the face of a large and rapidly-increasing traffic.<br \/>\nThe goods trains got so long that the carriers found it necessary<br \/>\nto call in the aid of the locomotive engine to help them on their<br \/>\nway. Then mixed trains of passengers and merchandise began<br \/>\nto run; and the result was that the Railway Company found it<br \/>\nnecessary to take the entire charge and working of the traffic.<br \/>\nIn course of time new coaches were specially built for the better<br \/>\naccommodation of the public, until at length regular passenger-trains<br \/>\nwere run, drawn by the locomotive engine, though this was<br \/>\nnot until after the Liverpool and Manchester Company had established<br \/>\nthis as a distinct branch of their traffic.<\/p>\n<p>The three Stephenson locomotives were from the first regularly<br \/>\nemployed to work the coal-trains, and their proved efficiency<br \/>\nfor this purpose led to the gradual increase of the locomotive<br \/>\npower. The speed of the engine\u2014slow though it seems now\u2014was<br \/>\nin those days regarded as something marvelous. A race actually<br \/>\ncame off between No. 1 engine, the &#8220;Locomotion,&#8221; and one<br \/>\nof the stage-coaches traveling from Darlington to Stockton by<br \/>\nthe ordinary road, and it was regarded as a great triumph of mechanical<br \/>\nskill that the locomotive reached Stockton first, beating<br \/>\nthe stage-coach by about a hundred yards! The same engine<br \/>\ncontinued in good working order in the year 1846, when it headed<br \/>\nthe railway procession on the opening of the Middlesborough<br \/>\nand Redcar Railway, traveling at the rate of about fourteen miles<br \/>\nan hour. This engine, the first that traveled on the first public<br \/>\nlocomotive railway, has recently been placed upon a pedestal in<br \/>\nfront of the railway station at Darlington.<\/p>\n<p>For some years, however, the principal haulage of the line was<br \/>\nperformed by horses. The inclination of the gradients being toward<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_244\" name=\"Page_244\"><\/a>[244]<\/span><br \/>\nthe sea, this was perhaps the cheapest mode of traction, so<br \/>\nlong as the traffic was not very large. The horse drew the train<br \/>\nalong the level road until, on reaching a descending gradient,<br \/>\ndown which the train ran by its own gravity, the animal was unharnessed,<br \/>\nwhen, wheeling round to the other end of the wagons,<br \/>\nto which a &#8220;dandy-cart&#8221; was attached, its bottom being only a<br \/>\nfew inches from the rail, and bringing his step into unison with<br \/>\nthe speed of the train, he leaped nimbly into his place in the hind<br \/>\ncar, which was usually fitted with a well-filled hay-rack.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_247.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"402\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>THE NO. 1 ENGINE AT DARLINGTON.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The details of the working were gradually perfected by experience,<br \/>\nthe projectors of the line being scarcely conscious at first<br \/>\nof the importance and significance of the work which they had<br \/>\ntaken in hand, and little thinking that they were laying the foundations<br \/>\nof a system which was yet to revolutionize the internal<br \/>\ncommunications of the world, and confer the greatest blessings<br \/>\non mankind. It is important to note that the commercial results<br \/>\nof the enterprise were considered satisfactory from the opening<br \/>\nof the railway. Besides conferring a great public benefit upon<br \/>\nthe inhabitants of the district, and throwing open entirely new<br \/>\nmarkets for the almost boundless stores of coal found in the<br \/>\nBishop Auckland district, the profits derived from the traffic created<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_245\" name=\"Page_245\"><\/a>[245]<\/span><br \/>\nby the railway enabled increasing dividends to be paid to<br \/>\nthose who had risked their capital in the undertaking, and thus<br \/>\nheld forth an encouragement to the projectors of railways generally,<br \/>\nwhich was not without an important effect in stimulating<br \/>\nthe projection of similar enterprises in other districts. These results,<br \/>\nas displayed in the annual dividends, must have been eminently<br \/>\nencouraging to the astute commercial men of Liverpool<br \/>\nand Manchester, who were then engaged in the prosecution of<br \/>\ntheir railway. Indeed, the commercial success of the Stockton<br \/>\nand Darlington Company may be justly characterized as the turning-point<br \/>\nof the railway system. With that practical illustration<br \/>\ndaily in sight of the public, it was no longer possible for Parliament<br \/>\nto have prevented its eventual extension.<\/p>\n<p>Before leaving the subject of the Stockton and Darlington<br \/>\nRailway, we can not avoid alluding to one of its most remarkable<br \/>\nand direct results\u2014the creation of the town of Middlesborough-on-Tees.<br \/>\nWhen the railway was opened in 1825, the site<br \/>\nof this future metropolis of Cleveland was occupied by one solitary<br \/>\nfarm-house and its out-buildings. All round was pasture-land<br \/>\nor mud-banks; scarcely another house was within sight.<br \/>\nThe corporation of the town of Stockton being unwilling or unable<br \/>\nto provide accommodation for the rapidly increasing coal<br \/>\ntraffic, Mr. Edward Pease, in 1829, joined by a few of his Quaker<br \/>\nfriends, bought about 500 or 600 acres of land five miles lower<br \/>\ndown the river\u2014the site of the modern Middlesborough\u2014for the<br \/>\npurpose of there forming a new sea-port for the shipment of coals<br \/>\nbrought to the Tees by the railway. The line was accordingly<br \/>\nextended thither; docks were excavated; a town sprang up;<br \/>\nchurches, chapels, and schools were built, with a custom-house,<br \/>\nmechanics&#8217; institute, banks, ship-building yards, and iron factories,<br \/>\nand in a few years the port of Middlesborough became one<br \/>\nof the most thriving on the northeast coast of England. In ten<br \/>\nyears a busy population of some 6000 persons (since swelled to<br \/>\nabout 25,000) occupied the site of the original farm-house. More<br \/>\nrecently, the discovery of vast stores of ironstone in the Cleveland<br \/>\nHills, close adjoining Middlesborough, has tended still more rapidly<br \/>\nto augment the population and increase the commercial importance<br \/>\nof the place.<\/p>\n<p>It is pleasing to relate, in connection with this great work\u2014the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_246\" name=\"Page_246\"><\/a>[246]<\/span><br \/>\nStockton and Darlington Railway, projected by Edward Pease<br \/>\nand executed by George Stephenson\u2014that when Mr. Stephenson<br \/>\nbecame a prosperous and a celebrated man, he did not forget the<br \/>\nfriend who had taken him by the hand, and helped him on in his<br \/>\nearly days. He continued to remember Mr. Pease with gratitude<br \/>\nand affection, and that gentleman, to the close of his life, was<br \/>\nproud to exhibit a handsome gold watch, received as a gift from<br \/>\nhis celebrated <em>prot\u00e9g\u00e9<\/em>, bearing these words\u2014&#8221;Esteem and gratitude:<br \/>\nfrom George Stephenson to Edward Pease.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_249.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"313\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>MIDDLESBOROUGH-ON-TEES.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_247\" name=\"Page_247\"><\/a>[247]<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER IX.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>THE LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY PROJECTED.<\/h4>\n<p>While the coal proprietors of the Bishop Auckland district<br \/>\nwere taking steps to connect their collieries with the sea by means<br \/>\nof an iron railroad, the merchants of Liverpool and Manchester<br \/>\nwere considering whether some better means could not be devised<br \/>\nfor bringing these important centres of commerce and manufacture<br \/>\ninto more direct connection.<\/p>\n<p>There were canals as well as roads between the two places, but<br \/>\nall routes were alike tedious and costly, especially as regarded the<br \/>\ntransit of heavy goods. The route by turnpike road was thirty-six<br \/>\nmiles, by the Duke of Bridgewater&#8217;s Canal fifty miles, by the<br \/>\nMersey and Irwell navigation the same, and by the Leeds and<br \/>\nLiverpool Canal fifty-six miles.<\/p>\n<p>These were all overburdened with traffic. The roads were<br \/>\nbad, the tolls heavy, and the haulage expensive. The journey by<br \/>\ncoach occupied from five to six hours, and by wagon nearly a<br \/>\nday. But very few heavy goods went by road. The canals nearly<br \/>\nmonopolized this traffic, and, having contrived to keep up the<br \/>\nrates, the canal companies charged what they liked. They conducted<br \/>\ntheir business in a drowsy, sleepy, stupid manner. If the<br \/>\nmerchant complained of delay, he was told to do better if he<br \/>\ncould. If he objected to the rates, he was warned that if he did<br \/>\nnot pay them promptly his goods might not be carried at all.<\/p>\n<p>The canal companies were in a position to dictate their own<br \/>\nterms, and they did this in such a way as to disgust alike the senders<br \/>\nand the receivers of goods, so that both Liverpool and Manchester<br \/>\nwere up in arms against them. Worse even than the<br \/>\nheavy charges for goods was the occasional entire stoppage of the<br \/>\ncanals. Sometimes they were frozen up; sometimes they were<br \/>\nblocked by the press of traffic, so that goods lay on the wharves<br \/>\nunmoved for weeks together; and at some seasons it occupied a<br \/>\nlonger time to bring cotton from Liverpool to Manchester by canal-boat<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_248\" name=\"Page_248\"><\/a>[248]<\/span><br \/>\nthan it had done to bring it from New York to Liverpool<br \/>\nby sailing ship.<\/p>\n<p>Was there no way of remedying these great and admitted evils?<br \/>\nWere the commercial public to continue to be bound hand and<br \/>\nfoot, and left at the mercy of the canal proprietors? Immense<br \/>\ninterests at Liverpool and Manchester were at stake. The Liverpool<br \/>\nmerchants wanted new facilities for sending raw material<br \/>\ninland, and the Manchester manufacturers for sending the manufactured<br \/>\nproducts back to Liverpool for shipment. Vast populations<br \/>\nhad become settled in the towns of South Lancashire, to<br \/>\nwhom it was of vital importance that the communication with<br \/>\nthe sea should be regular, constant, and economical.<\/p>\n<p>These considerations early led to the discussion of some improved<br \/>\nmode of transit from Liverpool into the interior for heavy<br \/>\ngoods, and one of the most favored plans was that of a tram-road.<br \/>\nIt was first suggested by the corn-merchants of Liverpool, who<br \/>\nhad experienced the great inconveniences resulting from the canal<br \/>\nmonopoly. One of the most zealous advocates of the tram-road<br \/>\nwas Mr. Joseph Sandars, who took considerable pains to ascertain<br \/>\nthe results of the working of the coal lines in the North,<br \/>\nboth by horse and engine power, and he satisfied himself that<br \/>\neither method would, if adopted between Liverpool and Manchester,<br \/>\nafford the desired relief to the commercial and manufacturing<br \/>\ninterests. The subject was ventilated by him in the local papers,<br \/>\nand in the course of the year 1821 Mr. Sandars succeeded in getting<br \/>\ntogether a committee of Liverpool gentlemen for the purpose<br \/>\nof farther considering the subject, and, if found practicable,<br \/>\nof starting a company with the object of forming a tram-road between<br \/>\nthe two towns.<\/p>\n<p>While the project was still in embryo, the rumor of it reached<br \/>\nthe ears of Mr. William James, then of West Bromwich, an enthusiastic<br \/>\nadvocate of tram-roads and railways. As a land-surveyor<br \/>\nand land-agent, as well as coal-owner, he had already laid down<br \/>\nmany private railroads. He had also laid out and superintended<br \/>\nthe execution and the working of canals, projected extensive<br \/>\nschemes of drainage and inclosure, and, on the whole, was one of<br \/>\nthe most useful and active men of his time. But a series of unfortunate<br \/>\nspeculations in mines having seriously impaired his fortunes,<br \/>\nhe again reverted to his original profession of land-surveyor,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_249\" name=\"Page_249\"><\/a>[249]<\/span><br \/>\nand was so occupied in the neighborhood of Liverpool when<br \/>\nhe heard of the scheme set on foot for the construction of the<br \/>\nproposed tram-road to Manchester.<\/p>\n<p>He at once called upon Mr. Sandars and offered his services as<br \/>\nits surveyor. We believe he at first offered to survey the line at<br \/>\nhis own expense, to which Mr. Sandars could not object; but his<br \/>\nmeans were too limited to enable him to do this successfully, and<br \/>\nMr. Sandars and several of his friends agreed to pay him \u00a3300<br \/>\nfor the survey, or at the rate of about \u00a310 a mile. Mr. James&#8217;s<br \/>\nfirst interview with Mr. Sandars was in the beginning of July,<br \/>\n1821, when it was arranged that he should go over the ground<br \/>\nand form a general opinion as to the practicability of a tram-way.<\/p>\n<p>A trial survey was then begun, but it was conducted with great<br \/>\ndifficulty, the inhabitants of the district entertaining much prejudice<br \/>\nagainst the scheme. In some places Mr. James and his<br \/>\nsurveying party had even to encounter personal violence. At St.<br \/>\nHelen&#8217;s one of the chain-men was laid hold of by a mob of colliers,<br \/>\nand threatened to be hurled down a coal-pit. A number<br \/>\nof men, women, and children assembled, and ran after the surveyors<br \/>\nwherever they made their appearance, bawling nicknames<br \/>\nand throwing stones at them. As one of the chain-men was<br \/>\nclimbing over a gate one day, a laborer made at him with a pitchfork,<br \/>\nand ran it through his clothes into his back; other watchers<br \/>\nrunning up, the chain-man, who was more stunned than hurt,<br \/>\ntook to his heels and fled. But that mysterious-looking instrument\u2014the<br \/>\ntheodolite\u2014most excited the fury of the natives, who<br \/>\nconcentrated on the man who carried it their fiercest execrations<br \/>\nand most offensive nicknames.<\/p>\n<p>A powerful fellow, a noted bruiser, was hired by the surveyors<br \/>\nto carry the instrument, with a view to its protection against all<br \/>\nassailants; but one day an equally powerful fellow, a St. Helen&#8217;s<br \/>\ncollier, cock of the walk in his neighborhood, made up to the<br \/>\ntheodolite bearer to wrest it from him by sheer force. A battle<br \/>\ntook place, the collier was soundly pommeled, but the natives<br \/>\npoured in volleys of stones upon the surveyors and their instruments,<br \/>\nand the theodolite was smashed in pieces.<\/p>\n<p>Met by these and other obstructions, it turned out that the survey<br \/>\ncould not be completed in time for depositing the proper<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_250\" name=\"Page_250\"><\/a>[250]<\/span><br \/>\nplans, and the intended application to Parliament in the next session<br \/>\ncould not be made. In the mean time, Mr. James proceeded<br \/>\nto Killingworth to see Stephenson&#8217;s locomotives at work. Stephenson<br \/>\nwas not at home at the time, but James saw his engines,<br \/>\nand was very much struck by their power and efficiency. He<br \/>\nsaw at a glance the magnificent uses to which the locomotive<br \/>\nmight be applied. &#8220;Here,&#8221; said he, &#8220;is an engine that will, before<br \/>\nlong, effect a complete revolution in society.&#8221; Returning to<br \/>\nMoreton-in-the-Marsh, he wrote to Mr. Losh (Stephenson&#8217;s partner<br \/>\nin the patent) expressing his admiration of the Killingworth engine.<br \/>\n&#8220;It is,&#8221; said he, &#8220;the greatest wonder of the age, and the<br \/>\nforerunner, as I firmly believe, of the most important changes in<br \/>\nthe internal communications of the kingdom.&#8221; Shortly after,<br \/>\nMr. James, accompanied by his two sons, made a second journey<br \/>\nto Killingworth, where he met both Losh and Stephenson. The<br \/>\nvisitors were at once taken to where one of the locomotives was<br \/>\nworking, and invited to &#8220;jump up.&#8221; The uncouth and extraordinary<br \/>\nappearance of the machine, as it came snorting along, was<br \/>\nsomewhat alarming to the youths, who expressed their fears lest<br \/>\nit should burst; and they were with some difficulty induced to<br \/>\nmount.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/files\/46229\/46229-h\/images\/i_253-large.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_253.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"267\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>MAP OF LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY. &nbsp; [Western Part.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The engine went through its usual performances, dragging a<br \/>\nheavy load of coal-wagons at about six miles an hour with apparent<br \/>\nease, at which Mr. James expressed his extreme satisfaction,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_251\" name=\"Page_251\"><\/a>[251]<\/span><br \/>\nand declared to Mr. Losh his opinion that Stephenson &#8220;was<br \/>\nthe greatest practical genius of the age,&#8221; and that, &#8220;if he developed<br \/>\nthe full powers of that engine (the locomotive), his fame in<br \/>\nthe world would rank equal with that of Watt.&#8221; Mr. James informed<br \/>\nStephenson and Losh of his survey of the proposed tram-road<br \/>\nbetween Liverpool and Manchester, and did not hesitate to<br \/>\nstate that he would thenceforward advocate the construction of a<br \/>\nlocomotive railroad instead of the tram-road which had originally<br \/>\nbeen proposed.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/files\/46229\/46229-h\/images\/i_254-large.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_254.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"268\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>MAP OF LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY. &nbsp; [Eastern Part.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Stephenson and Losh were naturally desirous of enlisting<br \/>\nJames&#8217;s good services on behalf of their patent locomotive, for<br \/>\nas yet it had proved comparatively unproductive. They believed<br \/>\nthat he might be able so to advocate it in influential quarters as<br \/>\nto insure its more extensive adoption, and with that object they<br \/>\nproposed to give him an interest in the patent. Accordingly,<br \/>\nthey entered into an agreement by which they assigned to him<br \/>\none fourth of any profits which might be derived from the use<br \/>\nof the patent locomotive on any railways constructed south of a<br \/>\nline drawn across England from Liverpool to Hull. The arrangement,<br \/>\nhowever, led to no beneficial results. Mr. James endeavored<br \/>\nto introduce the engine on the Moreton-on-Marsh Railway,<br \/>\nbut it was opposed by the engineer of the line, and the attempt<br \/>\nfailed. He next urged that a locomotive should be sent for trial<br \/>\nupon the Merstham tram-road; but, anxious though Stephenson<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_252\" name=\"Page_252\"><\/a>[252]<\/span><br \/>\nwas as to its extended employment, he was too cautious to risk an<br \/>\nexperiment which might bring discredit upon the engine; and<br \/>\nthe Merstham Road being only laid with cast-iron plates which<br \/>\nwould not bear its weight, the invitation was declined.<\/p>\n<p>The first survey made of the Liverpool and Manchester line<br \/>\nhaving been found very imperfect, it was determined to have a<br \/>\nsecond and more complete one made in the following year. Robert<br \/>\nStephenson, though then a lad of only nineteen, had already<br \/>\nobtained some practical knowledge of surveying, having been engaged<br \/>\non the preliminary survey of the Stockton and Darlington<br \/>\nRailway in the previous year, and he was sent over to Liverpool<br \/>\nby his father to give Mr. James such assistance as he could. Robert<br \/>\nStephenson was present with Mr. James on the occasion on<br \/>\nwhich he tried to lay out the line across Chat Moss\u2014a proceeding<br \/>\nwhich was not only difficult, but dangerous. The Moss was<br \/>\nvery wet at the time, and only its edges could be ventured on.<br \/>\nMr. James was a heavy, thick-set man; and one day, when endeavoring<br \/>\nto obtain a stand for his theodolite, he felt himself suddenly<br \/>\nsinking. He immediately threw himself down, and rolled<br \/>\nover and over until he reached firm ground again, in a sad mess.<br \/>\nOther attempts which he subsequently made to advance into the<br \/>\nMoss for the same purpose were abandoned for the same reason\u2014the<br \/>\nwant of a solid stand for the theodolite.<\/p>\n<p>As Mr. James proceeded with his survey, he found a host of<br \/>\nopponents springing up in all directions, some of whom he conciliated<br \/>\nby deviations, but others refused to be conciliated on any<br \/>\nterms. Among these last were Lords Derby and Wilton, Mr.<br \/>\nBradshaw, and the Strafford family. The proposed line passed<br \/>\nthrough their lands, and, regarding it as a nuisance, without the<br \/>\nslightest compensating advantage to them, they determined to oppose<br \/>\nit at every stage. Their agents drove the surveyors off their<br \/>\nland; the farmers set men at the gates armed with pitchforks to<br \/>\nresist their progress; and the survey proceeded with great difficulty.<br \/>\nMr. James endeavored to avoid Lord Derby&#8217;s Knowsley<br \/>\nestate, but as he had received instructions from Messrs. Ewart<br \/>\nand Gladstone to lay out the line so as to enable it to be extended<br \/>\nto the docks, he found it difficult to accomplish this object<br \/>\nand at the same time avert the hostility of the noble lord. The<br \/>\nonly large land-owners who gave the scheme their support were<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_253\" name=\"Page_253\"><\/a>[253]<\/span><br \/>\nMr. Legh and Mr. Wyrley Birch, who not only subscribed for<br \/>\nshares, but attended several public meetings, and spoke in favor<br \/>\nof the proposed railroad. Public opinion was, however, beginning<br \/>\nto be roused, and the canal companies began at length to<br \/>\nfeel alarmed.<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;At Manchester,&#8221; Mr. James wrote to Mr. Sandars, &#8220;the subject<br \/>\nengages all men&#8217;s thoughts, and it is curious as well as amusing to<br \/>\nhear their conjectures. The canal companies (southward) are alive<br \/>\nto their danger. I have been the object of their persecution and<br \/>\nhate; they would immolate me if they could; but if I can die the<br \/>\ndeath of Samson, by pulling away the pillars, I am content to die<br \/>\nwith these Philistines. Be assured, my dear sir, that not a moment<br \/>\nshall be lost, nor shall my attention for a day be diverted from this<br \/>\nconcern, which increases in importance every hour, as well as in the<br \/>\ncertainty of ultimate success.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Mr. James was one of the most enthusiastic of men, especially<br \/>\nabout railways and locomotives. He believed, with Thomas Gray,<br \/>\nwho brought out his book about this time, that railways were yet<br \/>\nto become the great high roads of civilization. The speculative<br \/>\ncharacter of the man may be inferred from the following passage<br \/>\nin one of his letters to Mr. Sandars, written from London:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;Every Parliamentary friend I have seen\u2014and I have many of<br \/>\nboth houses\u2014eulogizes our plan, and they are particularly anxious<br \/>\nthat engines should be introduced in the south. I am now negotiating<br \/>\nabout the Wandsworth Railroad. A fortune is to be made<br \/>\nby buying the shares, and introducing the engine system upon it.<br \/>\nI am confident capital will treble itself in two years. I do not<br \/>\nchoose to publish my views <em>here<\/em>, and I wish to God some of our<br \/>\nLiverpool friends would take this advantage. I have bought some<br \/>\nshares, but my capital is locked up in unproductive lands and<br \/>\nmines.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>As the survey of the Liverpool and Manchester line proceeded,<br \/>\nMr. James&#8217;s funds fell short, and he was under the necessity of<br \/>\napplying to Mr. Sandars and his friends from time to time for<br \/>\nfarther contributions. It was also necessary for him to attend to<br \/>\nhis business as a surveyor in other parts of the country, and he<br \/>\nwas at such times under the necessity of leaving the work to be<br \/>\ndone by his assistants. Thus the survey was necessarily imperfect,<br \/>\nand when the time arrived for lodging the plans, it was<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_254\" name=\"Page_254\"><\/a>[254]<\/span><br \/>\nfound that they were practically worthless. Mr. James&#8217;s pecuniary<br \/>\ndifficulties had also reached their climax. &#8220;The surveys<br \/>\nand plans,&#8221; he wrote to Mr. Sandars, &#8220;can&#8217;t be completed, I see,<br \/>\ntill the end of the week. With illness, anguish of mind, and inexpressible<br \/>\ndistress, I perceive I must sink if I wait any longer;<br \/>\nand, in short, I have so neglected the suit in Chancery I named<br \/>\nto you, that if I do not put in an answer I shall be outlawed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mr. James&#8217;s embarrassments increased, and he was unable to<br \/>\nshake himself free from them. He was confined for many months<br \/>\nin the Queen&#8217;s Bench Prison, during which time this indefatigable<br \/>\nrailway propagandist wrote an essay illustrative of the advantages<br \/>\nof direct inland communication by a line of engine railroad<br \/>\nbetween London, Brighton, and Portsmouth. Meanwhile<br \/>\nthe Liverpool and Manchester scheme seemed to have fallen to<br \/>\nthe ground. But it only slept. When its promoters found that<br \/>\nthey could no longer rely on Mr. James&#8217;s services, they determined<br \/>\nto employ another engineer.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Sandars had by this time visited George Stephenson at<br \/>\nKillingworth, and, like all who came within reach of his personal<br \/>\ninfluence, was charmed with him at first sight. The energy which<br \/>\nhe had displayed in carrying on the works of the Stockton and<br \/>\nDarlington Railway, now approaching completion; his readiness<br \/>\nto face difficulties, and his practical ability in overcoming them;<br \/>\nthe enthusiasm which he displayed on the subject of railways<br \/>\nand railway locomotion, concurred in satisfying Mr. Sandars that<br \/>\nhe was, of all men, the best calculated to help forward the undertaking<br \/>\nat this juncture; and having, on his return to Liverpool,<br \/>\nreported this opinion to the committee, they approved his<br \/>\nrecommendation, and George Stephenson was unanimously appointed<br \/>\nengineer of the projected railway. On the 25th of May,<br \/>\n1824, Mr. Sandars wrote to Mr. James as follows:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;I think it right to inform you that the committee have engaged<br \/>\nyour friend George Stephenson. We expect him here in a few<br \/>\ndays. The subscription-list for \u00a3300,000 is filled, and the Manchester<br \/>\ngentlemen have conceded to us the entire management. I very<br \/>\nmuch regret that, by delays and promises, you have forfeited the<br \/>\nconfidence of the subscribers. I can not help it. I fear now that<br \/>\nyou will only have the fame of being connected with the commencement<br \/>\nof this undertaking.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_255\" name=\"Page_255\"><\/a>[255]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It will be observed that Mr. Sandars had held to his original<br \/>\npurpose with great determination and perseverance, and he gradually<br \/>\nsucceeded in enlisting on his side an increasing number<br \/>\nof influential merchants and manufacturers both at Liverpool<br \/>\nand Manchester. Early in 1824 he published a pamphlet, in<br \/>\nwhich he strongly urged the great losses and interruptions to the<br \/>\ntrade of the district by the delays in the forwarding of merchandise;<br \/>\nand in the same year he had a Public Declaration drawn<br \/>\nup, and signed by upward of 150 of the principal merchants of<br \/>\nLiverpool, setting forth that they considered &#8220;the present establishments<br \/>\nfor the transport of goods quite inadequate, and that a<br \/>\nnew line of conveyance has become absolutely necessary to conduct<br \/>\nthe increasing trade of the country with speed, certainty,<br \/>\nand economy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A public meeting was then held to consider the best plan to<br \/>\nbe adopted, and resolutions were passed in favor of a railroad.<br \/>\nA committee was appointed to take the necessary measures; but,<br \/>\nas if reluctant to enter upon their arduous struggle with the<br \/>\n&#8220;vested interests,&#8221; they first waited on Mr. Bradshaw, the Duke<br \/>\nof Bridgewater&#8217;s canal agent, in the hope of persuading him to increase<br \/>\nthe means of conveyance, as well as to reduce the charges;<br \/>\nbut they were met by an unqualified refusal. He would not improve<br \/>\nthe existing means of conveyance; he would have nothing<br \/>\nto do with the proposed railway; and, if persevered in, he would<br \/>\noppose it with all his power. The canal proprietors, confident in<br \/>\ntheir imagined security, ridiculed the proposed railway as a chimera.<br \/>\nIt had been spoken about years before, and nothing had<br \/>\ncome of it then; it would be the same now.<\/p>\n<p>In order to form a better opinion as to the practicability of the<br \/>\nrailroad, a deputation of gentlemen interested in the project proceeded<br \/>\nto Killingworth to inspect the engines which had been so<br \/>\nlong in use there. They first went to Darlington, where they<br \/>\nfound the works of the Stockton line in progress, though still unfinished.<br \/>\nProceeding next to Killingworth with George Stephenson,<br \/>\nthey there witnessed the performances of his locomotive engines.<br \/>\nThe result of their visit was, on the whole, so satisfactory,<br \/>\nthat on their return to Liverpool it was determined to form a<br \/>\ncompany of the proprietors for the construction of a double line<br \/>\nof railway between Liverpool and Manchester.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_256\" name=\"Page_256\"><\/a>[256]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The original promoters of the undertaking included men of<br \/>\nthe highest standing and local influence in Liverpool and Manchester,<br \/>\nwith Charles Lawrence as chairman, Lister Ellis, Robert<br \/>\nGladstone, John Moss, and Joseph Sandars as deputy chairmen;<br \/>\nwhile among the ordinary members of the committee were Robert<br \/>\nBenson, James Cropper, John Ewart, Wellwood Maxwell, and<br \/>\nWilliam Rathbone, of Liverpool, and the brothers Birley, Peter<br \/>\nEwart, William Garnett, John Kennedy, and William Potter, of<br \/>\nManchester.<\/p>\n<p>The committee also included another important name\u2014that of<br \/>\nHenry Booth, then a corn-merchant of Liverpool, and afterward<br \/>\nthe secretary and manager of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.<br \/>\nMr. Booth was a man of admirable business qualities, sagacious<br \/>\nand far-seeing, shrewd and practical, of considerable literary<br \/>\nability, and he also possessed a knowledge of mechanics,<br \/>\nwhich afterward proved of the greatest value to the railway interest;<br \/>\nfor to him we owe the suggestion of the multitubular<br \/>\nboiler in the form in which it has since been employed upon all<br \/>\nrailways, and the coupling-screw, as well as other important mechanical<br \/>\nappliances which have come into general use.<\/p>\n<p>The first prospectus, issued in October, 1824, set forth in clear<br \/>\nand vigorous language the objects of the company, the urgent<br \/>\nneed of additional means of communication between Liverpool<br \/>\nand Manchester, and the advantages offered by the railway over<br \/>\nall other proposed expedients. It was shown that the water-carriers<br \/>\nnot only exacted the most arbitrary terms from the public,<br \/>\nbut were positively unable to carry the traffic requiring accommodation.<br \/>\nAgainst the indefinite continuance or recurrence of<br \/>\nthose evils, said the prospectus, the public have but one security:<br \/>\n&#8220;It is competition that is wanted; and the proof of this assertion<br \/>\nmay be adduced from the fact that shares in the Old Quay Navigation,<br \/>\nof which the original cost was \u00a370, have been sold as high<br \/>\nas \u00a31250 each!&#8221; The advantages of the railway over the canals<br \/>\nfor the carriage of coals was also urged, and it was stated that<br \/>\nthe charge for transit would be very materially reduced.<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;In the present state of trade and of commercial enterprise (the<br \/>\nprospectus proceeded), dispatch is no less essential than economy.<br \/>\nMerchandise is frequently brought across the Atlantic from New<br \/>\nYork to Liverpool in twenty-one days, while, owing to the various<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_257\" name=\"Page_257\"><\/a>[257]<\/span><br \/>\ncauses of delay above enumerated, goods have in some instances<br \/>\nbeen longer on their passage from Liverpool to Manchester. But<br \/>\nthis reproach must not be perpetual. The advancement in mechanical<br \/>\nscience renders it unnecessary\u2014the good sense of the community<br \/>\nmakes it impossible. Let it not, however, be imagined that,<br \/>\nwere England to be tardy, other countries would pause in the march<br \/>\nof improvement. Application has been made, on behalf of the Emperor<br \/>\nof Russia, for models of the locomotive engine; and other of<br \/>\nthe Continental governments have been duly apprised of the important<br \/>\nschemes for the facilitating of inland traffic, now under discussion<br \/>\nby the British public. In the United States of America,<br \/>\nalso, they are fully alive to the important results to be anticipated<br \/>\nfrom the introduction of railroads; a gentleman from the United<br \/>\nStates having recently arrived in Liverpool, with whom it is a principal<br \/>\nobject to collect the necessary information in order to the establishment<br \/>\nof a railway to connect the great rivers Potomac and<br \/>\nOhio.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>It will be observed that the principal, indeed almost the sole,<br \/>\nobject contemplated by the projectors of the undertaking was the<br \/>\nimproved carriage of merchandise and coal, and that the conveyance<br \/>\nof passengers was scarcely calculated on, the only paragraph<br \/>\nin the prospectus relating to the subject being the following:<br \/>\n&#8220;Moreover, as a cheap and expeditious means of conveyance for<br \/>\ntravelers, the railway holds out the fair prospect of a public accommodation,<br \/>\nthe magnitude and importance of which can not<br \/>\nbe immediately ascertained.&#8221; The estimated expense of forming<br \/>\nthe line was set down at \u00a3400,000\u2014a sum which was eventually<br \/>\nfound quite inadequate. The subscription list, when opened, was<br \/>\nfilled up without difficulty.<\/p>\n<p>While the project was still under discussion, its promoters, desirous<br \/>\nof removing the doubts which existed as to the employment<br \/>\nof steam-power on the proposed railway, sent a second deputation<br \/>\nto Killingworth for the purpose of again observing the<br \/>\naction of Stephenson&#8217;s engines. The cautious projectors of the<br \/>\nrailway were not yet quite satisfied, and a third journey was<br \/>\nmade to Killingworth in January, 1825, by several gentlemen of<br \/>\nthe committee, accompanied by practical engineers, for the purpose<br \/>\nof being personal eye-witnesses of what steam-carriages were<br \/>\nable to perform upon a railway. There they saw a train, consisting<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_258\" name=\"Page_258\"><\/a>[258]<\/span><br \/>\nof a locomotive and loaded wagons, weighing in all 54 tons,<br \/>\ntraveling at the average rate of about 7 miles an hour, the greatest<br \/>\nspeed being about 9-1\/2 miles an hour. But when the engine<br \/>\nwas run with only one wagon attached containing twenty gentlemen,<br \/>\nfive of whom were engineers, the speed attained was from<br \/>\n10 to 12 miles an hour.<\/p>\n<p>In the mean time the survey was proceeded with, in the face<br \/>\nof great opposition on the part of the proprietors of the lands<br \/>\nthrough which the railway was intended to pass. The prejudices<br \/>\nof the farming and laboring classes were strongly excited against<br \/>\nthe persons employed upon the ground, and it was with the greatest<br \/>\ndifficulty that the levels could be taken. This opposition was<br \/>\nespecially manifested when the attempt was made to survey the<br \/>\nline through the properties of Lords Derby and Sefton, and also<br \/>\nwhere it crossed the Duke of Bridgewater&#8217;s Canal. At Knowsley,<br \/>\nStephenson and his surveyors were driven off the ground by the<br \/>\nkeepers, and threatened with rough handling if found there again.<br \/>\nLord Derby&#8217;s farmers also turned out their men to watch the surveying<br \/>\nparty, and prevent them entering on any lands where they<br \/>\nhad the power of driving them off. Afterward Stephenson suddenly<br \/>\nand unexpectedly went upon the ground with a body of<br \/>\nsurveyors and their assistants who outnumbered Lord Derby&#8217;s<br \/>\nkeepers and farmers, hastily collected to resist them, and this time<br \/>\nthey were only threatened with the legal consequences of their<br \/>\ntrespass.<\/p>\n<p>The same sort of resistance was offered by Lord Sefton&#8217;s keepers<br \/>\nand farmers, with whom the following ruse was adopted. A<br \/>\nminute was concocted, purporting to be a resolution of the Old<br \/>\nQuay Canal Company to oppose the projected railroad by every<br \/>\npossible means, and calling upon land-owners and others to afford<br \/>\nevery facility for making such a survey of the intended line as<br \/>\nshould enable the opponents to detect errors in the scheme of the<br \/>\npromoters, and thereby insure its defeat. A copy of this minute,<br \/>\nwithout any signature, was exhibited by the surveyors who went<br \/>\nupon the ground, and the farmers, believing them to have the<br \/>\nsanction of the landlords, permitted them to proceed with the<br \/>\nhasty completion of their survey.<\/p>\n<p>The principal opposition, however, was experienced from Mr.<br \/>\nBradshaw, the manager of the Duke of Bridgewater&#8217;s canal property,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_259\" name=\"Page_259\"><\/a>[259]<\/span><br \/>\nwho offered a vigorous and protracted resistance to the survey<br \/>\nin all its stages. The duke&#8217;s farmers obstinately refused permission<br \/>\nto enter upon their fields, although Stephenson offered to<br \/>\npay for any damage that might be done. Mr. Bradshaw positively<br \/>\nrefused his sanction in any case; and being a strict preserver<br \/>\nof game, with a large staff of keepers in his pay, he declared<br \/>\nthat he would order them to shoot or apprehend any persons<br \/>\nattempting a survey over his property. But one moonlight<br \/>\nnight a survey was effected by the following ruse. Some men,<br \/>\nunder the orders of the surveying party, were set to fire off guns<br \/>\nin a particular quarter, on which all the gamekeepers on the<br \/>\nwatch made off in that direction, and they were drawn away to<br \/>\nsuch a distance in pursuit of the supposed poachers as to enable<br \/>\na rapid survey to be made during their absence. Describing before<br \/>\nParliament the difficulties which he encountered in making<br \/>\nthe survey, Stephenson said: &#8220;I was threatened to be ducked in<br \/>\nthe pond if I proceeded, and, of course, we had a great deal of<br \/>\nthe survey to take by stealth, at the time when the people were<br \/>\nat dinner. We could not get it done by night; indeed, we were<br \/>\nwatched day and night, and guns were discharged over the<br \/>\ngrounds belonging to Captain Bradshaw to prevent us. I can<br \/>\nstate farther that I was myself twice turned off Mr. Bradshaw&#8217;s<br \/>\ngrounds by his men, and they said if I did not go instantly they<br \/>\nwould take me up and carry me off to Worsley.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The same kind of opposition had to be encountered all along<br \/>\nthe line of the intended railway. Mr. Clay, one of the company&#8217;s<br \/>\nsolicitors, wrote to Mr. Sandars from the Bridgewater Arms, Prescott,<br \/>\non the 31st of December, that the landlords, occupiers, trustees<br \/>\nof turnpike roads, proprietors of bleach-works, carriers and<br \/>\ncarters, and even the coal-owners, were dead against the railroad.<br \/>\n&#8220;In a word,&#8221; said he, &#8220;the country is up in arms against us.&#8221;<br \/>\nThere were only three considerable land-owners who remained<br \/>\ndoubtful; and &#8220;if these be against us,&#8221; said Mr. Clay, &#8220;then <em>the<br \/>\nwhole<\/em> of the great proprietors along the whole line are dissentient,<br \/>\nexcepting only Mr. Trafford.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The cottagers and small proprietors were equally hostile.<br \/>\n&#8220;The trouble we have with them,&#8221; wrote Mr. Clay, &#8220;is beyond<br \/>\nbelief; and those patches of gardens at the end of Manchester<br \/>\nbordering on the Irwell, and the tenants of Hulme Hall, who,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_260\" name=\"Page_260\"><\/a>[260]<\/span><br \/>\nthough insignificant, must be seen, give us infinite trouble, all of<br \/>\nwhich, as I have reason to believe, is by no means accidental.&#8221;<br \/>\nThere was also the opposition of the great Bradshaw, the duke&#8217;s<br \/>\nagent. &#8220;I wrote you this morning,&#8221; said Mr. Clay, in a wrathful<br \/>\nletter of the same date, &#8220;since which we have been into Bradshaw&#8217;s<br \/>\nwarehouse, now called the Knot Mill, and, after traversing<br \/>\ntwo of the rooms, we got very <em>civilly<\/em> turned out, which, under all<br \/>\nthe circumstances, I thought very lucky, and more than we deserved.<br \/>\nHowever, we have seen more than half of his d\u2014d cottagers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>There were also the canal companies, who made common cause,<br \/>\nformed a common purse, and determined to wage war to the knife<br \/>\nagainst all railways. The following circular, issued by the Liverpool<br \/>\nRailroad Company, with the name of Mr. Lawrence, the<br \/>\nchairman, attached, will serve to show the resolute spirit in which<br \/>\nthe canal proprietors were preparing to resist the bill:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;<span class=\"smcap\">Sir<\/span>,\u2014The Leeds and Liverpool, the Birmingham, the Grand<br \/>\nTrunk, and other canal companies having issued circulars, calling<br \/>\nupon &#8216;every canal and navigation company in the kingdom&#8217; to oppose<br \/>\n<i lang=\"la\">in limine<\/i> and by a united effort the establishment of railroads<br \/>\nwherever contemplated, I have most earnestly to solicit your active<br \/>\nexertions on behalf of the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad Company,<br \/>\nto counteract the avowed purpose of the canal proprietors, by<br \/>\nexposing the misrepresentations of interested parties, by conciliating<br \/>\ngood will, and especially by making known, as far as you have<br \/>\nopportunity, not only the general superiority of railroads over other<br \/>\nmodes of conveyance, but, in our peculiar case, the absolute necessity<br \/>\nof a new and additional line of communication, in order to<br \/>\neffect with economy and dispatch the transport of merchandise between<br \/>\nthis port and Manchester.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"center\">&#8220;(Signed) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<br \/>\n<span class=\"smcap\">Charles Lawrence<\/span>, Chairman.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Such was the state of affairs and such the threatenings of war<br \/>\non both sides immediately previous to the Parliamentary session<br \/>\nof 1825.<\/p>\n<p>When it became known that the promoters of the undertaking<br \/>\nwere determined\u2014imperfect though the plans were believed to<br \/>\nbe, from the obstructions thrown in the way of the surveying parties\u2014to<br \/>\nproceed with the bill in the next session of Parliament,<br \/>\nthe canal companies appealed to the public through the press.<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_261\" name=\"Page_261\"><\/a>[261]<\/span><br \/>\nPamphlets were published and newspapers hired to revile the<br \/>\nrailway. It was declared that its formation would prevent the<br \/>\ncows grazing and hens laying, while the horses passing along the<br \/>\nroad would be driven distracted. The poisoned air from the<br \/>\nlocomotives would kill the birds that flew over them, and render<br \/>\nthe preservation of pheasants and foxes no longer possible.<br \/>\nHouseholders adjoining the projected line were told that their<br \/>\nhouses would be burnt up by the fire thrown from the engine<br \/>\nchimneys, while the air around would be polluted by clouds of<br \/>\nsmoke. There would no longer be any use for horses; and if<br \/>\nrailways extended, the species would become extinguished, and<br \/>\noats and hay be rendered unsalable commodities. Traveling by<br \/>\nrail would be highly dangerous, and country inns would be ruined.<br \/>\nBoilers would burst and blow passengers to atoms. But<br \/>\nthere was always this consolation to wind up with\u2014that the<br \/>\nweight of the locomotive would completely prevent its moving,<br \/>\nand that railways, even if made, could <em>never<\/em> be worked by steam-power.<\/p>\n<p>Although the press generally spoke of the Liverpool and Manchester<br \/>\nproject as a mere speculation\u2014as only one of the many<br \/>\nbubble schemes of the period<a id=\"FNanchor_58\" name=\"FNanchor_58\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_58\">[58]<\/a>\u2014there were other writers who entertained<br \/>\ndifferent views, and boldly and ably announced them.<br \/>\nAmong the most sagacious newspaper articles of the day, calling<br \/>\nattention to the application of the locomotive engine to the purposes<br \/>\nof rapid steam-traveling, on railroads, was a series which appeared<br \/>\nin 1824, in the &#8220;Scotsman&#8221; newspaper, then edited by Mr.<br \/>\nCharles Maclaren. In those publications the wonderful powers of<br \/>\nthe locomotive were logically demonstrated, and the writer, arguing<br \/>\nfrom the experiments on friction made more than half a century<br \/>\nbefore by Vince and Coulomb, which scientific men seemed<br \/>\nto have altogether lost sight of, clearly showed that, by the use of<br \/>\nsteam-power on railroads, the cheaper as well as more rapid transit<br \/>\nof persons and merchandise might be confidently anticipated.<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_262\" name=\"Page_262\"><\/a>[262]<\/span><br \/>\nNot many years passed before the anticipations of the writer,<br \/>\nsanguine and speculative though they were at that time regarded,<br \/>\nwere amply realized. Even Mr. Nicholas Wood, in 1825, speaking<br \/>\nof the powers of the locomotive, and referring doubtless to<br \/>\nthe speculations of the &#8220;Scotsman&#8221; as well as of his equally sanguine<br \/>\nfriend Stephenson, observed: &#8220;It is far from my wish to<br \/>\npromulgate to the world that the ridiculous expectations, or rather<br \/>\nprofessions, of the enthusiastic speculist will be realized, and<br \/>\nthat we shall see engines traveling at the rate of twelve, sixteen,<br \/>\neighteen, or twenty miles an hour. Nothing could do more harm<br \/>\ntoward their general adoption and improvement than the promulgation<br \/>\nof such nonsense.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_59\" name=\"FNanchor_59\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_59\">[59]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Among the papers left by Mr. Sandars we find a letter addressed<br \/>\nto him by Sir John Barrow, of the Admiralty, as to the<br \/>\nproper method of conducting the case in Parliament, which pretty<br \/>\naccurately represents the state of public opinion as to the practicability<br \/>\nof locomotive traveling on railroads at the time at<br \/>\nwhich it was written, the 10th of January, 1825. Sir John<br \/>\nstrongly urged Mr. Sandars to keep the locomotive altogether in<br \/>\nthe background; to rely upon the proved inability of the canals<br \/>\nand common roads to accommodate the existing traffic; and to<br \/>\nbe satisfied with proving the absolute necessity of a new line of<br \/>\nconveyance; above all, he recommended him not even to hint at<br \/>\nthe intention of carrying passengers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;You will at once,&#8221; said he, &#8220;raise a host of enemies in the proprietors<br \/>\nof coaches, post-chaises, innkeepers, etc., whose interests<br \/>\nwill be attacked, and who, I have no doubt, will be strongly supported,<br \/>\nand for what? Some thousands of passengers, <em>you<\/em> say\u2014but<br \/>\na few hundreds <em>I<\/em> should say\u2014in the year.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>He accordingly urged that <em>passengers<\/em> as well as <em>speed<\/em> should<br \/>\nbe kept entirely out of the act; but, if the latter were insisted on,<br \/>\nthen he recommended that it should be kept as low as possible\u2014say<br \/>\nat five miles an hour!<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, when George Stephenson, at the interviews with counsel<br \/>\nheld previous to the Liverpool and Manchester Bill going into<br \/>\nCommittee of the House of Commons, confidently stated his expectation<br \/>\nof being able to run his locomotive at the rate of twenty<br \/>\nmiles an hour, Mr. William Brougham, who was retained by<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_263\" name=\"Page_263\"><\/a>[263]<\/span><br \/>\nthe promoters to conduct their case, frankly told him that if he<br \/>\ndid not moderate his views, and bring his engine within a <em>reasonable<\/em><br \/>\nspeed, he would &#8220;inevitably damn the whole thing, and be<br \/>\nhimself regarded as a maniac fit only for Bedlam.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The idea thrown out by Stephenson of traveling at a rate of<br \/>\nspeed double that of the fastest mail-coach appeared at the time<br \/>\nso preposterous that he was unable to find any engineer who<br \/>\nwould risk his reputation in supporting such &#8220;absurd views.&#8221;<br \/>\nSpeaking of his isolation at the time, he subsequently observed at<br \/>\na public meeting of railway men in Manchester: &#8220;He remembered<br \/>\nthe time when he had very few supporters in bringing out<br \/>\nthe railway system\u2014when he sought England over for an engineer<br \/>\nto support him in his evidence before Parliament, and could<br \/>\nfind only one man, James Walker, but was afraid to call that gentleman,<br \/>\nbecause he knew nothing about railways. He had then<br \/>\nno one to tell his tale to but Mr. Sandars, of Liverpool, who did<br \/>\nlisten to him, and kept his spirits up; and his schemes had at<br \/>\nlength been carried out only by dint of sheer perseverance.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>George Stephenson&#8217;s idea was at that time regarded as but the<br \/>\ndream of a chimerical projector. It stood before the public<br \/>\nfriendless, struggling hard to gain a footing, scarcely daring to<br \/>\nlift itself into notice for fear of ridicule. The civil engineers<br \/>\ngenerally rejected the notion of a Locomotive Railway; and<br \/>\nwhen no leading man of the day could be found to stand forward<br \/>\nin support of the Killingworth mechanic, its chances of<br \/>\nsuccess must indeed have been pronounced but small.<\/p>\n<p>When such was the hostility of the civil engineers, no wonder<br \/>\nthe Reviewers were puzzled. The &#8220;Quarterly,&#8221; in an able article<br \/>\nin support of the projected Liverpool and Manchester Railway,<br \/>\nwhile admitting its <em>absolute necessity<\/em>, and insisting that there was<br \/>\nno choice left but a railroad, on which the journey between Liverpool<br \/>\nand Manchester, whether performed by horses or engines,<br \/>\nwould always be accomplished &#8220;within the day,&#8221; nevertheless<br \/>\nscouted the idea of traveling at a greater speed than eight or<br \/>\nnine miles an hour. Adverting to a project for forming a railway<br \/>\nto Woolwich, by which passengers were to be drawn by locomotive<br \/>\nengines moving with twice the velocity of ordinary<br \/>\ncoaches, the reviewer observed: &#8220;What can be more palpably<br \/>\nabsurd and ridiculous than the prospect held out of locomotives<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_264\" name=\"Page_264\"><\/a>[264]<\/span><br \/>\ntraveling <em>twice as fast<\/em> as stage-coaches! We would as soon expect<br \/>\nthe people of Woolwich to suffer themselves to be fired off<br \/>\nupon one of Congreve&#8217;s ricochet rockets, as trust themselves to the<br \/>\nmercy of such a machine going at such a rate. We will back old<br \/>\nFather Thames against the Woolwich Railway for any sum. We<br \/>\ntrust that Parliament will, in all railways it may sanction, limit<br \/>\nthe speed to <em>eight or nine miles an hour<\/em>, which we entirely agree<br \/>\nwith Mr. Sylvester is as great as can be ventured on with safety.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_267.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"222\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>SURVEYING ON CHAT MOSS.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_265\" name=\"Page_265\"><\/a>[265]<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER X.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>PARLIAMENTARY CONTEST ON THE LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER BILL.<\/h4>\n<p>The Liverpool and Manchester Bill went into Committee of<br \/>\nthe House of Commons on the 21st of March, 1825. There was<br \/>\nan extraordinary array of legal talent on the occasion, but especially<br \/>\non the side of the opponents to the measure. Their<br \/>\nwealth and influence enabled them to retain the ablest counsel<br \/>\nat the bar; Mr. (afterward Baron) Alderson, Mr. Stephenson, Mr.<br \/>\n(afterward Baron) Parke, Mr. Rose, Mr. Macdonnell, Mr. Harrison,<br \/>\nMr. Erle, and Mr. Cullen, appeared for various clients, who made<br \/>\ncommon cause with each other in opposing the bill, the case for<br \/>\nwhich was conducted by Mr. Adam, Mr. Sergeant Spankie, Mr.<br \/>\nWilliam Brougham, and Mr. Joy.<\/p>\n<p>Evidence was taken at great length as to the difficulties and<br \/>\ndelays in forwarding raw goods of all kinds from Liverpool to<br \/>\nManchester, as also in the conveyance of manufactured articles<br \/>\nfrom Manchester to Liverpool. The evidence adduced in support<br \/>\nof the bill on these grounds was overwhelming. The utter<br \/>\ninadequacy of the existing modes of conveyance to carry on satisfactorily<br \/>\nthe large and rapidly-growing trade between the two<br \/>\ntowns was fully proved. But then came the main difficulty of<br \/>\nthe promoters&#8217; case\u2014that of proving the practicability of constructing<br \/>\na railroad to be worked by locomotive power. Mr.<br \/>\nAdam, in his opening speech, referred to the cases of the Hetton<br \/>\nand the Killingworth railroads, where heavy goods were safely<br \/>\nand economically transported by means of locomotive engines.<br \/>\n&#8220;None of the tremendous consequences,&#8221; he observed, &#8220;have<br \/>\nensued from the use of steam in land carriage that have been<br \/>\nstated. The horses have not started, nor the cows ceased to give<br \/>\ntheir milk, nor have ladies miscarried at the sight of these things<br \/>\ngoing forward at the rate of four miles and a half an hour.&#8221;<br \/>\nNotwithstanding the petition of two ladies alleging the great<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_266\" name=\"Page_266\"><\/a>[266]<\/span><br \/>\ndanger to be apprehended from the bursting of the locomotive<br \/>\nboilers, he urged the safety of the high-pressure engine when the<br \/>\nboilers were constructed of wrought iron; and as to the rate at<br \/>\nwhich they could travel, he expressed his full conviction that<br \/>\nsuch engines &#8220;could supply force to drive a carriage at the rate<br \/>\nof five or six miles an hour.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The taking of the evidence as to the impediments thrown in<br \/>\nthe way of trade and commerce by the existing system extended<br \/>\nover a month, and it was the 21st of April before the committee<br \/>\nwent into the engineering evidence, which was the vital part of<br \/>\nthe question.<\/p>\n<p>On the 25th George Stephenson was called into the witness-box.<br \/>\nIt was his first appearance before a committee of the House<br \/>\nof Commons, and he well knew what he had to expect. He was<br \/>\naware that the whole force of the opposition was to be directed<br \/>\nagainst him; and if they could break down his evidence, the canal<br \/>\nmonopoly might yet be upheld for a time. Many years afterward,<br \/>\nwhen looking back at his position on this trying occasion,<br \/>\nhe said: &#8220;When I went to Liverpool to plan a line from thence<br \/>\nto Manchester, I pledged myself to the directors to attain a speed<br \/>\nof ten miles an hour. I said I had no doubt the locomotive<br \/>\nmight be made to go much faster, but that we had better be<br \/>\nmoderate at the beginning. The directors said I was quite right;<br \/>\nfor that if, when they went to Parliament, I talked of going at a<br \/>\ngreater rate than ten miles an hour, I should put a cross upon<br \/>\nthe concern. It was not an easy task for me to keep the engine<br \/>\ndown to ten miles an hour, but it must be done, and I did my<br \/>\nbest. I had to place myself in that most unpleasant of all positions\u2014the<br \/>\nwitness-box of a Parliamentary committee. I was not<br \/>\nlong in it before I began to wish for a hole to creep out at! I<br \/>\ncould not find words to satisfy either the committee or myself.<br \/>\nI was subjected to the cross-examination of eight or ten barristers,<br \/>\npurposely, as far as possible, to bewilder me. Some member<br \/>\nof the committee asked <em>if I was a foreigner<\/em>,<a id=\"FNanchor_60\" name=\"FNanchor_60\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_60\">[60]<\/a> and another<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_267\" name=\"Page_267\"><\/a>[267]<\/span><br \/>\nhinted that <em>I was mad<\/em>. But I put up with every rebuff, and<br \/>\nwent on with my plans, determined not to be put down.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>George Stephenson stood before the committee to prove what<br \/>\nthe public opinion of that day held to be impossible. The self-taught<br \/>\nmechanic had to demonstrate the practicability of accomplishing<br \/>\nthat which the most distinguished engineers of the time<br \/>\nregarded as impracticable. Clear though the subject was to himself,<br \/>\nand familiar as he was with the powers of the locomotive, it<br \/>\nwas no easy task for him to bring home his convictions, or even<br \/>\nto convey his meaning, to the less informed minds of his hearers.<br \/>\nIn his strong Northumbrian dialect, he struggled for utterance,<br \/>\nin the face of the sneers, interruptions, and ridicule of the opponents<br \/>\nof the measure, and even of the committee, some of whom<br \/>\nshook their heads and whispered doubts as to his sanity when he<br \/>\nenergetically avowed that he could make the locomotive go at<br \/>\nthe rate of twelve miles an hour! It was so grossly in the teeth<br \/>\nof all the experience of honorable members, that the man &#8220;must<br \/>\ncertainly be laboring under a delusion!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>And yet his large experience of railways and locomotives, as<br \/>\ndescribed by himself to the committee, entitled this &#8220;untaught,<br \/>\ninarticulate genius,&#8221; as he has been described, to speak with confidence<br \/>\non the subject. Beginning with his experience as a<br \/>\nbrakesman at Killingworth in 1803, he went on to state that he<br \/>\nwas appointed to take the entire charge of the steam-engines in<br \/>\n1813, and had superintended the railroads connected with the<br \/>\nnumerous collieries of the Grand Allies from that time downward.<br \/>\nHe had laid down or superintended the railways at Burradon,<br \/>\nMount Moor, Springwell, Bedlington, Hetton, and Darlington,<br \/>\nbesides improving those at Killingworth, South Moor,<br \/>\nand Derwent Crook. He had constructed fifty-five steam-engines,<br \/>\nof which sixteen were locomotives. Some of these had<br \/>\nbeen sent to France. The engines constructed by him for the<br \/>\nworking of the Killingworth Railroad, eleven years before, had<br \/>\ncontinued steadily at work ever since, and fulfilled his most sanguine<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_268\" name=\"Page_268\"><\/a>[268]<\/span><br \/>\nexpectations. He was prepared to prove the safety of<br \/>\nworking high-pressure locomotives on a railroad, and the superiority<br \/>\nof this mode of transporting goods over all others. As to<br \/>\nspeed, he said he had recommended eight miles an hour with<br \/>\ntwenty tons, and four miles an hour with forty tons; but he was<br \/>\nquite confident that much more might be done. Indeed, he had<br \/>\nno doubt they might go at the rate of twelve miles. As to the<br \/>\ncharge that locomotives on a railroad would so terrify the horses<br \/>\nin the neighborhood that to travel on horseback or to plow the<br \/>\nadjoining fields would be rendered highly dangerous, the witness<br \/>\nsaid that horses learned to take no notice of them, though there<br \/>\n<em>were<\/em> horses that would shy at a wheelbarrow. A mail-coach<br \/>\nwas likely to be more shied at by horses than a locomotive. In<br \/>\nthe neighborhood of Killingworth, the cattle in the fields went<br \/>\non grazing while the engines passed them, and the farmers made<br \/>\nno complaints.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Alderson, who had carefully studied the subject, and was<br \/>\nwell skilled in practical science, subjected the witness to a protracted<br \/>\nand severe cross-examination as to the speed and power<br \/>\nof the locomotive, the stroke of the piston, the slipping of the<br \/>\nwheels upon the rails, and various other points of detail. Stephenson<br \/>\ninsisted that no slipping took place, as attempted to be<br \/>\nextorted from him by the counsel. He said, &#8220;It is impossible for<br \/>\nslipping to take place so long as the adhesive weight of the wheel<br \/>\nupon the rail is greater than the weight to be dragged after it.&#8221;<br \/>\nThere was a good deal of interruption to the witness&#8217;s answers<br \/>\nby Mr. Alderson, to which Mr. Joy more than once objected. As<br \/>\nto accidents, Stephenson knew of none that had occurred with<br \/>\nhis engines. There had been one, he was told, at the Middleton<br \/>\nColliery, near Leeds, with a Blenkinsop engine. The driver had<br \/>\nbeen in liquor, and put a considerable load on the safety-valve,<br \/>\nso that upon going forward the engine blew up and the man was<br \/>\nkilled. But he added, if proper precautions had been used with<br \/>\nthat boiler, the accident could not have happened. The following<br \/>\ncross-examination occurred in reference to the question of<br \/>\nspeed:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Of course,&#8221; he was asked, &#8220;when a body is moving upon a<br \/>\nroad, the greater the velocity the greater the momentum that is<br \/>\ngenerated?&#8221; &#8220;Certainly.&#8221; &#8220;What would be the momentum of<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_269\" name=\"Page_269\"><\/a>[269]<\/span><br \/>\nforty tons moving at the rate of twelve miles an hour?&#8221; &#8220;It<br \/>\nwould be very great.&#8221; &#8220;Have you seen a railroad that would<br \/>\nstand that?&#8221; &#8220;Yes.&#8221; &#8220;Where?&#8221; &#8220;Any railroad that would<br \/>\nbear going four miles an hour: I mean to say, that if it would<br \/>\nbear the weight at four miles an hour, it would bear it at twelve.&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8220;Taking it at four miles an hour, do you mean to say that it<br \/>\nwould not require a stronger railway to carry the same weight<br \/>\ntwelve miles an hour?&#8221; &#8220;I will give an answer to that. I dare<br \/>\nsay every person has been over ice when skating, or seen persons<br \/>\ngo over, and they know that it would bear them better at a greater<br \/>\nvelocity than it would if they went slower; when they go<br \/>\nquick, the weight in a measure ceases.&#8221; &#8220;Is not than upon the<br \/>\nhypothesis that the railroad is perfect?&#8221; &#8220;It is; and I mean to<br \/>\nmake it perfect.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It is not necessary to state that to have passed through his<br \/>\nsevere ordeal scatheless needed no small amount of courage, intelligence,<br \/>\nand ready shrewdness on the part of the witness.<br \/>\nNicholas Wood, who was present on the occasion, has since stated<br \/>\nthat the point on which Stephenson was hardest pressed was that<br \/>\nof speed. &#8220;I believe,&#8221; he says, &#8220;that it would have lost the company<br \/>\ntheir bill if he had gone beyond eight or nine miles an<br \/>\nhour. If he had stated his intention of going twelve or fifteen<br \/>\nmiles an hour, not a single person would have believed it to be<br \/>\npracticable.&#8221; Mr. Alderson had, indeed, so pressed the point of<br \/>\n&#8220;twelve miles an hour,&#8221; and the promoters were so alarmed lest<br \/>\nit should appear in evidence that they contemplated any such extravagant<br \/>\nrate of speed, that immediately on Mr. Alderson sitting<br \/>\ndown, Mr. Joy proceeded to re-examine Stephenson, with the<br \/>\nview of removing from the minds of the committee an impression<br \/>\nso unfavorable, and, as they supposed, so damaging to their<br \/>\ncase. &#8220;With regard,&#8221; asked Mr. Joy, &#8220;to all those hypothetical<br \/>\nquestions of my learned friend, they have been all put on the<br \/>\nsupposition of going twelve miles an hour: now that is not the<br \/>\nrate at which, I believe, any of the engines of which you have<br \/>\nspoken have traveled?&#8221; &#8220;No,&#8221; replied Stephenson, &#8220;except as<br \/>\nan experiment for a short distance.&#8221; &#8220;But what they have gone<br \/>\nhas been three, five, or six miles an hour?&#8221; &#8220;Yes.&#8221; &#8220;So that<br \/>\nthose hypothetical cases of twelve miles an hour do not fall within<br \/>\nyour general experience?&#8221; &#8220;They do not.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_270\" name=\"Page_270\"><\/a>[270]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The committee also seem to have entertained some alarm as to<br \/>\nthe high rate of speed which had been spoken of, and proceeded<br \/>\nto examine the witness farther on the subject. They supposed<br \/>\nthe case of the engine being upset when going at nine miles an<br \/>\nhour, and asked what, in such a case, would become of the cargo<br \/>\nastern. To which the witness replied that it would not be upset.<br \/>\nOne of the members of the committee pressed the witness a little<br \/>\nfarther. He put the following case: &#8220;Suppose, now, one of these<br \/>\nengines to be going along a railroad at the rate of nine or ten<br \/>\nmiles an hour, and that a cow were to stray upon the line and get<br \/>\nin the way of the engine; would not that, think you, be a very<br \/>\nawkward circumstance?&#8221; &#8220;Yes,&#8221; replied the witness, with a<br \/>\ntwinkle in his eye, &#8220;very awkward\u2014<em>for the coo<\/em>!&#8221; The honorable<br \/>\nmember did not proceed farther with his cross-examination;<br \/>\nto use a railway phrase, he was &#8220;shunted.&#8221; Another asked if<br \/>\nanimals would not be very much frightened by the engine passing<br \/>\nat night, especially by the glare of the red-hot chimney?<br \/>\n&#8220;But how would they know that it wasn&#8217;t painted?&#8221; said the<br \/>\nwitness.<\/p>\n<p>On the following day (the 26th of April) the engineer was<br \/>\nsubjected to a most severe examination. On that part of the<br \/>\nscheme with which he was most practically conversant, his evidence<br \/>\nwas clear and conclusive. Now, he had to give evidence<br \/>\non the plans made by his surveyors, and the estimates which had<br \/>\nbeen founded on those plans. So long as he was confined to<br \/>\nlocomotive engines and iron railroads, with the minutest details<br \/>\nof which he was more familiar than any man living, he felt at<br \/>\nhome and in his element. But when the designs of bridges and<br \/>\nthe cost of constructing them had to be gone into, the subject being<br \/>\ncomparatively new to him, his evidence was much less satisfactory.<\/p>\n<p>He was cross-examined as to the practicability of forming a<br \/>\nroad on so unstable a foundation as Chat Moss.<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;Now, with respect to your evidence upon Chat Moss,&#8217; asked<br \/>\nMr. Alderson, &#8216;did you ever walk on Chat Moss on the proposed<br \/>\nline of the railway?&#8217; &#8216;The greater part of it, I have.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;Was it not extremely boggy?&#8217; &#8216;In parts it was.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;How deep did you sink in?&#8217; &#8216;I could have gone with shoes;<br \/>\nI do not know whether I had boots on.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_271\" name=\"Page_271\"><\/a>[271]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;If the depth of the Moss should prove to be 40 feet instead of<br \/>\n20, would not this plan of the railway over this Moss be impracticable?&#8217;<br \/>\n&#8216;No, it would not. If the gentleman will allow me, I will<br \/>\nrefer to a railroad belonging to the Duke of Portland, made over a<br \/>\nmoss; there are no levels to drain it properly, such as we have at<br \/>\nChat Moss, and it is made by an embankment over the moss, which<br \/>\nis worse than making a cutting, for there is the weight of the embankment<br \/>\nto press upon the moss.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;Still, you must go to the bottom of the moss?&#8217; &#8216;It is not necessary;<br \/>\nthe deeper you get, the more consolidated it is.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;Would you put some hard materials on it before you commenced?&#8217;<br \/>\n&#8216;Yes, perhaps I should.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;What?&#8217; &#8216;Brushwood, perhaps.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;And you, then, are of opinion that it would be a solid embankment?&#8217;<br \/>\n&#8216;It would have a tremulous motion for a time, but would<br \/>\nnot give way, like clay.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Mr. Alderson also cross-examined him at great length on the<br \/>\nplans of the bridges, the tunnels, the crossings of the roads and<br \/>\nstreets, and the details of the survey, which, it soon appeared, were<br \/>\nin some respects seriously at fault. It seems that, after the plans<br \/>\nhad been deposited, Stephenson found that a much more favorable<br \/>\nline might be laid out, and he made his estimates accordingly,<br \/>\nsupposing that Parliament would not confine the company to the<br \/>\nprecise plan which had been deposited. This was felt to be a serious<br \/>\nblot in the Parliamentary case, and one very difficult to get<br \/>\nover.<\/p>\n<p>For three entire days was our engineer subjected to cross-examination<br \/>\nby Mr. Alderson, Mr. Cullen, and the other leading<br \/>\ncounsel for the opposition. He held his ground bravely, and defended<br \/>\nthe plans and estimates with remarkable ability and skill,<br \/>\nbut it was clear they were imperfect, and the result was, on the<br \/>\nwhole, damaging to the bill. Mr. (afterward Sir William) Cubitt<br \/>\nwas called by the promoters, Mr. Adam stating that he proposed<br \/>\nby this witness to correct some of the levels as given by Stephenson.<br \/>\nIt seems a singular course to have been taken by the promoters<br \/>\nof the measure, for Mr. Cubitt&#8217;s evidence went to upset the<br \/>\nstatements made by Stephenson as to the survey. This adverse<br \/>\nevidence was, of course, made the most of by the opponents of the<br \/>\nscheme.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Sergeant Spankie then summed up for the bill on the 2d<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_272\" name=\"Page_272\"><\/a>[272]<\/span><br \/>\nof May, in a speech of great length, and the case of the opponents<br \/>\nwas next gone into, Mr. Harrison opening with a long and eloquent<br \/>\nspeech on behalf of his clients, Mrs. Atherton and others.<br \/>\nHe indulged in strong vituperation against the witnesses for the<br \/>\nbill, and especially dwelt upon the manner in which Mr. Cubitt,<br \/>\nfor the promoters, had proved that Stephenson&#8217;s levels were wrong.<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;They got a person,&#8221; said he, &#8220;whose character and skill I do<br \/>\nnot dispute, though I do not exactly know that I should have gone<br \/>\nto the inventor of the treadmill as the fittest man to take the levels<br \/>\nof Knowsley Moss and Chat Moss, which shook almost as much as<br \/>\na treadmill, as you recollect, for he (Mr. Cubitt) said Chat Moss<br \/>\ntrembled so much under his feet that he could not take his observations<br \/>\naccurately&#8230;. In fact, Mr. Cubitt did not go on to Chat<br \/>\nMoss, because he knew that it was an immense mass of pulp, and<br \/>\nnothing else. It actually rises in height, from the rain swelling it<br \/>\nlike a sponge, and sinks again in dry weather, and if a boring instrument<br \/>\nis put into it, it sinks immediately by its own weight.<br \/>\nThe making of an embankment out of this pulpy, wet moss is no<br \/>\nvery easy task. Who but Mr. Stephenson would have thought of<br \/>\nentering into Chat Moss, carrying it out almost like wet dung? It<br \/>\nis ignorance almost inconceivable. It is perfect madness, in a person<br \/>\ncalled upon to speak on a scientific subject, to propose such a<br \/>\nplan&#8230;. Every part of the scheme shows that this man has applied<br \/>\nhimself to a subject of which he has no knowledge, and to<br \/>\nwhich he has no science to apply.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Then, adverting to the proposal to work the intended line by<br \/>\nmeans of locomotives, the learned gentleman proceeded:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;When we set out with the original prospectus, we were to gallop<br \/>\nI know not at what rate\u2014I believe it was at the rate of twelve<br \/>\nmiles an hour. My learned friend, Mr. Adam, contemplated\u2014possibly<br \/>\nalluding to Ireland\u2014that some of the Irish members would<br \/>\narrive in the wagons to a division. My learned friend says that<br \/>\nthey would go at the rate of twelve miles an hour with the aid of<br \/>\nthe devil in the form of a locomotive sitting as postillion on the fore<br \/>\nhorse, and an honorable member sitting behind him to stir up the<br \/>\nfire, and keep it at full speed. But the speed at which these locomotive<br \/>\nengines are to go has slackened: Mr. Adam does not go faster<br \/>\nnow than five miles an hour. The learned sergeant (Spankie)<br \/>\nsays he should like to have seven, but he would be content to go<br \/>\nsix. I will show he can not go six; and probably, for any practical<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_273\" name=\"Page_273\"><\/a>[273]<\/span><br \/>\npurposes, I may be able to show that I can keep up with him <em>by<br \/>\nthe canal<\/em>&#8230;. Locomotive engines are liable to be operated upon<br \/>\nby the weather. You are told they are affected by rain, and an attempt<br \/>\nhas been made to cover them; but the wind will affect them;<br \/>\nand any gale of wind which would affect the traffic on the Mersey<br \/>\nwould render it <em>impossible<\/em> to set off a locomotive engine, either by<br \/>\npoking of the fire, or keeping up the pressure of the steam till the<br \/>\nboiler was ready to burst.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>How amusing it now is to read these extraordinary views as to<br \/>\nthe formation of a railway over Chat Moss, and the impossibility<br \/>\nof starting a locomotive engine in the face of a gale of wind?<\/p>\n<p>Evidence was called to show that the house property passed by<br \/>\nthe proposed railway would be greatly deteriorated\u2014in some<br \/>\nplaces almost destroyed; that the locomotive engines would be<br \/>\nterrible nuisances, in consequence of the fire and smoke vomited<br \/>\nforth by them; and that the value of land in the neighborhood<br \/>\nof Manchester alone would be deteriorated by no less than \u00a320,000!<br \/>\nEvidence was also given at great length showing the utter impossibility<br \/>\nof forming a road of any kind upon Chat Moss. A Manchester<br \/>\nbuilder, who was examined, could not imagine the feat<br \/>\npossible, unless by arching it across in the manner of a viaduct<br \/>\nfrom one side to the other. It was the old story of &#8220;nothing like<br \/>\nleather.&#8221; But the opposition mainly relied upon the evidence of<br \/>\nthe leading engineers\u2014not, like Stephenson, self-taught men, but<br \/>\nregular professionals. Mr. Francis Giles, C.E., was their great<br \/>\ncard. He had been twenty-two years an engineer, and could speak<br \/>\nwith some authority. His testimony was mainly directed to the<br \/>\nutter impossibility of forming a railway over Chat Moss. &#8220;<em>No<br \/>\nengineer in his senses,<\/em>&#8221; said he, &#8220;would go through Chat Moss if<br \/>\nhe wanted to make a railroad from Liverpool to Manchester. In<br \/>\nmy judgment, <em>a railroad certainly can not be safely made over<br \/>\nChat Moss without going to the bottom of the Moss<\/em>.&#8221; The following<br \/>\nmay be taken as a specimen of Mr. Giles&#8217;s evidence:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;Tell us whether, in your judgment, a railroad can be safely<br \/>\nmade over Chat Moss without going to the bottom of the bog?&#8217;<br \/>\n&#8216;I say, <em>certainly not<\/em>.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;Will it be necessary, therefore, in making a permanent railroad,<br \/>\nto take out the whole of the moss to the bottom, along the whole<br \/>\nline of road?&#8217; &#8216;Undoubtedly.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_274\" name=\"Page_274\"><\/a>[274]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;Will that make it necessary to cut down the thirty-three or<br \/>\nthirty-four feet of which you have been speaking?&#8217; &#8216;Yes.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;And afterward to fill it up with other soil?&#8217; &#8216;To such height<br \/>\nas the railway is to be carried; other soil mixed with a portion of<br \/>\nthe moss.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;But suppose they were to work upon this stuff, could they get<br \/>\ntheir carriages to this place?&#8217; &#8216;<em>No carriage can stand on the moss<br \/>\nshort of the bottom.<\/em>&#8216;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;What could they do to make it stand\u2014laying planks, or something<br \/>\nof that sort?&#8217; &#8216;Nothing would support it.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;So that, if you would carry a railroad over this fluid stuff\u2014if<br \/>\nyou could do it, it would still take a great number of men and a<br \/>\ngreat sum of money. Could it be done, in your opinion, for \u00a36000?&#8217;<br \/>\n&#8216;I should say \u00a3200,000 would not get through it.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;My learned friend wishes to know what it would cost to lay it<br \/>\nwith diamonds?'&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Mr. H. R. Palmer, C.E., gave evidence to prove that resistance<br \/>\nto a moving body going under four and a quarter miles an hour<br \/>\nwas <em>less<\/em> upon a canal than upon a railroad; and that, when going<br \/>\nagainst a strong wind, the progress of a locomotive was retarded<br \/>\n&#8220;very much.&#8221; Mr. George Leather, C.E., the engineer of<br \/>\nthe Croydon and Wandsworth Railway, on which he said the<br \/>\nwagons went at from two and a half to three miles an hour, also<br \/>\ntestified against the practicability of Stephenson&#8217;s plan. He considered<br \/>\nhis estimate a &#8220;very wild&#8221; one. He had no confidence<br \/>\nin locomotive power. The Weardale Railway, of which he was<br \/>\nengineer, had given up the use of locomotive engines. He supposed<br \/>\nthat, when used, they traveled at three and a half to four<br \/>\nmiles an hour, because they were considered to be then more effective<br \/>\nthan at a higher speed.<\/p>\n<p>When these distinguished engineers had given their evidence,<br \/>\nMr. Alderson summed up in a speech which extended over two<br \/>\ndays. He declared Stephenson&#8217;s plan to be &#8220;the most absurd<br \/>\nscheme that ever entered into the head of man to conceive:&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;My learned friends,&#8221; said he, &#8220;almost endeavored to stop my<br \/>\nexamination; they wished me to put in the plan, but I had rather<br \/>\nhave the exhibition of Mr. Stephenson in that box. I say he never<br \/>\nhad one\u2014I believe he never had one\u2014I do not believe he is capable<br \/>\nof making one. His is a mind perpetually fluctuating between opposite<br \/>\ndifficulties: he neither knows whether he is to make bridges<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_275\" name=\"Page_275\"><\/a>[275]<\/span><br \/>\nover roads or rivers of one size or of another, or to make embankments,<br \/>\nor cuttings, or inclined planes, or in what way the thing is<br \/>\nto be carried into effect. Whenever a difficulty is pressed, as in<br \/>\nthe case of a tunnel, he gets out of it at one end, and when you try<br \/>\nto catch him at that, he gets out at the other.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Mr. Alderson proceeded to declaim against the gross ignorance<br \/>\nof this so-called engineer, who proposed to make &#8220;impossible<br \/>\nditches by the side of an impossible railway&#8221; over Chat Moss;<br \/>\nand he contrasted with his evidence that given &#8220;by that most respectable<br \/>\ngentleman we have called before you, I mean Mr.<br \/>\nGiles, who has executed a vast number of works,&#8221; etc. Then Mr.<br \/>\nGiles&#8217;s evidence as to the impossibility of making any railway<br \/>\nover the Moss that would stand short of the bottom was emphatically<br \/>\ndwelt upon; and Mr. Alderson proceeded:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;Having now, sir, gone through Chat Moss, and having shown<br \/>\nthat Mr. Giles is right in his principle when he adopts a solid railway\u2014and<br \/>\nI care not whether Mr. Giles is right or wrong in his estimate,<br \/>\nfor whether it be effected by means of piers raised up all the<br \/>\nway for four miles through Chat Moss, whether they are to support<br \/>\nit on beams of wood or by erecting masonry, or whether Mr.<br \/>\nGiles shall put a solid bank of earth through it\u2014in all these schemes<br \/>\nthere is not one found like that of Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s, namely, to cut<br \/>\nimpossible drains on the side of this road; and it is sufficient for<br \/>\nme to suggest, and to show, that this scheme of Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s is<br \/>\nimpossible or impracticable, and that no other scheme, if they proceed<br \/>\nupon this line, can be suggested which will not produce enormous<br \/>\nexpense. I think that has been irrefragably made out. Every<br \/>\none knows Chat Moss\u2014every one knows that Mr. Giles speaks<br \/>\ncorrectly when he says the iron sinks immediately on its being put<br \/>\nupon the surface. I have heard of culverts which have been put<br \/>\nupon the Moss, which, after having been surveyed the day before,<br \/>\nhave the next morning disappeared; and that a house (a poet&#8217;s<br \/>\nhouse, who may be supposed in the habit of building castles even<br \/>\nin the air), story after story, as fast as one is added, the lower one<br \/>\nsinks! There is nothing, it appears, except long sedgy grass, and<br \/>\na little soil, to prevent its sinking into the shades of eternal night.<br \/>\nI have now done, sir, with Chat Moss, and there I leave this railroad.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Mr. Alderson, of course, called upon the committee to reject<br \/>\nthe bill; and he protested &#8220;against the despotism of the Exchange<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_276\" name=\"Page_276\"><\/a>[276]<\/span><br \/>\nat Liverpool striding across the land of this country. I<br \/>\ndo protest,&#8221; he concluded, &#8220;against a measure like this, supported<br \/>\nas it is by such evidence, and founded upon such calculations.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The case of the other numerous petitioners against the bill still<br \/>\nremained to be gone into. Witnesses were called to prove the<br \/>\nresidential injury which would be caused by the &#8220;intolerable<br \/>\nnuisance&#8221; of the smoke and fire from the locomotives, and others<br \/>\nto prove that the price of coals and iron would &#8220;infallibly&#8221; be<br \/>\ngreatly raised throughout the country. This was part of the case<br \/>\nof the Duke of Bridgewater&#8217;s trustees, whose witnesses &#8220;proved&#8221;<br \/>\nmany very extraordinary things. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal<br \/>\nCompany were so fortunate as to pick up a witness from Hetton<br \/>\nwho was ready to furnish some damaging evidence as to the use<br \/>\nof Stephenson&#8217;s locomotives on that railway. This was Mr.<br \/>\nThomas Wood, one of the Hetton Company&#8217;s clerks, whose evidence<br \/>\nwas to the effect that the locomotives, having been found<br \/>\nineffective, were about to be discontinued in favor of fixed engines.<br \/>\nThe evidence of this witness, incompetent though he was<br \/>\nto give an opinion on the subject, and exaggerated as his statements<br \/>\nwere afterward proved to be, was made the most of by<br \/>\nMr. Harrison when summing up the case of the canal companies.<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;At length,&#8221; he said, &#8220;we have come to this\u2014having first set<br \/>\nout at twelve miles an hour, the speed of these locomotives is reduced<br \/>\nto six, and now comes down to two or two and a half. They<br \/>\nmust be content to be pulled along by horses and donkeys; and all<br \/>\nthose fine promises of galloping along at the rate of twelve miles an<br \/>\nhour are melted down to a total failure; the foundation on which<br \/>\ntheir case stood is cut from under them completely; for the Act of<br \/>\nParliament, the committee will recollect, prohibits any person using<br \/>\nany animal power, of any sort, kind, or description, except the projectors<br \/>\nof the railway themselves; therefore I say that the whole<br \/>\nfoundation on which this project exists is gone.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>After farther personal abuse of Mr. Stephenson, whose evidence<br \/>\nhe spoke of as &#8220;trash and confusion,&#8221; Mr. Harrison closed<br \/>\nthe case of the canal companies on the 30th of May. Mr. Adam<br \/>\nreplied for the promoters, recapitulating the principal points of<br \/>\ntheir case, and vindicating Mr. Stephenson and the evidence<br \/>\nwhich he had given before the committee.<\/p>\n<p>The committee then divided on the preamble, which was carried<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_277\" name=\"Page_277\"><\/a>[277]<\/span><br \/>\nby a majority of only <em>one<\/em>\u2014thirty-seven voting for it, and<br \/>\nthirty-six against it. The clauses were next considered, and on a<br \/>\ndivision, the first clause, empowering the company to make the<br \/>\nrailway, was lost by a majority of nineteen to thirteen. In like<br \/>\nmanner, the next clause, empowering the company to take land,<br \/>\nwas lost; on which Mr. Adam, on the part of the promoters,<br \/>\nwithdrew the bill.<\/p>\n<p>Thus ended this memorable contest, which had extended over<br \/>\ntwo months\u2014carried on throughout with great pertinacity and<br \/>\nskill, especially on the part of the opposition, who left no stone<br \/>\nunturned to defeat the measure. The want of a new line of communication<br \/>\nbetween Liverpool and Manchester had been clearly<br \/>\nproved; but the engineering evidence in support of the proposed<br \/>\nrailway having been thrown almost entirely upon George Stephenson,<br \/>\nwho fought this, the most important part of the battle,<br \/>\nsingle-handed, was not brought out so clearly as it would have<br \/>\nbeen had he secured more efficient engineering assistance, which<br \/>\nhe was not able to do, as all the engineers of eminence of that<br \/>\nday were against the locomotive railway. The obstacles thrown<br \/>\nin the way of the survey by the land-owners and canal companies,<br \/>\nby which the plans were rendered exceedingly imperfect, also<br \/>\ntended in a great measure to defeat the bill.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Gooch says the rejection of the scheme was probably the<br \/>\nmost severe trial George Stephenson underwent in the whole<br \/>\ncourse of his life. The circumstances connected with the defeat<br \/>\nof the bill, the errors in the levels, his severe cross-examination,<br \/>\nfollowed by the fact of his being superseded by another engineer,<br \/>\nall told fearfully upon him, and for some time he was as terribly<br \/>\nweighed down as if a personal calamity of the most serious kind<br \/>\nhad befallen him. It is also right to add that he was badly<br \/>\nserved by his surveyors, who were unpracticed and incompetent.<br \/>\nOn the 27th of September, 1824, we find him writing to Mr. Sandars:<br \/>\n&#8220;I am quite shocked with Auty&#8217;s conduct; we must throw<br \/>\nhim aside as soon as possible. Indeed, I have begun to fear that<br \/>\nhe has been fee&#8217;d by some of the canal proprietors to make a botch<br \/>\nof the job. I have a letter from Steele,<a id=\"FNanchor_61\" name=\"FNanchor_61\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_61\">[61]<\/a> whose views of Auty&#8217;s<br \/>\nconduct quite agree with yours.&#8221;<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_278\" name=\"Page_278\"><\/a>[278]<\/span><br \/>\nThe result of this first application to Parliament was so far<br \/>\ndiscouraging. Stephenson had been so terribly abused by the<br \/>\nleading counsel for the opposition in the course of the proceedings<br \/>\nbefore the committee\u2014stigmatized by them as an ignoramus,<br \/>\na fool, and a maniac\u2014that even his friends seem for a time to<br \/>\nhave lost faith in him and in the locomotive system, whose efficiency<br \/>\nhe continued to uphold. Things never looked blacker for<br \/>\nthe success of the railway system than at the close of this great<br \/>\nParliamentary struggle. And yet it was on the very eve of its<br \/>\ntriumph.<\/p>\n<p>The Committee of Directors appointed to watch the measure<br \/>\nin Parliament were so determined to press on the project of a<br \/>\nrailway, even though it should have to be worked merely by<br \/>\nhorse-power, that the bill had scarcely been defeated ere they<br \/>\nmet in London to consider their next step. They called their<br \/>\nParliamentary friends together to consult as to their future proceedings.<br \/>\nAmong those who attended the meeting of gentlemen<br \/>\nwith this object in the Royal Hotel, St. James&#8217;s Street, on the 4th<br \/>\nof June, were Mr. Huskisson, Mr. Spring Rice, and General Gascoyne.<br \/>\nMr. Huskisson urged the promoters to renew their application<br \/>\nto Parliament. They had secured the first step by the<br \/>\npassing of their preamble; the measure was of great public importance;<br \/>\nand, whatever temporary opposition it might meet<br \/>\nwith, he conceived that Parliament must ultimately give its sanction<br \/>\nto the undertaking. Similar views were expressed by other<br \/>\nspeakers; and the deputation went back to Liverpool determined<br \/>\nto renew their application to Parliament in the ensuing season.<\/p>\n<p>It was not considered desirable to employ George Stephenson<br \/>\nin making the new survey. He had not as yet established his<br \/>\nreputation beyond the boundaries of his own district, and the<br \/>\npromoters of the bill had doubtless felt the disadvantages of this<br \/>\nin the course of their Parliamentary struggle. They therefore<br \/>\nresolved now to employ engineers of the highest established reputation,<br \/>\nas well as the best surveyors that could be obtained. In<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_279\" name=\"Page_279\"><\/a>[279]<\/span><br \/>\naccordance with these views, they engaged Messrs. George and<br \/>\nJohn Rennie to be the engineers of the railway; and Mr. Charles<br \/>\nVignolles, on their behalf, was appointed to prepare the plans<br \/>\nand sections. The line which was eventually adopted differed<br \/>\nsomewhat from that surveyed by Stephenson, entirely avoiding<br \/>\nLord Sefton&#8217;s property, and passing through only a few detached<br \/>\nfields of Lord Derby&#8217;s at a considerable distance from the Knowsley<br \/>\ndomain. The principal parks and game preserves of the district<br \/>\nwere also carefully avoided. The promoters thus hoped to<br \/>\nget rid of the opposition of the most influential of the resident<br \/>\nland-owners. The crossing of certain of the streets of Liverpool<br \/>\nwas also avoided, and the entrance contrived by means of a tunnel<br \/>\nand an inclined plane. The new line stopped short of the<br \/>\nRiver Irwell at the Manchester end, and thus, in some measure,<br \/>\nremoved the objections grounded on an anticipated interruption<br \/>\nto the canal or river traffic. And, with reference to the use of<br \/>\nthe locomotive engine, the promoters, remembering with what<br \/>\neffect the objections to it had been urged by the opponents of the<br \/>\nmeasure, intimated, in their second prospectus, that, &#8220;as a guarantee<br \/>\nof their good faith toward the public, they will not require<br \/>\nany clause empowering them to use it; or they will submit to<br \/>\nsuch restrictions in the employment of it as Parliament may impose,<br \/>\nfor the satisfaction and ample protection both of proprietors<br \/>\non the line of road and of the public at large.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It was found that the capital required to form the line of railway,<br \/>\nas laid out by the Messrs. Rennie, was considerably beyond<br \/>\nthe amount of Stephenson&#8217;s estimate, and it became a question<br \/>\nwith the committee in what way the new capital should be raised.<br \/>\nA proposal was made to the Marquis of Stafford, who was principally<br \/>\ninterested in the Duke of Bridgewater&#8217;s Canal, to become<br \/>\na shareholder in the undertaking. A similar proposal had at an<br \/>\nearlier period been made to Mr. Bradshaw, the trustee for the<br \/>\nproperty; but his answer was &#8220;all or none,&#8221; and the negotiation<br \/>\nwas broken off. The Marquis of Stafford, however, now met the<br \/>\nprojectors of the railway in a more conciliatory spirit, and it was<br \/>\nultimately agreed that he should become a subscriber to the extent<br \/>\nof a thousand shares.<\/p>\n<p>The survey of the new line having been completed, the plans<br \/>\nwere deposited, the standing orders duly complied with, and the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_280\" name=\"Page_280\"><\/a>[280]<\/span><br \/>\nbill went before Parliament. The same counsel appeared for the<br \/>\npromoters, but the examination of witnesses was not nearly so<br \/>\nprotracted as on the former occasion. Mr. Erle and Mr. Harrison<br \/>\nled the case of the opposition. The bill went into committee on<br \/>\nthe 6th of March, and on the 16th the preamble was declared<br \/>\nproved by a majority of forty-three to eighteen. On the third<br \/>\nreading in the House of Commons, an animated, and what now<br \/>\nappears a very amusing discussion, took place. The Hon. Edward<br \/>\nStanley (since Earl of Derby, and prime minister) moved that the<br \/>\nbill be read that day six months. In the course of his speech he<br \/>\nundertook to prove that the railway trains would take <em>ten hours<\/em><br \/>\non the journey, and that they could only be worked by horses;<br \/>\nand he called upon the House to stop the bill, &#8220;and prevent this<br \/>\nmad and extravagant speculation from being carried into effect.&#8221;<br \/>\nSir Isaac Coffin seconded the motion, and in doing so denounced<br \/>\nthe project as a most flagrant imposition. He would not consent<br \/>\nto see widows&#8217; premises and their strawberry-beds invaded; and<br \/>\n&#8220;what, he would like to know, was to be done with all those who<br \/>\nhad advanced money in making and repairing turnpike roads?<br \/>\nWhat with those who may still wish to travel in their own or<br \/>\nhired carriages, after the fashion of their forefathers? What<br \/>\nwas to become of coach-makers and harness-makers, coach-masters<br \/>\nand coachmen, innkeepers, horse-breeders, and horse-dealers?<br \/>\nWas the House aware of the smoke and the noise, the hiss and<br \/>\nthe whirl, which locomotive engines, passing at the rate of ten or<br \/>\ntwelve miles an hour, would occasion? Neither the cattle plowing<br \/>\nin the fields or grazing in the meadows could behold them<br \/>\nwithout dismay. Iron would be raised in price 100 per cent., or<br \/>\nmore probably exhausted altogether! It would be the greatest<br \/>\nnuisance, the most complete disturbance of quiet and comfort in<br \/>\nall parts of the kingdom that the ingenuity of man could invent!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Huskisson and other speakers, though unable to reply to<br \/>\nsuch arguments as these, strongly supported the bill, and it was<br \/>\ncarried on the third reading by a majority of eighty-eight to forty-one.<br \/>\nThe bill passed the House of Lords almost unanimously, its<br \/>\nonly opponents being the Earl of Derby and his relative the Earl<br \/>\nof Wilton. The cost of obtaining the act amounted to the enormous<br \/>\nsum of \u00a327,000.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_281\" name=\"Page_281\"><\/a>[281]<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER XI.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>CHAT MOSS\u2014CONSTRUCTION OF THE RAILWAY.<\/h4>\n<p>The appointment of principal engineer of the railway was<br \/>\ntaken into consideration at the first meeting of the directors held<br \/>\nat Liverpool subsequent to the passing of the act of incorporation.<br \/>\nThe magnitude of the proposed works, and the vast consequences<br \/>\ninvolved in the experiment, were deeply impressed on<br \/>\ntheir minds, and they resolved to secure the services of a resident<br \/>\nengineer of proved experience and ability. Their attention was<br \/>\nnaturally directed to George Stephenson; at the same time, they<br \/>\ndesired to have the benefit of the Messrs. Rennie&#8217;s professional<br \/>\nassistance in superintending the works. Mr. George Rennie had<br \/>\nan interview with the board on the subject, at which he proposed<br \/>\nto undertake the chief superintendence, making six visits in each<br \/>\nyear, and stipulating that he should have the appointment of the<br \/>\nresident engineer. But the responsibility attaching to the direction<br \/>\nin the matter of the efficient carrying on of the works would<br \/>\nnot admit of their being influenced by ordinary punctilios on the<br \/>\noccasion, and they accordingly declined Mr. Rennie&#8217;s proposal,<br \/>\nand proceeded to appoint George Stephenson principal engineer<br \/>\nat a salary of \u00a31000 per annum.<\/p>\n<p>He at once removed his residence to Liverpool, and made arrangements<br \/>\nto commence the works. He began with the &#8220;impossible<br \/>\nthing&#8221;\u2014to do that which some of the principal engineers<br \/>\nof the day had declared that &#8220;no man in his senses would<br \/>\nundertake to do&#8221;\u2014namely, to make the road over Chat Moss!<br \/>\nIt was, indeed, a most formidable undertaking, and the project<br \/>\nof carrying a railway along, under, or over such a material as<br \/>\nthat of which it consisted would certainly never have occurred<br \/>\nto an ordinary mind. Michael Drayton supposed the Moss to<br \/>\nhave had its origin at the Deluge. Nothing more impassable<br \/>\ncould have been imagined than that dreary waste; and Mr. Giles<br \/>\nonly spoke the popular feeling of the day when he declared that<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_282\" name=\"Page_282\"><\/a>[282]<\/span><br \/>\nno carriage could stand on it &#8220;short of the bottom.&#8221; In this bog,<br \/>\nsingular to say, Mr. Roscoe, the accomplished historian of the<br \/>\nMedicis, buried his fortune in the hopeless attempt to cultivate<br \/>\na portion of it which he had bought.<\/p>\n<p>Chat Moss is an immense peat-bog of about twelve square<br \/>\nmiles in extent. Unlike the bogs or swamps of Cambridge and<br \/>\nLincolnshire, which consist principally of soft mud or silt, this<br \/>\nbog is a vast mass of spongy vegetable pulp, the result of the<br \/>\ngrowth and decay of ages. Spagni, or bog-mosses, cover the<br \/>\nentire area; one year&#8217;s growth rising over another, the older<br \/>\ngrowths not entirely decaying, but remaining partially preserved<br \/>\nby the antiseptic properties peculiar to peat. Hence the remarkable<br \/>\nfact that, though a semifluid mass, the surface of Chat Moss<br \/>\nrises above the level of the surrounding country. Like a turtle&#8217;s<br \/>\nback, it declines from the summit in every direction, having<br \/>\nfrom thirty to forty feet gradual slope to the solid land on all<br \/>\nsides. From the remains of trees, chiefly alder and birch, which<br \/>\nhave been dug out of it, and which must have previously flourished<br \/>\non the surface of the soil now deeply submerged, it is probable<br \/>\nthat the sand and clay base on which the bog rests is saucer-shaped,<br \/>\nand so retains the entire mass in position. In rainy<br \/>\nweather, such is its capacity for water that it sensibly swells, and<br \/>\nrises in those parts where the moss is the deepest. This occurs<br \/>\nthrough the capillary attraction of the fibres of the submerged<br \/>\nmoss, which is from twenty to thirty feet in depth, while the<br \/>\ngrowing plants effectually check evaporation from the surface.<br \/>\nThis peculiar character of the Moss has presented an insuperable<br \/>\ndifficulty in the way of draining on any extensive system\u2014such<br \/>\nas by sinking shafts in its substance, and pumping up the water<br \/>\nby steam-power, as has been proposed by some engineers. For,<br \/>\nsupposing a shaft of thirty feet deep to be sunk, it has been calculated<br \/>\nthat this would only be effectual for draining a circle of<br \/>\nabout one hundred yards, the water running down an incline of<br \/>\nabout 5 to 1; indeed, it was found, in the course of draining the<br \/>\nbog, that a ditch three feet deep only served to drain a space of<br \/>\nless than five yards on either side, and two ditches of this depth,<br \/>\nten feet apart, left a portion of the Moss between them scarcely<br \/>\naffected by the drains.<\/p>\n<p>The three resident engineers selected by Mr. Stephenson to superintend<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_283\" name=\"Page_283\"><\/a>[283]<\/span><br \/>\nthe construction of the line were Mr. Joseph Locke,<br \/>\nMr. Allcard, and Mr. John Dixon. The last was appointed to<br \/>\nthat portion which included the proposed road across the Moss,<br \/>\nthe other two being any thing but desirous of exchanging posts<br \/>\nwith him. On Mr. Dixon&#8217;s arrival, about the month of July,<br \/>\n1826, Mr. Locke proceeded to show him over the length he was<br \/>\nto take charge of, and to instal him in office. When they reached<br \/>\nChat Moss, Mr. Dixon found that the line had already been staked<br \/>\nout and the levels taken in detail by the aid of planks laid upon<br \/>\nthe bog. The cutting of the drains along each side of the proposed<br \/>\nroad had also been commenced, but the soft pulpy stuff<br \/>\nhad up to this time flowed into the drains and filled them up as<br \/>\nfast as they were cut. Proceeding across the Moss on his first<br \/>\nday&#8217;s inspection, the new resident, when about half way over,<br \/>\nslipped off the plank on which he walked, and sank to his knees<br \/>\nin the bog. Struggling only sent him the deeper, and he might<br \/>\nhave disappeared altogether but for the workmen, who hastened<br \/>\nto his assistance upon planks, and rescued him from his perilous<br \/>\nposition. Much disheartened, he desired to return, and even for<br \/>\nthe moment thought of giving up the job; but Mr. Locke assured<br \/>\nhim that the worst part was now past; so the new resident plucked<br \/>\nup heart again, and both floundered on until they reached<br \/>\nthe farther edge of the Moss, wet and plastered over with bog<br \/>\nsludge. Mr. Dixon&#8217;s assistants endeavored to comfort him by the<br \/>\nassurance that he might in future avoid similar perils by walking<br \/>\nupon &#8220;pattens,&#8221; or boards fastened to the soles of his feet, as they<br \/>\nhad done when taking the levels, and as the workmen did when<br \/>\nengaged in making drains in the softest parts of the Moss. Still<br \/>\nthe resident engineer could not help being puzzled by the problem<br \/>\nof how to construct a road for a heavy locomotive, with a<br \/>\ntrain of passengers or goods, upon a bog which he had found to<br \/>\nbe incapable of supporting his own individual weight!<\/p>\n<p>Stephenson&#8217;s idea was that such a road might be made to <em>float<\/em><br \/>\nupon the bog simply by means of a sufficient extension of the<br \/>\nbearing surface. As a ship, or a raft capable of sustaining heavy<br \/>\nloads, floated in water, so, in his opinion, might a light road be<br \/>\nfloated upon a bog which was of considerably greater consistency<br \/>\nthan water. Long before the railway was thought of, Mr. Roscoe<br \/>\nhad adopted the remarkable expedient of fitting his plow-horses<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_284\" name=\"Page_284\"><\/a>[284]<\/span><br \/>\nwith flat wooden soles or pattens, to enable them to walk upon<br \/>\nthe Moss land which he had brought into cultivation. These<br \/>\npattens were fitted on by means of a screw apparatus, which met<br \/>\nin front of the foot and was easily fastened. The mode by which<br \/>\nthese pattens served to sustain the horse is capable of easy explanation,<br \/>\nand it will be observed that the <em>rationale<\/em> alike explains<br \/>\nthe floating of a railway. The foot of an ordinary farm-horse<br \/>\npresents a base of about five inches diameter, but if this<br \/>\nbase be enlarged to seven inches\u2014the circles being to each other<br \/>\nas the squares of the diameters\u2014it will be found that, by this<br \/>\nslight enlargement of the base, a circle of nearly double the area<br \/>\nhas been secured, and consequently the pressure of the foot<br \/>\nupon every unit of ground on which the horse stands has been<br \/>\nreduced one half. In fact, this contrivance has an effect tantamount<br \/>\nto setting the horse upon eight feet instead of four.<\/p>\n<p>Apply the same reasoning to the ponderous locomotive, and it<br \/>\nwill be found that even such a machine may be made to stand<br \/>\nupon a bog by means of a similar extension of the bearing surface.<br \/>\nSuppose the engine to be twenty feet long and five feet<br \/>\nwide, thus covering a surface of a hundred square feet, and, provided<br \/>\nthe bearing has been extended by means of cross sleepers<br \/>\nsupported upon a matting of heath and branches of trees covered<br \/>\nwith a few inches of gravel, the pressure of an engine of twenty<br \/>\ntons will be only equal to about three pounds per inch over the<br \/>\nwhole surface on which it stands. Such was George Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\nidea in contriving his floating road\u2014something like an elongated<br \/>\nraft\u2014across the Moss; and we shall see that he steadily kept it<br \/>\nin view in carrying the work into execution.<\/p>\n<p>The first thing done was to form a footpath of ling or heather<br \/>\nalong the proposed road, on which a man might walk without risk<br \/>\nof sinking. A single line of temporary railway was then laid<br \/>\ndown, formed of ordinary cross-bars about three feet long and an<br \/>\ninch square, with holes punched through them at the end and<br \/>\nnailed down to temporary sleepers. Along this way ran the wagons<br \/>\nin which were conveyed the materials requisite to form the<br \/>\npermanent road. These wagons carried about a ton each, and<br \/>\nthey were propelled by boys running behind them along the narrow<br \/>\nbar of iron. The boys became so expert that they would run<br \/>\nthe four miles across at the rate of seven or eight miles an hour<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_285\" name=\"Page_285\"><\/a>[285]<\/span><br \/>\nwithout missing a step; if they had done so, they would have sunk<br \/>\nin many places up to their middle.<a id=\"FNanchor_62\" name=\"FNanchor_62\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_62\">[62]<\/a> The slight extension of the<br \/>\nbearing surface was sufficient to enable the bog to bear this temporary<br \/>\nline, and the circumstance was a source of increased confidence<br \/>\nand hope to our engineer in proceeding with the formation<br \/>\nof the permanent road alongside.<\/p>\n<p>The digging of drains had been proceeding for some time along<br \/>\neach side of the intended railway, but they filled up almost as<br \/>\nsoon as dug, the sides flowing in and the bottom rising up, and it<br \/>\nwas only in some of the drier parts of the bog that a depth of<br \/>\nthree or four feet could be reached. The surface-ground between<br \/>\nthe drains, containing the intertwined roots of heather and long<br \/>\ngrass, was left untouched, and upon this were spread branches of<br \/>\ntrees and hedge-cuttings; in the softest places rude gates or hurdles,<br \/>\nsome eight or nine feet long by four feet wide, interwoven<br \/>\nwith heather, were laid in double thicknesses, their ends overlapping<br \/>\neach other; and upon this floating bed was spread a thin<br \/>\nlayer of gravel, on which the sleepers, chairs, and rails were laid<br \/>\nin the usual manner. Such was the mode in which the road was<br \/>\nformed upon the Moss.<\/p>\n<p>It was found, however, after the permanent road had been thus<br \/>\nlaid, that there was a tendency to sinking at those parts where the<br \/>\nbog was the softest. In ordinary cases, where a bank subsides,<br \/>\nthe sleepers are packed up with ballast or gravel, but in this case<br \/>\nthe ballast was dug away and removed in order to lighten the<br \/>\nroad, and the sleepers were packed instead with cakes of dry turf<br \/>\nor bundles of heath. By these expedients the subsided parts were<br \/>\nagain floated up to the level, and an approach was made toward<br \/>\na satisfactory road. But the most formidable difficulties were<br \/>\nencountered at the centre and toward the edges of the Moss, and<br \/>\nit required no small degree of ingenuity and perseverance on the<br \/>\npart of the engineer successfully to overcome them.<\/p>\n<p>The Moss, as has been already observed, was highest in the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_286\" name=\"Page_286\"><\/a>[286]<\/span><br \/>\ncentre, and it there presented a sort of hunchback with a rising<br \/>\nand falling gradient. At that point it was found necessary to<br \/>\ncut deeper drains in order to consolidate the ground between<br \/>\nthem on which the road was to be formed. But, as at other<br \/>\nparts of the Moss, the deeper the cutting the more rapid was the<br \/>\nflow of fluid bog into the drain, the bottom rising up almost as<br \/>\nfast as it was removed. To meet this emergency, a quantity of<br \/>\nempty tar-barrels was brought from Liverpool, and, as soon as a<br \/>\nfew yards of drain were dug, the barrels were laid down end to<br \/>\nend, firmly fixed to each other by strong slabs laid over the joints,<br \/>\nand nailed; they were then covered over with clay, and thus<br \/>\nformed an underground sewer of wood instead of bricks. This<br \/>\nexpedient was found to answer the purpose intended, and the<br \/>\nroad across the centre of the Moss having thus been prepared, it<br \/>\nwas then laid with the permanent materials.<\/p>\n<p>The greatest difficulty was, however, experienced in forming<br \/>\nan embankment on the edge of the bog at the Manchester end.<br \/>\nMoss, as dry as it could be cut, was brought up in small wagons<br \/>\nby men and boys, and emptied so as to form an embankment;<br \/>\nbut the bank had scarcely been raised three or four feet in height<br \/>\nwhen the stuff broke through the heathery surface of the bog<br \/>\nand sunk overhead. More moss was brought up and emptied in<br \/>\nwith no better result, and for many weeks the filling was continued<br \/>\nwithout any visible embankment having been made. It<br \/>\nwas the duty of the resident engineer to proceed to Liverpool every<br \/>\nfortnight to obtain the wages for the workmen employed under<br \/>\nhim, and on these occasions he was required to color up, on<br \/>\na section drawn to a working scale suspended against the wall of<br \/>\nthe directors&#8217; room, the amount of excavation, embankment, etc.,<br \/>\nexecuted from time to time. But on many of these occasions<br \/>\nMr. Dixon had no progress whatever to show for the money expended<br \/>\non the Chat Moss embankment. Sometimes, indeed, the<br \/>\nvisible work done was <em>less<\/em> than it had appeared a fortnight or a<br \/>\nmonth before!<\/p>\n<p>The directors now became seriously alarmed, and feared that<br \/>\nthe evil prognostications of the eminent engineers were about to<br \/>\nbe fulfilled. The resident himself was greatly disheartened, and<br \/>\nhe was even called upon to supply the directors with an estimate<br \/>\nof the cost of filling up the Moss with solid stuff from the bottom,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_287\" name=\"Page_287\"><\/a>[287]<\/span><br \/>\nas also the cost of piling the roadway, and, in effect, constructing<br \/>\na four-mile viaduct of timber across the Moss, from<br \/>\ntwenty to thirty feet high. But the expense appalled the directors,<br \/>\nand the question then arose whether the work was to be proceeded<br \/>\nwith or <em>abandoned<\/em>!<\/p>\n<p>Stephenson himself afterward described the alarming position<br \/>\nof affairs at a public dinner given at Birmingham on the 23d of<br \/>\nDecember, 1837, on the occasion of a piece of plate being presented<br \/>\nto his son after the completion of the London and Birmingham<br \/>\nRailway. He related the anecdote, he said, for the<br \/>\npurpose of impressing upon the minds of those who heard him<br \/>\nthe necessity of perseverance.<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;After working for weeks and weeks,&#8221; said he, &#8220;in filling in materials<br \/>\nto form the road, there did not yet appear to be the least<br \/>\nsign of our being able to raise the solid embankment one single<br \/>\ninch; in short, we went on filling in without the slightest apparent<br \/>\neffect. Even my assistants began to feel uneasy, and to doubt of<br \/>\nthe success of the scheme. The directors, too, spoke of it as a hopeless<br \/>\ntask; and at length they became seriously alarmed, so much<br \/>\nso, indeed, that a board meeting was held on Chat Moss to decide<br \/>\nwhether I should proceed any farther. They had previously taken<br \/>\nthe opinion of other engineers, who reported unfavorably. There<br \/>\nwas no help for it, however, but to go on. An immense outlay had<br \/>\nbeen incurred, and great loss would have been occasioned had the<br \/>\nscheme been then abandoned, and the line taken by another route.<br \/>\nSo the directors were <em>compelled<\/em> to allow me to go on with my plans,<br \/>\nof the ultimate success of which I myself never for one moment<br \/>\ndoubted.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>During the progress of this part of the works, the Worsley and<br \/>\nTrafford men, who lived near the Moss, and plumed themselves<br \/>\nupon their practical knowledge of bog-work, declared the completion<br \/>\nof the road to be utterly impracticable. &#8220;If you knew as<br \/>\nmuch about Chat Moss as we do,&#8221; they said, &#8220;you would never<br \/>\nhave entered on so rash an undertaking; and depend upon it, all<br \/>\nyou have done and are doing will prove abortive. You must<br \/>\ngive up altogether the idea of a floating railway, and either fill<br \/>\nthe Moss up with hard material from the bottom, or else deviate<br \/>\nthe line so as to avoid it altogether.&#8221; Such were the conclusions<br \/>\nof science and experience.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_288\" name=\"Page_288\"><\/a>[288]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In the midst of all these alarms and prophecies of failure, Stephenson<br \/>\nnever lost heart, but held to his purpose. His motto was<br \/>\n&#8220;Persevere!&#8221; &#8220;You must go on filling in,&#8221; he said; &#8220;there is<br \/>\nno other help for it. The stuff emptied in is doing its work out<br \/>\nof sight, and if you will but have patience, it will soon begin to<br \/>\nshow.&#8221; And so the filling in went on; several hundreds of men<br \/>\nand boys were employed to skin the Moss all round for many<br \/>\nthousand yards, by means of sharp spades, called by the turf-cutters<br \/>\n&#8220;tommy-spades;&#8221; and the dried cakes of turf were afterward<br \/>\nused to form the embankment, until at length, as the stuff<br \/>\nsank and rested upon the bottom, the bank gradually rose above<br \/>\nthe surface, and slowly advanced onward, declining in height and<br \/>\nconsequently in weight, until it became joined to the floating<br \/>\nroad already laid upon the Moss. In the course of forming the<br \/>\nembankment, the pressure of the bog turf tipped out of the wagons<br \/>\ncaused a copious stream of bog-water to flow from the end of<br \/>\nit, in color resembling Barclay&#8217;s double stout; and when completed,<br \/>\nthe bank looked like a long ridge of tightly-pressed tobacco-leaf.<br \/>\nThe compression of the turf may be understood<br \/>\nfrom the fact that 670,000 cubic yards of raw moss formed only<br \/>\n277,000 cubic yards of embankment at the completion of the<br \/>\nwork.<\/p>\n<p>At the western, or Liverpool end of the Chat Moss, there was<br \/>\na like embankment; but, as the ground there was solid, little<br \/>\ndifficulty was experienced in forming it, beyond the loss of substance<br \/>\ncaused by the oozing out of the water held by the moss-earth.<\/p>\n<p>At another part of the Liverpool and Manchester line, Parr<br \/>\nMoss was crossed by an embankment about a mile and a half in<br \/>\nextent. In the immediate neighborhood was found a large excess<br \/>\nof cutting, which it would have been necessary to &#8220;put out<br \/>\nin spoil-banks&#8221; (according to the technical phrase) but for the<br \/>\nconvenience of Parr Moss, into which the surplus clay, stone, and<br \/>\nshale were tipped, wagon after wagon, until a solid but congealed<br \/>\nembankment, from fifteen to twenty feet high, was formed, although<br \/>\nto the eye it appears to be laid upon the level of the adjoining<br \/>\nsurface, as at Chat Moss.<\/p>\n<p>The road across Chat Moss was finished by the 1st of January,<br \/>\n1830, when the first experimental train of passengers passed over<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_289\" name=\"Page_289\"><\/a>[289]<\/span><br \/>\nit, drawn by the &#8220;Rocket;&#8221; and it turned out that, instead of being<br \/>\nthe most expensive part of the line, it was about the cheapest.<br \/>\nThe total cost of forming the line over the Moss was \u00a328,000,<br \/>\nwhereas Mr. Giles&#8217;s estimate was \u00a3270,000! It also proved to be<br \/>\none of the best portions of the railway. Being a floating road, it<br \/>\nwas as smooth and easy to run upon as Dr. Arnott&#8217;s water-bed is<br \/>\nsoft and easy to lie upon\u2014the pressure being equal at all points.<br \/>\nThere was, and still is, a sort of springiness in the road over the<br \/>\nMoss, such as is felt when passing along a suspended bridge; and<br \/>\nthose who looked along the Moss as a train passed over it said<br \/>\nthey could observe a waviness, such as precedes and follows a<br \/>\nskater upon ice.<\/p>\n<p>During the progress of the works the most ridiculous rumors<br \/>\nwere set afloat. The drivers of the stage-coaches, who feared for<br \/>\ntheir calling, brought the alarming intelligence into Manchester<br \/>\nfrom time to time that &#8220;Chat Moss was blown up!&#8221; &#8220;Hundreds<br \/>\nof men and horses had sunk in the bog; and the works were<br \/>\ncompletely abandoned!&#8221; The engineer himself was declared to<br \/>\nhave been swallowed up in the Serbonian bog; and &#8220;railways<br \/>\nwere at an end forever!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In the construction of the railway, George Stephenson&#8217;s capacity<br \/>\nfor organizing and directing the labors of a large number of<br \/>\nworkmen of all kinds eminently displayed itself. A vast quantity<br \/>\nof ballast-wagons had to be constructed for the purposes of<br \/>\nthe work, and implements and materials had to be collected, before<br \/>\nthe mass of labor to be employed could be efficiently set in<br \/>\nmotion at the various points of the line. There were not at that<br \/>\ntime, as there are now, large contractors, possessed of railway<br \/>\nplant, capable of executing earthworks on a large scale. Our engineer<br \/>\nhad, therefore, not only to contrive the plant, but to organize<br \/>\nthe labor, and direct it in person. The very laborers themselves<br \/>\nhad to be trained to their work by him; and it was on the<br \/>\nLiverpool and Manchester line that Mr. Stephenson organized<br \/>\nthe staff of that formidable band of railway navvies, whose handiworks<br \/>\nwill be the wonder and admiration of succeeding generations.<br \/>\nLooking at their gigantic traces, the men of some future<br \/>\nage may be found to declare, of the engineer and of his workmen,<br \/>\nthat &#8220;there were giants in those days.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Although the works of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_290\" name=\"Page_290\"><\/a>[290]<\/span><br \/>\nare of a much less formidable character than those of many lines<br \/>\nthat have since been constructed, they were then regarded as of<br \/>\na stupendous kind. Indeed, few works of such magnitude had<br \/>\nbefore been executed in England. It had been the engineer&#8217;s<br \/>\noriginal intention to carry the railway from the north end of<br \/>\nLiverpool round the red sandstone ridge on which the upper part<br \/>\nof the town is built, and also round the higher rise of the coal<br \/>\nformation at Rainhill, by following the natural levels to the north<br \/>\nof Knowsley. But the opposition of the land-owners having<br \/>\nforced the line more to the south, it was rendered necessary to<br \/>\ncut through the hills, and go over the high grounds instead of<br \/>\nround them. The first consequence of this alteration in the plans<br \/>\nwas the necessity for constructing a tunnel under the town of<br \/>\nLiverpool a mile and a half in length, from the docks at Wapping<br \/>\nto the top of Edgehill; the second was the necessity for<br \/>\nforming a long and deep cutting through the red sandstone rock<br \/>\nat Olive Mount; and the third and worst of all was the necessity<br \/>\nfor ascending and descending the Whiston and Sutton hills by<br \/>\nmeans of inclined planes of 1 in 96. The line was also, by the<br \/>\nsame forced deviation, prevented passing through the Lancashire<br \/>\ncoal-field, and the engineer was compelled to carry the works<br \/>\nacross the Sankey valley at a point where the waters of the brook<br \/>\nhad dug out an excessively deep channel through the marl-beds<br \/>\nof the district.<\/p>\n<p>The principal difficulty was experienced in pushing on the<br \/>\nworks connected with the formation of the tunnel under Liverpool,<br \/>\n2200 yards in length. The blasting and hewing of the<br \/>\nrock were vigorously carried on night and day; and the engineer&#8217;s<br \/>\npractical experience in the collieries here proved of great<br \/>\nuse to him. Many obstacles had to be encountered and overcome<br \/>\nin the formation of the tunnel, the rock varying in hardness and<br \/>\ntexture at different parts. In some places the miners were deluged<br \/>\nby water, which surged from the soft blue shale found at the lowest<br \/>\nlevel of the tunnel. In other places beds of wet sand were<br \/>\ncut through, and there careful propping and pinning were necessary<br \/>\nto prevent the roof from tumbling in until the masonry to<br \/>\nsupport it could be erected. On one occasion, while Stephenson<br \/>\nwas absent from Liverpool, a mass of loose moss-earth and sand<br \/>\nfell from the roof, which had been insufficiently propped. The<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_291\" name=\"Page_291\"><\/a>[291]<\/span><br \/>\nminers withdrew from the work; and on the engineer&#8217;s return<br \/>\nhe found them in a refractory state, refusing to re-enter the tunnel.<br \/>\nHe induced them, however, by his example, to return to<br \/>\ntheir labors; and when the roof had been secured, the work went<br \/>\non again as before. When there was danger, he was always<br \/>\nready to share it with the men; and, gathering confidence from<br \/>\nhis fearlessness, they proceeded vigorously with the undertaking,<br \/>\nboring and mining their way toward the light.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 475px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_294.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"475\" height=\"607\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">OLIVE MOUNT CUTTING.<\/span> &nbsp; [By Percival Skelton.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Olive Mount cutting was the first extensive stone cutting<br \/>\nexecuted on any railway, and to this day it is one of the most formidable.<br \/>\nIt is about two miles long, and in some parts more than<br \/>\na hundred feet deep. It is a narrow ravine or defile cut out of<br \/>\nthe solid rock, and not less than four hundred and eighty thousand<br \/>\ncubic yards of stone were removed from it. Mr. Vignolles, afterward<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_292\" name=\"Page_292\"><\/a>[292]<\/span><br \/>\ndescribing it, said it looked as if it had been dug out by<br \/>\ngiants.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_295.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"436\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">SANKEY VIADUCT.<\/span> &nbsp; [By Percival Skelton.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The crossing of so many roads and streams involved the necessity<br \/>\nfor constructing an unusual number of bridges. There were<br \/>\nnot fewer than sixty-three, under or over the railway, on the thirty<br \/>\nmiles between Liverpool and Manchester. Up to this time<br \/>\nbridges had been applied generally to high roads, where inclined<br \/>\napproaches were of comparatively small importance, and in determining<br \/>\nthe rise of his arch the engineer selected any headway<br \/>\nhe thought proper. Every consideration was indeed made subsidiary<br \/>\nto constructing the bridge itself, and the completion of<br \/>\none large structure of this sort was regarded as an epoch in engineering<br \/>\nhistory. Yet here, in the course of a few years, no fewer<br \/>\nthan sixty-three bridges were constructed on one line of railway!<br \/>\nMr. Stephenson early found that the ordinary arch was inapplicable<br \/>\nin certain cases, where the headway was limited, and yet the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_293\" name=\"Page_293\"><\/a>[293]<\/span><br \/>\nlevel of the railway must be preserved. In such cases he employed<br \/>\nsimple cast-iron beams, by which he safely bridged gaps<br \/>\nof moderate width, economizing headway, and introducing the<br \/>\nuse of a new material of the greatest possible value to the engineer.<br \/>\nThe bridges of masonry upon the line were of many kinds;<br \/>\nseveral of them were skew bridges, while others, such as those at<br \/>\nNewton and over the Irwell at Manchester, were straight and of<br \/>\nconsiderable dimensions. But the principal piece of masonry on<br \/>\nthe line was the Sankey viaduct.<\/p>\n<p>This fine work is principally of brick, with stone facings. It<br \/>\nconsists of nine arches of fifty feet span each. The massive piers<br \/>\nare supported on two hundred piles driven deep into the soil;<br \/>\nand they rise to a great height\u2014the coping of the parapet being<br \/>\nseventy feet above the level of the valley, in which flow the Sankey<br \/>\nbrook and Canal. Its total cost was about \u00a345,000.<\/p>\n<p>By the end of 1828 the directors found they had expended<br \/>\n\u00a3460,000 on the works, and that they were still far from completion.<br \/>\nThey looked at the loss of interest on this large investment,<br \/>\nand began to grumble at the delay. They desired to see<br \/>\ntheir capital becoming productive; and in the spring of 1829<br \/>\nthey urged the engineer, to push on the works with increased<br \/>\nvigor. Mr. Cropper, one of the directors, who took an active interest<br \/>\nin their progress, said to Stephenson one day, &#8220;Now, George,<br \/>\nthou must get on with the railway, and have it finished without<br \/>\nfarther delay: thou must really have it ready for opening by the<br \/>\nfirst day of January next.&#8221; &#8220;Consider the heavy character of<br \/>\nthe works, sir, and how much we have been delayed by the want<br \/>\nof money, not to speak of the wetness of the weather: it is impossible.&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8220;Impossible!&#8221; rejoined Cropper; &#8220;I wish I could get<br \/>\nNapoleon to thee\u2014he would tell thee there is no such word as<br \/>\n&#8216;impossible&#8217; in the vocabulary.&#8221; &#8220;Tush!&#8221; exclaimed Stephenson,<br \/>\nwith warmth, &#8220;don&#8217;t speak to me about Napoleon! Give me<br \/>\nmen, money, and materials, and I will do what Napoleon couldn&#8217;t<br \/>\ndo\u2014drive a railroad from Liverpool to Manchester over Chat<br \/>\nMoss!&#8221; And truly the formation of a high road over that bottomless<br \/>\nbog was apparently a more difficult task than the making<br \/>\neven of Napoleon&#8217;s far-famed road across the Simplon.<\/p>\n<p>The directors had more than once been embarrassed by want<br \/>\nof funds to meet the heavy expenditure. The country had scarcely<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_294\" name=\"Page_294\"><\/a>[294]<\/span><br \/>\nyet recovered from the general panic and crash of 1825, and it<br \/>\nwas with difficulty that the calls could be raised from the shareholders.<br \/>\nA loan of \u00a3100,000 was obtained from the Exchequer<br \/>\nLoan Commissioners in 1826; and in 1829 an act was passed<br \/>\nenabling the company to raise farther capital, to provide working<br \/>\nplant for the railway. Two acts were also obtained during the<br \/>\nprogress of the undertaking, enabling deviations and alterations<br \/>\nto be made; one to improve the curves and shorten the line near<br \/>\nRainhill, and the other to carry the line across the Irwell into<br \/>\nthe town of Manchester. Thanks to the energy of the engineer,<br \/>\nthe industry of his laborers, and the improved supply of money by<br \/>\nthe directors, the railway made rapid progress in the course of the<br \/>\nyear 1829. Double sets of laborers were employed on Chat Moss<br \/>\nand at other places in carrying on the works by night and day,<br \/>\nthe night shifts working by torch and fire light; and at length,<br \/>\nthe work advancing at all points, the directors saw their way to<br \/>\nthe satisfactory completion of the undertaking.<\/p>\n<p>It may well be supposed that Stephenson&#8217;s time was fully occupied<br \/>\nin superintending the extensive and for the most part<br \/>\nnovel works connected with the railway, and that even his extraordinary<br \/>\npowers of labor and endurance were taxed to the utmost<br \/>\nduring the four years that they were in progress. Almost<br \/>\nevery detail in the plans was directed and arranged by himself.<br \/>\nEvery bridge, from the simplest to the most complicated, including<br \/>\nthe then novel structure of the &#8220;skew bridge,&#8221; iron girders,<br \/>\nsiphons, fixed engines, and the machinery for working the tunnel<br \/>\nat the Liverpool end, had all to be thought out by his own head,<br \/>\nand reduced to definite plans under his own eyes. Besides all<br \/>\nthis, he had to design the working plant in anticipation of the<br \/>\nopening of the railway. He must be prepared with wagons,<br \/>\ntrucks, and carriages, himself superintending their manufacture.<br \/>\nThe permanent road, turn-tables, switches, and crossings\u2014in<br \/>\nshort, the entire structure and machinery of the line, from the<br \/>\nturning of the first sod to the running of the first train of carriages<br \/>\non the railway, went on under his immediate supervision.<br \/>\nAnd it was in the midst of this vast accumulation of work and<br \/>\nresponsibility that the battle of the locomotive engine had to be<br \/>\nfought\u2014a battle not merely against material difficulties, but<br \/>\nagainst the still more trying obstructions of deeply-rooted mistrust<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_295\" name=\"Page_295\"><\/a>[295]<\/span><br \/>\nand prejudice on the part of a considerable minority of the<br \/>\ndirectors.<\/p>\n<p>He had no staff of experienced assistants\u2014not even a staff of<br \/>\ndraughtsmen in his office\u2014but only a few pupils learning their<br \/>\nbusiness, and he was frequently without even their help. The<br \/>\ntime of his engineering inspectors was fully occupied in the actual<br \/>\nsuperintendence of the works at different parts of the line,<br \/>\nand he took care to direct all their important operations in person.<br \/>\nThe principal draughtsman was Mr. Thomas Gooch, a pupil<br \/>\nhe had brought with him from Newcastle. &#8220;I may say,&#8221; writes<br \/>\nMr. Gooch, &#8220;that nearly the whole of the working and other<br \/>\ndrawings, as well as the various land-plans for the railway, were<br \/>\ndrawn by my own hand. They were done at the company&#8217;s<br \/>\noffice in Clayton Square during the day, from instructions supplied<br \/>\nin the evenings by Mr. Stephenson, either by word of<br \/>\nmouth, or by little rough hand sketches on letter-paper. The<br \/>\nevenings were also generally devoted to my duties as secretary,<br \/>\nin writing (mostly from his own dictation) his letters and reports,<br \/>\nor in making calculations and estimates. The mornings<br \/>\nbefore breakfast were not unfrequently spent by me in visiting<br \/>\nand lending a helping hand in the tunnel and other works near<br \/>\nLiverpool\u2014the untiring zeal and perseverance of George Stephenson<br \/>\nnever for an instant flagging, and inspiring with a like<br \/>\nenthusiasm all who were engaged under him in carrying forward<br \/>\nthe works.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_63\" name=\"FNanchor_63\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_63\">[63]<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_299.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"292\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>STEPHENSON&#8217;S BAITING-PLACE AT SANKEY.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The usual routine of his life at this time\u2014if routine it could<br \/>\nbe called\u2014was to rise early, by sunrise in summer and before it<br \/>\nin winter, and &#8220;break the back of the day&#8217;s work&#8221; by midday.<br \/>\nWhile the tunnel under Liverpool was in progress, one of his first<br \/>\nduties in the morning before breakfast was to go over the various<br \/>\nshafts, clothed in a suitable dress, and inspect the progress of the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_296\" name=\"Page_296\"><\/a>[296]<\/span><br \/>\nwork at different points; on other days he would visit the extensive<br \/>\nworkshops at Edgehill, where most of the &#8220;plant&#8221; for the<br \/>\nline was manufactured. Then, returning to his house in Upper<br \/>\nParliament Street, Windsor, after a hurried breakfast, he would<br \/>\nride along the works to inspect their progress, and push them on<br \/>\nwith greater energy where needful. On other days he would<br \/>\nprepare for the much less congenial engagement of meeting the<br \/>\nboard, which was often a cause of great anxiety and pain to him;<br \/>\nfor it was difficult to satisfy men of all tempers, some of which<br \/>\nwere not of the most generous kind. On such occasions he might<br \/>\nbe seen with his right-hand thumb thrust through the topmost<br \/>\nbutton-hole of his coat-breast, vehemently hitching his right<br \/>\nshoulder, as was his habit when laboring under any considerable<br \/>\nexcitement. Occasionally he would take an early ride before<br \/>\nbreakfast, to inspect the progress of the Sankey viaduct. He<br \/>\nhad a favorite horse, brought by him from Newcastle, called<br \/>\n&#8220;Bobby&#8221;\u2014so tractable that, with his rider on his back, he would<br \/>\nwalk up to a locomotive with the steam blowing off, and put his<br \/>\nnose against it without shying. &#8220;Bobby,&#8221; saddled and bridled,<br \/>\nwas brought to Stephenson&#8217;s door betimes in the morning, and,<br \/>\nmounting him, he would ride the fifteen miles to Sankey, putting<br \/>\nup at a little public house which then stood upon the banks of<br \/>\nthe canal. There he had his breakfast of &#8220;crowdie,&#8221; which he<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_297\" name=\"Page_297\"><\/a>[297]<\/span><br \/>\nmade with his own hands. It consisted of oatmeal stirred into<br \/>\na basin of hot water\u2014a sort of porridge\u2014which was supped<br \/>\nwith cold sweet milk. After this frugal breakfast he would go<br \/>\nupon the works, and remain there, riding from point to point for<br \/>\nthe greater part of the day. If he returned home before midday<br \/>\nit would be to examine the pay-sheets in the different departments<br \/>\nsent in by the assistant engineers, or by the foremen of<br \/>\nthe workshops; all this he did himself with the greatest care, requiring<br \/>\na full explanation of every item.<\/p>\n<p>After a late dinner, which occupied very short time and was<br \/>\nalways of a plain and frugal description,<a id=\"FNanchor_64\" name=\"FNanchor_64\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_64\">[64]<\/a> he would proceed to<br \/>\ndispose of his correspondence, or prepare sketches of drawings,<br \/>\nand give instructions as to their completion. He would occasionally<br \/>\nrefresh himself for this evening work by a short doze, which,<br \/>\nhowever, he would never admit had exceeded the limits of &#8220;winking,&#8221;<br \/>\nto use his own term. Mr. Frederick Swanwick, who officiated<br \/>\nas his secretary after the appointment of Mr. Gooch as resident<br \/>\nengineer to the Bolton and Leigh Railway, has informed us<br \/>\nthat he then remarked\u2014what in after years he could better appreciate\u2014the<br \/>\nclear, terse, and vigorous style of Stephenson&#8217;s dictation;<br \/>\nthere was nothing superfluous in it, but it was close, direct,<br \/>\nand to the point\u2014in short, thoroughly business-like. And if,<br \/>\nin passing through the pen of the amanuensis, his meaning happened<br \/>\nin any way to be distorted or modified, it did not fail to escape<br \/>\nhis detection, though he was always tolerant of any liberties<br \/>\ntaken with his own form of expression, so long as the words written<br \/>\ndown conveyed his real meaning. His strong natural acumen<br \/>\nshowed itself even in such matters as grammar and composition\u2014a<br \/>\ndepartment of knowledge in which, it might be supposed, he<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_298\" name=\"Page_298\"><\/a>[298]<\/span><br \/>\ncould scarcely have had either time or opportunity to acquire<br \/>\nmuch information. But here, as in all other things, his shrewd<br \/>\ncommon sense came to his help, and his simple, vigorous English<br \/>\nmight almost be cited as a model of composition.<\/p>\n<p>His letters and reports written, and his sketches of drawings<br \/>\nmade and explained, the remainder of the evening was usually<br \/>\ndevoted to conversation with his wife and those of his pupils who<br \/>\nlived under his roof, and constituted, as it were, part of the family.<br \/>\nHe then delighted to test the knowledge of his young companions,<br \/>\nand to question them upon the principles of mechanics. If they<br \/>\nwere not quite &#8220;up to the mark&#8221; on any point, there was no escaping<br \/>\ndetection by evasive or specious explanations on their part.<br \/>\nThese always met with the verdict of, &#8220;Ah! you know naught<br \/>\nabout it now; but think it over again, and tell me the answer<br \/>\nwhen you understand it.&#8221; If there was even partial success in<br \/>\nthe reply, it would at once be acknowledged, and a full explanation<br \/>\nwas given, to which the master would add illustrative examples<br \/>\nfor the purpose of impressing the principle more deeply upon<br \/>\nthe pupil&#8217;s mind.<\/p>\n<p>It was not so much his object and purpose to &#8220;cram&#8221; the minds<br \/>\nof the young men committed to his charge with the <em>results<\/em> of<br \/>\nknowledge as to stimulate them to educate themselves\u2014to induce<br \/>\nthem to develop their mental and moral powers by the exercise<br \/>\nof their own free energies, and thus acquire that habit of self-thinking<br \/>\nand self-reliance which is the spring of all true manly<br \/>\naction. In a word, he sought to bring out and invigorate the<br \/>\n<em>character<\/em> of his pupils. He felt that he himself had been made<br \/>\nstronger and better through his encounters with difficulty, and<br \/>\nhe would not have the road of knowledge made too smooth and<br \/>\neasy for them. &#8220;Learn for yourselves\u2014think for yourselves,&#8221; he<br \/>\nwould say: &#8220;make yourselves masters of principles\u2014persevere\u2014be<br \/>\nindustrious\u2014and there is then no fear of you.&#8221; And not the<br \/>\nleast emphatic proof of the soundness of this system of education,<br \/>\nas conducted by George Stephenson, was afforded by the after<br \/>\nhistory of the pupils themselves. There was not one of those<br \/>\ntrained under his eye who did not rise to eminent usefulness and<br \/>\ndistinction as an engineer. He sent them forth into the world<br \/>\nbraced with the spirit of self-help\u2014inspired by his own noble example;<br \/>\nand they repeated in their after career the lessons of earnest<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_299\" name=\"Page_299\"><\/a>[299]<\/span><br \/>\neffort and persistent industry which his daily life had taught<br \/>\nthem.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s evenings at home were not, however, exclusively<br \/>\ndevoted either to business or to the graver exercises above<br \/>\nreferred to. He would often indulge in cheerful conversation<br \/>\nand anecdote, falling back from time to time upon the struggles<br \/>\nand difficulties of his early life. The not unfrequent winding up<br \/>\nof his story, addressed to those about him, was, &#8220;Ah! ye young<br \/>\nfellows don&#8217;t know what <em>wark<\/em> is in these days!&#8221; Mr. Swanwick<br \/>\ndelights recalling to mind how seldom, if ever, a cross or captious<br \/>\nword, or an angry look, marred the enjoyment of those evenings.<br \/>\nThe presence of Mrs. Stephenson gave them an additional charm:<br \/>\namiable, kind-hearted, and intelligent, she shared quietly in the<br \/>\npleasure of the party; and the atmosphere of comfort which always<br \/>\npervaded her home contributed in no small degree to render<br \/>\nit a centre of cheerful, hopeful intercourse, and of earnest,<br \/>\nhonest industry.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_302.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"365\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>CHAT MOSS\u2014WORKS IN PROGRESS.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>When Stephenson retired for the night, it was not always that<br \/>\nhe permitted himself to sink into slumber. Like Brindley, he<br \/>\nworked out many a difficult problem in bed; and for hours he<br \/>\nwould turn over in his mind and study how to overcome some<br \/>\nobstacle, or to mature some project, on which his thoughts were<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_300\" name=\"Page_300\"><\/a>[300]<\/span><br \/>\nbent. Some remark inadvertently dropped by him at the breakfast-table<br \/>\nin the morning served to show that he had been stealing<br \/>\nsome hours from the night in reflection and study. Yet<br \/>\nhe would rise at his accustomed early hour, and there was no<br \/>\nabatement of his usual energy in carrying on the business of<br \/>\nthe day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_301\" name=\"Page_301\"><\/a>[301]<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER XII.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>ROBERT STEPHENSON&#8217;S RESIDENCE IN COLOMBIA, AND RETURN\u2014THE<br \/>\nBATTLE OF THE LOCOMOTIVE\u2014&#8221;THE ROCKET.&#8221;<\/h4>\n<p>We return to the career of Robert Stephenson, who was absent<br \/>\nfrom England during the construction of the Liverpool Railway,<br \/>\nbut was now about to rejoin his father and take part in &#8220;the<br \/>\nbattle of the locomotive&#8221; which was impending.<\/p>\n<p>We have seen that, on his return from Edinburg College at<br \/>\nthe end of 1821, he had assisted in superintending the works of<br \/>\nthe Hetton Railway until its opening in 1822, after which he<br \/>\nproceeded to Liverpool to take part with Mr. James in surveying<br \/>\nthe proposed railway there. In the following year we found him<br \/>\nassisting his father in the working survey of the Stockton and<br \/>\nDarlington Railway; and when the Locomotive Engine Works<br \/>\nwere started in Forth Street, Newcastle, he took an active part<br \/>\nin that concern. &#8220;The factory,&#8221; he says, &#8220;was in active operation<br \/>\nin 1824; I left England for Colombia in June of that year,<br \/>\nhaving finished drawing the designs of the Brusselton stationary<br \/>\nengines for the Stockton and Darlington Railway before I left.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_65\" name=\"FNanchor_65\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_65\">[65]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Speculation was very rife at the time, and among the most<br \/>\npromising adventures were the companies organized for the purpose<br \/>\nof working the gold and silver mines of South America.<br \/>\nGreat difficulty was experienced in finding mining engineers<br \/>\ncapable of carrying out those projects, and young men of even<br \/>\nthe most moderate experience were eagerly sought after. The<br \/>\nColombian Mining Association of London offered an engagement<br \/>\nto young Stephenson to go out to Mariquita and take charge of<br \/>\nthe engineering operations of that company. Robert was himself<br \/>\ndesirous of accepting it, but his father said it would first be<br \/>\nnecessary to ascertain whether the proposed change would be for<br \/>\nhis good. His health had been very delicate for some time,<br \/>\npartly occasioned by his rapid growth, but principally because of<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_302\" name=\"Page_302\"><\/a>[302]<\/span><br \/>\nhis close application to work and study. Father and son proceeded<br \/>\ntogether to call upon Dr. Headlam, the eminent physician<br \/>\nof Newcastle, to consult him on the subject. During the examination<br \/>\nwhich ensued, Robert afterward used to say that he felt<br \/>\nas if he were upon trial for life or death. To his great relief, the<br \/>\ndoctor pronounced that a temporary residence in a warm climate<br \/>\nwas the very thing likely to be most beneficial to him. The appointment<br \/>\nwas accordingly accepted, and, before many weeks had<br \/>\npassed, Robert Stephenson had set sail for South America.<\/p>\n<p>After a tolerably prosperous voyage he landed at La Guayra,<br \/>\non the north coast of Venezuela, on the 23d of July, from thence<br \/>\nproceeding to Caraccas, the capital of the district, about fifteen<br \/>\nmiles inland. There he remained for two months, unable to proceed<br \/>\nin consequence of the wretched state of the roads in the interior.<br \/>\nHe contrived, however, to make occasional excursions in<br \/>\nthe neighborhood with an eye to the mining business on which<br \/>\nhe had come. About the beginning of October he set out for<br \/>\nBogot\u00e1, the capital of Colombia or New Granada. The distance<br \/>\nwas about twelve hundred miles, through a very difficult region,<br \/>\nand it was performed entirely upon mule-back, after the fashion<br \/>\nof the country.<\/p>\n<p>In the course of the journey Robert visited many of the districts<br \/>\nreported to be rich in minerals, but he met with few traces<br \/>\nexcept of copper, iron, and coal, with occasional indications of<br \/>\ngold and silver. He found the people ready to furnish information,<br \/>\nwhich, however, when tested, usually proved worthless. A<br \/>\nguide, whom he employed for weeks, kept him buoyed up with<br \/>\nthe hope of finding richer mining places than he had yet seen;<br \/>\nbut when he professed to be able to show him mines of &#8220;brass,<br \/>\nsteel, alcohol, and pinchbeck,&#8221; Stephenson discovered him to be<br \/>\nan incorrigible rogue, and immediately dismissed him. At length<br \/>\nour traveler reached Bogot\u00e1, and after an interview with Mr. Illingworth,<br \/>\nthe commercial manager of the Mining Company, he<br \/>\nproceeded to Honda, crossed the Magdalena, and shortly after<br \/>\nreached the site of his intended operations on the eastern slope<br \/>\nof the Andes.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Stephenson used afterward to speak in glowing terms of<br \/>\nthis his first mule-journey in South America. Every thing was<br \/>\nentirely new to him. The variety and beauty of the indigenous<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_303\" name=\"Page_303\"><\/a>[303]<\/span><br \/>\nplants, the luxurious tropical vegetation, the appearance, manners,<br \/>\nand dress of the people, and the mode of traveling, were altogether<br \/>\ndifferent from every thing he had before seen. His own<br \/>\ntraveling garb also must have been strange even to himself. &#8220;My<br \/>\nhat,&#8221; he says, &#8220;was of plaited grass, with a crown nine inches in<br \/>\nheight, surrounded by a brim of six inches; a white cotton suit;<br \/>\nand a <em>ruana<\/em> of blue and crimson plaid, with a hole in the centre<br \/>\nfor the head to pass through. This cloak is admirably adapted<br \/>\nfor the purpose, amply covering the rider and mule, and at night<br \/>\nanswering the purpose of a blanket in the net-hammock, which is<br \/>\nmade from the fibres of the aloe, and which every traveler carries<br \/>\nbefore him on his mule, and suspends to the trees or in<br \/>\nhouses, as occasion may require.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The part of the journey which seems to have made the most<br \/>\nlasting impression on his mind was that between Bogot\u00e1 and the<br \/>\nmining district in the neighborhood of Mariquita. As he ascended<br \/>\nthe slopes of the mountain range, and reached the first step of<br \/>\nthe table-land, he was struck beyond expression with the noble<br \/>\nview of the valley of Magdalena behind him, so vast that he failed<br \/>\nin attempting to define the point at which the course of the<br \/>\nriver blended with the horizon. Like all travelers in the district,<br \/>\nhe noted the remarkable changes of climate and vegetation as he<br \/>\nrose from the burning plains toward the fresh breath of the<br \/>\nmountains. From an atmosphere as hot as that of an oven he<br \/>\npassed into delicious cool air, until, in his onward and upward<br \/>\njourney, a still more temperate region was reached, the very perfection<br \/>\nof climate. Before him rose the majestic Cordilleras,<br \/>\nforming a rampart against the western sky, and at certain times<br \/>\nof the day looking black, sharp, and even at their summit almost<br \/>\nlike a wall.<\/p>\n<p>Our engineer took up his abode for a time at Mariquita, a fine<br \/>\nold city, though then greatly fallen into decay. During the period<br \/>\nof the Spanish dominion it was an important place, most of<br \/>\nthe gold and silver convoys passing through it on their way to<br \/>\nCartagena, there to be shipped in galleons for Europe. The<br \/>\nmountainous country to the west was rich in silver, gold, and other<br \/>\nmetals, and it was Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s object to select the best<br \/>\nsite for commencing operations for the company. With this object<br \/>\nhe &#8220;prospected&#8221; about in all directions, visiting long-abandoned<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_304\" name=\"Page_304\"><\/a>[304]<\/span><br \/>\nmines, and analyzing specimens obtained from many quarters.<br \/>\nThe mines eventually fixed upon as the scene of his operations<br \/>\nwere those of La Manta and Santa Anna, long before worked<br \/>\nby the Spaniards, though, in consequence of the luxuriance<br \/>\nand rapidity of the vegetation, all traces of the old workings had<br \/>\nbecome completely overgrown and lost. Every thing had to be<br \/>\nbegun anew. Roads had to be cut to open a way to the mines,<br \/>\nmachinery had to be erected, and the ground opened up, when<br \/>\nsome of the old adits were eventually hit upon. The native peons<br \/>\nor laborers were not accustomed to work, and they usually contrived<br \/>\nto desert when they were not watched, so that very little<br \/>\nprogress could be made until the arrival of the expected band of<br \/>\nminers from England. The authorities were by no means helpful,<br \/>\nand the engineer was driven to an old expedient with the object<br \/>\nof overcoming this difficulty. &#8220;We endeavor all we can,&#8221;<br \/>\nhe says, in one of his letters, &#8220;to make ourselves popular, and<br \/>\nthis we find most effectually accomplished by &#8216;regaling the venal<br \/>\nbeasts.'&#8221; He also gave a ball at Mariquita, which passed off<br \/>\nwith \u00e9clat, the governor from Honda, with a host of friends, honoring<br \/>\nit with their presence. It was, indeed, necessary to &#8220;make<br \/>\na party&#8221; in this way, as other schemers were already trying to<br \/>\nundermine the Colombian Company in influential directions.<br \/>\nThe engineer did not exaggerate when he said, &#8220;The uncertainty<br \/>\nof transacting business in this country is perplexing beyond description.&#8221;<br \/>\nIn the mean time laborers had been attracted to<br \/>\nSanta Anna, which became, the engineer wrote, &#8220;like an English<br \/>\nfair on Sundays: people flock to it from all quarters to buy beef<br \/>\nand chat with their friends. Sometimes three or four torros are<br \/>\nslaughtered in a day. The people now eat more beef in a week<br \/>\nthan they did in two months before, and they are consequently<br \/>\ngetting fat.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_66\" name=\"FNanchor_66\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_66\">[66]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>At last Stephenson&#8217;s party of miners arrived from England,<br \/>\nbut they gave him even more trouble than the peons had done.<br \/>\nThey were rough, drunken, and sometimes ungovernable. He<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_305\" name=\"Page_305\"><\/a>[305]<\/span><br \/>\nset them to work at the Santa Anna mine without delay, and at<br \/>\nthe same time took up his abode among them, &#8220;to keep them,&#8221;<br \/>\nhe said, &#8220;if possible, from indulging in the detestable vice of<br \/>\ndrunkenness, which, if not put a stop to, will eventually destroy<br \/>\nthemselves, and involve the mining association in ruin.&#8221; To add<br \/>\nto his troubles, the captain of the miners displayed a very hostile<br \/>\nand insubordinate spirit, quarreled and fought with the men, and<br \/>\nwas insolent to the engineer himself. The captain and his gang,<br \/>\nbeing Cornishmen, told Robert to his face that because he was<br \/>\na North-country man, and not brought up in Cornwall, it was<br \/>\nimpossible that he should know any thing of mining. Disease<br \/>\nalso fell upon him\u2014first fever, and then visceral derangement,<br \/>\nfollowed by a return of his &#8220;old complaint, a feeling of oppression<br \/>\nin the breast.&#8221; No wonder that in the midst of these troubles<br \/>\nhe should longingly speak of returning to his native land. But<br \/>\nhe stuck to his post and his duty, kept up his courage, and by a<br \/>\nmixture of mildness and firmness, and the display of great coolness<br \/>\nand judgment, he contrived to keep the men to their work,<br \/>\nand gradually to carry forward the enterprise which he had undertaken.<br \/>\nBy the beginning of July, 1826, quietness and order<br \/>\nhad been restored, and the works were proceeding more satisfactorily,<br \/>\nthough the yield of silver was not as yet very promising,<br \/>\nthe engineer being of opinion that at least three years&#8217; diligent<br \/>\nand costly operations would be necessary to render the mines<br \/>\nproductive.<\/p>\n<p>In the mean time he removed to the dwelling which had been<br \/>\nerected for his accommodation at Santa Anna. It was a structure<br \/>\nspeedily raised after the fashion of the country. The walls<br \/>\nwere of split and flattened bamboo, tied together with the long<br \/>\nfibres of a dried climbing plant; the roof was of palm-leaves,<br \/>\nand the ceiling of reeds. When an earthquake shook the district\u2014for<br \/>\nearthquakes were frequent\u2014the inmates of such a fabric<br \/>\nmerely felt as if shaken in a basket, without sustaining any<br \/>\nharm. In front of the cottage lay a woody ravine, extending almost<br \/>\nto the base of the Andes, gorgeously clothed in primeval<br \/>\nvegetation\u2014magnolias, palms, bamboos, tree-ferns, acacias, cedars;<br \/>\nand towering over all were the great almendrons, with<br \/>\ntheir smooth, silvery stems, bearing aloft noble clusters of pure<br \/>\nwhite blossom. The forest was haunted by myriads of gay insects,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_306\" name=\"Page_306\"><\/a>[306]<\/span><br \/>\nbutterflies with wings of dazzling lustre, birds of brilliant<br \/>\nplumage, humming-birds, golden orioles, toucans, and a host of<br \/>\nsolitary warblers. But the glorious sunsets seen from his cottage-porch<br \/>\nmore than all astonished and delighted the young<br \/>\nengineer, and he was accustomed to say that, after having witnessed<br \/>\nthem, he was reluctant to accuse the ancient Peruvians of<br \/>\nidolatry.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_309.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"388\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>ROBERT STEPHENSON&#8217;S COTTAGE AT SANTA ANNA.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>But all these natural beauties failed to reconcile him to the<br \/>\nharassing difficulties of his position, which continued to increase<br \/>\nrather than diminish. He was hampered by the action of the<br \/>\nboard at home, who gave ear to hostile criticisms on his reports;<br \/>\nand although they afterward made handsome acknowledgment<br \/>\nof his services, he felt his position to be altogether unsatisfactory.<br \/>\nHe therefore determined to leave at the expiry of his three years&#8217;<br \/>\nengagement, and communicated his decision to the directors accordingly.<a id=\"FNanchor_67\" name=\"FNanchor_67\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_67\">[67]<\/a><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_307\" name=\"Page_307\"><\/a>[307]<\/span><br \/>\nOn receiving his letter, the board, through Mr. Richardson, of<br \/>\nLombard Street, one of the directors, communicated with his father<br \/>\nat Newcastle, representing that if he would allow his son to<br \/>\nremain in Colombia the company would make it &#8220;worth his<br \/>\nwhile.&#8221; To this the father gave a decided negative, and intimated<br \/>\nthat he himself urgently needed his son&#8217;s assistance, and<br \/>\nthat he must return at the expiry of his three years&#8217; term\u2014a decision,<br \/>\nRobert wrote, &#8220;at which I feel much gratified, as it is<br \/>\nclear that he is as anxious to have me back in England as I am<br \/>\nto get there.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, Edward Pease, a principal partner in the<br \/>\nNewcastle firm, privately wrote Robert to the following effect,<br \/>\nurging his return home: &#8220;I can assure thee that the business at<br \/>\nNewcastle, as well as thy father&#8217;s engineering, have suffered very<br \/>\nmuch from thy absence, and, unless thou soon return, the former<br \/>\nwill be given up, as Mr. Longridge is not able to give it that attention<br \/>\nit requires; and what <em>is<\/em> done is not done with credit to<br \/>\nthe house.&#8221; The idea of the manufactory being given up, which<br \/>\nRobert had labored so hard to establish before leaving England,<br \/>\nwas painful to him in the extreme, and he wrote to Mr. Illingworth,<br \/>\nstrongly urging that arrangements should be made for enabling<br \/>\nhim to leave without delay. In the mean time he was<br \/>\nlaid prostrate by another violent attack of aguish fever; and<br \/>\nwhen able to write, in June, 1827, he expressed himself as &#8220;completely<br \/>\nwearied and worn down with vexation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>At length, when he was sufficiently recovered from his attack<br \/>\nand able to travel, he set out on his voyage homeward in the beginning<br \/>\nof August. At Mompox, on his way down the River<br \/>\nMagdalena, he met Mr. Bodmer, his successor, with a fresh party<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_308\" name=\"Page_308\"><\/a>[308]<\/span><br \/>\nof miners from England, on their way up the country to the quarters<br \/>\nwhich he had just quitted. Next day, six hours after leaving<br \/>\nMompox, a steam-boat was met ascending the river, with Bolivar<br \/>\nthe Liberator on board, on his way to St. Bogot\u00e1; and it was<br \/>\na mortification to our engineer that he had only a passing sight<br \/>\nof that distinguished person. It was his intention, on leaving<br \/>\nMariquita, to visit the Isthmus of Panam\u00e1 on his way home, for<br \/>\nthe purpose of inquiring into the practicability of cutting a canal<br \/>\nto unite the Atlantic and Pacific\u2014a project which then formed<br \/>\nthe subject of considerable public discussion; but Mr. Bodmer<br \/>\nhaving informed him at Mompox that such a visit would be inconsistent<br \/>\nwith the statements made to the London Board that<br \/>\nhis presence was so anxiously desired at home, he determined to<br \/>\nembrace the first opportunity of proceeding to New York.<\/p>\n<p>Arrived at the port of Cartagena, he found himself under the<br \/>\nnecessity of waiting some time for a ship. The delay was very<br \/>\nirksome to him, the more so as the place was then desolated by<br \/>\nthe ravages of the yellow fever. While sitting one day in the<br \/>\nlarge, bare, comfortless public room of the miserable hotel at<br \/>\nwhich he put up, he observed two strangers, whom he at once<br \/>\nperceived to be English. One of the strangers was a tall, gaunt<br \/>\nman, shrunken and hollow-looking, shabbily dressed, and apparently<br \/>\npoverty-stricken. On making inquiry, he found it was<br \/>\nTrevithick, the builder of the first railroad locomotive! He was<br \/>\nreturning home from the gold mines of Peru penniless. Robert<br \/>\nStephenson lent him \u00a350 to enable him to reach England; and<br \/>\nthough he was afterward heard of as an inventor there, he had<br \/>\nno farther part in the ultimate triumph of the locomotive.<\/p>\n<p>But Trevithick&#8217;s misadventures on this occasion had not yet<br \/>\nended, for before he reached New York he was wrecked, and<br \/>\nRobert Stephenson with him. The following is the account of<br \/>\nthe voyage, &#8220;big with adventures,&#8221; as given by the latter in a<br \/>\nletter to his friend Illingworth:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;At first we had very little foul weather, and, indeed, were for<br \/>\nseveral days becalmed among the islands, which was so far fortunate,<br \/>\nfor a few degrees farther north the most tremendous gales<br \/>\nwere blowing, and they appear (from our future information) to<br \/>\nhave wrecked every vessel exposed to their violence. We had two<br \/>\nexamples of the effects of the hurricane; for, as we sailed north, we<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_309\" name=\"Page_309\"><\/a>[309]<\/span><br \/>\ntook on board the remains of two crews found floating about on<br \/>\ndismantled hulls. The one had been nine days without food of any<br \/>\nkind except the carcasses of two of their companions who had died<br \/>\na day or two previously from fatigue and hunger. The other crew<br \/>\nhad been driven about for six days, and were not so dejected, but<br \/>\nreduced to such a weak state that they were obliged to be drawn<br \/>\non board our vessel by ropes. A brig bound for Havana took part<br \/>\nof the men, and we took the remainder. To attempt any description<br \/>\nof my feelings on witnessing such scenes would be in vain.<br \/>\nYou will not be surprised to learn that I felt somewhat uneasy at<br \/>\nthe thought that we were so far from England, and that I also<br \/>\nmight possibly suffer similar shipwreck; but I consoled myself with<br \/>\nthe hope that fate would be more kind to us. It was not so much<br \/>\nso, however, as I had flattered myself; for on voyaging toward<br \/>\nNew York, after we had made the land, we ran aground about midnight.<br \/>\nThe vessel soon filled with water, and, being surrounded by<br \/>\nthe breaking surf, the ship shortly split up, and before morning our<br \/>\nsituation became perilous. Masts and all were cut away to prevent<br \/>\nthe hull rocking, but all we could do was of no avail. About eight<br \/>\no&#8217;clock on the following morning, after a most miserable night, we<br \/>\nwere taken off the wreck, and were so fortunate as to reach the<br \/>\nshore. I saved my minerals, but Empson lost part of his botanical<br \/>\ncollection. Upon the whole, we got off well; and, had I not been<br \/>\non the American side of the Atlantic, I &#8216;guess&#8217; I would not have<br \/>\ngone to sea again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>After a short tour in the United States and Canada, Robert<br \/>\nStephenson and his friend took ship for Liverpool, where they<br \/>\narrived at the end of November, and at once proceeded to Newcastle.<br \/>\nThe factory, we have seen, was by no means in a prosperous<br \/>\nstate. During the time Robert had been in America it<br \/>\nhad been carried on at a considerable loss; and Edward Pease,<br \/>\nvery much disheartened, wished to retire from it, but George Stephenson<br \/>\nbeing unable to raise the requisite money to buy him<br \/>\nout, the establishment was of necessity carried on by its then<br \/>\npartners until the locomotive could be established in public estimation<br \/>\nas a practicable and economical working power. Robert<br \/>\nStephenson immediately instituted a rigid inquiry into the working<br \/>\nof the concern, unraveled the accounts, which had been allowed<br \/>\nto fall into confusion during his father&#8217;s absence at Liverpool,<br \/>\nand very shortly succeeded in placing the affairs of the factory<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_310\" name=\"Page_310\"><\/a>[310]<\/span><br \/>\nin a more healthy condition. In all this he had the hearty<br \/>\nsupport of his father, as well as of the other partners.<\/p>\n<p>The works of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway were now<br \/>\napproaching completion. But, strange to say, the directors had<br \/>\nnot yet decided as to the tractive power to be employed in working<br \/>\nthe line when opened for traffic. The differences of opinion<br \/>\namong them were so great as apparently to be irreconcilable. It<br \/>\nwas necessary, however, that they should come to some decision<br \/>\nwithout farther loss of time, and many board meetings were accordingly<br \/>\nheld to discuss the subject. The old-fashioned and<br \/>\nwell-tried system of horse-haulage was not without its advocates;<br \/>\nbut, looking at the large amount of traffic which there was to be<br \/>\nconveyed, and at the probable delay in the transit from station<br \/>\nto station if this method were adopted, the directors, after a visit<br \/>\nmade by them to the Northumberland and Durham railways in<br \/>\n1828, came to the conclusion that the employment of horse-power<br \/>\nwas inadmissible.<\/p>\n<p>Fixed engines had many advocates; the locomotive very few:<br \/>\nit stood as yet almost in a minority of one\u2014George Stephenson.<br \/>\nThe prejudice against the employment of the latter power had<br \/>\neven increased since the Liverpool and Manchester Bill underwent<br \/>\nits first ordeal in the House of Commons. In proof of this,<br \/>\nit may be mentioned that the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway<br \/>\nAct was conceded in 1829 on the express condition that it should<br \/>\n<em>not<\/em> be worked by locomotives, but by horses only.<\/p>\n<p>Grave doubts still existed as to the practicability of working a<br \/>\nlarge traffic by means of traveling engines. The most celebrated<br \/>\nengineers offered no opinion on the subject. They did not believe<br \/>\nin the locomotive, and would scarcely take the trouble to examine<br \/>\nit. The ridicule with which George Stephenson had been assailed<br \/>\nby the barristers before the Parliamentary Committee had not<br \/>\nbeen altogether distasteful to them. Perhaps they did not relish<br \/>\nthe idea of a man who had picked up his experience in Newcastle<br \/>\ncoal-pits appearing in the capacity of a leading engineer before<br \/>\nParliament, and attempting to establish a new system of internal<br \/>\ncommunication in the country.<\/p>\n<p>The directors could not disregard the adverse and conflicting<br \/>\nviews of the professional men whom they consulted. But Stephenson<br \/>\nhad so repeatedly and earnestly urged upon them the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_311\" name=\"Page_311\"><\/a>[311]<\/span><br \/>\npropriety of making a trial of the locomotive before coming to<br \/>\nany decision against it, that they at length authorized him to proceed<br \/>\nwith the construction of one of his engines by way of experiment.<br \/>\nIn their report to the proprietors at their annual meeting<br \/>\non the 27th of March, 1828, they state that they had, after due<br \/>\nconsideration, authorized the engineer &#8220;to prepare a locomotive<br \/>\nengine, which, from the nature of its construction and from the<br \/>\nexperiments already made, he is of opinion will be effective for<br \/>\nthe purposes of the company, without proving an annoyance to<br \/>\nthe public.&#8221; The locomotive thus ordered was placed upon the<br \/>\nline in 1829, and was found of great service in drawing the wagons<br \/>\nfull of marl from the two great cuttings.<\/p>\n<p>In the mean time the discussion proceeded as to the kind of<br \/>\npower to be permanently employed for the working of the railway.<br \/>\nThe directors were inundated with schemes of all sorts for<br \/>\nfacilitating locomotion. The projectors of England, France, and<br \/>\nAmerica seemed to be let loose upon them. There were plans<br \/>\nfor working the wagons along the line by water-power. Some<br \/>\nproposed hydrogen, and others carbonic acid gas. Atmospheric<br \/>\npressure had its eager advocates. And various kinds of fixed<br \/>\nand locomotive steam-power were suggested. Thomas Gray<br \/>\nurged his plan of a greased road with cog-rails; and Messrs. Vignolles<br \/>\nand Ericsson recommended the adoption of a central friction-rail,<br \/>\nagainst which two horizontal rollers under the locomotive,<br \/>\npressing upon the sides of this rail, were to afford the means<br \/>\nof ascending the inclined planes.<\/p>\n<p>The directors felt themselves quite unable to choose from amid<br \/>\nthis multitude of projects. Their engineer expressed himself as<br \/>\ndecidedly as heretofore in favor of smooth rails and locomotive<br \/>\nengines, which, he was confident, would be found the most economical<br \/>\nand by far the most convenient moving power that could<br \/>\nbe employed. The Stockton and Darlington Railway being now<br \/>\nat work, another deputation went down personally to inspect the<br \/>\nfixed and locomotive engines on that line, as well as at Hetton<br \/>\nand Killingworth. They returned to Liverpool with much information;<br \/>\nbut their testimony as to the relative merits of the two<br \/>\nkinds of engines was so contradictory, that the directors were as<br \/>\nfar from a decision as ever.<\/p>\n<p>They then resolved to call to their aid two professional engineers<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_312\" name=\"Page_312\"><\/a>[312]<\/span><br \/>\nof high standing, who should visit the Darlington and Newcastle<br \/>\nrailways, carefully examine both modes of working\u2014the<br \/>\nfixed and the locomotive\u2014and report to them fully on the subject.<br \/>\nThe gentlemen selected were Mr. Walker, of Limehouse,<br \/>\nand Mr. Rastrick, of Stourbridge. After carefully examining<br \/>\nthe working of the Northern lines, they made their report to the<br \/>\ndirectors in the spring of 1829. They concurred in the opinion<br \/>\nthat the cost of an establishment of fixed engines would be somewhat<br \/>\ngreater than that of locomotives to do the same work, but<br \/>\nthey thought the annual charge would be less if the former were<br \/>\nadopted. They calculated that the cost of moving a ton of goods<br \/>\nthirty miles by fixed engines would be 6\u00b740<i>d.<\/i>, and by locomotives,<br \/>\n8\u00b736<i>d<\/i>., assuming a profitable traffic to be obtained both ways. At<br \/>\nthe same time, it was admitted that there appeared more grounds<br \/>\nfor expecting improvements in the construction and working of<br \/>\nlocomotives than of stationary engines. &#8220;On the whole, however,<br \/>\nand looking especially at the computed annual charge of<br \/>\nworking the road on the two systems on a large scale, Messrs.<br \/>\nWalker and Rastrick were of opinion that fixed engines were<br \/>\npreferable, and accordingly recommended their adoption to the<br \/>\ndirectors.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_68\" name=\"FNanchor_68\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_68\">[68]<\/a> And in order to carry the system recommended by<br \/>\nthem into effect, they proposed to divide the railroad between<br \/>\nLiverpool and Manchester into nineteen stages of about a mile<br \/>\nand a half each, with twenty-one engines fixed at the different<br \/>\npoints to work the trains forward.<\/p>\n<p>Such was the result, so far, of George Stephenson&#8217;s labors.<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_313\" name=\"Page_313\"><\/a>[313]<\/span><br \/>\nThe two best practical engineers of the day concurred in reporting<br \/>\nsubstantially in favor of the employment of fixed engines.<br \/>\nNot a single professional man of eminence could be found to coincide<br \/>\nwith the engineer of the railway in his preference for locomotive<br \/>\nover fixed engine power. He had scarcely a supporter,<br \/>\nand the locomotive system seemed on the eve of being abandoned.<br \/>\nStill he did not despair. With the profession against him,<br \/>\nand public opinion against him\u2014for the most frightful stories<br \/>\nwent abroad respecting the dangers, the unsightliness, and the<br \/>\nnuisance which the locomotive would create\u2014Stephenson held<br \/>\nto his purpose. Even in this, apparently the darkest hour of the<br \/>\nlocomotive, he did not hesitate to declare that locomotive railroads<br \/>\nwould, before many years had passed, be &#8220;the great highways<br \/>\nof the world.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He urged his views upon the directors in all ways, in season,<br \/>\nand, as some of them thought, out of season. He pointed out<br \/>\nthe greater convenience of locomotive power for the purposes of<br \/>\na public highway, likening it to a series of short unconnected<br \/>\nchains, any one of which could be removed and another substituted<br \/>\nwithout interruption to the traffic; whereas the fixed-engine<br \/>\nsystem might be regarded in the light of a continuous chain<br \/>\nextending between the two termini, the failure of any link of<br \/>\nwhich would derange the whole.<a id=\"FNanchor_69\" name=\"FNanchor_69\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_69\">[69]<\/a> But the fixed-engine party<br \/>\nwere very strong at the board, and, led by Mr. Cropper, they<br \/>\nurged the propriety of forthwith adopting the report of Messrs.<br \/>\nWalker and Rastrick. Mr. Sandars and Mr. William Rathbone,<br \/>\non the other hand, desired that a fair trial should be given to the<br \/>\nlocomotive; and they with reason objected to the expenditure<br \/>\nof the large capital necessary to construct the proposed engine-houses,<br \/>\nwith their fixed engines, ropes, and machinery, until they<br \/>\nhad tested the powers of the locomotive as recommended by their<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_314\" name=\"Page_314\"><\/a>[314]<\/span><br \/>\nown engineer. George Stephenson continued to urge upon them<br \/>\nthat the locomotive was yet capable of great improvements, if<br \/>\nproper inducements were held out to inventors and machinists<br \/>\nto make them; and he pledged himself that, if time were given<br \/>\nhim, he would construct an engine that should satisfy their requirements,<br \/>\nand prove itself capable of working heavy loads<br \/>\nalong the railway with speed, regularity, and safety. At length,<br \/>\ninfluenced by his persistent earnestness not less than by his arguments,<br \/>\nthe directors, at the suggestion of Mr. Harrison, determined<br \/>\nto offer a prize of \u00a3500 for the best locomotive engine,<br \/>\nwhich, on a certain day, should be produced on the railway,<br \/>\nand perform certain specified conditions in the most satisfactory<br \/>\nmanner.<a id=\"FNanchor_70\" name=\"FNanchor_70\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_70\">[70]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The requirements of the directors as to speed were not excessive.<br \/>\nAll that they asked for was that ten miles an hour should<br \/>\nbe maintained. Perhaps they had in mind the animadversions<br \/>\nof the &#8220;Quarterly Reviewer&#8221; on the absurdity of traveling at a<br \/>\ngreater velocity, and also the remarks published by Mr. Nicholas<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_315\" name=\"Page_315\"><\/a>[315]<\/span><br \/>\nWood, whom they selected to be one of the judges of the competition,<br \/>\nin conjunction with Mr. Rastrick, of Stourbridge, and<br \/>\nMr. Kennedy, of Manchester.<\/p>\n<p>It was now felt that the fate of railways in a great measure<br \/>\ndepended upon the issue of this appeal to the mechanical genius<br \/>\nof England. When the advertisement of the prize for the best<br \/>\nlocomotive was published, scientific men began more particularly<br \/>\nto direct their attention to the new power which was thus<br \/>\nstruggling into existence. In the mean time public opinion on<br \/>\nthe subject of railway working remained suspended, and the progress<br \/>\nof the undertaking was watched with intense interest.<\/p>\n<p>During the progress of this important controversy with reference<br \/>\nto the kind of power to be employed in working the railway,<br \/>\nGeorge Stephenson was in constant communication with his<br \/>\nson Robert, who made frequent visits to Liverpool for the purpose<br \/>\nof assisting his father in the preparation of his reports to<br \/>\nthe board on the subject. Mr. Swanwick remembers the vivid interest<br \/>\nof the evening discussions which then took place between<br \/>\nfather and son as to the best mode of increasing the powers and<br \/>\nperfecting the mechanism of the locomotive. He wondered at<br \/>\ntheir quick perception and rapid judgment on each other&#8217;s suggestions;<br \/>\nat the mechanical difficulties which they anticipated<br \/>\nand provided for in the practical arrangement of the machine;<br \/>\nand he speaks of these evenings as most interesting displays of<br \/>\ntwo actively ingenious and able minds stimulating each other to<br \/>\nfeats of mechanical invention, by which it was ordained that the<br \/>\nlocomotive engine should become what it now is. These discussions<br \/>\nbecame more frequent, and still more interesting, after the<br \/>\npublic prize had been offered for the best locomotive by the directors<br \/>\nof the railway, and the working plans of the engine which<br \/>\nthey proposed to construct had to be settled.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most important considerations in the new engine<br \/>\nwas the arrangement of the boiler and the extension of its heating<br \/>\nsurface to enable steam enough to be raised rapidly and continuously<br \/>\nfor the purpose of maintaining high rates of speed\u2014the<br \/>\neffect of high-pressure engines being ascertained to depend<br \/>\nmainly upon the quantity of steam which the boiler can generate,<br \/>\nand upon its degree of elasticity when produced. The quantity<br \/>\nof steam so generated, it will be obvious, must chiefly depend<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_316\" name=\"Page_316\"><\/a>[316]<\/span><br \/>\nupon the quantity of fuel consumed in the furnace, and, by necessary<br \/>\nconsequence, upon the high rate of temperature maintained<br \/>\nthere.<\/p>\n<p>It will be remembered that in Stephenson&#8217;s first Killingworth<br \/>\nengines he invited and applied the ingenious method of stimulating<br \/>\ncombustion in the furnace by throwing the waste steam into<br \/>\nthe chimney after performing its office in the cylinders, thereby<br \/>\naccelerating the ascent of the current of air, greatly increasing<br \/>\nthe draught, and consequently the temperature of the fire. This<br \/>\nplan was adopted by him, as we have seen, as early as 1815,<br \/>\nand it was so successful that he himself attributed to it the<br \/>\ngreater economy of the locomotive as compared with horse-power.<br \/>\nHence the continuance of its use upon the Killingworth<br \/>\nRailway.<\/p>\n<p>Though the adoption of the steam-blast greatly quickened combustion<br \/>\nand contributed to the rapid production of high-pressure<br \/>\nsteam, the limited amount of heating surface presented to the fire<br \/>\nwas still felt to be an obstacle to the complete success of the locomotive<br \/>\nengine. Mr. Stephenson endeavored to overcome this<br \/>\nby lengthening the boilers and increasing the surface presented<br \/>\nby the flue-tubes. The &#8220;Lancashire Witch,&#8221; which he built for<br \/>\nthe Bolton and Leigh Railway, and used in forming the Liverpool<br \/>\nand Manchester Railway embankments, was constructed with<br \/>\na double tube, each of which contained a fire, and passed longitudinally<br \/>\nthrough the boiler. But this arrangement necessarily<br \/>\nled to a considerable increase in the weight of those engines,<br \/>\nwhich amounted to about twelve tons each; and as six tons was<br \/>\nthe limit allowed for engines admitted to the Liverpool competition,<br \/>\nit was clear that the time was come when the Killingworth<br \/>\nengine must undergo a farther important modification.<\/p>\n<p>For many years previous to this period, ingenious mechanics<br \/>\nhad been engaged in attempting to solve the problem of the best<br \/>\nand most economical boiler for the production of high-pressure<br \/>\nsteam.<\/p>\n<p>The use of tubes in boilers for increasing the heating surface<br \/>\nhad long been known. As early as 1780, Matthew Boulton employed<br \/>\ncopper tubes longitudinally in the boiler of the Wheal<br \/>\nBusy engine in Cornwall\u2014the fire passing <em>through<\/em> the tubes\u2014and<br \/>\nit was found that the production of steam was thereby considerably<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_317\" name=\"Page_317\"><\/a>[317]<\/span><br \/>\nincreased.<a id=\"FNanchor_71\" name=\"FNanchor_71\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_71\">[71]<\/a> The use of tubular boilers afterward became<br \/>\ncommon in Cornwall. In 1803, Woolf, the Cornish engineer,<br \/>\npatented a boiler with tubes, with the same object of increasing<br \/>\nthe heating surface. The water was <em>inside<\/em> the tubes,<br \/>\nand the fire of the boiler outside. Similar expedients were proposed<br \/>\nby other inventors. In 1815 Trevithick invented his light<br \/>\nhigh-pressure boiler for portable purposes, in which, to &#8220;expose a<br \/>\nlarge surface to the fire,&#8221; he constructed the boiler of a number<br \/>\nof small perpendicular tubes &#8220;opening into a common reservoir<br \/>\nat the top.&#8221; In 1823 W. H. James contrived a boiler composed<br \/>\nof a series of annular wrought-iron tubes, placed side by side and<br \/>\nbolted together, so as to form by their union a long cylindrical<br \/>\nboiler, in the centre of which, at the end, the fireplace was situated.<br \/>\nThe fire played round the tubes, which contained the<br \/>\nwater. In 1826 James Neville took out a patent for a boiler<br \/>\nwith vertical tubes surrounded by the water, through which the<br \/>\nheated air of the furnace passed, explaining also in his specification<br \/>\nthat the tubes might be horizontal or inclined, according to<br \/>\ncircumstances. Mr. Goldsworthy Gurney, the persevering adaptor<br \/>\nof steam-carriages to traveling on common roads, applied the<br \/>\ntubular principle in the boiler of his engine, in which the steam<br \/>\nwas generated <em>within<\/em> the tubes; while the boiler invented by<br \/>\nMessrs. Summers and Ogle for their turnpike-road steam-carriage<br \/>\nconsisted of a series of tubes placed vertically over the furnace,<br \/>\nthrough which the heated air passed before reaching the chimney.<\/p>\n<p>About the same time George Stephenson was trying the effect<br \/>\nof introducing small tubes in the boilers of his locomotives, with<br \/>\nthe object of increasing their evaporative power. Thus, in 1829,<br \/>\nhe sent to France two engines constructed at the Newcastle works<br \/>\nfor the Lyons and St. Etienne Railway, in the boilers of which<br \/>\ntubes were placed containing water. The heating surface was<br \/>\nthus considerably increased; but the expedient was not successful,<br \/>\nfor the tubes, becoming furred with deposit, shortly burned<br \/>\nout and were removed. It was then that M. Seguin, the engineer<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_318\" name=\"Page_318\"><\/a>[318]<\/span><br \/>\nof the railway, pursuing the same idea, is said to have adopted<br \/>\nhis plan of employing horizontal tubes through which the heated<br \/>\nair passed in streamlets, and for which he took out a French<br \/>\npatent.<\/p>\n<p>In the mean time Mr. Henry Booth, secretary to the Liverpool<br \/>\nand Manchester Railway, whose attention had been directed to<br \/>\nthe subject on the prize being offered for the best locomotive to<br \/>\nwork that line, proposed the same method, which, unknown to<br \/>\nhim, Matthew Boulton had employed, but not patented, in 1780,<br \/>\nand James Neville had patented, but not employed, in 1826; and<br \/>\nit was carried into effect by Robert Stephenson in the construction<br \/>\nof the &#8220;Rocket,&#8221; which won the prize at Rainhill in October,<br \/>\n1829. The following is Mr. Booth&#8217;s account in a letter to the<br \/>\nauthor:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;I was in almost daily communication with Mr. Stephenson at<br \/>\nthe time, and I was not aware that he had any intention of competing<br \/>\nfor the prize till I communicated to him my scheme of a multitubular<br \/>\nboiler. This new plan of boiler comprised the introduction<br \/>\nof numerous small tubes, two or three inches in diameter, and less<br \/>\nthan one eighth of an inch thick, through which to carry the fire,<br \/>\ninstead of a single tube or flue eighteen inches in diameter, and<br \/>\nabout half an inch thick, by which plan we not only obtain a very<br \/>\nmuch larger heating surface, but the heating surface is much more<br \/>\neffective, as there intervenes between the fire and the water only a<br \/>\nthin sheet of copper or brass, not an eighth of an inch thick, instead<br \/>\nof a plate of iron of four times the substance, as well as an inferior<br \/>\nconductor of heat.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When the conditions of trial were published, I communicated<br \/>\nmy multitubular plan to Mr. Stephenson, and proposed to him that<br \/>\nwe should jointly construct an engine and compete for the prize.<br \/>\nMr. Stephenson approved the plan, and agreed to my proposal. He<br \/>\nsettled the mode in which the fire-box and tubes were to be mutually<br \/>\narranged and connected, and the engine was constructed at the<br \/>\nworks of Messrs. Robert Stephenson and Co., Newcastle-on-Tyne.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I am ignorant of M. Seguin&#8217;s proceedings in France, but I claim<br \/>\nto be the inventor in England, and feel warranted in stating, without<br \/>\nreservation, that until I named my plan to Mr. Stephenson, with<br \/>\na view to compete for the prize at Rainhill, it had not been tried,<br \/>\nand was not known in this country.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>From the well-known high character of Mr. Booth, we believe<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_319\" name=\"Page_319\"><\/a>[319]<\/span><br \/>\nhis statement to be made in perfect good faith, and that he was<br \/>\nas much in ignorance of the plan patented by Neville as he was<br \/>\nof that of Seguin. As we have seen, from the many plans of<br \/>\ntubular boilers invented during the preceding thirty years, the<br \/>\nidea was not by any means new; and we believe Mr. Booth to<br \/>\nbe entitled to the merit of inventing the method by which the<br \/>\nmultitubular principle was so effectually applied in the construction<br \/>\nof the famous &#8220;Rocket&#8221; engine.<\/p>\n<p>The principal circumstances connected with the construction<br \/>\nof the &#8220;Rocket,&#8221; as described by Robert Stephenson to the author,<br \/>\nmay be briefly stated. The tubular principle was adopted in a<br \/>\nmore complete manner than had yet been attempted. Twenty-five<br \/>\ncopper tubes, each three inches in diameter, extended from<br \/>\none end of the boiler to the other, the heated air passing through<br \/>\nthem on its way to the chimney; and the tubes being surrounded<br \/>\nby the water of the boiler, it will be obvious that a large extension<br \/>\nof the heating surface was thus effectually secured. The<br \/>\nprincipal difficulty was in fitting the copper tubes in the boiler-ends<br \/>\nso as to prevent leakage. They were manufactured by a<br \/>\nNewcastle coppersmith, and soldered to brass screws which were<br \/>\nscrewed into the boiler-ends, standing out in great knobs. When<br \/>\nthe tubes were thus fitted, and the boiler was filled with water,<br \/>\nhydraulic pressure was applied; but the water squirted out at<br \/>\nevery joint, and the factory floor was soon flooded. Robert went<br \/>\nhome in despair; and in the first moment of grief he wrote to<br \/>\nhis father that the whole thing was a failure. By return of post<br \/>\ncame a letter from his father, telling him that despair was not to<br \/>\nbe thought of\u2014that he must &#8220;try again;&#8221; and he suggested a<br \/>\nmode of overcoming the difficulty, which his son had already anticipated<br \/>\nand proceeded to adopt. It was, to bore clean holes in<br \/>\nthe boiler-ends, fit in the smooth copper tubes as tightly as possible,<br \/>\nsolder up, and then raise the steam. This plan succeeded<br \/>\nperfectly, the expansion of the copper tubes completely filling up<br \/>\nall interstices, and producing a perfectly water-tight boiler, capable<br \/>\nof withstanding extreme external pressure.<\/p>\n<p>The mode of employing the steam-blast for the purpose of increasing<br \/>\nthe draught in the chimney was also the subject of numerous<br \/>\nexperiments. When the engine was first tried, it was<br \/>\nthought that the blast in the chimney was not sufficiently strong<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_320\" name=\"Page_320\"><\/a>[320]<\/span><br \/>\nfor the purpose of keeping up the intensity of the fire in the furnace,<br \/>\nso as to produce high-pressure steam with the required velocity.<br \/>\nThe expedient was therefore adopted of hammering the<br \/>\ncopper tubes at the point at which they entered the chimney,<br \/>\nwhereby the blast was considerably sharpened; and on a farther<br \/>\ntrial it was found that the draught was increased to such an extent<br \/>\nas to enable abundance of steam to be raised. The rationale<br \/>\nof the blast may be simply explained by referring to the effect of<br \/>\ncontracting the pipe of a water-hose, by which the force of the<br \/>\njet of water is proportionately increased. Widen the nozzle of<br \/>\nthe pipe, and the jet is in like manner diminished. So is it with<br \/>\nthe steam-blast in the chimney of the locomotive.<\/p>\n<p>Doubts were, however, expressed whether the greater draught<br \/>\nobtained by the contraction of the blast-pipe was not counterbalanced<br \/>\nin some degree by the negative pressure upon the piston.<br \/>\nHence a series of experiments was made with pipes of different<br \/>\ndiameters, and their efficiency was tested by the amount of vacuum<br \/>\nthat was produced in the smoke-box. The degree of rarefaction<br \/>\nwas determined by a glass tube fixed to the bottom of the<br \/>\nsmoke-box, and descending into a bucket of water, the tube being<br \/>\nopen at both ends. As the rarefaction took place, the water<br \/>\nwould of course rise in the tube, and the height to which it rose<br \/>\nabove the surface of the water in the bucket was made the measure<br \/>\nof the amount of rarefaction. These experiments proved<br \/>\nthat a considerable increase of draught was obtained by the contraction<br \/>\nof the orifice; accordingly, the two blast-pipes opening<br \/>\nfrom the cylinders into either side of the &#8220;Rocket&#8221; chimney, and<br \/>\nturned up within it, were contracted slightly below the area of<br \/>\nthe steam-ports; and before the engine left the factory, the water<br \/>\nrose in the glass tube three inches above the water in the<br \/>\nbucket.<\/p>\n<p>The other arrangements of the &#8220;Rocket&#8221; were briefly these:<br \/>\nthe boiler was cylindrical, with flat ends, six feet in length, and<br \/>\nthree feet four inches in diameter. The upper half of the boiler<br \/>\nwas used as a reservoir for the steam, the lower half being filled<br \/>\nwith water. Through the lower part the copper tubes extended,<br \/>\nbeing open to the fire-box at one end, and to the chimney at the<br \/>\nother. The fire-box, or furnace, two feet wide and three feet<br \/>\nhigh, was attached immediately behind the boiler, and was also<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_321\" name=\"Page_321\"><\/a>[321]<\/span><br \/>\nsurrounded with water. The cylinders of the engine were placed<br \/>\non each side of the boiler, in an oblique position, one end being<br \/>\nnearly level with the top of the boiler at its after end, and the<br \/>\nother pointing toward the centre of the foremost or driving pair<br \/>\nof wheels, with which the connection was directly made from the<br \/>\npiston-rod to a pin on the outside of the wheel. The engine, together<br \/>\nwith its load of water, weighed only four tons and a quarter;<br \/>\nand it was supported on four wheels, not coupled. The tender<br \/>\nwas four-wheeled, and similar in shape to a wagon\u2014the foremost<br \/>\npart holding the fuel, and the hind part a water-cask.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_324.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"421\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>THE &#8220;ROCKET.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>When the &#8220;Rocket&#8221; was finished, it was placed upon the Killingworth<br \/>\nRailway for the purpose of experiment. The new<br \/>\nboiler arrangement was found perfectly successful. The steam<br \/>\nwas raised rapidly and continuously, and in a quantity which<br \/>\nthen appeared marvelous. The same evening Robert dispatched<br \/>\na letter to his father at Liverpool, informing him, to his great joy,<br \/>\nthat the &#8220;Rocket&#8221; was &#8220;all right,&#8221; and would be in complete<br \/>\nworking trim by the day of trial. The engine was shortly after<br \/>\nsent by wagon to Carlisle, and thence shipped for Liverpool.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_322\" name=\"Page_322\"><\/a>[322]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The time so much longed for by George Stephenson had<br \/>\nnow arrived, when the merits of the passenger locomotive were<br \/>\nabout to be put to the test. He had fought the battle for it until<br \/>\nnow almost single-handed. Engrossed by his daily labors and<br \/>\nanxieties, and harassed by difficulties and discouragements which<br \/>\nwould have crushed the spirit of a less resolute man, he had held<br \/>\nfirmly to his purpose through good and through evil report. The<br \/>\nhostility which he experienced from some of the directors opposed<br \/>\nto the adoption of the locomotive was the circumstance that<br \/>\ncaused him the greatest grief of all; for where he had looked for<br \/>\nencouragement, he found only carping and opposition. But his<br \/>\npluck never failed him; and now the &#8220;Rocket&#8221; was upon the<br \/>\nground to prove, to use his own words, &#8220;whether he was a man<br \/>\nof his word or not.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Great interest was felt at Liverpool, as well as throughout the<br \/>\ncountry, in the approaching competition. Engineers, scientific<br \/>\nmen, and mechanics arrived from all quarters to witness the novel<br \/>\ndisplay of mechanical ingenuity on which such great results<br \/>\ndepended. The public generally were no indifferent spectators<br \/>\neither. The populations of Liverpool, Manchester, and the adjacent<br \/>\ntowns felt that the successful issue of the experiment<br \/>\nwould confer upon them individual benefits and local advantages<br \/>\nalmost incalculable, while populations at a distance waited for<br \/>\nthe result with almost equal interest.<\/p>\n<p>On the day appointed for the great competition of locomotives<br \/>\nat Rainhill the following engines were entered for the prize:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"index\">\n<li>1. Messrs. Braithwaite and Ericsson&#8217;s<br \/>\n<a id=\"FNanchor_72\" name=\"FNanchor_72\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_72\">[72]<\/a> &#8220;Novelty.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>2. Mr. Timothy Hackworth&#8217;s &#8220;Sanspareil.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>3. Messrs. R. Stephenson and Co.&#8217;s &#8220;Rocket.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>4. Mr. Burstall&#8217;s &#8220;Perseverance.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Another engine was entered by Mr. Brandreth, of Liverpool\u2014the<br \/>\n&#8220;Cycloped,&#8221; weighing three tons, worked by a horse in a<br \/>\nframe, but it could not be admitted to the competition. The<br \/>\nabove were the only four exhibited, out of a considerable number<br \/>\nof engines constructed in different parts of the country in anticipation<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_323\" name=\"Page_323\"><\/a>[323]<\/span><br \/>\nof this contest, many of which could not be satisfactorily<br \/>\ncompleted by the day of trial.<\/p>\n<p>The ground on which the engines were to be tried was a level<br \/>\npiece of railroad, about two miles in length. Each was required<br \/>\nto make twenty trips, or equal to a journey of seventy miles, in<br \/>\nthe course of the day, and the average rate of traveling was to be<br \/>\nnot under ten miles an hour. It was determined that, to avoid<br \/>\nconfusion, each engine should be tried separately, and on different<br \/>\ndays.<\/p>\n<p>The day fixed for the competition was the 1st of October, but,<br \/>\nto allow sufficient time to get the locomotives into good working<br \/>\norder, the directors extended it to the 6th. On the morning of<br \/>\nthe 6th the ground at Rainhill presented a lively appearance, and<br \/>\nthere was as much excitement as if the St. Leger were about to<br \/>\nbe run. Many thousand spectators looked on, among whom<br \/>\nwere some of the first engineers and mechanicians of the day.<br \/>\nA stand was provided for the ladies; the &#8220;beauty and fashion&#8221;<br \/>\nof the neighborhood were present, and the side of the railroad<br \/>\nwas lined with carriages of all descriptions.<\/p>\n<p>It was quite characteristic of the Stephensons that, although<br \/>\ntheir engine did not stand first on the list for trial, it was the first<br \/>\nthat was ready, and it was accordingly ordered out by the judges<br \/>\nfor an experimental trip. Yet the &#8220;Rocket&#8221; was by no means<br \/>\nthe &#8220;favorite&#8221; with either the judges or the spectators. Nicholas<br \/>\nWood has since stated that the majority of the judges were<br \/>\nstrongly predisposed in favor of the &#8220;Novelty,&#8221; and that &#8220;nine<br \/>\ntenths, if not ten tenths, of the persons present were against the<br \/>\n&#8216;Rocket&#8217; because of its appearance.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_73\" name=\"FNanchor_73\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_73\">[73]<\/a> Nearly every person favored<br \/>\nsome other engine, so that there was nothing for the<br \/>\n&#8220;Rocket&#8221; but the practical test. The first trip made by it was<br \/>\nquite successful. It ran about twelve miles, without interruption,<br \/>\nin about fifty-three minutes.<\/p>\n<p>The &#8220;Novelty&#8221; was next called out. It was a light engine, very<br \/>\ncompact in appearance, carrying the water and fuel upon the<br \/>\nsame wheels as the engine. The weight of the whole was only<br \/>\nthree tons and one hundred weight. A peculiarity of this engine<br \/>\nwas that the air was driven or <em>forced<\/em> through the fire by means<br \/>\nof bellows. The day being now far advanced, and some dispute<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_324\" name=\"Page_324\"><\/a>[324]<\/span><br \/>\nhaving arisen as to the method of assigning the proper load for<br \/>\nthe &#8220;Novelty,&#8221; no particular experiment was made farther than<br \/>\nthat the engine traversed the line by way of exhibition, occasionally<br \/>\nmoving at the rate of twenty-four miles an hour. The &#8220;Sanspareil,&#8221;<br \/>\nconstructed by Mr. Timothy Hackworth, was next exhibited,<br \/>\nbut no particular experiment was made with it on this day.<br \/>\nThis engine differed but little in its construction from the locomotive<br \/>\nlast supplied by the Stephensons to the Stockton and Darlington<br \/>\nRailway, of which Mr. Hackworth was the locomotive<br \/>\nforeman.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_327.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"232\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>LOCOMOTIVE COMPETITION AT RAINHILL.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The contest was postponed until the following day; but, before<br \/>\nthe judges arrived on the ground, the bellows for creating the<br \/>\nblast in the &#8220;Novelty&#8221; gave way, and it was found incapable of<br \/>\ngoing through its performance. A defect was also detected in<br \/>\nthe boiler of the &#8220;Sanspareil,&#8221; and some farther time was allowed<br \/>\nto get it repaired. The large number of spectators who had assembled<br \/>\nto witness the contest were greatly disappointed at this<br \/>\npostponement; but, to lessen it, Stephenson again brought out<br \/>\nthe &#8220;Rocket,&#8221; and, attaching to it a coach containing thirty persons,<br \/>\nhe ran them along the line at the rate of from twenty-four<br \/>\nto thirty miles an hour, much to their gratification and amazement.<br \/>\nBefore separating, the judges ordered the engine to be in<br \/>\nreadiness by eight o&#8217;clock on the following morning, to go through<br \/>\nits definitive trial according to the prescribed conditions.<\/p>\n<p>On the morning of the 8th of October the &#8220;Rocket&#8221; was again<br \/>\nready for the contest. The engine was taken to the extremity of<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_325\" name=\"Page_325\"><\/a>[325]<\/span><br \/>\nthe stage, the fire-box was filled with coke, the fire lighted, and<br \/>\nthe steam raised until it lifted the safety-valve loaded to a pressure<br \/>\nof fifty pounds to the square inch. This proceeding occupied<br \/>\nfifty-seven minutes. The engine then started on its journey,<br \/>\ndragging after it about thirteen tons&#8217; weight in wagons, and made<br \/>\nthe first ten trips backward and forward along the two miles of<br \/>\nroad, running the thirty-five miles, including stoppages, in an<br \/>\nhour and forty-eight minutes. The second ten trips were in like<br \/>\nmanner performed in two hours and three minutes. The maximum<br \/>\nvelocity attained during the trial trip was twenty-nine miles<br \/>\nan hour, or about three times the speed that one of the judges of<br \/>\nthe competition had declared to be the limit of possibility. The<br \/>\naverage speed at which the whole of the journeys were performed<br \/>\nwas fifteen miles an hour, or five miles beyond the rate specified<br \/>\nin the conditions published by the company. The entire performance<br \/>\nexcited the greatest astonishment among the assembled spectators;<br \/>\nthe directors felt confident that their enterprise was now<br \/>\non the eve of success; and George Stephenson rejoiced to think<br \/>\nthat, in spite of all false prophets and fickle counselors, the locomotive<br \/>\nsystem was now safe. When the &#8220;Rocket,&#8221; having<br \/>\nperformed all the conditions of the contest, arrived at the &#8220;grand<br \/>\nstand&#8221; at the close of its day&#8217;s successful run, Mr. Cropper\u2014one<br \/>\nof the directors favorable to the fixed engine system\u2014lifted up<br \/>\nhis hands, and exclaimed, &#8220;Now has George Stephenson at last<br \/>\ndelivered himself.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Neither the &#8220;Novelty&#8221; nor the &#8220;Sanspareil&#8221; was ready for trial<br \/>\nuntil the 10th, on the morning of which day an advertisement appeared,<br \/>\nstating that the former engine was to be tried on that<br \/>\nday, when it would perform more work than any engine on the<br \/>\nground. The weight of the carriages attached to it was only<br \/>\nabout seven tons. The engine passed the first post in good style;<br \/>\nbut, in returning, the pipe from the forcing-pump burst and put<br \/>\nan end to the trial. The pipe was afterward repaired, and the<br \/>\nengine made several trips by itself, in which it was said to have<br \/>\ngone at the rate of from twenty-four to twenty-eight miles an<br \/>\nhour.<\/p>\n<p>The &#8220;Sanspareil&#8221; was not ready until the 13th; and when its<br \/>\nboiler and tender were filled with water, it was found to weigh<br \/>\nfour hundred weight beyond the weight specified in the published<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_326\" name=\"Page_326\"><\/a>[326]<\/span><br \/>\nconditions as the limit of four-wheeled engines; nevertheless, the<br \/>\njudges allowed it to run on the same footing as the other engines,<br \/>\nto enable them to ascertain whether its merits entitled it to favorable<br \/>\nconsideration. It traveled at the average speed of about<br \/>\nfourteen miles an hour, with its load attached; but at the eighth<br \/>\ntrip the cold-water pump got wrong, and the engine could proceed<br \/>\nno farther.<\/p>\n<p>It was determined to award the premium to the successful engine<br \/>\non the following day, the 14th, on which occasion there was<br \/>\nan unusual assemblage of spectators. The owners of the &#8220;Novelty&#8221;<br \/>\npleaded for another trial, and it was conceded. But again it<br \/>\nbroke down. Then Mr. Hackworth requested the opportunity<br \/>\nfor making another trial of his &#8220;Sanspareil.&#8221; But the judges<br \/>\nhad now had enough of failures, and they declined, on the ground<br \/>\nthat not only was the engine above the stipulated weight, but<br \/>\nthat it was constructed on a plan which they could not recommend<br \/>\nfor adoption by the directors of the company. One of the<br \/>\nprincipal practical objections to this locomotive was the enormous<br \/>\nquantity of coke consumed or wasted by it\u2014about 692 lbs. per<br \/>\nhour when traveling\u2014caused by the sharpness of the steam-blast<br \/>\nin the chimney, which blew a large proportion of the burning<br \/>\ncoke into the air.<\/p>\n<p>The &#8220;Perseverance&#8221; of Mr. Burstall was found unable to move<br \/>\nat more than five or six miles an hour, and it was withdrawn<br \/>\nfrom the contest at an early period. The &#8220;Rocket&#8221; was thus the<br \/>\nonly engine that had performed, and more than performed, all<br \/>\nthe stipulated conditions, and it was declared to be entitled to the<br \/>\nprize of \u00a3500, which was awarded to the Messrs. Stephenson and<br \/>\nBooth accordingly. And farther to show that the engine had<br \/>\nbeen working quite within its powers, George Stephenson ordered<br \/>\nit to be brought upon the ground and detached from all incumbrances,<br \/>\nwhen, in making two trips, it was found to travel at the<br \/>\nastonishing rate of thirty-five miles an hour.<\/p>\n<p>The &#8220;Rocket&#8221; had thus eclipsed the performances of all locomotive<br \/>\nengines that had yet been constructed, and outstripped<br \/>\neven the sanguine expectations of its constructors. It satisfactorily<br \/>\nanswered the report of Messrs. Walker and Rastrick, and<br \/>\nestablished the efficiency of the locomotive for working the Liverpool<br \/>\nand Manchester Railway, and, indeed, all future railways.<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_327\" name=\"Page_327\"><\/a>[327]<\/span><br \/>\nThe &#8220;Rocket&#8221; showed that a new power had been born into the<br \/>\nworld, full of activity and strength, with boundless capability of<br \/>\nwork. It was the simple but admirable contrivance of the steam-blast,<br \/>\nand its combination with the multitubular boiler, that at<br \/>\nonce gave locomotion a vigorous life, and secured the triumph of<br \/>\nthe railway system.<a id=\"FNanchor_74\" name=\"FNanchor_74\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_74\">[74]<\/a> As has been well observed, this wonderful<br \/>\nability to increase and multiply its powers of performance with<br \/>\nthe emergency that demands them has made this giant engine<br \/>\nthe noblest creation of human wit, the very lion among machines.<br \/>\nThe success of the Rainhill experiment, as judged by the public,<br \/>\nmay be inferred from the fact that the shares of the company<br \/>\nimmediately rose ten per cent., and nothing farther was heard of<br \/>\nthe proposed twenty-one fixed engines, engine-houses, ropes, etc.<br \/>\nAll this cumbersome apparatus was thenceforward effectually<br \/>\ndisposed of.<\/p>\n<p>Very different now was the tone of those directors who had<br \/>\ndistinguished themselves by the persistency of their opposition to<br \/>\nGeorge Stephenson&#8217;s plans. Coolness gave way to eulogy, and<br \/>\nhostility to unbounded offers of friendship, after the manner of<br \/>\nmany men who run to the help of the strong. Deeply though<br \/>\nthe engineer had felt aggrieved by the conduct exhibited toward<br \/>\nhim during this eventful struggle by some from whom forbearance<br \/>\nwas to have been expected, he never entertained toward<br \/>\nthem in after life any angry feelings; on the contrary, he forgave<br \/>\nall. But, though the directors afterward passed unanimous<br \/>\nresolutions eulogizing &#8220;the great skill and unwearied energy&#8221; of<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_328\" name=\"Page_328\"><\/a>[328]<\/span><br \/>\ntheir engineer, he himself, when speaking confidentially to those<br \/>\nwith whom he was most intimate, could not help pointing out<br \/>\nthe difference between his &#8220;foul-weather and fair-weather<br \/>\nfriends.&#8221; Mr. Gooch says that, though naturally most cheerful<br \/>\nand kind-hearted in disposition, the anxiety and pressure which<br \/>\nweighed upon his mind during the construction of the railway<br \/>\nhad the effect of making him occasionally impatient and irritable,<br \/>\nlike a spirited horse touched by the spur, though his original good<br \/>\nnature from time to time shone through it all. When the line<br \/>\nhad been brought to a successful completion, a very marked<br \/>\nchange in him became visible. The irritability passed away,<br \/>\nand when difficulties and vexations arose they were treated by<br \/>\nhim as matters of course, and with perfect composure and cheerfulness.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_331.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"280\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">RAILWAY<\/span> <em>versus<\/em> <span class=\"smcap\">ROAD<\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_329\" name=\"Page_329\"><\/a>[329]<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER XIII.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>OPENING OF THE LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY, AND<br \/>\nEXTENSION OF THE RAILWAY SYSTEM.<\/h4>\n<p>The directors of the railway now began to see daylight, and<br \/>\nthey derived encouragement from the skillful manner in which<br \/>\ntheir engineer had overcome the principal difficulties of the undertaking.<br \/>\nHe had formed a solid road over Chat Moss, and<br \/>\nthus achieved one &#8220;impossibility;&#8221; and he had constructed a locomotive<br \/>\nthat could run at a speed of thirty miles an hour, thus<br \/>\nvanquishing a still more formidable difficulty.<\/p>\n<p>A single line of way was completed over Chat Moss by the 1st<br \/>\nof January, 1830, and on that day the &#8220;Rocket,&#8221; with a carriage<br \/>\nfull of directors, engineers, and their friends, passed along the<br \/>\ngreater part of the road between Liverpool and Manchester. Mr.<br \/>\nStephenson continued to direct his close attention to the improvement<br \/>\nof the details of the locomotive, every successive trial of<br \/>\nwhich proved more satisfactory. In this department he had the<br \/>\nbenefit of the able and unremitting assistance of his son, who, in<br \/>\nthe workshops at Newcastle, directly superintended the construction<br \/>\nof the engines required for the public working of the railway.<br \/>\nHe did not by any means rest satisfied with the success,<br \/>\ndecided though it was, which had been achieved by the &#8220;Rocket.&#8221;<br \/>\nHe regarded it but in the light of a successful experiment;<br \/>\nand every successive engine placed upon the railway exhibited<br \/>\nsome improvement on its predecessors. The arrangement of the<br \/>\nparts, and the weight and proportion of the engines, were altered<br \/>\nas the experience of each successive day, or week, or month<br \/>\nsuggested; and it was soon found that the performances of the<br \/>\n&#8220;Rocket&#8221; on the day of trial had been greatly within the powers<br \/>\nof the improved locomotive.<\/p>\n<p>The first entire trip between Liverpool and Manchester was<br \/>\nperformed on the 14th of June, 1830, on the occasion of a board<br \/>\nmeeting being held at the latter town. The train was on this<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_330\" name=\"Page_330\"><\/a>[330]<\/span><br \/>\noccasion drawn by the &#8220;Arrow,&#8221; one of the new locomotives, in<br \/>\nwhich the most recent improvements had been adopted. George<br \/>\nStephenson himself drove the engine, and Captain Scoresby, the<br \/>\ncircumpolar navigator, stood beside him on the foot-plate, and<br \/>\nminuted the speed of the train. A great concourse of people assembled<br \/>\nat both termini, as well as along the line, to witness the<br \/>\nnovel spectacle of a train of carriages drawn by an engine at the<br \/>\nspeed of seventeen miles an hour. On the return journey to Liverpool<br \/>\nin the evening, the &#8220;Arrow&#8221; crossed Chat Moss at a speed<br \/>\nof nearly twenty-seven miles an hour, reaching its destination in<br \/>\nabout an hour and a half.<\/p>\n<p>In the mean time Mr. Stephenson and his assistant, Mr. Gooch,<br \/>\nwere diligently occupied in making the necessary preliminary<br \/>\narrangements for the conduct of the traffic against the time when<br \/>\nthe line should be ready for opening. The experiments made<br \/>\nwith the object of carrying on the passenger traffic at quick velocities<br \/>\nwere of an especially harassing and anxious character.<br \/>\nEvery week, for nearly three months before the opening, trial<br \/>\ntrips were made to Newton and back, generally with two or three<br \/>\ntrains following each other, and carrying altogether from two to<br \/>\nthree hundred persons. These trips were usually made on Saturday<br \/>\nafternoons, when the works could be more <span class=\"corr\" title=\"Transcriber's Note\u2014original text: 'cenveniently'\">conveniently<\/span> stopped<br \/>\nand the line cleared for the occasion. In these experiments<br \/>\nMr. Stephenson had the able assistance of Mr. Henry Booth, the<br \/>\nsecretary of the company, who contrived many of the arrangements<br \/>\nin the passenger carriages, not the least valuable of which<br \/>\nwas his invention of the coupling screw, still in use on all passenger<br \/>\nrailways.<\/p>\n<p>At length the line was finished and ready for the public opening,<br \/>\nwhich took place on the 15th of September, 1830, and attracted<br \/>\na vast number of spectators from all parts of the country.<br \/>\nThe completion of the railway was justly regarded as an important<br \/>\nnational event, and the ceremony of its opening was celebrated<br \/>\naccordingly. The Duke of Wellington, then prime minister,<br \/>\nSir Robert Peel, Secretary of State, Mr. Huskisson, one of<br \/>\nthe members for Liverpool and an earnest supporter of the project<br \/>\nfrom its commencement, were among the number of distinguished<br \/>\npublic personages present.<\/p>\n<p>Eight locomotive engines, constructed at the Stephenson works,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_331\" name=\"Page_331\"><\/a>[331]<\/span><br \/>\nhad been delivered and placed upon the line, the whole of which<br \/>\nhad been tried and tested, weeks before, with perfect success. The<br \/>\nseveral trains of carriages accommodated in all about six hundred<br \/>\npersons. The &#8220;Northumbrian&#8221; engine, driven by George Stephenson<br \/>\nhimself, headed the line of trains; then followed the<br \/>\n&#8220;Ph\u0153nix,&#8221; driven by Robert Stephenson; the &#8220;North Star,&#8221; by<br \/>\nRobert Stephenson senior (brother of George); the &#8220;Rocket,&#8221; by<br \/>\nJoseph Locke; the &#8220;Dart,&#8221; by Thomas L. Gooch; the &#8220;Comet,&#8221;<br \/>\nby William Allcard; the &#8220;Arrow,&#8221; by Frederick Swanwick; and<br \/>\nthe &#8220;Meteor,&#8221; by Anthony Harding. The procession was cheered<br \/>\nin its progress by thousands of spectators\u2014through the deep ravine<br \/>\nof Olive Mount; up the Sutton incline; over the great Sankey<br \/>\nviaduct, beneath which a multitude of persons had assembled\u2014carriages<br \/>\nfilling the narrow lanes, and barges crowding the<br \/>\nriver; the people below gazing with wonder and admiration at<br \/>\nthe trains which sped along the line, far above their heads, at the<br \/>\nrate of some twenty-four miles an hour.<\/p>\n<p>At Parkside, about seventeen miles from Liverpool, the engines<br \/>\nstopped to take in water. Here a deplorable accident occurred<br \/>\nto one of the illustrious visitors, which threw a deep shadow over<br \/>\nthe subsequent proceedings of the day. The &#8220;Northumbrian&#8221; engine,<br \/>\nwith the carriage containing the Duke of Wellington, was<br \/>\ndrawn up on one line, in order that the whole of the trains on the<br \/>\nother line might pass in review before him and his party. Mr.<br \/>\nHuskisson had alighted from the carriage, and was standing on<br \/>\nthe opposite road, along which the &#8220;Rocket&#8221; was observed rapidly<br \/>\ncoming up. At this moment the Duke of Wellington, between<br \/>\nwhom and Mr. Huskisson some coolness had existed, made a sign<br \/>\nof recognition, and held out his hand. A hurried but friendly<br \/>\ngrasp was given; and before it was loosened there was a general<br \/>\ncry from the by-standers of &#8220;Get in, get in!&#8221; Flurried and confused,<br \/>\nMr. Huskisson endeavored to get round the open door of<br \/>\nthe carriage, which projected over the opposite rail, but in so<br \/>\ndoing he was struck down by the &#8220;Rocket,&#8221; and falling with his<br \/>\nleg doubled across the rail, the limb was instantly crushed. His<br \/>\nfirst words, on being raised, were, &#8220;I have met my death,&#8221; which<br \/>\nunhappily proved true, for he expired that same evening in the<br \/>\nparsonage of Eccles. It was cited at the time as a remarkable<br \/>\nfact that the &#8220;Northumbrian&#8221; engine, driven by George Stephenson<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_332\" name=\"Page_332\"><\/a>[332]<\/span><br \/>\nhimself, conveyed the wounded body of the unfortunate gentleman<br \/>\na distance of about fifteen miles in twenty-five minutes,<br \/>\nor at the rate of thirty-six miles an hour. This incredible speed<br \/>\nburst upon the world with the effect of a new and unlooked-for<br \/>\nphenomenon.<\/p>\n<p>The accident threw a gloom over the rest of the day&#8217;s proceedings.<br \/>\nThe Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel expressed a<br \/>\nwish that the procession should return to Liverpool. It was, however,<br \/>\nrepresented to them that a vast concourse of people had assembled<br \/>\nat Manchester to witness the arrival of the trains; that<br \/>\nreport would exaggerate the mischief if they did not complete<br \/>\nthe journey; and that a false panic on that day might seriously<br \/>\naffect future railway traveling and the value of the company&#8217;s<br \/>\nproperty. The party consented accordingly to proceed to Manchester,<br \/>\nbut on the understanding that they should return as soon<br \/>\nas possible, and refrain from farther festivity.<\/p>\n<p>As the trains approached Manchester, crowds of people were<br \/>\nfound covering the banks, the slopes of the cuttings, and even the<br \/>\nrailway itself. The multitude, become impatient and excited by<br \/>\nthe rumors which reached them, had outflanked the military, and<br \/>\nall order was at an end. The people clambered about the carriages,<br \/>\nholding on by the door-handles, and many were tumbled<br \/>\nover; but, happily, no fatal accident occurred. At the Manchester<br \/>\nstation the political element began to display itself; placards<br \/>\nabout &#8220;Peterloo,&#8221; etc., were exhibited, and brickbats were thrown<br \/>\nat the carriage containing the duke. On the trains coming to a<br \/>\nstand in the Manchester station, the duke did not descend, but remained<br \/>\nseated, shaking hands with the women and children who<br \/>\nwere pushed forward by the crowd. Shortly after, the trains returned<br \/>\nto Liverpool, which they reached, after considerable delays,<br \/>\nlate at night.<\/p>\n<p>On the following morning the railway was opened for public<br \/>\ntraffic. The first train of 140 passengers was booked and sent on<br \/>\nto Manchester, reaching it in the allotted time of two hours; and<br \/>\nfrom that time the traffic has regularly proceeded from day to<br \/>\nday until now.<\/p>\n<p>It is scarcely necessary that we should speak at any length of<br \/>\nthe commercial results of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.<br \/>\nSuffice it to say that its success was complete and decisive. The<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_333\" name=\"Page_333\"><\/a>[333]<\/span><br \/>\nanticipations of its projectors were, however, in many respects at<br \/>\nfault. They had based their calculations almost entirely on the<br \/>\nheavy merchandise traffic\u2014such as coal, cotton, and timber\u2014relying<br \/>\nlittle upon passengers; whereas the receipts derived from<br \/>\nthe conveyance of passengers far exceeded those derived from<br \/>\nmerchandise of all kinds, which for a time continued a subordinate<br \/>\nbranch of the traffic. In the evidence given before the Committee<br \/>\nof the House of Commons, the promoters stated their expectation<br \/>\nof obtaining about one half of the whole number of<br \/>\npassengers which the coaches then running could carry, or about<br \/>\n400 a day. But the railway was scarcely opened before it carried<br \/>\non an average about 1200 passengers daily; and five years<br \/>\nafter the opening, it carried nearly half a million of persons<br \/>\nyearly. So successful, indeed, was the passenger traffic, that it<br \/>\nengrossed the whole of the company&#8217;s small stock of engines.<\/p>\n<p>For some time after the public opening of the line, Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\ningenuity continued to be employed in devising improved<br \/>\nmethods for securing the safety and comfort of the traveling<br \/>\npublic. Few are aware of the thousand minute details<br \/>\nwhich have to be arranged\u2014the forethought and contrivance<br \/>\nthat have to be exercised\u2014to enable the traveler by railway to<br \/>\naccomplish his journey in safety. After the difficulties of constructing<br \/>\na level road over bogs, across valleys, and through deep<br \/>\ncuttings have been overcome, the maintenance of the way has to<br \/>\nbe provided for with continuous care. Every rail, with its fastenings,<br \/>\nmust be complete, to prevent risk of accident, and the road<br \/>\nmust be kept regularly ballasted up to the level to diminish the<br \/>\njolting of vehicles passing over it at high speeds. Then the stations<br \/>\nmust be protected by signals observable from such a distance<br \/>\nas to enable the train to be stopped in event of an obstacle,<br \/>\nsuch as a stopping or shunting train being in the way. For some<br \/>\nyears the signals employed on the Liverpool Railway were entirely<br \/>\ngiven by men with flags of different colors stationed along<br \/>\nthe line; there were no fixed signals nor electric telegraphs; but<br \/>\nthe traffic was nevertheless worked quite as safely as under the<br \/>\nmore elaborate and complicated system of telegraphing which<br \/>\nhas since been established.<\/p>\n<p>From an early period it became obvious that the iron road, as<br \/>\noriginally laid down, was quite insufficient for the heavy traffic<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_334\" name=\"Page_334\"><\/a>[334]<\/span><br \/>\nwhich it had to carry. The line was in the first place laid with<br \/>\nfish-bellied rails of only thirty-five pounds to the yard, calculated<br \/>\nonly for horse-traffic, or, at most, for engines like the &#8220;Rocket,&#8221;<br \/>\nof very light weight. But as the power and the weight of the<br \/>\nlocomotives were increased, it was found that such rails were<br \/>\nquite insufficient for the safe conduct of the traffic, and it therefore<br \/>\nbecame necessary to relay the road with heavier and stronger<br \/>\nrails at considerable expense.<\/p>\n<p>The details of the carrying stock had in like manner to be settled<br \/>\nby experience. Every thing had, as it were, to be begun<br \/>\nfrom the beginning. The coal-wagon, it is true, served in some<br \/>\ndegree as a model for the railway-truck; but the railway passenger-carriage<br \/>\nwas an entirely novel structure. It had to be<br \/>\nmounted upon strong framing, of a peculiar kind, supported on<br \/>\nsprings to prevent jolting. Then there was the necessity for contriving<br \/>\nsome method of preventing hard bumping of the carriage-ends<br \/>\nwhen the train was pulled up, and hence the contrivance<br \/>\nof buffer-springs and spring-frames. For the purpose of stopping<br \/>\nthe train, brakes on an improved plan were also contrived,<br \/>\nwith new modes of lubricating the carriage-axles, on which the<br \/>\nwheels revolved at an unusually high velocity. In all these contrivances<br \/>\nMr. Stephenson&#8217;s inventiveness was kept constantly on<br \/>\nthe stretch; and though many improvements in detail have been<br \/>\neffected since his time, the foundations were then laid by him of<br \/>\nthe present system of conducting railway traffic. As a curious<br \/>\nillustration of the inventive ingenuity which he displayed in contriving<br \/>\nthe working of the Liverpool line, we may mention his<br \/>\ninvention of the Self-acting Brake. He early entertained the<br \/>\nidea that the momentum of the running train might itself be<br \/>\nmade available for the purpose of checking its speed. He proposed<br \/>\nto fit each carriage with a brake which should be called<br \/>\ninto action immediately on the locomotive at the head of the<br \/>\ntrain being pulled up. The impetus of the carriages carrying<br \/>\nthem forward, the buffer-springs would be driven home, and, at<br \/>\nthe same time, by a simple arrangement of the mechanism, the<br \/>\nbrakes would be called into simultaneous action; thus the wheels<br \/>\nwould be brought into a state of sledge, and the train speedily<br \/>\nstopped. This plan was adopted by Mr. Stephenson before he<br \/>\nleft the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, though it was afterward<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_335\" name=\"Page_335\"><\/a>[335]<\/span><br \/>\ndiscontinued; and it is a remarkable fact, that this identical<br \/>\nplan, with the addition of a centrifugal apparatus, was recently<br \/>\nrevived by M. Gu\u00e9rin, a French engineer, and extensively employed<br \/>\non foreign railways.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, Mr. Stephenson had to attend to the improvement of<br \/>\nthe power and speed of the locomotive\u2014always the grand object<br \/>\nof his study\u2014with a view to economy as well as regularity in the<br \/>\nworking of the railway. In the &#8220;Planet&#8221; engine, delivered upon<br \/>\nthe line immediately subsequent to the public opening, all the<br \/>\nimprovements which had up to this time been contrived by him<br \/>\nand his son were introduced in combination\u2014the blast-pipe, the<br \/>\ntubular boiler, horizontal cylinders inside the smoke-box, the<br \/>\ncranked axle, and the fire-box firmly fixed to the boiler. The<br \/>\nfirst load of goods conveyed from Liverpool to Manchester by<br \/>\nthe &#8220;Planet&#8221; was eighty tons in weight, and the engine performed<br \/>\nthe journey against a strong head wind in two hours and a<br \/>\nhalf. On another occasion, the same engine brought up a cargo<br \/>\nof voters from Manchester to Liverpool, during a contested election,<br \/>\nwithin a space of sixty minutes. The &#8220;Samson,&#8221; delivered<br \/>\nin the following year, exhibited still farther improvements, the<br \/>\nmost important of which was that of <em>coupling<\/em> the fore and hind<br \/>\nwheels of the engine. By this means the adhesion of the wheels<br \/>\non the rails was more effectually secured, and thus the full hauling<br \/>\npower of the locomotive was made available. The &#8220;Samson,&#8221;<br \/>\nshortly after it was placed upon the line, dragged after it a<br \/>\ntrain of wagons weighing a hundred and fifty tons at a speed of<br \/>\nabout twenty miles an hour, the consumption of coke being reduced<br \/>\nto only about a third of a pound per ton per mile.<\/p>\n<p>The rapid progress thus made will show that the inventive<br \/>\nfaculties of Mr. Stephenson and his son were kept fully on the<br \/>\nstretch; but their labors were amply repaid by the result. They<br \/>\nwere, doubtless, to some extent stimulated by the number of competitors<br \/>\nwho about the same time appeared as improvers of the<br \/>\nlocomotive engine. But the superiority of Stephenson&#8217;s locomotives<br \/>\nover all others that had yet been tried induced the directors<br \/>\nof the railway to require that the engines supplied to them by<br \/>\nother builders should be constructed after the same model. Mr.<br \/>\nStephenson himself always had the greatest faith in the superiority<br \/>\nof his own engines over all others, and did not hesitate<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_336\" name=\"Page_336\"><\/a>[336]<\/span><br \/>\nstrongly to declare it. When it was once proposed to introduce<br \/>\nthe engines of another maker on the Manchester and Leeds line,<br \/>\nhe said, &#8220;Very well; I have no objection; but put them to this<br \/>\nfair test. Hang one of \u2014\u2014&#8217;s engines on to one of mine, back<br \/>\nto back. Then let them go at it; and whichever walks away<br \/>\nwith the other, <em>that&#8217;s the engine<\/em>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The engineer had also to seek out the proper men to maintain<br \/>\nand watch the road, and more especially to work the locomotive<br \/>\nengines. Steadiness, sobriety, common sense, and practical experience<br \/>\nwere the qualities which he especially valued in those<br \/>\nselected by him for that purpose. But where were the men of<br \/>\nexperience to be found? Very few railways were yet at work,<br \/>\nand these were almost exclusively confined to the northern coal<br \/>\ncounties; hence a considerable proportion of the drivers and<br \/>\nfiremen employed on the Liverpool line were brought from the<br \/>\nneighborhood of Newcastle. But he could not always find skilled<br \/>\nworkmen enough for the important and responsible duties to<br \/>\nbe performed. It was a saying of his that &#8220;he could engineer<br \/>\nmatter very well, and make it bend to his purpose, but his greatest<br \/>\ndifficulty was in engineering <em>men<\/em>.&#8221; He often wished that he<br \/>\ncould contrive heads and hands on which he might rely, as easily<br \/>\nas he could construct railways and manufacture locomotives. As<br \/>\nit was, Stephenson&#8217;s mechanics were in request all over England\u2014the<br \/>\nNewcastle workshops continuing for many years to perform<br \/>\nthe part of a training-school for engineers, and to supply<br \/>\nlocomotive superintendents and drivers, not only for England,<br \/>\nbut for nearly every country in Europe\u2014preference being given<br \/>\nto them by the directors of railways, in consequence of their previous<br \/>\ntraining and experience, as well as because of their generally<br \/>\nexcellent qualities as steady and industrious workmen.<\/p>\n<p>The success of the Liverpool and Manchester experiment naturally<br \/>\nexcited great interest. People flocked to Lancashire from<br \/>\nall quarters to see the steam-coach running upon a railway at<br \/>\nthree times the speed of a mail-coach, and to enjoy the excitement<br \/>\nof actually traveling in the wake of an engine at that incredible<br \/>\nvelocity. The travelers returned to their respective districts<br \/>\nfull of the wonders of the locomotive, considering it to be<br \/>\nthe greatest marvel of the age. Railways are familiar enough<br \/>\nobjects now, and our children who grow up in their midst may<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_337\" name=\"Page_337\"><\/a>[337]<\/span><br \/>\nthink little of them; but thirty years since it was an event in<br \/>\none&#8217;s life to see a locomotive, and to travel for the first time upon<br \/>\na public railroad.<\/p>\n<p>In remote districts, however, the stories told about the benefits<br \/>\nconferred by the Liverpool Railway were received with considerable<br \/>\nincredulity, and the proposal to extend such roads in all<br \/>\ndirections throughout the country caused great alarm. In the<br \/>\ndistricts through which stage-coaches ran, giving employment to<br \/>\nlarge numbers of persons, it was apprehended that, if railways<br \/>\nwere established, the turnpike roads would become deserted and<br \/>\ngrown over with grass, country inns and their buxom landladies<br \/>\nwould be ruined, the race of coach-drivers and hostlers would become<br \/>\nextinct, and the breed of horses be entirely destroyed. But<br \/>\nthere was hope for the coaching interest in the fact that the government<br \/>\nwere employing their engineers to improve the public<br \/>\nhigh roads so as to render railways unnecessary. It was announced<br \/>\nin the papers that a saving of thirty miles would be effected<br \/>\nby the new road between London and Holyhead, and an<br \/>\nequal saving between London and Edinburg. And to show what<br \/>\nthe speed of horses could accomplish, we find it set forth as an<br \/>\nextraordinary fact that the &#8220;Patent Tally-ho Coach,&#8221; in the year<br \/>\n1830 (when the Birmingham line had been projected), performed<br \/>\nthe entire journey of 109 miles between London and Birmingham\u2014breakfast<br \/>\nincluded\u2014in seven hours and fifty minutes!<br \/>\nGreat speed was also recorded on the Brighton road, the &#8220;Red<br \/>\nRover&#8221; doing the distance between London and Brighton in four<br \/>\nhours and a half. These speeds were not, however, secured without<br \/>\naccidents, for there was scarcely a newspaper of the period<br \/>\nthat did not contain one or more paragraphs headed &#8220;Another<br \/>\ndreadful coach accident.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The practicability of railway locomotion being now proved,<br \/>\nand its great social and commercial advantages ascertained, the<br \/>\nextension of the system was merely a question of time, money,<br \/>\nand labor. A fine opportunity presented itself for the wise and<br \/>\njudicious action of the government in the matter, the improvement<br \/>\nof the internal communications of a country being really<br \/>\none of its most important functions. But the government of the<br \/>\nday, though ready enough to spend money in improving the old<br \/>\nturnpike roads, regarded the railroads with hostility, and met<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_338\" name=\"Page_338\"><\/a>[338]<\/span><br \/>\nthem with obstructions of all kinds. They seemed to think it<br \/>\ntheir duty to protect the turnpike trusts, disregarding the paramount<br \/>\ninterest of the public. This may possibly account for the<br \/>\nsingular circumstance that, at the very time they were manifesting<br \/>\nindifference or aversion to the locomotive on the railroad,<br \/>\nthey were giving every encouragement to the locomotive on turnpike<br \/>\nroads. In 1831, we find a Committee of the House of Commons<br \/>\nappointed to inquire into and report upon\u2014not the railway<br \/>\nsystem, but\u2014the applicability of the steam-carriage to common<br \/>\nroads; and, after investigation, the committee were so satisfied<br \/>\nwith the evidence taken, that they reported decidedly in favor of<br \/>\nthe road locomotive system. Though they ignored the railway,<br \/>\nthey recognized the steam-carriage.<\/p>\n<p>But even a Report of the House of Commons, powerful though<br \/>\nit be, can not alter the laws of gravity and friction; and the road<br \/>\nlocomotive remained, what it ever will be, an impracticable machine.<br \/>\nNot that it is impossible to work a locomotive upon a<br \/>\ncommon road, but to work it to any profit at all as compared with<br \/>\nthe locomotive upon a railway. Numerous trials of steam-carriages<br \/>\nwere made at the time by Sir Charles Dance, Mr. Hancock,<br \/>\nMr. Gurney, Sir James Anderson, and other distinguished gentlemen<br \/>\nof influence. Journalists extolled their utility, compared<br \/>\nwith &#8220;the much-boasted application on railroads.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_75\" name=\"FNanchor_75\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_75\">[75]<\/a> But, notwithstanding<br \/>\nall this, and the House of Commons&#8217; Report in its<br \/>\nfavor, Stephenson&#8217;s first verdict, pronounced on the road locomotive<br \/>\nmany years before, when he was only an engine-wright at<br \/>\nKillingworth, was fully borne out by the result, and it became<br \/>\nday by day clearer that the attempt to introduce the engine into<br \/>\ngeneral use upon turnpike roads could only prove a delusion and<br \/>\na snare.<\/p>\n<p>Although the Legislature took no initiative step in the direction<br \/>\nof railway extension, the public spirit and enterprise of the<br \/>\ncountry did not fail it at this juncture. The English people,<br \/>\nthough they may be defective in their capacity for organization,<br \/>\nare strong in individualism, and not improbably their admirable<br \/>\nqualities in the latter respect detract from their efficiency in the<br \/>\nformer. Thus, in all times, their greatest national enterprises<br \/>\nhave not been planned by officialism and carried out upon any<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_339\" name=\"Page_339\"><\/a>[339]<\/span><br \/>\nregular system, but have sprung, like their Constitution, their<br \/>\nlaws, and their entire industrial arrangements, from the force of<br \/>\ncircumstances and the individual energies of the people. Hence<br \/>\nrailway extension, like so many other great English enterprises,<br \/>\nwas now left to be carried out by the genius of English engineers,<br \/>\nbacked by the energy of the British public.<\/p>\n<p>The mode of action was characteristic and national. The execution<br \/>\nof the new lines was undertaken entirely by joint-stock<br \/>\nassociations of proprietors, after the manner of the Stockton and<br \/>\nDarlington, and Liverpool and Manchester companies. These<br \/>\nassociations are conformable to our national habits, and fit well<br \/>\ninto our system of laws. They combine the power of vast resources<br \/>\nwith individual watchfulness and motives of self-interest;<br \/>\nand by their means gigantic undertakings, which elsewhere<br \/>\nwould be impossible to any but kings and emperors with great<br \/>\nnational resources at command, were carried out by the co-operation<br \/>\nof private persons. And the results of this combination of<br \/>\nmeans and of enterprise have been truly marvelous. Within the<br \/>\nlife of the present generation, the private citizens of England engaged<br \/>\nin railway extension have, in the face of government obstructions,<br \/>\nand without taking a penny from the public purse,<br \/>\nexecuted a system of communications involving works of the<br \/>\nmost gigantic kind, which, in their total mass, their cost, and<br \/>\ntheir public utility, far exceed the most famous national undertakings<br \/>\nof any age or country.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Stephenson was, of course, actively engaged in the construction<br \/>\nof the numerous railways now projected by the joint-stock<br \/>\ncompanies. During the formation of the Manchester and<br \/>\nLiverpool line he had been consulted respecting many projects of<br \/>\na similar kind. One of these was a short railway between Canterbury<br \/>\nand Whitstable, about six miles in length. He was too<br \/>\nmuch occupied with the works at Liverpool to give this scheme<br \/>\nmuch of his personal attention; but he sent his assistant, Mr.<br \/>\nJohn Dixon, to survey the line, and afterward Mr. Locke to superintend<br \/>\nthe execution of the works. The act was obtained in<br \/>\n1826, and the line was opened for traffic in 1830. It was partly<br \/>\nworked by fixed engine-power, and partly by Stephenson&#8217;s locomotives,<br \/>\nsimilar to the engines used upon the Stockton and Darlington<br \/>\nRailway.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_340\" name=\"Page_340\"><\/a>[340]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>But the desire for railway extension principally pervaded the<br \/>\nmanufacturing districts, especially after the successful opening<br \/>\nof the Liverpool and Manchester line. The commercial classes<br \/>\nof the larger towns soon became eager for a participation in the<br \/>\ngood which they had so recently derided. Railway projects<br \/>\nwere set on foot in great numbers, and Manchester became a<br \/>\ncentre from which main lines and branches were started in all<br \/>\ndirections. The interest, however, which attaches to these later<br \/>\nschemes is of a much less absorbing kind than that which belongs<br \/>\nto the early history of the railway and the steps by which<br \/>\nit was mainly established. We naturally sympathize more with<br \/>\nthe early struggles of a great principle, its trials and its difficulties,<br \/>\nthan with its after stages of success; and, however gratified<br \/>\nand astonished we may be at its results, the interest is in a great<br \/>\nmeasure gone when its triumph has become a matter of certainty.<\/p>\n<p>The commercial results of the Liverpool and Manchester line<br \/>\nwere so satisfactory, and, indeed, so greatly exceeded the expectations<br \/>\nof its projectors, that many of the abandoned projects of<br \/>\nthe speculative year 1825 were forthwith revived. An abundant<br \/>\ncrop of engineers sprang up, ready to execute railways of any<br \/>\nextent. Now that the Liverpool and Manchester line had been<br \/>\nmade, and the practicability of working it by locomotive power<br \/>\nhad been proved, it was as easy for engineers to make railways<br \/>\nand to work them as it was for navigators to find America after<br \/>\nColumbus had made the first voyage. Mr. Francis Giles himself<br \/>\ntook the field as a locomotive railway engineer, attaching himself<br \/>\nto the Newcastle and Carlisle and London and Southampton<br \/>\nprojects. Mr. Brunel appeared, in like manner, as the engineer<br \/>\nof the line projected between London and Bristol; and Mr.<br \/>\nBraithwaite, the builder of the &#8220;Novelty&#8221; engine, as the engineer<br \/>\nof a line from London to Colchester.<\/p>\n<p>The first lines, however, which were actually constructed subsequent<br \/>\nto the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway<br \/>\nwere in connection with it, and principally in the county of Lancaster.<br \/>\nThus a branch was formed from Bolton to Leigh, and<br \/>\nanother from Leigh to Kenyon, where it formed a junction with<br \/>\nthe main line between Liverpool and Manchester. Branches to<br \/>\nWigan on the north, and to Runcorn Gap and Warrington on<br \/>\nthe south of the same line, were also formed; and a continuation<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_341\" name=\"Page_341\"><\/a>[341]<\/span><br \/>\nof the latter, as far south as Birmingham, was shortly after projected,<br \/>\nunder the name of the Grand Junction Railway.<\/p>\n<p>The last-mentioned line was projected as early as the year 1824,<br \/>\nwhen the Liverpool and Manchester scheme was under discussion,<br \/>\nand Mr. Stephenson then published a report on the subject. The<br \/>\nplans were deposited, but the bill was thrown out on the opposition<br \/>\nof the land-owners and canal proprietors. When engaged in<br \/>\nmaking the survey, Stephenson called upon some of the land-owners<br \/>\nin the neighborhood of Nantwich to obtain their assent,<br \/>\nand was greatly disgusted to learn that the agents of the canal<br \/>\ncompanies had been before him, and described the locomotive to<br \/>\nthe farmers as a most frightful machine, emitting a breath as<br \/>\npoisonous as the fabled dragon of old; and telling them that if a<br \/>\nbird flew over the district when one of these engines passed, it<br \/>\nwould inevitably drop down dead! The application for the bill<br \/>\nwas renewed in 1826, and again failed; and at length it was determined<br \/>\nto wait the issue of the Liverpool and Manchester experiment.<br \/>\nThe act was eventually obtained in 1833, by which<br \/>\ntime the projectors of railways had learned the art of &#8220;conciliating&#8221;<br \/>\nthe landlords\u2014and a very expensive process it proved. But<br \/>\nit was the only mode of avoiding a still more expensive Parliamentary<br \/>\nopposition.<\/p>\n<p>When it was proposed to extend the advantages of railways to<br \/>\nthe population of the midland and southern counties of England,<br \/>\nan immense amount of alarm was created in the minds of the<br \/>\ncountry gentlemen. They did not relish the idea of private individuals,<br \/>\nprincipally residents in the manufacturing districts, invading<br \/>\ntheir domains, and they every where rose up in arms<br \/>\nagainst the &#8220;new-fangled roads.&#8221; Colonel Sibthorpe openly declared<br \/>\nhis hatred of the &#8220;infernal railroads,&#8221; and said that he<br \/>\n&#8220;would rather meet a highwayman, or see a burglar on his<br \/>\npremises, than an engineer!&#8221; Mr. Berkeley, the member for<br \/>\nCheltenham, at a public meeting in that town, re-echoed Colonel<br \/>\nSibthorpe&#8217;s sentiments, and &#8220;wished that the concoctors of every<br \/>\nsuch scheme, with their solicitors and engineers, were at rest in<br \/>\nParadise!&#8221; The impression prevailed among the rural classes<br \/>\nthat fox-covers and game-preserves would be seriously prejudiced<br \/>\nby the formation of railroads; that agricultural communications<br \/>\nwould be destroyed, land thrown out of cultivation, land-owners<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_342\" name=\"Page_342\"><\/a>[342]<\/span><br \/>\nand farmers reduced to beggary, the poor-rates increased through<br \/>\nthe number of persons thrown out of employment by the railways,<br \/>\nand all this in order that Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham<br \/>\nshop-keepers and manufacturers might establish a monstrous<br \/>\nmonopoly in railway traffic.<\/p>\n<p>The inhabitants of even some of the large towns were thrown<br \/>\ninto a state of consternation by the proposal to provide them with<br \/>\nthe accommodation of a railway. The line from London to Birmingham<br \/>\nwould naturally have passed close to the handsome<br \/>\ntown of Northampton, and was so projected. But the inhabitants<br \/>\nof the place, urged on by the local press, and excited by men of<br \/>\ninfluence and education, opposed the project, and succeeded in<br \/>\nforcing the promoters, in their survey of the line, to pass the town<br \/>\nat a distance. The necessity was thus involved of distorting the<br \/>\nline, by which the enormous expense of constructing the Kilsby<br \/>\nTunnel was incurred. Not many years elapsed before the inhabitants<br \/>\nof Northampton became clamorous for railway accommodation,<br \/>\nand a special branch was constructed for them. The additional<br \/>\ncost involved by this forced deviation of the line could<br \/>\nnot have amounted to less than half a million sterling; the loss<br \/>\nfalling, not upon the shareholders only, but upon the public.<\/p>\n<p>Other towns in the south followed the example of Northampton<br \/>\nin howling down the railways. When the first railway<br \/>\nthrough Kent was projected, the line was laid out so as to pass<br \/>\nby Maidstone, the county town. But it had not a single supporter<br \/>\namong the townspeople, while the land-owners for many miles<br \/>\nround continued to oppose it. A few years later the Maidstone<br \/>\nburgesses, like those of Northampton, became clamorous for a<br \/>\nrailway, and a branch was formed for their accommodation. In<br \/>\nlike manner, the London and Bristol (afterward the Great Western)<br \/>\nRailway was vehemently opposed by the people of the towns<br \/>\nthrough which the line was projected to pass; and when the bill<br \/>\nwas thrown out by the Lords\u2014after \u00a330,000 had been expended<br \/>\nby the promoters\u2014the inhabitants of Eton assembled, under the<br \/>\npresidency of the Marquis of Chandos, to rejoice and congratulate<br \/>\nthemselves and the country upon its defeat. Eton, however,<br \/>\nhas now the convenience of two railways to the metropolis.<\/p>\n<p>During the time that the works of the Liverpool and Manchester<br \/>\nline were in progress, our engineer was consulted respecting<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_343\" name=\"Page_343\"><\/a>[343]<\/span><br \/>\na short railway proposed to be formed between Leicester and<br \/>\nSwannington, for the purpose of opening up a communication<br \/>\nbetween the town of Leicester and the coal-fields in the western<br \/>\npart of the county. Mr. Ellis,<br \/>\nthe projector of this undertaking,<br \/>\nhad some difficulty in<br \/>\ngetting the requisite capital<br \/>\nsubscribed for, the Leicester<br \/>\ntownspeople who had money<br \/>\nbeing for the most part interested<br \/>\nin canals. George Stephenson<br \/>\nwas invited to come<br \/>\nupon the ground and survey<br \/>\nthe line. He did so, and then<br \/>\nthe projector told him of the<br \/>\ndifficulty he had<br \/>\nin finding subscribers<br \/>\nto the<br \/>\nconcern. &#8220;Give<br \/>\nme a sheet,&#8221; said<br \/>\nStephenson, &#8220;and<br \/>\nI will raise the<br \/>\nmoney for you in<br \/>\nLiverpool.&#8221; The<br \/>\nengineer was as<br \/>\ngood as his word,<br \/>\nand in a short<br \/>\ntime the sheet was returned with the subscription complete. Mr.<br \/>\nStephenson was then asked to undertake the office of engineer<br \/>\nfor the line, but his answer was that he had thirty miles of railway<br \/>\nin hand, which was enough for any engineer to attend to<br \/>\nproperly. Was there any person he could recommend? &#8220;Well,&#8221;<br \/>\nsaid he, &#8220;I think my son Robert is competent to undertake the<br \/>\nthing.&#8221; Would Mr. Stephenson be answerable for him? &#8220;Oh<br \/>\nyes, certainly.&#8221; And Robert Stephenson, at twenty-seven years<br \/>\nof age, was installed engineer of the line accordingly.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/files\/46229\/46229-h\/images\/i_346-large.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_346.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"391\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>MAP OF THE LEICESTER AND SWANNINGTON RAILWAY.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The requisite Parliamentary powers having been obtained,<br \/>\nRobert Stephenson proceeded with the construction of the railway,<br \/>\nabout sixteen miles in length, toward the end of 1830. The<br \/>\nworks were comparatively easy, excepting at the Leicester end,<br \/>\nwhere the young engineer encountered his first stiff bit of tunneling.<br \/>\nThe line passed under ground for a mile and three quarters,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_344\" name=\"Page_344\"><\/a>[344]<\/span><br \/>\nand 500 yards of its course lay through loose running sand.<br \/>\nThe presence of this material rendered it necessary for the engineer,<br \/>\nin the first place, to construct a wooden tunnel to support<br \/>\nthe soil while the brick-work was being executed. This measure<br \/>\nproved sufficient, and the whole was brought to a successful termination<br \/>\nwithin a reasonable time. While the works were in<br \/>\nprogress, Robert kept up a regular correspondence with his father<br \/>\nat Liverpool, consulting him on all points in which his greater experience<br \/>\nwas likely to be of service. Like his father, Robert was<br \/>\nvery observant, and always ready to seize opportunity by the forelock.<br \/>\nIt happened that the estate of Snibston, near Ashby-de-la-Zouch,<br \/>\nwas advertised for sale, and the young engineer&#8217;s experience<br \/>\nas a coal-viewer and practical geologist suggested to his<br \/>\nmind that coal was most probably to be found underneath. He<br \/>\ncommunicated his views to his father on the subject. The estate<br \/>\nlay in the immediate neighborhood of the railway; and if the<br \/>\nconjecture proved correct, the finding of the coal must necessarily<br \/>\nprove a most fortunate circumstance for the purchasers of<br \/>\nthe land. He accordingly requested his father to come over to<br \/>\nSnibston and look at the property, which he did; and after a<br \/>\ncareful inspection of the ground, he arrived at the same conclusion<br \/>\nas his son.<\/p>\n<p>The large manufacturing town of Leicester, about fourteen<br \/>\nmiles distant, had up to that time been exclusively supplied with<br \/>\ncoal brought by canal from Derbyshire, and the Stephensons saw<br \/>\nthat the railway under construction from Swannington to Leicester<br \/>\nwould furnish a ready market for any coals which might be<br \/>\nfound at Snibston. Having induced two of his Liverpool friends<br \/>\nto join him in the venture, the Snibston estate was purchased in<br \/>\n1831, and shortly after Stephenson removed his home from Liverpool<br \/>\nto Alton Grange, for the purpose of superintending the<br \/>\nsinking of the pit.<\/p>\n<p>Sinking operations were immediately begun, and proceeded<br \/>\nsatisfactorily until the old enemy, water, burst in upon the workmen,<br \/>\nand threatened to drown them out. But by means of efficient<br \/>\npumping-engines, and the skillful casing of the shaft with<br \/>\nsegments of cast iron\u2014a process called &#8220;tubbing,&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_76\" name=\"FNanchor_76\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_76\">[76]<\/a> which Stephenson<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_345\" name=\"Page_345\"><\/a>[345]<\/span><br \/>\nwas the first to adopt in the Midland Counties\u2014it was<br \/>\neventually made water-tight, and the sinking proceeded. When<br \/>\na depth of 166 feet had been reached, a still more formidable<br \/>\ndifficulty presented itself\u2014one which had baffled former sinkers<br \/>\nin the neighborhood, and deterred them from farther operations.<br \/>\nThis was a remarkable bed of whinstone or greenstone, which had<br \/>\noriginally been poured out as a sheet of burning lava over the<br \/>\ndenuded surface of the coal measures; indeed, it was afterward<br \/>\nfound that it had turned to cinders one part of the seam of coal<br \/>\nwith which it had come in contact. The appearance of this bed<br \/>\nof solid rock was so unusual a circumstance in coal-mining that<br \/>\nsome experienced sinkers urged Stephenson to proceed no farther,<br \/>\nbelieving the occurrence of the dike at that point to be altogether<br \/>\nfatal to his enterprise. But, with his faith still firm in the<br \/>\nexistence of coal underneath, he fell back on his old motto of<br \/>\n&#8220;Persevere!&#8221; He determined to go on boring; and down through<br \/>\nthe solid rock he went until, twenty-two feet lower, he came upon<br \/>\nthe coal measures. In the mean time, however, lest the boring<br \/>\nat that point should prove unsuccessful, he had commenced sinking<br \/>\nanother pair of shafts about a quarter of a mile west of the<br \/>\n&#8220;fault,&#8221; and, after about nine months&#8217; labor, he reached the principal<br \/>\nseam, called the &#8220;main coal.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The works were then opened out on a large scale, and George<br \/>\nStephenson had the pleasure and good fortune to send the first<br \/>\ntrain of main coal to Leicester by railway. The price was immediately<br \/>\nreduced there to about 8<i>s.<\/i> a ton, effecting a pecuniary<br \/>\nsaving to the inhabitants of the town of about \u00a340,000 per annum,<br \/>\nor equivalent to the whole amount then collected in government<br \/>\ntaxes and local rates, besides giving an impetus to the manufacturing<br \/>\nprosperity of the place, which has continued to the<br \/>\npresent day. The correct principles upon which the mining operations<br \/>\nat Snibston were conducted offered a salutary example<br \/>\nto the neighboring colliery owners. The numerous improvements<br \/>\nthere introduced were freely exhibited to all, and they were afterward<br \/>\nreproduced in many forms all over the Midland Counties,<br \/>\ngreatly to the advantage of the mining interest.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_346\" name=\"Page_346\"><\/a>[346]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Nor was Mr. Stephenson less attentive to the comfort and well-being<br \/>\nof those immediately dependent upon him\u2014the work-people<br \/>\nof the Snibston Colliery and their families. Unlike many of<br \/>\nthose large employers who have &#8220;sprung from the ranks,&#8221; he was<br \/>\none of the kindest and most indulgent of masters. He would<br \/>\nhave a fair day&#8217;s work for a fair day&#8217;s wages, but he never forgot<br \/>\nthat the employer had his duties as well as his rights. First of<br \/>\nall, he attended to the proper home accommodation of his work-people.<br \/>\nHe erected a village of comfortable cottages, each provided<br \/>\nwith a snug little garden. He was also instrumental in<br \/>\nerecting a church adjacent to the works, as well as Church schools<br \/>\nfor the education of the colliers&#8217; children; and with that broad<br \/>\ncatholicity of sentiment which distinguished him, he farther provided<br \/>\na chapel and a school-house for the use of the Dissenting<br \/>\nportion of the colliers and their families\u2014an example of benevolent<br \/>\nliberality which was not without a salutary influence upon<br \/>\nthe neighboring employers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_349.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"514\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>STEPHENSON&#8217;S HOUSE AT ALTON GRANGE.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_347\" name=\"Page_347\"><\/a>[347]<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_350.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"446\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><em>Robert Stephenson.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Engraved by W. Hall, after a photograph by Claudet.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>NEW YORK, HARPER &amp; BROTHERS.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_348\" name=\"Page_348\"><\/a>[348]<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_349\" name=\"Page_349\"><\/a>[349]<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER XIV.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>ROBERT STEPHENSON CONSTRUCTS THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY.<\/h4>\n<p>Of the numerous extensive projects which followed close upon<br \/>\nthe completion of the Liverpool and Manchester line and the locomotive<br \/>\ntriumph at Rainhill, that of a railway between London<br \/>\nand Birmingham was the most important. The scheme originated<br \/>\nat the latter place in 1830. Two committees were formed,<br \/>\nand two plans were proposed. One was of a line to London by<br \/>\nway of Oxford, and the other by way of Coventry. The object<br \/>\nof the promoters of both schemes being to secure the advantages<br \/>\nof railway communication with the metropolis, they wisely determined<br \/>\nto combine their strength to secure it. They resolved to<br \/>\ncall George Stephenson to their aid, and requested him to advise<br \/>\nthem as to the two schemes which were before them. After a<br \/>\ncareful examination of the country, Stephenson reported in favor<br \/>\nof the Coventry route. The Lancashire gentlemen, who were<br \/>\nthe principal subscribers to the project, having confidence in his<br \/>\njudgment, supported his decision, and the line recommended by<br \/>\nhim was adopted accordingly.<\/p>\n<p>At the meeting of gentlemen held at Birmingham to determine<br \/>\nupon the appointment of the engineer for the railway, there was<br \/>\na strong party in favor of associating with Stephenson a gentleman<br \/>\nwith whom he had been brought into serious collision in the<br \/>\ncourse of the Liverpool and Manchester undertaking. When the<br \/>\noffer was made to him that he should be joint engineer with the<br \/>\nother, he requested leave to retire and consider the proposal with<br \/>\nhis son. The two walked into St. Philip&#8217;s church-yard, which adjoined<br \/>\nthe place of meeting, and debated the proposal. The father<br \/>\nwas in favor of accepting it. His struggle heretofore had<br \/>\nbeen so hard that he could not bear the idea of missing so promising<br \/>\nan opportunity of professional advancement. But the son,<br \/>\nforeseeing the jealousies and heartburnings which the joint engineership<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_350\" name=\"Page_350\"><\/a>[350]<\/span><br \/>\nwould most probably create, recommended his father to<br \/>\ndecline the connection. George adopted the suggestion, and, returning<br \/>\nto the committee, announced to them his decision, on<br \/>\nwhich the promoters decided to appoint him the engineer of the<br \/>\nundertaking in conjunction with his son.<\/p>\n<p>This line, like the Liverpool and Manchester, was very strongly<br \/>\nopposed, especially by the land-owners. Numerous pamphlets<br \/>\nwere published, calling on the public to &#8220;beware of the bubbles,&#8221;<br \/>\nand holding up the promoters of railways to ridicule. They<br \/>\nwere compared to St. John Long and similar quacks, and pronounced<br \/>\nfitter for Bedlam than to be left at large. The canal<br \/>\nproprietors, land-owners, and road trustees made common cause<br \/>\nagainst them. The failure of railways was confidently predicted\u2014indeed,<br \/>\nit was elaborately attempted to be proved that they had<br \/>\nfailed; and it was industriously spread abroad that the locomotive<br \/>\nengines, having been found useless and highly dangerous on<br \/>\nthe Liverpool and Manchester line, were immediately to be abandoned<br \/>\nin favor of horses\u2014a rumor which the directors of the<br \/>\ncompany thought it necessary publicly to contradict.<\/p>\n<p>Public meetings were held in all the counties through which<br \/>\nthe line would pass between London and Birmingham, at which<br \/>\nthe project was denounced, and strong resolutions against it were<br \/>\npassed. The attempt was made to conciliate the landlords by explanations,<br \/>\nbut all such efforts proved futile, the owners of nearly<br \/>\nseven eighths of the land being returned as dissentients. &#8220;I<br \/>\nremember,&#8221; said Robert Stephenson, describing the opposition,<br \/>\n&#8220;that we called one day on Sir Astley Cooper, the eminent surgeon,<br \/>\nin the hope of overcoming his aversion to the railway. He<br \/>\nwas one of our most inveterate and influential opponents. His<br \/>\ncountry house at Berkhampstead was situated near the intended<br \/>\nline, which passed through part of his property. We found a<br \/>\ncourtly, fine-looking old gentleman, of very stately manners, who<br \/>\nreceived us kindly, and heard all we had to say in favor of the<br \/>\nproject. But he was quite inflexible in his opposition to it. No<br \/>\ndeviation or improvement that we could suggest had any effect<br \/>\nin conciliating him. He was opposed to railways generally,<br \/>\nand to this in particular. &#8216;Your scheme,&#8217; said he, &#8216;is preposterous<br \/>\nin the extreme. It is of so extravagant a character as to be<br \/>\npositively absurd. Then look at the recklessness of your proceedings!<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_351\" name=\"Page_351\"><\/a>[351]<\/span><br \/>\nYou are proposing to cut up our estates in all directions<br \/>\nfor the purpose of making an unnecessary road. Do you think<br \/>\nfor one moment of the destruction of property involved by it?<br \/>\nWhy, gentlemen, if this sort of thing be permitted to go on, you<br \/>\nwill in a very few years <em>destroy the noblesse<\/em>!&#8217; We left the honorable<br \/>\nbaronet without having produced the slightest effect upon<br \/>\nhim, excepting perhaps, it might be, increased exasperation against<br \/>\nour scheme. I could not help observing to my companions as<br \/>\nwe left the house, &#8216;Well, it is really provoking to find one who<br \/>\nhas been made a &#8220;Sir&#8221; for cutting that wen out of George the<br \/>\nFourth&#8217;s neck, charging us with contemplating the destruction of<br \/>\nthe <em>noblesse<\/em> because we propose to confer upon him the benefits<br \/>\nof a railroad.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Such being the opposition of the owners of land, it was with<br \/>\nthe greatest difficulty that an accurate survey of the line could<br \/>\nbe made. At one point the vigilance of the land-owners and<br \/>\ntheir servants was such that the surveyors were effectually prevented<br \/>\ntaking the levels by the light of day, and it was only at<br \/>\nlength accomplished at night by means of dark lanterns. There<br \/>\nwas one clergyman, who made such alarming demonstrations of<br \/>\nhis opposition, that the extraordinary expedient was resorted to<br \/>\nof surveying his property during the time he was engaged in the<br \/>\npulpit. This was managed by having a strong force of surveyors<br \/>\nin readiness to commence their operations, who entered the<br \/>\nclergyman&#8217;s grounds on one side the moment they saw him fairly<br \/>\noff them on the other. By a well-organized and systematic<br \/>\narrangement, each man concluded his allotted task just as the<br \/>\nreverend gentleman concluded his sermon; so that, before he<br \/>\nleft the church, the deed was done, and the sinners had all decamped.<br \/>\nSimilar opposition was offered at many other points,<br \/>\nbut ineffectually. The laborious application of Robert Stephenson<br \/>\nwas such that, in examining the country to ascertain the best<br \/>\nline, he walked the whole distance between London and Birmingham<br \/>\nupward of twenty times.<\/p>\n<p>When the bill went before the committee of the Commons in<br \/>\n1832, a formidable array of evidence was produced. All the<br \/>\nrailway experience of the day was brought to bear in support of<br \/>\nthe measure, and all that interested opposition could do was set<br \/>\nin motion against it. The necessity for an improved mode of<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_352\" name=\"Page_352\"><\/a>[352]<\/span><br \/>\ncommunication between London and Birmingham was clearly<br \/>\ndemonstrated, and the engineering evidence was regarded as<br \/>\nquite satisfactory. Not a single fact was proved against the utility<br \/>\nof the measure, and the bill passed the committee, and afterward<br \/>\nthe third reading in the Commons, by large majorities.<\/p>\n<p>It was then sent to the Lords, and went into committee, when<br \/>\na similar mass of testimony was again gone through. But scarcely<br \/>\nhad the proceedings been opened when it became clear that<br \/>\nthe fate of the bill had been determined before a word of the evidence<br \/>\nhad been heard. At that time the committees were open<br \/>\nto all peers; and the promoters of the measure found, to their<br \/>\ndismay, many of the lords who were avowed opponents of the<br \/>\nmeasure as land-owners, sitting as judges to decide its fate.<br \/>\nTheir principal object seemed to be to bring the proceedings to<br \/>\na termination as quickly as possible. An attempt at negotiation<br \/>\nwas made in the course of the proceedings in committee, but<br \/>\nfailed, and the bill was thrown out on the motion of Earl Brownlow,<br \/>\none of Lady Bridgewater&#8217;s trustees; but, though carried by<br \/>\na large majority, the vote was far from unanimous.<\/p>\n<p>As the result had been foreseen, measures were taken to neutralize<br \/>\nthe effect of this decision as regarded future operations.<br \/>\nNot less than \u00a332,000 had been expended in preliminary and<br \/>\nParliamentary expenses up to this stage; but the promoters determined<br \/>\nnot to look back, and forthwith made arrangements<br \/>\nfor prosecuting the bill in a future session. A meeting of the<br \/>\nfriends of the measure was held in London, attended by members<br \/>\nof both houses of Parliament and by leading bankers and<br \/>\nmerchants, when a series of resolutions was passed, declaring their<br \/>\nconviction of the necessity for the railway, and deprecating the<br \/>\nopposition by which it had been encountered. Lord Wharncliffe,<br \/>\nwho had acted as the chairman of the Lords&#8217; Committee, attributed<br \/>\nthe failure of the bill entirely to the land-owners; and Mr.<br \/>\nGlyn subsequently declared that they had tried to smother it by<br \/>\nthe high price which they demanded for their property. It was<br \/>\ndetermined to reintroduce the bill in the following session (1833),<br \/>\nand measures were taken to prosecute it vigorously. Strange to<br \/>\nsay, the bill on this occasion passed both houses silently and almost<br \/>\nwithout opposition. The mystery was afterward solved by<br \/>\nthe appearance of a circular issued by the directors of the company,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_353\" name=\"Page_353\"><\/a>[353]<\/span><br \/>\nin which it was stated that they had opened negotiations<br \/>\nwith the most influential of their opponents; that &#8220;these measures<br \/>\nhad been successful to a greater extent than they had ventured<br \/>\nto anticipate; and the most active and formidable had<br \/>\nbeen conciliated.&#8221; An instructive commentary on the mode by<br \/>\nwhich these noble lords and influential landed proprietors had<br \/>\nbeen &#8220;conciliated&#8221; was found in the simple fact that the estimate<br \/>\nfor land was nearly trebled, and that the owners were paid about<br \/>\n\u00a3750,000 for what had been originally estimated at \u00a3250,000.<br \/>\nThe total expenses of carrying the bill through Parliament<br \/>\namounted to the enormous sum of \u00a372,868.<\/p>\n<p>The land-owners having been thus &#8220;conciliated,&#8221; the promoters<br \/>\nof the measure were at length permitted to proceed with the<br \/>\nformation of their great highway. Robert Stephenson was, with<br \/>\nhis father&#8217;s sanction, appointed engineer-in-chief of the line, at a<br \/>\nsalary of \u00a31500 a year. He was now a married man, having become<br \/>\nunited to Miss Frances Sanderson in 1829, since which his<br \/>\nhome had been at Newcastle, near to the works there; but, on receiving<br \/>\nhis new appointment, he removed with his wife to London,<br \/>\nto a house on Haverstock Hill, where he resided during the<br \/>\nexecution of the Birmingham Railway.<\/p>\n<p>Steps were at once taken to proceed with the working survey,<br \/>\nto prepare the working drawings, and arrange for the prosecution<br \/>\nof the undertaking. Eighty miles of the line were shortly under<br \/>\nconstruction; the works were let (within the estimates) to contractors,<br \/>\nwho were necessarily, for the most part, new to such<br \/>\nwork. The business of railway construction was not then well<br \/>\nunderstood. There were no leviathans among contractors as<br \/>\nnow, able to undertake the formation of a line of railway hundreds<br \/>\nof miles in length; they were, for the most part, men of<br \/>\nsmall capital and slender experience. Their tools and machinery<br \/>\nwere imperfect; they did not understand the economy of time<br \/>\nand piece labor; the workmen, as well as their masters, had still<br \/>\nto learn their trade; and every movement of an engineer was attended<br \/>\nwith outlays, which were the inevitable result of a new<br \/>\nsystem of things, but which each succeeding day&#8217;s experience<br \/>\ntended to diminish.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figright\" style=\"width: 100px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_357.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"100\" height=\"600\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>(Map of London and Birmingham Railway)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The difficulties encountered in the construction of this railway<br \/>\nwere thus very great, the most formidable of them originating in<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_354\" name=\"Page_354\"><\/a>[354]<\/span><br \/>\nthe character of the works themselves. Extensive<br \/>\ntunnels had to be driven through unknown<br \/>\nstrata, and miles of underground excavation<br \/>\nhad to be carried out in order to<br \/>\nform a level road from valley to valley under<br \/>\nthe intervening ridges. This kind of work<br \/>\nwas the newest of all to the contractors of<br \/>\nthat day. Robert Stephenson&#8217;s experience in<br \/>\nthe collieries of the North rendered him well<br \/>\nfitted to grapple with such difficulties; yet<br \/>\neven he, with all his practical knowledge,<br \/>\ncould scarcely have foreseen the serious obstacles<br \/>\nwhich he was called upon to encounter<br \/>\nin executing the formidable cuttings, embankments,<br \/>\nand tunnels of the London and<br \/>\nBirmingham Railway. It would be an uninteresting,<br \/>\nas it would be a fruitless task, to<br \/>\nattempt to describe these works in detail;<br \/>\nbut a general outline of their extraordinary<br \/>\ncharacter and extent may not be out of place.<\/p>\n<p>The length of railway to be constructed<br \/>\nbetween London and Birmingham was 112-1\/2<br \/>\nmiles. The line crossed a series of low-lying<br \/>\ndistricts, separated from each other by considerable<br \/>\nridges of hills, and it was the object<br \/>\nof the engineer to cross the valleys at as high<br \/>\nan elevation, and the hills at as low a one as<br \/>\npossible. The high ground was therefore cut<br \/>\ndown, and the &#8220;stuff&#8221; led into embankments,<br \/>\nin some places of great height and extent, so<br \/>\nas to form a road upon as level a plane as<br \/>\nwas considered practicable for the working<br \/>\nof the locomotive engine. In some places<br \/>\nthe high grounds were passed in open cuttings,<br \/>\nwhile in others it was necessary to bore<br \/>\nthrough them in tunnels with deep cuttings<br \/>\nat either end.<\/p>\n<p>The most formidable excavations on the<br \/>\nline are those at Tring, Denbigh Hall, and<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_355\" name=\"Page_355\"><\/a>[355]<\/span><br \/>\nBlisworth. The Tring cutting is an immense chasm across the<br \/>\ngreat chalk ridge of Ivinghoe. It is two miles and a half long,<br \/>\nand for a quarter of a mile is fifty-seven feet deep. A million<br \/>\nand a half cubic yards of chalk and earth were taken out of this<br \/>\ncutting by means of horse-runs, and deposited in spoil-banks, besides<br \/>\nthe immense quantity run into the embankment north of<br \/>\nthe cutting, forming a solid mound nearly six miles long and<br \/>\nabout thirty feet high. Passing over the Denbigh Hall cutting,<br \/>\nand the Wolverton embankment of a mile and a half in length<br \/>\nacross the valley of the Ouse, we come to the excavation at Blisworth,<br \/>\na brief description of which will give the reader an idea<br \/>\nof one of the most formidable kinds of railway work.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_358.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"406\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">BLISWORTH CUTTING.<\/span> &nbsp; [By Percival Skelton.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Blisworth Cutting is a mile and a half long, in some places<br \/>\nsixty-five feet deep, passing through earth, stiff clay, and hard<br \/>\nrock. Not less than a million cubic yards of these materials<br \/>\nwere dug, quarried, and blasted out of it. One third of the cutting<br \/>\nwas stone, and beneath the stone lay a thick bed of clay, under<br \/>\nwhich were found beds of loose shale so full of water that<br \/>\nalmost constant pumping was necessary at many points to enable<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_356\" name=\"Page_356\"><\/a>[356]<\/span><br \/>\nthe works to proceed. For a year and a half the contractor went<br \/>\non fruitlessly contending with these difficulties, and at length he<br \/>\nwas compelled to abandon the adventure. The engineer then<br \/>\ntook the works in hand for the company, and they were vigorously<br \/>\nproceeded with. Steam-engines were set to work to pump<br \/>\nout the water; two locomotives were put on, one at either end of<br \/>\nthe cutting, to drag away the excavated rock and clay; and eight<br \/>\nhundred men and boys were employed along the work, in digging,<br \/>\nwheeling, and blasting, besides a large number of horses.<br \/>\nSome idea of the extent of the blasting operations may be formed<br \/>\nfrom the fact that twenty-five barrels of gunpowder were exploded<br \/>\nweekly, the total quantity used in forming this one excavation<br \/>\nbeing about three thousand barrels. Considerable difficulty was<br \/>\nexperienced in supporting the bed of rock cut through, which<br \/>\noverlaid the clay and shale along either side of the cutting. It<br \/>\nwas found necessary to hold it up by strong retaining walls, to<br \/>\nprevent the clay bed from bulging out, and these walls were farther<br \/>\nsupported by a strong invert\u2014that is, an arch placed in an<br \/>\ninverted position under the road\u2014thus binding together the walls<br \/>\non both sides. Behind the retaining walls, a drift or horizontal<br \/>\ndrain was run to enable the water to escape, and occasional openings<br \/>\nwere left in the walls themselves for the same purpose. The<br \/>\nwork was at length brought to a successful completion, but the<br \/>\nextraordinary difficulties encountered in executing the undertaking<br \/>\nhad the effect of greatly increasing the cost of this portion of<br \/>\nthe railway.<\/p>\n<p>The Tunnels on the line are eight in number, their total length<br \/>\nbeing 7336 yards. The first high ground encountered was Primrose<br \/>\nHill, where the stiff London clay was passed through for a<br \/>\ndistance of about 1164 yards. The clay was close, compact, and<br \/>\ndry, more difficult to work than stone itself. It was entirely free<br \/>\nfrom water; but the absorbing properties of the clay were such<br \/>\nthat when exposed to the air it swelled out rapidly. Hence an<br \/>\nunusual thickness of brick lining was found necessary; and the<br \/>\nengineer afterward informed the author that for some time he<br \/>\nentertained an apprehension lest the pressure should force in the<br \/>\nbrick-work altogether, as afterward happened in the case of the<br \/>\nshort Preston Brook tunnel upon the Grand Junction Railway,<br \/>\nconstructed by his father. The pressure behind the brick-work<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_357\" name=\"Page_357\"><\/a>[357]<\/span><br \/>\nwas so great that it made the face of the bricks to fly off in minute<br \/>\nchips, which covered his clothes while he was inspecting the<br \/>\nwork. The materials used in the building were, however, of excellent<br \/>\nquality, and the work was happily brought to a completion<br \/>\nwithout accident.<\/p>\n<p>At Watford the chalk ridge was penetrated by a tunnel about<br \/>\n1800 yards long, and at Northchurch, Lindslade, and Stowe Hill<br \/>\nthere were other tunnels of minor extent. But the chief difficulty<br \/>\nof the undertaking was the execution of that under the<br \/>\nKilsby ridge. Though not the largest, this is in many respects<br \/>\none of the most interesting works of the kind. It is about two<br \/>\nthousand four hundred yards long, and runs at an average depth<br \/>\nof about a hundred and sixty feet below the surface. The ridge<br \/>\nunder which it extends is of considerable extent, the famous battle<br \/>\nof Naseby having been fought upon one of the spurs of the<br \/>\nsame high ground, about seven miles to the eastward.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_360.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"407\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">LINE OF THE SHAFTS OVER KILSBY TUNNEL.<\/span> &nbsp; [By Percival Skelton.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Previous to the letting of the contract, the character of the underground<br \/>\nsoil was fairly tested by trial shafts, which indicated<br \/>\nthat it consisted of shale of the lower oolite, and the works were<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_358\" name=\"Page_358\"><\/a>[358]<\/span><br \/>\nlet accordingly. But they had scarcely been commenced when<br \/>\nit was discovered that, at an interval between the two trial-shafts,<br \/>\nwhich had been sunk about two hundred yards from the south<br \/>\nend of the tunnel, there existed an extensive quicksand under a<br \/>\nbed of clay forty feet thick, which the borings had escaped in the<br \/>\nmost singular manner. At the bottom of one of these shafts, the<br \/>\nexcavation and building of the tunnel were proceeding, when the<br \/>\nroof at one part suddenly gave way, a deluge of water burst in,<br \/>\nand the party of workmen with the utmost difficulty escaped with<br \/>\ntheir lives. They were only saved by means of a raft, on which<br \/>\nthey were towed by one of the engineers swimming with the rope<br \/>\nin his mouth to the lower end of the shaft, out of which they were<br \/>\nsafely lifted to the daylight.<\/p>\n<p>The works were of course at that point immediately stopped.<br \/>\nThe contractor who had undertaken the construction of the tunnel<br \/>\nwas so overwhelmed by the calamity that, though he was relieved<br \/>\nby the company from his engagement, he took to his bed<br \/>\nand shortly after died. Pumping-engines were erected for the<br \/>\npurpose of draining off the water, but for a long time it prevailed,<br \/>\nand sometimes even rose in the shaft. The question arose whether,<br \/>\nin the face of so formidable a difficulty, the works should be<br \/>\nproceeded with or abandoned. Robert Stephenson sent over to<br \/>\nAlton Grange for his father, and the two took serious counsel together.<br \/>\nGeorge was in favor of pumping out the water from the<br \/>\ntop by powerful engines erected over each shaft, until the water<br \/>\nwas fairly mastered. Robert concurred in that view, and, although<br \/>\nother engineers who were consulted pronounced strongly<br \/>\nagainst the practicability of the scheme and advised the abandonment<br \/>\nof the enterprise, the directors authorized him to proceed,<br \/>\nand powerful steam-engines were ordered to be constructed and<br \/>\ndelivered without loss of time.<\/p>\n<p>In the mean time Robert suggested to his father the expediency<br \/>\nof running a drift along the heading from the south end of<br \/>\nthe tunnel, with the view of draining off the water in that way.<br \/>\nGeorge said he thought it would scarcely answer, but that it was<br \/>\nworth a trial, at all events until the pumping-engines were got<br \/>\nready. Robert accordingly gave orders for the drift to be proceeded<br \/>\nwith. The excavators were immediately set to work, and<br \/>\nthey had nearly reached the quicksand, when one day, while the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_359\" name=\"Page_359\"><\/a>[359]<\/span><br \/>\nengineer, his assistants, and the workmen were clustered about<br \/>\nthe open entrance of the drift-way, they heard a sudden roar as<br \/>\nof distant thunder. It was hoped that the water had burst in\u2014for<br \/>\nall the workmen were out of the drift\u2014and that the sand-bed<br \/>\nwould now drain itself off in a natural way. Instead of which,<br \/>\nvery little water made its appearance, and on examining the inner<br \/>\nend of the drift, it was found that the loud noise had been<br \/>\ncaused by the sudden discharge into it of an immense mass of<br \/>\nsand, which had completely choked up the passage, and thus prevented<br \/>\nthe water from draining off.<\/p>\n<p>The engineer now found that nothing remained but to sink numerous<br \/>\nadditional shafts over the line of the tunnel at the points<br \/>\nat which it crossed the quicksand, and endeavor to master the water<br \/>\nby sheer force of engines and pumps. The engines, which<br \/>\nwere shortly erected, possessed an aggregate power of 160 horses;<br \/>\nand they went on pumping for eight months, emptying out an almost<br \/>\nincredible quantity of water. It was found that the water,<br \/>\nwith which the bed of sand extending over many miles was<br \/>\ncharged, was in a great degree held back by the particles of the<br \/>\nsand itself, and that it could only percolate through at a certain<br \/>\naverage rate. It appeared in its flow to take a slanting direction<br \/>\nto the suction of the pumps, the angle of inclination depending<br \/>\nupon the coarseness or fineness of the sand, and regulating the<br \/>\ntime of the flow. Hence the distribution of the pumping power<br \/>\nat short intervals along the line of the tunnel had a much greater<br \/>\neffect than the concentration of that power at any one place. It<br \/>\nsoon appeared that the water had found its master. Protected<br \/>\nby the pumps, which cleared a space for engineering operations\u2014carried<br \/>\non, as it were, amid two almost perpendicular walls of<br \/>\nwater and sand on either side\u2014the workmen proceeded with the<br \/>\nbuilding of the tunnel at numerous points. Every exertion was<br \/>\nused to wall in the dangerous parts as quickly as possible, the excavators<br \/>\nand bricklayers laboring night and day until the work<br \/>\nwas finished. Even while under the protection of the immense<br \/>\npumping power above described, it often happened that the bricks<br \/>\nwere scarcely covered with cement ready for the setting ere they<br \/>\nwere washed quite clean by the streams of water which poured<br \/>\nfrom overhead. The men were accordingly under the necessity<br \/>\nof holding over their work large whisks of straw and other<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_360\" name=\"Page_360\"><\/a>[360]<\/span><br \/>\nappliances to protect the bricks and cement at the moment of<br \/>\nsetting.<\/p>\n<p>The quantity of water pumped out of the sand-bed during<br \/>\neight months of this incessant pumping averaged two thousand<br \/>\ngallons per minute, raised from an average depth of 120 feet. It<br \/>\nis difficult to form an adequate idea of the bulk of water thus<br \/>\nraised, but it may be stated that if allowed to flow for three hours<br \/>\nonly, it would fill a lake one acre square to the depth of one foot,<br \/>\nand if allowed to flow for an entire day it would fill the lake to<br \/>\nover eight feet in depth, or sufficient to float a vessel of a hundred<br \/>\ntons&#8217; burden. The water pumped out of the tunnel while<br \/>\nthe work was in progress would be nearly equivalent to the contents<br \/>\nof the Thames at high water between London and Woolwich.<br \/>\nIt is a curious circumstance, that notwithstanding the<br \/>\nquantity of water thus removed, the level of the surface in the<br \/>\ntunnel was only lowered about two and a half to three inches<br \/>\nper week, showing the vast area of the quicksand, which probably<br \/>\nextended along the entire ridge of land under which the railway<br \/>\npassed.<\/p>\n<p>The cost of the line was greatly increased by the difficulties<br \/>\nthus encountered at Kilsby. The original estimate for the tunnel<br \/>\nwas only \u00a399,000; but by the time it was finished it had cost<br \/>\nabout \u00a3100 per lineal yard forward, or a total of nearly \u00a3300,000.<br \/>\nThe expenditure on the other parts of the line also greatly exceeded<br \/>\nthe amount first set down by the engineer, and, before the<br \/>\nrailway was complete, it had been more than doubled. The land<br \/>\ncost three times more than the estimate, and the claims for compensation<br \/>\nwere enormous. Although the contracts were let within<br \/>\nthe estimates, very few of the contractors were able to finish<br \/>\nthem without the assistance of the company, and many became<br \/>\nbankrupt. Speaking of the difficulties encountered during the<br \/>\nconstruction of the line, Robert Stephenson subsequently observed<br \/>\nto us: &#8220;After the works were let, wages rose, the prices of materials<br \/>\nof all kinds rose, and the contractors, many of whom were<br \/>\nmen of comparatively small capital, were thrown on their beam-ends.<br \/>\nTheir calculations as to expenses and profits were completely<br \/>\nupset. Let me just go over the list. There was Jackson,<br \/>\nwho took the Primrose Hill contract\u2014he failed. Then there<br \/>\nwas the next length\u2014Nowells; then Copeland and Harding;<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_361\" name=\"Page_361\"><\/a>[361]<\/span><br \/>\nnorth of them Townsend, who had the Tring cutting; next Norris, who<br \/>\nhad Stoke Hammond; then Soars; then Hughes: I think<br \/>\nall of these broke down, or at least were helped through by the<br \/>\ndirectors. Then there was that terrible contract of the Kilsby<br \/>\nTunnel, which broke the Nowells, and killed one of them. The<br \/>\ncontractors to the north of Kilsby were more fortunate, though<br \/>\nsome of them pulled through only with the greatest difficulty.<br \/>\nOf the eighteen contracts in which the line was originally let,<br \/>\nonly seven were completed by the original contractors. Eleven<br \/>\nfirms were ruined by their contracts, which were relet to others<br \/>\nat advanced prices, or were carried on and finished by the company.<br \/>\nThe principal cause of increase in the expense, however,<br \/>\nwas the enlargement of the stations. It appeared that we had<br \/>\ngreatly under-estimated the traffic, and it accordingly became<br \/>\nnecessary to spend more and more money for its accommodation,<br \/>\nuntil I think I am within the mark when I say that the expenditure<br \/>\non this account alone exceeded by eight or ten fold the<br \/>\namount of the Parliamentary estimate.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The magnitude of the works, which were unprecedented in<br \/>\nEngland, was one of the most remarkable features in the undertaking.<br \/>\nThe following striking comparison has been made between<br \/>\nthis railway and one of the greatest works of ancient times.<br \/>\nThe great Pyramid of Egypt was, according to Diodorus Siculus,<br \/>\nconstructed by three hundred thousand\u2014according to Herodotus,<br \/>\nby one hundred thousand\u2014men. It required for its execution<br \/>\ntwenty years, and the labor expended upon it has been estimated<br \/>\nas equivalent to lifting 15,733,000,000 of cubic feet of stone one<br \/>\nfoot high; whereas, if the labor expended in constructing the<br \/>\nLondon and Birmingham Railway be in like manner reduced to<br \/>\none common denomination, the result is 25,000,000,000 of cubic<br \/>\nfeet <em>more<\/em> than was lifted for the Great Pyramid; and yet the<br \/>\nEnglish work was performed by about 20,000 men in less than<br \/>\nfive years. And while the Egyptian work was executed by a<br \/>\npowerful monarch concentrating upon it the labor and capital of<br \/>\na great nation, the English railway was constructed, in the face<br \/>\nof every conceivable obstruction and difficulty, by a company of<br \/>\nprivate individuals out of their own resources, without the aid of<br \/>\ngovernment or the contribution of one farthing of public money.<\/p>\n<p>The laborers who executed these formidable works were in<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_362\" name=\"Page_362\"><\/a>[362]<\/span><br \/>\nmany respects a remarkable class. The &#8220;railway navvies,&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_77\" name=\"FNanchor_77\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_77\">[77]<\/a> as<br \/>\nthey were called, were men drawn by the attraction of good<br \/>\nwages from all parts of the kingdom; and they were ready for<br \/>\nany sort of hard work. Many of the laborers employed on the<br \/>\nLiverpool line were Irish; others were from the Northumberland<br \/>\nand Durham railways, where they had been accustomed to similar<br \/>\nwork; and some of the best came from the fen districts of<br \/>\nLincoln and Cambridge, where they had been trained to execute<br \/>\nworks of excavation and embankment. These old practitioners<br \/>\nformed a nucleus of skilled manipulation and aptitude which<br \/>\nrendered them of indispensable utility in the immense undertakings<br \/>\nof the period. Their expertness in all sorts of earth-work,<br \/>\nin embanking, boring, and well-sinking\u2014their practical knowledge<br \/>\nof the nature of soils and rocks, the tenacity of clays, and<br \/>\nthe porosity of certain stratifications\u2014were very great; and,<br \/>\nrough-looking as they were, many of them were as important in<br \/>\ntheir own department as the contractor or the engineer.<\/p>\n<p>During the railway-making period the navvy wandered about<br \/>\nfrom one public work to another, apparently belonging to no<br \/>\ncountry and having no home. He usually wore a white felt hat<br \/>\nwith the brim turned up, a velveteen or jean square-tailed coat, a<br \/>\nscarlet plush waistcoat with little black spots, and a bright-colored<br \/>\nkerchief round his Herculean neck, when, as often happened,<br \/>\nit was not left entirely bare. His corduroy breeches were retained<br \/>\nin position by a leathern strap round the waist, and were<br \/>\ntied and buttoned at the knee, displaying beneath a solid calf and<br \/>\nfoot incased in strong high-laced boots. Joining together in a<br \/>\n&#8220;butty gang,&#8221; some ten or twelve of these men would take a contract<br \/>\nto cut out and remove so much &#8220;dirt&#8221;\u2014as they denominated<br \/>\nearth-cutting\u2014fixing their price according to the character<br \/>\nof the &#8220;stuff,&#8221; and the distance to which it had to be wheeled<br \/>\nand tipped. The contract taken, every man put himself to his<br \/>\nmettle; if any was found skulking, or not putting forth his full<br \/>\nworking power, he was ejected from the gang. Their powers<br \/>\nof endurance were extraordinary. In times of emergency they<br \/>\nwould work for twelve and even sixteen hours, with only short<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_363\" name=\"Page_363\"><\/a>[363]<\/span><br \/>\nintervals for meals. The quantity of flesh-meat which they consumed<br \/>\nwas something enormous; but it was to their bones and<br \/>\nmuscles what coke is to the locomotive\u2014the means of keeping<br \/>\nup the steam. They displayed great pluck, and seemed to disregard<br \/>\nperil. Indeed, the most dangerous sort of labor\u2014such as<br \/>\nworking horse-barrow runs, in which accidents are of constant<br \/>\noccurrence\u2014has always been most in request among them, the<br \/>\ndanger seeming to be one of its chief recommendations.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_366.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"522\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">KILSBY TUNNEL.<\/span> &nbsp; [North End.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Working together, eating, drinking, and sleeping together, and<br \/>\ndaily exposed to the same influences, these railway laborers soon<br \/>\npresented a distinct and well-defined character, strongly marking<br \/>\nthem from the population of the districts in which they labored.<br \/>\nReckless alike of their lives as of their earnings, the navvies<br \/>\nworked hard and lived hard. For their lodging, a hut of turf<br \/>\nwould content them; and, in their hours of leisure, the meanest<br \/>\npublic house would serve for their parlor. Unburdened, as they<br \/>\nusually were, by domestic ties, unsoftened by family affection,<br \/>\nand without much moral or religious training, the navvies came<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_364\" name=\"Page_364\"><\/a>[364]<\/span><br \/>\nto be distinguished by a sort of savage manners, which contrasted<br \/>\nstrangely with those of the surrounding population. Yet, ignorant<br \/>\nand violent though they might be, they were usually good-hearted<br \/>\nfellows in the main\u2014frank and open-handed with their<br \/>\ncomrades, and ready to share their last penny with those in distress.<br \/>\nTheir pay-nights were often a saturnalia of riot and disorder,<br \/>\ndreaded by the inhabitants of the villages along the line<br \/>\nof works. The irruption of such men into the quiet hamlet of<br \/>\nKilsby must, indeed, have produced a very startling effect on the<br \/>\nrecluse inhabitants of the place. Robert Stephenson used to tell<br \/>\na story of the clergyman of the parish waiting upon the foreman<br \/>\nof one of the gangs to expostulate with him as to the shocking<br \/>\nimpropriety of his men working during Sunday. But the head<br \/>\nnavvy merely hitched up his trowsers and said, &#8220;Why, Soondays<br \/>\nhain&#8217;t cropt out here yet!&#8221; In short, the navvies were little better<br \/>\nthan heathens, and the village of Kilsby was not restored to<br \/>\nits wonted quiet until the tunnel-works were finished, and the engines<br \/>\nand scaffolding removed, leaving only the immense masses<br \/>\nof <em>d\u00e9bris<\/em> around the line of shafts which extend along the top<br \/>\nof the tunnel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_365\" name=\"Page_365\"><\/a>[365]<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER XV.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>MANCHESTER AND LEEDS, AND MIDLAND RAILWAYS\u2014STEPHENSON&#8217;S<br \/>\nLIFE AT ALTON\u2014VISIT TO BELGIUM\u2014GENERAL EXTENSION OF<br \/>\nRAILWAYS AND THEIR RESULTS.<\/h4>\n<p>The rapidity with which railways were carried out, when the<br \/>\nspirit of the country became roused, was indeed remarkable.<br \/>\nThis was doubtless in some measure owing to the increased force<br \/>\nof the current of speculation at the time, but chiefly to the desire<br \/>\nwhich the public began to entertain for the general extension of<br \/>\nthe system. It was even proposed to fill up the canals and convert<br \/>\nthem into railways. The new roads became the topic of<br \/>\nconversation in all circles; they were felt to give a new value to<br \/>\ntime; their vast capabilities for &#8220;business&#8221; peculiarly recommended<br \/>\nthem to the trading classes, while the friends of &#8220;progress&#8221;<br \/>\ndilated on the great benefits they would eventually confer<br \/>\nupon mankind at large. It began to be seen that Edward Pease<br \/>\nhad not been exaggerating when he said, &#8220;Let the country but<br \/>\nmake the railroads, and the railroads will make the country!&#8221;<br \/>\nThey also came to be regarded as inviting objects of investment<br \/>\nto the thrifty, and a safe outlet for the accumulations of inert<br \/>\nmen of capital. Thus new avenues of iron road were soon in<br \/>\ncourse of formation, branching in all directions, so that the country<br \/>\npromised in a wonderfully short space of time to become<br \/>\nwrapped in one vast network of iron.<\/p>\n<p>In 1836 the Grand Junction Railway was under construction<br \/>\nbetween Warrington and Birmingham\u2014the northern part by Mr.<br \/>\nStephenson, and the southern by Mr. Rastrick. The works on<br \/>\nthat line embraced heavy cuttings, long embankments, and numerous<br \/>\nviaducts; but none of these are worthy of any special<br \/>\ndescription. Perhaps the finest piece of masonry on the railway<br \/>\nis the Dutton Viaduct across the valley of the Weaver. It consists<br \/>\nof 20 arches of 60 feet span, springing 16 feet from the perpendicular<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_366\" name=\"Page_366\"><\/a>[366]<\/span><br \/>\nshaft of each pier, and 60 feet in height from the<br \/>\ncrown of the arches to the level of the river. The foundations<br \/>\nof the piers were built on piles driven 20 feet deep. The structure<br \/>\nhas a solid and majestic appearance, and is perhaps the finest<br \/>\nof George Stephenson&#8217;s viaducts.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_369.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"315\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>THE DUTTON VIADUCT.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Manchester and Leeds line was in progress at the same<br \/>\ntime\u2014an important railway connecting Yorkshire and Lancashire,<br \/>\npassing through a district full of manufacturing towns and<br \/>\nvillages, the hives of population, industry, and enterprise. An<br \/>\nattempt was made to obtain the act as early as the year 1831;<br \/>\nbut its promoters were defeated by the powerful opposition of<br \/>\nthe land-owners, aided by the canal companies, and the project<br \/>\nwas not revived for several years. The act authorizing the construction<br \/>\nof the line was obtained in 1836; it was amended in<br \/>\nthe following year, and the first ground was broken on the 18th<br \/>\nof August, 1837.<\/p>\n<p>An incident occurred while the second Manchester and Leeds<br \/>\nBill was before the Committee of the Lords which is worthy of<br \/>\npassing notice in this place, as illustrative of George Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\ncharacter. The line which was authorized by Parliament in 1836<br \/>\nhad been hastily surveyed within a period of less than six weeks,<br \/>\nbut before it received the royal assent the engineer became convinced<br \/>\nthat many important improvements might be made in it,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_367\" name=\"Page_367\"><\/a>[367]<\/span><br \/>\nand he communicated his views to the directors. They determined,<br \/>\nhowever, to obtain the act, although conscious at the time<br \/>\nthat they would have to go for a second and improved line in the<br \/>\nfollowing year. The second bill passed the Commons in 1837<br \/>\nwithout difficulty, and was expected in like manner to pass the<br \/>\nLords&#8217; Committee. Quite unexpectedly, however, Lord Wharncliffe,<br \/>\nwho was interested in the Manchester and Sheffield line,<br \/>\nwhich passed through his colliery property in the south of Yorkshire,<br \/>\nconceiving that the new Manchester and Leeds line might<br \/>\nhave some damaging effect upon it, appeared as an opponent of<br \/>\nthe bill. Himself a member of the committee, he adopted the<br \/>\nunusual course of rising to his feet, and making a set speech<br \/>\nagainst the measure while the engineer was under examination.<br \/>\nHe alleged that the act obtained in the preceding session was one<br \/>\nthat the promoters had no intention of carrying out, that they<br \/>\nhad only secured it for the purpose of obtaining possession of the<br \/>\nground and reducing the number of the opponents to their present<br \/>\napplication, and that, in fact, they had been practicing a deception<br \/>\nupon the House. Then, turning full round upon the witness,<br \/>\nhe said, &#8220;I ask you, sir, do you call that conduct <em>honest<\/em>?&#8221;<br \/>\nStephenson, his voice trembling with emotion, replied, &#8220;Yes, my<br \/>\nlord, I <em>do<\/em> call it honest. And I will ask your lordship, whom I<br \/>\nserved for many years as your engine-wright at the Killingworth<br \/>\ncollieries, did you ever know me to do any thing that was not<br \/>\nstrictly honorable? You know what the collieries were when I<br \/>\nwent there, and you know what they were when I left them. Did<br \/>\nyou ever hear that I was found wanting when honest services<br \/>\nwere wanted, or when duty called me? Let your lordship but<br \/>\nfairly consider the circumstances of the case, and I feel persuaded<br \/>\nyou will admit that my conduct has been equally honest throughout<br \/>\nin this matter.&#8221; He then briefly but clearly stated the history<br \/>\nof the application to Parliament for the act, which was so satisfactory<br \/>\nto the committee that they passed the preamble of the<br \/>\nbill without farther objection; and Lord Wharncliffe requested<br \/>\nthat the committee would permit his observations to be erased<br \/>\nfrom the record of the evidence, which, as an acknowledgment<br \/>\nof his error, was allowed. Lord Kenyon and several other members<br \/>\nof the committee afterward came up to Mr. Stephenson,<br \/>\nshook him by the hand, and congratulated him on the manly way<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_368\" name=\"Page_368\"><\/a>[368]<\/span><br \/>\nin which he had vindicated himself from the aspersions attempted<br \/>\nto be cast upon him.<\/p>\n<p>In conducting this project to an issue, the engineer had the<br \/>\nusual opposition and prejudices to encounter. Predictions were<br \/>\nconfidently made in many quarters that the line could never succeed.<br \/>\nIt was declared that the utmost engineering skill could<br \/>\nnot construct a railway through such a country of hills and hard<br \/>\nrocks; and it was maintained that, even if the railway were practicable,<br \/>\nit could only be made at a cost altogether ruinous.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_371.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"373\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">ENTRANCE TO THE SUMMIT TUNNEL, LITTLEBOROUGH.<\/span> &nbsp; [By Percival Skelton.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a id=\"Page_369xx\" name=\"Page_369xx\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>During the progress of the works, as the Summit Tunnel near<br \/>\nLittleborough was approaching completion, the rumor was spread<br \/>\nabroad in Manchester that the tunnel had fallen in and buried a<br \/>\nnumber of the workmen. The last arch had been keyed in, and<br \/>\nthe work was all but finished, when a slight accident occurred<br \/>\nwhich was thus exaggerated by the lying tongue of rumor. An<br \/>\ninvert had given way through the irregular pressure of the surrounding<br \/>\nearth and rock at a part of the tunnel where a &#8220;fault&#8221;<br \/>\nhad occurred in the strata.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_372.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"411\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">THE LITTLEBOROUGH TUNNEL.<\/span> &nbsp; [The Walsden End.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A party of the directors accompanied the engineer to inspect<br \/>\nthe scene of the accident. They entered the tunnel mouth preceded<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_369\" name=\"Page_369\"><\/a>[369]<\/span><br \/>\nby upward of fifty navvies, each bearing a torch. After<br \/>\nwalking a distance of about half a mile, the inspecting party arrived<br \/>\nat the scene of the &#8220;frightful accident,&#8221; about which so<br \/>\nmuch alarm had been spread abroad. All that was visible was a<br \/>\ncertain unevenness of the ground, which had been forced up by<br \/>\nthe invert under it giving way; thus the ballast had been loosened,<br \/>\nthe drain running along the centre of the road had been displaced,<br \/>\nand small pools of water stood about. But the whole of the walls<br \/>\nand the roof were as perfect as at any other part of the tunnel.<br \/>\nThe engineer explained the cause of the accident; the blue shale,<br \/>\nhe said, through which the excavation passed at that point, was<br \/>\nconsidered so hard and firm as to render it unnecessary to build<br \/>\nthe invert very strong there. But shale is always a deceptive material.<br \/>\nSubjected to the influence of the atmosphere, it gives but<br \/>\na treacherous support. In this case, falling away like quicklime,<br \/>\nit had left the lip of the invert alone to support the pressure of<br \/>\nthe arch above, and hence its springing inward and upward.<br \/>\nStephenson then directed the attention of the visitors to the completeness<br \/>\nof the arch overhead, where not the slightest fracture<br \/>\nor yielding could be detected. Speaking of the work in the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_370\" name=\"Page_370\"><\/a>[370]<\/span><br \/>\ncourse of the same day, he said, &#8220;I will<br \/>\nstake my character, my head, if that tunnel<br \/>\never give way, so as to cause danger<br \/>\nto any of the public passing through<br \/>\nit. Taking it as a whole, I don&#8217;t think<br \/>\nthere is another such a piece of work<br \/>\nin the world. It is the greatest work<br \/>\nthat has yet been done of this kind, and<br \/>\nthere has been less repairing than is<br \/>\nusual\u2014though an engineer might well<br \/>\nbe beaten in his calculations, for he can<br \/>\nnot beforehand see into those little fractured<br \/>\nparts of the earth he may meet<br \/>\nwith.&#8221; As Stephenson had promised,<br \/>\nthe invert was put in, and the tunnel<br \/>\nwas made perfectly safe.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figright\" style=\"width: 125px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_373.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"125\" height=\"600\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>(Map of Midland Railway)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The construction of this subterranean<br \/>\nroad employed the labor of above a<br \/>\nthousand men for nearly four years.<br \/>\nBesides excavating the arch out of the<br \/>\nsolid rock, they used 23,000,000 of<br \/>\nbricks and 8000 tons of Roman cement<br \/>\nin the building of the tunnel. Thirteen<br \/>\nstationary engines, and about 100 horses,<br \/>\nwere also employed in drawing the<br \/>\nearth and stone out of the shafts. Its<br \/>\nentire length is 2869 yards, or nearly a<br \/>\nmile and three quarters, exceeding the<br \/>\nfamous Kilsby Tunnel by 471 yards.<\/p>\n<p>The Midland Railway was a favorite<br \/>\nline of Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s for several reasons.<br \/>\nIt passed through a rich mining<br \/>\ndistrict, in which it opened up many<br \/>\nvaluable coal-fields, and it formed part<br \/>\nof the great main line of communication<br \/>\nbetween London and Edinburg.<br \/>\nThe line was originally projected by<br \/>\ngentlemen interested in the London and<br \/>\nBirmingham Railway. Their intention<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_371\" name=\"Page_371\"><\/a>[371]<\/span><br \/>\nwas to extend that line from Rugby to Leeds; but, finding themselves<br \/>\nanticipated in part by the projection of the Midland Counties<br \/>\nRailway from Rugby to Derby, they confined themselves to<br \/>\nthe district between Derby and Leeds, and in 1835 a company<br \/>\nwas formed to construct the North Midland line, with George<br \/>\nStephenson for its engineer. The act was obtained in 1836, and<br \/>\nthe first ground was broken in February, 1837.<\/p>\n<p>Although the Midland Railway was only one of the many<br \/>\ngreat works of the same kind executed at that time, it was almost<br \/>\nenough of itself to be the achievement of a life. Compare<br \/>\nit, for example, with Napoleon&#8217;s military road over the Simplon,<br \/>\nand it will at once be seen how greatly it excels that work, not<br \/>\nonly in the constructive skill displayed in it, but also in its cost<br \/>\nand magnitude, and the amount of labor employed in its formation.<br \/>\nThe road of the Simplon is 45 miles in length; the North<br \/>\nMidland Railway 72-1\/2 miles. The former has 50 bridges and 5<br \/>\ntunnels, measuring together 1338 feet in length; the latter has<br \/>\n200 bridges and 7 tunnels, measuring together 11,400 feet, or<br \/>\nabout 2-1\/4 miles. The former cost about \u00a3720,000 sterling, the<br \/>\nlatter above \u00a33,000,000. Napoleon&#8217;s grand military road was<br \/>\nconstructed in six years, at the public cost of the two great kingdoms<br \/>\nof France and Italy, while Stephenson&#8217;s railway was formed<br \/>\nin about three years by a company of private merchants and<br \/>\ncapitalists out of their own funds and under their own superintendence.<\/p>\n<p>It is scarcely necessary that we should give any account in detail<br \/>\nof the North Midland works. The making of one tunnel so<br \/>\nmuch resembles the making of another\u2014the building of bridges<br \/>\nand viaducts, no matter how extensive, so much resembles the<br \/>\nbuilding of others\u2014the cutting out of &#8220;dirt,&#8221; the blasting of<br \/>\nrocks, and the wheeling of excavation into embankments, is so<br \/>\nmuch matter of mere time and hard work, that it is quite unnecessary<br \/>\nto detain the reader by any attempt at their description.<br \/>\nOf course there were the usual difficulties to encounter and overcome,<br \/>\nbut the railway engineer regarded these as mere matters of<br \/>\ncourse, and would probably have been disappointed if they had<br \/>\nnot presented themselves.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figleft\" style=\"width: 300px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_375.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>LAND-SLIP ON NORTH MIDLAND LINE, NEAR AMBERGATE.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>On the Midland, as on other lines, water was the great enemy<br \/>\nto be fought against\u2014water in the Claycross and other tunnels\u2014water<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_372\" name=\"Page_372\"><\/a>[372]<\/span><br \/>\nin the boggy or sandy foundations of bridges\u2014and water<br \/>\nin cuttings and embankments. As an illustration of the difficulties<br \/>\nof bridge building,<br \/>\nwe may mention the<br \/>\ncase of the five-arch<br \/>\nbridge over the Derwent,<br \/>\nwhere it took two<br \/>\nyears&#8217; work, night and<br \/>\nday, to get in the foundations<br \/>\nof the piers<br \/>\nalone. Another curious<br \/>\nillustration of the<br \/>\nmischief done by water<br \/>\nin cuttings may be<br \/>\nbriefly mentioned. At<br \/>\na part of the North<br \/>\nMidland line, near Ambergate,<br \/>\nit was necessary<br \/>\nto pass along a<br \/>\nhill-side in a cutting<br \/>\na few yards deep. As<br \/>\nthe cutting proceeded,<br \/>\na seam of shale was<br \/>\ncut across, lying at an<br \/>\ninclination of 6 to 1; and shortly after, the water getting behind<br \/>\nit, the whole mass of earth along the hill above began to move<br \/>\ndown across the line of excavation. The accident completely<br \/>\nupset the estimates of the contractor, who, instead of fifty thousand<br \/>\ncubic yards, found that he had about five hundred thousand<br \/>\nto remove, the execution of this part of the railway occupying<br \/>\nfifteen months instead of two.<\/p>\n<p>The Oakenshaw cutting near Wakefield was also of a very<br \/>\nformidable character. About six hundred thousand yards of<br \/>\nrock shale and bind were quarried out of it, and led to form the<br \/>\nadjoining Oakenshaw embankment. The Normanton cutting was<br \/>\nalmost as heavy, requiring the removal of four hundred thousand<br \/>\nyards of the same kind of excavation into embankment and spoil.<br \/>\nBut the progress of the works on the line was so rapid during<br \/>\n1839 that no less than 450,000 cubic yards of excavation were accomplished<br \/>\nper month.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_373\" name=\"Page_373\"><\/a>[373]<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_376.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"420\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>BULL BRIDGE, NEAR AMBERGATE.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>As a curiosity in construction, we may also mention a very<br \/>\ndelicate piece of work executed on the same railway at Bull<br \/>\nBridge in Derbyshire, where the line at the same point passes<br \/>\n<em>over<\/em> a bridge which here spans the River Amber, and <em>under<\/em> the<br \/>\nbed of the Cromford Canal. Water, bridge, railway, and canal<br \/>\nwere thus piled one above the other, four stories high. In order<br \/>\nto prevent the possibility of the waters of the canal breaking in<br \/>\nupon the railway works, Stephenson had an iron trough made, 150<br \/>\nfeet long, of the width of the canal, and exactly fitting the bottom.<br \/>\nIt was brought to the spot in three pieces, which were<br \/>\nfirmly welded together, and the trough was then floated into its<br \/>\nplace and sunk, the whole operation being completed without in<br \/>\nthe least interfering with the navigation of the canal. The railway<br \/>\nworks underneath were then proceeded with and finished.<\/p>\n<p>Another line of the same series, constructed by George Stephenson,<br \/>\nwas the York and North Midland, extending from Normanton\u2014a<br \/>\npoint on the Midland Railway\u2014to York; but it was<br \/>\na line of easy formation, traversing a comparatively level country.<br \/>\nThe inhabitants of Whitby, as well as York, were projecting<br \/>\na railway to connect these towns as early as 1832, and in the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_374\" name=\"Page_374\"><\/a>[374]<\/span><br \/>\nyear following Whitby succeeded in obtaining a horse line of<br \/>\ntwenty-four miles, connecting it with the small market-town of<br \/>\nPickering. The York citizens were more ambitious, and agitated<br \/>\nthe question of a locomotive line to connect them with the<br \/>\ntown of Leeds. Stephenson recommended them to connect their<br \/>\nline with the Midland at Normanton, and they adopted his advice.<br \/>\nThe company was formed, the shares were at once subscribed<br \/>\nfor, the act was obtained in the following year, and the<br \/>\nworks were constructed without difficulty.<\/p>\n<p>As the best proof of his conviction that the York and North<br \/>\nMidland would prove a good investment, Stephenson invested in<br \/>\nit a considerable portion of his savings, being a subscriber for<br \/>\n420 shares. The interest taken in this line by the engineer was<br \/>\non more than one occasion specially mentioned by Mr. Hudson,<br \/>\nthen Lord-mayor of York, as an inducement to other persons of<br \/>\ncapital to join the undertaking; and had it not been afterward<br \/>\nencumbered and overlaid by comparatively useless and profitless<br \/>\nbranches, in the projection of which Stephenson had no part, the<br \/>\nsanguine expectations which he early formed of the paying qualities<br \/>\nof that railway would have been more than realized.<\/p>\n<p>There was one branch, however, of the York and North Midland<br \/>\nLine in which he took an anxious interest, and of which he<br \/>\nmay be said to have been the projector\u2014the branch to Scarborough,<br \/>\nwhich proved one of the most profitable parts of the<br \/>\nrailway. He was so satisfied of its value, that, at a meeting of<br \/>\nthe York and North Midland proprietors, he volunteered his gratuitous<br \/>\nservices as engineer until the company was formed, in addition<br \/>\nto subscribing largely to the undertaking. At that meeting<br \/>\nhe took an opportunity of referring to the charges brought<br \/>\nagainst engineers of so greatly exceeding the estimates: &#8220;He had<br \/>\nhad a good deal to do with making out the estimate of the North<br \/>\nMidland Railway, and he believed there never was a more honest<br \/>\none. He had always endeavored to state the truth as far as was<br \/>\nin his power. He had known a contractor who, when he (Mr.<br \/>\nStephenson) had sent in an estimate, came forward and said, &#8216;I<br \/>\ncan do it for half the money.&#8217; The contractor&#8217;s estimate went<br \/>\ninto Parliament, but it came out his. He could go through the<br \/>\nwhole list of the undertakings in which he had been engaged, and<br \/>\nshow that he had never had any thing to do with stock-jobbing<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_375\" name=\"Page_375\"><\/a>[375]<\/span><br \/>\nconcerns. He would say that he would not be concerned in any<br \/>\nscheme unless he was satisfied that it would pay the proprietors;<br \/>\nand in bringing forward the proposed line to Scarborough, he<br \/>\nwas satisfied that it would pay, or he would have had nothing to<br \/>\ndo with it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>During the time that our engineer was engaged in superintending<br \/>\nthe execution of these undertakings, he was occupied upon<br \/>\nother projected railways in various parts of the country. He<br \/>\nsurveyed several lines in the neighborhood of Glasgow, and afterward<br \/>\nalternate routes along the east coast from Newcastle to<br \/>\nEdinburg, with the view of completing the main line of communication<br \/>\nwith London. When out on foot in the field on these<br \/>\noccasions, he was ever foremost in the march, and he delighted<br \/>\nto test the prowess of his companions by a good jump at any<br \/>\nhedge or ditch that lay in their way. His companions used to<br \/>\nremark his singular quickness of observation. Nothing escaped<br \/>\nhis attention\u2014the trees, the crops, the birds, or the farmer&#8217;s<br \/>\nstock; and he was usually full of lively conversation, every thing<br \/>\nin nature affording him an opportunity for making some striking<br \/>\nremark or propounding some ingenious theory. When taking a<br \/>\nflying survey of a new line, his keen observation proved very<br \/>\nuseful, for he rapidly noted the general configuration of the country,<br \/>\nand inferred its geological structure. He afterward remarked<br \/>\nto a friend, &#8220;I have planned many a railway traveling along<br \/>\nin a post-chaise, and following the natural line of the country.&#8221;<br \/>\nAnd it was remarkable that his first impressions of the direction<br \/>\nto be taken almost invariably proved correct; and there are few<br \/>\nof the lines surveyed and recommended by him which have not<br \/>\nbeen executed, either during his lifetime or since. As an illustration<br \/>\nof his quick and shrewd observation on such occasions,<br \/>\nwe may mention that when employed to lay out a line to connect<br \/>\nManchester, through Macclesfield, with the Potteries, the gentleman<br \/>\nwho accompanied him on the journey of inspection cautioned<br \/>\nhim to provide large accommodation for carrying off the water,<br \/>\nobserving, &#8220;You must not judge by the appearance of the<br \/>\nbrooks; for after heavy rains these hills pour down volumes of<br \/>\nwater, of which you can have no conception.&#8221; &#8220;Pooh! pooh!<br \/>\n<em>don&#8217;t I see your bridges<\/em>?&#8221; replied the engineer. He had noted<br \/>\nthe details of each as he passed along.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_376\" name=\"Page_376\"><\/a>[376]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Among the other projects which occupied his attention about<br \/>\nthe same time were the projected lines between Chester and Holyhead,<br \/>\nbetween Leeds and Bradford, and between Lancaster and<br \/>\nMaryport by the west coast. This latter was intended to form<br \/>\npart of a western line to Scotland; Stephenson favoring it partly<br \/>\nbecause of the flatness of the gradients, and because it could be<br \/>\nformed at comparatively small cost, while it would open out a<br \/>\nvaluable iron-mining district, from which a large traffic in ironstone<br \/>\nwas expected. One of its collateral advantages, in the<br \/>\nengineer&#8217;s opinion, was that, by forming the railway directly<br \/>\nacross Morecambe Bay, on the northwest coast of Lancashire, a<br \/>\nlarge tract of valuable land might be reclaimed from the sea, the<br \/>\nsale of which would considerably reduce the cost of the works.<br \/>\nHe estimated that, by means of a solid embankment across the<br \/>\nbay, not less than 40,000 acres of rich alluvial land would be<br \/>\ngained. He proposed to carry the road across the ten miles of<br \/>\nsands which lie between Poulton, near Lancaster, and Humphrey<br \/>\nHead on the opposite coast, forming the line in a segment of a<br \/>\ncircle of five miles&#8217; radius. His plan was to drive in piles across<br \/>\nthe entire length, forming a solid fence of stone blocks on the<br \/>\nland side for the purpose of retaining the sand and silt brought<br \/>\ndown by the rivers from the interior. The embankment would<br \/>\nthen be raised from time to time as the deposit accumulated, until<br \/>\nthe land was filled up to high-water mark; provision being<br \/>\nmade, by means of sufficient arches, for the flow of the river waters<br \/>\ninto the bay. The execution of the railway after this plan<br \/>\nwould, however, have occupied more years than the promoters of<br \/>\nthe West Coast line were disposed to wait, and eventually Mr.<br \/>\nLocke&#8217;s more direct but less level line by Shap Fell was adopted.<br \/>\nA railway has, however, since been carried across the head of the<br \/>\nbay, in a modified form, by the Ulverstone and Lancaster Railway<br \/>\nCompany; and it is not improbable that Stephenson&#8217;s larger<br \/>\nscheme of reclaiming the vast tract of land now left bare at every<br \/>\nreceding tide may yet be carried out.<\/p>\n<p>While occupied in carrying out the great railway undertakings<br \/>\nwhich we have above so briefly described, George Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\nhome continued, for the greater part of the time, to be at Alton<br \/>\nGrange, near Leicester. But he was so much occupied in traveling<br \/>\nabout from one committee of directors to another\u2014one week<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_377\" name=\"Page_377\"><\/a>[377]<\/span><br \/>\nin England, another in Scotland, and probably the next in Ireland,<br \/>\nthat he often did not see his home for weeks together. He<br \/>\nhad also to make frequent inspections of the various important<br \/>\nand difficult works in progress, especially on the Midland and<br \/>\nManchester and Leeds lines, besides occasionally going to Newcastle<br \/>\nto see how the locomotive works were going on there.<br \/>\nDuring the three years ending 1837\u2014perhaps the busiest years<br \/>\nof his life<a id=\"FNanchor_78\" name=\"FNanchor_78\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_78\">[78]<\/a>\u2014he traveled by post-chaise alone upward of 20,000<br \/>\nmiles, and yet not less than six months out of the three years were<br \/>\nspent in London. Hence there is comparatively little to record<br \/>\nof Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s private life at this period, during which he<br \/>\nhad scarcely a moment that he could call his own.<\/p>\n<p>To give an idea of the number of projects which at this time<br \/>\noccupied our engineer&#8217;s attention, and of the extent and rapidity<br \/>\nof his journeys, we subjoin from his private secretary&#8217;s journal the<br \/>\nfollowing epitome of one of them, on which he entered immediately<br \/>\nafter the conclusion of the heavy Parliamentary session of<br \/>\n1836.<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;August 9th. From Alton Grange to Derby and Matlock, and<br \/>\nforward by mail to Manchester, to meet the committee of the South<br \/>\nUnion Railway. August 10th. Manchester to Stockport, to meet<br \/>\ncommittee of the Manchester and Leeds Railway; thence to meet<br \/>\ndirectors of the Chester and Birkenhead, and Chester and Crewe<br \/>\nRailways. August 11th. Liverpool to Woodside, to meet committee<br \/>\nof the Chester and Birkenhead line; journey with them along<br \/>\nthe proposed railway to Chester; then back to Liverpool. August<br \/>\n12th. Liverpool to Manchester, to meet directors of the Manchester<br \/>\nand Leeds Railway, and traveling with them over the works in<br \/>\nprogress. August 13th. Continued journey over the works, and<br \/>\narrival at Wakefield; thence to York. August 14th. Meeting with<br \/>\nMr. Hudson at York, and journey from York to Newcastle. August<br \/>\n15th. At Newcastle, working up arrears of correspondence.<br \/>\nAugust 16th. Meeting with Mr. Brandling as to the station for the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_378\" name=\"Page_378\"><\/a>[378]<\/span><br \/>\nBrandling Junction at Gateshead, and stations at other parts of the<br \/>\nline. August 17th. Carlisle to Wigton and Maryport, examining<br \/>\nthe railway. August 19th. Maryport to Carlisle, continuing the<br \/>\ninspection. August 20th. At Carlisle, examining the ground for<br \/>\na station; and working up correspondence. August 21st. Carlisle<br \/>\nto Dumfries by mail; forward to Ayr by chaise, proceeding up the<br \/>\nvalley of the Nith, through Thornhill, Sanquhar, and Cumnock.<br \/>\nAugust 22d. Meeting with promoters of the Glasgow, Kilmarnock,<br \/>\nand Ayr Railway, and journey along the proposed line; meeting<br \/>\nwith the magistrates of Kilmarnock at Beith, and journey with them<br \/>\nover Mr. Gale&#8217;s proposed line to Kilmarnock. August 23d. From<br \/>\nKilmarnock along Mr. Miller&#8217;s proposed line to Beith, Paisley, and<br \/>\nGlasgow. August 24th. Examination of site of proposed station<br \/>\nat Glasgow; meeting with the directors; then from Glasgow, by<br \/>\nFalkirk and Linlithgow, to Edinburg, meeting there with Mr. Grainger,<br \/>\nengineer, and several of the committee of the proposed Edinburg<br \/>\nand Dunbar Railway. August 25th. Examining the site of<br \/>\nthe proposed station at Edinburg; then to Dunbar, by Portobello<br \/>\nand Haddington, examining the proposed line of railway. August<br \/>\n26th. Dunbar to Tommy Grant&#8217;s, to examine the summit of the<br \/>\ncountry toward Berwick, with a view to a through line to Newcastle;<br \/>\nthen return to Edinburg. August 27th. At Edinburg, meeting<br \/>\nthe provisional committee of the proposed Edinburg and Dunbar<br \/>\nRailway. August 28th. Journey from Edinburg, through Melrose<br \/>\nand Jedburg, to Horsley, along the route of Mr. Richardson&#8217;s<br \/>\nproposed railway across Carter Fell. August 29th. From Horsley<br \/>\nto Mr. Brandling&#8217;s, then on to Newcastle; engaged on the Brandling<br \/>\nJunction Railway. August 30th. Engaged with Mr. Brandling;<br \/>\nafter which, meeting a deputation from Maryport. August<br \/>\n31st. Meeting with Mr. Brandling and others as to the direction of<br \/>\nthe Brandling Junction in connection with the Great North of England<br \/>\nline, and the course of the railway through Newcastle; then<br \/>\non to York. September 1st. At York; meeting with York and<br \/>\nNorth Midland directors; then journeying over Lord Howden&#8217;s<br \/>\nproperty, to arrange for a deviation; examining the proposed site<br \/>\nof the station at York. September 2d. At York, giving instructions<br \/>\nas to the survey; then to Manchester by Leeds. September 3d.<br \/>\nAt Manchester; journey to Stockport, with Mr. Bidder and Mr.<br \/>\nBourne, examining the line to Stockport, and fixing the crossing of<br \/>\nthe river there; attending to the surveys; then journey back to<br \/>\nManchester, to meet the directors of the Manchester and Leeds<br \/>\nRailway. September 4th. Sunday at Manchester. September 5th.<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_379\" name=\"Page_379\"><\/a>[379]<\/span><br \/>\nJourney along part of the Manchester and Leeds Railway. September<br \/>\n6th. At Manchester, examining and laying down the section<br \/>\nof the South Union line to Stockport; afterward engaged on the<br \/>\nManchester and Leeds working plans, in endeavoring to give a<br \/>\ngreater radius to the curves; seeing Mr. Seddon about the Liverpool,<br \/>\nManchester, and Leeds Junction Railway. September 7th.<br \/>\nJourney along the Manchester and Leeds line, then on to Derby.<br \/>\nSeptember 8th. At Derby; seeing Mr. Carter and Mr. Beale about<br \/>\nthe Tamworth deviation; then home to Alton Grange. September<br \/>\n10th. At Alton Grange, preparing report to the committee of the<br \/>\nEdinburg and Dunbar Railway.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Such is a specimen of the enormous amount of physical and<br \/>\nmental labor undergone by the engineer during the busy years<br \/>\nabove referred to. He was no sooner home than he was called<br \/>\naway again by some other railway or business engagement.<br \/>\nThus, in four days after his arrival at Alton Grange from the<br \/>\nabove journey into Scotland, we find him going over the whole<br \/>\nof the North Midland line as far as Leeds; then by Halifax to<br \/>\nManchester, where he staid for several days on the business of<br \/>\nthe South Union line; then to Birmingham and London; back<br \/>\nto Alton Grange, and next day to Congleton and Leek; thence<br \/>\nto Leeds and Goole, and home again by the Sheffield and Rotherham<br \/>\nand the Midland works. And early in the following<br \/>\nmonth (October) he was engaged in the north of Ireland, examining<br \/>\nthe line, and reporting upon the plans of the projected Ulster<br \/>\nRailway. He was also called upon to inspect and report<br \/>\nupon colliery works, salt works, brass and copper works, and such<br \/>\nlike, in addition to his own colliery and railway business. He<br \/>\nusually also staked out himself the lines laid out by him, which<br \/>\ninvolved a good deal of labor since undertaken by assistants.<br \/>\nAnd occasionally he would run up to London, attending in person<br \/>\nto the preparation and depositing of the plans and sections<br \/>\nof the projected undertakings for which he was engaged as engineer.<\/p>\n<p>His correspondence increased so much that he found it necessary<br \/>\nto engage a private secretary, who accompanied him on his<br \/>\njourneys. He was himself exceedingly averse to writing letters.<br \/>\nThe comparatively advanced age at which he learned the art of<br \/>\nwriting, and the nature of his duties while engaged at the Killingworth<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_380\" name=\"Page_380\"><\/a>[380]<\/span><br \/>\nColliery, precluded that facility in correspondence which<br \/>\nonly constant practice can give. He gradually, however, acquired<br \/>\ngreat facility in dictation, and had also the power of laboring continuously<br \/>\nat this work, the gentleman who acted as his secretary<br \/>\nin the year 1835 having informed us that during his busy season<br \/>\nhe one day dictated no fewer than thirty-seven letters, several of<br \/>\nthem embodying the results of much close thinking and calculation.<br \/>\nOn another occasion he dictated reports and letters for<br \/>\ntwelve continuous hours, until his secretary was ready to drop off<br \/>\nhis chair from sheer exhaustion, and at length pleaded for a suspension<br \/>\nof the labor. This great mass of correspondence, though<br \/>\nclosely bearing on the subjects under discussion, was not, however,<br \/>\nof a kind to supply the biographer with matter for quotation,<br \/>\nor to give that insight into the life and character of the<br \/>\nwriter which the letters of literary men so often furnish. They<br \/>\nwere, for the most part, letters of mere business, relating to works<br \/>\nin progress, Parliamentary contests, new surveys, estimates of cost,<br \/>\nand railway policy\u2014curt, and to the point; in short, the letters of<br \/>\na man every moment of whose time was precious.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, George Stephenson possessed a facility of sleeping,<br \/>\nwhich enabled him to pass through this enormous amount of<br \/>\nfatigue and labor without injury to his health. He had been<br \/>\ntrained in a hard school, and could bear with ease conditions<br \/>\nwhich, to men more softly nurtured, would have been the extreme<br \/>\nof physical discomfort. Many, many nights he snatched<br \/>\nhis sleep while traveling in his chaise; and at break of day he<br \/>\nwould be at work, surveying until dark, and this for weeks in succession.<br \/>\nHis whole powers seemed to be under the control of his<br \/>\nwill, for he could wake at any hour, and go to work at once. It<br \/>\nwas difficult for secretaries and assistants to keep up with such a<br \/>\nman.<\/p>\n<p>It is pleasant to record that in the midst of these engrossing<br \/>\noccupations his heart remained as soft and loving as ever. In<br \/>\nspring-time he would not be debarred of his boyish amusement<br \/>\nof bird-nesting, but would go rambling along the hedges spying<br \/>\nfor nests. In the autumn he went nutting, and when he could<br \/>\nsnatch a few minutes he indulged in his old love of gardening.<br \/>\nHis uniform kindness and good temper, and his communicative,<br \/>\nintelligent disposition, made him a great favorite with the neighboring<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_381\" name=\"Page_381\"><\/a>[381]<\/span><br \/>\nfarmers, to whom he would volunteer much valuable advice<br \/>\non agricultural operations, drainage, plowing, and labor-saving<br \/>\nprocesses. Sometimes he took a long rural ride on his favorite<br \/>\n&#8220;Bobby,&#8221; now growing old, but as fond of his master as ever.<br \/>\nToward the end of his life &#8220;Bobby&#8221; lived in clover, his master&#8217;s<br \/>\npet, doing no work; and he died at Tapton in 1845, more than<br \/>\ntwenty years old.<\/p>\n<p>During one of George&#8217;s brief sojourns at the Grange he found<br \/>\ntime to write to his son a touching account of a pair of robins<br \/>\nthat had built their nest within one of the empty upper chambers<br \/>\nof the house. One day he observed a robin fluttering outside the<br \/>\nwindows, and beating its wings against the panes, as if eager to<br \/>\ngain admission. He went up stairs, and there found, in a retired<br \/>\npart of one of the rooms, a robin&#8217;s nest, with one of the parent<br \/>\nbirds sitting over three or four young\u2014all dead. The excluded<br \/>\nbird outside still beat against the panes; and on the window being<br \/>\nlet down, it flew into the room, but was so exhausted that it<br \/>\ndropped upon the floor. Stephenson took up the bird, carried it<br \/>\ndown stairs, and had it warmed and fed. The poor robin revived,<br \/>\nand for a time was one of his pets. But it shortly died too, as if<br \/>\nunable to recover from the privations it had endured during its<br \/>\nthree days&#8217; fluttering and beating at the windows. It appeared<br \/>\nthat the room had been unoccupied, and the sash having been let<br \/>\ndown, the robins had taken the opportunity of building their nest<br \/>\nwithin it; but the servant having closed the window again, the<br \/>\ncalamity befell the birds which so strongly excited the engineer&#8217;s<br \/>\nsympathies. An incident such as this, trifling though it may<br \/>\nseem, gives a true key to the heart of a man.<\/p>\n<p>The amount of his Parliamentary business having greatly increased<br \/>\nwith the projection of new lines of railway, the Stephensons<br \/>\nfound it necessary to set up an office in London in 1836.<br \/>\nGeorge&#8217;s first office was at No. 9 Duke Street, Westminster, from<br \/>\nwhence he removed in the following year to 30-1\/2 Great George<br \/>\nStreet. That office was the busy scene of railway politics for several<br \/>\nyears. There consultations were held, schemes were matured,<br \/>\ndeputations were received, and many projectors called upon<br \/>\nour engineer for the purpose of submitting to him their plans of<br \/>\nrailways and railway working. His private secretary at the time<br \/>\nhas informed us that at the end of the first Parliamentary session<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_382\" name=\"Page_382\"><\/a>[382]<\/span><br \/>\nin which he had been engaged as engineer for more companies<br \/>\nthan one, it became necessary for him to give instructions as to<br \/>\nthe preparation of the accounts to be rendered to the several companies.<br \/>\nIn the simplicity of his heart, he directed Mr. Binns to<br \/>\ntake his full time at the rate of ten guineas a day, and charge the<br \/>\nrailway companies in the proportion in which he had actually<br \/>\nbeen employed in their respective business during each day.<br \/>\nWhen Robert heard of this instruction, he went directly to his father<br \/>\nand expostulated with him against this unprofessional course;<br \/>\nand, other influences being brought to bear upon him, George at<br \/>\nlength reluctantly consented to charge as other engineers did, an<br \/>\nentire day&#8217;s fee to each of the companies for which he was concerned<br \/>\nwhile their business was going forward; but he cut down<br \/>\nthe number of days charged for, and reduced the daily amount<br \/>\nfrom ten to seven guineas.<\/p>\n<p>Besides his journeys at home, George Stephenson was on more<br \/>\nthan one occasion called abroad on railway business. Thus, at<br \/>\nthe desire of King Leopold, he made several visits to Belgium to<br \/>\nassist the Belgian engineers in laying out the national lines of the<br \/>\nkingdom. That enlightened monarch at an early period discerned<br \/>\nthe powerful instrumentality of railways in developing a country&#8217;s<br \/>\nresources, and he determined at the earliest possible period to<br \/>\nadopt them as the great high roads of the nation. The country,<br \/>\nbeing rich in coals and minerals, had great manufacturing capabilities.<br \/>\nIt had good ports, fine navigable rivers, abundant canals,<br \/>\nand a teeming, industrious population. Leopold perceived that<br \/>\nrailways were eminently calculated to bring the industry of the<br \/>\ncountry into full play, and to render the riches of the provinces<br \/>\navailable to the rest of the kingdom. He therefore openly declared<br \/>\nhimself the promoter of public railways throughout Belgium.<br \/>\nA system of lines was projected at his instance, connecting<br \/>\nBrussels with the chief towns and cities of the state, extending<br \/>\nfrom Ostend eastward to the Prussian frontier, and from<br \/>\nAntwerp southward to the French frontier.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Stephenson and his son, as the leading railway engineers<br \/>\nof England, were consulted by the king, in 1835, as to the best<br \/>\nmode of carrying out his intentions. In the course of that year<br \/>\nthey visited Belgium, and had several interesting conferences<br \/>\nwith Leopold and his ministers on the subject of the proposed<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_383\" name=\"Page_383\"><\/a>[383]<\/span><br \/>\nrailways. The king then appointed George Stephenson by royal<br \/>\nordinance a Knight of the Order of Leopold. At the invitation<br \/>\nof the monarch, Mr. Stephenson made a second visit to Belgium<br \/>\nin 1837, on the occasion of the public opening of the line from<br \/>\nBrussels to Ghent. At Brussels there was a public procession,<br \/>\nand another at Ghent on the arrival of the train. Stephenson<br \/>\nand his party accompanied it to the Public Hall, there to dine<br \/>\nwith the chief ministers of state, the municipal authorities, and<br \/>\nabout five hundred of the principal inhabitants of the city; the<br \/>\nEnglish embassador being also present. After the king&#8217;s health<br \/>\nand a few others had been drunk, that of Mr. Stephenson was<br \/>\nproposed; on which the whole assembly rose up, amid great excitement<br \/>\nand loud applause, and made their way to where he sat,<br \/>\nin order to &#8220;jingle glasses&#8221; with him, greatly to his own amazement.<br \/>\nOn the day following, our engineer dined with the king<br \/>\nand queen at their own table at Laaken, by special invitation,<br \/>\nafterward accompanying his majesty and suite to a public ball,<br \/>\ngiven by the municipality of Brussels in honor of the opening<br \/>\nof the line to Ghent, as well as of their distinguished English<br \/>\nguests. On entering the room, the general and excited inquiry<br \/>\nwas, &#8220;Which is Stephenson?&#8221; The English engineer had not before<br \/>\nimagined that he was esteemed to be so great a man.<\/p>\n<p>The London and Birmingham Railway having been completed<br \/>\nin September, 1838, after being about five years in progress, the<br \/>\ngreat main system of railway communication between London,<br \/>\nLiverpool, and Manchester was then opened to the public. For<br \/>\nsome months previously the line had been partially open, coaches<br \/>\nperforming the journey between Denbigh Hall (near Wolverton)<br \/>\nand Rugby\u2014the works of the Kilsby tunnel being still incomplete.<br \/>\nIt was already amusing to hear the complaints of the<br \/>\ntravelers about the slowness of the coaches as compared with the<br \/>\nrailway, though the coaches traveled at a speed of eleven miles<br \/>\nan hour. The comparison of comfort was also greatly to the<br \/>\ndisparagement of the coaches. Then the railway train could<br \/>\naccommodate any quantity, whereas the road conveyances were<br \/>\nlimited; and when a press of travelers occurred\u2014as on the occasion<br \/>\nof the queen&#8217;s coronation\u2014the greatest inconvenience was<br \/>\nexperienced, as much as \u00a310 having been paid for a seat on a<br \/>\ndonkey-chaise between Rugby and Denbigh. On the opening<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_384\" name=\"Page_384\"><\/a>[384]<\/span><br \/>\nof the railway throughout, of course all this inconvenience and<br \/>\ndelay was brought to an end.<\/p>\n<p>Numerous other openings of railways constructed by George<br \/>\nStephenson took place about the same time. The Birmingham<br \/>\nand Derby line was opened for traffic in August, 1839; the Sheffield<br \/>\nand Rotherham in November, 1839; and in the course of<br \/>\nthe following year, the Midland, the York and North Midland,<br \/>\nthe Chester and Crewe, the Chester and Birkenhead, the Manchester<br \/>\nand Birmingham, the Manchester and Leeds, and the<br \/>\nMaryport and Carlisle railways, were all publicly opened in whole<br \/>\nor in part. Thus 321 miles of railway (exclusive of the London<br \/>\nand Birmingham), constructed under Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s superintendence,<br \/>\nat a cost of upward of eleven millions sterling, were, in<br \/>\nthe course of about two years, added to the traffic accommodation<br \/>\nof the country.<\/p>\n<p>The ceremonies which accompanied the public opening of these<br \/>\nlines were often of an interesting character. The adjoining population<br \/>\nheld general holiday; bands played, banners waved, and<br \/>\nassembled thousands cheered the passing trains amid the occasional<br \/>\nbooming of cannon. The proceedings were usually wound<br \/>\nup by a public dinner; and in the course of his speech which<br \/>\nfollowed, Mr. Stephenson would revert to his favorite topic\u2014the<br \/>\ndifficulties which he had early encountered in the promotion of<br \/>\nthe railway system, and in establishing the superiority of the locomotive.<br \/>\nOn such occasions he always took great pleasure in<br \/>\nalluding to the services rendered to himself and the public by<br \/>\nthe young men brought up under his eye\u2014his pupils at first, and<br \/>\nafterward his assistants. No great master ever possessed a more<br \/>\ndevoted band of assistants and fellow-workers than he did; and<br \/>\nit was one of the most marked evidences of his admirable tact<br \/>\nand judgment that he selected, with such undeviating correctness,<br \/>\nthe men best fitted to carry out his plans. Indeed, the ability to<br \/>\naccomplish great things, to carry grand ideas into practical effect,<br \/>\ndepends in no small measure on that intuitive knowledge of character<br \/>\nwhich our engineer possessed in so remarkable a degree.<\/p>\n<p>At the dinner at York, which followed the partial opening of<br \/>\nthe York and North Midland Railway, Mr. Stephenson said &#8220;he<br \/>\nwas sure they would appreciate his feelings when he told them<br \/>\nthat, when he first began railway business, his hair was black,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_385\" name=\"Page_385\"><\/a>[385]<\/span><br \/>\nalthough it was now gray; and that he began his life&#8217;s labor as<br \/>\nbut a poor plowboy. About thirty years since he had applied<br \/>\nhimself to the study of how to generate high velocities by mechanical<br \/>\nmeans. He thought he had solved that problem; and<br \/>\nthey had for themselves seen, that day, what perseverance had<br \/>\nbrought him to. He was, on that occasion, only too happy to<br \/>\nhave an opportunity of acknowledging that he had, in the latter<br \/>\nportion of his career, received much most valuable assistance<br \/>\nparticularly from young men brought up in his manufactory.<br \/>\nWhenever talent showed itself in a young man, he had always<br \/>\ngiven that talent encouragement where he could, and he would<br \/>\ncontinue to do so.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>That this was no exaggerated statement is amply proved by<br \/>\nmany facts which redound to Stephenson&#8217;s credit. He was no<br \/>\nniggard of encouragement and praise when he saw honest industry<br \/>\nstruggling for a footing. Many were the young men whom,<br \/>\nin the course of his career, he took by the hand and led steadily<br \/>\nup to honor and emolument, simply because he had noted their<br \/>\nzeal, diligence, and integrity. One youth excited his interest<br \/>\nwhile working as a common carpenter on the Liverpool and<br \/>\nManchester line; and before many years had passed he was recognized<br \/>\nas an engineer of distinction. Another young man he<br \/>\nfound industriously working away at his by-hours, and, admiring<br \/>\nhis diligence, he engaged him as his private secretary, the gentleman<br \/>\nshortly after rising to a position of eminent influence and<br \/>\nusefulness. Indeed, nothing gave the engineer greater pleasure<br \/>\nthan in this way to help on any deserving youth who came under<br \/>\nhis observation, and, in his own expressive phrase, to &#8220;make<br \/>\na man of him.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The openings of the great main lines of railroad communication<br \/>\nshortly proved the fallaciousness of the numerous rash<br \/>\nprophecies which had been promulgated by the opponents of<br \/>\nrailways. The proprietors of the canals were astounded by the<br \/>\nfact that, notwithstanding the immense traffic conveyed by rail,<br \/>\ntheir own traffic and receipts continued to increase; and that, in<br \/>\ncommon with other interests, they fully shared in the expansion<br \/>\nof trade and commerce which had been so effectually promoted<br \/>\nby the extension of the railway system. The cattle-owners were<br \/>\nequally amazed to find the price of horseflesh increasing with the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_386\" name=\"Page_386\"><\/a>[386]<\/span><br \/>\nextension of railways, and that the number of coaches running<br \/>\nto and from the new railway stations gave employment to a<br \/>\ngreater number of horses than under the old stage-coach system.<br \/>\nThose who had prophesied the decay of the metropolis, and the<br \/>\nruin of the suburban cabbage-growers, in consequence of the approach<br \/>\nof railways to London, were disappointed; for, while the<br \/>\nnew roads let citizens out of London, they also let country-people<br \/>\nin. Their action, in this respect, was centripetal as well as centrifugal.<br \/>\nTens of thousands who had never seen the metropolis<br \/>\ncould now visit it expeditiously and cheaply; and Londoners<br \/>\nwho had never visited the country, or but rarely, were enabled,<br \/>\nat little cost of time or money, to see green fields and clear blue<br \/>\nskies far from the smoke and bustle of town. If the dear suburban-grown<br \/>\ncabbages became depreciated in value, there were<br \/>\ntruck-loads of fresh-grown country cabbages to make amends for<br \/>\nthe loss: in this case, the &#8220;partial evil&#8221; was a far more general<br \/>\ngood. The food of the metropolis became rapidly improved, especially<br \/>\nin the supply of wholesome meat and vegetables. And<br \/>\nthen the price of coals\u2014an article which, in this country, is as<br \/>\nindispensable as daily food to all classes\u2014was greatly reduced.<br \/>\nWhat a blessing to the metropolitan poor is described in this<br \/>\nsingle fact!<\/p>\n<p>The prophecies of ruin and disaster to landlords and farmers<br \/>\nwere equally confounded by the openings of the railways. The<br \/>\nagricultural communications, so far from being &#8220;destroyed,&#8221; as<br \/>\nhad been predicted, were immensely improved. The farmers<br \/>\nwere enabled to buy their coals, lime, and manure for less money,<br \/>\nwhile they obtained a readier access to the best markets for their<br \/>\nstock and farm-produce. Notwithstanding the predictions to the<br \/>\ncontrary, their cows gave milk as before, the sheep fed and fattened,<br \/>\nand even skittish horses ceased to shy at the passing trains.<br \/>\nThe smoke of the engines did not obscure the sky, nor were farmyards<br \/>\nburnt up by the fire thrown from the locomotives. The<br \/>\nfarming classes were not reduced to beggary; on the contrary,<br \/>\nthey soon felt that, so far from having any thing to dread, they<br \/>\nhad very much good to expect from the extension of railways.<\/p>\n<p>Landlords also found that they could get higher rent for farms<br \/>\nsituated near a railway than at a distance from one. Hence they<br \/>\nbecame clamorous for &#8220;sidings.&#8221; They felt it to be a grievance<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_387\" name=\"Page_387\"><\/a>[387]<\/span><br \/>\nto be placed at a distance from a station. After a railway had<br \/>\nbeen once opened, not a landlord would consent to have the line<br \/>\ntaken from him. Owners who had fought the promoters before<br \/>\nParliament, and compelled them to pass their domains at a distance,<br \/>\nat a vastly increased expense in tunnels and deviations,<br \/>\nnow petitioned for branches and nearer station-accommodation.<br \/>\nThose who held property near towns, and had extorted large<br \/>\nsums as compensation for the anticipated deterioration in the value<br \/>\nof their building land, found a new demand for it springing<br \/>\nup at greatly advanced prices. Land was now advertised for<br \/>\nsale with the attraction of being &#8220;near a railway station.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The prediction that, even if railways were made, the public<br \/>\nwould not use them, was also completely falsified by the results.<br \/>\nThe ordinary mode of fast traveling for the middle classes had<br \/>\nheretofore been by mail-coach and stage-coach. Those who<br \/>\ncould not afford to pay the high prices charged by such conveyances<br \/>\nwent by wagon, and the poorer classes trudged on foot.<br \/>\nGeorge Stephenson was wont to say that he hoped to see the day<br \/>\nwhen it would be cheaper for a poor man to travel by railway<br \/>\nthan to walk, and not many years passed before his expectation<br \/>\nwas fulfilled. In no country in the world is time worth more<br \/>\nmoney than in England; and by saving time\u2014the criterion of<br \/>\ndistance\u2014the railway proved a great benefactor to men of industry<br \/>\nin all classes.<\/p>\n<p>Many deplored the inevitable downfall of the old stage-coach<br \/>\nsystem. There was to be an end of that delightful variety of incident<br \/>\nusually attendant on a journey by road. The rapid scamper<br \/>\nacross a fine country on the outside of the four-horse &#8220;Express&#8221;<br \/>\nor &#8220;Highflyer;&#8221; the seat on the box beside Jehu, or the<br \/>\nequally coveted place near the facetious guard behind; the journey<br \/>\namid open green fields, through smiling villages and fine old<br \/>\ntowns, where the stage stopped to change horses and the passengers<br \/>\nto dine, was all very delightful in its way, and many regretted<br \/>\nthat this old-fashioned and pleasant style of traveling was<br \/>\nabout to pass away. But it had its dark side also. Any one who<br \/>\nremembers the journey by stage from London to Manchester or<br \/>\nYork will associate it with recollections and sensations of not unmixed<br \/>\ndelight. To be perched for twenty-four hours, exposed to<br \/>\nall weathers, on the outside of a coach, trying in vain to find a<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_388\" name=\"Page_388\"><\/a>[388]<\/span><br \/>\nsoft seat\u2014sitting now with the face to the wind, rain, or sun, and<br \/>\nnow with the back\u2014without any shelter such as the commonest<br \/>\npenny-a-mile Parliamentary train now daily provides\u2014was a miserable<br \/>\nundertaking, looked forward to with horror by many whose<br \/>\nbusiness required them to travel frequently between the provinces<br \/>\nand the metropolis. Nor were the inside passengers more agreeably<br \/>\naccommodated. To be closely packed in a little, inconvenient,<br \/>\nstraight-backed vehicle, where the cramped limbs could<br \/>\nnot be in the least extended, nor the wearied frame indulge in<br \/>\nany change of posture, was felt by many to be a terrible thing.<br \/>\nThen there were the constantly-recurring demands, not always<br \/>\ncouched in the politest terms, for an allowance to the driver every<br \/>\ntwo or three stages, and to the guard every six or eight; and<br \/>\nif the gratuity did not equal their expectations, growling and open<br \/>\nabuse were not unusual. These <em>d\u00e9sagr\u00e9mens<\/em>, together with the<br \/>\nexactions practiced on travelers by innkeepers, seriously detracted<br \/>\nfrom the romance of stage-coach traveling, and there was a<br \/>\ngeneral disposition on the part of the public to change the system<br \/>\nfor a better.<\/p>\n<p>The avidity with which the public at once availed themselves<br \/>\nof the railways proved that this better system had been discovered.<br \/>\nNotwithstanding the reduction of the coach-fares on many of the<br \/>\nroads to one third of their previous rate, the public preferred<br \/>\ntraveling by the railway. They saved in time, and they saved in<br \/>\nmoney, taking the whole expenses into account. In point of comfort<br \/>\nthere could be no doubt as to the infinite superiority of the<br \/>\nlocomotive train. But there remained the question of safety,<br \/>\nwhich had been a great bugbear with the early opponents of railways,<br \/>\nand was made the most of by the coach-proprietors to deter<br \/>\nthe public from using them. It was predicted that trains of<br \/>\npassengers would be blown to pieces, and that none but fools<br \/>\nwould intrust their persons to the conduct of an explosive machine<br \/>\nsuch as the locomotive. It appeared, however, that during<br \/>\nthe first eight years not fewer than five millions of passengers<br \/>\nhad been conveyed along the Liverpool and Manchester Railway,<br \/>\nand of this vast number only two persons had lost their lives by<br \/>\naccident. During the same period, the loss of life by the upsetting<br \/>\nof stage-coaches had been immensely greater in proportion.<br \/>\nThe public were not slow, therefore, to detect the fact that traveling<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_389\" name=\"Page_389\"><\/a>[389]<\/span><br \/>\nby railways was greatly safer than traveling by common<br \/>\nroads, and in all districts penetrated by railways the coaches were<br \/>\nvery shortly taken off for want of support.<\/p>\n<p>George Stephenson himself had a narrow escape in one of the<br \/>\nstage-coach accidents so common thirty years since, but which are<br \/>\nalready almost forgotten. While the Birmingham line was under<br \/>\nconstruction, he had occasion to travel from Ashby-de-la-Zouch<br \/>\nto London by coach. He was an inside passenger with<br \/>\nseveral others, and the outsides were pretty numerous. When<br \/>\nwithin ten miles of Dunstable, he felt, from the rolling of the<br \/>\ncoach, that one of the linchpins securing the wheels had given<br \/>\nway, and that the vehicle must upset. He endeavored to fix himself<br \/>\nin his seat, holding on firmly by the arm-straps, so that he<br \/>\nmight save himself on whichever side the coach fell. The coach<br \/>\nsoon toppled over, and fell crash upon the road, amid the shrieks<br \/>\nof his fellow-passengers and the smashing of glass. He immediately<br \/>\npulled himself up by the arm-strap above him, let down<br \/>\nthe coach-window, and climbed out. The coachman and passengers<br \/>\nlay scattered about on the road, stunned, and some of them<br \/>\nbleeding, while the horses were plunging in their harness. Taking<br \/>\nout his pocket-knife, he at once cut the traces and set the<br \/>\nhorses free. He then went to the help of the passengers, who<br \/>\nwere all more or less hurt. The guard had his arm broken, and<br \/>\nthe driver was seriously cut and contused. A scream from one<br \/>\nof his fellow-passenger &#8220;insides&#8221; here attracted his attention: it<br \/>\nproceeded from an elderly lady, whom he had before observed to<br \/>\nbe decorated with one of the enormous bonnets in fashion at the<br \/>\ntime. Opening the coach-door, he lifted the lady out, and her<br \/>\nprincipal lamentation was that her large bonnet had been crushed<br \/>\nbeyond remedy! Stephenson then proceeded to the nearest village<br \/>\nfor help, and saw the passengers provided with proper assistance<br \/>\nbefore he himself went forward on his journey.<\/p>\n<p>It was some time before the more opulent classes, who could<br \/>\nafford to post to town in aristocratic style, became reconciled to<br \/>\nthe railway train. It put an end to that gradation of rank in<br \/>\ntraveling which was one of the few things left by which the nobleman<br \/>\ncould be distinguished from the Manchester manufacturer<br \/>\nand bagman. But to younger sons of noble families the<br \/>\nconvenience and cheapness of the railway did not fail to commend<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_390\" name=\"Page_390\"><\/a>[390]<\/span><br \/>\nitself. One of these, whose eldest brother had just succeeded<br \/>\nto an earldom, said to a railway manager, &#8220;I like railways\u2014they<br \/>\njust suit young fellows like me, with &#8216;nothing per annum<br \/>\npaid quarterly.&#8217; You know, we can&#8217;t afford to post, and it used<br \/>\nto be deuced annoying to me, as I was jogging along on the box-seat<br \/>\nof the stage-coach, to see the little earl go by, drawn by his<br \/>\nfour posters, and just look up at me and give me a nod. But<br \/>\nnow, with railways, it&#8217;s different. It&#8217;s true, he may take a first-class<br \/>\nticket, while I can only afford a second-class one, but <em>we<br \/>\nboth go the same pace<\/em>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For a time, however, many of the old families sent forward<br \/>\ntheir servants and luggage by railroad, and condemned themselves<br \/>\nto jog along the old highway in the accustomed family<br \/>\nchariot, dragged by country post-horses. But the superior comfort<br \/>\nof the railway shortly recommended itself to even the oldest<br \/>\nfamilies; posting went out of date; post-horses were with difficulty<br \/>\nto be had along even the great high roads; and nobles and<br \/>\nservants, manufacturers and peasants, alike shared in the comfort,<br \/>\nthe convenience, and the dispatch of railway traveling. The<br \/>\nlate Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, regarded the opening of the London<br \/>\nand Birmingham line as another great step accomplished in the<br \/>\nmarch of civilization. &#8220;I rejoice to see it,&#8221; he said, as he stood<br \/>\non one of the bridges over the railway, and watched the train<br \/>\nflashing along under him, and away through the distant hedgerows\u2014&#8221;I<br \/>\nrejoice to see it, and to think that feudality is gone forever:<br \/>\nit is so great a blessing to think that any one evil is really<br \/>\nextinct.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It was long before the late Duke of Wellington would trust<br \/>\nhimself behind a locomotive. The fatal accident to Mr. Huskisson,<br \/>\nwhich had happened before his eyes, contributed to prejudice<br \/>\nhim strongly against railways, and it was not until the year 1843<br \/>\nthat he performed his first trip on the Southwestern Railway, in<br \/>\nattendance upon her majesty. Prince Albert had for some time<br \/>\nbeen accustomed to travel by railway alone, but in 1842 the queen<br \/>\nbegan to make use of the same mode of conveyance between<br \/>\nWindsor and London. Even Colonel Sibthorpe was eventually<br \/>\ncompelled to acknowledge its utility. For a time he continued<br \/>\nto post to and from the country as before. Then he compromised<br \/>\nthe matter by taking a railway ticket for the long journey,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_391\" name=\"Page_391\"><\/a>[391]<\/span><br \/>\nand posting only a stage or two nearest town; until, at length, he<br \/>\nundisguisedly committed himself, like other people, to the express<br \/>\ntrain, and performed the journey throughout upon what he had<br \/>\nformerly denounced as &#8220;the infernal railroad.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_394.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"310\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>COALVILLE AND SNIBSTON COLLIERY.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_392\" name=\"Page_392\"><\/a>[392]<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_395.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"377\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">TAPTON HOUSE.<\/span> &nbsp; [By Percival Skelton.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER XVI.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>GEORGE STEPHENSON&#8217;S COAL-MINES\u2014APPEARS AT MECHANICS&#8217; INSTITUTES\u2014HIS<br \/>\nOPINION ON RAILWAY SPEEDS\u2014ATMOSPHERIC SYSTEM\u2014RAILWAY<br \/>\nMANIA\u2014VISITS TO BELGIUM AND SPAIN.<\/h4>\n<p>While George Stephenson was engaged in carrying on the<br \/>\nworks of the Midland Railway in the neighborhood of Chesterfield,<br \/>\nseveral seams of coal were cut through in the Claycross<br \/>\nTunnel, when it occurred to him that if mines were opened out<br \/>\nthere, the railway would provide the means of a ready sale for<br \/>\nthe article in the midland counties, and even as far south as the<br \/>\nmetropolis itself.<\/p>\n<p>At a time when every body else was skeptical as to the possibility<br \/>\nof coals being carried from the midland counties to London,<br \/>\nand sold there at a price to compete with those which were<br \/>\nsea-borne, he declared his firm conviction that the time was fast<br \/>\napproaching when the London market would be regularly supplied<br \/>\nwith North-country coals led by railway. One of the great<br \/>\nadvantages of railways, in his opinion, was that they would bring<br \/>\niron and coal, the staple products of the country, to the doors of<br \/>\nall England. &#8220;The strength of Britain,&#8221; he would say, &#8220;lies in<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_393\" name=\"Page_393\"><\/a>[393]<\/span><br \/>\nher iron and coal beds, and the locomotive is destined, above all<br \/>\nother agencies, to bring it forth. The lord chancellor now sits<br \/>\nupon a bag of wool; but wool has long since ceased to be emblematical<br \/>\nof the staple commodity of England. He ought rather<br \/>\nto sit upon a bag of coals, though it might not prove quite so<br \/>\ncomfortable a seat. Then think of the lord chancellor being addressed<br \/>\nas the noble and learned lord <em>on the coal-sack<\/em>! I am<br \/>\nafraid it wouldn&#8217;t answer, after all.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>To one gentleman he said: &#8220;We want from the coal-mining,<br \/>\nthe iron-producing and manufacturing districts, a great railway<br \/>\nfor the carriage of these valuable products. We want, if I may<br \/>\nso say, a stream of steam running directly through the country<br \/>\nfrom the North to London. Speed is not so much an object as<br \/>\nutility and cheapness. It will not do to mix up the heavy merchandise<br \/>\nand coal-trains with the passenger-trains. Coal and<br \/>\nmost kinds of goods can wait, but passengers will not. A less<br \/>\nperfect road and less expensive works will do well enough for<br \/>\ncoal-trains, if run at a low speed; and if the line be flat, it is not<br \/>\nof much consequence whether it be direct or not. Whenever<br \/>\nyou put passenger-trains on a line, all the other trains must be<br \/>\nrun at high speeds to keep out of their way. But coal-trains run<br \/>\nat high speeds pull the road to pieces, besides causing large expenditure<br \/>\nin locomotive power; and I doubt very much whether<br \/>\nthey will pay, after all; but a succession of long coal-trains, if<br \/>\nrun at from ten to fourteen miles an hour, would pay very well.<br \/>\nThus the Stockton and Darlington Company made a larger profit<br \/>\nwhen running coal at low speeds at a halfpenny a ton per mile,<br \/>\nthan they have been able to do since they put on their fast passenger-trains,<br \/>\nwhen every thing must needs be run faster, and a<br \/>\nmuch larger proportion of the gross receipts is consequently absorbed<br \/>\nby working expenses.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In advocating these views, George Stephenson was considerably<br \/>\nahead of his time; and although he did not live to see his<br \/>\nanticipations fully realized as to the supply of the London coal-market,<br \/>\nhe was nevertheless the first to point it out, and to some<br \/>\nextent to prove, the practicability of establishing a profitable<br \/>\ncoal-trade by railway between the northern counties and the metropolis.<br \/>\nSo long, however, as the traffic was conducted on main<br \/>\npassenger-lines at comparatively high speeds, it was found that<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_394\" name=\"Page_394\"><\/a>[394]<\/span><br \/>\nthe expenditure on tear and wear of road and locomotive power\u2014not<br \/>\nto mention the increased risk of carrying on the first-class<br \/>\npassenger traffic with which it was mixed up\u2014necessarily left a<br \/>\nvery small margin of profit, and hence our engineer was in the<br \/>\nhabit of urging the propriety of constructing a railway which<br \/>\nshould be exclusively devoted to goods and mineral traffic run at<br \/>\nlow speeds as the only condition on which a large railway traffic<br \/>\nof that sort could be profitably conducted.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_397.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"326\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">LIME-WORKS AT AMBERGATE.<\/span> &nbsp; [By Percival Skelton.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Having induced some of his Liverpool friends to join him in a<br \/>\ncoal-mining adventure at Chesterfield, a lease was taken of the<br \/>\nClaycross estate, then for sale, and operations were shortly after<br \/>\nbegun. At a subsequent period Stephenson extended his coal-mining<br \/>\noperations in the same neighborhood, and in 1841 he himself<br \/>\nentered into a contract with owners of land in the townships<br \/>\nof Tapton, Brimington, and Newbold for the working of the coal<br \/>\nthereunder, and pits were opened on the Tapton estate on an extensive<br \/>\nscale. About the same time he erected great lime-works,<br \/>\nclose to the Ambergate station of the Midland Railway, from<br \/>\nwhich, when in full operation, he was able to turn out upward of<br \/>\ntwo hundred tons a day. The limestone was brought on a tram-way<br \/>\nfrom the village of Crich, about two or three miles distant<br \/>\nfrom the kilns, the coal being supplied from his adjoining Claycross<br \/>\nColliery. The works were on a scale such as had not before<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_395\" name=\"Page_395\"><\/a>[395]<\/span><br \/>\nbeen attempted by any private individual engaged in a similar<br \/>\ntrade, and we believe they proved very successful.<\/p>\n<p>Tapton House was included in the lease of one of the collieries,<br \/>\nand as it was conveniently situated\u2014being, as it were, a<br \/>\ncentral point on the Midland Railway, from which the engineer<br \/>\ncould readily proceed north or south on his journeys of inspection<br \/>\nof the various lines then under construction in the midland<br \/>\nand northern counties\u2014he took up his residence there, and it<br \/>\ncontinued his home until the close of his life.<\/p>\n<p>Tapton House is a large, roomy brick mansion, beautifully<br \/>\nsituated amid woods, upon a commanding eminence, about a<br \/>\nmile to the northeast of the town of Chesterfield. Green fields<br \/>\ndotted with fine trees slope away from the house in all directions.<br \/>\nThe surrounding country is undulating and highly picturesque.<br \/>\nNorth and south the eye ranges over a vast extent of<br \/>\nlovely scenery; and on the west, looking over the town of Chesterfield,<br \/>\nwith its church and crooked spire, the extensive range of<br \/>\nthe Derbyshire hills bounds the distance. The Midland Railway<br \/>\nskirts the western edge of the park in a deep rock cutting, and<br \/>\nthe locomotive&#8217;s shrill whistle sounds near at hand as the trains<br \/>\nspeed past. The gardens and pleasure-grounds adjoining the<br \/>\nhouse were in a very neglected state when Mr. Stephenson first<br \/>\nwent to Tapton, and he promised himself, when he had secured<br \/>\nrest and leisure from business, that he would put a new face upon<br \/>\nboth. The first improvement he made was in cutting a woodland<br \/>\nfootpath up the hill-side, by which he at the same time added<br \/>\na beautiful feature to the park, and secured a shorter road to<br \/>\nthe Chesterfield station; but it was some years before he found<br \/>\ntime to carry into effect his contemplated improvements in the<br \/>\nadjoining gardens and pleasure-grounds. He had so long been<br \/>\naccustomed to laborious pursuits, and felt himself still so full of<br \/>\nwork, that he could not at once settle down into the habit of<br \/>\nquietly enjoying the fruits of his industry.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"Page_396xx\" name=\"Page_396xx\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_399.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"407\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>FORTH-STREET WORKS, NEWCASTLE.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>He had no difficulty in usefully employing his time. Besides<br \/>\ndirecting the mining operations at Claycross, the establishment<br \/>\nof the lime-kilns at Ambergate, and the construction of the extensive<br \/>\nrailways still in progress, he occasionally paid visits to<br \/>\nNewcastle, where his locomotive manufactory was now in full<br \/>\nwork, and the proprietors were reaping the advantages of his<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_396\" name=\"Page_396\"><\/a>[396]<\/span><br \/>\nearly foresight in an abundant measure of prosperity. One of<br \/>\nhis most interesting visits to the place was in 1838, on the occasion<br \/>\nof the meeting of the British Association there, when he acted<br \/>\nas one of the Vice-Presidents in the section of Mechanical<br \/>\nScience. Extraordinary changes had taken place in his own fortunes,<br \/>\nas well as in the face of the country, since he had first appeared<br \/>\nbefore a scientific body in Newcastle\u2014the members of<br \/>\nthe Literary and Philosophical Institute\u2014to submit his safety-lamp<br \/>\nfor their examination. Twenty-three years had passed over<br \/>\nhis head, full of honest work, of manful struggle, and the humble<br \/>\n&#8220;colliery engine-wright of the name of Stephenson&#8221; had<br \/>\nachieved an almost world-wide reputation as a public benefactor.<br \/>\nHis fellow-townsmen, therefore, could not hesitate to recognize<br \/>\nhis merits and do honor to his presence. During the sittings of<br \/>\nthe Association, the engineer took the opportunity of paying a<br \/>\nvisit to Killingworth, accompanied by some of the distinguished<br \/>\nsavans whom he numbered among his friends. He there pointed<br \/>\nout to them, with a degree of honest pride, the cottage in which<br \/>\nhe had lived for so many years, showing what parts of it had<br \/>\nbeen his handiwork, and told them the story of the sun-dial over<br \/>\nthe door, describing the study and the labor it had cost him and<br \/>\nhis son to calculate its dimensions and fix it in its place. The<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_397\" name=\"Page_397\"><\/a>[397]<\/span><br \/>\ndial had been serenely numbering the hours through the busy<br \/>\nyears that had elapsed since that humble dwelling had been his<br \/>\nhome, during which the Killingworth locomotive had become a<br \/>\ngreat working power, and its contriver had established the railway<br \/>\nsystem, which was now rapidly becoming extended in all<br \/>\nparts of the civilized world.<\/p>\n<p>About the same time, his services were very much in request<br \/>\nat the meetings of Mechanics&#8217; Institutes held throughout the<br \/>\nnorthern counties. From a very early period in his history he<br \/>\nhad taken an active interest in these valuable institutions. While<br \/>\nresiding at Newcastle in 1824, shortly after his locomotive foundery<br \/>\nhad been started in Forth Street, he presided at a public<br \/>\nmeeting held in that town for the purpose of establishing a Mechanics&#8217;<br \/>\nInstitute. The meeting was held; but, as George Stephenson<br \/>\nwas a man comparatively unknown even in Newcastle<br \/>\nat that time, his name failed to secure &#8220;an influential attendance.&#8221;<br \/>\nAmong those who addressed the meeting on the occasion was Joseph<br \/>\nLocke, then his pupil, and afterward his rival as an engineer.<br \/>\nThe local papers scarcely noticed the proceedings, yet the<br \/>\nMechanics&#8217; Institute was founded and struggled into existence.<br \/>\nYears passed, and it was felt to be an honor to secure Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\npresence at any public meetings held for the promotion<br \/>\nof popular education. Among the Mechanics&#8217; Institutes in his<br \/>\nimmediate neighborhood at Tapton were those of Belper and<br \/>\nChesterfield, and at their soir\u00e9es he was a frequent and a welcome<br \/>\nvisitor. On these occasions he loved to tell his auditors of the<br \/>\ndifficulties which had early beset him through want of knowledge,<br \/>\nand of the means by which he had overcome them. His grand<br \/>\ntext was\u2014<span class=\"smcap\">Persevere<\/span>; and there was manhood in the word.<\/p>\n<p>On more than one occasion the author had the pleasure of listening<br \/>\nto George Stephenson&#8217;s homely but forcible addresses at<br \/>\nthe annual soir\u00e9es of the Leeds Mechanics&#8217; Institute. He was<br \/>\nalways an immense favorite with his audiences there. His personal<br \/>\nappearance was greatly in his favor. A handsome, ruddy,<br \/>\nexpressive face, lit up by bright dark blue eyes, prepared one for<br \/>\nhis earnest words when he stood up to speak, and the cheers had<br \/>\nsubsided which invariably hailed his rising. He was not glib,<br \/>\nbut he was very impressive. And who, so well as he, could serve<br \/>\nas a guide to the working-man in his endeavors after higher<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_398\" name=\"Page_398\"><\/a>[398]<\/span><br \/>\nknowledge? His early life had been all struggle\u2014encounter<br \/>\nwith difficulty\u2014groping in the dark after greater light, but always<br \/>\nearnestly and perseveringly. His words were therefore all the<br \/>\nmore weighty, since he spoke from the fullness of his own experience.<\/p>\n<p>Nor did he remain a mere inactive spectator of the improvements<br \/>\nin railway working which increasing experience from day<br \/>\nto day suggested. He continued to contrive improvements in the<br \/>\nlocomotive, and to mature his invention of the carriage-brake.<br \/>\nWhen examined before the Select Committee on Railways in<br \/>\n1841, his mind seems to have been impressed with the necessity<br \/>\nwhich existed for adopting a system of self-acting brakes, stating<br \/>\nthat, in his opinion, this was the most important arrangement that<br \/>\ncould be provided for increasing the safety of railway traveling.<br \/>\n&#8220;I believe,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that if self-acting brakes were put upon every<br \/>\ncarriage, scarcely any accident could take place.&#8221; His plan<br \/>\nconsisted in employing the momentum of the running train to<br \/>\nthrow his proposed brakes into action immediately on the moving<br \/>\npower of the engine being checked. He would also have<br \/>\nthese brakes under the control of the guard, by means of a connecting<br \/>\nline running along the whole length of the train, by<br \/>\nwhich they should at once be thrown out of gear when necessary.<br \/>\nAt the same time he suggested, as an additional means of safety,<br \/>\nthat the signals of the line should be self-acting, and worked by<br \/>\nthe locomotives as they passed along the railway. He considered<br \/>\nthe adoption of this plan of so much importance that, with a view<br \/>\nto the public safety, he would even have it enforced upon railway<br \/>\ncompanies by the Legislature. He was also of opinion that<br \/>\nit was the interest of the companies themselves to adopt the plan,<br \/>\nas it would save great tear and wear of engines, carriages, tenders,<br \/>\nand brake-vans, besides greatly diminishing the risk of accidents<br \/>\nupon railways.<\/p>\n<p>While before the same committee, he took the opportunity of<br \/>\nstating his views with reference to railway speeds, about which<br \/>\nwild ideas were then afloat, one gentleman of celebrity having<br \/>\npublicly expressed the opinion that a speed of a hundred miles<br \/>\nan hour was practicable in railway traveling! Not many years<br \/>\nhad passed since Mr. Stephenson had been pronounced <em>insane<\/em><br \/>\nfor stating his conviction that twelve miles an hour could be performed<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_399\" name=\"Page_399\"><\/a>[399]<\/span><br \/>\nby the locomotive; but, now that he had established the<br \/>\nfact, and greatly exceeded that speed, he was thought behind the<br \/>\nage because he recommended it to be limited to forty miles an hour.<br \/>\nHe said: &#8220;I do not like either forty or fifty miles an hour upon<br \/>\nany line\u2014I think it is an unnecessary speed; and if there is danger<br \/>\nupon a railway, it is high velocity that creates it. I should<br \/>\nsay no railway ought to exceed forty miles an hour on the most<br \/>\nfavorable gradient; but upon a curved line the speed ought not<br \/>\nto exceed twenty-four or twenty-five miles an hour.&#8221; He had,<br \/>\nindeed, constructed for the Great Western Railway an engine<br \/>\ncapable of running fifty miles an hour with a load, and eighty<br \/>\nmiles without one. But he never was in favor of a hurricane<br \/>\nspeed of this sort, believing it could only be accomplished at an<br \/>\nunnecessary increase both of danger and expense.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is true,&#8221; he observed on other occasions,<a id=\"FNanchor_79\" name=\"FNanchor_79\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_79\">[79]<\/a> &#8220;I have said the<br \/>\nlocomotive engine <em>might<\/em> be made to travel a hundred miles an<br \/>\nhour, but I always put a qualification on this, namely, as to what<br \/>\nspeed would best suit the public. The public may, however, be<br \/>\nunreasonable; and fifty or sixty miles an hour is an unreasonable<br \/>\nspeed. Long before railway traveling became general, I said to<br \/>\nmy friends that there was no limit to the speed of the locomotive,<br \/>\n<em>provided the works could be made to stand<\/em>. But there are<br \/>\nlimits to the strength of iron, whether it be manufactured into<br \/>\nrails or locomotives, and there is a point at which both rails and<br \/>\ntires must break. Every increase of speed, by increasing the<br \/>\nstrain upon the road and the rolling stock, brings us nearer to<br \/>\nthat point. At thirty miles a slighter road will do, and less perfect<br \/>\nrolling stock may be run upon it with safety. But if you<br \/>\nincrease the speed by say ten miles, then every thing must be<br \/>\ngreatly strengthened. You must have heavier engines, heavier<br \/>\nand better-fastened rails, and all your working expenses will be<br \/>\nimmensely increased. I think I know enough of mechanics to<br \/>\nknow where to stop. I know that a pound will weigh a pound,<br \/>\nand that more should not be put upon an iron rail than it will<br \/>\nbear. If you could insure perfect iron, perfect rails, and perfect<br \/>\nlocomotives, I grant fifty miles an hour or more might be run<br \/>\nwith safety on a level railway. But then you must not forget<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_400\" name=\"Page_400\"><\/a>[400]<\/span><br \/>\nthat iron, even the best, will &#8216;tire,&#8217; and with constant use will become<br \/>\nmore and more liable to break at the weakest point\u2014perhaps<br \/>\nwhere there is a secret flaw that the eye can not detect.<br \/>\nThen look at the rubbishy rails now manufactured on the contract<br \/>\nsystem\u2014some of them little better than cast metal: indeed,<br \/>\nI have seen rails break merely on being thrown from the truck on<br \/>\nto the ground. How is it possible for such rails to stand a twenty<br \/>\nor thirty ton engine dashing over them at the speed of fifty<br \/>\nmiles an hour? No, no,&#8221; he would conclude, &#8220;I am in favor of<br \/>\nlow speeds because they are safe, and because they are economical;<br \/>\nand you may rely upon it that, beyond a certain point, with<br \/>\nevery increase of speed there is a certain increase in the element<br \/>\nof danger.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>When railways became the subject of popular discussion, many<br \/>\nnew and unsound theories were started with reference to them,<br \/>\nwhich Stephenson opposed as calculated, in his opinion, to bring<br \/>\ndiscredit on the locomotive system. One of these was with reference<br \/>\nto what were called &#8220;undulating lines.&#8221; Dr. Lardner,<br \/>\nwho at an earlier period was skeptical as to the powers of the locomotive,<br \/>\nnow promulgated the idea that a railway constructed<br \/>\nwith rising and falling gradients would be practically as easy to<br \/>\nwork as a line perfectly level. Mr. Badnell went even beyond<br \/>\nhim, for he held that an undulating railway was much better<br \/>\nthan a level one for purposes of working.<a id=\"FNanchor_80\" name=\"FNanchor_80\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_80\">[80]<\/a> For a time this theory<br \/>\nfound favor, and the &#8220;undulating system&#8221; was extensively<br \/>\nadopted; but George Stephenson never ceased to inveigh against<br \/>\nit, and experience has proved that his judgment was correct.<br \/>\nHis practice, from the beginning of his career until the end of<br \/>\nit, was to secure a road as nearly as possible on a level, following<br \/>\nthe course of the valleys and the natural line of the country;<br \/>\npreferring to go round a hill rather than to tunnel under it or<br \/>\ncarry his railway over it, and often making a considerable circuit<br \/>\nto secure good workable gradients. He studied to lay out his<br \/>\nlines so that long trains of minerals and merchandise, as well as<br \/>\npassengers, might be hauled along them at the least possible expenditure<br \/>\nof locomotive power. He had long before ascertained,<br \/>\nby careful experiments at Killingworth, that the engine expends<br \/>\nhalf its power in overcoming a rising gradient of 1 in 260, which<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_401\" name=\"Page_401\"><\/a>[401]<\/span><br \/>\nis about 20 feet in the mile; and that when the gradient is so<br \/>\nsteep as 1 in 100, not less than three fourths of its power is sacrificed<br \/>\nin ascending the acclivity. He never forgot the valuable<br \/>\npractical lessons taught him by these early trials, which he had<br \/>\nmade and registered long before the advantages of railways had<br \/>\nbecome recognized. He saw clearly that the longer flat line<br \/>\nmust eventually prove superior to the shorter line of steep gradients<br \/>\nas respected its paying qualities. He urged that, after all,<br \/>\nthe power of the locomotive was but limited; and, although he<br \/>\nand his son had done more than any other men to increase its<br \/>\nworking capacity, it provoked him to find that every improvement<br \/>\nmade in it was neutralized by the steep gradients which the<br \/>\nnew school of engineers were setting it to overcome. On one occasion,<br \/>\nwhen Robert Stephenson stated before a Parliamentary<br \/>\ncommittee that every successive improvement in the locomotive<br \/>\nwas being rendered virtually nugatory by the difficult and almost<br \/>\nimpracticable gradients proposed on many of the new lines, his<br \/>\nfather, on his leaving the witness-box, went up to him, and said,<br \/>\n&#8220;Robert, you never spoke truer words than those in all your<br \/>\nlife.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>To this it must be added, that in urging these views George<br \/>\nStephenson was strongly influenced by commercial considerations.<br \/>\nHe had no desire to build up his reputation at the expense of<br \/>\nrailway shareholders, nor to obtain engineering <em>\u00e9clat<\/em> by making<br \/>\n&#8220;ducks and drakes&#8221; of their money. He was persuaded that, in<br \/>\norder to secure the practical success of railways, they must be so<br \/>\nlaid out as not only to prove of decided public utility, but also to<br \/>\nbe worked economically and to the advantage of their proprietors.<br \/>\nThey were not government roads, but private ventures\u2014in<br \/>\nfact, commercial speculations. He therefore endeavored to render<br \/>\nthem financially profitable; and he repeatedly declared that<br \/>\nif he did not believe they could be &#8220;made to pay,&#8221; he would have<br \/>\nnothing to do with them.<a id=\"FNanchor_81\" name=\"FNanchor_81\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_81\">[81]<\/a> Nor was he influenced by the sordid<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_402\" name=\"Page_402\"><\/a>[402]<\/span><br \/>\nconsideration merely of what he could <em>make<\/em> out of any company<br \/>\nthat employed him, but in many cases he voluntarily gave up his<br \/>\nclaim to remuneration where the promoters of schemes which he<br \/>\nthought praiseworthy had suffered serious loss. Thus, when the<br \/>\nfirst application was made to Parliament for the Chester and Birkenhead<br \/>\nRailway Bill, the promoters were defeated. They repeated<br \/>\ntheir application on the understanding that in event of<br \/>\ntheir succeeding the engineer and surveyor were to be paid their<br \/>\ncosts in respect of the defeated measure. The bill was successful,<br \/>\nand to several parties their costs were paid. Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\namounted to \u00a3800, and he very nobly said, &#8220;You have had an<br \/>\nexpensive career in Parliament; you have had a great struggle;<br \/>\nyou are a young company; you can not afford to pay me this<br \/>\namount of money; I will reduce it to \u00a3200, and I will not ask<br \/>\nyou for the \u00a3200 until your shares are at \u00a320 premium; for,<br \/>\nwhatever may be the reverses you have to go through, I am satisfied<br \/>\nI shall live to see the day when your shares will be at \u00a320<br \/>\npremium, and when I can legally and honorably claim that \u00a3200.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_82\" name=\"FNanchor_82\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_82\">[82]<\/a><br \/>\nWe may add that the shares did eventually rise to the premium<br \/>\nspecified, and the engineer was no loser by his generous conduct<br \/>\nin the transaction.<\/p>\n<p>Another novelty of the time with which George Stephenson<br \/>\nhad to contend was the proposed substitution of atmospheric<br \/>\npressure for locomotive steam-power in the working of railways.<br \/>\nThe idea of obtaining motion by means of atmospheric pressure<br \/>\noriginated with Denis Papin more than a century and a half ago;<br \/>\nbut it slept until revived in 1810 by Mr. Medhurst, who published<br \/>\na pamphlet to prove the practicability of carrying letters and<br \/>\ngoods by air. In 1824, Mr. Vallance, of Brighton, took out a<br \/>\npatent for projecting passengers through a tube large enough to<br \/>\ncontain a train of carriages, the tube ahead of the carriages being<br \/>\npreviously exhausted of its atmospheric air. The same idea<br \/>\nwas afterward taken up, in 1835, by Mr. Pinkus, an ingenious<br \/>\nAmerican. Several scientific gentlemen, Dr. Lardner and Mr.<br \/>\nClegg among others, advocated the plan, and an association was<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_403\" name=\"Page_403\"><\/a>[403]<\/span><br \/>\nformed to carry it into effect. Shares were created, and \u00a318,000<br \/>\nraised; and a model apparatus was exhibited in London. Mr.<br \/>\nVignolles took Mr. Stephenson to see the model; and after carefully<br \/>\nexamining it, he observed emphatically, &#8220;<em>It won&#8217;t do<\/em>: it is<br \/>\nonly the fixed engines and ropes over again, in another form;<br \/>\nand, to tell you the truth, I don&#8217;t think this rope of wind will answer<br \/>\nso well as the rope of wire did.&#8221; He did not think the<br \/>\nprinciple would stand the test of practice, and he objected to the<br \/>\nmode of applying the principle. The stationary-engine system<br \/>\nwas open to serious objections in whatever form applied; and<br \/>\nevery day&#8217;s experience showed that the fixed engines could not<br \/>\ncompete with locomotives in point of efficiency and economy.<br \/>\nStephenson stood by the locomotive engine, and subsequent experience<br \/>\nproved that he was right.<\/p>\n<p>Messrs. Clegg and Samuda afterward, in 1840, patented their<br \/>\nplan of an atmospheric railway, and they publicly tested its working<br \/>\non a portion of the West London Railway. The results of<br \/>\nthe experiment were considered so satisfactory, that the directors<br \/>\nof the Dublin and Kingstown line adopted it between Kingstown<br \/>\nand Dalkey. The London and Croydon Company also adopted<br \/>\nthe atmospheric principle; and their line was opened in 1845.<br \/>\nThe ordinary mode of applying the power was to lay between the<br \/>\nline of rails a pipe, in which a large piston was inserted, and attached<br \/>\nby a shaft to the framework of a carriage. The propelling<br \/>\npower was the ordinary pressure of the atmosphere acting<br \/>\nagainst the piston in the tube on one side, a vacuum being created<br \/>\nin the tube on the other side of the piston by the working of<br \/>\na stationary engine. Great was the popularity of the atmospheric<br \/>\nsystem; and still George Stephenson said, &#8220;It won&#8217;t do; it&#8217;s but<br \/>\na gimcrack.&#8221; Engineers of distinction said he was prejudiced,<br \/>\nand that he looked upon the locomotive as a pet child of his own.<br \/>\n&#8220;Wait a little,&#8221; he replied, &#8220;and you will see that I am right.&#8221;<br \/>\nIt was generally supposed that the locomotive system was about<br \/>\nto be snuffed out. &#8220;Not so fast,&#8221; said Stephenson. &#8220;Let us wait<br \/>\nto see if it will pay.&#8221; He never believed it would. It was ingenious,<br \/>\nclever, scientific, and all that; but railways were commercial<br \/>\nenterprises, not toys; and if the atmospheric railway<br \/>\ncould not work to a profit, it would not do. Considered in this<br \/>\nlight, he even went so far as to call it &#8220;a great humbug.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_404\" name=\"Page_404\"><\/a>[404]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>No one can say that the atmospheric railway had not a fair<br \/>\ntrial. The government engineer, General Pasley, did for it what<br \/>\nhad never been done for the locomotive\u2014he reported in its favor,<br \/>\nwhereas a former, government engineer had inferentially reported<br \/>\nagainst the use of locomotive power on railways. The House of<br \/>\nCommons had also reported in favor of the use of the steam-engine<br \/>\non common roads; yet the railway locomotive had vitality<br \/>\nenough in it to live through all. &#8220;Nothing will beat it,&#8221; said<br \/>\nGeorge Stephenson, &#8220;for efficiency in all weathers, for economy<br \/>\nin drawing loads of average weight, and for power and speed as<br \/>\noccasion may require.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The atmospheric system was fairly and fully tried, and it was<br \/>\nfound wanting. It was admitted to be an exceedingly elegant<br \/>\nmode of applying power; its devices were very skillful, and its<br \/>\nmechanism was most ingenious. But it was costly, irregular in<br \/>\naction, and, in particular kinds of weather, not to be depended<br \/>\nupon. At best, it was but a modification of the stationary-engine<br \/>\nsystem, and experience proved it to be so expensive that it was<br \/>\nshortly after entirely abandoned in favor of locomotive power.<a id=\"FNanchor_83\" name=\"FNanchor_83\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_83\">[83]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>One of the remarkable results of the system of railway locomotion<br \/>\nwhich George Stephenson had by his persevering labors<br \/>\nmainly contributed to establish was the outbreak of the railway<br \/>\nmania toward the close of his professional career. The success<br \/>\nof the first main lines of railway naturally led to their extension<br \/>\ninto many new districts; but a strongly speculative tendency soon<br \/>\nbegan to display itself, which contained in it the elements of great<br \/>\ndanger.<\/p>\n<p>The extension of railways had, up to the year 1844, been mainly<br \/>\neffected by men of the commercial classes, and the shareholders<br \/>\nin them principally belonged to the manufacturing districts\u2014the<br \/>\ncapitalists of the metropolis as yet holding aloof, and prophesying<br \/>\ndisaster to all concerned in railway projects. The Stock<br \/>\nExchange looked askance upon them, and it was with difficulty<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_405\" name=\"Page_405\"><\/a>[405]<\/span><br \/>\nthat respectable brokers could be found to do business in the<br \/>\nshares. But when the lugubrious anticipations of the City men<br \/>\nwere found to be so entirely falsified by the results\u2014when, after<br \/>\nthe lapse of years, it was ascertained that railway traffic rapidly<br \/>\nincreased and dividends steadily improved\u2014a change came over<br \/>\nthe spirit of the London capitalists. They then invested largely<br \/>\nin railways, the shares in which became a leading branch of business<br \/>\non the Stock Exchange, and the prices of some rose to nearly<br \/>\ndouble their original value.<\/p>\n<p>A stimulus was thus given to the projection of farther lines,<br \/>\nthe shares in most of which came out at a premium, and became<br \/>\nthe subject of immediate traffic. A reckless spirit of gambling<br \/>\nset in, which completely changed the character and objects of<br \/>\nrailway enterprise. The public outside the Stock Exchange became<br \/>\nalso infected, and many persons utterly ignorant of railways,<br \/>\nbut hungering and thirsting after premiums, rushed eagerly<br \/>\ninto the vortex. They applied for allotments, and subscribed for<br \/>\nshares in lines, of the engineering character or probable traffic of<br \/>\nwhich they knew nothing. Provided they could but obtain allotments<br \/>\nwhich they could sell at a premium, and put the profit\u2014in<br \/>\nmany cases the only capital they possessed<a id=\"FNanchor_84\" name=\"FNanchor_84\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_84\">[84]<\/a>\u2014into their pockets,<br \/>\nit was enough for them. The mania was not confined to the<br \/>\nprecincts of the Stock Exchange, but infected all ranks. It embraced<br \/>\nmerchants and manufacturers, gentry and shop-keepers,<br \/>\nclerks in public offices, and loungers at the clubs. Noble lords<br \/>\nwere pointed at as &#8220;stags;&#8221; there were even clergymen who were<br \/>\ncharacterized as &#8220;bulls,&#8221; and amiable ladies who had the reputation<br \/>\nof &#8220;bears,&#8221; in the share-markets. The few quiet men who<br \/>\nremained uninfluenced by the speculation of the time were, in<br \/>\nnot a few cases, even reproached for doing injustice to their families<br \/>\nin declining to help themselves from the stores of wealth that<br \/>\nwere poured out on all sides.<\/p>\n<p>Folly and knavery were for a time in the ascendant. The<br \/>\nsharpers of society were let loose, and jobbers and schemers became<br \/>\nmore and more plentiful. They threw out railway schemes<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_406\" name=\"Page_406\"><\/a>[406]<\/span><br \/>\nas lures to catch the unwary. They fed the mania with a constant<br \/>\nsuccession of new projects. The railway papers became<br \/>\nloaded with their advertisements. The post-office was scarcely<br \/>\nable to distribute the multitude of prospectuses and circulars<br \/>\nwhich they issued. For a time their popularity was immense.<br \/>\nThey rose like froth into the upper heights of society, and the<br \/>\nflunkey Fitz Plushe, by virtue of his supposed wealth, sat among<br \/>\npeers and was idolized. Then was the harvest-time for scheming<br \/>\nlawyers, Parliamentary agents, engineers, surveyors, and traffic-takers,<br \/>\nwho were ready to take up any railway scheme however<br \/>\ndesperate, and to prove any amount of traffic even where none<br \/>\nexisted. The traffic in the credulity of their dupes was, however,<br \/>\nthe great fact that mainly concerned them, and of the profitable<br \/>\ncharacter of which there could be no doubt.<\/p>\n<p>Parliament, whose previous conduct in connection with railway<br \/>\nlegislation was so open to reprehension, interposed no check\u2014attempted<br \/>\nno remedy. On the contrary, it helped to intensify<br \/>\nthe evils arising from this unseemly state of things. Many of<br \/>\nits members were themselves involved in the mania, and as much<br \/>\ninterested in its continuance as the vulgar herd of money-grubbers.<br \/>\nThe railway prospectuses now issued\u2014unlike the original<br \/>\nLiverpool and Manchester, and London and Birmingham schemes\u2014were<br \/>\nheaded by peers, baronets, landed proprietors, and strings<br \/>\nof M.P&#8217;s. Thus it was found in 1845 that no fewer than 157<br \/>\nmembers of Parliament were on the lists of new companies as<br \/>\nsubscribers for sums ranging from \u00a3291,000 downward! The<br \/>\nprojectors of new lines even came to boast of their Parliamentary<br \/>\nstrength, and of the number of votes which they could command<br \/>\nin &#8220;the House.&#8221; At all events, it is matter of fact, that many<br \/>\nutterly ruinous branches and extensions projected during the<br \/>\nmania, calculated only to benefit the inhabitants of a few miserable<br \/>\nboroughs accidentally omitted from Schedule A, were authorized<br \/>\nin the memorable sessions of 1844 and 1845.<\/p>\n<p>George Stephenson was anxiously entreated to lend his name<br \/>\nto prospectuses during the railway mania, but he invariably refused.<br \/>\nHe held aloof from the headlong folly of the hour, and<br \/>\nendeavored to check it, but in vain. Had he been less scrupulous,<br \/>\nand given his countenance to the numerous projects about<br \/>\nwhich he was consulted, he might, without any trouble, have thus<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_407\" name=\"Page_407\"><\/a>[407]<\/span><br \/>\nsecured enormous gains; but he had no desire to accumulate a<br \/>\nfortune without labor and without honor. He himself never<br \/>\nspeculated in shares. When he was satisfied as to the merits of<br \/>\nan undertaking, he would sometimes subscribe for a certain<br \/>\namount of capital in it, when he held on, neither buying nor<br \/>\nselling. At a dinner of the Leeds and Bradford directors at<br \/>\nBen Rydding in October, 1844, before the mania had reached its<br \/>\nheight, he warned those present against the prevalent disposition<br \/>\ntoward railway speculation. It was, he said, like walking upon a<br \/>\npiece of ice with shallows and deeps; the shallows were frozen<br \/>\nover, and they would carry, but it required great caution to get<br \/>\nover the deeps. He was satisfied that in the course of the next<br \/>\nyear many would step on to places not strong enough to carry<br \/>\nthem, and would get into the deeps; they would be taking shares,<br \/>\nand afterward be unable to pay the calls upon them. Yorkshiremen<br \/>\nwere reckoned clever men, and his advice to them was to<br \/>\nstick together and promote communication in their own neighborhood\u2014not<br \/>\nto go abroad with their speculations. If any had<br \/>\ndone so, he advised them to get their money back as fast as they<br \/>\ncould, for if they did not they would not get it at all. He informed<br \/>\nthe company, at the same time, of his earliest holding of<br \/>\nrailway shares; it was in the Stockton and Darlington Railway,<br \/>\nand the number he held was <em>three<\/em>\u2014&#8221;a very large capital for<br \/>\nhim to possess at the time.&#8221; But a Stockton friend was anxious<br \/>\nto possess a share, and he sold him <em>one<\/em> at a premium of 33<i>s.<\/i>; he<br \/>\nsupposed he had been about the first man in England to sell a<br \/>\nrailway share at a premium.<\/p>\n<p>During 1845, his son&#8217;s office in Great George Street, Westminster,<br \/>\nwas crowded with persons of various conditions seeking interviews,<br \/>\npresenting very much the appearance of the levee of a<br \/>\nminister of state. The burly figure of Mr. Hudson, the &#8220;Railway<br \/>\nKing,&#8221; surrounded by an admiring group of followers, was often<br \/>\nto be seen there; and a still more interesting person, in the estimation<br \/>\nof many, was George Stephenson, dressed in black, his<br \/>\ncoat of somewhat old-fashioned cut, with square pockets in the<br \/>\ntails. He wore a white neckcloth, and a large bunch of seals<br \/>\nwas suspended from his watch-ribbon. Altogether, he presented<br \/>\nan appearance of health, intelligence, and good humor, that it<br \/>\ngladdened one to look upon in that sordid, selfish, and eventually<br \/>\nruinous saturnalia of railway speculation.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_408\" name=\"Page_408\"><\/a>[408]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Being still the consulting engineer of several of the older companies,<br \/>\nhe necessarily appeared before Parliament in support of<br \/>\ntheir branches and extensions. In 1845 his name was associated<br \/>\nwith that of his son as the engineer of the Southport and Preston<br \/>\nJunction. In the same session he gave evidence in favor of the<br \/>\nSyston and Peterborough branch of the Midland Railway; but<br \/>\nhis principal attention was confined to the promotion of the line<br \/>\nfrom Newcastle to Berwick, in which he had never ceased to take<br \/>\nthe deepest interest.<\/p>\n<p>Powers were granted by Parliament in 1845 to construct not<br \/>\nless than 2883 miles of new railways in Britain, at an expenditure<br \/>\nof about forty-four millions sterling! Yet the mania was<br \/>\nnot appeased; for in the following session of 1846, applications<br \/>\nwere made to Parliament for powers to raise \u00a3389,000,000 sterling<br \/>\nfor the construction of farther lines; and they were actually<br \/>\nconceded to the extent of 4790 miles (including 60 miles of<br \/>\ntunnels), at a cost of about \u00a3120,000,000 sterling.<a id=\"FNanchor_85\" name=\"FNanchor_85\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_85\">[85]<\/a> During this<br \/>\nsession Mr. Stephenson appeared as engineer for only one new<br \/>\nline\u2014the Buxton, Macclesfield, Congleton, and Crewe Railway\u2014a<br \/>\nline in which, as a coal-owner, he was personally interested;<br \/>\nand of three branch lines in connection with existing companies<br \/>\nfor which he had long acted as engineer. At the same period<br \/>\nall the leading professional men were fully occupied, some of<br \/>\nthem appearing as consulting engineers for upward of thirty<br \/>\nlines each!<\/p>\n<p>One of the features of this mania was the rage for &#8220;direct<br \/>\nlines&#8221; which every where displayed itself. There were &#8220;Direct<br \/>\nManchester,&#8221; &#8220;Direct Exeter,&#8221; &#8220;Direct York,&#8221; and, indeed, new<br \/>\ndirect lines between most of the large towns. The Marquis of<br \/>\nBristol, speaking in favor of the &#8220;Direct Norwich and London&#8221;<br \/>\nproject at a public meeting at Haverhill, said, &#8220;If necessary, they<br \/>\nmight <em>make a tunnel beneath his very drawing-room<\/em> rather than<br \/>\nbe defeated in their undertaking!&#8221; And the Rev. F. Litchfield,<br \/>\nat a meeting in Banbury on the subject of a line to that town,<br \/>\nsaid, &#8220;He had laid down for himself a limit to his approbation<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_409\" name=\"Page_409\"><\/a>[409]<\/span><br \/>\nof railways\u2014at least of such as approached the neighborhood<br \/>\nwith which he was connected\u2014and that limit was, that he did not<br \/>\nwish them to approach any nearer to him than <em>to run through his<br \/>\nbedroom, with the bedposts for a station<\/em>!&#8221; How different was<br \/>\nthe spirit which influenced these noble lords and gentlemen but<br \/>\na few years before!<\/p>\n<p>The course adopted by Parliament in dealing with the multitude<br \/>\nof railway bills applied for during the prevalence of the<br \/>\nmania was as irrational as it proved unfortunate. The want of<br \/>\nforesight displayed by both houses in obstructing the railway system<br \/>\nso long as it was based upon sound commercial principles<br \/>\nwas only equaled by the fatal facility with which they now granted<br \/>\nrailway projects based upon the wildest speculation. Parliament<br \/>\ninterposed no check, laid down no principle, furnished no<br \/>\nguidance, for the conduct of railway projectors, but left every<br \/>\ncompany to select its own locality, determine its own line, and<br \/>\nfix its own gauge. No regard was paid to the claims of existing<br \/>\ncompanies, which had already expended so large an amount in<br \/>\nthe formation of useful railways; and speculators were left at<br \/>\nliberty to project and carry out lines almost parallel with theirs.<\/p>\n<p>The House of Commons became thoroughly influenced by the<br \/>\nprevailing excitement. Even the Board of Trade began to favor<br \/>\nthe views of the new and reckless school of engineers. In their<br \/>\n&#8220;Report on the Lines projected in the Manchester and Leeds<br \/>\nDistrict,&#8221; they promulgated some remarkable views respecting<br \/>\ngradients, declaring themselves in favor of the &#8220;undulating system.&#8221;<br \/>\nThey there stated that lines of an undulating character<br \/>\n&#8220;which gave gradients of 1 in 70 or 1 in 80 distributed over them<br \/>\nin short lengths, may be positively <em>better<\/em> lines, <em>i.e.<\/em>, <em>more susceptible<br \/>\nof cheap and expeditious working<\/em>, than others which have<br \/>\nnothing steeper than 1 in 100 or 1 in 120!&#8221; They concluded by<br \/>\nreporting in favor of the line which exhibited the worst gradients<br \/>\nand the sharpest curves, chiefly on the ground that it could be<br \/>\nconstructed for less money.<\/p>\n<p>Sir Robert Peel took occasion, when speaking in favor of the<br \/>\ncontinuance of the Railways Department of the Board of Trade,<br \/>\nto advert to this report in the House of Commons on the 4th of<br \/>\nMarch following, as containing &#8220;a novel and highly important<br \/>\nview on the subject of gradients, which, he was certain, never<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_410\" name=\"Page_410\"><\/a>[410]<\/span><br \/>\ncould have been taken by any committee of the House of Commons,<br \/>\nhowever intelligent;&#8221; and he might have added, that the<br \/>\nmore intelligent, the less likely would they be to arrive at any<br \/>\nsuch conclusion. When George Stephenson saw this report of<br \/>\nthe premier&#8217;s speech in the newspapers of the following morning,<br \/>\nhe went forthwith to his son, and asked him to write a letter to<br \/>\nSir Robert Peel on the subject. He saw clearly that if such<br \/>\nviews were adopted, the utility and economy of railways would<br \/>\nbe seriously curtailed. &#8220;These members of Parliament,&#8221; said he,<br \/>\n&#8220;are now as much disposed to exaggerate the powers of the locomotive<br \/>\nas they were to underestimate them but a few years ago.&#8221;<br \/>\nRobert accordingly wrote a letter for his father&#8217;s signature, embodying<br \/>\nthe views which he so strongly entertained as to the importance<br \/>\nof flat gradients, and referring to the experiments conducted<br \/>\nby him many years before in proof of the great loss of<br \/>\nworking power which was incurred on a line of steep as compared<br \/>\nwith easy gradients. It was clear, from the tone of Sir<br \/>\nRobert Peel&#8217;s speech in a subsequent debate, that he had carefully<br \/>\nread and considered Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s practical observations on<br \/>\nthe subject, though it did not appear that he had come to any<br \/>\ndefinite conclusion thereon farther than that he strongly approved<br \/>\nof the Trent Valley Railway, by which Tamworth would be placed<br \/>\nupon a direct main line of communication.<\/p>\n<p>The result of the labors of Parliament was a <span class=\"corr\" title=\"Transcriber's Note\u2014original text: 'tisue'\">tissue<\/span> of legislative<br \/>\nbungling, involving enormous loss to the nation. Railway bills<br \/>\nwere granted in heaps. Two hundred and seventy-two additional<br \/>\nacts were passed in 1846. Some authorized the construction<br \/>\nof lines running almost parallel with existing railways, in order<br \/>\nto afford the public &#8220;the benefits of unrestricted competition.&#8221;<br \/>\nLocomotive and atmospheric lines, broad-gauge and narrow-gauge<br \/>\nlines, were granted without hesitation. Committees decided without<br \/>\njudgment and without discrimination; and in the scramble<br \/>\nfor bills, the most unscrupulous were usually the most successful.<br \/>\nAs an illustration of the legislative folly of the period, Robert<br \/>\nStephenson, speaking at Toronto, in Upper Canada, some years<br \/>\nlater, adduced the following instances:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;There was one district through which it was proposed to run<br \/>\ntwo lines, and there was no other difficulty between them than the<br \/>\nsimple rivalry that, if one got a charter, the other might also. But<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_411\" name=\"Page_411\"><\/a>[411]<\/span><br \/>\nhere, where the committee might have given both, they gave neither.<br \/>\nIn another instance, two lines were projected through a barren<br \/>\ncountry, and the committee gave the one which afforded the<br \/>\nleast accommodation to the public. In another, where two lines<br \/>\nwere projected to run, merely to shorten the time by a few minutes,<br \/>\nleading through a mountainous country, the committee gave both.<br \/>\nSo that, where the committee might have given both, they gave<br \/>\nneither, and where they should have given neither, they gave both.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Among the many ill effects of the mania, one of the worst was<br \/>\nthat it introduced a low tone of morality into railway transactions.<br \/>\nThe bad spirit which had been evoked by it unhappily extended<br \/>\nto the commercial classes, and many of the most flagrant<br \/>\nswindles of recent times had their origin in the year 1845.<br \/>\nThose who had suddenly gained large sums without labor, and<br \/>\nalso without honor, were too ready to enter upon courses of the<br \/>\nwildest extravagance; and a false style of living arose, the poisonous<br \/>\ninfluence of which extended through all classes. Men began<br \/>\nto look upon railways as instruments to job with. Persons<br \/>\nsometimes possessing information respecting railways, but more<br \/>\nfrequently possessing none, got upon boards for the purpose of<br \/>\npromoting their individual objects, often in a very unscrupulous<br \/>\nmanner; land-owners, to promote branch lines through their<br \/>\nproperty; speculators in shares, to trade upon the exclusive information<br \/>\nwhich they obtained; while some directors were appointed<br \/>\nthrough the influence mainly of solicitors, contractors,<br \/>\nor engineers, who used them as tools to serve their own ends.<br \/>\nIn this way the unfortunate proprietors were in many cases betrayed,<br \/>\nand their property was shamefully squandered, much to<br \/>\nthe discredit of the railway system.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most prominent celebrities of the mania was George<br \/>\nHudson, of York. He was a man of some local repute in that<br \/>\ncity when the line between Leeds and York was projected. His<br \/>\nviews as to railways were then extremely moderate, and his main<br \/>\nobject in joining the undertaking was to secure for York the advantages<br \/>\nof the best railway communication. The company was<br \/>\nnot very prosperous at first, and during the years 1840 and 1841<br \/>\nthe shares had greatly sunk in value. Mr. Alderman Meek, the<br \/>\nfirst chairman, having retired, Mr. Hudson was elected in his<br \/>\nstead, and he very shortly contrived to pay improved dividends to<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_412\" name=\"Page_412\"><\/a>[412]<\/span><br \/>\nthe proprietors, who asked no questions. Desiring to extend the<br \/>\nfield of his operations, he proceeded to lease the Leeds and Selby<br \/>\nRailway at five per cent. That line had hitherto been a losing<br \/>\nconcern; so its owners readily struck a bargain with Mr. Hudson,<br \/>\nand sounded his praises in all directions. He increased the<br \/>\ndividends on the York and North Midland shares to ten per<br \/>\ncent., and began to be cited as the model of a railway chairman.<\/p>\n<p>He next interested himself in the North Midland Railway,<br \/>\nwhere he appeared in the character of a reformer of abuses.<br \/>\nThe North Midland shares also had gone to a heavy discount,<br \/>\nand the shareholders were accordingly desirous of securing his<br \/>\nservices. They elected him a director. His bustling, pushing,<br \/>\npersevering character gave him an influential position at the<br \/>\nboard, and he soon pushed the old members from their stools.<br \/>\nHe labored hard, at much personal inconvenience, to help the<br \/>\nconcern out of its difficulties, and he succeeded. The new directors,<br \/>\nrecognizing his power, elected him their chairman.<\/p>\n<p>Railways revived in 1842, and public confidence in them as<br \/>\nprofitable investments was gradually increasing. Mr. Hudson<br \/>\nhad the benefit of this growing prosperity. The dividends in his<br \/>\nlines improved, and the shares rose in value. The Lord-mayor<br \/>\nof York began to be quoted as one of the most capable of railway<br \/>\ndirectors. Stimulated by his success and encouraged by his<br \/>\nfollowers, he struck out or supported many new projects\u2014a line<br \/>\nto Scarborough, a line to Bradford, lines in the Midland districts,<br \/>\nand lines to connect York with Newcastle and Edinburg. He<br \/>\nwas elected chairman of the Newcastle and Darlington Railway;<br \/>\nand when\u2014in order to complete the continuity of the main line<br \/>\nof communication\u2014it was found necessary to secure the Durham<br \/>\njunction, which was an important link in the chain, he and George<br \/>\nStephenson boldly purchased that railway between them, at the<br \/>\nprice of \u00a388,500. It was an exceedingly fortunate purchase for<br \/>\nthe company, to whom it was worth double the money. The act,<br \/>\nthough not strictly legal, proved successful in the issue, and was<br \/>\nmuch lauded. Thus encouraged, Mr. Hudson proceeded to buy<br \/>\nthe Brandling Junction line for \u00a3500,000 in his own name\u2014an<br \/>\noperation at the time regarded as equally favorable, though he<br \/>\nwas afterward charged with appropriating 1600 of the shares<br \/>\ncreated for the purchase, when worth \u00a321 premium each. The<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_413\" name=\"Page_413\"><\/a>[413]<\/span><br \/>\nGreat North of England line being completed, Mr. Hudson had<br \/>\nthus secured the entire line of communication from York to<br \/>\nNewcastle, and the route was opened to the public in June, 1844.<br \/>\nOn that occasion Newcastle eulogized Mr. Hudson in its choicest<br \/>\nlocal eloquence, and he was pronounced to be the greatest benefactor<br \/>\nthe district had ever known.<\/p>\n<p>The adulation which followed Mr. Hudson would have intoxicated<br \/>\na stronger and more self-denying man. He was pronounced<br \/>\nthe man of the age, and hailed as &#8220;the Railway King.&#8221; The<br \/>\nhighest test by which the shareholders judged him was the dividends<br \/>\nthat he paid, though subsequent events proved that these<br \/>\ndividends were in many cases delusive, intended only &#8220;to make<br \/>\nthings pleasant.&#8221; The policy, however, had its effect. The shares<br \/>\nin all the lines of which he was chairman went to a premium,<br \/>\nand then arose the temptation to create new shares in branch and<br \/>\nextension lines, often worthless, which were issued at a premium<br \/>\nalso. Thus he shortly found himself chairman of nearly 600<br \/>\nmiles of railway, extending from Rugby to Newcastle, and at the<br \/>\nhead of numerous new projects, by means of which paper-wealth<br \/>\ncould be created as it were at pleasure. He held in his own<br \/>\nhands almost the entire administrative power of the companies<br \/>\nover which he presided: he was chairman, board, manager, and<br \/>\nall. His admirers for the time, inspired sometimes by gratitude<br \/>\nfor past favors, but oftener by the expectation of favors to come,<br \/>\nsupported him in all his measures. At the meetings of the companies,<br \/>\nif any suspicious shareholder ventured to put a question<br \/>\nabout the accounts, he was snubbed by the chair and hissed by<br \/>\nthe proprietors. The Railway King was voted praises, testimonials,<br \/>\nand surplus shares alike liberally, and scarcely a word<br \/>\nagainst him could find a hearing. He was equally popular outside<br \/>\nthe circle of railway proprietors. His entertainments at Albert<br \/>\nGate were crowded by sycophants, many of them titled; and<br \/>\nhe went his rounds of visits among the peerage like a prince.<\/p>\n<p>Of course Mr. Hudson was a great authority on railway questions<br \/>\nin Parliament, to which the burgesses of Sunderland had<br \/>\nsent him. His experience of railways, still little understood,<br \/>\nthough the subject of so much legislation, gave value and weight<br \/>\nto his opinions, and in many respects he was a useful member.<br \/>\nDuring the first years of his membership he was chiefly occupied<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_414\" name=\"Page_414\"><\/a>[414]<\/span><br \/>\nin passing the railway bills in which he was more particularly<br \/>\ninterested; and in the session of 1845, when he was at the height<br \/>\nof his power, it was triumphantly said of him that &#8220;he walked<br \/>\nquietly through Parliament with some sixteen railway bills under<br \/>\nhis arm.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>One of these bills, however, was the subject of a severe contest\u2014we<br \/>\nmean that empowering the construction of the railway<br \/>\nfrom Newcastle to Berwick. It was almost the only bill in which<br \/>\nGeorge Stephenson was concerned that year. Mr. Hudson displayed<br \/>\ngreat energy in supporting the measure, and he worked<br \/>\nhard to insure its success both in and out of Parliament; but he<br \/>\nhimself attributed the chief merit to Stephenson. He accordingly<br \/>\nsuggested to the shareholders that they should present the engineer<br \/>\nwith some fitting testimonial in recognition of his services.<br \/>\nIndeed, a Stephenson Testimonial had long been spoken of, and<br \/>\na committee was formed for raising subscriptions for the purpose<br \/>\nas early as the year 1839. Mr. Hudson now revived the subject,<br \/>\nand appealed to the Newcastle and Darlington, the Midland, and<br \/>\nthe York and North Midland Companies, who unanimously adopted<br \/>\nthe resolutions which he proposed to them amid &#8220;loud applause,&#8221;<br \/>\nbut there the matter ended.<\/p>\n<p>The Hudson Testimonial was a much more taking thing, for<br \/>\nHudson had it in his power to allot shares (selling at a premium)<br \/>\nto his adulators. But Stephenson pretended to fill no man&#8217;s<br \/>\npocket with premiums; he was no creator of shares, and could<br \/>\nnot therefore work upon shareholders&#8217; gratitude for &#8220;favors to<br \/>\ncome.&#8221; The proposed testimonial to him accordingly ended with<br \/>\nresolutions and speeches. The York, Newcastle, and Berwick<br \/>\nBoard\u2014in other words, Mr. Hudson\u2014did indeed mark their<br \/>\nsense of the &#8220;great obligations&#8221; which they were under to George<br \/>\nStephenson for helping to carry their bill through Parliament by<br \/>\nmaking him an allotment of thirty of the new shares authorized<br \/>\nby the act. But, as afterward appeared, the chairman had at the<br \/>\nsame time appropriated to himself not fewer than 10,894 of the<br \/>\nsame shares, the premiums on which were then worth, in the<br \/>\nmarket, about \u00a3145,000. This shabby manner of acknowledging<br \/>\nthe gratitude of the company to their engineer was strongly resented<br \/>\nby Stephenson at the time, and a coolness took place between<br \/>\nhim and Hudson which was never wholly removed, though<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_415\" name=\"Page_415\"><\/a>[415]<\/span><br \/>\nthey afterward shook hands, and Stephenson declared that all<br \/>\nwas forgotten.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Hudson&#8217;s brief reign drew to a close. The saturnalia of<br \/>\n1845 was followed by the usual reaction. Shares went down<br \/>\nfaster than they had gone up; the holders of them hastened to<br \/>\nsell in order to avoid payment of the calls, and many found themselves<br \/>\nruined. Then came repentance, and a sudden return to<br \/>\nvirtue. The betting man, who, temporarily abandoning the turf<br \/>\nfor the share-market, had played his heaviest stake and lost; the<br \/>\nmerchant who had left his business, and the doctor who had neglected<br \/>\nhis patients, to gamble in railway stock and been ruined;<br \/>\nthe penniless knaves and schemers who had speculated so recklessly<br \/>\nand gained so little; the titled and fashionable people, who<br \/>\nhad bowed themselves so low before the idol of the day, and<br \/>\nfound themselves deceived and &#8220;done;&#8221; the credulous small capitalists,<br \/>\nwho, dazzled by premiums, had invested their all in railway<br \/>\nshares, and now saw themselves stripped of every thing, were<br \/>\ngrievously enraged, and looked about them for a victim. In this<br \/>\ntemper were shareholders when, at a railway meeting in York,<br \/>\nsome pertinent questions were put to the Railway King. His<br \/>\nreplies were not satisfactory, and the questions were pushed home.<br \/>\nMr. Hudson became confused. Angry voices rose in the meeting.<br \/>\nA committee of investigation was appointed. The golden<br \/>\ncalf was found to be of brass, and hurled down, Hudson&#8217;s own<br \/>\ntoadies and sycophants eagerly joining the chorus of popular indignation.<br \/>\nSimilar proceedings shortly after followed at the<br \/>\nmeetings of other companies, and the bubbles having by that<br \/>\ntime burst, the Railway Mania thus came to an ignominious end.<\/p>\n<p>While the mania was at its height in England, railways were<br \/>\nalso being extended abroad, and George Stephenson continued to<br \/>\nbe invited to give the directors of foreign undertakings the benefit<br \/>\nof his advice. One of the most agreeable of his excursions<br \/>\nwith that object was his third visit to Belgium in 1845. His<br \/>\nspecial purpose was to examine the proposed line of the Sambre<br \/>\nand Meuse Railway, for which a concession had been granted by<br \/>\nthe Belgian Legislature. Arrived on the ground, he went carefully<br \/>\nover the entire length of the proposed line, by Couvins,<br \/>\nthrough the Forest of Ardennes, to Rocroi, across the French<br \/>\nfrontier, examining the bearing of the coal-field, the slate and<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_416\" name=\"Page_416\"><\/a>[416]<\/span><br \/>\nmarble quarries, and the numerous iron-mines in existence between<br \/>\nthe Sambre and the Meuse, as well as carefully exploring<br \/>\nthe ravines which extended through the district, in order to satisfy<br \/>\nhimself that the best possible route had been selected. Stephenson<br \/>\nwas delighted with the novelty of the journey, the beauty<br \/>\nof the scenery, and the industry of the population. His companions<br \/>\nwere entertained by his ample and varied stores of practical<br \/>\ninformation on all subjects, and his conversation was full of<br \/>\nreminiscences of his youth, on which he always delighted to dwell<br \/>\nwhen in the society of his more intimate friends. The journey<br \/>\nwas varied by a visit to the coal-mines near Jemappe, where Stephenson<br \/>\nexamined with interest the mode adopted by the Belgian<br \/>\nminers of draining the pits, inspecting their engines and brakeing<br \/>\nmachines, so familiar to him in early life.<\/p>\n<p>The engineers of Belgium took the opportunity of the engineer&#8217;s<br \/>\nvisit to invite him to a magnificent banquet at Brussels.<br \/>\nThe Public Hall, in which they entertained him, was gayly decorated<br \/>\nwith flags, prominent among which was the Union Jack, in<br \/>\nhonor of their distinguished guest. A handsome marble pedestal,<br \/>\nornamented with his bust crowned with laurels, stood at one<br \/>\nend of the room. The chair was occupied by M. Massui, the<br \/>\nChief Director of the National Railways of Belgium; and the<br \/>\nmost eminent scientific men of the kingdom were present. Their<br \/>\nreception of the &#8220;father of railways&#8221; was of the most enthusiastic<br \/>\ndescription. Stephenson was greatly pleased with the entertainment.<br \/>\nNot the least interesting incident of the evening was<br \/>\nhis observing, when the dinner was about half over, the model of<br \/>\na locomotive engine placed upon the centre table, under a triumphal<br \/>\narch. Turning suddenly to his friend Sopwith, he exclaimed,<br \/>\n&#8220;Do you see the &#8216;Rocket?'&#8221; It was, indeed, the model<br \/>\nof that celebrated locomotive; and the engineer prized the delicate<br \/>\ncompliment thus paid him perhaps more than all the <span class=\"corr\" title=\"Transcriber's Note\u2014original text: 'enconiums'\">encomiums<\/span><br \/>\nof the evening.<\/p>\n<p>The next day (April 5th) King Leopold invited him to a private<br \/>\ninterview at the palace. Accompanied by Mr. Sopwith, he<br \/>\nproceeded to Laaken, and was cordially received by his majesty.<br \/>\nThe king immediately entered into familiar conversation with<br \/>\nhim, discussing first the railway project which had been the object<br \/>\nof his visit to Belgium, and then the structure of the Belgian<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_417\" name=\"Page_417\"><\/a>[417]<\/span><br \/>\ncoal-fields, his majesty expressing his sense of the great importance<br \/>\nof economy in a fuel which had become indispensable to<br \/>\nthe comfort and well-being of society, which was the basis of all<br \/>\nmanufactures, and the vital power of railway locomotion. The<br \/>\nsubject was always a favorite one with George Stephenson, and,<br \/>\nencouraged by the king, he proceeded to explain to him the geological<br \/>\nstructure of Belgium, the original formation of coal, its<br \/>\nsubsequent elevation by volcanic forces, and the vast amount of<br \/>\ndenudation. In describing the coal-beds he used his hat as a sort<br \/>\nof model to illustrate his meaning, and the eyes of the king were<br \/>\nfixed upon it as he proceeded with his description. The conversation<br \/>\nthen passed to the rise and progress of trade and manufactures,<br \/>\nStephenson pointing out how closely they every where followed<br \/>\nthe coal, being mainly dependent upon it, as it were, for<br \/>\ntheir very existence.<\/p>\n<p>The king seemed greatly pleased with the interview, and at its<br \/>\nclose expressed himself as obliged by the interesting information<br \/>\nwhich the engineer had communicated. Shaking hands cordially<br \/>\nwith both the gentlemen, and wishing them success in their<br \/>\nimportant undertakings, he bade them adieu. As they were leaving<br \/>\nthe palace, Stephenson, bethinking him of the model by which<br \/>\nhe had just been illustrating the Belgian coal-fields, said to his<br \/>\nfriend, &#8220;By-the-by, Sopwith, I was afraid the king would see the<br \/>\ninside of my hat; it&#8217;s a shocking bad one!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>George Stephenson paid a farther visit to Belgium in the course<br \/>\nof the same year, on the business of the West Flanders Railway,<br \/>\nand he had scarcely returned from it ere he was requested to proceed<br \/>\nto Spain, for the purpose of examining and reporting upon<br \/>\na scheme then on foot for constructing &#8220;the Royal North of Spain<br \/>\nRailway.&#8221; A concession had been made by the Spanish government<br \/>\nof a line of railway from Madrid to the Bay of Biscay, and<br \/>\na numerous staff of engineers was engaged in surveying the proposed<br \/>\nline. The directors of the company had declined making<br \/>\nthe necessary deposits until more favorable terms had been secured;<br \/>\nand Sir Joshua Walmsley, on their part, was about to visit<br \/>\nSpain and press the government on the subject. George Stephenson,<br \/>\nwhom he consulted, was alive to the difficulties of the office<br \/>\nwhich Sir Joshua was induced to undertake, and offered to be his<br \/>\ncompanion and adviser on the occasion, declining to receive any<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_418\" name=\"Page_418\"><\/a>[418]<\/span><br \/>\nrecompense beyond the simple expenses of the journey. He could<br \/>\nonly arrange to be absent for six weeks, and he set out from England<br \/>\nabout the middle of September, 1845.<\/p>\n<p>The party was joined at Paris by Mr. Mackenzie, the contractor<br \/>\nfor the Orleans and Tours Railway, then in course of construction,<br \/>\nwho took them over the works and accompanied them as far<br \/>\nas Tours. They soon reached the great chain of the Pyrenees,<br \/>\nand crossed over into Spain. It was on a Sunday evening, after a<br \/>\nlong day&#8217;s toilsome journey through the mountains, that the party<br \/>\nsuddenly found themselves in one of those beautiful secluded valleys<br \/>\nlying amid the Western Pyrenees. A small hamlet lay before<br \/>\nthem, consisting of some thirty or forty houses and a fine old<br \/>\nchurch. The sun was low on the horizon, and under the wide<br \/>\nporch, beneath the shadow of the church, were seated nearly all<br \/>\nthe inhabitants of the place. They were dressed in their holiday<br \/>\nattire. The bright bits of red and amber color in the dresses of<br \/>\nthe women, and the gay sashes of the men, formed a striking picture,<br \/>\non which the travelers gazed in silent admiration. It was<br \/>\nsomething entirely novel and unexpected. Beside the villagers<br \/>\nsat two venerable old men, whose canonical hats indicated their<br \/>\nquality as village pastors. Two groups of young women and children<br \/>\nwere dancing outside the porch to the accompaniment of a<br \/>\nsimple pipe, and within a hundred yards of them some of the<br \/>\nyouths of the village were disporting themselves in athletic exercises,<br \/>\nthe whole being carried on beneath the fostering care of the<br \/>\nold church, and with the sanction of its ministers. It was a beautiful<br \/>\nscene, and deeply moved the travelers as they approached the<br \/>\nprincipal group. The villagers greeted them courteously, supplied<br \/>\ntheir present wants, and pressed upon them some fine melons,<br \/>\nbrought from their adjoining gardens. George Stephenson<br \/>\nused afterward to look back upon that simple scene, and speak of<br \/>\nit as one of the most charming pastorals he had ever witnessed.<\/p>\n<p>They shortly reached the site of the proposed railway, passing<br \/>\nthrough Irun, St. Sebastian, St. Andero, and Bilbao, at which<br \/>\nplaces they met deputations of the principal inhabitants who were<br \/>\ninterested in the object of their journey. At Raynosa Stephenson<br \/>\ncarefully examined the mountain passes and ravines through<br \/>\nwhich a railway could be made. He rose at break of day, and<br \/>\nsurveyed until the darkness set in, and frequently his resting-place<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_419\" name=\"Page_419\"><\/a>[419]<\/span><br \/>\nat night was the floor of some miserable hovel. He was thus laboriously<br \/>\noccupied for ten days, after which he proceeded across<br \/>\nthe province of Old Castile toward Madrid, surveying as he went.<br \/>\nThe proposed plan included the purchase of the Castile Canal, and<br \/>\nthat property was also examined. He next proceeded to El Escorial,<br \/>\nsituated at the foot of the Guadarama Mountains, through<br \/>\nwhich he found it would be necessary to construct two formidable<br \/>\ntunnels; added to which, he ascertained that the country between<br \/>\nEl Escorial and Madrid was of a very difficult and expensive<br \/>\ncharacter to work through. Taking these circumstances into<br \/>\naccount, and looking at the expected traffic on the proposed line,<br \/>\nSir Joshua Walmsley, acting under the advice of Mr. Stephenson,<br \/>\noffered to construct the line from Madrid to the Bay of Biscay<br \/>\non condition that the requisite land was given to the company for<br \/>\nthe purpose; that they should be allowed every facility for cutting<br \/>\nsuch timber belonging to the crown as might be required for<br \/>\nthe purposes of the railway; and also that the materials required<br \/>\nfrom abroad for the construction of the line should be admitted<br \/>\nfree of duty. In return for these concessions the company offered<br \/>\nto clothe and feed several thousand convicts while engaged<br \/>\nin the execution of the earthworks. General Narvaez, afterward<br \/>\nDuke of Valencia, received Sir Joshua Walmsley and Mr. Stephenson<br \/>\non the subject of their proposition, and expressed his<br \/>\nwillingness to close with them; but it was necessary that other<br \/>\ninfluential parties should give their concurrence before the scheme<br \/>\ncould be carried into effect. The deputation waited ten days to<br \/>\nreceive the answer of the Spanish government, but no answer of<br \/>\nany kind was vouchsafed. The authorities, indeed, invited them<br \/>\nto be present at a Spanish bull-fight, but that was not quite the<br \/>\nbusiness Stephenson had gone all the way to Spain to transact,<br \/>\nand the offer was politely declined. The result was that Stephenson<br \/>\ndissuaded his friend from making the necessary deposit at<br \/>\nMadrid. Besides, he had by this time formed an unfavorable<br \/>\nopinion of the entire project, and considered that the traffic would<br \/>\nnot amount to one eighth of the estimate.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Stephenson was now anxious to be in England. During<br \/>\nthe journey from Madrid he often spoke with affection of friends<br \/>\nand relatives, and when apparently absorbed by other matters he<br \/>\nwould revert to what he thought might then be passing at home.<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_420\" name=\"Page_420\"><\/a>[420]<\/span><br \/>\nFew incidents worthy of notice occurred on the journey homeward,<br \/>\nbut one may be mentioned. While traveling in an open<br \/>\nconveyance between Madrid and Vittoria, the driver urged his<br \/>\nmules down hill at a dangerous pace. He was requested to slacken<br \/>\nspeed; but, suspecting his passengers to be afraid, he only flogged<br \/>\nthe brutes into a still more furious gallop. Observing this,<br \/>\nStephenson coolly said, &#8220;Let us try him on the other tack; tell<br \/>\nhim to show us the fastest pace at which Spanish mules can go.&#8221;<br \/>\nThe rogue of a driver, when he found his tricks of no avail, pulled<br \/>\nup and proceeded at a more moderate speed for the rest of the<br \/>\njourney.<\/p>\n<p>Urgent business required Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s presence in London<br \/>\non the last day of November. They traveled, therefore, almost<br \/>\ncontinuously, day and night, and the fatigue consequent on the<br \/>\njourney, added to the privations endured by the engineer while<br \/>\ncarrying on the survey among the Spanish mountains, began to<br \/>\ntell seriously on his health. By the time he reached Paris he<br \/>\nwas evidently ill, but he nevertheless determined on proceeding.<br \/>\nHe reached Havre in time for the Southampton boat, but when<br \/>\non board pleurisy developed itself, and it was necessary to bleed<br \/>\nhim freely. After a few weeks&#8217; rest at home, however, he gradually<br \/>\nrecovered, though his health remained severely shaken.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_423.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"389\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>CLAYCROSS WORKS.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_421\" name=\"Page_421\"><\/a>[421]<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_424.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"291\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">NEWCASTLE, FROM THE HIGH-LEVEL BRIDGE.<\/span> &nbsp; [By R. P. Leitch.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER XVII.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>ROBERT STEPHENSON&#8217;S CAREER\u2014THE STEPHENSONS AND BRUNEL\u2014EAST<br \/>\nCOAST ROUTE TO SCOTLAND\u2014ROYAL BORDER BRIDGE, BERWICK\u2014HIGH-LEVEL<br \/>\nBRIDGE, NEWCASTLE.<\/h4>\n<p>The career of George Stephenson was drawing to a close. He<br \/>\nhad for some time been gradually retiring from the more active<br \/>\npursuit of railway engineering, and confining himself to the promotion<br \/>\nof only a few undertakings, in which he took a more<br \/>\nthan ordinary personal interest. In 1840, when the extensive<br \/>\nmain lines in the Midland districts had been finished and opened<br \/>\nfor traffic, he publicly expressed his intention of withdrawing<br \/>\nfrom the profession. He had reached sixty, and, having spent<br \/>\nthe greater part of his life in very hard work, he naturally desired<br \/>\nrest and retirement in his old age. There was the less necessity<br \/>\nfor his continuing &#8220;in harness,&#8221; as Robert Stephenson was<br \/>\nnow in full career as a leading railway engineer, and his father<br \/>\nhad pleasure in handing over to him, with the sanction of the<br \/>\ncompanies concerned, nearly all the railway appointments which<br \/>\nhe held.<\/p>\n<p>Robert Stephenson amply repaid his father&#8217;s care. The sound<br \/>\neducation of which he had laid the foundations at school, improved<br \/>\nby his subsequent culture, but more than all by his father&#8217;s<br \/>\nexample of application, industry, and thoroughness in all that he<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_422\" name=\"Page_422\"><\/a>[422]<\/span><br \/>\nundertook, told powerfully in the formation of his character not<br \/>\nless than in the discipline of his intellect. His father had early<br \/>\nimplanted in him habits of mental activity, familiarized him with<br \/>\nthe laws of mechanics, and carefully trained and stimulated his<br \/>\ninventive faculties, the first great fruits of which, as we have seen,<br \/>\nwere exhibited in the triumph of the &#8220;Rocket&#8221; at Rainhill. &#8220;I<br \/>\nam fully conscious in my own mind,&#8221; said the son at a meeting<br \/>\nof the Mechanical Engineers at Newcastle in 1858, &#8220;how greatly<br \/>\nmy civil engineering has been regulated and influenced by the<br \/>\nmechanical knowledge which I derived directly from my father;<br \/>\nand the more my experience has advanced, the more convinced I<br \/>\nhave become that it is necessary to educate an engineer in the<br \/>\nworkshop. That is, emphatically, the education which will render<br \/>\nthe engineer most intelligent, most useful, and the fullest of<br \/>\nresources in times of difficulty.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Robert Stephenson was but twenty-six years old when the performances<br \/>\nof the &#8220;Rocket&#8221; established the practicability of steam<br \/>\nlocomotion on railways. He was shortly after appointed engineer<br \/>\nof the Leicester and Swannington Railway; after which, at<br \/>\nhis father&#8217;s request, he was made joint engineer with himself in<br \/>\nlaying out the London and Birmingham Railway, and the execution<br \/>\nof that line was afterward intrusted to him as sole engineer.<br \/>\nThe stability and excellence of the works of that railway, the difficulties<br \/>\nwhich had been successfully overcome in the course of<br \/>\nits construction, and the judgment which was displayed by Robert<br \/>\nStephenson throughout the whole conduct of the undertaking<br \/>\nto its completion, established his reputation as an engineer, and<br \/>\nhis father could now look with confidence and pride upon his<br \/>\nson&#8217;s achievements. From that time forward, father and son<br \/>\nworked together cordially, each jealous of the other&#8217;s honor; and<br \/>\non the father&#8217;s retirement it was generally recognized that, in the<br \/>\nsphere of railways, Robert Stephenson was the foremost man,<br \/>\nthe safest guide, and the most active worker.<\/p>\n<p>Robert Stephenson was subsequently appointed engineer of the<br \/>\nEastern Counties, the Northern and Eastern, and the Blackwall<br \/>\nRailways, besides many lines in the midland and southern districts.<br \/>\nWhen the speculation of 1844 set in, his services were, of<br \/>\ncourse, greatly in request. Thus, in one session, we find him engaged<br \/>\nas engineer for not fewer than thirty-three new schemes.<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_423\" name=\"Page_423\"><\/a>[423]<\/span><br \/>\nProjectors thought themselves fortunate who could secure his<br \/>\nname, and he had only to propose his terms to obtain them. The<br \/>\nwork which he performed at this period of his life was indeed<br \/>\nenormous, and his income was large beyond any previous instance<br \/>\nof engineering gain. But much of the labor done was mere<br \/>\nhackwork of a very uninteresting character. During the sittings<br \/>\nof the committees of Parliament, much time was also occupied<br \/>\nin consultations, and in preparing evidence or in giving it.<\/p>\n<p>The crowded, low-roofed committee-rooms of the old houses of<br \/>\nParliament were altogether inadequate to accommodate the press<br \/>\nof perspiring projectors of bills, and even the lobbies were sometimes<br \/>\nchoked with them. To have borne that noisome atmosphere<br \/>\nand heat would have tested the constitutions of salamanders,<br \/>\nand engineers were only human. With brains kept in a<br \/>\nstate of excitement during the entire day, no wonder their nervous<br \/>\nsystems became unstrung. Their only chance of refreshment<br \/>\nwas during an occasional rush to the bun and sandwich<br \/>\nstand in the lobby, though sometimes even that resource failed<br \/>\nthem. Then, with mind and body jaded\u2014probably after undergoing<br \/>\na series of consultations upon many bills after the rising<br \/>\nof the committees\u2014the exhausted engineers would seek to stimulate<br \/>\nnature by a late, perhaps a heavy dinner. What chance<br \/>\nhad any ordinary constitution of surviving such an ordeal? The<br \/>\nconsequence was, that stomach, brain, and liver were alike injured,<br \/>\nand hence the men who bore the heat and brunt of those struggles\u2014Stephenson,<br \/>\nBrunel, Locke, and Errington\u2014have already<br \/>\nall died, comparatively young men.<\/p>\n<p>In mentioning the name of Brunel, we are reminded of him as<br \/>\nthe principal rival and competitor of Robert Stephenson. Both<br \/>\nwere the sons of distinguished men, and both inherited the fame<br \/>\nand followed in the footsteps of their fathers. The Stephensons<br \/>\nwere inventive, practical, and sagacious; the Brunels ingenious,<br \/>\nimaginative, and daring. The former were as thoroughly English<br \/>\nin their characteristics as the latter perhaps were as thoroughly<br \/>\nFrench. The fathers and the sons were alike successful<br \/>\nin their works, though not in the same degree. Measured by<br \/>\npractical and profitable results, the Stephensons were unquestionably<br \/>\nthe safer men to follow.<\/p>\n<p>Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel were destined<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_424\" name=\"Page_424\"><\/a>[424]<\/span><br \/>\noften to come into collision in the course of their professional<br \/>\nlife. Their respective railway districts &#8220;marched&#8221; with<br \/>\neach other, and it became their business to invade or defend<br \/>\nthose districts, according as the policy of their respective boards<br \/>\nmight direct. The gauge of 7 feet fixed by Brunel for the Great<br \/>\nWestern Railway, so entirely different from that of 4 feet 8-1\/2<br \/>\ninches adopted by the Stephensons on the Northern and Midland<br \/>\nlines,<a id=\"FNanchor_86\" name=\"FNanchor_86\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_86\">[86]<\/a> was from the first a great cause of contention. But Brunel<br \/>\nhad always an aversion to follow any man&#8217;s lead; and that another<br \/>\nengineer had fixed the gauge of a railway, or built a bridge,<br \/>\nor designed an engine in one way, was of itself often a sufficient<br \/>\nreason with him for adopting an altogether different course.<br \/>\nRobert Stephenson, on his part, though less bold, was more practical,<br \/>\npreferring to follow the old routes, and to tread in the safe<br \/>\nsteps of his father.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Brunel, however, determined that the Great Western should<br \/>\nbe a giant&#8217;s road, and that traveling should be conducted upon it<br \/>\nat double speed. His ambition was to make the <em>best<\/em> road that<br \/>\nimagination could devise, whereas the main object of the Stephensons,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_425\" name=\"Page_425\"><\/a>[425]<\/span><br \/>\nboth father and son, was to make a road that would<br \/>\n<em>pay<\/em>. Although, tried by the Stephenson test, Brunel&#8217;s magnificent<br \/>\nroad was a failure so far as the shareholders in the Great<br \/>\nWestern Company were concerned, the stimulus which his ambitious<br \/>\ndesigns gave to mechanical invention at the time proved<br \/>\na general good. The narrow-gauge engineers exerted themselves<br \/>\nto quicken their locomotives to the utmost. They improved and<br \/>\nreimproved them. The machinery was simplified and perfected.<br \/>\nOutside cylinders gave place to inside; the steadier and more<br \/>\nrapid and effective action of the engine was secured, and in a few<br \/>\nyears the highest speed on railways went up from thirty to about<br \/>\nfifty miles an hour. For this rapidity in progress we are in no<br \/>\nsmall degree indebted to the stimulus imparted to the narrow-gauge<br \/>\nengineers by Mr. Brunel.<\/p>\n<p>It was one of the characteristics of Brunel to <em>believe<\/em> in the<br \/>\nsuccess of the schemes for which he was professionally engaged<br \/>\nas engineer, and he proved this by investing his savings largely<br \/>\nin the Great Western Railway, in the South Devon Atmospherical<br \/>\nline, and in the Great Eastern steam-ship, with what results<br \/>\nare well known. Robert Stephenson, on the contrary, with characteristic<br \/>\ncaution, toward the latter years of his life avoided holding<br \/>\nunguaranteed railway shares; and though he might execute<br \/>\nmagnificent structures, such as the Victoria Bridge across the St.<br \/>\nLawrence, he was careful not to embark any portion of his own<br \/>\nfortune in the ordinary capital of these concerns. In 1845 he<br \/>\nshrewdly foresaw the inevitable crash that was about to succeed<br \/>\nthe mania of that year, and while shares were still at a premium<br \/>\nhe took the opportunity of selling out all that he held. He urged<br \/>\nhis father to do the same thing, but George&#8217;s reply was characteristic.<br \/>\n&#8220;No,&#8221; said he &#8220;I took my shares for an investment, and<br \/>\nnot to speculate with, and I am not going to sell them now because<br \/>\npeople have gone mad about railways.&#8221; The consequence<br \/>\nwas, that he continued to hold the \u00a360,000 which he had invested<br \/>\nin the shares of various railways until his death, when they<br \/>\nwere at once sold out by his son, though at a great depreciation<br \/>\non their original cost.<\/p>\n<p>One of the hardest battles fought between the Stephensons<br \/>\nand Brunel was for the railway between Newcastle and Berwick,<br \/>\nforming part of the great East Coast route to Scotland. As early<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_426\" name=\"Page_426\"><\/a>[426]<\/span><br \/>\nas 1836 George Stephenson had surveyed two lines to connect<br \/>\nEdinburg with Newcastle: one by Berwick and Dunbar along<br \/>\nthe coast, and the other, more inland, by Carter Fell, up the vale<br \/>\nof the Gala, to the northern capital. Two years later he made<br \/>\na farther examination of the intervening country, and reported in<br \/>\nfavor of the coast line. The inland route, however, was not without<br \/>\nits advocates. But both projects lay dormant for several<br \/>\nyears longer, until the completion of the Midland and other main<br \/>\nlines as far north as Newcastle had the effect of again reviving<br \/>\nthe subject of the extension of the route as far as Edinburg.<\/p>\n<p>On the 18th of June, 1844, the Newcastle and Darlington line\u2014an<br \/>\nimportant link of the great main highway to the north\u2014was<br \/>\ncompleted and publicly opened, thus connecting the Thames<br \/>\nand the Tyne by a continuous line of railway. On that day<br \/>\nGeorge Stephenson and a distinguished party of railway men<br \/>\ntraveled by express train from London to Newcastle in about<br \/>\nnine hours. It was a great event, and was worthily celebrated.<br \/>\nThe population of Newcastle held holiday; and a banquet given<br \/>\nin the Assembly Rooms the same evening assumed the form of<br \/>\nan ovation to Mr. Stephenson and his son.<\/p>\n<p>After the opening of this railway, the project of the East Coast<br \/>\nline from Newcastle to Berwick was revived, and George Stephenson,<br \/>\nwho had already identified himself with the question,<br \/>\nand was intimately acquainted with every foot of the ground,<br \/>\nwas again called upon to assist the promoters with his judgment<br \/>\nand experience. He again recommended as strongly as before<br \/>\nthe line he had previously surveyed; and on its being adopted<br \/>\nby the local committee, the necessary steps were taken to have<br \/>\nthe scheme brought before Parliament in the ensuing session.<br \/>\nThe East Coast line was not, however, to be allowed to pass without<br \/>\na fight. On the contrary, it had to encounter as stout an opposition<br \/>\nas Stephenson had ever experienced.<\/p>\n<p>We have already stated that about this time the plan of substituting<br \/>\natmospheric pressure for locomotive steam-power in the<br \/>\nworking of railways had become very popular. Many eminent<br \/>\nengineers avowedly supported atmospheric in preference to locomotive<br \/>\nlines; and many members of Parliament, headed by the<br \/>\nprime ministers, were strongly disposed in their favor. Mr. Brunel<br \/>\nwarmly espoused the atmospheric principle, and his persuasive<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_427\" name=\"Page_427\"><\/a>[427]<\/span><br \/>\nmanner, as well as his admitted scientific ability, unquestionably<br \/>\nexercised considerable influence in determining the views<br \/>\nof many leading members of both houses. Among others, Lord<br \/>\nHowick, one of the members for Northumberland, advocated the<br \/>\nnew principle, and, possessing great local influence, he succeeded<br \/>\nin forming a powerful confederacy of the landed gentry in favor<br \/>\nof Brunel&#8217;s atmospheric railway through the country.<\/p>\n<p>George Stephenson could not brook the idea of seeing the locomotive,<br \/>\nfor which he had fought so many stout battles, pushed<br \/>\nto one side, and that in the very county in which its great powers<br \/>\nhad been first developed. Nor did he relish the appearance of<br \/>\nMr. Brunel as the engineer of Lord Howick&#8217;s scheme, in opposition<br \/>\nto the line which had occupied his thoughts and been the<br \/>\nobject of his strenuous advocacy for so many years. When Stephenson<br \/>\nfirst met Brunel in Newcastle, he good-naturedly shook<br \/>\nhim by the collar, and asked &#8220;what business he had north of the<br \/>\nTyne?&#8221; George gave him to understand that they were to have<br \/>\na fair stand-up fight for the ground, and shaking hands before<br \/>\nthe battle like Englishmen, they parted in good-humor. A public<br \/>\nmeeting was held at Newcastle in the following December,<br \/>\nwhen, after a full discussion of the merits of the respective plans,<br \/>\nStephenson&#8217;s line was almost unanimously adopted as the best.<\/p>\n<p>The rival projects went before Parliament in 1845, and a severe<br \/>\ncontest ensued. The display of ability and tactics on both<br \/>\nsides was great. Robert Stephenson was examined at great<br \/>\nlength as to the merits of the locomotive line, and Brunel at<br \/>\nequally great length as to the merits of the atmospheric. Mr.<br \/>\nBrunel, in his evidence, said that, after numerous experiments, he<br \/>\nhad arrived at the conclusion that the mechanical contrivance of<br \/>\nthe atmospheric system was perfectly applicable, and he believed<br \/>\nthat it would likewise be more economical in most cases than locomotive<br \/>\npower. &#8220;In short,&#8221; said he, &#8220;rapidity, comfort, safety,<br \/>\nand economy are its chief recommendations.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Notwithstanding the promise of Mr. Sergeant Wrangham, the<br \/>\ncounsel for Lord Howick&#8217;s scheme, that the Northumberland atmospheric<br \/>\nwas to be &#8220;a <em>respectable<\/em> line, and not one that was to<br \/>\nbe converted into a road for the accommodation of the coal-owners<br \/>\nof the district,&#8221; the locomotive again triumphed. The Stephenson<br \/>\nCoast line secured the approval of Parliament, and the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_428\" name=\"Page_428\"><\/a>[428]<\/span><br \/>\nshareholders in the Atmospheric Company were happily prevented<br \/>\ninvesting their capital in what would unquestionably have<br \/>\nproved a gigantic blunder. For, less than three years later, the<br \/>\nwhole of the atmospheric tubes which had been laid down on<br \/>\nother lines were pulled up and the materials sold, including Mr.<br \/>\nBrunel&#8217;s immense tube on the South Devon Railway<a id=\"FNanchor_87\" name=\"FNanchor_87\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_87\">[87]<\/a>\u2014to make<br \/>\nway for the working of the locomotive engine. George Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\nfirst verdict of &#8220;It won&#8217;t do&#8221; was thus conclusively confirmed.<\/p>\n<p>Robert Stephenson used afterward to describe with gusto an<br \/>\ninterview which took place between Lord Howick and his father,<br \/>\nat his office in Great George Street, during the progress of the<br \/>\nbill in Parliament. His father was in the outer office, where he<br \/>\nused to spend a good deal of his spare time, occasionally taking<br \/>\na quiet wrestle with a friend when nothing else was stirring.<a id=\"FNanchor_88\" name=\"FNanchor_88\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_88\">[88]<\/a><br \/>\nOn the day in question, George was standing with his back to<br \/>\nthe fire, when Lord Howick called to see Robert. Oh! thought<br \/>\nGeorge, he has come to try and talk Robert over about that atmospheric<br \/>\ngimcrack; but I&#8217;ll tackle his lordship. &#8220;Come in,<br \/>\nmy lord,&#8221; said he; &#8220;Robert&#8217;s busy; but I&#8217;ll answer your purpose<br \/>\nquite as well; sit down here, if you please.&#8221; George began,<br \/>\n&#8220;Now, my lord, I know very well what you have come about:<br \/>\nit&#8217;s that atmospheric line in the North; I will show you in less<br \/>\nthan five minutes that it can never answer.&#8221; &#8220;If Mr. Robert<br \/>\nStephenson is not at liberty, I can call again,&#8221; said his lordship.<br \/>\n<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_429\" name=\"Page_429\"><\/a>[429]<\/span>&#8220;He&#8217;s certainly occupied on important business just at present,&#8221;<br \/>\nwas George&#8217;s answer, &#8220;but I can tell you far better than he can<br \/>\nwhat nonsense the atmospheric system is: Robert&#8217;s good-natured,<br \/>\nyou see, and if your lordship were to get alongside of him you<br \/>\nmight talk him over; so you have been quite lucky in meeting<br \/>\nwith me. Now just look at the question of expense,&#8221; and then<br \/>\nhe proceeded in his strong Doric to explain his views in detail,<br \/>\nuntil Lord Howick could stand it no longer, and he rose and<br \/>\nwalked toward the door. George followed him down stairs to<br \/>\nfinish his demolition of the atmospheric system, and his parting<br \/>\nwords were, &#8220;You may take my word for it, my lord, it will never<br \/>\nanswer.&#8221; George afterward told his son with glee of &#8220;the<br \/>\nsettler&#8221; he had given Lord Howick.<\/p>\n<p>So closely were the Stephensons identified with this measure,<br \/>\nand so great was the personal interest which they were both<br \/>\nknown to take in its success, that, on the news of the passing of<br \/>\nthe bill reaching Newcastle, a sort of general holiday took place,<br \/>\nand the workmen belonging to the Stephenson Locomotive Factory,<br \/>\nupward of eight hundred in number, walked in procession<br \/>\nthrough the principal streets of the town, accompanied by music<br \/>\nand banners.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 450px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_433.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"610\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">ROYAL BORDER BRIDGE, BERWICK.<\/span> &nbsp; [By R. P. Leitch, after his original Drawing.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It is unnecessary to enter into any description of the works of<br \/>\nthe Newcastle and Berwick Railway. There are no fewer than<br \/>\na hundred and ten bridges of all sorts on the line\u2014some under<br \/>\nand some over it\u2014the viaducts over the Ouseburn, the Wansbeck,<br \/>\nand the Coquet being of considerable importance. But by far<br \/>\nthe most formidable piece of masonry work on this railway is<br \/>\nat its northern extremity, where it passes across the Tweed into<br \/>\nScotland, immediately opposite the formerly redoubtable castle<br \/>\nof Berwick. Not many centuries had passed since the district<br \/>\namid which this bridge stands was the scene of almost constant<br \/>\nwarfare. Berwick was regarded as the key of Scotland, and was<br \/>\nfiercely fought for, being sometimes held by a Scotch and sometimes<br \/>\nby an English garrison. Though strongly fortified, it was<br \/>\nrepeatedly taken by assault. On its capture by Edward I., Boetius<br \/>\nsays, 17,000 persons were slain, so that its streets &#8220;ran with<br \/>\nblood like a river.&#8221; Within sight of the ramparts, a little to the<br \/>\nwest, is Halidon Hill, where a famous victory was gained by Edward<br \/>\nIII. over the Scottish army under Douglas; and there is<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_430\" name=\"Page_430\"><\/a>[430]<\/span><br \/>\nscarcely a foot of ground in the neighborhood but has been the<br \/>\nscene of contention in days long past. In the reigns of James I.<br \/>\nand Charles I., a bridge of fifteen arches was built across the<br \/>\nTweed at Berwick; and now a railway bridge of twenty-eight<br \/>\narches was built a little above the old one, but at a much higher<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_431\" name=\"Page_431\"><\/a>[431]<\/span><br \/>\nlevel. The bridge built by the kings out of the national resources<br \/>\ncost \u00a315,000, and occupied twenty-four years and four<br \/>\nmonths in the building; the bridge built by the Railway Company,<br \/>\nwith funds drawn from private resources, cost \u00a3120,000,<br \/>\nand was finished in three years and four months from the day of<br \/>\nlaying the foundation stone.<\/p>\n<p>This important viaduct, built after the designs of Robert Stephenson,<br \/>\nconsists of a series of twenty-eight semicircular arches,<br \/>\neach 61 feet 6 inches in span, the greatest height above the bed<br \/>\nof the river being 126 feet. The whole is built of ashlar, with a<br \/>\nhearting of rubble, excepting the river parts of the arches, which<br \/>\nare constructed with bricks laid in cement. The total length of<br \/>\nthe work is 2160 feet. The foundations of the piers were got in<br \/>\nby coffer-dams in the ordinary way, Nasmyth&#8217;s steam-hammer<br \/>\nbeing extensively used in driving the piles. The bearing piles,<br \/>\nfrom which the foundations of the piers were built up, were each<br \/>\ncapable of carrying 70 tons.<\/p>\n<p>Another bridge, of still greater importance, necessary to complete<br \/>\nthe continuity of the East Coast route, was the master-work<br \/>\nerected by Robert Stephenson between the north and south banks<br \/>\nof the Tyne, at Newcastle, commonly known as the High-Level<br \/>\nBridge. Mr. R. W. Brandling, George Stephenson&#8217;s early friend,<br \/>\nis entitled to the merit of originating the idea of this bridge, as<br \/>\nit was eventually carried out, with a central terminus for the<br \/>\nnorthern railways in the Castle Garth. The plan was first promulgated<br \/>\nby him in 1841; and in the following year it was resolved<br \/>\nthat George Stephenson should be consulted as to the most<br \/>\nadvisable site for the proposed structure. A prospectus of a High-Level<br \/>\nBridge Company was issued in 1843, the names of George<br \/>\nStephenson and George Hudson appearing on the committee of<br \/>\nmanagement, Robert Stephenson being the consulting engineer.<br \/>\nThe project was eventually taken up by the Newcastle and Darlington<br \/>\nRailway Company, and an act for the construction of the<br \/>\nbridge was obtained in 1845.<\/p>\n<p>The rapid extension of railways had given an extraordinary<br \/>\nstimulus to the art of bridge-building; the number of such structures<br \/>\nerected in Great Britain alone, since 1830, having been above<br \/>\nthirty thousand, or far more than all that previously existed in the<br \/>\ncountry. Instead of the erection of a single large bridge constituting,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_432\" name=\"Page_432\"><\/a>[432]<\/span><br \/>\nas formerly, an epoch in engineering, hundreds of extensive<br \/>\nbridges of novel design were simultaneously constructed.<br \/>\nThe necessity which existed for carrying rigid roads, capable of<br \/>\nbearing heavy railway trains at high speed, over extensive gaps<br \/>\nfree of support, rendered it apparent that the methods which had<br \/>\nup to that time been employed for bridging space were altogether<br \/>\ninsufficient. The railway engineer could not, like the ordinary<br \/>\nroad engineer, divert his road, and make choice of the best point<br \/>\nfor crossing a river or a valley. He must take such ground as<br \/>\nlay in the line of his railway, be it bog, or mud, or shifting sand.<br \/>\nNavigable rivers and crowded thoroughfares had to be crossed<br \/>\nwithout interruption to the existing traffic, sometimes by bridges<br \/>\nat right angles to the river or road, sometimes by arches more or<br \/>\nless oblique. In many cases great difficulty arose from the limited<br \/>\nnature of the headway; but, as the level of the original road<br \/>\nmust generally be preserved, and that of the railway was in a<br \/>\nmeasure fixed and determined, it was necessary to modify the<br \/>\nform and structure of the bridge in almost every case, in order to<br \/>\ncomply with the public requirements. Novel conditions were met<br \/>\nby fresh inventions, and difficulties of an unusual character were<br \/>\none after another successfully surmounted. In executing these<br \/>\nextraordinary works, iron has been throughout the sheet-anchor<br \/>\nof the engineer. In the various forms of cast and wrought iron<br \/>\nit offered a valuable resource where rapidity of execution, great<br \/>\nstrength and cheapness of construction in the first instance were<br \/>\nelements of prime importance, and by its skillful use the railway<br \/>\narchitect was enabled to achieve results which thirty years since<br \/>\nwould scarcely have been thought possible.<\/p>\n<p>In many of the early cast-iron bridges the old form of the arch<br \/>\nwas adopted, the stability of the structure depending wholly on<br \/>\ncompression, the only novel feature consisting in the use of iron<br \/>\ninstead of stone. But in a large proportion of cases, the arch,<br \/>\nwith the railroad over it, was found inapplicable in consequence<br \/>\nof the limited headway which it provided. Hence it early occurred<br \/>\nto George Stephenson, when constructing the Liverpool<br \/>\nand Manchester Railway, to adopt the simple cast-iron beam for<br \/>\nthe crossing of several roads and canals along that line\u2014this<br \/>\nbeam resembling in some measure the lintel of the early temples\u2014the<br \/>\npressure on the abutments being purely vertical. One of<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_433\" name=\"Page_433\"><\/a>[433]<\/span><br \/>\nthe earliest instances of this kind of bridge was that erected over<br \/>\nWater Street, Manchester, in 1829; after which, cast-iron girders,<br \/>\nwith their lower webs considerably larger than their upper, were<br \/>\nordinarily employed where the span was moderate, and wrought-iron<br \/>\ntie-rods below were added to give increased strength where<br \/>\nthe span was greater.<\/p>\n<p>The next step was the contrivance of arched beams or bow-string<br \/>\ngirders, firmly held together by horizontal ties to resist the<br \/>\nthrust, instead of abutments. Numerous excellent specimens of<br \/>\nthis description of bridge were erected by Robert Stephenson on<br \/>\nthe original London and Birmingham Railway; but by far the<br \/>\ngrandest work of the kind\u2014perfect as a specimen of modern constructive<br \/>\nskill\u2014was the High-Level Bridge, which we owe to the<br \/>\ngenius of the same engineer.<\/p>\n<p>The problem was to throw a railway bridge across the deep<br \/>\nravine which lies between the towns of Newcastle and Gateshead,<br \/>\nat the bottom of which flows the navigable river Tyne. Along<br \/>\nand up the sides of the valley\u2014on the Newcastle bank especially\u2014run<br \/>\nstreets of old-fashioned houses, clustered together in the<br \/>\nstrange forms peculiar to the older cities. The ravine is of great<br \/>\ndepth\u2014so deep and gloomy-looking toward dusk, that local tradition<br \/>\nrecords that when the Duke of Cumberland arrived late in<br \/>\nthe evening, at the brow of the hill overlooking the Tyne, on his<br \/>\nway to Culloden, he exclaimed to his attendants, on looking down<br \/>\ninto the black gorge before him, &#8220;For God&#8217;s sake, don&#8217;t think of<br \/>\ntaking me down that coal-pit at this time of night!&#8221; The road<br \/>\ndown the Gateshead High Street is almost as steep as the roof of<br \/>\na house, and up the Newcastle Side, as the street there is called,<br \/>\nit is little better. During many centuries the traffic north and<br \/>\nsouth passed along this dangerous and difficult route, across the<br \/>\nold bridge which spans the river in the bottom of the valley. For<br \/>\nsome thirty years the Newcastle Corporation had discussed various<br \/>\nmethods of improving the communication between the towns;<br \/>\nand the discussion might have gone on for thirty years more, but<br \/>\nfor the advent of railways, when the skill and enterprise to which<br \/>\nthey gave birth speedily solved the difficulty and bridged the ravine.<br \/>\nThe local authorities adroitly took advantage of the opportunity,<br \/>\nand insisted on the provision of a road for ordinary<br \/>\nvehicles and foot passengers in addition to the railroad. In this<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_434\" name=\"Page_434\"><\/a>[434]<\/span><br \/>\ncircumstance originated one of the most remarkable peculiarities<br \/>\nof the High-Level Bridge, which serves two purposes, being a railway<br \/>\nabove, with a carriage roadway underneath.<\/p>\n<p>The breadth of the river at the point of crossing is 515 feet,<br \/>\nbut the length of the bridge and viaduct between the Gateshead<br \/>\nstation and the terminus on the Newcastle side is about 4000 feet.<br \/>\nIt springs from Pipewell Gate Bank, on the south, directly across<br \/>\nto Castle Garth, where, nearly fronting the bridge, stands the fine<br \/>\nold Norman keep of the <em>New<\/em> Castle, now nearly eight hundred<br \/>\nyears old; and a little beyond it is the spire of St. Nicholas<br \/>\nChurch, with its light and graceful Gothic crown, the whole forming<br \/>\na grand architectural group of unusual historic interest. The<br \/>\nbridge passes completely over the roofs of the houses which fill<br \/>\nboth sides of the valley, and the extraordinary height of the upper<br \/>\nparapet, which is about 130 feet above the bed of the river,<br \/>\noffers a prospect to the passing traveler the like of which is perhaps<br \/>\nnowhere else to be seen. Far below lie the queer chares<br \/>\nand closes, the wynds and lanes of old Newcastle; the water is<br \/>\ncrowded with pudgy, black coal keels; and, when there is a lull<br \/>\nin the great clouds of smoke which usually obscure the sky, the<br \/>\nfunnels of steamers and the masts of the shipping may be seen<br \/>\nfar down the river. The old bridge lies so far beneath that the<br \/>\npassengers crossing it seem like so many bees passing to and fro.<\/p>\n<p>The first difficulty encountered in building the bridge was in<br \/>\nsecuring a solid foundation for the piers. The dimensions of the<br \/>\npiles to be driven were so huge that the engineer found it necessary<br \/>\nto employ some extraordinary means for the purpose. He<br \/>\ncalled Nasmyth&#8217;s Titanic steam-hammer to his aid\u2014the first occasion,<br \/>\nwe believe, on which this prodigious power was employed<br \/>\nin bridge pile-driving. A temporary staging was erected for the<br \/>\nsteam-engine and hammer apparatus, which rested on two keels, and,<br \/>\nnotwithstanding the newness and stiffness of the machinery,<br \/>\nthe first pile was driven on the 6th of October, 1846, to a depth<br \/>\nof 32 feet in four minutes. Two hammers of 30 cwt. each were<br \/>\nkept in regular use, making from 60 to 70 strokes per minute,<br \/>\nand the results were astounding to those who had been accustomed<br \/>\nto the old style of pile-driving by means of the ordinary<br \/>\npile-frame, consisting of slide, ram, and monkey. By the old system<br \/>\nthe pile was driven by a comparatively small mass of iron<br \/>\ndescending with great velocity from a considerable height\u2014the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_435\" name=\"Page_435\"><\/a>[435]<\/span><br \/>\nvelocity being in excess and the mass deficient, and calculated,<br \/>\nlike the momentum of a cannon-ball, rather for destructive than<br \/>\nimpulsive action. In the case of the steam pile-driver, on the contrary,<br \/>\nthe whole weight of a heavy mass is delivered rapidly upon<br \/>\na driving-block of several tons weight placed directly over the<br \/>\nhead of the pile, the weight never ceasing, and the blows being<br \/>\nrepeated at the rate of a blow a second, until the pile is driven<br \/>\nhome. It is a curious fact, that the rapid strokes of the steam-hammer<br \/>\nevolved so much heat, that on many occasions the pile-head<br \/>\nburst into flame during the process of driving. The elastic<br \/>\nforce of steam is the power that lifts the ram, the escape permitting<br \/>\nits entire force to fall upon the head of the driving-block;<br \/>\nwhile the steam above the piston on the upper part of the cylinder,<br \/>\nacting as a buffer or recoil-spring, materially enhances the<br \/>\neffect of the downward blow. As soon as one pile was driven,<br \/>\nthe traveler, hovering overhead, presented another, and down it<br \/>\nwent into the solid bed of the river with almost as much ease as<br \/>\na lady sticks pins into a cushion. By the aid of this formidable<br \/>\nmachine, what before was among the most costly and tedious of engineering<br \/>\noperations was rendered simple, easy, and economical.<\/p>\n<p>When the piles had been driven and the coffer-dams formed<br \/>\nand puddled, the water within the inclosed spaces was pumped<br \/>\nout by the aid of powerful engines, so as to lay bare the bed of<br \/>\nthe river. Considerable difficulty was experienced in getting in<br \/>\nthe foundations of the middle pier, in consequence of the water<br \/>\nforcing itself through the quicksand beneath as fast as it was removed.<br \/>\nThis fruitless labor went on for months, and many expedients<br \/>\nwere tried. Chalk was thrown in in large quantities<br \/>\noutside the piling, but without effect. Cement concrete was at<br \/>\nlast put within the coffer-dam until it set, and the bottom was<br \/>\nthen found to be secure. A bed of concrete was laid up to the<br \/>\nlevel of the heads of the piles, the foundation course of stone<br \/>\nblocks being commenced about two feet below low water, and the<br \/>\nbuilding proceeded without farther difficulty. It may serve to<br \/>\ngive an idea of the magnitude of the work when we state that<br \/>\n400,000 cubic feet of ashlar, rubble, and concrete were worked<br \/>\nup in the piers, and 450,000 cubic feet in the land-arches and approaches.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/files\/46229\/46229-h\/images\/i_439-large.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_439.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"279\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>HIGH-LEVEL BRIDGE\u2014ELEVATION OF ONE ARCH.<\/p>\n<p>PLAN OF ONE ARCH.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The most novel feature of the structure is the use of cast and<br \/>\nwrought iron in forming the double bridge, which admirably combines<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_436\" name=\"Page_436\"><\/a>[436]<\/span><br \/>\nthe two principles of the arch and suspension, the railway<br \/>\nbeing carried over the back of the ribbed arches in the usual<br \/>\nmanner, while the carriage-road and footpaths, forming a long<br \/>\ngallery or aisle, are suspended from these arches by wrought-iron<br \/>\nvertical rods, with horizontal tie-bars to resist the thrust. The<br \/>\nsuspension-bolts are inclosed within spandril pillars of cast iron,<br \/>\nwhich give great stiffness to the superstructure. This system of<br \/>\nlongitudinal and vertical bracing has been much admired, for it<br \/>\nnot only accomplishes the primary object of securing rigidity in<br \/>\nthe roadway, but at the same time, by its graceful arrangement,<br \/>\nheightens the beauty of the structure. The arches consist of four<br \/>\nmain ribs, disposed in pairs, with a clear distance between the two<br \/>\ninner arches of 20 feet 4 inches, forming the carriage-road, while<br \/>\nbetween each of the inner and outer ribs there is a space of 6 feet<br \/>\n2 inches, constituting the footpaths. Each arch is cast in five<br \/>\nseparate lengths or segments, strongly bolted together. The ribs<br \/>\nspring from horizontal plates of cast iron, bedded and secured on<br \/>\nthe stone piers. All the abutting joints were carefully executed<br \/>\nby machinery, the fitting being of the most perfect kind. In order<br \/>\nto provide for the expansion and contraction of the iron arching,<br \/>\nand to preserve the equilibrium of the piers without disturbance<br \/>\nor racking of the other parts of the bridge, it was arranged<br \/>\nthat the ribs of every two adjoining arches resting on the same<br \/>\npier should be secured to the springing-plates by keys and joggles;<br \/>\nwhile on the next piers, on either side, the ribs remained<br \/>\nfree, and were at liberty to expand or contract according to temperature\u2014a<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_437\" name=\"Page_437\"><\/a>[437]<\/span><br \/>\nspace being left for the purpose. Hence each arch<br \/>\nis complete and independent in itself, the piers having simply to<br \/>\nsustain their vertical pressure. The arches are six in number, of<br \/>\n125 feet span each, the two approaches to the bridge being formed<br \/>\nof cast-iron pillars and bearers in keeping with the arches.<\/p>\n<p>The result is a bridge that for massive solidity may be pronounced<br \/>\nunrivaled. It is one of the most magnificent and striking<br \/>\nof the bridges to which railways have given birth, and has<br \/>\nbeen worthily styled &#8220;the King of railway structures.&#8221; It is a<br \/>\nmonument of the highest engineering skill of our time, with the<br \/>\nimpress of power grandly stamped upon it. It will also be observed<br \/>\nfrom the drawing placed as the frontispiece to this Life,<br \/>\nthat the High-Level Bridge forms a very fine object in a picture<br \/>\nof great interest, full of striking architectural variety and beauty.<br \/>\nThe bridge was opened on the 15th of August, 1849. A few<br \/>\ndays after, the royal train passed over it, halting for a few minutes<br \/>\nto enable her majesty to survey the wonderful scene below.<br \/>\nIn the course of the following year the queen opened the extensive<br \/>\nstone viaduct across the Tweed above described, by which<br \/>\nthe last link was completed of the continuous line of railway between<br \/>\nLondon and Edinburg. Over the entrance to the Berwick<br \/>\nstation, occupying the site of the once redoubtable Border fortress,<br \/>\nso often the deadly battle-ground of the ancient Scots and<br \/>\nEnglish, was erected an arch under which the royal train passed,<br \/>\nbearing in large letters of gold the appropriate words, &#8220;<em>The last<br \/>\nact of the Union<\/em>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The warders at Berwick no longer look out from the castle<br \/>\nwalls to descry the glitter of Southron spears. The bell-tower,<br \/>\nfrom which the alarm was sounded of old, though still standing,<br \/>\nis deserted; the only bell heard within the precincts of the old<br \/>\ncastle being the railway porter&#8217;s bell announcing the arrival and<br \/>\ndeparture of trains. You see the Scotch Express pass along the<br \/>\nbridge and speed southward on the wings of steam. But no<br \/>\nalarm spreads along the Border now. Northumbrian beeves are<br \/>\nsafe. Chevy Chase and Otterburn are quiet sheep-pastures. The<br \/>\nonly men-at-arms on the battlements of Alnwick Castle are of<br \/>\nstone. Bamborough Castle has become an asylum for shipwrecked<br \/>\nmariners, and the Norman Keep at Newcastle has been converted<br \/>\ninto a Museum of Antiquities. The railway has indeed<br \/>\nconsummated the Union.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap pg-brk\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_438\" name=\"Page_438\"><\/a>[438]<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER XVIII.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAILWAY\u2014MENAI AND CONWAY BRIDGES.<\/h4>\n<p>We have now to describe briefly another great undertaking,<br \/>\nbegun by George Stephenson, and taken up and completed by<br \/>\nhis son, in the course of which the latter carried out some of his<br \/>\ngreatest works\u2014we mean the Chester and Holyhead Railway,<br \/>\ncompleting the railway connection with Dublin, as the Newcastle<br \/>\nand Berwick line completed the connection with Edinburg. It<br \/>\nwill thus be seen how closely Telford was followed by the Stephensons<br \/>\nin perfecting the highways of their respective epochs;<br \/>\nthe former by means of turnpike roads, and the latter by means<br \/>\nof railways.<\/p>\n<p>George Stephenson surveyed a line from Chester to Holyhead<br \/>\nin 1838, and at the same time reported on the line through North<br \/>\nWales to Port Dynallen, as proposed by the Irish Railway Commissioners.<br \/>\nHis advice was strongly in favor of adopting the<br \/>\nline to Holyhead, as less costly and presenting better gradients.<br \/>\nA public meeting was held at Chester in January, 1839, in support<br \/>\nof the latter measure, at which he was present to give explanations.<br \/>\nMr. Uniacke, the mayor, in opening the proceedings, observed<br \/>\nthat it clearly appeared that the rival line through Shrewsbury<br \/>\nwas quite impracticable. Mr. Stephenson, he added, was<br \/>\npresent in the room, ready to answer any questions which might<br \/>\nbe put to him on the subject; and &#8220;it would be better that he<br \/>\nshould be asked questions than required to make a speech; for,<br \/>\nthough a very good engineer, he was a bad speaker.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>One of the questions then put to Mr. Stephenson related to the<br \/>\nmode by which he proposed to haul the passenger-carriages over<br \/>\nthe Menai Suspension Bridge by horse-power; and he was asked<br \/>\nwhether he knew the pressure the bridge was capable of sustaining.<br \/>\nHis answer was that &#8220;he had not yet made any calculations,<br \/>\nbut he proposed getting data which would enable him to<br \/>\narrive at an accurate calculation of the actual strain upon the<br \/>\nbridge during the late gale. He had, however, no hesitation in<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_439\" name=\"Page_439\"><\/a>[439]<\/span><br \/>\nsaying that it was more than twenty times as much as the strain<br \/>\nof a train of carriages and a locomotive engine. The only reason<br \/>\nwhy he proposed to convey the carriages over by horses was in<br \/>\norder that he might, by distributing the weight, not increase the<br \/>\nwavy motion. All the train would be on at once, but distributed.<br \/>\nThis he thought better than passing them linked together, by a<br \/>\nlocomotive engine.&#8221; It will thus be observed that the practicability<br \/>\nof throwing a rigid railroad bridge across the Straits had<br \/>\nnot yet been completed.<\/p>\n<p>The Dublin Chamber of Commerce passed resolutions in favor<br \/>\nof Stephenson&#8217;s line after hearing his explanations of its essential<br \/>\nfeatures. The project, after undergoing much discussion, was at<br \/>\nlength embodied in an act passed in 1844, and the work was<br \/>\nbrought to a successful completion by his son, with several important<br \/>\nmodifications, including the grand original feature of the<br \/>\ntubular bridges across the Menai Straits and the estuary of the<br \/>\nConway. Excepting these great works, the construction of this<br \/>\nline presented no unusual features, though the remarkable terrace<br \/>\ncut for the accommodation of the railway under the steep slope<br \/>\nof Penmaen Mawr is worthy of a passing notice.<\/p>\n<p>About midway between Conway and Bangor, Penmaen Mawr<br \/>\nforms a bold and almost precipitous headland, at the base of<br \/>\nwhich, in rough weather, the ocean dashes with great fury. There<br \/>\nwas not space enough between the mountain and the strand for<br \/>\nthe passage of the railway; hence in some places the rock had to<br \/>\nbe blasted to form a terrace, and in others sea walls had to be<br \/>\nbuilt up to the proper level, on which to form an embankment of<br \/>\nsufficient width to enable the road to be laid. A tunnel of 10-1\/2<br \/>\nchains in length was cut through the headland itself; and on its<br \/>\neast and west sides the line was formed by a terrace cut out of<br \/>\nthe cliff, and by embankments protected by sea walls, the terrace<br \/>\nbeing three times interrupted by embankments in its course of<br \/>\nabout a mile and a quarter. The road lies so close under the<br \/>\nsteep mountain face that it was even found necessary at certain<br \/>\nplaces to protect it against possible accidents from falling stones,<br \/>\nby means of a covered way. The terrace on the east side of the<br \/>\nheadland was, however, in some measure, protected against the<br \/>\nroll of the sea by the mass of stone run out from the tunnel,<br \/>\nwhich formed a deep shingle-bank in front of the wall.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_440\" name=\"Page_440\"><\/a>[440]<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_443.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"543\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">PENMAEN MAWR.<\/span> &nbsp; [By Percival Skelton, after his original Drawing.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The part of the work which lies to the westward of the headland<br \/>\npenetrated by the tunnel was exposed to the full force of<br \/>\nthe sea, and the formation of the road at that point was attended<br \/>\nwith great difficulty. While the sea wall was still in progress,<br \/>\nits strength was severely tried by a strong northwesterly gale<br \/>\nwhich blew in October, 1846, accompanied with a spring tide of<br \/>\n17 feet. On the following morning it was found that a large<br \/>\nportion of the rubble was irreparably injured, and 200 yards of<br \/>\nthe wall were then replaced by an open viaduct, with the piers<br \/>\nplaced edgeways to the sea, the openings between them being<br \/>\nspanned by ten cast-iron girders 42 feet long. This accident farther<br \/>\ninduced the engineer to alter the contour of the sea wall, so<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_441\" name=\"Page_441\"><\/a>[441]<\/span><br \/>\nthat it should present a diminished resistance to the force of the<br \/>\nwaves.<\/p>\n<p>But the sea repeated its assaults, and made farther havoc with<br \/>\nthe work, entailing heavy expenses and a complete reorganization<br \/>\nof the contract. Increased solidity was then given to the masonry,<br \/>\nand the face of the wall underwent farther change. At some<br \/>\npoints outworks were constructed, and piles were driven into the<br \/>\nbeach about 15 feet from the base of the wall for the purpose of<br \/>\nprotecting its foundations and breaking the force of the waves.<br \/>\nThe work was at length finished after about three years&#8217; anxious<br \/>\nlabor; but Mr. Stephenson confessed that if a long tunnel had<br \/>\nbeen made in the first instance through the solid rock of Penmaen<br \/>\nMawr, a saving of from \u00a325,000 to \u00a330,000 would have<br \/>\nbeen effected. He also said he had arrived at the conclusion<br \/>\nthat in railway works engineers should endeavor as far as possible<br \/>\nto avoid the necessity of contending with the sea;<a id=\"FNanchor_89\" name=\"FNanchor_89\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_89\">[89]<\/a> but if he<br \/>\nwere ever again compelled to go within its reach, he would<br \/>\nadopt, instead of retaining walls, an open viaduct, placing all the<br \/>\npiers edgeways to the force of the sea, and allowing the waves to<br \/>\nbreak upon a natural slope of beach. He was ready enough to<br \/>\nadmit the errors he had committed in the original design of this<br \/>\nwork; but he said he had always gained more information from<br \/>\nstudying the causes of failures and endeavoring to surmount<br \/>\nthem, than he had done from easily-won successes. While many<br \/>\nof the latter had been forgotten, the former were indelibly fixed<br \/>\nin his memory.<\/p>\n<p>But by far the greatest difficulty which Robert Stephenson had<br \/>\nto encounter in executing this railway was in carrying it across<br \/>\nthe Straits of Menai and the estuary of the Conway, where, like<br \/>\nhis predecessor Telford, when forming his high road through<br \/>\nNorth Wales, he was under the necessity of resorting to new and<br \/>\naltogether untried methods of bridge construction. At Menai,<br \/>\nthe waters of the Irish Sea are perpetually vibrating along the<br \/>\nprecipitous shores of the Strait, rising and falling from 20 to 25<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_442\" name=\"Page_442\"><\/a>[442]<\/span><br \/>\nfeet at each successive tide, the width and depth of the channel<br \/>\nbeing such as to render it available for navigation by the largest<br \/>\nships. The problem was to throw a bridge across this wide chasm\u2014a<br \/>\nbridge of unusual span and dimensions\u2014of such strength as<br \/>\nto be capable of bearing the heaviest loads at high speeds, and of<br \/>\nsuch a uniform height throughout as not in any way to interfere<br \/>\nwith the navigation of the Strait. From an early period Mr. Stephenson<br \/>\nhad fixed upon the spot where the Britannia Rock occurs,<br \/>\nnearly in the middle of the channel, as the most eligible<br \/>\npoint for crossing, the water width from shore to shore at high<br \/>\nwater being there about 1100 feet.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figleft\" style=\"width: 300px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_445.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"535\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>Map of Menai Strait; Britannia Bridge<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The engineer&#8217;s first idea was to construct the bridge of two<br \/>\ncast-iron arches of 350 feet<br \/>\nspan each. There was no<br \/>\nnovelty in this idea; for, as<br \/>\nearly as the year 1801, Mr.<br \/>\nRennie prepared a design of<br \/>\na cast-iron bridge across the<br \/>\nStrait at the Swilly Rocks,<br \/>\nthe great centre arch of which<br \/>\nwas to be 450 feet span; and<br \/>\nat a later period, in 1810, Telford<br \/>\nsubmitted a design of a<br \/>\nsimilar bridge at Inys-y-Moch,<br \/>\nwith a single cast-iron arch of<br \/>\n500 feet. But the same objections<br \/>\nwhich led to the rejection<br \/>\nof Rennie&#8217;s and Telford&#8217;s<br \/>\ndesigns proved fatal to<br \/>\nRobert Stephenson&#8217;s, and his<br \/>\niron-arched railway bridge<br \/>\nwas rejected by the Admiralty.<br \/>\nThe navigation of the<br \/>\nStrait was under no circumstances<br \/>\nto be interfered with;<br \/>\nand even the erection of scaffolding from below, to support the<br \/>\nbridge during construction, was not to be permitted. The idea<br \/>\nof a suspension bridge was dismissed as inapplicable, a degree<br \/>\nof rigidity and strength greater than could be secured by any<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_443\" name=\"Page_443\"><\/a>[443]<\/span><br \/>\nbridge erected on the principle of suspension being considered an<br \/>\nindispensable condition of the proposed structure.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Stephenson next considered the expediency of erecting a<br \/>\nbridge by means of suspended centering, after the ingenious method<br \/>\nproposed by Telford in 1810,<a id=\"FNanchor_90\" name=\"FNanchor_90\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_90\">[90]<\/a> by which the arching was to be<br \/>\ncarried out by placing equal and corresponding voussoirs on opposite<br \/>\nsides of the pier at the same time, tying them together by<br \/>\nhorizontal tie-bolts. The arching, thus extended outward from<br \/>\neach pier and held in equilibrium, would have been connected at<br \/>\nthe crown with the extremity of the arch advanced in like manner<br \/>\nfrom the adjoining pier. It was, however, found that this<br \/>\nmethod of construction was not applicable at the crossing of the<br \/>\nConway, and it was eventually abandoned. Various other plans<br \/>\nwere suggested; but the whole question remained unsettled even<br \/>\ndown to the time when the company went before Parliament in<br \/>\n1844 for power to construct the proposed bridges. No existing<br \/>\nkind of structure seemed to be capable of bearing the severe extension<br \/>\nto which rigid bridges of the necessary spans would be<br \/>\nsubjected, and some new expedient of engineering therefore became<br \/>\nnecessary.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Stephenson was then led to reconsider a design which he<br \/>\nhad made in 1841 for a road bridge over the River Lea at Ware,<br \/>\nwith a span of 50 feet, the conditions only admitting of a platform<br \/>\n18 or 20 inches thick. For this purpose a wrought-iron<br \/>\nplatform was devised, consisting of a series of simple cells, formed<br \/>\nof boiler-plates riveted together with angle-iron. The bridge<br \/>\nwas not, however, carried out after this design, but was made of<br \/>\nseparate wrought-iron girders composed of riveted plates.<a id=\"FNanchor_91\" name=\"FNanchor_91\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_91\">[91]<\/a> Recurring<br \/>\nto his first idea of this bridge, the engineer thought that a<br \/>\nstiff platform might be constructed, with sides of strongly-trussed<br \/>\nframe-work of wrought iron, braced together at top and bottom<br \/>\nwith plates of like material riveted together with angle-iron, after<br \/>\na method adopted by Mr. Rendel in stiffening the suspension<br \/>\n<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_444\" name=\"Page_444\"><\/a>[444]<\/span>bridge at Montrose with wooden trellis-work a few years before;<br \/>\nand that such platform might be suspended by strong chains on<br \/>\neither side to give it increased security. &#8220;It was now,&#8221; says Mr.<br \/>\nStephenson, &#8220;that I came to regard the tubular platform as a<br \/>\nbeam, and that the chains should be looked upon as auxiliaries.&#8221;<br \/>\nIt appeared to him, nevertheless, that without a system of diagonal<br \/>\nstruts inside, which of course would have prevented the passage<br \/>\nof trains <em>through<\/em> it, this kind of structure was ill suited for<br \/>\nmaintaining its form, and would be very liable to become lozenge-shaped.<br \/>\nBesides, the rectangular figure was deemed objectionable,<br \/>\nfrom the large surface which it presented to the wind.<\/p>\n<p>It then occurred to him that circular or elliptical tubes might<br \/>\nbetter answer the intended purpose; and in March, 1845, he gave<br \/>\ninstructions to two of his assistants to prepare drawings of such<br \/>\na structure, the tubes being made with a double thickness of plate<br \/>\nat top and bottom. The results of the calculations made as to<br \/>\nthe strength of such a tube were considered so satisfactory, that<br \/>\nMr. Stephenson says he determined to fall back upon a bridge of<br \/>\nthis description on the rejection of his design of the two cast-iron<br \/>\narches by the Parliamentary Committee. Indeed, it became evident<br \/>\nthat a tubular wrought-iron beam was the only structure<br \/>\nwhich combined the necessary strength and stability for a railway,<br \/>\nwith the conditions deemed essential for the protection of<br \/>\nthe navigation:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;I stood,&#8221; says Mr. Stephenson, &#8220;on the verge of a responsibility<br \/>\nfrom which, I confess, I had nearly shrunk. The construction of a<br \/>\ntubular beam of such gigantic dimensions, on a platform elevated<br \/>\nand supported by chains at such a height, did at first present itself<br \/>\nas a difficulty of a very formidable nature. Reflection, however,<br \/>\nsatisfied me that the principles upon which the idea was founded<br \/>\nwere nothing more than an extension of those daily in use in the<br \/>\nprofession of the engineer. The method, moreover, of calculating<br \/>\nthe strength of the structure which I had adopted was of the simplest<br \/>\nand most elementary character; and whatever might be the<br \/>\nform of the tube, the principle on which the calculations were<br \/>\nfounded was equally applicable, and could not fail to lead to equally<br \/>\naccurate results.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_92\" name=\"FNanchor_92\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_92\">[92]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_445\" name=\"Page_445\"><\/a>[445]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Mr. Stephenson accordingly announced to the directors of the<br \/>\nrailway that he was prepared to carry out a bridge of this general<br \/>\ndescription, and they adopted his views, though not without considerable<br \/>\nmisgivings.<\/p>\n<p>While the engineer&#8217;s mind was still occupied with the subject,<br \/>\nan accident occurred to the <i>Prince of Wales<\/i> iron steam-ship, at<br \/>\nBlackwall, which singularly corroborated his views as to the<br \/>\nstrength of wrought-iron beams of large dimensions. When this<br \/>\nvessel was being launched, the <span class=\"corr\" title=\"Transcriber's Note\u2014original text: 'cleet'\">cleat<\/span> on the bow gave way in consequence<br \/>\nof the bolts breaking, and let the vessel down so that<br \/>\nthe bilge came in contact with the wharf, and she remained suspended<br \/>\nbetween the water and the wharf for a length of about<br \/>\n110 feet, but without any injury to the plates of the ship, satisfactorily<br \/>\nproving the great strength of this form of construction.<br \/>\nThus Mr. Stephenson became gradually confirmed in his opinion<br \/>\nthat the most feasible method of bridging the strait at Menai and<br \/>\nthe river at Conway was by means of a hollow tube of wrought<br \/>\niron. As the time was approaching for giving evidence before<br \/>\nParliament on the subject, it was necessary for him to settle some<br \/>\ndefinite plan for submission to the committee.<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;My late revered father,&#8221; says he, &#8220;having always taken a deep<br \/>\ninterest in the various proposals which had been considered for carrying<br \/>\na railway across the Menai Straits, requested me to explain<br \/>\nfully to him the views which led me to suggest the use of a tube,<br \/>\nand also the nature of the calculations I had made in reference to it.<br \/>\nIt was during this personal conference that Mr. William Fairbairn<br \/>\naccidentally called upon me, to whom I also explained the principles<br \/>\nof the structure I had proposed. He at once acquiesced in<br \/>\ntheir truth, and expressed confidence in the feasibility of my project,<br \/>\ngiving me at the same time some facts relative to the remarkable<br \/>\nstrength of iron steam-ships, and invited me to his works at Millwall<br \/>\nto examine the construction of an iron steam-ship which was<br \/>\nthen in progress.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_93\" name=\"FNanchor_93\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_93\">[93]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The date of this consultation was early in April, 1845, and Mr.<br \/>\nFairbairn states that, on that occasion,<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;Mr. Stephenson asked whether such a design was practicable,<br \/>\nand whether I could accomplish it; and it was ultimately arranged<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_446\" name=\"Page_446\"><\/a>[446]<\/span><br \/>\nthat the subject should be investigated experimentally, to determine<br \/>\nnot only the value of Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s original conception (of<br \/>\na circular or egg-shaped wrought-iron tube, supported by chains),<br \/>\nbut that of any other tubular form of bridge which might present<br \/>\nitself in the prosecution of my researches. The matter was placed<br \/>\nunreservedly in my hands; the entire conduct of the investigation<br \/>\nwas intrusted to me; and, as an experimenter, I was to be left free<br \/>\nto exercise my own discretion in the investigation of whatever forms<br \/>\nor conditions of the structure might appear to me best calculated<br \/>\nto secure a safe passage across the Straits.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_94\" name=\"FNanchor_94\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_94\">[94]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Mr. Fairbairn then proceeded to construct a number of experimental<br \/>\nmodels, for the purpose of testing the strength of tubes of<br \/>\ndifferent forms. The short period which elapsed, however, before<br \/>\nthe bill was in committee, did not admit of much progress<br \/>\nbeing made with those experiments; but from the evidence in<br \/>\nchief given by Mr. Stephenson on the subject on the 5th of May<br \/>\nfollowing, it appears that the idea which prevailed in his mind<br \/>\nwas that of a bridge with openings of 450 feet (afterward increased<br \/>\nto 460 feet), with a roadway formed of a hollow wrought-iron<br \/>\nbeam about 25 feet in diameter, presenting a rigid platform<br \/>\nsuspended by chains. At the same time, he expressed the confident<br \/>\nopinion that a tube of wrought iron would possess sufficient<br \/>\nstrength and rigidity to support a railway train running inside<br \/>\nof it without the help of the chains.<\/p>\n<p>While the bill was still in progress, Mr. Fairbairn proceeded<br \/>\nwith his experiments. He first tested tubes of a cylindrical form,<br \/>\nin consequence of the favorable opinion entertained by Mr. Stephenson<br \/>\nof tubes in that shape, extending them subsequently to<br \/>\nthose of an elliptical form.<a id=\"FNanchor_95\" name=\"FNanchor_95\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_95\">[95]<\/a> He found tubes thus shaped more<br \/>\nor less defective, and proceeded to test those of a rectangular<br \/>\nkind. After the bill had received the royal assent, on the 30th<br \/>\nof June, 1845, the directors of the company, with great liberality,<br \/>\nvoted a sum for the purpose of enabling the experiments to be<br \/>\n<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_447\" name=\"Page_447\"><\/a>[447]<\/span>prosecuted, and upward of \u00a36000 were thus expended to make<br \/>\nthe assurance of their engineer doubly sure.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Fairbairn&#8217;s tests were of the most elaborate and eventually<br \/>\nconclusive character, bringing to light many new and important<br \/>\nfacts of great practical value. The due proportions and thicknesses<br \/>\nof the top, bottom, and sides of the tubes were arrived at<br \/>\nafter a vast number of separate trials, one of the results of the<br \/>\nexperiments being the adoption of Mr. Fairbairn&#8217;s invention of<br \/>\nrectangular hollow cells in the top of the beam for the purpose<br \/>\nof giving it the requisite degree of strength. About the end of<br \/>\nAugust it was thought desirable to obtain the assistance of a<br \/>\nmathematician, who should prepare a formula by which the<br \/>\nstrength of a full-sized tube might be calculated from the results<br \/>\nof the experiments made with tubes of smaller dimensions.<br \/>\nProfessor Hodgkinson was accordingly called in, and he proceeded<br \/>\nto verify and confirm the experiments which Mr. Fairbairn<br \/>\nhad made, and afterward reduced them to the required<br \/>\nformul\u00e6, though Mr. Fairbairn states that they did not appear<br \/>\nin time to be of any practical service in proportioning the parts<br \/>\nof the largest tubes.<a id=\"FNanchor_96\" name=\"FNanchor_96\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_96\">[96]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s time was so much engrossed with his extensive<br \/>\nengineering business that he was in a great measure precluded<br \/>\nfrom devoting himself to the consideration of the practical<br \/>\ndetails, which he felt were safe in the hands of Mr. Fairbairn\u2014&#8221;a<br \/>\ngentleman,&#8221; as he stated to the Committee of the Commons,<br \/>\n&#8220;whose experience was greater than that of any other man<br \/>\nin England.&#8221; The results of the experiments were communicated<br \/>\nto him from time to time, and were regarded by him as<br \/>\nexceedingly satisfactory. It would appear, however, that while<br \/>\nMr. Fairbairn urged the sufficient rigidity and strength of the<br \/>\ntubes without the aid of chains, Mr. Stephenson had not quite<br \/>\nmade up his mind upon the point. Mr. Hodgkinson, also, was<br \/>\nstrongly inclined to retain them.<a id=\"FNanchor_97\" name=\"FNanchor_97\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_97\">[97]<\/a> Mr. Fairbairn held that it<br \/>\n<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_448\" name=\"Page_448\"><\/a>[448]<\/span>was quite practicable to make the tubes &#8220;sufficiently strong to<br \/>\nsustain not only their own weight, but, in addition to that load,<br \/>\n2000 tons equally distributed over the surface of the platform\u2014a<br \/>\nload ten times greater than they will ever be called upon to<br \/>\nsupport.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It was thoroughly characteristic of Mr. Stephenson, and of the<br \/>\ncaution with which he proceeded in every step of this great undertaking\u2014probing<br \/>\nevery inch of the ground before he set his<br \/>\nfoot down upon it\u2014that he should, early in 1846, have appointed<br \/>\nhis able assistant, Mr. Edwin Clark, to scrutinize carefully the<br \/>\nresults of every experiment, whether made by Mr. Fairbairn or<br \/>\nMr. Hodgkinson, and subject them to a separate and independent<br \/>\nanalysis before finally deciding upon the form or dimensions of<br \/>\nthe structure, or upon any mode of procedure connected with it.<br \/>\nThat great progress had been made by the two chief experimenters<br \/>\nbefore the end of 1846 appears from the papers on the subject<br \/>\nread by Messrs. Fairbairn and Hodgkinson before the British<br \/>\nAssociation at Southampton in September of that year. In the<br \/>\ncourse of the following month Mr. Stephenson had become satisfied<br \/>\nthat the use of auxiliary chains was unnecessary, and that<br \/>\nthe tubular bridge might be made of such strength as to be entirely<br \/>\nself-supporting.<a id=\"FNanchor_98\" name=\"FNanchor_98\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_98\">[98]<\/a><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_449\" name=\"Page_449\"><\/a>[449]<\/span><br \/>\nWhile these important discussions were in progress, measures<br \/>\nwere taken to proceed with the masonry of the bridges simultaneously<br \/>\nat Conway and the Menai Strait. The foundation-stone<br \/>\nof the Britannia Bridge was laid by Mr. Frank Forster, the resident<br \/>\nengineer, on the 10th of April, 1846; and on the 12th of<br \/>\nMay following that of the Conway Bridge was laid by Mr. A. M. Ross,<br \/>\nresident engineer at that part of the works. Suitable platforms<br \/>\nand workshops were also erected for proceeding with the<br \/>\npunching, fitting, and riveting of the tubes; and when these operations<br \/>\nwere in full progress, the neighborhood of the Conway and<br \/>\nBritannia Bridges presented scenes of extraordinary bustle and<br \/>\nindustry. On the 11th of July, 1847, Mr. Clark informed Mr.<br \/>\nStephenson that &#8220;the masonry gets on rapidly. The abutments<br \/>\non the Anglesea side resemble the foundations of a great city<br \/>\nrather than of a single structure, and nothing appears to stand<br \/>\nstill here.&#8221; About 1500 men were employed on the Britannia<br \/>\nBridge alone, and they mostly lived upon the ground in wooden<br \/>\ncottages erected for the occasion. The iron plates were brought<br \/>\nin ship-loads from Liverpool, Anglesea marble from Penmon, and<br \/>\nred sandstone from Runcorn, in Cheshire, as wind and tide, and<br \/>\nshipping and convenience, might determine. There was an unremitting<br \/>\nclank of hammers, grinding of machinery, and blasting<br \/>\nof rock going on from morning to night. In fitting the Britannia<br \/>\ntubes together not less than 2,000,000 of bolts were riveted,<br \/>\nweighing some 900 tons.<\/p>\n<p>The Britannia Bridge consists of two independent continuous<br \/>\ntubular beams, each 1511 feet in length, and each weighing 4680<br \/>\ntons, independent of the cast-iron frames inserted at their bearings<br \/>\non the masonry of the towers. These immense beams are<br \/>\nsupported at five places, namely, on the abutments and on three<br \/>\ntowers, the central of which is known as the Great Britannia<br \/>\nTower, 230 feet high, built on a rock in the middle of the Strait.<br \/>\nThe side towers are 18 feet less in height than the central one,<br \/>\nand the abutments 35 feet lower than the side towers. The design<br \/>\nof the masonry is such as to accord with the form of the<br \/>\ntubes, being somewhat of an Egyptian character, massive and<br \/>\ngigantic rather than beautiful, but bearing the unmistakable impress<br \/>\nof power.<\/p>\n<p>The bridge has four spans\u2014two of 460 feet over the water,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_450\" name=\"Page_450\"><\/a>[450]<\/span><br \/>\nand two of 230 feet over the land. The weight of the longer<br \/>\nspans, at the points where the tubes repose on the masonry, is not<br \/>\nless than 1587 tons. On the centre tower the tubes lie solid; but<br \/>\non the land towers and abutments they lie on roller-beds, so as to<br \/>\nallow of expansion and contraction. The road within each tube<br \/>\nis 15 feet wide, and the height varies from 23 feet at the ends to<br \/>\n30 feet at the centre. To give an idea of the vast size of the<br \/>\ntubes by comparison with other structures, it may be mentioned<br \/>\nthat each length constituting the main spans is twice as long as<br \/>\nLondon Monument is high; and if it could be set on end in St.<br \/>\nPaul&#8217;s Church-yard, it would reach nearly 100 feet above the<br \/>\ncross.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_453.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"478\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>CONSTRUCTION OF THE MAIN BRITANNIA TUBE ON THE STAGING.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Conway Bridge is, in most respects, similar to the Britannia,<br \/>\nconsisting of two tubes of 400 feet span, placed side by side,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_451\" name=\"Page_451\"><\/a>[451]<\/span><br \/>\neach weighing 1180 tons. The principle adopted in the construction<br \/>\nof the tubes, and the mode of floating and raising them, was<br \/>\nnearly the same as at the Britannia Bridge, though the general<br \/>\narrangement of the plates is in many respects different.<\/p>\n<p>It was determined to construct the shorter outer tubes of the<br \/>\nBritannia Bridge on scaffoldings in the positions in which they<br \/>\nwere permanently to remain, and to erect the larger tubes upon<br \/>\nwooden platforms at high-water-mark on the Caernarvon shore,<br \/>\nfrom whence they were to be floated in pontoons\u2014in like manner<br \/>\nas Rennie had floated into their places the centerings of his<br \/>\nWaterloo and other bridges\u2014and then raised into their proper<br \/>\nplaces by means of hydraulic power, after a method originally<br \/>\nsuggested by Mr. Edwin Clark. The tubes of the Conway Bridge<br \/>\nalso were to be constructed on shore, and floated to their places<br \/>\non pontoons, as in the case of the main centre tubes of the Britannia<br \/>\nBridge.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_454.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"446\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">CONWAY BRIDGE.<\/span> &nbsp; [By Percival Skelton.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_452\" name=\"Page_452\"><\/a>[452]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The floating of these tubes on pontoons, from the places where<br \/>\nthey had been constructed to the recesses in the masonry of the<br \/>\ntowers, up which they were to be hoisted to the places they were<br \/>\npermanently to occupy, was an anxious and exciting operation.<br \/>\nThe first proceeding of this nature was at Conway, where Mr.<br \/>\nStephenson directed it in person, assisted by Captain Claxton, Mr.<br \/>\nBrunel, and other engineering friends. On the 6th of March,<br \/>\n1848, the pontoons bearing the first great tube of the up-line were<br \/>\nfloated round quietly and majestically into their place between<br \/>\nthe towers in about twenty minutes. Unfortunately, one of the<br \/>\nsets of pontoons had become slightly slued by the stream, by which<br \/>\nthe Conway end of the tube was prevented from being brought<br \/>\nhome, and five anxious days to all concerned intervened before it<br \/>\ncould be set in its place. In the mean time, the presses and raising<br \/>\nmachinery had been fitted in the towers above, and the lifting<br \/>\nprocess was begun on the 8th of April, when the immense<br \/>\nmass was raised 8 feet, at the rate of about 2 inches a minute.<br \/>\nOn the 16th the tube had been raised and finally lowered into its<br \/>\npermanent bed; the rails were laid within it; and on the 18th<br \/>\nMr. Stephenson passed through with the first locomotive. The<br \/>\nsecond tube was proceeded with on the removal of the first from<br \/>\nthe platform, and was completed and floated in seven months.<br \/>\nThe rapidity with which this second tube was constructed was<br \/>\nin no small degree owing to the Jacquard punching-machine, contrived<br \/>\nfor the purpose of punching the holes for the rivets by Mr.<br \/>\nRoberts, of Manchester. The tube was finally fixed in its permanent<br \/>\nbed on the 2d of January, 1849.<\/p>\n<p>The floating and fixing of the great Britannia tubes was a still<br \/>\nmore formidable enterprise, though the experience gained at Conway<br \/>\nrendered it easy compared with what it otherwise would have<br \/>\nbeen. Mr. Stephenson superintended the operation of floating the<br \/>\nfirst in person, giving the arranged signals from the top of the<br \/>\ntube on which he was mounted, the active part of the business<br \/>\nbeing performed by a numerous corps of sailors, under the immediate<br \/>\ndirection of Captain Claxton. Thousands of spectators lined<br \/>\nthe shores of the Strait on the evening of the 19th of June, 1849.<br \/>\nOn the land attachments being cut, the pontoons began to float<br \/>\noff; but one of the capstans having given way from the too great<br \/>\nstrain put upon it, the tube was brought home again for the night.<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_453\" name=\"Page_453\"><\/a>[453]<\/span><br \/>\nBy next morning the defective capstan was restored, and all was<br \/>\nin readiness for another trial. At half past seven in the evening<br \/>\nthe tube was afloat, and the pontoons swung out into the current<br \/>\nlike a monster pendulum, held steady by the shore guide-lines,<br \/>\nbut increasing in speed to almost a fearful extent as they neared<br \/>\ntheir destined place between the piers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;The success of this operation,&#8221; says Mr. Clark, &#8220;depended mainly<br \/>\non properly striking the &#8216;butt&#8217; beneath the Anglesey tower, on<br \/>\nwhich, as upon a centre, the tube was to be veered round into its<br \/>\nposition across the opening. This position was determined by a<br \/>\n12-inch line, which was to be paid out to a fixed mark from the<br \/>\nLlanfair capstan. The coils of the rope unfortunately overrode<br \/>\neach other upon this capstan, so that it could not be paid out. In<br \/>\nresisting the motion of the tube, the capstan was bodily dragged<br \/>\nout of the platform by the action of the palls, and the tube was in<br \/>\nimminent danger of being carried away by the stream, or the pontoons<br \/>\ncrushed upon the rocks. The men at the capstan were all<br \/>\nknocked down, and some of them thrown into the water, though<br \/>\nthey made every exertion to arrest the motion of the capstan-bars.<br \/>\nIn this dilemma, Mr. Charles Rolfe, who had charge of the capstan,<br \/>\nwith great presence of mind called the visitors on shore to his assistance;<br \/>\nand handing out the spare coil of the 12-inch line into the<br \/>\nfield at the back of the capstan, it was carried with great rapidity<br \/>\nup the field, and a crowd of people, men, women, and children, holding<br \/>\non to this huge cable, arrested the progress of the tube, which<br \/>\nwas at length brought safely against the butt and veered round.<br \/>\nThe Britannia end was then drawn into the recess of the masonry<br \/>\nby a chain passing through the tower to a crab on the far side.<br \/>\nThe violence of the tide abated, though the wind increased, and the<br \/>\nAnglesey end was drawn into its place beneath the corbeling in the<br \/>\nmasonry; and as the tide went down, the pontoons deposited their<br \/>\nvaluable cargo on the welcome shelf at each end. The successful<br \/>\nissue was greeted by cannon from the shore and the hearty cheers<br \/>\nof many thousands of spectators, whose sympathy and anxiety were<br \/>\nbut too clearly indicated by the unbroken silence with which the<br \/>\nwhole operation had been accompanied.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_99\" name=\"FNanchor_99\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_99\">[99]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>By midnight all the pontoons had been got clear of the tube,<br \/>\nwhich now hung suspended over the waters of the Strait by its<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_454\" name=\"Page_454\"><\/a>[454]<\/span><br \/>\ntwo ends, which rested upon the edges cut in the rock for the<br \/>\npurpose at the base of the Britannia and Anglesey towers respectively,<br \/>\nup which the tube had now to be lifted by hydraulic power<br \/>\nto its permanent place near the summit. The accuracy with<br \/>\nwhich the gigantic beam had been constructed may be inferred<br \/>\nfrom the fact that, after passing into its place, a clear space remained<br \/>\nbetween the iron plating and the rock outside of it of<br \/>\nonly about three quarters of an inch!<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s anxiety was, of course, very great up to the<br \/>\ntime of effecting this perilous operation. When he had got the<br \/>\nfirst tube floated at Conway and saw all safe, he said to Captain<br \/>\nMoorsom, &#8220;Now I shall go to bed.&#8221; But the Britannia Bridge<br \/>\nwas a still more difficult enterprise, and cost him many a sleepless<br \/>\nnight. Afterward describing his feelings to his friend Mr.<br \/>\nGooch, he said, &#8220;It was a most anxious and harassing time with<br \/>\nme. Often at night I would lie tossing about, seeking sleep in<br \/>\nvain. The tubes filled my head. I went to bed with them and<br \/>\ngot up with them. In the gray of the morning, when I looked<br \/>\nacross the Square,<a id=\"FNanchor_100\" name=\"FNanchor_100\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_100\">[100]<\/a> it seemed an immense distance across to the<br \/>\nhouses on the opposite side. It was nearly the same length as<br \/>\nthe span of my tubular bridge!&#8221; When the first tube had been<br \/>\nfloated, a friend observed to him, &#8220;This great work has made you<br \/>\nten years older.&#8221; &#8220;I have not slept sound,&#8221; he replied, &#8220;for three<br \/>\nweeks.&#8221; Sir F. Head, however, relates that, when he revisited the<br \/>\nspot on the following morning, he observed, sitting on a platform<br \/>\noverlooking the suspended tube, a gentleman, reclining entirely<br \/>\nby himself, smoking a cigar, and gazing, as if indolently, at the<br \/>\naerial gallery beneath him. It was the engineer himself, contemplating<br \/>\nhis newborn child. He had strolled down from the<br \/>\nneighboring village, after his first sound and refreshing sleep for<br \/>\nweeks, to behold in sunshine and solitude that which, during a<br \/>\nweary period of gestation, had been either mysteriously moving<br \/>\nin his brain, or, like a vision\u2014sometimes of good omen and sometimes<br \/>\nof evil\u2014had, by night as well as by day, been flitting across<br \/>\nhis mind.<\/p>\n<p>The next process was the lifting of the tube into its place,<br \/>\nwhich was performed very deliberately and cautiously. It was<br \/>\nraised by powerful hydraulic presses, only a few feet at a time,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_455\" name=\"Page_455\"><\/a>[455]<\/span><br \/>\nand carefully under-built, before being raised to a farther height.<br \/>\nWhen it had been got up by successive stages of this kind to<br \/>\nabout 24 feet, an extraordinary accident occurred, during Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\nabsence in London, which he afterward described to<br \/>\nthe author in as nearly as possible the following words: &#8220;In a<br \/>\nwork of such novelty and magnitude, you may readily imagine<br \/>\nhow anxious I was that every possible contingency should be provided<br \/>\nfor. Where one chain or rope was required, I provided<br \/>\ntwo. I was not satisfied with &#8216;enough:&#8217; I must have absolute<br \/>\nsecurity, so far as that was possible. I knew the consequences of<br \/>\nfailure would be most disastrous to the company, and that the<br \/>\nwisest economy was to provide for all contingencies, at whatever<br \/>\ncost. When the first tube at the Britannia had been successfully<br \/>\nfloated between the piers, ready for being raised, my young engineers<br \/>\nwere very much elated; and when the hoisting apparatus<br \/>\nhad been fixed, they wrote to me, saying, &#8216;We are now all ready<br \/>\nfor raising her: we could do it in a day, or in two at the most.&#8217;<br \/>\nBut my reply was, No; you must only raise the tube inch by inch,<br \/>\nand you must build up under it as you rise. Every inch must<br \/>\nbe made good. Nothing must be left to chance or good luck.<br \/>\nAnd fortunate it was that I insisted upon this cautious course<br \/>\nbeing pursued; for, one day, while the hydraulic presses were at<br \/>\nwork, the bottom of one of them burst clean away! The cross-head<br \/>\nand the chains, weighing more than 50 tons, descended with<br \/>\na fearful crash upon the press, and the tube itself fell down upon<br \/>\nthe packing beneath. Though the fall of the tube was not more<br \/>\nthan nine inches, it crunched solid castings, weighing tons, as if<br \/>\nthey had been nuts. The tube itself was slightly strained and<br \/>\ndeflected, though it still remained sufficiently serviceable. But<br \/>\nit was a tremendous test to which it was put, for a weight of upward<br \/>\nof 5000 tons falling even a few inches must be admitted to<br \/>\nbe a very serious matter. That it stood so well was extraordinary.<br \/>\nClark immediately wrote me an account of the circumstance,<br \/>\nin which he said, &#8216;Thank God you have been so obstinate;<br \/>\nfor if this accident had occurred without a bed for the end of the<br \/>\ntube to fall on, the whole would now have been lying across the<br \/>\nbottom of the Straits.&#8217; Five thousand pounds extra expense was<br \/>\ncaused by this accident, slight though it might seem. But careful<br \/>\nprovision was made against future failure; a new and improved<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_456\" name=\"Page_456\"><\/a>[456]<\/span><br \/>\ncylinder was provided; and the work was very soon advancing<br \/>\nsatisfactorily toward completion.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_101\" name=\"FNanchor_101\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_101\">[101]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>When the queen first visited the Britannia Bridge, on her return<br \/>\nfrom the North in 1852, Robert Stephenson accompanied her<br \/>\nmajesty and Prince Albert over the works, explaining the principles<br \/>\non which the bridge had been built, and the difficulties<br \/>\nwhich had attended its erection. He conducted the royal party<br \/>\nto near the margin of the sea, and, after describing to them the<br \/>\nincident of the fall of the tube, and the reason of its preservation,<br \/>\nhe pointed with pardonable pride to a pile of stones which the<br \/>\nworkmen had there raised to commemorate the event. While<br \/>\nnearly all the other marks of the work during its progress had<br \/>\nbeen obliterated, that cairn had been left standing in commemoration<br \/>\nof the caution and foresight of their chief.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_460.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"494\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">MENAI BRIDGE.<\/span> &nbsp; [By Percival Skelton, after his original Drawing.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The floating and raising of the remaining tubes need not be<br \/>\ndescribed in detail. The second was floated on the 3d of December,<br \/>\nand set in its permanent place on the 7th of January,<br \/>\n1850. The others<a id=\"FNanchor_102\" name=\"FNanchor_102\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_102\">[102]<\/a> were floated and raised in due course; on<br \/>\n<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_457\" name=\"Page_457\"><\/a>[457]<\/span>the 5th of March Mr. Stephenson put the last rivet in the tube,<br \/>\nand passed through the completed bridge, accompanied by about<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_458\" name=\"Page_458\"><\/a>[458]<\/span><br \/>\na thousand persons, drawn by three locomotives. The bridge<br \/>\nwas found almost entirely rigid, scarcely showing the slightest<br \/>\ndeflection. When, in the course of the day, a train of 200 tons<br \/>\nof coal was allowed to rest with all its weight, for two hours, in<br \/>\nthe centre of the eastern land tube, the deflection was only four<br \/>\ntenths of an inch, or less than that produced upon the structure<br \/>\nby half an hour&#8217;s sunshine;<a id=\"FNanchor_103\" name=\"FNanchor_103\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_103\">[103]<\/a> while the whole bridge might with<br \/>\nsafety, and without injury to itself, be deflected to the extent of<br \/>\n13 inches. The bridge was opened for public traffic on the 18th<br \/>\nof March. The cost of the whole work was \u00a3234,450.<\/p>\n<p>The Britannia Bridge is one of the most remarkable monuments<br \/>\nof the enterprise and skill of the present century. Robert<br \/>\nStephenson was the master spirit of the undertaking. To him<br \/>\nbelongs the merit of first seizing the ideal conception of the<br \/>\nstructure best adapted to meet the necessities of the case, and of<br \/>\nselecting the best men to work out his idea, himself watching,<br \/>\ncontrolling, and testing every result by independent check and<br \/>\ncounter-check. And, finally, he organized and directed, through<br \/>\nhis assistants, the vast band of skilled workmen and laborers who<br \/>\nwere for so many years occupied in carrying his magnificent<br \/>\noriginal conception to a successful practical issue.<\/p>\n<p>But it was not accomplished without the greatest anxiety and<br \/>\nmental pressure. Mr. Clark has well observed that few persons<br \/>\nwho merely witness the results of the engineer&#8217;s labors can form<br \/>\nany conception of the real difficulties overcome, and the intense<br \/>\nanxiety involved in their elaboration. &#8220;If the stranger,&#8221; he says,<br \/>\n&#8220;who contemplates the finished reality, requires so much thought<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_459\" name=\"Page_459\"><\/a>[459]<\/span><br \/>\nto appreciate its principles and comprehend its detail, what weary<br \/>\nhours must he have undergone who first conceived its bold<br \/>\nproportions\u2014who, combating, almost alone, every prejudice that<br \/>\nassailed him, and with untiring labor discussing every objection,<br \/>\nlistening to every opinion, and embodying every inquiry, at length<br \/>\nmatured, step by step, this noble monument?&#8221; On the occasion<br \/>\nof raising the last tube into its place, Mr. Stephenson declared, in<br \/>\nreply to the felicitations of a large company who had witnessed<br \/>\nthe proceedings with intense interest, that not all the triumph<br \/>\nwhich attended this great work, and the solution of the difficult<br \/>\nproblem of carrying a rigid roadway across an arm of the sea at<br \/>\nsuch a height as to allow the largest vessels to pass with all their<br \/>\nsails set beneath it, could repay him for the anxieties he had gone<br \/>\nthrough, the friendships he had compromised, and the unworthy<br \/>\nmotives which had been attributed to him; and that, were another<br \/>\nwork of the same magnitude offered to him with like consequences,<br \/>\nhe would not for worlds undertake it!<\/p>\n<p>The Britannia Bridge was indeed the result of a vast combination<br \/>\nof skill and industry. But for the perfection of our tools,<br \/>\nand the ability of our mechanics to use them to the greatest advantage\u2014but<br \/>\nfor the matured powers of the steam-engine\u2014but<br \/>\nfor the improvements in the iron manufacture, which enabled<br \/>\nblooms to be puddled of sizes before deemed impracticable, and<br \/>\nplates and bars of immense size to be rolled and forged\u2014but for<br \/>\nthese, the Britannia Bridge would have been designed in vain.<br \/>\nThus it was not the product of the genius of the railway engineer<br \/>\nalone, but of the collective mechanical genius of the English<br \/>\nnation.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_462.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"203\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>CONWAY BRIDGE\u2014FLOATING THE FIRST TUBE.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_460\" name=\"Page_460\"><\/a>[460]<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_463.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"271\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">VIEW IN TAPTON GARDENS.<\/span> &nbsp; [By Percival Skelton.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER XIX.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>CLOSING YEARS OF GEORGE STEPHENSON&#8217;S LIFE\u2014ILLNESS AND<br \/>\nDEATH\u2014CHARACTER.<\/h4>\n<p>In describing the completion of the series of great works detailed<br \/>\nin the preceding chapter, we have somewhat anticipated<br \/>\nthe closing years of George Stephenson&#8217;s life. He could not fail<br \/>\nto take an anxious interest in the success of his son&#8217;s designs, and<br \/>\nhe paid many visits to Conway and to Menai during the progress<br \/>\nof the bridges. He was present on the occasion of the floating<br \/>\nand raising of the first Conway tube, and there witnessed a proof<br \/>\nof the soundness of Robert&#8217;s judgment as to the efficiency and<br \/>\nstrength of the structure, of which he had at first expressed some<br \/>\ndoubt; but before the like test could be applied at the Britannia<br \/>\nBridge, George Stephenson&#8217;s mortal anxieties were at an end, for<br \/>\nhe had then ceased from all his labors.<\/p>\n<p>Toward the close of his life, George Stephenson almost entirety<br \/>\nwithdrew from the active pursuit of his profession. He devoted<br \/>\nhimself chiefly to his extensive collieries and lime-works, taking<br \/>\na local interest only in such projected railways as were calculated<br \/>\nto open up new markets for their products.<\/p>\n<p>At home he lived the life of a country gentleman, enjoying his<br \/>\ngarden and grounds, and indulging his love of nature, which,<br \/>\nthrough all his busy life, had never left him. It was not until<br \/>\nthe year 1845 that he took an active interest in horticultural pursuits.<br \/>\nThen he began to build new melon-houses, pineries, and<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_461\" name=\"Page_461\"><\/a>[461]<\/span><br \/>\nvineries, of great extent; and he now seemed as eager to excel<br \/>\nall other growers of exotic plants in his neighborhood, as he had<br \/>\nbeen some thirty years before to surpass the villagers of Killingworth<br \/>\nin the production of cabbages and cauliflowers. He had<br \/>\na pine-house built 68 feet in length and a vinery 140 feet. Workmen<br \/>\nwere constantly employed in enlarging them, until at length<br \/>\nhe had no fewer than ten glass forcing-houses. He did not take<br \/>\nso much pleasure in flowers as in fruits. At one of the county<br \/>\nagricultural meetings he said that he intended yet to grow pine-apples<br \/>\nat Tapton as big as pumpkins. The only man to whom<br \/>\nhe would &#8220;knock under&#8221; was his friend Paxton, the gardener to<br \/>\nthe Duke of Devonshire; but he was so old in the service, and<br \/>\nso skillful, that he could scarcely hope to beat him. Yet his<br \/>\n&#8220;Queen&#8221; pines did take the first prize at a competition with the<br \/>\nduke, though this was not until shortly after his death, when the<br \/>\nplants had become fully grown. Stephenson&#8217;s grapes also took<br \/>\nthe first prize at Rotherham, at a competition open to all England.<br \/>\nHe was extremely successful in producing melons, having invented<br \/>\na method of suspending them in baskets of wire gauze, which,<br \/>\nby relieving the stalk from tension, allowed nutrition to proceed<br \/>\nmore freely, and better enabled the fruit to grow and ripen.<\/p>\n<p>He also took much pride in his growth of cucumbers. He<br \/>\nraised them very fine and large, but he could not make them<br \/>\ngrow straight. Place them as he would, notwithstanding all his<br \/>\npropping and humoring of them by modifying the application of<br \/>\nheat and the admission of light, they would still insist on growing<br \/>\ncrooked in their own way. At last he had a number of glass<br \/>\ncylinders made at Newcastle, and into these the growing cucumbers<br \/>\nwere inserted, when at last he succeeded in growing them<br \/>\nperfectly straight. Carrying one of the new products into his<br \/>\nhouse one day, and exhibiting it to a party of visitors, he told<br \/>\nthem of the expedient he had adopted, and added, &#8220;I think I<br \/>\nhave bothered them noo!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Farming operations were also carried on by him with success.<br \/>\nHe experimented on manure, and fed cattle after methods of his<br \/>\nown. He was very particular as to breed and build in stock-breeding.<br \/>\n&#8220;You see, sir,&#8221; he said to one gentleman, &#8220;I like to<br \/>\nsee the <em>coo&#8217;s<\/em> back at a gradient something like this&#8221; (drawing an<br \/>\nimaginary line with his hand), &#8220;and then the ribs or girders will<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_462\" name=\"Page_462\"><\/a>[462]<\/span><br \/>\ncarry more flesh than if they were so\u2014or so.&#8221; When he attended<br \/>\nthe county agricultural meetings, which he frequently did, he<br \/>\nwas accustomed to take part in the discussions, and he brought<br \/>\nthe same vigorous practical mind to bear upon questions of tillage,<br \/>\ndrainage, and farm economy which he had before been accustomed<br \/>\nto exercise on mechanical and engineering matters.<\/p>\n<p>All his early affection for birds and animals revived. He had<br \/>\nfavorite dogs, and cows, and horses; and again he began to keep<br \/>\nrabbits, and to pride himself on the beauty of his breed. There<br \/>\nwas not a bird&#8217;s nest in the grounds that he did not know of; and<br \/>\nfrom day to day he went round watching the progress which the<br \/>\nbirds made with their building, carefully guarding them from<br \/>\nharm. His minute knowledge of the habits of British birds was<br \/>\nthe result of a long, loving, and close observation of nature.<\/p>\n<p>At Tapton he remembered the failure of his early experiment<br \/>\nin hatching birds&#8217; eggs by heat, and he now performed it successfully,<br \/>\nbeing able to secure a proper apparatus for maintaining a<br \/>\nuniform temperature. He was also curious about the breeding<br \/>\nand fattening of fowls; and when his friend Edward Pease, of<br \/>\nDarlington, visited him at Tapton, he explained a method which<br \/>\nhe had invented of fattening chickens in half the usual time.<br \/>\nThe chickens were confined in boxes, which were so made as to<br \/>\nexclude the light. Dividing the day into two or three periods,<br \/>\nthe birds were shut up at the end of each after a heavy feed,<br \/>\nand went to sleep. The plan proved very successful, and Mr.<br \/>\nStephenson jocularly said that if he were to devote himself to<br \/>\nchickens he could soon make a little fortune.<\/p>\n<p>Mrs. Stephenson tried to keep bees, but found they would not<br \/>\nthrive at Tapton. Many hives perished, and there was no case<br \/>\nof success. The cause of failure was long a mystery to the engineer;<br \/>\nbut one day his acute powers of observation enabled him<br \/>\nto unravel it. At the foot of the hill on which Tapton House<br \/>\nstands, he saw some bees trying to rise up from among the grass,<br \/>\nladen with honey and wax. They were already exhausted, as if<br \/>\nwith long flying; and then it occurred to him that the height at<br \/>\nwhich the house stood above the bees&#8217; feeding-ground rendered<br \/>\nit difficult for them to reach their hives when heavy laden, and<br \/>\nhence they sank exhausted. He afterward incidentally mentioned<br \/>\nthe circumstance to Mr. Jesse, the naturalist, who concurred<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_463\" name=\"Page_463\"><\/a>[463]<\/span><br \/>\nin his view as to the cause of failure, and was much struck<br \/>\nby the keen observation which had led to its solution.<\/p>\n<p>George Stephenson had none of the habits of the student. He<br \/>\nread very little; for reading is a habit which is generally acquired<br \/>\nin youth, and his youth and manhood had been, for the<br \/>\nmost part, spent in hard work. Books wearied him and sent him<br \/>\nto sleep. Novels excited his feelings too much, and he avoided<br \/>\nthem, though he would occasionally read through a philosophical<br \/>\nwork on a subject in which he felt particularly interested. He<br \/>\nwrote very few letters with his own hand. Nearly all his letters<br \/>\nwere dictated, and he avoided even dictation when he could.<br \/>\nHis greatest pleasure was in conversation, from which he gathered<br \/>\nmost of his imparted information.<\/p>\n<p>It was his practice, when about to set out on a journey by railway,<br \/>\nto walk along the train before it started, and look into the<br \/>\ncarriages to see if he could find &#8220;a conversible face.&#8221; On one<br \/>\nof such occasions, at the Euston Station, he discovered in a carriage<br \/>\na very handsome, manly, and intelligent face, which he afterward<br \/>\nfound was that of the late Lord Denman. He was on<br \/>\nhis way down to his seat at Stony Middelton, in Derbyshire.<br \/>\nStephenson entered the carriage, and the two were shortly engaged<br \/>\nin interesting conversation. It turned upon chronometry<br \/>\nand horology, and the engineer amazed his lordship by the extent<br \/>\nof his knowledge on the subject, in which he displayed as<br \/>\nmuch minute information, even down to the latest improvements<br \/>\nin watch-making, as if he had been bred a watchmaker and lived<br \/>\nby the trade. Lord Denman was curious to know how a man<br \/>\nwhose time must have been mainly engrossed by engineering had<br \/>\ngathered so much knowledge on a subject quite out of his own<br \/>\nline, and he asked the question. &#8220;I learned clockmaking and<br \/>\nwatchmaking,&#8221; was the answer, &#8220;while a working-man at Killingworth,<br \/>\nwhen I made a little money in my spare hours by cleaning<br \/>\nthe pitmen&#8217;s clocks and watches; and since then I have kept<br \/>\nup my information on the subject.&#8221; This led to farther questions,<br \/>\nand then he proceeded to tell Lord Denman the interesting<br \/>\nstory of his life, which held him entranced during the remainder<br \/>\nof the journey.<\/p>\n<p>Many of his friends readily accepted invitations to Tapton<br \/>\nHouse to enjoy his hospitality, which never failed. With them<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_464\" name=\"Page_464\"><\/a>[464]<\/span><br \/>\nhe would &#8220;fight his battles o&#8217;er again,&#8221; reverting often to his<br \/>\nbattle for the locomotive; and he was never tired of telling, nor<br \/>\nwere his auditors of listening to, the lively anecdotes with which<br \/>\nhe was accustomed to illustrate the struggles of his early career.<br \/>\nWhile walking in the woods or through the grounds, he would<br \/>\narrest his friends&#8217; attention by allusion to some simple object\u2014such<br \/>\nas a leaf, a blade of grass, a bit of bark, a nest of birds, or<br \/>\nan ant carrying its eggs across the path\u2014and descant in glowing<br \/>\nterms on the creative power of the Divine Mechanician, whose<br \/>\ncontrivances were so exhaustless and so wonderful. This was a<br \/>\ntheme upon which he was often accustomed to dwell in reverential<br \/>\nadmiration when in the society of his more intimate friends.<\/p>\n<p>One night, when walking under the stars, and gazing up into<br \/>\nthe field of suns, each the probable centre of a system, forming<br \/>\nthe Milky Way, a friend observed, &#8220;What an insignificant creature<br \/>\nis man in sight of so immense a creation as this!&#8221; &#8220;Yes!&#8221;<br \/>\nwas his reply: &#8220;but how wonderful a creature also is man, to be<br \/>\nable to think and reason, and even in some measure to comprehend<br \/>\nworks so infinite!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A microscope which he had brought down to Tapton was a<br \/>\nsource of immense enjoyment, and he was never tired of contemplating<br \/>\nthe minute wonders which it revealed. One evening,<br \/>\nwhen some friends were visiting him, he induced each of them<br \/>\nto puncture his skin so as to draw blood, in order that he might<br \/>\nexamine the globules through the microscope. One of the gentlemen<br \/>\npresent was a teetotaler, and Stephenson pronounced his<br \/>\nblood to be the most lively of the whole. He had a theory of<br \/>\nhis own about the movement of the globules in the blood, which<br \/>\nhas since become familiar. It was, that they were respectively<br \/>\ncharged with electricity, positive at one end and negative at the<br \/>\nother, and that they thus attracted and repelled each other, causing<br \/>\na circulation. No sooner did he observe any thing new than<br \/>\nhe immediately set about devising a reason for it. His training<br \/>\nin mechanics, his practical familiarity with matter in all its forms,<br \/>\nand the strong bent of his mind, led him first of all to seek for<br \/>\na mechanical explanation; and yet he was ready to admit that<br \/>\nthere was a something in the principle of <em>life<\/em>\u2014so mysterious and<br \/>\ninexplicable\u2014which baffled mechanics, and seemed to dominate<br \/>\nover and control them. He did not care much, either, for abstruse<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_465\" name=\"Page_465\"><\/a>[465]<\/span><br \/>\nmechanics, but only for the experimental and practical, as<br \/>\nis usually the case with those whose knowledge has been self-acquired.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figleft\" style=\"width: 300px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_468.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"475\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>(Footpath to Tapton House)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Even at his advanced age the spirit of frolic had not left<br \/>\nhim. When proceeding<br \/>\nfrom Chesterfield Station<br \/>\nto Tapton House with his<br \/>\nfriends, he would almost<br \/>\ninvariably challenge them<br \/>\nto a race up the steep path,<br \/>\npartly formed of stone<br \/>\nsteps, along the hill-side.<br \/>\nAnd he would struggle, as<br \/>\nof old, to keep the front<br \/>\nplace, though by this time<br \/>\nhis &#8220;wind&#8221; greatly failed<br \/>\nhim. He would occasionally<br \/>\ninvite an old friend to<br \/>\ntake a wrestle with him<br \/>\non the lawn, to keep up<br \/>\nhis skill, and perhaps to try<br \/>\nsome new &#8220;knack&#8221; of<br \/>\nthrowing. In the evening<br \/>\nhe would sometimes indulge<br \/>\nhis visitors by reciting<br \/>\nthe old pastoral of<br \/>\n&#8220;Damon and Phyllis,&#8221; or singing his favorite song of &#8220;John<br \/>\nAnderson my Joe.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But his greatest enjoyment on such occasion was &#8220;a crowdie.&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8220;Let&#8217;s have a crowdie night,&#8221; he would say; and forthwith a<br \/>\nkettle of boiling water was ordered in, with a basin of oatmeal.<br \/>\nTaking a large bowl, containing a sufficiency of hot water, and<br \/>\nplacing it between his knees, he poured in oatmeal with one<br \/>\nhand, and stirred the mixture vigorously with the other. When<br \/>\nenough meal had been added, and the stirring was completed, the<br \/>\ncrowdie was made. It was then supped with new milk, and Mr.<br \/>\nStephenson generally pronounced it &#8220;capital!&#8221; It was the diet<br \/>\nto which he had been accustomed when a working-man, and all<br \/>\nthe dainties with which he had become familiar in recent years<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_466\" name=\"Page_466\"><\/a>[466]<\/span><br \/>\nhad not spoiled his simple tastes. To enjoy crowdie at his years,<br \/>\nbesides, indicated that he still possessed that quality on which no<br \/>\ndoubt much of his practical success in life had depended\u2014a<br \/>\nstrong and healthy digestion.<\/p>\n<p>He would also frequently invite to his house the humbler companions<br \/>\nof his early life, and take pleasure in talking over old<br \/>\ntimes with them. He never assumed any of the bearings of the<br \/>\ngreat man on such occasions, but treated his visitors with the<br \/>\nsame friendliness and respect as if they had been his equals,<br \/>\nsending them away pleased with themselves and delighted with<br \/>\nhim. At other times, needy men who had known him in their<br \/>\nyouth would knock at his door, and they were never refused access.<br \/>\nBut if he had heard of any misconduct on their part, he<br \/>\nwould rate them soundly. One who knew him intimately in<br \/>\nprivate life has seen him exhorting such backsliders, and denouncing<br \/>\ntheir misconduct and imprudence, with the tears<br \/>\nstreaming down his cheeks. And he would generally conclude<br \/>\nby opening his purse, and giving them the help which they needed<br \/>\n&#8220;to make a fresh start in the world.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>His life at Tapton during his later years was occasionally diversified<br \/>\nby a visit to London. His engineering business having<br \/>\nbecome limited, he generally went there for the purpose of visiting<br \/>\nfriends, or &#8220;to see what there was fresh going on.&#8221; He<br \/>\nfound a new race of engineers springing up on all sides\u2014men<br \/>\nwho knew him not; and his London journeys gradually ceased<br \/>\nto yield him pleasure. A friend used to take him to the opera,<br \/>\nbut by the end of the first act he was generally observed in a<br \/>\nprofound slumber. Yet on one occasion he enjoyed a visit to<br \/>\nthe Haymarket, with a party of friends on his birthday, to see T.<br \/>\nP. Cooke in &#8220;Black-eyed Susan&#8221;\u2014if that can be called enjoyment<br \/>\nwhich kept him in a state of tears during half the performance.<br \/>\nAt other times he visited Newcastle, which always gave<br \/>\nhim great pleasure. He would, on such occasions, go out to Killingworth<br \/>\nand seek up old friends, and if the people whom he<br \/>\nknew were too retiring and shrunk into their cottages, he went<br \/>\nand sought them there. Striking the floor with his stick, and<br \/>\nholding his noble person upright, he would say, in his own kind<br \/>\nway, &#8220;Well, and how&#8217;s all here to-day?&#8221; To the last he had always<br \/>\na warm heart for Newcastle and its neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_467\" name=\"Page_467\"><\/a>[467]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Sir Robert Peel, on more than one occasion, invited George<br \/>\nStephenson to his mansion at Drayton, where he was accustomed<br \/>\nto assemble round him men of the highest distinction in art, science,<br \/>\nand legislation, during the intervals of his Parliamentary<br \/>\nlife. The first invitations were respectfully declined; but Sir<br \/>\nRobert again pressing him to come down to Tamworth, where he<br \/>\nwould meet Buckland, Follett, and others well known to both, he<br \/>\nat last consented.<\/p>\n<p>Stephenson&#8217;s strong powers of observation, together with his<br \/>\nnative humor and shrewdness, imparted to his conversation at all<br \/>\ntimes much vigor and originality. Though mainly an engineer,<br \/>\nhe was also a profound thinker on many scientific questions, and<br \/>\nthere was scarcely a subject of speculation or a department of<br \/>\nrecondite science on which he had not employed his faculties in<br \/>\nsuch a way as to have formed large and original views. Mr.<br \/>\nSopwith, F.R.S., has informed us that the conversation at Drayton,<br \/>\non one occasion, turned on the theory of the formation of<br \/>\ncoal, in the course of which Stephenson had an animated discussion<br \/>\nwith Dr. Buckland. But the result was, that Dr. Buckland,<br \/>\na much greater master of tongue-fence, completely silenced him.<br \/>\nNext morning, before breakfast, when he was walking in the<br \/>\ngrounds deeply pondering, Sir William Follett came up and asked<br \/>\nwhat he was thinking about. &#8220;Why, Sir William, I am thinking<br \/>\nover that argument I had with Buckland last night. I know<br \/>\nI am right, and that, if I had only the command of words which<br \/>\nhe has, I&#8217;d have beaten him.&#8221; &#8220;Let me know all about it,&#8221; said<br \/>\nSir William, &#8220;and I&#8217;ll see what I can do for you.&#8221; The two sat<br \/>\ndown in an arbor, where the astute lawyer made himself thoroughly<br \/>\nacquainted with the points of the case, entering into it<br \/>\nwith the zeal of an advocate about to plead the interests of his<br \/>\nclient. After he had mastered the subject, Sir William said,<br \/>\n&#8220;Now I am ready for him.&#8221; Sir Robert Peel was made acquainted<br \/>\nwith the plot, and adroitly introduced the subject of the<br \/>\ncontroversy after dinner. The result was, that in the argument<br \/>\nwhich followed, the man of science was overcome by the man of<br \/>\nlaw. &#8220;And what do <em>you<\/em> say, Mr. Stephenson?&#8221; asked Sir Robert,<br \/>\nlaughing. &#8220;Why,&#8221; said he, &#8220;I say this, that of all the powers<br \/>\nabove and under the earth, there seems to me to be no power so<br \/>\ngreat as the gift of the gab.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_468\" name=\"Page_468\"><\/a>[468]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>One Sunday, when the party had just returned from church,<br \/>\nthey were standing together on the terrace near the Hall, and<br \/>\nobserved in the distance a railway flashing along, tossing behind<br \/>\nits long white plume of steam. &#8220;Now, Buckland,&#8221; said Stephenson,<br \/>\n&#8220;I have a poser for you. Can you tell me what is the power<br \/>\nthat is driving that train?&#8221; &#8220;Well,&#8221; said the other, &#8220;I suppose<br \/>\nit is one of your big engines.&#8221; &#8220;But what drives the engine?&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8220;Oh, very likely a canny Newcastle driver.&#8221; &#8220;What do you say<br \/>\nto the light of the sun?&#8221; &#8220;How can that be?&#8221; asked the doctor.<br \/>\n&#8220;It is nothing else,&#8221; said the engineer: &#8220;it is light bottled up in<br \/>\nthe earth for tens of thousands of years\u2014light, absorbed by<br \/>\nplants and vegetables, being necessary for the condensation of<br \/>\ncarbon during the process of their growth, if it be not carbon in<br \/>\nanother form\u2014and now, after being buried in the earth for long<br \/>\nages in fields of coal, that latent light is again brought forth and<br \/>\nliberated, made to work as in that locomotive, for great human<br \/>\npurposes.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_104\" name=\"FNanchor_104\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_104\">[104]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>During the same visit Mr. Stephenson one evening repeated<br \/>\nhis experiment with blood drawn from the finger, submitting it<br \/>\nto the microscope in order to show the curious circulation of the<br \/>\nglobules. He set the example by pricking his own thumb; and<br \/>\nthe other guests, by turns, in like manner gave up a small portion<br \/>\nof their blood for the purpose of ascertaining the comparative<br \/>\nliveliness of their circulation. When Sir Robert Peel&#8217;s turn<br \/>\ncame, Stephenson said he was curious to know &#8220;how the blood<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_469\" name=\"Page_469\"><\/a>[469]<\/span><br \/>\nglobules of a great politician would conduct themselves.&#8221; Sir<br \/>\nRobert held forth his finger for the purpose of being pricked; but<br \/>\nonce and again he sensitively shrunk back, and at length the experiment,<br \/>\nso far as he was concerned, was abandoned. Sir Robert<br \/>\nPeel&#8217;s sensitiveness to pain was extreme, and yet he was destined,<br \/>\na few years after, to die a death of the most distressing agony.<\/p>\n<p>In 1847, the year before his death, George Stephenson was<br \/>\nagain invited to join a distinguished party at Drayton Manor, and<br \/>\nto assist in the ceremony of formally opening the Trent Valley<br \/>\nRailway, which had been originally designed and laid out by<br \/>\nhimself many years before. The first sod of the railway had<br \/>\nbeen cut by the prime minister in November, 1845, and the formal<br \/>\nopening took place on the 26th of June, 1847, the line having<br \/>\nthus been constructed in less than two years.<\/p>\n<p>What a change had come over the spirit of the landed gentry<br \/>\nsince the time when George Stephenson had first projected a railway<br \/>\nthrough that district! Then they were up in arms against<br \/>\nhim, characterizing him as the devastator and spoiler of their estates,<br \/>\nwhereas now he was hailed as one of the greatest benefactors<br \/>\nof the age. Sir Robert Peel, the chief political personage in<br \/>\nEngland, welcomed him as a guest and friend, and spoke of him<br \/>\nas the chief among practical philosophers. A dozen members of<br \/>\nParliament, seven baronets, with all the landed magnates of the<br \/>\ndistrict, assembled to celebrate the opening of the railway. The<br \/>\nclergy were there to bless the enterprise, and to bid all hail to<br \/>\nrailway progress, as &#8220;enabling them to carry on with greater facility<br \/>\nthose operations in connection with religion which were<br \/>\ncalculated to be so beneficial to the country.&#8221; The army, speaking<br \/>\nthrough the mouth of General A&#8217;Court, acknowledged the<br \/>\nvast importance of railways, as tending to improve the military<br \/>\ndefenses of the country. And representatives from eight corporations<br \/>\nwere there to acknowledge the great benefits which railways<br \/>\nhad conferred upon the merchants, tradesmen, and working<br \/>\nclasses of their respective towns and cities.<\/p>\n<p>In the spring of 1848 George Stephenson was invited to Whittington<br \/>\nHouse, near Chesterfield, the residence of his friend and<br \/>\nformer pupil, Mr. Swanwick, to meet the distinguished American,<br \/>\nEmerson. On being introduced to each other they did not immediately<br \/>\nengage in conversation; but presently Stephenson jumped<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_470\" name=\"Page_470\"><\/a>[470]<\/span><br \/>\nup, took Emerson by the collar, and, giving him one of his friendly<br \/>\nshakes, asked how it was that in England we could always tell<br \/>\nan American. This led to an interesting conversation, in the<br \/>\ncourse of which Emerson said how much he had every where<br \/>\nbeen struck by the haleness and comeliness of the English men<br \/>\nand women, from which they diverged into a discussion of the<br \/>\ninfluences which air, climate, moisture, soil, and other conditions<br \/>\nexercised on the physical and moral development of a people.<br \/>\nThe conversation was next directed to the subject of electricity,<br \/>\non which Stephenson launched out enthusiastically, explaining<br \/>\nhis views by several simple and some striking illustrations. From<br \/>\nthence it gradually turned to the events of his own life, which he<br \/>\nrelated in so graphic a manner as completely to rivet the attention<br \/>\nof the American. Afterward Emerson said &#8220;that it was<br \/>\nworth crossing the Atlantic were it only to have seen Stephenson\u2014he<br \/>\nhad such force of character and vigor of intellect.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The rest of George Stephenson&#8217;s days were spent quietly at<br \/>\nTapton, among his dogs, his rabbits, and his birds. When not<br \/>\nengaged about the works connected with his collieries, he was occupied<br \/>\nin horticulture and farming. He continued proud of his<br \/>\nflowers, his fruits, and his crops, while the old spirit of competition<br \/>\nwas still strong within him. Although he had for some<br \/>\ntime been in delicate health, and his hand shook from nervous<br \/>\ndebility, he appeared to possess a sound constitution. Emerson<br \/>\nhad observed of him that he had the lives of many men in him.<br \/>\nBut perhaps the American spoke figuratively, in reference to his<br \/>\nvast stores of experience. It appeared that he had never completely<br \/>\nrecovered from the attack of pleurisy which seized him<br \/>\nduring his return from Spain. As late, however, as the 26th of<br \/>\nJuly, 1848, he felt himself sufficiently well to be able to attend a<br \/>\nmeeting of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers at Birmingham,<br \/>\nand to read to the members his paper &#8220;On the Fallacies of the<br \/>\nRotatory Engine.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It was his last public appearance. Shortly after his return to<br \/>\nTapton he had an attack of intermittent fever, from which he<br \/>\nseemed to be recovering, when a sudden effusion of blood from<br \/>\nthe lungs carried him off, on the 12th of August, 1848, in the<br \/>\nsixty-seventh year of his age. When all was over, Robert wrote<br \/>\nto Edmund Pease, &#8220;With deep pain I inform you, as one of his<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_471\" name=\"Page_471\"><\/a>[471]<\/span><br \/>\noldest friends, of the death of my dear father this morning at<br \/>\n12 o&#8217;clock, after about ten days&#8217; illness from severe fever.&#8221; Mr.<br \/>\nStarbuck, who was also present, wrote: &#8220;The favorable symptoms<br \/>\nof yesterday morning were toward evening followed by a<br \/>\nserious change for the worse. This continued during the night,<br \/>\nand early this morning it became evident that he was sinking. At<br \/>\na few minutes before 12 to-day he breathed his last. All that the<br \/>\nmost devoted and unremitting care of Mrs. Stephenson<a id=\"FNanchor_105\" name=\"FNanchor_105\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_105\">[105]<\/a> and the<br \/>\nskill of medicine could accomplish has been done, but in vain.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>George Stephenson&#8217;s remains were followed to the grave by a<br \/>\nlarge body of his work-people, by whom he was greatly admired<br \/>\nand beloved. They remembered him as a kind master, who was<br \/>\never ready actively to promote all measures for their moral, physical,<br \/>\nand mental improvement. The inhabitants of Chesterfield<br \/>\nevinced their respect for the deceased by suspending business,<br \/>\nclosing their shops, and joining in the funeral procession, which<br \/>\nwas headed by the corporation of the town. Many of the surrounding<br \/>\ngentry also attended. The body was interred in Trinity<br \/>\nChurch, Chesterfield, where a simple tablet marks the great<br \/>\nengineer&#8217;s last resting-place.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_474.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"467\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>TRINITY CHURCH, CHESTERFIELD.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_472\" name=\"Page_472\"><\/a>[472]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The statue of George Stephenson, which the Liverpool and<br \/>\nManchester and Grand Junction Companies had commissioned,<br \/>\nwas on its way to England when his death occurred; and it served<br \/>\nfor a monument, though his best monument will always be his<br \/>\nworks. The statue referred to was placed in St. George&#8217;s Hall,<br \/>\nLiverpool. A full-length statue of him, by Bailey, was also erected,<br \/>\na few years later, in the noble vestibule of the London and<br \/>\nNorthwestern Station, in Euston Square. A subscription for the<br \/>\npurpose was set on foot by the Society of Mechanical Engineers,<br \/>\nof which he had been the founder and president. A few advertisements<br \/>\nwere inserted in the newspapers, inviting subscriptions;<br \/>\nand it is a notable fact that the voluntary offerings included an<br \/>\naverage of two shillings each from 3150 working-men, who embraced<br \/>\nthis opportunity of doing honor to their distinguished fellow-workman.<\/p>\n<p>But the finest and most appropriate statue to the memory of<br \/>\nGeorge Stephenson is that which was erected in 1862, after the<br \/>\ndesign of John Lough, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It is in the immediate<br \/>\nneighborhood of the Literary and Philosophical Institute,<br \/>\nto which both George and his son Robert were so much indebted<br \/>\nin their early years; close to the great Stephenson locomotive<br \/>\nfoundery established by the shrewdness of the father; and in the<br \/>\nvicinity of the High-Level Bridge, one of the grandest products<br \/>\nof the genius of the son. The head of Stephenson, as expressed<br \/>\nin this noble work, is massive, characteristic, and faithful; and<br \/>\nthe attitude of the figure is simple, yet manly and energetic. It<br \/>\nstands on a pedestal, at the respective corners of which are sculptured<br \/>\nthe recumbent figures of a pitman, a mechanic, an engine-driver,<br \/>\nand a plate-layer. The statue appropriately stands in a<br \/>\nvery thoroughfare of working-men, thousands of whom see it<br \/>\ndaily as they pass to and from their work; and we can imagine<br \/>\nthem, as they look up to Stephenson&#8217;s manly figure, applying to it<br \/>\nthe words addressed by Robert Nicoll to Robert Burns, with perhaps<br \/>\nstill greater appropriateness:<\/p>\n<div class=\"cen\">\n<div class=\"poem\">\n<div class=\"stanza\"><span class=\"i0\">&#8220;Before the proudest of the earth<br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"i2\">We stand, with an uplifted brow;<br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"i0\">Like us, thou wast a toiling man\u2014<br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"i2\">And we are noble, now!&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The portrait prefixed to this volume gives a good indication of<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_473\" name=\"Page_473\"><\/a>[473]<\/span><br \/>\nGeorge Stephenson&#8217;s shrewd, kind, honest, manly face. His fair,<br \/>\nclear countenance was ruddy, and seemingly glowed with health.<br \/>\nThe forehead was large and high, projecting over the eyes, and<br \/>\nthere was that massive breadth across the lower part which is<br \/>\nusually observed in men of eminent constructive skill. The<br \/>\nmouth was firmly marked, and shrewdness and humor lurked<br \/>\nthere as well as in the keen gray eye. His frame was compact,<br \/>\nwell knit, and rather spare. His hair became gray at an early<br \/>\nage, and toward the close of his life it was of a pure silky whiteness.<br \/>\nHe dressed neatly in black, wearing a white neckcloth;<br \/>\nand his face, his person, and his deportment at once arrested attention,<br \/>\nand marked the Gentleman.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_476.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"422\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>TABLET IN TRINITY CHURCH, CHESTERFIELD.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_474\" name=\"Page_474\"><\/a>[474]<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_477.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"265\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>VICTORIA BRIDGE, MONTREAL.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3><a href=\"#CONTENTS\">CHAPTER XX.<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>ROBERT STEPHENSON&#8217;S VICTORIA BRIDGE, LOWER CANADA\u2014ILLNESS<br \/>\nAND DEATH.<\/h4>\n<p>George Stephenson bequeathed to his son his valuable collieries,<br \/>\nhis share in the engine manufactory at Newcastle, and his<br \/>\nlarge accumulation of savings, which, together with the fortune<br \/>\nhe had himself amassed by railway work, gave Robert the position<br \/>\nof an engineer millionaire\u2014the first of his order. He continued,<br \/>\nhowever, to live in a quiet style; and although he bought<br \/>\noccasional pictures and statues, and indulged in the luxury of a<br \/>\nyacht, he did not live up to his income, which went on accumulating<br \/>\nuntil his death.<\/p>\n<p>There was no longer the necessity for applying himself to the<br \/>\nlaborious business of a Parliamentary engineer, in which he had<br \/>\nnow been occupied for some fifteen years. Shortly after his father&#8217;s<br \/>\ndeath, Edward Pease recommended him to give up the<br \/>\nmore harassing work of his profession; and his reply (15th of<br \/>\nJune, 1850) was as follows:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;The suggestion which your kind note contains is quite in accordance<br \/>\nwith my own feelings and intentions respecting retirement;<br \/>\nbut I find it a very difficult matter to bring to a close so<br \/>\ncomplicated a connection in business as that which has been established<br \/>\nby twenty-five years of active and arduous professional duty.<br \/>\nComparative retirement is, however, my intention, and I trust that<br \/>\nyour prayer for the Divine blessing to grant me happiness and quiet<br \/>\ncomfort will be fulfilled. I can not but feel deeply grateful to the<br \/>\nGreat Disposer of events for the success which has hitherto attended<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_475\" name=\"Page_475\"><\/a>[475]<\/span><br \/>\nmy exertions in life, and I trust that the future will also be<br \/>\nmarked by a continuance of His mercies.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Although Robert Stephenson, in conformity with this expressed<br \/>\nintention, for the most part declined to undertake new business,<br \/>\nhe did not altogether lay aside his harness, and he lived to<br \/>\nrepeat his tubular bridges both in Egypt and Canada. The success<br \/>\nof the tubular system, as adopted at Menai and Conway, was<br \/>\nsuch as to recommend it for adoption wherever great span was<br \/>\nrequired, and the peculiar circumstances connected with the navigation<br \/>\nof the Nile and the St. Lawrence may be said to have<br \/>\ncompelled its adoption in carrying railways across both those<br \/>\nrivers.<\/p>\n<p>Two tubular bridges were built after our engineer&#8217;s designs<br \/>\nacross the Nile, near Damietta, in Lower Egypt. That near Benha<br \/>\ncontains eight spans or openings of 80 feet each, and two centre<br \/>\nspans, formed by one of the largest swing-bridges ever constructed,<br \/>\nthe total length of the swing-beam being 157 feet, a<br \/>\nclear waterway of 60 feet being provided on either side of the<br \/>\ncentre pier. The only novelty in these bridges consisted in the<br \/>\nroad being carried upon the tubes instead of within them, their<br \/>\nerection being carried out in the usual manner by means of<br \/>\nworkmen, materials, and plant sent out from England. The Tubular<br \/>\nBridge constructed in Canada, after Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s designs,<br \/>\nwas of a much more important character, and deserves a<br \/>\nfuller description.<\/p>\n<p>The important uses of railways had been recognized at an early<br \/>\nperiod by the inhabitants of North America, and in the course<br \/>\nof about thirty years more than 25,000 miles of railway, mostly<br \/>\nsingle, were constructed in the United States alone. The Canadians<br \/>\nwere more deliberate in their proceedings, and it was not<br \/>\nuntil the year 1840 that their first railway, 14 miles in length,<br \/>\nwas constructed between Laprairie and St. John&#8217;s, for the purpose<br \/>\nof connecting Lake Champlain with the River St. Lawrence.<br \/>\nFrom this date, however, new lines were rapidly projected; more<br \/>\nparticularly the Great Western of Canada, and the Atlantic and<br \/>\nSt. Lawrence (now forming part of the Grand Trunk), until in<br \/>\nthe course of a few years Canada had a length of nearly 2000<br \/>\nmiles of railway open or in course of construction, intersecting<br \/>\nthe provinces almost in a continuous line from Rivi\u00e8re du Loup,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_476\" name=\"Page_476\"><\/a>[476]<\/span><br \/>\nnear the mouth of the St. Lawrence, to Port Sarnia, on the shores<br \/>\nof Lake Huron.<\/p>\n<p>But there still remained one most important and essential link<br \/>\nto connect the lines on the south of the St. Lawrence with those<br \/>\non the north, and at the same time place the city of Montreal in<br \/>\ndirect railway connection with the western parts of Canada. The<br \/>\ncompletion of this link was also necessary in order to maintain<br \/>\nthe commercial communication of Canada with the rest of the<br \/>\nworld during five months in every year; for, though the St. Lawrence<br \/>\nin summer affords a splendid outlet to the ocean\u2014toward<br \/>\nwhich the commerce of the colony naturally tends\u2014the frost in<br \/>\nwinter is so severe, that during that season Canada is completely<br \/>\nfrozen in, and the navigation hermetically closed by the ice.<\/p>\n<p>The Grand Trunk Railway was designed to furnish a line of<br \/>\nland communication along the great valley of the St. Lawrence<br \/>\nat all seasons, following the course of the river, and connecting<br \/>\nthe principal towns of the colony. But stopping short on the<br \/>\nnorth shore, nearly opposite Montreal, with which it was connected<br \/>\nby a dangerous and often impracticable ferry, it was felt that,<br \/>\nuntil the St. Lawrence was bridged by a railway, the Canadian<br \/>\nsystem of railways was manifestly incomplete. But how to bridge<br \/>\nthis wide and rapid river! Never before, perhaps, was a problem<br \/>\nof such difficulty proposed for solution by an engineer. Opposite<br \/>\nMontreal, the St. Lawrence is about two miles wide, running at<br \/>\nthe rate of about ten miles an hour; and at the close of each winter<br \/>\nit carries down the ice of 2000 square miles of lakes and rivers,<br \/>\nwith their numerous tributaries.<\/p>\n<p>As early as the year 1846, the construction of a bridge at Montreal<br \/>\nwas strongly advocated by the local press as the only means<br \/>\nof connecting that city with the projected Atlantic and St. Lawrence<br \/>\nRailway. But the difficulties of executing such a work<br \/>\nseemed almost insurmountable to those best acquainted with the<br \/>\nlocality. The greatest difficulty was apprehended from the tremendous<br \/>\nshoving and pressure of the ice at the break-up of winter.<br \/>\nAt such times, opposite Montreal, the whole river is packed<br \/>\nwith huge blocks of ice, and it is often seen piled up to a height<br \/>\nof from 40 to 50 feet along the banks, placing the surrounding<br \/>\ncountry under water, and occasionally doing severe damage to<br \/>\nthe massive stone buildings erected along the noble river front of<br \/>\nthe city.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_477\" name=\"Page_477\"><\/a>[477]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>But no other expedient presented itself but a bridge, and a<br \/>\nsurvey was made accordingly at the instance of the Hon. John<br \/>\nYoung, one of the directors of the railway. A period of colonial<br \/>\ndepression having shortly after occurred, the project slept for a<br \/>\ntime, and it was not until six years later, in 1852, when the Grand<br \/>\nTrunk Railway was under construction, that the subject was again<br \/>\nbrought under discussion. In that year, Mr. Alexander M. Ross,<br \/>\nwho had superintended the construction of Robert Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\ntubular bridge at Conway, visited Canada, and inspected the site<br \/>\nof the proposed structure, when he at once formed the opinion<br \/>\nthat a tubular bridge carrying a railway was the most suitable<br \/>\nmeans of crossing the St. Lawrence, and connecting Montreal with<br \/>\nthe lines on the north of the river.<\/p>\n<p>The directors felt that such a work would necessarily be of a<br \/>\nmost formidable and difficult character, and before coming to any<br \/>\nconclusion they determined to call to their assistance Mr. Robert<br \/>\nStephenson, as the engineer most competent to advise them in the<br \/>\nmatter. Mr. Stephenson considered the subject of so much interest<br \/>\nand importance that, in the summer of 1853, he proceeded to<br \/>\nCanada to inquire as to all the facts, and examine carefully the<br \/>\nsite of the proposed work. He then formed the opinion that a<br \/>\ntubular bridge across the river was not only practicable, but by<br \/>\nfar the most suitable for the purpose intended, and early in the<br \/>\nfollowing year he sent an elaborate report on the whole subject<br \/>\nto the directors of the railway. The result was the adoption of<br \/>\nhis recommendation and the erection of the Victoria Bridge, of<br \/>\nwhich Robert Stephenson was the designer and engineer, and<br \/>\nMr. A. M. Ross the joint and resident engineer in directly superintending<br \/>\nthe execution of the undertaking. The details of the<br \/>\nplans were principally worked out in Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s office in<br \/>\nLondon, under the superintendence of his cousin, Mr. George Robert<br \/>\nStephenson, while the iron-work was for the most part constructed<br \/>\nat the Canada Works, Liverpool, from whence it was<br \/>\nshipped, ready for being fixed in position on the spot.<\/p>\n<p>The Victoria Bridge is, without exception, the greatest work<br \/>\nof its kind in the world. For gigantic proportions, and vast<br \/>\nlength and strength, there is nothing to compare with it in ancient<br \/>\nor modern times. The entire bridge, with its approaches, is<br \/>\nonly about sixty yards short of <em>two miles<\/em> in length, being five<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_478\" name=\"Page_478\"><\/a>[478]<\/span><br \/>\ntimes longer than the Britannia Bridge across the Menai Straits,<br \/>\nseven and a half times longer than Waterloo Bridge, and more<br \/>\nthan ten times longer than Chelsea Bridge. The two-mile tube<br \/>\nacross the St. Lawrence rests on twenty-four piers, which, with<br \/>\nthe abutments, leave twenty-five spaces or spans for the several<br \/>\nparts of the tube. Twenty-four of these spans are 242 feet wide;<br \/>\nthe centre span\u2014itself a huge bridge\u2014being 330 feet. The road<br \/>\nis carried within the tube 60 feet above the level of the river, so<br \/>\nas not to interfere with its navigation.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_481.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"426\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>SIDE ELEVATION OF PIER.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>As one of the principal difficulties apprehended in the erection<br \/>\nof the bridge was that arising from the tremendous &#8220;shoving&#8221;<br \/>\nand ramming of the ice at the break-up of winter, the plans were<br \/>\ncarefully designed so as to avert all danger from this cause.<br \/>\nHence the peculiarity in the form of the piers, which, though<br \/>\ngreatly increasing their strength for the purpose intended, must<br \/>\nbe admitted to detract considerably from the symmetry of the<br \/>\nstructure as a whole. The western face of each pier\u2014that is, the<br \/>\nup-river side\u2014has a large wedge-shaped cutwater of stone-work,<br \/>\npresenting an inclined plane toward the current, for the purpose<br \/>\nof arresting and breaking up the ice-blocks, and thereby preventing<br \/>\nthem from piling up and damaging the tube carrying the<br \/>\nrailway. The piers are of immense strength. Those close to the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_479\" name=\"Page_479\"><\/a>[479]<\/span><br \/>\nabutments contain about 6000 tons of masonry each, while those<br \/>\nwhich support the great centre tube contain about 12,000 tons.<br \/>\nThe former are 15 feet wide, and the latter 18. Scarcely a block<br \/>\nof stone used in the piers is less than seven tons in weight, while<br \/>\nmany of those opposed to the force of the breaking-up ice weigh<br \/>\nfully ten tons.<\/p>\n<p>As might naturally be expected, the getting in of the foundations<br \/>\nof these enormous piers in so wide and rapid a river was<br \/>\nattended with many difficulties. To give an idea of the water-power<br \/>\nof the St. Lawrence, it may be mentioned that when the<br \/>\nriver comes down in its greatest might, large stone boulders<br \/>\nweighing upward of a ton are rolled along by the sheer force of<br \/>\nthe current. The depth of the river, however, was not so great<br \/>\nas might be supposed, varying from only five to fifteen feet during<br \/>\nsummer, when the foundation-work was carried on.<\/p>\n<p>The method first employed to get in the foundations was by<br \/>\nmeans of dams or caissons, which were constructed on shore,<br \/>\nfloated into position, and scuttled over the places at which the<br \/>\nfoundations were to be laid, thus at once forming a nucleus from<br \/>\nwhich the dams could be constructed. The first of such dams<br \/>\nwas floated, got into position, scuttled, and sunk, and the piling<br \/>\nfairly begun, on the 19th of June, 1854. By the 15th of the following<br \/>\nmonth the sheet-piling and puddling was finished, when<br \/>\nthe pumping of the water out of the inclosed space by steam-power<br \/>\nwas proceeded with, and in a few hours the bed of the<br \/>\nriver was laid almost dry, the toe of every pile being distinctly<br \/>\nvisible. By the 22d the first stone of the pier was laid, and on<br \/>\nthe 14th of August the masonry was above water-level.<\/p>\n<p>The getting in of the foundations of the other piers was proceeded<br \/>\nwith in like manner, though frequently interrupted by<br \/>\nstorms, inundations, and collisions of timber-rafts, which occasionally<br \/>\ncarried away the moorings of the dams. Considerable difficulty<br \/>\nwas in some places experienced from the huge boulder-stones<br \/>\nlying in the bed of the river, to remove which sometimes<br \/>\ncost the divers several months of hard labor. In getting in the<br \/>\nfoundations of the later piers, the method first employed of sinking<br \/>\nthe floating caissons in position was abandoned, and the dams<br \/>\nwere constructed of &#8220;crib-work,&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_106\" name=\"FNanchor_106\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_106\">[106]<\/a> which was found more convenient,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_480\" name=\"Page_480\"><\/a>[480]<\/span><br \/>\nand less liable to interruption by accident from collision<br \/>\nor otherwise.<\/p>\n<p>By the spring of 1857 a sufficient number of piers had been<br \/>\nfinished to enable the erection of the tubes to be proceeded with.<br \/>\nThe operations connected with this portion of the work were also<br \/>\nof a novel character. Instead of floating the tubes between the<br \/>\npiers and raising them into position by hydraulic power, as at<br \/>\nConway and Menai, which the rapid current of the St. Lawrence<br \/>\nwould not permit, the tubes were erected <em>in situ<\/em> on a staging<br \/>\nprepared for the purpose, as shown in the following engraving.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_483.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"370\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>WORKS IN PROGRESS, 1857\u2014VIEW FROM ABOVE THE SOUTH ABUTMENT.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Floating scows, each 60 feet by 20, were moored in position,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_481\" name=\"Page_481\"><\/a>[481]<\/span><br \/>\nand kept in their place by piles sliding in grooves. These piles,<br \/>\nwhen firmly fixed in the bed of the river, were bolted to the sides<br \/>\nof the scows, and the tops were leveled to receive the sills upon<br \/>\nwhich the framing carrying the truss and platform was erected.<br \/>\nTimbers were laid on the lower chords of the truss, forming a<br \/>\nplatform 24 feet wide, closely planked with deals. The upper<br \/>\nchords carried rails, along which moved the &#8220;travelers&#8221; used in<br \/>\nerecting the tubes. The plates forming the bottom of each tube<br \/>\nhaving been accurately laid and riveted, and adjusted to level<br \/>\nand centre by oak wedges, the erection of the sides was next proceeded<br \/>\nwith, extending outward from the centre on either side,<br \/>\nthis work being closely followed by the plating of the top. Each<br \/>\ntube between the respective pairs of piers was in the first place<br \/>\nerected separate and independent of its adjoining tubes; but after<br \/>\ncompletion, the tubes were joined in pairs and firmly bolted to<br \/>\nthe masonry over which they were united, their outer ends being<br \/>\nplaced upon rollers so arranged on the adjoining piers that they<br \/>\nmight expand or contract according to variations of temperature.<\/p>\n<p>The work continued to make satisfactory progress down to<br \/>\nthe spring of 1858, by which time fourteen out of the twenty-four<br \/>\npiers were finished, together with the formidable abutments<br \/>\nand approaches to the bridge. Considerable apprehensions were<br \/>\nentertained as to the security of the piers and the unfinished parts<br \/>\nof the work at the usual breaking-up of the ice. We take the<br \/>\nfollowing account from a letter written by Mr. Ross to Mr. Stephenson<br \/>\ndescriptive of the scene.<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;On the 29th of March, the ice above Montreal began to show<br \/>\nsigns of weakness, but it was not until the 31st that a general movement<br \/>\nbecame observable, which continued for an hour, when it suddenly<br \/>\nstopped, and the water rose rapidly. On the following day,<br \/>\nat noon, a grand movement commenced; the waters rose about four<br \/>\nfeet in two minutes, up to a level with many of the Montreal streets.<br \/>\nThe fields of ice at the same time were suddenly elevated to an incredible<br \/>\nheight; and so overwhelming were they in appearance,<br \/>\nthat crowds of the townspeople, who had assembled on the quay to<br \/>\nwatch the progress of the flood, ran for their lives. This movement<br \/>\nlasted about twenty minutes, during which the jammed ice destroyed<br \/>\nseveral portions of the quay wall, grinding the hardest blocks to<br \/>\natoms. The embanked approaches to the Victoria Bridge had tremendous<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_482\" name=\"Page_482\"><\/a>[482]<\/span><br \/>\nforces to resist. In the full channel of the stream, the ice<br \/>\nin its passage between the piers was broken up by the force of the<br \/>\nblow immediately on its coming in contact with the cutwaters.<br \/>\nSometimes thick sheets of ice were seen to rise up and rear on end<br \/>\nagainst the piers, but by the force of the current they were speedily<br \/>\nmade to roll over into the stream, and in a moment after were out<br \/>\nof sight. For the two next days the river was still high, until on<br \/>\nthe 4th of April the waters seemed suddenly to give way, and by<br \/>\nthe following day the river was flowing clear and smooth as a millpond,<br \/>\nnothing of winter remaining except the masses of bordage ice<br \/>\nwhich were strewn along the shores of the stream. On examination<br \/>\nof the piers of the bridge, it was found that they had admirably<br \/>\nresisted the tremendous pressure; and though the timber &#8220;crib-work&#8221;<br \/>\nerected to facilitate the placing of floating pontoons to form<br \/>\nthe dams was found considerably disturbed and in some places<br \/>\nseriously damaged, the piers, with the exception of one or two<br \/>\nheavy stone blocks, which were still unfinished, escaped uninjured.<br \/>\nOne block of many tons&#8217; weight was carried to a considerable distance,<br \/>\nand must have been torn out of its place by sheer force, as<br \/>\nseveral of the broken fragments were found left in the pier.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Toward the end of January, 1859, the plating of the bottom of<br \/>\nthe great central tube was begun. The execution of this part of<br \/>\nthe undertaking was of a very formidable and difficult character.<br \/>\nThe gangs of men employed upon it were required to work night<br \/>\nand day, though the season was mid-winter, as it was of great importance<br \/>\nto the navigation that the staging should be removed by<br \/>\nthe time that the ice broke up and the river became open. The<br \/>\nnight gangs were lighted at their work by wood-fires filling huge<br \/>\nbraziers, the bright glow of which illumined the vast snow-covered<br \/>\nice-field in the midst of which they worked at so lofty an elevation;<br \/>\nand the sight as well as the sounds of the hammering<br \/>\nand riveting, the puffing of the steam-engines, and the various operations<br \/>\nthus carried on, presented a scene the like of which has<br \/>\nrarely been witnessed. The work was not conducted without<br \/>\nconsiderable risk to the men, arising from the intense cold. The<br \/>\ntemperature was often 20\u00b0 below zero, and notwithstanding that<br \/>\nthey all worked in thick gloves, and that care was taken to protect<br \/>\nevery exposed part, many of them were severely frostbitten.<br \/>\nSometimes, when thick mist rose from the river, they would become<br \/>\ncovered with icicles, and be driven from their work.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_483\" name=\"Page_483\"><\/a>[483]<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_486.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"579\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>ERECTION OF MAIN CENTRAL TUBE.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Notwithstanding these difficulties, the laying of the great central<br \/>\ntube made steady progress. By the 17th of February the<br \/>\nfirst pair of side-plates was erected; on the 28th, the bottom was<br \/>\nriveted and completed; 180 feet of the sides was also in place,<br \/>\nand 100 feet of the top was plated; and on the 21st of March<br \/>\nthe whole of the plating was finished. A few days later the<br \/>\nwedges were knocked away, and the tube hung suspended between<br \/>\nthe adjoining piers. On the 18th of May following the<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_484\" name=\"Page_484\"><\/a>[484]<\/span><br \/>\nstaging was all cleared away, with the moored scows and the<br \/>\ncrib-work, and the centre span of the bridge was again clear for<br \/>\nthe navigation of the river.<\/p>\n<p>The first stone of the bridge was laid on the 22d of July, 1854.<br \/>\nThe works continued in progress for a period of five and a half<br \/>\nyears, until the 17th of December, 1859, when the first train passed<br \/>\nover the bridge; and on the 25th of August, 1860, it was<br \/>\nformally opened for traffic by the Prince of Wales. It was the<br \/>\ngreatest of Robert Stephenson&#8217;s bridges, and worthy of being the<br \/>\ncrowning and closing work of his life. But he was not destined<br \/>\nto see its completion. Two months before the bridge was finished<br \/>\nhe had passed from the scene of all his labors.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"tb\">\n<p>We have little to add as to the closing events in Robert Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\nlife. Retired in a great measure from the business of<br \/>\nan engineer, he occupied himself for the most part in society, in<br \/>\nyachting, and in attending the House of Commons and the Clubs.<br \/>\nIt was in the year 1847 that he entered the House of Commons<br \/>\nas member for Whitby; but he does not seem to have been very<br \/>\nregular in his attendance, and only appeared on divisions when<br \/>\nthere was a &#8220;whip&#8221; of the party to which he belonged. He was<br \/>\na member of the Sewage and Sanitary Commissions, and of the<br \/>\nCommission which sat on Westminster Bridge. He very seldom<br \/>\naddressed the House, and then only on matters relating to engineering.<br \/>\nThe last occasions on which he spoke were on the Suez<br \/>\nCanal<a id=\"FNanchor_107\" name=\"FNanchor_107\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_107\">[107]<\/a> and the cleansing of the Serpentine.<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_485\" name=\"Page_485\"><\/a>[485]<\/span><br \/>\nBesides constructing the railway between Alexandria and Cairo,<br \/>\nhe was consulted, like his father, by the King of Belgium as to<br \/>\nthe railways of that country; and he was made Knight of the<br \/>\nOrder of Leopold because of the improvements which he had<br \/>\nmade in locomotive engines, so much to the advantage of the<br \/>\nBelgian system of inland transit. He was consulted by the King<br \/>\nof Sweden as to the railway between Christiana and Lake Mi\u00f6sen,<br \/>\nand in consideration of his services was decorated with the Grand<br \/>\nCross of the Order of St. Olaf. He also visited Switzerland,<br \/>\nPiedmont, and Denmark, to advise as to the system of railway<br \/>\ncommunication best suited for those countries. At the Paris Exhibition<br \/>\nof 1855 the Emperor of France decorated him with the<br \/>\nLegion of Honor in consideration of his public services; and at<br \/>\nhome the University of Oxford made him a Doctor of Civil Laws.<br \/>\nIn 1855 he was elected President of the Institute of Civil Engineers,<br \/>\nwhich office he held with honor and filled with distinguished<br \/>\nability for two years, giving place to his friend Mr. Locke at<br \/>\nthe end of 1857.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Stephenson was frequently called upon to act as arbitrator<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_486\" name=\"Page_486\"><\/a>[486]<\/span><br \/>\nbetween contractors and railway companies, or between one company<br \/>\nand another, great value being attached to his opinion on<br \/>\naccount of his weighty judgment, his great experience, and his<br \/>\nupright character; and we believe his decisions were invariably<br \/>\nstamped by the qualities of impartiality and justice. He was always<br \/>\nready to lend a helping hand to a friend, and no petty jealousy<br \/>\nstood between him and his rivals in the engineering world.<br \/>\nThe author remembers being with Mr. Stephenson one evening<br \/>\nat his house in Gloucester Square when a note was put into his<br \/>\nhand from his friend Brunel, then engaged in his fruitless efforts<br \/>\nto launch the <i>Great Eastern<\/i>. It was to ask Stephenson to come<br \/>\ndown to Blackwall early next morning, and give him the benefit<br \/>\nof his judgment. Shortly after six next morning Stephenson was<br \/>\nin Scott Russell&#8217;s building-yard, and he remained there until dusk.<br \/>\nAbout midday, while superintending the launching operations,<br \/>\nthe balk of timber on which he stood canted up, and he fell up<br \/>\nto his middle in the Thames mud. He was dressed as usual,<br \/>\nwithout great-coat (though the day was bitter cold), and with<br \/>\nonly thin boots upon his feet. He was urged to leave the yard<br \/>\nand change his dress, or at least dry himself; but, with his usual<br \/>\ndisregard of health, he replied, &#8220;Oh, never mind me; I&#8217;m quite<br \/>\nused to this sort of thing;&#8221; and he went paddling about in the<br \/>\nmud, smoking his cigar, until almost dark, when the day&#8217;s work<br \/>\nwas brought to an end. The result of this exposure was an attack<br \/>\nof inflammation of the lungs, which kept him to his bed for<br \/>\na fortnight.<\/p>\n<p>He was habitually careless of his health, and perhaps he indulged<br \/>\nin narcotics to a prejudicial extent. Hence he often became<br \/>\n&#8220;hipped,&#8221; and sometimes ill. When Mr. Sopwith accompanied<br \/>\nhim to Egypt in the <i>Titania<\/i>, in 1856, he succeeded in<br \/>\npersuading Mr. Stephenson to limit his indulgence in cigars and<br \/>\nstimulants, and the consequence was that by the end of the voyage<br \/>\nhe felt himself, as he said, &#8220;quite a new man.&#8221; Arrived at<br \/>\nMarseilles, he telegraphed from thence a message to Great George<br \/>\nStreet, prescribing certain stringent and salutary rules for observance<br \/>\nin the office there on his return. But he was of a facile,<br \/>\nsocial disposition, and the old associations proved too strong for<br \/>\nhim. When he sailed for Norway in the autumn of 1859, though<br \/>\nthen ailing in health, he looked a man who had still plenty of life<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_487\" name=\"Page_487\"><\/a>[487]<\/span><br \/>\nin him. By the time he returned his fatal illness had seized him.<br \/>\nHe was attacked by congestion of the liver, which first developed<br \/>\nitself in jaundice, and then ran into dropsy, of which he died on<br \/>\nthe 12th of October, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. He was<br \/>\nburied by the side of Telford in Westminster Abbey, amid the<br \/>\ndeparted great men of his country, and was attended to his resting-place<br \/>\nby many of the intimate friends of his boyhood and his<br \/>\nmanhood. Among those who assembled round his grave were<br \/>\nsome of the greatest men of thought and action in England, who<br \/>\nembraced the sad occasion to pay the last mark of their respect<br \/>\nto this illustrious son of one of England&#8217;s greatest working-men.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"tb\">\n<p>It would be out of keeping with the subject thus drawn to<br \/>\na conclusion to pronounce any panegyric on the character and<br \/>\nachievements of George and Robert Stephenson. These, for the<br \/>\nmost part, speak for themselves; and both were emphatically true<br \/>\nmen, exhibiting in their lives many valuable and sterling qualities.<\/p>\n<p>No beginning could have been less promising than that of the<br \/>\nelder Stephenson. Born in a poor condition, yet rich in spirit,<br \/>\nhe was from the first compelled to rely upon himself, every step<br \/>\nof advance which he made being conquered by patient labor.<br \/>\nWhether working as a brakesman or an engineer, his mind was<br \/>\nalways full of the work in hand. He gave himself thoroughly<br \/>\nup to it. Like the painter, he might say that he had become<br \/>\ngreat &#8220;by neglecting nothing.&#8221; Whatever he was engaged upon,<br \/>\nhe was as careful of the details as if each were itself the whole.<br \/>\nHe did all thoroughly and honestly. There was no &#8220;scamping&#8221;<br \/>\nwith him. When a workman, he put his brains and labor into<br \/>\nhis work; and when a master, he put his conscience and character<br \/>\ninto it. He would have no slop-work executed merely for<br \/>\nthe sake of profit. The materials must be as genuine as the<br \/>\nworkmanship was skillful. The structures which he designed<br \/>\nand executed were distinguished for their thoroughness and solidity;<br \/>\nhis locomotives were famous for their durability and excellent<br \/>\nworking qualities. The engines which he sent to the<br \/>\nUnited States in 1832 are still in good condition; and even the<br \/>\nengines built by him for the Killingworth Colliery, upward of<br \/>\nthirty years since, are working there to this day. All his work<br \/>\nwas honest, representing the actual character of the man.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_488\" name=\"Page_488\"><\/a>[488]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>He was ready to turn his hand to any thing\u2014shoes and clocks,<br \/>\nrailways and locomotives. He contrived his safety-lamp with the<br \/>\nobject of saving pitmen&#8217;s lives, and periled his own life in testing<br \/>\nit. With him to resolve was to do. Many men knew far<br \/>\nmore than he, but none was more ready forthwith to apply what<br \/>\nhe did know to practical purposes. It was while working at<br \/>\nWillington as a brakesman that he first learned how best to handle<br \/>\na spade in throwing ballast out of the ships&#8217; holds. This casual<br \/>\nemployment seems to have left upon his mind the most lasting<br \/>\nimpression of what &#8220;hard work&#8221; was; and he often used to<br \/>\nrevert to it, and say to the young men about him, &#8220;Ah, ye lads!<br \/>\nthere&#8217;s none o&#8217; ye know what <em>wark<\/em> is.&#8221; Mr. Gooch says he was<br \/>\nproud of the dexterity in handling a spade which he had thus acquired,<br \/>\nand that he has frequently seen him take the shovel from<br \/>\na laborer in some railway cutting, and show him how to use it<br \/>\nmore deftly in filling wagons of earth, gravel, or sand. Sir Joshua<br \/>\nWalmsley has also informed us that, when examining the works<br \/>\nof the Orleans and Tours Railway, Stephenson, seeing a large<br \/>\nnumber of excavators filling and wheeling sand in a cutting, at a<br \/>\ngreat waste of time and labor, went up to the men and said he<br \/>\nwould show them how to fill their barrows in half the time. He<br \/>\nshowed them the proper position in which to stand so as to exercise<br \/>\nthe greatest amount of power with the least expenditure of<br \/>\nstrength; and he filled the barrow with comparative ease again<br \/>\nand again in their presence, to the great delight of the workmen.<br \/>\nWhen passing through his own workshops he would point out to<br \/>\nhis men how to save labor and get through their work skillfully<br \/>\nand with ease. His energy imparted itself to others, quickening<br \/>\nand influencing them as strong characters always do, flowing<br \/>\ndown into theirs, and bringing out their best powers.<\/p>\n<p>His deportment to the workmen employed under him was familiar,<br \/>\nyet firm and consistent. As he respected their manhood,<br \/>\nso they respected his masterhood. Although he comported himself<br \/>\ntoward his men as if they occupied very much the same level<br \/>\nwith himself, he yet possessed that peculiar capacity for governing<br \/>\nwhich enabled him always to preserve among them the<br \/>\nstrictest discipline, and to secure their cheerful and hearty services.<br \/>\nMr. Ingham, M.P. for South Shields, on going over the<br \/>\nworkshops at Newcastle, was particularly struck with this quality<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_489\" name=\"Page_489\"><\/a>[489]<\/span><br \/>\nof the master in his bearing toward his men. &#8220;There was nothing,&#8221;<br \/>\nsaid he, &#8220;of undue familiarity in their intercourse, but they<br \/>\nspoke to each other as man to man; and nothing seemed to please<br \/>\nthe master more than to point out illustrations of the ingenuity<br \/>\nof his artisans. He took up a rivet, and expatiated on the skill<br \/>\nwith which it had been fashioned by the workman&#8217;s hand\u2014its<br \/>\nperfectness and truth. He was always proud of his workmen<br \/>\nand his pupils; and, while indifferent and careless as to what<br \/>\nmight be said of himself, he fired up in a moment if disparagement<br \/>\nwere thrown upon any one whom he had taught or trained.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In manner, George Stephenson was simple, modest, and unassuming,<br \/>\nbut always manly. He was frank and social in spirit.<br \/>\nWhen a humble workman, he had carefully preserved his sense<br \/>\nof self-respect. His companions looked up to him, and his example<br \/>\nwas worth much more to many of them than books or schools.<br \/>\nHis devoted love of knowledge made his poverty respectable, and<br \/>\nadorned his humble calling. When he rose to a more elevated<br \/>\nstation, and associated with men of the highest position and influence<br \/>\nin Britain, he took his place among them with perfect self-possession.<br \/>\nThey wondered at the quiet ease and simple dignity<br \/>\nof his deportment; and men in the best ranks of life have said<br \/>\nof him that &#8220;he was one of Nature&#8217;s gentlemen.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Probably no military chiefs were ever more beloved by their<br \/>\nsoldiers than were both father and son by the army of men who,<br \/>\nunder their guidance, worked at labors of profit, made labors of<br \/>\nlove by their earnest will and purpose. True leaders of men and<br \/>\nlords of industry, they were always ready to recognize and encourage<br \/>\ntalent in those who worked for and with them. Thus it<br \/>\nwas pleasant, at the openings of the Stephenson lines, to hear the<br \/>\nchief engineers attributing the successful completion of the works<br \/>\nto their assistants; while the assistants, on the other hand, ascribed<br \/>\nthe principal glory to their chiefs.<\/p>\n<p>George Stephenson, though a thrifty and frugal man, was essentially<br \/>\nunsordid. His rugged path in early life made him careful<br \/>\nof his resources. He never saved to hoard, but saved for a<br \/>\npurpose, such as the maintenance of his parents or the education<br \/>\nof his son. In his later years he became a prosperous and even<br \/>\na wealthy man; but riches never closed his heart, nor stole away<br \/>\nthe elasticity of his soul. He enjoyed life cheerfully, because<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_490\" name=\"Page_490\"><\/a>[490]<\/span><br \/>\nhopefully. When he entered upon a commercial enterprise,<br \/>\nwhether for others or for himself, he looked carefully at the<br \/>\nways and means. Unless they would &#8220;pay,&#8221; he held back. &#8220;He<br \/>\nwould have nothing to do,&#8221; he declared, &#8220;with stock-jobbing speculations.&#8221;<br \/>\nHis refusal to sell his name to the schemes of the<br \/>\nrailway mania\u2014his survey of the Spanish lines without remuneration\u2014his<br \/>\noffer to postpone his claim for payment from a poor<br \/>\ncompany until their affairs became more prosperous, are instances<br \/>\nof the unsordid spirit in which he acted.<\/p>\n<p>Another marked feature in Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s character was his<br \/>\npatience. Notwithstanding the strength of his convictions as to<br \/>\nthe great uses to which the locomotive might be applied, he waited<br \/>\nlong and patiently for the opportunity of bringing it into notice;<br \/>\nand for years after he had completed an efficient engine,<br \/>\nhe went on quietly devoting himself to the ordinary work of the<br \/>\ncolliery. He made no noise nor stir about his locomotive, but<br \/>\nallowed another to take credit for the experiments on velocity<br \/>\nand friction which he had made with it upon the Killingworth<br \/>\nrailroad. By patient industry and laborious contrivance he was<br \/>\nenabled, with the powerful help of his son, almost to do for the<br \/>\nlocomotive what James Watt had done for the condensing engine.<br \/>\nHe found it clumsy and inefficient, and he made it powerful,<br \/>\nefficient, and useful. Both have been described as the improvers<br \/>\nof their respective engines; but, as to all that is admirable<br \/>\nin their structure or vast in their utility, they are rather entitled<br \/>\nto be described as their inventors. They have both tended<br \/>\nto increase indefinitely the mass of human comforts and enjoyments,<br \/>\nand to render them cheap and accessible to all. But Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\ninvention, by the influence which it is daily exercising<br \/>\nupon the civilization of the world, is even more remarkable than<br \/>\nthat of Watt, and is calculated to have still more important consequences.<br \/>\nIn this respect it is to be regarded as the grandest<br \/>\napplication of steam-power that has yet been discovered.<\/p>\n<p>George Stephenson&#8217;s close and accurate observation provided<br \/>\nhim with a fullness of information on many subjects which often<br \/>\nappeared surprising to those who had devoted to them a special<br \/>\nstudy. On one occasion the accuracy of his knowledge of birds<br \/>\ncame out in a curious way at a convivial meeting of railway men<br \/>\nin London. The engineers and railway directors present knew<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_491\" name=\"Page_491\"><\/a>[491]<\/span><br \/>\neach other as railway men and nothing more. The talk had been<br \/>\nall of railways and railway politics. Stephenson was a great<br \/>\ntalker on those subjects, and was generally allowed, from the interest<br \/>\nof his conversation and the extent of his experience, to take<br \/>\nthe lead. At length one of the party broke in with, &#8220;Come, now,<br \/>\nStephenson, we have had nothing but railways! can not we have<br \/>\na change, and try if we can talk a little about something else?&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Stephenson, &#8220;I&#8217;ll give you a wide range of subjects;<br \/>\nwhat shall it be about?&#8221; &#8220;Say <em>birds&#8217; nests<\/em>!&#8221; rejoined the other,<br \/>\nwho prided himself on his special knowledge of the subject.<br \/>\n&#8220;Then birds&#8217; nests be it.&#8221; A long and animated conversation<br \/>\nensued: the bird-nesting of his boyhood\u2014the blackbird&#8217;s nest<br \/>\nwhich his father had held him up in his arms to look at when a<br \/>\nchild at Wylam\u2014the hedges in which he had found the thrush&#8217;s<br \/>\nand the linnet&#8217;s nests\u2014the mossy bank where the robin built\u2014the<br \/>\ncleft in the branch of the young tree where the chaffinch had<br \/>\nreared its dwelling\u2014all rose up clear in his mind&#8217;s eye, and led<br \/>\nhim back to the scenes of his boyhood at Callerton and Dewley<br \/>\nBurn. The color and number of the birds&#8217; eggs\u2014the period of<br \/>\ntheir incubation\u2014the materials employed by them for the walls<br \/>\nand lining of their nests, were described by him so vividly, and<br \/>\nillustrated by such graphic anecdotes, that one of the party remarked<br \/>\nthat, if George Stephenson had not been the greatest engineer<br \/>\nof his day, he might have been one of the greatest naturalists.<\/p>\n<p>His powers of conversation were very great. He was so<br \/>\nthoughtful, original, and suggestive. There was scarcely a department<br \/>\nof science on which he had not formed some novel<br \/>\nand sometimes daring theory. Thus Mr. Gooch, his pupil, who<br \/>\nlived with him when at Liverpool, informs us that when sitting<br \/>\nover the fire, he would frequently broach his favorite theory of<br \/>\nthe sun&#8217;s light and heat being the original source of the light<br \/>\nand heat given forth by the burning coal. &#8220;It fed the plants of<br \/>\nwhich that coal is made,&#8221; he would say, &#8220;and has been bottled<br \/>\nup in the earth ever since, to be given out again now for the use<br \/>\nof man.&#8221; His son Robert once said of him, &#8220;My father flashed<br \/>\nhis bull&#8217;s eye full upon a subject, and brought it out in its most<br \/>\nvivid light in an instant: his strong common sense and his varied<br \/>\nexperience, operating on a thoughtful mind, were his most powerful<br \/>\nilluminators.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_492\" name=\"Page_492\"><\/a>[492]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Bishop of Oxford related the following anecdote of him<br \/>\nat a recent public meeting in London: &#8220;He heard the other day<br \/>\nof an answer given by the great self-taught man, Stephenson,<br \/>\nwhen he was speaking with something of distrust of what were<br \/>\ncalled competitive examinations. Stephenson said, &#8216;I distrust<br \/>\nthem for this reason\u2014they will lead, it seems to me, to an unlimited<br \/>\npower of cram;&#8217; and he added, &#8216;Let me give you one<br \/>\npiece of advice\u2014never to judge of your goose by its stuffing!'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>George Stephenson had once a conversation with a watchmaker,<br \/>\nwhom he astonished by the extent and minuteness of his<br \/>\nknowledge as to the parts of a watch. The watchmaker knew<br \/>\nhim to be an eminent engineer, and asked how he had acquired<br \/>\nso extensive a knowledge of a branch of business so much out<br \/>\nof his sphere. &#8220;It is very easily to be explained,&#8221; said Stephenson;<br \/>\n&#8220;I worked long at watch-cleaning myself, and when I was<br \/>\nat a loss, I was never ashamed to ask for information.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>His hand was open to his former fellow-workmen whom old<br \/>\nage had left in poverty. To poor Robert Gray, of Newburn,<br \/>\nwho acted as his brideman on his marriage to Fanny Henderson,<br \/>\nhe left a pension for life. He would slip a five-pound note into<br \/>\nthe hand of a poor man or a widow in such a way as not to offend<br \/>\ntheir delicacy, but to make them feel as if the obligation<br \/>\nwere all on his side. When Farmer Paterson, who married a<br \/>\nsister of George&#8217;s first wife, Fanny Henderson, died and left a<br \/>\nlarge young family fatherless, poverty stared them in the face.<br \/>\n&#8220;But ye ken,&#8221; said our informant, &#8220;<em>George struck in fayther for<br \/>\nthem<\/em>.&#8221; And perhaps the providential character of the act could<br \/>\nnot have been more graphically expressed than in these simple<br \/>\nwords.<\/p>\n<p>On his visit to Newcastle, he would frequently meet the friends<br \/>\nof his early days, occupying very nearly the same station in life,<br \/>\nwhile he had meanwhile risen to almost world-wide fame; but<br \/>\nhe was not less hearty in his greeting of them than if their relative<br \/>\nposition had remained the same. Thus, one day, after shaking<br \/>\nhands with Mr. Brandling on alighting from his carriage, he<br \/>\nproceeded to shake hands with his coachman, Anthony Wigham,<br \/>\na still older friend, though he only sat on the box.<\/p>\n<p>Robert Stephenson inherited his father&#8217;s kindly spirit and benevolent<br \/>\ndisposition. We have already stated that he was often<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_493\" name=\"Page_493\"><\/a>[493]<\/span><br \/>\ncalled in as an umpire to mediate between conflicting parties,<br \/>\nmore particularly between contractors and engineers. On one<br \/>\noccasion Brunel complained to him that he could not get on with<br \/>\nhis contractors, who were never satisfied, and were always quarreling<br \/>\nwith him. &#8220;You hold them too tightly to the letter of<br \/>\nyour agreement,&#8221; said Stephenson; &#8220;treat them fairly and liberally.&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8220;But they try to take advantage of me at all points,&#8221; rejoined<br \/>\nBrunel. &#8220;Perhaps you suspect them too much?&#8221; said Stephenson.<br \/>\n&#8220;I suspect all men to be rogues,&#8221; said the other, &#8220;till<br \/>\nI find them to be honest.&#8221; &#8220;For my part,&#8221; said Stephenson, &#8220;I<br \/>\ntake all men to be honest till I find them to be rogues.&#8221; &#8220;Ah!<br \/>\nthen, I fear we shall never agree,&#8221; concluded Brunel.<\/p>\n<p>Robert almost worshiped his father&#8217;s memory, and was ever<br \/>\nready to attribute to him the chief merit of his own achievements<br \/>\nas an engineer. &#8220;It was his thorough training,&#8221; we once<br \/>\nheard him say, &#8220;his example, and his character, which made me<br \/>\nthe man I am.&#8221; On a more public occasion he said, &#8220;It is my<br \/>\ngreat pride to remember that, whatever may have been done, and<br \/>\nhowever extensive may have been my own connection with railway<br \/>\ndevelopment, all I know and all I have done is primarily<br \/>\ndue to the parent whose memory I cherish and revere.&#8221;<a id=\"FNanchor_108\" name=\"FNanchor_108\"><\/a><a class=\"fnanchor\" href=\"#Footnote_108\">[108]<\/a> To<br \/>\nMr. Lough, the sculptor, he said he had never had but two loves\u2014one<br \/>\nfor his father, the other for his wife.<\/p>\n<p>Like his father, he was eminently practical, and yet always<br \/>\nopen to the influence and guidance of correct theory. His main<br \/>\nconsideration in laying out his lines of railway was what would<br \/>\nbest answer the intended purpose, or, to use his own words, to secure<br \/>\nthe maximum of result with the minimum of means. He<br \/>\nwas pre-eminently a safe man, because cautious, tentative, and experimental;<br \/>\nfollowing closely the lines of conduct trodden by his<br \/>\nfather, and often quoting his maxims.<\/p>\n<p>In society Robert Stephenson was simple, unobtrusive, and<br \/>\nmodest, but charming and even fascinating in an eminent degree.<br \/>\nSir John Lawrence has said of him that he was, of all others, the<br \/>\nman he most delighted to meet in England\u2014he was so manly yet<br \/>\ngentle, and withal so great. While admired and beloved by men<br \/>\nof such calibre, he was equally a favorite with women and children.<br \/>\nHe put himself upon the level of all, and charmed them<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_494\" name=\"Page_494\"><\/a>[494]<\/span><br \/>\nno less by his inexpressible kindliness of manner than by his simple<br \/>\nyet impressive conversation.<\/p>\n<p>His great wealth enabled him to perform many generous acts<br \/>\nin a right noble and yet modest manner, not letting his right<br \/>\nhand know what his left hand did. Of the numerous kindly<br \/>\nacts of his which have been made public, we may mention the<br \/>\ngraceful manner in which he repaid the obligations which both<br \/>\nhimself and his father owed to the Newcastle Literary and Philosophical<br \/>\nInstitute when working together as fellow experimenters<br \/>\nmany years before in their humble cottage at Killingworth.<br \/>\nThe Institute was struggling under a debt of \u00a36200, which impaired<br \/>\nits usefulness as an educational agency. Mr. Stephenson<br \/>\noffered to pay one half the sum provided the local supporters<br \/>\nof the Institute would raise the remainder, and conditional also<br \/>\non the annual subscription being reduced from two guineas to<br \/>\none, in order that the usefulness of the institution might be<br \/>\nextended. His generous offer was accepted and the debt extinguished.<\/p>\n<p>Both father and son were offered knighthood, and both declined<br \/>\nit. During the summer of 1847, George Stephenson was<br \/>\ninvited to offer himself as a candidate for the representation of<br \/>\nSouth Shields in Parliament. But his politics were at best of a<br \/>\nvery undefined sort. Indeed, his life had been so much occupied<br \/>\nwith subjects of a practical character that he had scarcely troubled<br \/>\nhimself to form any decided opinion on the party political<br \/>\ntopics of the day, and to stand the cross-fire of the electors on the<br \/>\nhustings might possibly have proved an even more distressing ordeal<br \/>\nthan the cross-questioning of the barristers in the Committees<br \/>\nof the House of Commons. &#8220;Politics,&#8221; he used to say, &#8220;are<br \/>\nall matters of theory\u2014there is no stability in them; they shift<br \/>\nabout like the sands of the sea; and I should feel quite out of<br \/>\nmy element among them.&#8221; He had, accordingly, the good sense<br \/>\nrespectfully to decline the honor of contesting the representation<br \/>\nof South Shields.<\/p>\n<p>We have, however, been informed by Sir Joseph Paxton that,<br \/>\nalthough George Stephenson held no strong opinions on political<br \/>\nquestions generally, there was one question on which he entertained<br \/>\na decided conviction, and that was the question of Free<br \/>\nTrade. The words used by him on one occasion to Sir Joseph<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_495\" name=\"Page_495\"><\/a>[495]<\/span><br \/>\nwere very strong. &#8220;England,&#8221; said he, &#8220;is, and must be, a shopkeeper;<br \/>\nand our docks and harbors are only so many wholesale<br \/>\nshops, the doors of which should always be kept wide open.&#8221; It<br \/>\nis curious that his son should have taken precisely the opposite<br \/>\nview of this question, and acted throughout with the most rigid<br \/>\nparty among the Protectionists, supporting the Navigation Laws<br \/>\nand opposing Free Trade, even to the extent of going into the<br \/>\nlobby with Colonel Sibthorp, Mr. Spooner, and the fifty-three<br \/>\n&#8220;cannon-balls,&#8221; on the 26th of November, 1852. Robert Stephenson<br \/>\nto the last spoke in strong terms as to the &#8220;betrayal of<br \/>\nthe Protectionist party&#8221; by their chosen leader, and he went so<br \/>\nfar as to say that he &#8220;could never forgive Peel.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But Robert Stephenson will be judged in after times by his<br \/>\nachievements as an engineer rather than by his acts as a politician;<br \/>\nand, happily, these last were far outweighed in value by<br \/>\nthe immense practical services which he rendered to trade, commerce,<br \/>\nand civilization, through the facilities which the railways<br \/>\nconstructed by him afforded for free intercommunication between<br \/>\nmen in all parts of the world. Speaking in the midst of his<br \/>\nfriends at Newcastle in 1850, he observed:<\/p>\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p>&#8220;It seems to me but as yesterday that I was engaged as an assistant<br \/>\nin laying out the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Since<br \/>\nthen, the Liverpool and Manchester, and a hundred other great<br \/>\nworks have sprung into existence. As I look back upon these stupendous<br \/>\nundertakings, accomplished in so short a time, it seems as<br \/>\nthough we had realized in our generation the fabled powers of the<br \/>\nmagician&#8217;s wand. Hills have been cut down and valleys filled up;<br \/>\nand when these simple expedients have not sufficed, high and magnificent<br \/>\nviaducts have been raised, and, if mountains stood in the<br \/>\nway, tunnels of unexampled magnitude have pierced them through,<br \/>\nbearing their triumphant attestation to the indomitable energy of<br \/>\nthe nation, and the unrivaled skill of our artisans.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>As respects the immense advantages of railways to mankind<br \/>\nthere can not be two opinions. They exhibit, probably, the<br \/>\ngrandest organization of capital and labor that the world has yet<br \/>\nseen. Although they have unhappily occasioned great loss to<br \/>\nmany, the loss has been that of individuals, while, as a national<br \/>\nsystem, the gain has already been enormous. As tending to multiply<br \/>\nand spread abroad the conveniences of life, opening up new<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_496\" name=\"Page_496\"><\/a>[496]<\/span><br \/>\nfields of industry, bringing nations nearer to each other, and thus<br \/>\npromoting the great ends of civilization, the founding of the railway<br \/>\nsystem by George Stephenson and his son must be regarded<br \/>\nas one of the most important events, if not the very greatest, in<br \/>\nthe first half of this nineteenth century.<\/p>\n<div class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 500px;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/i_499.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"285\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>THE STEPHENSON MEMORIAL SCHOOLS, WILLINGTON QUAY.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_497\" name=\"Page_497\"><\/a>[497]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"INDEX\" name=\"INDEX\"><\/a>INDEX.<\/h3>\n<p class=\"inno\">Accident, G. Stephenson&#8217;s stage-coach, <a href=\"#Page_389\">389<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Accidents in coal-mines, <a href=\"#Page_175\">175<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_196\">196<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Adam, Mr., counsel for Liverpool and Manchester Railway Bill, <a href=\"#Page_265\">265<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Adhesion of wheel and rail, <a href=\"#Page_82\">82<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_152\">152<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_156\">156<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_165\">165<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Albert, Prince, an early traveler by rail, <a href=\"#Page_390\">390<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Alderson, Mr., counsel against Liverpool and Manchester Railway Bill, <a href=\"#Page_268\">268<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_271\">271<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_274\">274<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_275\">275<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Allcard, Wm., <a href=\"#Page_283\">283<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Alton Grange, G. Stephenson&#8217;s house at, <a href=\"#Page_344\">344<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ambergate, land-slip at, <a href=\"#Page_372\">372<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">lime-works at, <a href=\"#Page_394\">394<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_395\">395<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Anderson, Dr., his early advocacy of railroads, <a href=\"#Page_73\">73<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Arnold, Dr., on railways, <a href=\"#Page_390\">390<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Atmospheric railways, <a href=\"#Page_402\">402<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_403\">403<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_426\">426-428<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Bald, Robert, mining engineer, <a href=\"#Page_198\">198<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_212\">212<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Barrow, Sir John, on railway speed, <a href=\"#Page_262\">262<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Beaumont, Mr., his wooden wagon-ways, <a href=\"#Page_48\">48<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Belgium, railways in, <a href=\"#Page_382\">382<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">G. Stephenson&#8217;s visits to, <a href=\"#Page_382\">382<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_383\">383<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_415\">415<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Benton Colliery and village, <a href=\"#Page_138\">138<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_140\">140<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_151\">151<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Berkeley, Mr., on railways, <a href=\"#Page_341\">341<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Berwick, Royal Border Bridge at, <a href=\"#Page_430\">430<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Bird-nesting, G. Stephenson&#8217;s love of, <a href=\"#Page_106\">106<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_109\">109<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_380\">380<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_491\">491<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Black Callerton Colliery, <a href=\"#Page_109\">109<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_116\">116<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_117\">117<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Blackett, Mr. Wylam, <a href=\"#Page_102\">102<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_153\">153<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_154\">154<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_157\">157-161<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Blast, the steam, its invention, <a href=\"#Page_170\">170<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Blenkinsop, Mr., Leeds, his locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_155\">155-157<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_162\">162<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Blisworth Cutting, <a href=\"#Page_355\">355<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Boiler, the multitubular, its invention, <a href=\"#Page_316\">316-318<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Booth, Henry, <a href=\"#Page_256\">256<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_312\">312<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_318\">318<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_319\">319<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Boulton, Matthew, his tubular boiler, <a href=\"#Page_316\">316-318<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Boulton and Watt, and the locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_63\">63-68<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Bradshaw, Mr., his opposition to Liverpool and Manchester line, <a href=\"#Page_255\">255<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_258\">258<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Braithwaite and Ericsson&#8217;s &#8220;Novelty,&#8221; <a href=\"#Page_322\">322-324<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Brake, G. Stephenson&#8217;s self-acting, <a href=\"#Page_334\">334<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_398\">398<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Brakeing of colliery engines, <a href=\"#Page_116\">116-118<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_131\">131<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Brandling, Messrs., <a href=\"#Page_184\">184<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_191\">191<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_192\">192<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_431\">431<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Brandreth&#8217;s &#8220;Cycloped,&#8221; <a href=\"#Page_322\">322<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Bridge building, rapid progress of, <a href=\"#Page_431\">431<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_432\">432<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Bridges\u2014<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Royal Border, <a href=\"#Page_430\">430<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">High-Level, Newcastle, <a href=\"#Page_431\">431<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Britannia (Menai), <a href=\"#Page_439\">439-442<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Conway, <a href=\"#Page_451\">451<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Victoria, Lower Canada, <a href=\"#Page_476\">476<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Britannia Bridge, North Wales, <a href=\"#Page_449\">449<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_452\">452-459<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Brougham, William, counsel for Liverpool and Manchester Bill, <a href=\"#Page_262\">262<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_265\">265<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Bruce, Mr., R. Stephenson&#8217;s schoolmaster, <a href=\"#Page_141\">141<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Brunel, I. K., <a href=\"#Page_423\">423-427<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_486\">486<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Brunton&#8217;s &#8220;Mechanical Traveler,&#8221; 157.<\/p>\n<p>Brussels, railway celebrations at, <a href=\"#Page_383\">383<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_416\">416<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Buckland, Dr., <a href=\"#Page_467\">467<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Bull Bridge, near Ambergate, <a href=\"#Page_373\">373<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Bull, Edward, his Cornish engine, <a href=\"#Page_76\">76<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">William, partner of Trevithick, <a href=\"#Page_76\">76<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_88\">88<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Burrell, G. Stephenson&#8217;s partner, <a href=\"#Page_207\">207<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Burstall&#8217;s &#8220;Perseverance,&#8221; <a href=\"#Page_322\">322<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_326\">326<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Callerton Colliery and village, <a href=\"#Page_109\">109<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_116\">116<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_117\">117<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Canada, railways in, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_v\">v.<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_476\">476<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Canal Companies&#8217; opposition to railways, <a href=\"#Page_260\">260<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_341\">341<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Cardiff and Merthyr Railroad, <a href=\"#Page_73\">73<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Carrying stock of railways, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_ix\">ix.<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_334\">334<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Cattle brought to London by rail, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xx\">xx.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Chapman&#8217;s locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_157\">157<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_163\">163<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Charlotte Dundas,&#8221; the first practical steam-boat, <a href=\"#Page_70\">70<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"CHAT\" name=\"CHAT\"><\/a><br \/>\nChat Moss, surveying on, <a href=\"#Page_252\">252<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_264\">264<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">railway constructed on, <a href=\"#Page_283\">283-288<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Chester and Birkenhead Railway, <a href=\"#Page_402\">402<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">and Holyhead Railway, <a href=\"#Page_438\">438<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Chesterfield, town of, <a href=\"#Page_395\">395<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_471\">471<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Clanny, Dr., his safety-lamp, <a href=\"#Page_179\">179<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_196\">196<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Clark, Edwin, R. Stephenson&#8217;s assistant, <a href=\"#Page_448\">448<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Claycross Colliery, <a href=\"#Page_394\">394<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_420\">420<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Coach, first railway, <a href=\"#Page_240\">240<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Coal, working of, <a href=\"#Page_100\">100<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_101\">101<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">supply of, to London, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xxv\">xxv.<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">haulage of, <a href=\"#Page_153\">153<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_161\">161<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">supply of, by railways, <a href=\"#Page_386\">386<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_392\">392<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Coal Railways, G. Stephenson on, <a href=\"#Page_393\">393<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Cochrane, Lord, and Peruvian revolution, <a href=\"#Page_89\">89<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Coe, William, <a href=\"#Page_116\">116<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_117\">117<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_121\">121<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_125\">125<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Coffin, Sir Isaac, on railways, <a href=\"#Page_280\">280<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Collieries, G. Stephenson&#8217;s, at Snibston, <a href=\"#Page_344\">344<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">at Claycross, <a href=\"#Page_392\">392<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Colombia, R. Stephenson&#8217;s residence in, <a href=\"#Page_301\">301-308<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Companies, joint-stock railway, <a href=\"#Page_339\">339<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_404\">404<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Contractors and railways, <a href=\"#Page_353\">353<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_360\">360<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_361\">361<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_493\">493<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Conversation, G. Stephenson&#8217;s love of, <a href=\"#Page_463\">463<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_491\">491<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Conway, tubular bridge at, <a href=\"#Page_450\">450<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_451\">451<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Cooper, Sir A., R. Stephenson&#8217;s interview with, <a href=\"#Page_350\">350<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Cornish engineers, early, <a href=\"#Page_75\">75<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_76\">76<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Correspondence, G. Stephenson&#8217;s, <a href=\"#Page_297\">297<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_379\">379<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_380\">380<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Crib-work, Victoria Bridge, <a href=\"#Page_479\">479<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_480\">480<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Cropper, Isaac, Liverpool, <a href=\"#Page_293\">293<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_313\">313<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_325\">325<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Crowdie night,&#8221; a, <a href=\"#Page_465\">465<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Croydon and Merstham Railroad, <a href=\"#Page_74\">74<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_216\">216<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Cubitt, W., evidence of, on Liverpool and Manchester Railway, <a href=\"#Page_272\">272<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Cugnot, N., his road locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_60\">60<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Curr, John, his cast-iron tram-way, <a href=\"#Page_50\">50<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Cuttings\u2014<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Olive Mount, <a href=\"#Page_291\">291<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Tring, <a href=\"#Page_354\">354<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Blisworth, <a href=\"#Page_355\">355<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Ambergate, <a href=\"#Page_372\">372<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Oakenshaw, <a href=\"#Page_372\">372<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Darlington, railway projected at, <a href=\"#Page_218\">218<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Darwin, Erasmus, his fiery chariot, <a href=\"#Page_53\">53-59<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Davy, Sir H., on Trevithick&#8217;s steam-carriage, <a href=\"#Page_79\">79<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his paper on fire-damp, <a href=\"#Page_179\">179<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his safety-lamp, <a href=\"#Page_189\">189<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">testimonial to, <a href=\"#Page_191\">191<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his lamp compared with Stephenson&#8217;s, <a href=\"#Page_195\">195<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Denman, Lord, <a href=\"#Page_463\">463<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Derby, Earl of, and Liverpool and Manchester Railway, <a href=\"#Page_252\">252<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_258\">258<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_280\">280<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Dewley Burn Colliery, <a href=\"#Page_107\">107-111<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Direct lines, rage for, <a href=\"#Page_408\">408<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_498\" name=\"Page_498\"><\/a>[498]<\/span>Dixon, John, assists in survey of Stockton and Darlington Railway, <a href=\"#Page_219\">219<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_236\">236<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">resident engineer Liverpool and Manchester Railway, <a href=\"#Page_283\">283<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Dodds, Ralph, Killingworth, <a href=\"#Page_132\">132<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_139\">139<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Dutton Viaduct, <a href=\"#Page_366\">366<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>East Coast route to Scotland, <a href=\"#Page_426\">426<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Edgeworth, R. L., early speculations on railways, <a href=\"#Page_56\">56<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_57\">57<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Eggs, brought to London by rail, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xxii\">xxii.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"EGYPT\" name=\"EGYPT\"><\/a><br \/>\nEgypt, R. Stephenson&#8217;s tubular bridges in, <a href=\"#Page_475\"><span class=\"corr\" title=\"Transcriber's Note\u2014original text: '507'\">475<\/span><\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Suez Canal, <a href=\"#Page_484\">484<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_485\">485<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Electric telegraphing on railways, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xiii\">xiii.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Emerson, G. Stephenson&#8217;s meeting with, <a href=\"#Page_469\">469<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_470\">470<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ericsson&#8217;s &#8220;Novelty,&#8221; <a href=\"#Page_322\">322-324<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Evans, Oliver, his steam-carriage, <a href=\"#Page_71\">71<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_72\">72<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his boiler, <a href=\"#Page_77\">77<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Explosions from fire-damp, <a href=\"#Page_175\">175<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Fairbairn, William, C.E., early friendship with G. Stephenson, <a href=\"#Page_124\">124<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_125\">125<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">experiments on iron tubes for R. Stephenson, <a href=\"#Page_446\">446<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Fire-damp, explosions of, <a href=\"#Page_175\">175<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Fish brought to London by rail, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xxi\">xxi.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Fitch, John, American engineer, <a href=\"#Page_71\">71<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Food brought to London by rail, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xix\">xix.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Forth-Street Works, Newcastle, <a href=\"#Page_232\">232<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_396\">396<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Foster, Jonathan, Wylam, <a href=\"#Page_158\">158<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Foundations\u2014of bridge on the Derwent, <a href=\"#Page_372\">372<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">of High-Level Bridge, Newcastle, <a href=\"#Page_434\">434<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">of Victoria Bridge, Montreal, <a href=\"#Page_479\">479<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Free Trade, G. Stephenson&#8217;s notions of, <a href=\"#Page_494\">494<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_495\">495<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Friction, G. Stephenson&#8217;s early experiments in, <a href=\"#Page_202\">202<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">and gradients, <a href=\"#Page_400\">400<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Frolic, G. Stephenson&#8217;s love of, <a href=\"#Page_135\">135<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_375\">375<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_465\">465<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Gauge of railways, <a href=\"#Page_234\">234<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_424\">424<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Geordy&#8221; safety-lamp, <a href=\"#Page_175\">175-195<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Gilbert, Davies, and Trevithick, <a href=\"#Page_79\">79<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_82\">82<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_83\">83<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Giles, Francis, C.E., his evidence against Liverpool and Manchester Railway Bill, <a href=\"#Page_273\">273<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_275\">275<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_289\">289<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Gooch, Thomas, C.E., <a href=\"#Page_277\">277<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_295\">295<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_328\">328<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_330\">330<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Government and railways, <a href=\"#Page_337\">337<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_338\">338<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Gradients and friction, <a href=\"#Page_202\">202<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_400\">400<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Grand Allies, Killingworth, <a href=\"#Page_135\">135<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Grand Junction Railway, <a href=\"#Page_341\">341<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_365\">365<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Grand Trunk Railway, Canada, <a href=\"#Page_476\">476<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Gray, Thomas, and the locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_156\">156<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_311\">311<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Great Western Railway, <a href=\"#Page_340\">340<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_342\">342<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_424\">424<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Greenwich Railway opened as a &#8220;show,&#8221; <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xv\">xv.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Gurney, Goldsworthy, <a href=\"#Page_171\">171<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_317\">317<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hackworth, T., and the steam-blast, <a href=\"#Page_174\">174<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his locomotive &#8220;Sanspareil,&#8221; 322, <a href=\"#Page_324\">324<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_325\">325<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_326\">326<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Half-lap joint, G. Stephenson&#8217;s, <a href=\"#Page_200\">200<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Harrison, Mr., counsel against Liverpool and Manchester Bill, <a href=\"#Page_265\">265<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_272\">272<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_276\">276<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Harvey, Mr., engineer, Hayle, <a href=\"#Page_76\">76<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hedley, William, Wylam, <a href=\"#Page_159\">159<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_160\">160<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_171\">171<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Henderson, Fanny, G. Stephenson&#8217;s first wife, <a href=\"#Page_118\">118<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_123\">123<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_125\">125<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_127\">127<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Heppel, Kit, Killingworth, <a href=\"#Page_132\">132<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_135\">135<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hetton Railway constructed by G. Stephenson, <a href=\"#Page_208\">208<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>High-Level Bridge, Newcastle, <a href=\"#Page_433\">433<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hindmarsh, Miss, G. Stephenson&#8217;s second wife, <a href=\"#Page_214\">214<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hodgkinson, Professor, his calculations as to strength of iron tubes, <a href=\"#Page_447\">447<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Holyhead, railway to, <a href=\"#Page_438\">438<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hornblower, Jonathan, <a href=\"#Page_75\">75<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_76\">76<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Horticulture, G. Stephenson&#8217;s experiments in, <a href=\"#Page_460\">460<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_461\">461<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Horse traction on railways, <a href=\"#Page_48\">48<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_57\">57<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_74\">74<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_153\">153<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_166\">166<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_234\">234<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_240\">240<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Howick, Lord, his support of atmospheric railways, <a href=\"#Page_427\">427<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">G. Stephenson&#8217;s interview with, <a href=\"#Page_428\">428<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_429\">429<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Hudson, George, the &#8220;Railway King,&#8221; <a href=\"#Page_407\">407<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_411\">411<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Huskisson, Mr., an early advocate of railways, <a href=\"#Page_278\">278<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_280\">280<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">fatal accident to, <a href=\"#Page_331\">331<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Hydraulic press used to lift the tubes at the Britannia Bridge, <a href=\"#Page_456\">456<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ice-flood at Montreal, <a href=\"#Page_481\">481<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_482\">482<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Inclined planes, self-acting, <a href=\"#Page_149\">149<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_150\">150<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_162\">162<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>India, railways in, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_iv\">iv.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Iron bridge building, progress in, <a href=\"#Page_432\">432<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_443\">443<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Italian railways, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_iv\">iv.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>James, William, surveys Liverpool and Manchester Railway, <a href=\"#Page_248\">248<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">visit to Killingworth, <a href=\"#Page_250\">250<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">arrangement with Stephenson and Losh, <a href=\"#Page_251\">251<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">compelled to relinquish the survey, <a href=\"#Page_253\">253<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_254\">254<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>James, W. H., his tubular boiler, <a href=\"#Page_317\">317<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Jameson, Professor, Edinburg, <a href=\"#Page_213\">213<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Jessop, William, his cast-iron edge-rail, <a href=\"#Page_51\">51<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Joy, Mr., counsel for Liverpool and Manchester Bill, <a href=\"#Page_265\">265<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_268\">268<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Keelmen of the Tyne, <a href=\"#Page_101\">101<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_102\">102<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Kent, opposition to railways in, <a href=\"#Page_342\">342<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Killingworth, <a href=\"#Page_126\">126<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_129\">129<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">High Pit, <a href=\"#Page_131\">131<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_168\">168<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">underground machinery, <a href=\"#Page_198\">198<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">visited by Edward Pease, <a href=\"#Page_230\">230<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">W. James, <a href=\"#Page_250\">250<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">promoters of Liverpool and Manchester Railway, <a href=\"#Page_257\">257<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Kilmarnock and Troon tram-road, <a href=\"#Page_206\">206<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Kilsby Tunnel, <a href=\"#Page_342\">342<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_357\">357-361<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_363\">363<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Lambton, Mr. (Earl of Durham), <a href=\"#Page_225\">225<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Lamp, invention of the safety, <a href=\"#Page_175\">175<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Land-slip at Ambergate, <a href=\"#Page_372\">372<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Landlords and railways, <a href=\"#Page_223\">223<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_252\">252<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_341\">341<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_352\">352<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_469\">469<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Lardner, Dr., on undulating lines, <a href=\"#Page_400\">400<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Leicester and Swannington Railway, <a href=\"#Page_343\">343<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Leopold, King, G. Stephenson&#8217;s interviews with, <a href=\"#Page_382\">382<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_383\">383<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_416\">416<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Lime-works at Ambergate, <a href=\"#Page_394\">394<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_395\">395<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Littleborough Tunnel, <a href=\"#Page_368\">368<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Liverpool and Manchester Railway projected, <a href=\"#Page_247\">247<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">survey by W. James, <a href=\"#Page_249\">249<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">George Stephenson appointed engineer, <a href=\"#Page_254\">254<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">virulent opposition, <a href=\"#Page_259\">259<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_260\">260<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">the bill in committee, <a href=\"#Page_265\">265<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">rejected, <a href=\"#Page_277\">277<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">renewed application, <a href=\"#Page_278\">278<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">the bill passed, <a href=\"#Page_280\">280<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">the railway constructed, <a href=\"#Page_281\">281<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">discussion as to the power to be employed to work the line, <a href=\"#Page_311\">311<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">prize offered for the best locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_314\">314<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">the competition at Rainhill, <a href=\"#Page_322\">322<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">triumph of the &#8220;Rocket,&#8221; <a href=\"#Page_326\">326<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">public opening of the railway, <a href=\"#Page_330\">330<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">its success, <a href=\"#Page_332\">332<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Locke, Joseph, C.E., resident engineer on Liverpool and Manchester Railway, <a href=\"#Page_283\">283<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"LOCO\" name=\"LOCO\"><\/a><br \/>\nLocomotive engine gradually perfected, <a href=\"#Page_47\">47<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Sir I. Newton&#8217;s idea, <a href=\"#Page_53\">53<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Darwin&#8217;s, <a href=\"#Page_53\">53-59<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Cugnot&#8217;s, <a href=\"#Page_60\">60-63<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">James Watt&#8217;s, <a href=\"#Page_60\">60<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_64\">64<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">William Murdock&#8217;s model locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_66\">66<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">William Symington&#8217;s model, <a href=\"#Page_68\">68-70<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Oliver Evans&#8217;s 71;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Richard Trevithick&#8217;s steam-carriage and first locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_77\">77-82<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Blenkinsop&#8217;s Leeds locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_155\">155<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Blackett&#8217;s Wylam locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_157\">157-161<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Stephenson&#8217;s Killingworth locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_164\">164-170<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">farther improvements by Stephenson, <a href=\"#Page_201\">201<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_202\">202<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">locomotives constructed for Stockton and Darlington Railway, <a href=\"#Page_235\">235<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">the &#8220;Rocket,&#8221; <a href=\"#Page_319\">319<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">farther improvements in locomotives, <a href=\"#Page_335\">335<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">number of locomotives in the United Kingdom, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_ix\">ix.<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_x\">x.<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">self-feeding apparatus of, <em>ib.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xiv\">xiv.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_499\" name=\"Page_499\"><\/a>[499]<\/span>Locomotive workshops at Newcastle, the Stephensons&#8217;, <a href=\"#Page_232\">232<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_396\">396<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>London and Birmingham Railway, <a href=\"#Page_349\">349-364<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>London, railways in, opening or the Greenwich line, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xv\">xv.<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">magnitude of suburban traffic, <em>ib.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xvi\">xvi.<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">new lines opened, <em>ib.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xvi\">xvi.<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">population increased by, <em>ib.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xviii\">xviii.<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">provisioning of London, <em>ib.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xix\">xix.<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">coal supply of, <em>ib.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xxv\">xxv.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Losh, Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s partner, <a href=\"#Page_201\">201<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_233\">233<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Lough&#8217;s statue of G. Stephenson, <a href=\"#Page_472\">472<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Mackworth, Sir H., his sailing-wagon, <a href=\"#Page_52\">52<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Mail service by railway, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xxvi\">xxvi.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Manchester, railways projected in connection with, <a href=\"#Page_340\">340<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">and Leeds Railway, <a href=\"#Page_366\">366<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Mania, the railway, <a href=\"#Page_405\">405<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_406\">406<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Maps\u2014<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">of Newcastle district, <a href=\"#Page_98\">98<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Stockton and Darlington Railway, <a href=\"#Page_224\">224<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Liverpool and Manchester Railway, <a href=\"#Page_250\">250-251<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Leicester and Swannington Railway, <a href=\"#Page_343\">343<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">London and Birmingham Railway, <a href=\"#Page_354\">354<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Midland Railway, <a href=\"#Page_370\">370<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Straits of Menai, <a href=\"#Page_442\">442<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Mechanics&#8217; Institutes, G. Stephenson at meetings of, <a href=\"#Page_397\">397<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Menai, bridge over Straits of, <a href=\"#Page_439\">439<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Merchandise, traffic of London, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xxvi\">xxvi.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Merstham tram-road, <a href=\"#Page_74\">74<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_217\">217<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Merthyr tram-road, <a href=\"#Page_73\">73<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Trevithick&#8217;s locomotive tried on, <a href=\"#Page_80\">80<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Middlesborough-on-Tees, growth of, <a href=\"#Page_245\">245<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Midland Railway, <a href=\"#Page_370\">370<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Milk brought to London by rail, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xxiv\">xxiv.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Miller, Mr., Dalswinton, and steam navigation, <a href=\"#Page_70\">70<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Montreal, Victoria Bridge at, <a href=\"#Page_476\">476<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Moore, Francis, his patent for steam-carriages, <a href=\"#Page_63\">63<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Morecambe Bay, G. Stephenson&#8217;s proposed line across, <a href=\"#Page_376\">376<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Moss, Chat (see <em><a href=\"#CHAT\">Chat Moss<\/a><\/em>).<\/p>\n<p>Multitubular boiler, invention of the, <a href=\"#Page_318\">318<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Murdock, William, his model locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_66\">66<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Watt discourages his application to the subject, <a href=\"#Page_67\">67<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_77\">77<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Murray, Matthew, and the Leeds locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_155\">155<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Nasmyth&#8217;s steam-hammer first applied to pile-driving, <a href=\"#Page_434\">434<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Navvies, Railway, <a href=\"#Page_362\">362<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Newcastle-on-Tyne, early history, <a href=\"#Page_97\">97<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Literary and Philosophical Institute, <a href=\"#Page_142\">142<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_185\">185<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_189\">189<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_209\">209<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_494\">494<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Mechanics&#8217; Institute, <a href=\"#Page_397\">397<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">High-Level Bridge, <a href=\"#Page_431\">431<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Newcastle and Berwick Railway, <a href=\"#Page_426\">426<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Newcomen&#8217;s atmospheric engine, <a href=\"#Page_100\">100<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Neville&#8217;s tubular boiler, <a href=\"#Page_317\">317<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_318\">318<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Newton, Sir I., his idea of steam locomotion, <a href=\"#Page_53\">53<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Nicholson&#8217;s steam-jet, <a href=\"#Page_82\">82<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_171\">171<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Nile, R. Stephenson&#8217;s tubular bridges over the, <a href=\"#Page_475\">475<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>North Midland Railway, <a href=\"#Page_370\">370<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_373\">373<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_374\">374<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>North, Roger, description of early tram-roads, <a href=\"#Page_49\">49<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Northampton, opposition of, to railways, <a href=\"#Page_342\">342<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Northumberland Atmospheric Railway, <a href=\"#Page_427\">427<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Novelty&#8221; locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_323\">323<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Oaks Pit Colliery explosion, <a href=\"#Page_195\">195<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Offices, Stephenson&#8217;s London, <a href=\"#Page_381\">381<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_407\">407<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Old Quay Navigation, Liverpool, <a href=\"#Page_256\">256<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Olive Mount Cutting, <a href=\"#Page_291\">291<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Openings of railways\u2014<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Hetton, <a href=\"#Page_209\">209<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Stockton and Darlington, <a href=\"#Page_236\">236<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Liverpool and Manchester, <a href=\"#Page_330\">330<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">London and Birmingham, <a href=\"#Page_384\">384<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">in Midland Counties, <a href=\"#Page_384\">384<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">East Coast route to Scotland, <a href=\"#Page_426\">426<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_437\">437<\/a>:<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Britannia Bridge, <a href=\"#Page_458\">458<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Trent Valley, <a href=\"#Page_469\">469<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Opposition to railways\u2014<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">in country districts, <a href=\"#Page_337\">337<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_341\">341<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">at Northampton, <a href=\"#Page_342\">342<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">in Kent, <a href=\"#Page_342\">342<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">at Eton, <a href=\"#Page_342\">342<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">to London and Birmingham, <a href=\"#Page_350\">350<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Organization\u2014of early railways, <a href=\"#Page_330\">330<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_333\">333<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">of modern railways, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xi\">xi.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Outram&#8217;s railway, first use of stone blocks, <a href=\"#Page_51\">51<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Parliament and railways, <a href=\"#Page_338\">338<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_406\">406<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_410\">410<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Parr Moss, railway across, <a href=\"#Page_288\">288<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Passenger-carriage, the first, <a href=\"#Page_240\">240<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Passenger-traffic, beginnings of, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_vii\">vii.<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_xv\">xv.<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_240\">240<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_241\">241<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_333\">333<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_338\">338<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">of London, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xvii\">xvii.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Pease, Edward, promotes Stockton and Darlington Railway, his character, <a href=\"#Page_222\">222<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">anticipations concerning railways, <a href=\"#Page_225\">225<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">intercourse with George Stephenson, <a href=\"#Page_227\">227<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_229\">229<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_230\">230<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_231\">231<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_232\">232<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">assists George Stephenson with capital, <a href=\"#Page_232\">232<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">faith in the locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_235\">235<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_246\">246<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">letter to Robert Stephenson, <a href=\"#Page_306\">306<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_307\">307<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Peel, Sir R., on undulating lines, <a href=\"#Page_409\">409<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_410\">410<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">G. Stephenson&#8217;s visit to, <a href=\"#Page_467\">467<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Penmaen Mawr, railway under, <a href=\"#Page_439\">439<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Pen-y-darran, Trevithick&#8217;s locomotive made and tried at, <a href=\"#Page_80\">80-82<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Permanent way, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_viii\">viii.<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_xi\">xi.<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_159\">159<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_200\">200<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Peruvian mining, Trevithick&#8217;s adventures in connection with, <a href=\"#Page_87\">87<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Petherick, J., his description of Trevithick&#8217;s steam-carriage, <a href=\"#Page_78\">78<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_79\">79<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Phillips, Sir Richard, on railroads, <a href=\"#Page_217\">217<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Pile-driving by steam, <a href=\"#Page_434\">434<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Pitmen, habits and character of Newcastle, <a href=\"#Page_100\">100<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_101\">101<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Plate-ways, <a href=\"#Page_50\">50<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_82\">82<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Politics, G. and R. Stephenson&#8217;s, <a href=\"#Page_494\">494<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Population of London, how influenced by railways, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xviii\">xviii.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Postal service and railways, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xxvii\">xxvii.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Potatoes brought to London by rail, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xxiii\">xxiii.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Poultry brought to London by rail, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xxii\">xxii.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Primrose Hill Tunnel, <a href=\"#Page_356\">356<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Professional charges, G. Stephenson&#8217;s, <a href=\"#Page_382\">382<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Provisioning of London, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xix\">xix.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Pyrenean pastoral, <a href=\"#Page_418\">418<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><cite>Quarterly Review<\/cite> on railway speed, <a href=\"#Page_263\">263<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Queen, the, her first use of the railway, <a href=\"#Page_390\">390<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">opens the High-Level and Royal Border Bridges, <a href=\"#Page_437\">437<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">visits the Britannia Bridge, <a href=\"#Page_456\">456<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Rails\u2014<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">stone blocks first used, <a href=\"#Page_48\">48<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">planks, <a href=\"#Page_48\">48<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">plates of iron, <a href=\"#Page_50\">50<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">cast-iron rails, <a href=\"#Page_50\">50<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">flanched rails, <a href=\"#Page_51\">51<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">tram-plates at Merthyr, <a href=\"#Page_81\">81<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Wylam wagon-way, <a href=\"#Page_153\">153<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">rack-rail, <a href=\"#Page_156\">156<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_157\">157<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_159\">159<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_160\">160<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">heavier cast-iron rails used, <a href=\"#Page_160\">160<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">roughly laid, <a href=\"#Page_200\">200<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Stephenson&#8217;s half-lap joint, <a href=\"#Page_200\">200<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Stephenson recommends wrought-iron rails, <a href=\"#Page_233\">233<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">temporary rails in constructing roads, <a href=\"#Page_284\">284<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Vignolles&#8217;s and Ericsson&#8217;s central friction, <a href=\"#Page_311\">311<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">strained by high speed, <a href=\"#Page_399\">399<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Railway locomotive (see <em><a href=\"#LOCO\">Locomotive<\/a><\/em>).<\/p>\n<p>Railway king, the, <a href=\"#Page_407\">407<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_411\">411<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Railway speed (see <em><a href=\"#SPEED\">Speed<\/a><\/em>).<\/p>\n<p>Railway speculation and mania, <a href=\"#Page_374\">374<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_401\">401-405<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Railways, length of, constructed, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_iii\">iii.<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">in India, <em>ib.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_iv\">iv.<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">in United States, <em>ib.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_vi\">vi.<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">carrying stock of, <em>ib.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_ix\">ix.<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">effects of, <em>ib.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xv\">xv.<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">in London, <em>ib.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xv\">xv.<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">number of workmen employed on, <em>ib.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xxviii\">xxviii.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Railways constructed and opened\u2014<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Cardiff and Merthyr, <a href=\"#Page_73\">73<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Sirhowy, <a href=\"#Page_73\">73<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Wandsworth, Croydon, and Merstham, <a href=\"#Page_73\">73<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_74\">74<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Wylam, <a href=\"#Page_160\">160<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Kilmarnock and Troon, <a href=\"#Page_206\">206<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Hetton, <a href=\"#Page_207\">207<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Stockton and Darlington, <a href=\"#Page_224\">224<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Liverpool and Manchester, <a href=\"#Page_247\">247<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Canterbury and Whitstable, <a href=\"#Page_339\">339<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Grand Junction, <a href=\"#Page_340\">340<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_365\">365<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Leicester and Swannington, <a href=\"#Page_343\">343<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_500\" name=\"Page_500\"><\/a>[500]<\/span><span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">London and Birmingham, <a href=\"#Page_349\">349<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Manchester and Leeds, <a href=\"#Page_366\">366<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Midland, <a href=\"#Page_370\">370<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">in Belgium, <a href=\"#Page_382\">382<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Chester and Birkenhead, <a href=\"#Page_402\">402<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Newcastle and Darlington, <a href=\"#Page_412\">412<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Newcastle and Berwick, <a href=\"#Page_414\">414<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_426\">426<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Royal North of Spain, <a href=\"#Page_417\">417<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Chester and Holyhead, <a href=\"#Page_438\">438<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Trent Valley Railway, <a href=\"#Page_469\">469<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Grand Trunk, Lower Canada, <a href=\"#Page_476\">476<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Rainhill, locomotive contest at, <a href=\"#Page_322\">322<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ramsbottom&#8217;s locomotive self-feeding apparatus, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xiv\">xiv.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Rastrick, Mr., C.E., <a href=\"#Page_153\">153<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_312\">312<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_315\">315<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ravensworth, Lord, <a href=\"#Page_135\">135<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_192\">192<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Rennie, John, C.E., <a href=\"#Page_220\">220<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_221\">221<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Messrs. Rennie and Liverpool and Manchester line, <a href=\"#Page_279\">279<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_281\">281<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Residential area of London, enlarged by railways, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xvii\">xvii.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Richardson, Thomas, Lombard Street, <a href=\"#Page_230\">230<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_232\">232<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_266\">266<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_267\">267<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_307\">307<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Road locomotion\u2014<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Stevin&#8217;s sailing-coach, <a href=\"#Page_52\">52<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Mackworth&#8217;s and Edgeworth&#8217;s sailing-wagons, <a href=\"#Page_52\">52<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_53\">53<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_57\">57<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Cugnot&#8217;s road locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_61\">61<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Murdock&#8217;s model, <a href=\"#Page_66\">66<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Symington&#8217;s steam-carriage, <a href=\"#Page_68\">68<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Oliver Evans&#8217;s locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_71\">71<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_72\">72<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Trevithick&#8217;s steam-carriage, <a href=\"#Page_77\">77<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">G. Stephenson&#8217;s views of locomotion on common roads, <a href=\"#Page_202\">202-205<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">House of Commons report in favor of, <a href=\"#Page_338\">338<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Robins at Alton Grange, anecdote of, <a href=\"#Page_381\">381<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Rocket&#8221; locomotive, the, <a href=\"#Page_319\">319-328<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Roscoe, Mr., his farm on Chat Moss, <a href=\"#Page_282\">282<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_283\">283<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ross, A. M., joint engineer of Victoria Bridge, Montreal, <a href=\"#Page_477\">477<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Royal Border Bridge, Berwick, <a href=\"#Page_429\">429<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Safety-lamp\u2014<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Dr. Clanny&#8217;s, <a href=\"#Page_179\">179<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">George Stephenson&#8217;s first lamp, <a href=\"#Page_180\">180<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">second and third lamps, <a href=\"#Page_186\">186<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Sir H. Davy&#8217;s paper on fire-damp, <a href=\"#Page_179\">179<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his lamp, <a href=\"#Page_187\">187<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">dates when lamps produced, <a href=\"#Page_188\">188<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">controversy Davy <em>v.<\/em> Stephenson, <a href=\"#Page_187\">187<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">comparative merits of lamps, <a href=\"#Page_195\">195<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Safety of railway traveling, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_x\">x.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sailing-coaches and wagons, <a href=\"#Page_52\">52<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_53\">53<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_57\">57<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Saint Fond on colliery wagon-roads, <a href=\"#Page_49\">49<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Saint Lawrence River, Victoria Bridge across, <a href=\"#Page_476\">476-484<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sandars, Mr., Liverpool and Manchester Railway, <a href=\"#Page_248\">248<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_253\">253<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_254\">254<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_255\">255<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_262\">262<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_263\">263<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_297\">297<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_313\">313<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sankey Viaduct, <a href=\"#Page_292\">292<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_293\">293<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Sanspareil&#8221; locomotive, Hackworth&#8217;s, <a href=\"#Page_324\">324<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_325\">325<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Scarborough, railway to, <a href=\"#Page_374\">374<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Screw-propeller patented by Trevithick, <a href=\"#Page_86\">86<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Seguin, M., his tubular boiler, <a href=\"#Page_317\">317<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_318\">318<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Self-feeding apparatus of boilers, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xiv\">xiv.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sheep carried to London by rail, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xxi\">xxi.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sibthorp, Col., on railways, <a href=\"#Page_341\">341<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_390\">390<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_391\">391<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Signaling of railway trains, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xi\">xi.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Simplon, Midland Railway compared with road over the, <a href=\"#Page_371\">371<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sirhowy Railroad, <a href=\"#Page_73\">73<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Snibston, George Stephenson&#8217;s sinking for coal at, <a href=\"#Page_344\">344<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sopwith, Mr., F.R.S., <a href=\"#Page_416\">416<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_467\">467<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>South Devon atmospheric railway, <a href=\"#Page_428\">428<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Spain, George Stephenson&#8217;s visit to, <a href=\"#Page_418\">418<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Spankie, Mr. Sergeant, counsel for Liverpool and Manchester Railway Bill, <a href=\"#Page_271\">271<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Speculation in railways, <a href=\"#Page_374\">374<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_401\">401<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">G. Stephenson on, <a href=\"#Page_406\">406<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_407\">407<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">R. Stephenson and, <a href=\"#Page_425\">425<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"SPEED\" name=\"SPEED\"><\/a><br \/>\nSpeed, railway, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_viii\">viii.<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">on Liverpool and Manchester line, <a href=\"#Page_332\">332<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">George Stephenson on, <a href=\"#Page_398\">398<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_399\">399<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Spur-gear, George Stephenson&#8217;s, <a href=\"#Page_164\">164<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_165\">165<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Stage-coach traveling, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_vii\">vii.<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_337\">337<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_387\">387<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_389\">389<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Statues of George Stephenson, <a href=\"#Page_472\">472<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Steam-blast, invention of the, <a href=\"#Page_168\">168<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_170\">170<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">rival claims, <a href=\"#Page_170\">170<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_171\">171<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">of the &#8220;Rocket,&#8221; <a href=\"#Page_320\">320<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Steam-boat, the first working, <a href=\"#Page_70\">70<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Stephenson family, the\u2014<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Robert and Mabel, George&#8217;s father and mother, <a href=\"#Page_103\">103-105<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">brothers and sisters, <a href=\"#Page_111\">111<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_112\">112<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">old Robert, <a href=\"#Page_123\">123<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">maintained by his son George, <a href=\"#Page_129\">129<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Stephenson, George, birth and birthplace, <a href=\"#Page_103\">103<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_104\">104<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his parents, <a href=\"#Page_105\">105<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">boyhood, <a href=\"#Page_107\">107-110<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">fireman and engine-man, <a href=\"#Page_109\">109-113<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">learns to read, <a href=\"#Page_114\">114<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">learns to brake, <a href=\"#Page_116\">116<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_117\">117<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">makes and mends shoes and &#8220;falls in love,&#8221; <a href=\"#Page_118\">118<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">thrashes a bully, <a href=\"#Page_119\">119<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_120\">120<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">self-improvement, <a href=\"#Page_121\">121<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">removes to Willington, <a href=\"#Page_122\">122<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">marries Fanny Henderson, <a href=\"#Page_123\">123<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">studies mechanics, perpetual motion, <a href=\"#Page_124\">124<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">cleans clocks, <a href=\"#Page_125\">125<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">birth of only son and removal to Killingworth, <a href=\"#Page_126\">126<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">death of his wife, <a href=\"#Page_127\">127<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">goes to Scotland, his pump boot, <a href=\"#Page_128\">128<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">returns to Killingworth, <em>ibid.<\/em>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">brakesman at West Moor pit, <a href=\"#Page_129\">129<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">joins in a brakeing contract, <a href=\"#Page_130\">130<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_131\">131<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">cures a pumping-engine, <a href=\"#Page_132\">132-134<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">appointed engine-wright, <a href=\"#Page_135\">135<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">education of his son, <a href=\"#Page_139\">139-141<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his cottage at West Moor, <a href=\"#Page_146\">146<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">the sun-dial, <a href=\"#Page_148\">148<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_149\">149<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">studies the locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_151\">151<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_161\">161-163<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his first traveling-engine, <a href=\"#Page_163\">163-170<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">invents his safety-lamp, <a href=\"#Page_179\">179-186<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">improves underground machinery at Killingworth, <a href=\"#Page_198\">198<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">patent for improved rails and chairs, <a href=\"#Page_200\">200<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_201\">201<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">experiments on friction, <a href=\"#Page_202\">202<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">constructs Hetton Railroad, <a href=\"#Page_208\">208<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">marries Elizabeth Hindmarsh, <a href=\"#Page_214\">214<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">appointed engineer of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, <a href=\"#Page_228\">228<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_229\">229<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">commences locomotive factory at Newcastle, <a href=\"#Page_232\">232<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">supplies locomotives to Stockton and Darlington Railway, <a href=\"#Page_235\">235<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">appointed engineer to Liverpool and Manchester Railway, <a href=\"#Page_254\">254<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">obstructions to the survey, <a href=\"#Page_259\">259<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_260\">260<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his evidence in committee, <a href=\"#Page_266\">266<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">bill rejected, <a href=\"#Page_277\">277<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">reappointed engineer, <a href=\"#Page_281\">281<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">construction of Liverpool and Manchester Railway, <a href=\"#Page_282\">282-295<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">battle of the locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_310\">310-315<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">triumph of the &#8220;Rocket&#8221; at Rainhill, <a href=\"#Page_319\">319-328<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">organization of the railway traffic, <a href=\"#Page_333\">333<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">improvements of the locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_335\">335<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">the self-acting brake, <a href=\"#Page_334\">334<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_398\">398<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">leases the Snibston estate, <a href=\"#Page_344\">344<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">engineer of Manchester and Leeds Railway, <a href=\"#Page_366\">366<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">engineer of North Midland, <a href=\"#Page_371\">371<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">of York and North Midland, <a href=\"#Page_373\">373<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">quickness of observation, <a href=\"#Page_375\">375<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">proposed line across Morecambe Bay, <a href=\"#Page_376\">376<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">immense labors, <a href=\"#Page_377\">377<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">extensive correspondence, <a href=\"#Page_379\">379<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_380\">380<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">London office, <a href=\"#Page_381\">381<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">visits to Belgium, <a href=\"#Page_382\">382<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_383\">383<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">leases Claycross estate and colliery, <a href=\"#Page_394\">394<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">on railway speculation, <a href=\"#Page_406\">406<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_407\">407<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">third visit to Belgium, <a href=\"#Page_415\">415<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">visit to Spain, <a href=\"#Page_417\">417<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">interview with Lord Howick, <a href=\"#Page_428\">428<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_429\">429<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">life in retirement at Tapton, <a href=\"#Page_460\">460<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">visit to Sir Robert Peel, <a href=\"#Page_467\">467<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">theory about sun&#8217;s light, <a href=\"#Page_468\">468<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">illness and death, <a href=\"#Page_470\">470<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">statues of, <a href=\"#Page_472\">472<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">characteristics, <a href=\"#Page_487\">487-492<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Stephenson, Robert, his birth, <a href=\"#Page_126\">126<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">boyhood and education, <a href=\"#Page_140\">140-143<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">boyish tricks, <a href=\"#Page_143\">143<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_144\">144<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">scientific amusements, <a href=\"#Page_145\">145<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">teaches algebra, <a href=\"#Page_148\">148<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">joint production with his father of a sun-dial, <a href=\"#Page_148\">148<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_149\">149<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">assists his father in safety-lamp experiments, <a href=\"#Page_181\">181<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_184\">184<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Newcastle Institute, <a href=\"#Page_209\">209<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">apprenticed as coal-viewer, <a href=\"#Page_209\">209<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">coal-pit explosion, narrow escape, joint studies with his father, <a href=\"#Page_210\">210<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">sent to Edinburg University, <a href=\"#Page_211\">211<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his notes of lectures, <a href=\"#Page_212\">212<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">life in Edinburg, <a href=\"#Page_213\">213<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">geological excursion in the Highlands, return to Killingworth, <a href=\"#Page_213\">213<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_214\">214<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">assists Mr. James in survey of Liverpool and Manchester Railway, <a href=\"#Page_252\">252<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">makes drawings for engines, <a href=\"#Page_301\">301<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">engages with Colombian Mining Association, and residence in South America, <a href=\"#Page_301\">301-306<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">resigns his situation, <a href=\"#Page_306\">306<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">meeting with Trevithick at Cartagena, <a href=\"#Page_308\">308<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">shipwreck, <a href=\"#Page_308\">308<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">tour in the United States, and return home, <a href=\"#Page_309\">309<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">cooperates with his father in the locomotive competition, <a href=\"#Page_315\">315<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">builds the &#8220;Rocket,&#8221; <a href=\"#Page_319\">319<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_501\" name=\"Page_501\"><\/a>[501]<\/span><span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">engineer of Leicester and Swannington Railway, <a href=\"#Page_343\">343<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">engineer of London and Birmingham Railway, <a href=\"#Page_349\">349<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">marriage to Miss Sanderson, <a href=\"#Page_353\">353<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">report on atmospheric system, <a href=\"#Page_404\">404<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">succeeds his father generally as engineer, <a href=\"#Page_421\">421<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his extensive practice, <a href=\"#Page_422\">422<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_423\">423<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his caution, <a href=\"#Page_425\">425<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_448\">448<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_456\">456<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">engineer of High-Level Bridge, Newcastle, <a href=\"#Page_431\">431<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">engineer of Chester and Holyhead Railway, <a href=\"#Page_438\">438<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">designs the first iron tubular bridge, <a href=\"#Page_444\">444<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">opens the Britannia Bridge, <a href=\"#Page_457\">457<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">designs tubular bridges over the Nile, <a href=\"#Page_475\">475<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">designs the Victoria Tubular Bridge, Lower Canada, <a href=\"#Page_477\">477<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">member of House of Commons, <a href=\"#Page_484\">484<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">honors, <a href=\"#Page_485\">485<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">present at launch of &#8220;Great Eastern,&#8221; <a href=\"#Page_486\">486<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">illness and death, <a href=\"#Page_487\">487<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">characteristics, <a href=\"#Page_492\">492-494<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Stevin&#8217;s sailing-coach, <a href=\"#Page_52\">52<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Stockton and Darlington Railway projected and surveyed, <a href=\"#Page_222\">222<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Edward Pease, promoter, <a href=\"#Page_222\">222<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">act obtained, <a href=\"#Page_224\">224<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">George Stephenson resurveys and constructs line, <a href=\"#Page_228\">228<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_229\">229<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">line opened, <a href=\"#Page_236\">236<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">coal-traffic, <a href=\"#Page_239\">239<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">first passenger-traffic, <a href=\"#Page_240\">240<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_241\">241<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">growth of Middlesborough, <a href=\"#Page_245\">245<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Straits of Menai, bridge over, <a href=\"#Page_441\">441<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Strathmore, Earl of, <a href=\"#Page_135\">135<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_192\">192<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Suez Canal, Robert Stephenson&#8217;s opinion of, <a href=\"#Page_484\">484<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_485\">485<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Summers and Ogle&#8217;s tubular boiler, <a href=\"#Page_317\">317<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sun-dial at Killingworth, <a href=\"#Page_148\">148<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_149\">149<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_396\">396<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sun&#8217;s light and coal formation, G. Stephenson&#8217;s ideas on, <a href=\"#Page_468\">468<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_491\">491<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sunshine, effect of, on tubes of Britannia Bridge, <a href=\"#Page_458\">458<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Superheated steam, Trevithick&#8217;s use of, <a href=\"#Page_91\">91<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Swanwick, Frederick, G. Stephenson&#8217;s secretary, <a href=\"#Page_297\">297<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_299\">299<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_315\">315<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sylvester, Mr., on maximum speed, <a href=\"#Page_264\">264<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Symington, William, his working model of a road locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_68\">68<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">co-operation with Miller of Dalswinton in applying power to boats, <a href=\"#Page_70\">70<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his misfortunes and death, <a href=\"#Page_70\">70<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Tapton House, George Stephenson&#8217;s residence at, <a href=\"#Page_392\">392<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_395\">395<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_460\">460<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Telegraph signaling on railways, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xiii\">xiii.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Thames Tunnel begun by Trevithick, <a href=\"#Page_85\">85<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_86\">86<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Thirlwall, William, engineer, <a href=\"#Page_108\">108<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas, Mr., of Denton, on railways, <a href=\"#Page_73\">73<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Traffic, passenger, beginnings of, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_vi\">vi.<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_xv\">xv.<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_240\">240<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_241\">241<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_333\">333<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_385\">385<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_388\">388<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">cattle, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xx\">xx.<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">coal, <em>ib.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xxv\">xxv.<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_153\">153<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_161\">161<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_386\">386<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_392\">392<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">food, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xix\">xix.<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">merchandise, <em>ib.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xxvi\">xxvi.<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">poultry, etc., <em>ib.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xxii\">xxii.<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">postal, <em>ib.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xxvi\">xxvi.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Train service of London, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xvii\">xvii.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Tram-ways, early, <a href=\"#Page_48\">48<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_49\">49<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_73\">73<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_106\">106<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_152\">152<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Trevithick, Richard, birth and education, <a href=\"#Page_74\">74<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">engineering ability in youth, <a href=\"#Page_75\">75<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">partner with Andrew Vivian at Camborne, <a href=\"#Page_76\">76<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his improved engine and boiler, <a href=\"#Page_77\">77<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his steam-carriage for roads, <a href=\"#Page_77\">77-79<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">carriage exhibited in London, <a href=\"#Page_79\">79<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_80\">80<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">constructs the first railway locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_80\">80<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">dredges the Thames by steam-power, <a href=\"#Page_83\">83<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his high-pressure engines and new patents, <a href=\"#Page_83\">83<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_84\">84<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">partly constructs a Thames tunnel, <a href=\"#Page_85\">85<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_86\">86<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">returns to Camborne, new patents, <a href=\"#Page_86\">86<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his tubular boiler, engines for Peru, <a href=\"#Page_86\">86<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_87\">87<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">goes to Lima, received with honors, <a href=\"#Page_88\">88<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">civil war and ruin, <a href=\"#Page_89\">89<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">meets Robert Stephenson at Cartagena, <a href=\"#Page_90\">90<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">shipwreck and return to England, <a href=\"#Page_91\">91<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">new inventions, his last days and death in poverty, <a href=\"#Page_92\">92<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_93\">93<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his character, his important inventions, <em>ibid.<\/em>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_152\">152<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_153\">153<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_170\">170<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_317\">317<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Tring Cutting, <a href=\"#Page_354\">354<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Trinity Church, Chesterfield, G. Stephenson&#8217;s burial-place, <a href=\"#Page_471\">471<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Tubbing&#8221; in coal-pits, <a href=\"#Page_344\">344<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Tubes, floating of, at Conway, <a href=\"#Page_451\">451<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_452\">452<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">at Menai Strait, <a href=\"#Page_452\">452<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">lifting of the, <a href=\"#Page_455\">455<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">erection of, at Victoria Bridge, Montreal, <a href=\"#Page_480\">480<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Tubular boilers by various inventors, <a href=\"#Page_317\">317<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Tubular bridges\u2014<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">over Menai Straits, <a href=\"#Page_443\">443<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">at Conway, <a href=\"#Page_451\">451<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_452\">452<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">at Damietta and Benha, Lower Egypt, <a href=\"#Page_475\">475<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">at Montreal, <a href=\"#Page_480\">480<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Tunnels\u2014<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">at Liverpool, <a href=\"#Page_290\">290<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">at Primrose Hill, <a href=\"#Page_356\">356<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">at Kilsby, <a href=\"#Page_357\">357<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">at Littleborough, <a href=\"#Page_368\">368<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Turner, Rev. William, Newcastle, <a href=\"#Page_185\">185<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Undulating Railways, theory of, <a href=\"#Page_400\">400<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>United States, railways in, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_v\">v.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Uvill\u00e9, M., and Trevithick, <a href=\"#Page_87\">87-89<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Vegetables carried to London by rail, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xxiii\">xxiii.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Viaducts\u2014<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Sankey, <a href=\"#Page_292\">292<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Dutton, <a href=\"#Page_366\">366<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Berwick, <a href=\"#Page_430\">430<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">Newcastle, <a href=\"#Page_431\">431<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Victoria Bridge, Montreal, <a href=\"#Page_477\">477<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Vignolles, Charles, C.E., <a href=\"#Page_279\">279<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_291\">291<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_311\">311<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Vivian, Andrew, Trevithick&#8217;s partner, <a href=\"#Page_76\">76<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Walker, James, C.E., report on fixed and locomotive engines, <a href=\"#Page_312\">312<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Wallsend, <a href=\"#Page_97\">97<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Walmsley, Sir Joshua, <a href=\"#Page_418\">418<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_419\">419<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Waters, Mr., Gateshead, <a href=\"#Page_158\">158<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Watt, James, his model locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_60\">60<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">his scheme of 1784, <a href=\"#Page_64\">64<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_65\">65<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">discourages application of steam to locomotion, <a href=\"#Page_67\">67<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Way-leave&#8221; tram-ways, <a href=\"#Page_49\">49<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Wellington, Duke of, and railways, <a href=\"#Page_330\">330-332<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_390\">390<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>West Moor Colliery, <a href=\"#Page_177\">177<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_214\">214<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Wharncliffe, Lord, and George Stephenson, <a href=\"#Page_135\">135<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_367\">367<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Wheat carried to London by rail, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xx\">xx.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Whinfield, Mr., Gateshead, <a href=\"#Page_154\">154<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Wigham, John, G. Stephenson&#8217;s teacher, <a href=\"#Page_138\">138<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Williams, Mr. Scorrier, his gratitude to Trevithick, <a href=\"#Page_77\">77<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Willington Quay, G. Stephenson at, <a href=\"#Page_122\">122<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Wind, power of, employed in locomotion, <a href=\"#Page_52\">52<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_57\">57<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Wood, Nicholas, testimony concerning Stephenson&#8217;s invention of the steam-blast, <a href=\"#Page_171\">171-173<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">makes drawing for Stephenson&#8217;s safety-lamp, <a href=\"#Page_180\">180<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">assists in experiments, <a href=\"#Page_180\">180<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_185\">185<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_189\">189<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_196\">196<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_198\">198<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">in colliery explosions, <a href=\"#Page_210\">210<\/a>;<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">on the locomotive, <a href=\"#Page_262\">262<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_314\">314<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_315\">315<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Woolf, Cornish engineer, <a href=\"#Page_84\">84<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_317\">317<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Workmen, railway, <em>Pref.<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_xxviii\">xxviii.<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_336\">336<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_362\">362<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Wylam Colliery and village, <a href=\"#Page_102\">102-104<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">wagon-way, <a href=\"#Page_153\">153<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>York and North Midland Railway, <a href=\"#Page_373\">373<\/a>, <a href=\"#Page_374\">374<\/a>;<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">public opening of, <a href=\"#Page_384\">384<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Young, Arthur, on early tram-ways, <a href=\"#Page_49\">49<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\">THE END.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<div class=\"footnotes\">\n<h3>FOOTNOTES:<\/h3>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_1\" name=\"Footnote_1\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_1\"><span class=\"label\">[1]<\/span><\/a> &#8220;The Railway Service, its Exigencies, Provisions, and Requirements.&#8221; By W.<br \/>\nF. Mills. London, 1867.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_2\" name=\"Footnote_2\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_2\"><span class=\"label\">[2]<\/span><\/a> &#8220;Lives of the Engineers,&#8221; vols. i. and ii.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_3\" name=\"Footnote_3\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_3\"><span class=\"label\">[3]<\/span><\/a> Harleian MSS., vol. iii., 269.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_4\" name=\"Footnote_4\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_4\"><span class=\"label\">[4]<\/span><\/a> &#8220;Six Months&#8217; Tour,&#8221; vol. iii., 9.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_5\" name=\"Footnote_5\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_5\"><span class=\"label\">[5]<\/span><\/a> &#8220;Travels in England, Scotland, and the Hebrides,&#8221; vol. i., 142.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_6\" name=\"Footnote_6\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_6\"><span class=\"label\">[6]<\/span><\/a> &#8220;Railway Locomotion and Steam Navigation, their Principles and Practice.&#8221;<br \/>\nBy John Curr. London, 1847.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_7\" name=\"Footnote_7\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_7\"><span class=\"label\">[7]<\/span><\/a> A curious account of this early project is to be found in the library of the British<br \/>\nMuseum, under the name &#8220;Stevin, 1652.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_8\" name=\"Footnote_8\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_8\"><span class=\"label\">[8]<\/span><\/a> The writer adds\u2014&#8221;I believe he (Sir Humphry Mackworth) is the first gentleman<br \/>\nin this part of the world that hath set up sailing engines on land, driven by the wind;<br \/>\nnot for any curiosity or vain applause, but for real profit; whereby he could not fail of<br \/>\nBishop Malkin&#8217;s blessing on his undertakings, in case he were in a capacity to bestow<br \/>\nit.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_9\" name=\"Footnote_9\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_9\"><span class=\"label\">[9]<\/span><\/a> See farther, &#8220;Lives of the Engineers,&#8221; vol. iv., Boulton and Watt, p. 182-4.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_10\" name=\"Footnote_10\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_10\"><span class=\"label\">[10]<\/span><\/a> Soho MSS.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_11\" name=\"Footnote_11\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_11\"><span class=\"label\">[11]<\/span><\/a> Soho MSS.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_12\" name=\"Footnote_12\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_12\"><span class=\"label\">[12]<\/span><\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_13\" name=\"Footnote_13\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_13\"><span class=\"label\">[13]<\/span><\/a> &#8220;Portfeuille du Conservatoire des Arts et M\u00e9tiers,&#8221; Livraison 1, p. 3.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_14\" name=\"Footnote_14\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_14\"><span class=\"label\">[14]<\/span><\/a> This statement is made in &#8220;The Life of John Fitch,&#8221; by Thompson Westcott,<br \/>\nPhiladelphia, 1857. Mr. Thompson there states that the idea of employing a steam-engine<br \/>\nto propel carriages on land occurred to John Fitch at a time when, he avers,<br \/>\n&#8220;he was altogether ignorant that a steam-engine had ever been invented!&#8221; (p. 120).<br \/>\nSuch a statement is calculated to damage the credibility of the entire book, in which<br \/>\nthe invention of the steam-boat, as well as of the screw propeller, is unhesitatingly<br \/>\nclaimed for John Fitch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_15\" name=\"Footnote_15\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_15\"><span class=\"label\">[15]<\/span><\/a> Horne&#8217;s &#8220;Memoirs of the Most Eminent American Mechanics,&#8221; New York,<br \/>\n1858, p. 76.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_16\" name=\"Footnote_16\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_16\"><span class=\"label\">[16]<\/span><\/a> Weale&#8217;s &#8220;Papers on Engineering,&#8221; vol. i., &#8220;On the Dredging Machine,&#8221; p. 7.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_17\" name=\"Footnote_17\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_17\"><span class=\"label\">[17]<\/span><\/a> Paper read by Henry Boaze, Esq., &#8220;On Captain Trevithick&#8217;s Adventures,&#8221; at<br \/>\nthe Anniversary Meeting of September, 1817.\u2014&#8221;Transactions of Royal Geological<br \/>\nSociety of Cornwall,&#8221; vol. i., p. 212.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_18\" name=\"Footnote_18\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_18\"><span class=\"label\">[18]<\/span><\/a> On the 12th of August, 1831, by which time the Liverpool and Manchester line<br \/>\nwas in full work, Trevithick appeared as a witness before the select committee of the<br \/>\nHouse of Commons on the employment of steam-carriages on common roads. He<br \/>\nsaid &#8220;he had been abroad a good many years, and had had nothing to do with steam-carriages<br \/>\nuntil very lately. He had it now, however, in contemplation to do a great<br \/>\ndeal on common roads, and, with that view, had taken out a patent for an entirely<br \/>\nnew engine, the arrangements in which were calculated to obviate all the difficulties<br \/>\nwhich had hitherto stood in the way of traveling on common roads.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_19\" name=\"Footnote_19\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_19\"><span class=\"label\">[19]<\/span><\/a> A tradition exists in the family that Robert Stephenson&#8217;s father came across the<br \/>\nBorder on the loss of considerable property. Miss Stephenson, the daughter of Robert&#8217;s<br \/>\nthird son, John, has stated that a suit was commenced for recovery of the property,<br \/>\nbut was dropped for want of the requisite means to prosecute it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_20\" name=\"Footnote_20\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_20\"><span class=\"label\">[20]<\/span><\/a> The family Bible of Robert and Mabel Stephenson, which seems to have come<br \/>\ninto their possession in November, 1790, contains the following record of the births<br \/>\nof these children, evidently written by one hand and at one time:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"index\">\n<li>&#8220;A Rechester of the children belonging Robert and Mabel Stepheson\u2014<br \/>\n&#8220;James Stepheson Was Born March the 4 day 1779<br \/>\n&#8220;George Stepheson Was Born June 9 day 1781<br \/>\n&#8220;Elender Stepheson Was Born April the 16 day 1784<br \/>\n&#8220;Robert Stepheson Was Born March the 10 day 1788<br \/>\n&#8220;John Stepheson Was Born November the 4 day 1789<br \/>\n&#8220;Ann Stepheson Was Born July the 19 day 1792.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Of the two daughters, Eleanor married Stephen Liddell, afterward employed in the<br \/>\nLocomotive Factory in Newcastle. Ann married John Nixon, with whom she emigrated<br \/>\nto the United States; she died at Pittsburg in 1860. John Stephenson was<br \/>\naccidentally killed at the Locomotive Factory in January, 1831.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_21\" name=\"Footnote_21\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_21\"><span class=\"label\">[21]<\/span><\/a> Father of Mr. Locke, M.P., the engineer. He afterward removed to Barnsley,<br \/>\nin Yorkshire.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_22\" name=\"Footnote_22\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_22\"><span class=\"label\">[22]<\/span><\/a> The Stephenson Memorial Schools have since been erected on the site of the old<br \/>\ncottage at Willington Quay represented in the engraving at the head of this chapter.<br \/>\nA vignette of the Memorial Schools will be found at the end of the volume.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_23\" name=\"Footnote_23\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_23\"><span class=\"label\">[23]<\/span><\/a> No register was made of Robert Stephenson&#8217;s birth, and he himself was in doubt<br \/>\nwhether he was born in October, November, or December. For instance, a dinner<br \/>\nwas given to him by the contractors of the London and Birmingham Railway on the<br \/>\n16th of November, 1839, that day being then supposed by his father to have been his<br \/>\nbirthday. When preparing the &#8220;Life of George Stephenson,&#8221; Robert stated to the<br \/>\nauthor that the 16th of December was the correct day. But, after the book had<br \/>\npassed through four editions, he desired the date to be corrected to the 16th of October,<br \/>\nwhich, on the whole, he thought the right date, and it was so altered accordingly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_24\" name=\"Footnote_24\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_24\"><span class=\"label\">[24]<\/span><\/a> The congregation in a church near Newcastle were one Sunday morning plentifully<br \/>\npowdered with chips from the white ceiling of the church, which had been <em>crept<br \/>\nunder<\/em>, being above an old mine. &#8220;It is only the pit a-creeping,&#8221; said the parish<br \/>\nclerk, by way of encouragement to the people to remain. But it would not do; for<br \/>\nthere was a sudden <em>creep out<\/em> of the congregation. The clerk went at last, with a powdered<br \/>\nhead, crying out, &#8220;It&#8217;s only a creep.&#8221;\u2014&#8221;Our Coal-Fields and our Coal-Pits.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_25\" name=\"Footnote_25\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_25\"><span class=\"label\">[25]<\/span><\/a> This incident was related by Robert Stephenson during a voyage to the north of<br \/>\nScotland in 1857, when off Montrose, on board his yacht <i>Titania<\/i>; and the reminiscence<br \/>\nwas immediately communicated to the author by the late Mr. William Kell, of<br \/>\nGateshead, who was present, at Mr. Stephenson&#8217;s request, as being worthy of insertion<br \/>\nin his father&#8217;s biography. Mr. George Elliott, one of the most skilled coal-viewers<br \/>\nin the North, was of the party, and expressed his admiration at the ready skill<br \/>\nwith which the difficulty had been overcome, the expedient of the boot being then unknown<br \/>\nin the Northumberland and Durham mines. He acknowledged it to be &#8220;a<br \/>\nwrinkle,&#8221; adding that its application would, in several instances within his own knowledge,<br \/>\nhave been of great practical value.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_26\" name=\"Footnote_26\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_26\"><span class=\"label\">[26]<\/span><\/a> As different versions have been given of this affair, it may be mentioned that the<br \/>\nabove statement is made on the authority of the late Robert Stephenson, and of<br \/>\nGeorge Stephenson himself, as communicated by the latter to his friend Thomas L.<br \/>\nGooch, C.E., who has kindly supplied the author with his memoranda on the subject.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_27\" name=\"Footnote_27\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_27\"><span class=\"label\">[27]<\/span><\/a> Speech at Newcastle, on the 18th of June, 1844, at the meeting held in celebration<br \/>\nof the opening of the Newcastle and Darlington Railway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_28\" name=\"Footnote_28\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_28\"><span class=\"label\">[28]<\/span><\/a> At one part of the road he was once pulled off his donkey by some mischievous<br \/>\nboys, and released by a young man named James Burnet. Many years after, Burnet<br \/>\nwas taken on as a workman at the Newcastle factory, probably owing his selection in<br \/>\nsome measure to the above circumstance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_29\" name=\"Footnote_29\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_29\"><span class=\"label\">[29]<\/span><\/a> Robert Stephenson was, perhaps, prouder of this little boyish experiment than<br \/>\nhe was of many of his subsequent achievements. Not having been quite accurately<br \/>\nstated in the first edition of this book, Mr. Stephenson noted the correction for the<br \/>\nsecond, and wrote to the author (Sept. 18th, 1857) as follows: &#8220;In the kite experiment,<br \/>\nwill you say that the copper wire was insulated by a few feet of silk cord;<br \/>\nwithout this, the experiment can not be made.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_30\" name=\"Footnote_30\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_30\"><span class=\"label\">[30]<\/span><\/a> Evidence given before the Select Committee on Accidents in Mines, 1835.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_31\" name=\"Footnote_31\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_31\"><span class=\"label\">[31]<\/span><\/a> The same fallacy seems long to have held its ground in France; for M. Granier<br \/>\ntells us that some time after the first of George Stephenson&#8217;s locomotives had been<br \/>\nplaced on the Liverpool and Manchester line, a model of one was exhibited before the<br \/>\nAcademy. After it had been examined, a member of that learned body said, smiling,<br \/>\n&#8220;Yes, this is all very ingenious, no doubt, but unfortunately the machine will<br \/>\nnever move. The wheels will turn round and round in the same place.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_32\" name=\"Footnote_32\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_32\"><span class=\"label\">[32]<\/span><\/a> John Steele was one of the many &#8220;born mechanics&#8221; of the Northumberland district.<br \/>\nWhen a boy at Colliery Dykes, his native place, he was noted for his &#8220;turn<br \/>\nfor machinery.&#8221; He used to take his playfellows home to see and admire his imitations<br \/>\nof pit-engines. While a mere youth he lost his leg by an accident; and those<br \/>\nwho remember him at Whinfield&#8217;s speak of his hopping about the locomotive, of<br \/>\nwhich he was very proud, upon his wooden leg. It was a great disappointment to<br \/>\nhim when Mr. Blackett refused to take the engine. One day he took a friend to<br \/>\nlook at it when reduced to its degraded office of blowing the cupola bellows; and, referring<br \/>\nto the cause of its rejection, he observed that he was certain it would succeed,<br \/>\nif made sufficiently heavy. &#8220;Our master,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;will not be at the expense<br \/>\nof following it up; but depend upon it the day will come when such an engine<br \/>\nwill be fairly tried, and then it will be found to answer.&#8221; Steele was afterward extensively<br \/>\nemployed by the British government in raising sunken ships; and later in<br \/>\nlife he established engine-works at Rouen, where he made marine-engines for the<br \/>\nFrench government. He was unfortunately killed by the explosion of an engine-boiler<br \/>\n(with the safety-valve of which something had gone wrong) when on an experimental<br \/>\ntrip with one of the steamers fitted up by himself, and on his way to England<br \/>\nto visit his family near Newcastle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_33\" name=\"Footnote_33\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_33\"><span class=\"label\">[33]<\/span><\/a> Thomas Gray, a native of Leeds, was an enthusiastic believer in the new tractive<br \/>\npower, and wherever he went he preached up railways and Blenkinsop&#8217;s locomotive.<br \/>\nWhile he was living at Brussels in 1816, a canal to Charleroi was under consideration,<br \/>\non which he seized the opportunity of urging the superior merits of a railway.<br \/>\nWhen he returned to England in 1820, he wrote a book upon the subject, entitled,<br \/>\n&#8220;Observations on a General Iron Railway,&#8221; in which he strongly advocated the advantages<br \/>\nof railways generally, giving as a frontispiece to the book an engraving of<br \/>\nBlenkinsop&#8217;s engine. And several years after the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester<br \/>\nRailway we find Thomas Gray, true to his first love, urging in the &#8220;Mechanics&#8217;<br \/>\nMagazine&#8221; the superiority of Blenkinsop&#8217;s cogged wheel and rail over the smooth<br \/>\nroad and rail of the modern railway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_34\" name=\"Footnote_34\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_34\"><span class=\"label\">[34]<\/span><\/a> Other machines with legs were patented in the following year by Lewis Gompertz<br \/>\nand by Thomas Tindall. In Tindall&#8217;s specification it is provided that the power of<br \/>\nthe engine is to be assisted by a <em>horizontal windmill<\/em>; and the four pushers, or legs,<br \/>\nare to be caused to come successively in contact with the ground, and impel the carriage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_35\" name=\"Footnote_35\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_35\"><span class=\"label\">[35]<\/span><\/a> Mr. Hedley took out a patent to secure his invention, dated the 13th of March,<br \/>\n1813. Specification No. 3666. If it be true, as alleged, that the wheels of Trevithick&#8217;s<br \/>\nfirst locomotive were smooth, it seems strange that the fallacy should ever<br \/>\nhave existed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_36\" name=\"Footnote_36\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_36\"><span class=\"label\">[36]<\/span><\/a> By the year 1825, the progress made on the Wylam Railroad was thus described<br \/>\nby Mr. Mackenzie in his &#8220;History of Northumberland:&#8221; &#8220;A stranger,&#8221; said he, &#8220;is<br \/>\nstruck with surprise and astonishment on seeing a locomotive engine moving majestically<br \/>\nalong the road at the rate of four or five miles an hour, drawing along from<br \/>\nten to fourteen loaded wagons, weighing about 21-1\/2 tons; and his surprise is increased<br \/>\non witnessing the extraordinary facility with which the engine is managed. This invention<br \/>\nis a noble triumph of science.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_37\" name=\"Footnote_37\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_37\"><span class=\"label\">[37]<\/span><\/a> At the Stephenson Memorial meeting at Newcastle-on-Tyne, 26th of October,<br \/>\n1858, Mr. Hugh Taylor, chairman of the Northern Coal-owners, gave the following<br \/>\naccount of one of such visits made by Stephenson to Wylam, in the company of Mr.<br \/>\nNicholas Wood and himself: &#8220;It was, I think, in 1812, that Mr. Stephenson and<br \/>\nMr. Wood came to my house, then at Newburn, and after we had dined, we went and<br \/>\nexamined the locomotive then on Mr. Blackett&#8217;s wagon-way. At that early date it<br \/>\nwent by a sort of cog-wheel; there was also something of a chain to it. There was<br \/>\nno idea that the machine would be sufficiently adhesive to the rails by the action of<br \/>\nits own weight; but I remember a man going before\u2014that was after the chain was<br \/>\nabrogated\u2014and scattering ashes on the rails, in order to give it adhesiveness, and two<br \/>\nor three miles an hour was about the rate of progress.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_38\" name=\"Footnote_38\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_38\"><span class=\"label\">[38]<\/span><\/a> Speech at the opening of the Newcastle and Darlington Railway, June 18, 1844.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_39\" name=\"Footnote_39\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_39\"><span class=\"label\">[39]<\/span><\/a> It must, however, be mentioned that Mr. Zerah Colburn, in his excellent work on<br \/>\n&#8220;Locomotive Engineering and the Mechanism of Railways,&#8221; points out that Mr.<br \/>\nDavies Gilbert noted the effect of the discharge of the waste steam up the chimney<br \/>\nof Trevithick&#8217;s engine in increasing the draught, and wrote a letter to &#8220;Nicholson&#8217;s<br \/>\nJournal&#8221; (Sept., 1805) on the subject; and Mr. Nicholson himself proceeded to investigate<br \/>\nthe subject, and in 1806 he took out a patent for &#8220;steam-blasting apparatus,&#8221;<br \/>\napplicable to fixed engines, which, however, does not seem to have come into use.<br \/>\n(See <em>ante<\/em>, <a href=\"#Page_82\">p. 82.<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_40\" name=\"Footnote_40\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_40\"><span class=\"label\">[40]<\/span><\/a> Nicholas Wood, &#8220;Practical Treatise on Railways,&#8221; ed. 1825, p. 147.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_41\" name=\"Footnote_41\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_41\"><span class=\"label\">[41]<\/span><\/a> Ibid., p. 292-3.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_42\" name=\"Footnote_42\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_42\"><span class=\"label\">[42]<\/span><\/a> Nicholas Wood, &#8220;Practical Treatise on Railways,&#8221; ed. 1825, p. 294. These passages<br \/>\nwill be found in the first edition of Mr. Wood&#8217;s work, published in 1825. The<br \/>\nsubsequent editions do not contain them. A few years&#8217; experience wrought great<br \/>\nchanges of opinion on many points connected with the practical working of railways,<br \/>\nand Mr. Wood altered his text accordingly. But it is most important for our present<br \/>\npurpose to note that, in the year 1825, long before the Liverpool and Manchester line<br \/>\nwas opened, Mr. Wood should have so clearly described the steam-blast, which had<br \/>\nbeen in regular use for more than ten years in all Stephenson&#8217;s locomotives employed<br \/>\nin the working of the Killingworth railway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_43\" name=\"Footnote_43\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_43\"><span class=\"label\">[43]<\/span><\/a> Evidence given by George Stephenson before the Select Committee on Accidents<br \/>\nin Mines, 26th June, 1835.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_44\" name=\"Footnote_44\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_44\"><span class=\"label\">[44]<\/span><\/a> The accuracy of the above statement having been called in question, it is proper<br \/>\nto state that the facts as set forth were verbally communicated to the author in the<br \/>\nfirst place by Robert Stephenson, to whom the chapter was afterward read in MS. in<br \/>\nthe presence of Mr. Sopwith, F.R.S., and received his entire approval. But at the<br \/>\ntime at which Mr. Stephenson communicated the verbal information, he also handed<br \/>\na little book with his name written in it, still in the author&#8217;s possession, saying, &#8220;Read<br \/>\nthat; you will find it all there.&#8221; This little book contains, among other things, a<br \/>\npamphlet, entitled &#8220;Report on the Claims of Mr. George Stephenson relative to the<br \/>\nInvention of his Safety-lamp. By the Committee appointed at a Meeting holden in<br \/>\nNewcastle, on the 1st of November, 1817. With an Appendix containing the Evidence.&#8221;<br \/>\nAmong the witnesses examined were George Stephenson, Nicholas Wood,<br \/>\nand John Moodie, and their evidence is given in the pamphlet. Stephenson said that<br \/>\nhe tried the first lamp &#8220;in a part of the mine where the air was highly explosive.<br \/>\nNicholas Wood and John Moodie were his companions when the trial was made.<br \/>\nThey became frightened when they came within hearing of the blower, and would not<br \/>\ngo any farther. Mr. Stephenson went alone with the lamp to the mouth of the blower,&#8221;<br \/>\netc. This evidence was confirmed by John Moodie, who said the air of the place<br \/>\nwhere the experiment was about to be tried was such, that, if a lighted candle had<br \/>\nbeen introduced, an explosion would have taken place that would have been &#8220;extremely<br \/>\ndangerous.&#8221; &#8220;Told Stephenson it was foul, and hinted at the danger; nevertheless,<br \/>\nStephenson <em>would<\/em> try the lamp, confiding in its safety. Stephenson took<br \/>\nthe lamp and went with it into the place in which Moodie had been, and Moodie and<br \/>\nWood, apprehensive of the danger, retired to a greater distance,&#8221; etc. The accuracy<br \/>\nof the other statements made in the text relative to the invention of the safety-lamp<br \/>\nis confirmed by the same publication.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_45\" name=\"Footnote_45\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_45\"><span class=\"label\">[45]<\/span><\/a> The early connection of Robert with the Philosophical and Literary Society of<br \/>\nNewcastle had brought him into communication with the Rev. William Turner, one<br \/>\nof the secretaries of the institution. That gentleman was always ready to assist the<br \/>\ninquirer after knowledge, and took an early interest in the studious youth from Killingworth,<br \/>\nwith whose father he also became acquainted. Mr. Turner cheerfully<br \/>\nhelped them in their joint inquiries, and excited while he endeavored to satisfy their<br \/>\nthirst for scientific information. Toward the close of his life Mr. Stephenson often<br \/>\nspoke of the gratitude and esteem he felt toward his revered instructor. &#8220;Mr.<br \/>\nTurner,&#8221; he said, &#8220;was always ready to assist me with books, with instruments, and<br \/>\nwith counsel, gratuitously and cheerfully. He gave me the most valuable assistance<br \/>\nand instruction, and to my dying day I can never forget the obligations which I owe<br \/>\nto my venerable friend.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_46\" name=\"Footnote_46\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_46\"><span class=\"label\">[46]<\/span><\/a> &#8220;A Description of the Safety-lamp, invented by George Stephenson, and now in<br \/>\nuse in the Killingworth Colliery.&#8221; London, 1817.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_47\" name=\"Footnote_47\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_47\"><span class=\"label\">[47]<\/span><\/a> The committee, in their report, after setting forth in a tabular form the dates at<br \/>\nwhich Stephenson and Davy verified their theories by experiments, and brought out<br \/>\ntheir respective safety-lamps, proceeded to say: &#8220;The friends of Mr. Stephenson,<br \/>\nwith this table before them, conceive their resolution to be fully borne out by the testimony<br \/>\nof dates and facts, so far as they are known; and without the slightest idea<br \/>\nor wish of detracting from the scientific fame, honor, or veracity of Sir Humphry<br \/>\nDavy, they would repeat, and confine themselves to the simple assertion of their belief,<br \/>\nthat Mr. Stephenson was the first to construct a lamp upon the principle in question.<br \/>\nAnd when the friends of Mr. Stephenson remember the humble and laborious<br \/>\nstation of life which he has occupied; when they consider the scanty means and opportunities<br \/>\nwhich he has had for pursuing researches in practical science, and look to<br \/>\nthe improvements and discoveries which, notwithstanding so many disadvantages, he<br \/>\nhas been enabled to make by the judicious and unremitting exercise of the energy<br \/>\nand acuteness of his natural understanding, they can not persuade themselves that<br \/>\nthey have said any thing more than any liberal and feeling mind would most readily<br \/>\nadmit.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_48\" name=\"Footnote_48\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_48\"><span class=\"label\">[48]<\/span><\/a> The tankard bore the following inscription: &#8220;This piece of plate, purchased with<br \/>\na part of the sum of \u00a31000, a subscription raised for the remuneration of Mr. George<br \/>\nStephenson for having discovered the fact that inflamed fire-damp will not pass<br \/>\nthrough tubes and apertures of small dimensions, and having been <em>the first<\/em> to apply<br \/>\nthat principle in the construction of a safety-lamp calculated for the preservation of<br \/>\nhuman life in situations formerly of the greatest danger, was presented to him at a<br \/>\nmeeting of the subscribers, Charles John Brandling, Esq., in the chair, January 12th,<br \/>\n1818.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_49\" name=\"Footnote_49\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_49\"><span class=\"label\">[49]<\/span><\/a> The accident above referred to was described in the &#8220;Barnsley Times,&#8221; a copy<br \/>\nof which, containing the account, Robert Stephenson forwarded to the author, with<br \/>\nthe observation that &#8220;it is evidently written by a practical miner, and is, I think,<br \/>\nworthy of record in my father&#8217;s Life.&#8221; Mr. John Browne, C.E., Barnsley, in a communication<br \/>\nwhich appeared in the &#8220;Times&#8221; of December 24th, 1860, observed:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;At the period of this occurrence we had two kinds of safety-lamps in use in this<br \/>\npit, viz., &#8216;Davy&#8217; and &#8216;Stephenson,&#8217; and the gas, in going off to the upcast shaft, had<br \/>\nto pass great numbers of men, who were at work with both kinds of lamps. The<br \/>\nwhole of the &#8216;Davy&#8217;s&#8217; became red-hot almost instantaneously from the rapid ignition<br \/>\nof the gas within the gauze; the &#8216;Stephenson&#8217;s&#8217; were as instantly self-extinguished<br \/>\nfrom the same cause, it being the prominent qualification of these lamps that, in addition<br \/>\nto affording a somewhat better light than the &#8216;Davy&#8217; lamp, they are suddenly<br \/>\nextinguished when placed within a highly explosive atmosphere, so that no person<br \/>\ncan remain working and run the risk of his lamp becoming red-hot, which, under such<br \/>\ncircumstances, would be the result with the &#8216;Davy&#8217; lamp.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The red-hot lamps were, most fortunately, all safely put out, although the men in<br \/>\nmany cases had their hands severely burnt by the gauze; but from that time I fully<br \/>\nresolved to adopt the exclusive use of the &#8216;Stephenson&#8217; lamps, and not expose men to<br \/>\nthe fearful risk they must run from working with &#8216;Davy&#8217; lamps during the probable<br \/>\nrecurrence of a similar event.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I may remark that the &#8216;Stephenson&#8217; lamp, originally invented by the great George<br \/>\nStephenson, in its present shape combines the merits of his discovery with that of Sir<br \/>\nHumphry Davy, constituting, to my mind, the safest lamp at present known, and I<br \/>\nspeak from the long use of many hundreds daily in various collieries.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In an account given in the &#8220;Times&#8221; of the 10th of August, 1867, of a number of<br \/>\nexperiments made upon different safety-lamps at the Barnsley Gas-works, occasioned<br \/>\nby the terrible explosion at the Lund Hill Colliery, it is stated that the different<br \/>\nlamps were tested with the following results: &#8220;The &#8216;Davy&#8217; lamp with no shield on<br \/>\nthe outside exploded the gas in six seconds, and with the shield inside the gauze in<br \/>\nnine seconds. The &#8216;Belgian&#8217; lamp exploded in ten seconds; the &#8216;Mozard&#8217; in ten<br \/>\nseconds; the small &#8216;Clanny&#8217; in seven seconds, the large one in ten seconds; and the<br \/>\n&#8216;Stephenson&#8217; in seventy-five seconds. Although the &#8216;Stephenson&#8217; is undoubtedly the<br \/>\nbest, it will be seen that none of the so-called safety-lamps can be depended upon<br \/>\nwhen coming in contact with a <em>strong explosive current<\/em> of fire-damp and air.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_50\" name=\"Footnote_50\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_50\"><span class=\"label\">[50]<\/span><\/a> The iron wheels of this engine were afterward removed, and replaced with wooden<br \/>\nwheels, when it was again put upon the road, and continued working until quite<br \/>\nrecently. Its original cost was \u00a3750. It was sold in 1848 for \u00a313, and broken up as<br \/>\nold materials.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_51\" name=\"Footnote_51\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_51\"><span class=\"label\">[51]<\/span><\/a> The act for constructing the Merthyr Tydvil Tram-road was obtained from Parliament<br \/>\nas early as 1794; that for the Sirhoway Railroad in 1801; the Carmarthenshire<br \/>\nRailroad was sanctioned in the same year; and the Oystermouth Railway in<br \/>\n1803.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_52\" name=\"Footnote_52\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_52\"><span class=\"label\">[52]<\/span><\/a> Mr. Richardson was founder of the afterward well-known discount-house of<br \/>\nRichardson, Overend, and Gurney, Lombard Street, London.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_53\" name=\"Footnote_53\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_53\"><span class=\"label\">[53]<\/span><\/a> The first clause in any railway act empowering the employment of locomotive<br \/>\nengines for the working of passenger traffic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_54\" name=\"Footnote_54\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_54\"><span class=\"label\">[54]<\/span><\/a> This incident, communicated to the author by the late Edward Pease, has since<br \/>\nbeen made the subject of a fine picture by Mr. A. Rankley, A.R.A., exhibited at the<br \/>\nRoyal Academy Exhibition of 1861.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_55\" name=\"Footnote_55\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_55\"><span class=\"label\">[55]<\/span><\/a> Stephenson&#8217;s recommendation of wrought-iron instead of cast-iron rails was the<br \/>\ncause of a rupture between Mr. Losh and himself. Stephenson thought his duty was<br \/>\nto give his employers the best advice; Losh thought his business was to push the<br \/>\npatent cast-iron rails wherever he could. Stephenson regarded this view as sordid;<br \/>\nand the two finally separated after a quarrel, in high dudgeon with each other.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_56\" name=\"Footnote_56\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_56\"><span class=\"label\">[56]<\/span><\/a> The rapid progress of the coal and merchandise traffic of the Stockton and Darlington<br \/>\nline, of which Middlesbro&#8217; is the principal sea-port, may be inferred from the<br \/>\nfollowing brief statement of facts: The original estimate assumed that 165,488 tons<br \/>\nof coal would be carried annually, and produce an income of \u00a311,904. The revenue<br \/>\nfrom other sources was taken at \u00a34104. In 1827, the first year in which the coal<br \/>\nand merchandise traffic was fully worked, the revenue from coal was \u00a314,455; from<br \/>\nlime, merchandise, and sundries, \u00a33285; and from passengers (which had not been<br \/>\ntaken into account), \u00a3563. In 1860, when the original line of 25 miles had become extended<br \/>\nto 125 miles, and the original capital of \u00a3150,000 had swelled to \u00a33,800,000,<br \/>\nthe quantity of coal carried had increased to 3,045,596 tons in the year, besides<br \/>\n1,484,409 tons of ironstone and other minerals, producing a revenue of \u00a3280,375;<br \/>\nwhile 1,484,409 tons of merchandise had been carried in the same year, producing<br \/>\n\u00a363,478, and 687,728 passengers, producing \u00a345,398.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_57\" name=\"Footnote_57\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_57\"><span class=\"label\">[57]<\/span><\/a> The coaches were not allowed to be run upon the line without considerable opposition.<br \/>\nWe find Edward Pease writing to Joseph Sandars, of Liverpool, on the<br \/>\n18th of June, 1827: &#8220;Our railway coach proprietors have individually received notices<br \/>\nof a process in the Exchequer for various fines, to the amount of \u00a3150, in penalties<br \/>\nof \u00a320 each, for neglecting to have the plates, with the numbers of their licenses,<br \/>\non the coach doors, agreeably to the provision of the Act 95 George IV. In looking<br \/>\ninto the nature of this proceeding and its consequences, it is clear, if the court shall<br \/>\nconfirm it by conviction, that we are undone as to the conveyance of passengers.&#8221;<br \/>\nMr. Pease incidentally mentions the names of the several coach proprietors at the<br \/>\ntime\u2014&#8221;Pickersgill and Co., Richard Scott, and Martha Hewson.&#8221; The proceeding<br \/>\nwas eventually defeated, it being decided that the penalties only applied to coaches<br \/>\ntraveling on common or turnpike roads.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_58\" name=\"Footnote_58\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_58\"><span class=\"label\">[58]<\/span><\/a> &#8220;Many years ago I met in a public library with a bulky volume, consisting of the<br \/>\nprospectuses of various projects bound up together, and labeled, &#8216;Some of the Bubbles<br \/>\nof 1825.&#8217; Among the projects thus described was one that has since been productive<br \/>\nof the greatest and most rapid advance in the social condition of mankind effected<br \/>\nsince the first dawn of civilization: it was the plan of the company for constructing<br \/>\na railway between Liverpool and Manchester.&#8221;\u2014W. B. Hodge, in &#8220;Journal of the<br \/>\nInstitute of Actuaries,&#8221; No. 40, July, 1860.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_59\" name=\"Footnote_59\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_59\"><span class=\"label\">[59]<\/span><\/a> &#8220;Wood on Railroads,&#8221; ed. 1825, p. 290.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_60\" name=\"Footnote_60\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_60\"><span class=\"label\">[60]<\/span><\/a> George&#8217;s Northumberland &#8220;burr&#8221; was so strong that it rendered him almost unintelligible<br \/>\nto persons who were unfamiliar with it; and he had even thoughts of<br \/>\ngoing to school again, for the purpose, if possible, of getting rid of it. In the year<br \/>\n1823, when Stephenson was forty-two years of age, we find his friend Thomas<br \/>\nRichardson, of Lombard Street, writing to Samuel Thoroughgood, a schoolmaster<br \/>\nat Peckham, as follows: &#8220;<span class=\"smcap\">Dear Friend<\/span>,\u2014My friend George Stephenson, a man<br \/>\nof first-rate abilities as an engineer, but of little or no education, wants to consult<br \/>\nthee or some other person to see if he can not improve himself\u2014he has so much<br \/>\nNorthumberland dialect, etc. He will be at my house on sixth day next, about five<br \/>\no&#8217;clock, if thou could make it convenient to see him. Thy assured friend, <span class=\"smcap\">Thos.<br \/>\nRichardson<\/span>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_61\" name=\"Footnote_61\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_61\"><span class=\"label\">[61]<\/span><\/a> Hugh Steele and Elijah Galloway afterward proceeded with the survey at one<br \/>\npart of the line, and Messrs. Oliver and Blackett at another. The former couple<br \/>\nseem to have made some grievous blunder in the levels on Chat Moss, and the circumstance<br \/>\nweighed so heavily on Steele&#8217;s mind that, shortly after hearing of the rejection<br \/>\nof the bill, he committed suicide in Stephenson&#8217;s office at Newcastle. Mr.<br \/>\nGooch informs us that this unhappy affair served to impress upon the minds of Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\nother pupils the necessity of insuring greater accuracy and attention in future,<br \/>\nand that the lesson, though sad, was not lost upon them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_62\" name=\"Footnote_62\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_62\"><span class=\"label\">[62]<\/span><\/a> When the Liverpool directors went to inspect the works in progress on the Moss,<br \/>\nthey were run along the temporary rails in the little three-feet gauge wagons used for<br \/>\nforming the road. They were being thus impelled one day at considerable speed<br \/>\nwhen the wagon suddenly ran off the road, and Mr. Moss, one of the directors, was<br \/>\nthrown out in a soft place, from which, however, he was speedily extricated, not<br \/>\nwithout leaving a deep mark. George used afterward laughingly to refer to the circumstance<br \/>\nas &#8220;the meeting of the Mosses.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_63\" name=\"Footnote_63\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_63\"><span class=\"label\">[63]<\/span><\/a> Mr. Gooch&#8217;s letter to the author, December 13th, 1861. Referring to the preparation<br \/>\nof the plans and drawings, Mr. Gooch adds, &#8220;When we consider the extensive<br \/>\nsets of drawings which most engineers have since found it right to adopt in<br \/>\ncarrying out similar works, it is not the least surprising feature in George Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\nearly professional career that he should have been able to confine himself to so<br \/>\nlimited a number as that which could be supplied by the hands of one person in carrying<br \/>\nout the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway; and this may<br \/>\nstill be said, after full allowance is made for the alteration of system involved by the<br \/>\nadoption of the large contract system.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_64\" name=\"Footnote_64\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_64\"><span class=\"label\">[64]<\/span><\/a> While at Liverpool Stephenson had very little time for &#8220;company;&#8221; but on one<br \/>\nparticular occasion he invited his friend Mr. Sandars to dinner, and, as that gentleman<br \/>\nwas a connoisseur in port wine, his host determined to give him a special treat<br \/>\nof that drink. Stephenson accordingly went to the small merchant with whom he<br \/>\nusually dealt, and ordered &#8220;half a dozen of his very best port wine,&#8221; which was<br \/>\npromised of first-rate quality. After dinner the wine was produced; and when Mr.<br \/>\nSandars had sipped a glass, George, after waiting a little for the expected eulogium,<br \/>\nat length asked, &#8220;Well, Sandars, how d&#8217;ye like the port?&#8221; &#8220;Poor stuff!&#8221; said the<br \/>\nguest, &#8220;poor stuff!&#8221; George was very much shocked, and with difficulty recovered<br \/>\nhis good humor. But he lived to be able to treat Mr. Sandars to a better article at<br \/>\nTapton House, when he used to laugh over his first futile attempt at Liverpool to<br \/>\ngain a reputation for his port.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_65\" name=\"Footnote_65\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_65\"><span class=\"label\">[65]<\/span><\/a> Letter to the author.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_66\" name=\"Footnote_66\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_66\"><span class=\"label\">[66]<\/span><\/a> Letter to Mr. Illingworth, September 25th, 1825. The reports made to the directors<br \/>\nand officers of the company, which we have seen, contain the details of the<br \/>\noperations carried on at the mines, but they are as dry and uninteresting as such reports<br \/>\nusually are, and furnish no materials calculated to illustrate the subject of the<br \/>\ntext.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_67\" name=\"Footnote_67\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_67\"><span class=\"label\">[67]<\/span><\/a> In a letter to Mr. Illingworth, then resident at Bogot\u00e1, dated the 24th of March,<br \/>\n1826, Robert wrote as follows: &#8220;Nothing but the fullest consent of my partners in<br \/>\nEngland could induce me to stay in this country, and the assurance that no absolute<br \/>\nnecessity existed to call me home. I must also have the consent of my father. I<br \/>\nknow that he must have suffered severely from my absence, but that having been extended<br \/>\nso far beyond the period he was led to expect, may have induced him to curtail<br \/>\nhis plans, which, had they been accomplished, as they would have been by my assistance,<br \/>\nwould have placed us both in a situation far superior to any thing that I can<br \/>\nhope for as the servant of an association however wealthy and liberal. What I might<br \/>\ndo in England is perhaps known to myself only; it is difficult, therefore, for the association<br \/>\nto calculate upon rewarding me to the full extent of my prospects at home.<br \/>\nMy prosperity is involved in that of my father, whose property was sacrificed in laying<br \/>\nthe foundations of an establishment for me; his capital being invested in a concern<br \/>\nwhich requires the greatest attention, and which, with our personal superintendence,<br \/>\ncould not fail to secure that independence which forms so principally the object<br \/>\nof all our toil.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_68\" name=\"Footnote_68\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_68\"><span class=\"label\">[68]<\/span><\/a> Mr. Booth&#8217;s Account, p. 70-1. While concurring with Mr. Rastrick in recommending<br \/>\n&#8220;the stationary reciprocating system as the best&#8221; if it was the directors&#8217; intention<br \/>\nto make the line complete at once, so as to accommodate the traffic expected<br \/>\nby them, or a quantity approaching to it (<em>i.e.<\/em>, 3750 tons of goods and passengers from<br \/>\nLiverpool toward Manchester, and 3950 tons from Manchester toward Liverpool),<br \/>\nMr. Walker added, &#8220;but if any circumstances should induce the directors to proceed<br \/>\nby degrees, and to proportion the power of conveyance to the demand, then we recommend<br \/>\nlocomotive engines upon the line generally; and two fixed engines upon<br \/>\nRainhill and Sutton planes, to draw up the locomotive engines as well as the goods<br \/>\nand carriages;&#8221; and &#8220;if on any occasion the trade should get beyond the supply of<br \/>\nlocomotives, the horse might form a temporary substitute.&#8221; As, however, it was the<br \/>\ndirectors&#8217; determination, with a view to the success of their experiment, to open the<br \/>\nline complete for working, they felt that it would be unadvisable to adopt this partial<br \/>\nexperiment; and it was still left for them to decide whether they would adopt or not<br \/>\nthe substantial recommendation of the reporting engineers in favor of the stationary-engine<br \/>\nsystem for the complete accommodation of the expected traffic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_69\" name=\"Footnote_69\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_69\"><span class=\"label\">[69]<\/span><\/a> The arguments used by Mr. Stephenson with the directors in favor of the locomotive<br \/>\nengine were afterward collected and published in 1830 by Robert Stephenson<br \/>\nand Joseph Locke, as &#8220;compiled from the Reports of Mr. George Stephenson.&#8221; The<br \/>\npamphlet was entitled &#8220;Observations on the Comparative Merits of Locomotive and<br \/>\nFixed Engines.&#8221; Robert Stephenson, speaking of the authorship many years after,<br \/>\nsaid, &#8220;I believe I furnished the facts and the arguments, and Locke put them into<br \/>\nshape. Locke was a very flowery writer, whereas my style was rather bald and unattractive;<br \/>\nso he was the editor of the pamphlet, which excited a good deal of attention<br \/>\namong engineers at the time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_70\" name=\"Footnote_70\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_70\"><span class=\"label\">[70]<\/span><\/a> The conditions were these:<\/p>\n<p>1. The engine must effectually consume its own smoke.<\/p>\n<p>2. The engine, if of six tons&#8217; weight, must be able to draw after it, day by day,<br \/>\ntwenty tons&#8217; weight (including the tender and water-tank) at ten miles an hour, with<br \/>\na pressure of steam on the boiler not exceeding fifty pounds to the square inch.<\/p>\n<p>3. The boiler must have two safety valves, neither of which must be fastened down,<br \/>\nand one of them be completely out of the control of the engine-man.<\/p>\n<p>4. The engine and boiler must be supported on springs, and rest on six wheels, the<br \/>\nheight of the whole not exceeding fifteen feet to the top of the chimney.<\/p>\n<p>5. The engine, with water, must not weigh more than six tons; but an engine of<br \/>\nless weight would be preferred on its drawing a proportionate load behind it; if of<br \/>\nonly four and a half tons, then it might be put on only four wheels. The company<br \/>\nto be at liberty to test the boiler, etc., by a pressure of one hundred and fifty pounds<br \/>\nto the square inch.<\/p>\n<p>6. A mercurial gauge must be affixed to the machine, showing the steam pressure<br \/>\nabove forty-five pounds per square inch.<\/p>\n<p>7. The engine must be delivered, complete and ready for trial, at the Liverpool<br \/>\nend of the railway, not later than the 1st of October, 1829.<\/p>\n<p>8. The price of the engine must not exceed \u00a3550.<\/p>\n<p>Many persons of influence declared the conditions published by the directors of the<br \/>\nrailway chimerical in the extreme. One gentleman of some eminence in Liverpool,<br \/>\nMr. P. Ewart, who afterward filled the office of Government Inspector of Post-office<br \/>\nSteam Packets, declared that only a parcel of charlatans would ever have issued such<br \/>\na set of conditions; that it had been <em>proved<\/em> to be impossible to make a locomotive<br \/>\nengine go at ten miles an hour; but if it ever was done, he would undertake to eat a<br \/>\nstewed engine-wheel for his breakfast!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_71\" name=\"Footnote_71\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_71\"><span class=\"label\">[71]<\/span><\/a> Some correspondence took place between Boulton and Watt on the subject, when<br \/>\nthe latter was scheming the application of the steam-engine to locomotive purposes.<br \/>\nIn a letter to Boulton, dated the 27th of August, 1784, Watt said, &#8220;Perhaps some<br \/>\nmeans may be hit upon to make the boiler cylindrical <em>with a number of tubes passing<br \/>\nthrough<\/em>, like the organ-pipe condenser, whereby it might be thinner and lighter; but,&#8221;<br \/>\nhe added, &#8220;I fear this would be too subject to accidents.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_72\" name=\"Footnote_72\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_72\"><span class=\"label\">[72]<\/span><\/a> The inventor of this engine was a Swede, who afterward proceeded to the United<br \/>\nStates, and there achieved considerable distinction as an engineer. His caloric engine<br \/>\nhas so far proved a failure, but his iron cupola vessel, the &#8220;Monitor,&#8221; must be<br \/>\nadmitted to have been a remarkable success in its way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_73\" name=\"Footnote_73\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_73\"><span class=\"label\">[73]<\/span><\/a> Mr. Wood&#8217;s speech at Newcastle, 26th of October, 1858.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_74\" name=\"Footnote_74\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_74\"><span class=\"label\">[74]<\/span><\/a> When heavier and more powerful engines were brought upon the road, the old<br \/>\n&#8220;Rocket,&#8221; becoming regarded as a thing of no value, was sold in 1837. It was purchased<br \/>\nby Mr. Thompson, of Kirkhouse, the lessee of the Earl of Carlisle&#8217;s coal and<br \/>\nlime works, near Carlisle. He worked the engine on the Midgeholme Railway for<br \/>\nfive or six years, during which it hauled coals from the pits to the town. There was<br \/>\nwonderful vitality in the old engine, as the following circumstance proves. When<br \/>\nthe great contest for the representation of East Cumberland took place, and Sir James<br \/>\nGraham was superseded by Major Aglionby, the &#8220;Rocket&#8221; was employed to convey<br \/>\nthe Alston express with the state of the poll from Midgeholme to Kirkhouse. On<br \/>\nthat occasion the engine was driven by Mr. Mark Thompson, and it ran the distance<br \/>\nof upward of four miles in four and a half minutes, thus reaching a speed of nearly<br \/>\nsixty miles an hour, proving its still admirable qualities as an engine. But again it<br \/>\nwas superseded by heavier engines; for it only weighed about four tons, whereas the<br \/>\nnew engines were at least three times that weight. The &#8220;Rocket&#8221; was consequently<br \/>\nlaid up in ordinary in the yard at Kirkhouse, from whence it has since been transferred<br \/>\nto the Museum of Patents at Kensington, where it is still to be seen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_75\" name=\"Footnote_75\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_75\"><span class=\"label\">[75]<\/span><\/a> Letter of Mr. John Herapath in &#8220;Mechanics&#8217; Magazine,&#8221; vol. xv., p. 123.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_76\" name=\"Footnote_76\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_76\"><span class=\"label\">[76]<\/span><\/a> Tubbing is now adopted in many cases as a substitute for brick-walling. The<br \/>\ntubbing consists of short portions of cast-iron cylinder fixed in segments. Each<br \/>\nweighs about 4-1\/2 cwt., is about three or four feet long, and about three eighths of an<br \/>\ninch thick. These pieces are fitted closely together, length under length, and form<br \/>\nan impermeable wall along the sides of the pit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_77\" name=\"Footnote_77\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_77\"><span class=\"label\">[77]<\/span><\/a> The word &#8220;navvie,&#8221; or &#8220;navigator,&#8221; is supposed to have originated in the fact<br \/>\nof many of these laborers having been originally employed in making the navigations,<br \/>\nor canals, the construction of which immediately preceded the railway era.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_78\" name=\"Footnote_78\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_78\"><span class=\"label\">[78]<\/span><\/a> During this period he was engaged on the North Midland, extending from Derby<br \/>\nto Leeds; the York and North Midland, from Normanton to York; the Manchester<br \/>\nand Leeds; the Birmingham and Derby, and the Sheffield and Rotherham Railways;<br \/>\nthe whole of these, of which he was principal engineer, having been authorized in<br \/>\n1836. In that session alone, powers were obtained for the construction of 214 miles<br \/>\nof new railways under his direction, at an expenditure of upward of five millions<br \/>\nsterling.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_79\" name=\"Footnote_79\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_79\"><span class=\"label\">[79]<\/span><\/a> It may be mentioned that these views were communicated to the author by<br \/>\nRobert Stephenson, and noted down in his presence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_80\" name=\"Footnote_80\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_80\"><span class=\"label\">[80]<\/span><\/a> &#8220;Treatise on Railway Improvements.&#8221; By Mr. Richard Badnell, C.E.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_81\" name=\"Footnote_81\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_81\"><span class=\"label\">[81]<\/span><\/a> He often refused to act as engineer for lines which he thought would not prove<br \/>\nremunerative, or when he considered the estimates too low. Thus, when giving evidence<br \/>\non the Great Western Bill, Stephenson said, &#8220;I made out an estimate for the<br \/>\nHartlepool Railway, which they returned on account of its being too high, but I declined<br \/>\ngoing to Parliament with a lower estimate. Another engineer was employed.<br \/>\nThen, again, I was consulted about a line from Edinburg to Glasgow. The directors<br \/>\nchalked out a line and sent it to me, and I told them I could not support it in that<br \/>\ncase.&#8221; Hence the employment of another engineer to carry out the line which Stephenson<br \/>\ncould not conscientiously advocate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_82\" name=\"Footnote_82\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_82\"><span class=\"label\">[82]<\/span><\/a> Speech of Wm. Jackson, Esq., M.P., at the meeting of the Chester and Birkenhead<br \/>\nRailway Company, held at Liverpool, October, 1845.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_83\" name=\"Footnote_83\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_83\"><span class=\"label\">[83]<\/span><\/a> The question of the specific merits of the atmospheric as compared with the fixed<br \/>\nengine and locomotive systems will be found fully discussed in Robert Stephenson&#8217;s<br \/>\nable &#8220;Report on the Atmospheric Railway System&#8221;, 1844, in which he gave the result<br \/>\nof numerous observations and experiments made by him on the Kingstown Atmospheric<br \/>\nRailway, with the object of ascertaining whether the new power would be applicable<br \/>\nfor the working of the Chester and Holyhead Railway then under construction.<br \/>\nHis opinion was decidedly against the atmospheric system.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_84\" name=\"Footnote_84\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_84\"><span class=\"label\">[84]<\/span><\/a> The Marquis of Clanricarde brought under the notice of the House of Lords, in<br \/>\n1845, that one Charles Guernsey, the son of a charwoman and a clerk in a broker&#8217;s<br \/>\noffice at 12<i>s.<\/i> a week, had his name down as a subscriber for shares in the London and<br \/>\nYork line for \u00a352,000.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_85\" name=\"Footnote_85\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_85\"><span class=\"label\">[85]<\/span><\/a> On the 17th of November, 1845, Mr. Spackman published a list of the lines <em>projected<\/em><br \/>\n(many of which were not afterward prosecuted), from which it appeared that<br \/>\nthere were then 620 new railway projects before the public, requiring a capital of<br \/>\n\u00a3563,203,000.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_86\" name=\"Footnote_86\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_86\"><span class=\"label\">[86]<\/span><\/a> The original width of the coal tram-roads in the North virtually determined the<br \/>\nBritish gauge. It was the width of the ordinary road-track\u2014not fixed after any<br \/>\nscientific theory, but adopted simply because its use had already been established.<br \/>\nGeorge Stephenson introduced it without alteration on the Liverpool and Manchester<br \/>\nRailway, and the lines subsequently formed in that district were laid down of the same<br \/>\nwidth. Stephenson from the first anticipated the general extension of railways throughout<br \/>\nEngland, and one of the ideas with which he started was the essential importance<br \/>\nof preserving such a uniformity as would admit of perfect communication between<br \/>\nthem. When consulted about the gauge of the Canterbury and Whitstable, and Leicester<br \/>\nand Swannington Railways, he said, &#8220;Make them of the same width: though<br \/>\nthey may be a long way apart now, depend upon it they will be joined together some<br \/>\nday.&#8221; All the railways, therefore, laid down by himself and his assistants in the neighborhood<br \/>\nof Manchester, extending from thence to London on the south, and to Leeds<br \/>\non the east, were constructed on the Liverpool and Manchester, or narrow gauge. Besides<br \/>\nthe Great Western Railway, where the gauge adopted was seven feet, the only<br \/>\nother line on which a broader gauge than four feet eight and a half inches was adopted<br \/>\nwas the Eastern Counties, where it was five feet, Mr. Braithwaite, the engineer,<br \/>\nbeing of opinion that an increase of three and a half inches in the width of the line<br \/>\nwould afford better space for the machinery of the locomotive. But when the northern<br \/>\nand eastern extension of the same line was formed, which was to work into the<br \/>\nnarrow-gauge system of the Midland Railway, Robert Stephenson, its new engineer,<br \/>\nstrongly recommended the directors of the Eastern Counties Line to alter their gauge<br \/>\naccordingly, for the purpose of securing uniformity, and they adopted his recommendation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_87\" name=\"Footnote_87\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_87\"><span class=\"label\">[87]<\/span><\/a> The atmospheric lines had for some time been working very irregularly and very<br \/>\nexpensively. Robert Stephenson, in a letter to Mr. T. Sopwith, F.R.S., dated the 8th<br \/>\nof January, 1846, wrote: &#8220;Since my return [from Italy] I have learned that your<br \/>\natmospheric friends are very sickly. A slow typhus has followed the high fever I left<br \/>\nthem in about three months ago. I don&#8217;t anticipate, however, that the patient will<br \/>\nexpire suddenly. There is every appearance of the case being a protracted one,<br \/>\nthough a fatal termination is inevitable. When the pipes are sold by auction, I intend<br \/>\nto buy one and present it to the British Museum.&#8221; During the last half year<br \/>\nof the atmospheric experiment on the South Devon line in 1848, the expenditure exceeded<br \/>\nthe gross income (\u00a326,782) by \u00a32487, or about 9-3\/4 per cent. excess of working<br \/>\nexpenses beyond the gross receipts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_88\" name=\"Footnote_88\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_88\"><span class=\"label\">[88]<\/span><\/a> &#8220;When my father came about the office,&#8221; said Robert, &#8220;he sometimes did not<br \/>\nwell know what to do with himself. So he used to invite Bidder to have a quiet<br \/>\nwrestle with him, for old acquaintance sake. And the two wrestled together so often,<br \/>\nand had so many &#8216;falls&#8217; (sometimes I thought they would bring the house down between<br \/>\nthem), that they broke half the chairs in my outer office. I remember once<br \/>\nsending my father in a joiner&#8217;s bill of about \u00a32 10<i>s.<\/i> for the mending of broken chairs.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_89\" name=\"Footnote_89\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_89\"><span class=\"label\">[89]<\/span><\/a> The simple fact that in a heavy storm the force of impact of the waves is from<br \/>\none and a half to two tons per square foot, must necessarily dictate the greatest possible<br \/>\ncaution in approaching so formidable an element. Mr. R. Stevenson (Edinburg)<br \/>\nregistered a force of three tons per square foot at Skerryvore during a gale in<br \/>\nthe Atlantic, when the waves were supposed to run twenty feet high.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_90\" name=\"Footnote_90\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_90\"><span class=\"label\">[90]<\/span><\/a> See &#8220;Lives of the Engineers,&#8221; vol. ii., p. 445. It appears that Mr. Fairbairn<br \/>\nsuggested this idea in his letter to Mr. Stephenson, dated the 3d of June, 1845, accompanied<br \/>\nby a drawing. See his &#8220;Account of the Construction of the Britannia and<br \/>\nConway Tubular Bridges,&#8221; etc. London, 1849.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_91\" name=\"Footnote_91\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_91\"><span class=\"label\">[91]<\/span><\/a> Robert Stephenson&#8217;s narrative of the early history of the design, in Edwin Clark&#8217;s<br \/>\n&#8220;Britannia and Conway Tubular Bridges,&#8221; vol. i., p. 25, London, 1850.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_92\" name=\"Footnote_92\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_92\"><span class=\"label\">[92]<\/span><\/a> Robert Stephenson&#8217;s narrative in Clark&#8217;s &#8220;Britannia and Conway Tubular<br \/>\nBridges,&#8221; vol. i., p. 27.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_93\" name=\"Footnote_93\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_93\"><span class=\"label\">[93]<\/span><\/a> Robert Stephenson&#8217;s narrative in Clark&#8217;s &#8220;Britannia and Conway Tubular<br \/>\nBridges,&#8221; vol. i., p. 27.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_94\" name=\"Footnote_94\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_94\"><span class=\"label\">[94]<\/span><\/a> &#8220;Account of the Construction of the Britannia and Conway Tubular Bridges.&#8221;<br \/>\nBy W. Fairbairn, C.E., London, 1849.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_95\" name=\"Footnote_95\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_95\"><span class=\"label\">[95]<\/span><\/a> Mr. Stephenson continued to hold that the elliptical tube was the right idea, and<br \/>\nthat sufficient justice had not been done to it. A year or two before his death, Mr.<br \/>\nStephenson remarked to the author that, had the same arrangement for stiffening<br \/>\nbeen adopted to which the oblong rectangular tubes owe a great part of their strength,<br \/>\na very different result would have been obtained.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_96\" name=\"Footnote_96\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_96\"><span class=\"label\">[96]<\/span><\/a> &#8220;Mr. Fairbairn&#8217;s Account,&#8221; p. 22.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_97\" name=\"Footnote_97\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_97\"><span class=\"label\">[97]<\/span><\/a> The following passage occurs in Robert Stephenson&#8217;s report to the directors of<br \/>\nthe Chester and Holyhead Railway, dated the 9th of February, 1846: &#8220;You will observe<br \/>\nin Mr. Fairbairn&#8217;s remarks that he contemplates the feasibility of stripping the<br \/>\ntube entirely of all the chains that may be required in the erection of the bridge;<br \/>\nwhereas, on the other hand, Mr. Hodgkinson thinks the chains will be an essential,<br \/>\nor, at all events, a useful auxiliary, to give the tube the requisite strength and rigidity.<br \/>\nThis, however, will be determined by the proposed additional experiments, and<br \/>\ndoes not interfere with the construction of the masonry, which is designed so as to<br \/>\nadmit of the tube, with or without chains. The application of chains as an auxiliary<br \/>\nhas occupied much of my attention, and I am satisfied that the ordinary mode of applying<br \/>\nthem to suspension bridges is wholly inadmissible in the present instance; if,<br \/>\ntherefore, it be hereafter found necessary or desirable to employ them in conjunction<br \/>\nwith the tube, another mode of employing them must be devised, as it is absolutely<br \/>\nessential to attach them in such a manner as to preclude the possibility of the smallest<br \/>\noscillation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_98\" name=\"Footnote_98\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_98\"><span class=\"label\">[98]<\/span><\/a> In a letter of Mr. Fairbairn to Mr. Stephenson, dated July 18th, 1846, he says:<br \/>\n&#8220;To get rid of the chains will be a desideratum; and I have made the tube of such<br \/>\nstrength, and intend putting it together upon such a principle, as will insure its carrying<br \/>\na dead weight, equally distributed over its hollow surface, of 4000 tons. With a<br \/>\nbridge of such powers, what have we to fear? and why, in the name of truth and in<br \/>\nthe face of conclusive facts, should we hesitate to adopt measures calculated not only<br \/>\nto establish the principle as a triumph of art, but, what is of infinitely more importance<br \/>\nto the shareholders, the saving of a large sum of money, nearly equal to half the<br \/>\ncost of the bridge? I have been ably assisted by Mr. Clark in all these contrivances;<br \/>\nbut in a matter of such importance we must have your sanction and support.&#8221;\u2014&#8221;Mr.<br \/>\nFairbairn&#8217;s Account,&#8221; p. 93.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_99\" name=\"Footnote_99\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_99\"><span class=\"label\">[99]<\/span><\/a> &#8220;The Britannia and Conway Tubular Bridges.&#8221; By Edwin Clark. Vol. ii.,<br \/>\np. 683-4.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_100\" name=\"Footnote_100\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_100\"><span class=\"label\">[100]<\/span><\/a> No. 34 Gloucester Square, Hyde Park, where he lived.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_101\" name=\"Footnote_101\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_101\"><span class=\"label\">[101]<\/span><\/a> The hydraulic presses were of an extraordinary character. The cylinders of<br \/>\nthose first constructed were of wrought iron (cast iron being found altogether useless),<br \/>\nnot less than 8 inches thick. They were tested by being subjected to an internal<br \/>\npressure of 3 or 3-1\/2 tons to the circular inch. The pressure was such that it squeezed<br \/>\nthe fibres of the iron together; so that, after a few tests of this character, the piston,<br \/>\nwhich at first fitted it quite closely, was found considerably too small. &#8220;A new piston,&#8221;<br \/>\nsays Mr. Clark, &#8220;was then made to suit the enlarged cylinder; and a farther<br \/>\nenlargement occurring again and again with subsequent use, the new pistons became<br \/>\nas formidable an obstacle as the cylinders. The wrought-iron cylinder was on the<br \/>\npoint of being abandoned, when Mr. Amos (the iron manufacturer), having carefully<br \/>\ngauged the cylinder inside and out, found to his surprise that, although the internal<br \/>\ndiameter had increased considerably, the external diameter had retained precisely its<br \/>\noriginal dimensions. He consequently persevered in the construction of new pistons,<br \/>\nand ultimately found that the cylinder enlarged no longer, and to this day it continues<br \/>\nin constant use. Layer after layer having attained additional permanent set,<br \/>\nsufficient material was at length brought into play, with sufficient tenacity to withstand<br \/>\nthe pressure; and thus an obstacle, apparently insurmountable, and which<br \/>\nthreatened at one time to render much valuable machinery useless, was entirely overcome.<br \/>\nThe workman may be excused for calling the stretched cylinder stronger<br \/>\nthan the new one, though it is only stronger as regards the amount of its yielding to<br \/>\na given force.&#8221;\u2014Clark, vol. i., p. 306. The hydraulic presses used in raising the<br \/>\ntubes of the Britannia Bridge, it may be remembered, were afterward used in starting<br \/>\nthe <i>Great Eastern<\/i> from her berth on the shore at Milwall, where she had been built.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_102\" name=\"Footnote_102\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_102\"><span class=\"label\">[102]<\/span><\/a> While the preparations were in progress for floating the third tube, Mr. Stephenson<br \/>\nreceived a pressing invitation to a public railway celebration at Darlington, in<br \/>\nhonor of his old friend, Edward Pease. His reply, dated the 15th of May, 1850, was<br \/>\nas follows: &#8220;I am prevented having the pleasure of a visit to Darlington on the 22d,<br \/>\nowing to that or the following day having been fixed upon for floating the next tube<br \/>\nat the Menai Straits; and as this movement depends on the tide, it is, of course, impossible<br \/>\nfor me to alter the arrangements. I sincerely regret this circumstance, for<br \/>\nevery early association connected with my profession would have tended to render<br \/>\nmy visit a gratifying one. It would, moreover, have given me an opportunity of saying<br \/>\npublicly how much the wonderful progress of railways was dependent upon the<br \/>\nsuccessful issue of the first great experiment, and how much that issue was influenced<br \/>\nby your great discernment, and your confidence in my late revered father. In my<br \/>\nremembrance you stand among the foremost of his patrons and early advisers; and I<br \/>\nknow that throughout his life he regarded you as one of his very best friends. One<br \/>\nof the things in which he took especial delight was in frequently and very graphically<br \/>\ndescribing his first visit to Darlington, on foot, to confer with you on the subject of<br \/>\nthe Stockton and Darlington Railway.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_103\" name=\"Footnote_103\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_103\"><span class=\"label\">[103]<\/span><\/a> The effect of sunshine in deflecting the bridge is very curious. When the first<br \/>\nmain tube was tested, ballast-wagons loaded with iron were drawn into the centre<br \/>\nand left standing there. The first 20 tons increased the deflection an eighth of an<br \/>\ninch, and with 50 tons the deflection was 9 inches. After standing all night, the deflection<br \/>\nin the morning was found to be only 8-3\/8 inches. How was this to be accounted<br \/>\nfor? Mr. Clark says: &#8220;This was attributed at the time to an error made in the<br \/>\nreading; but this, and many other anomalies in the deflection, were afterward fully<br \/>\naccounted for by local changes of temperature. <em>A gleam of sunshine<\/em> on the top of<br \/>\nthe tube raised it on one occasion nearly an inch in half an hour with 200 tons at the<br \/>\ncentre, the top plates being expanded by increase of temperature, while the lower<br \/>\nplates remained constant from radiation to the water immediately beneath them. In<br \/>\na similar manner, the tube was drawn sidewise to the extent of an inch from <em>the sun<br \/>\nshining on one side<\/em>, and returned immediately as clouds passed over the sun, being, in<br \/>\nfact, a most delicate thermometer in constant motion, both vertically and laterally.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_104\" name=\"Footnote_104\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_104\"><span class=\"label\">[104]<\/span><\/a> This was a favorite notion of George Stephenson&#8217;s, and he held that what produced<br \/>\nlight and heat had originally been light and heat. Mr. Fearon, solicitor, has<br \/>\ninformed the author that he accompanied Stephenson on one of his visits to Belgium,<br \/>\nwhen it seemed to him that the engineer did not take much interest in the towns,<br \/>\nchurches, or public buildings of Belgium, probably because he knew little of history,<br \/>\nand they recalled no associations with the past. One day the party went to see the<br \/>\nbeautiful H\u00f4tel de Ville at Brussels, but Stephenson did not seem moved by it. On<br \/>\npassing out of the square, however, by the little street which leads toward the Montague<br \/>\nde la Cour, his interest was thoroughly roused by the sight of an immense fat<br \/>\npig hung up in a butcher&#8217;s shop. He immediately took out his foot-rule, measured<br \/>\nthe pig, and expressed a desire to have some conversation with the butcher as to how<br \/>\nit had been fed. The butcher accordingly waited upon them at the hotel, and told all<br \/>\nhe knew about the feeding of the pig; and then, says Mr. Fearon, &#8220;George went off<br \/>\ninto his favorite theory of the sun&#8217;s light, which he said had fattened the pig; for the<br \/>\nlight had gone into the pease, and the pease had gone into the fat, and the fat pig<br \/>\nwas like a field of coal in this respect, that they were, for the most part, neither more<br \/>\nnor less than bottled sunshine.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_105\" name=\"Footnote_105\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_105\"><span class=\"label\">[105]<\/span><\/a> The second Mrs. Stephenson having died in 1845, George married a third time<br \/>\nin 1848, about six months before his death. The third Mrs. Stephenson was an intelligent<br \/>\nand respectable lady, who had for some years officiated as his housekeeper.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_106\" name=\"Footnote_106\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_106\"><span class=\"label\">[106]<\/span><\/a> The dams of &#8220;crib-work&#8221; were formed by laying flattened pine logs along the<br \/>\nwhole outer edge of the work, and at intervals of from 5 to 10 feet parallel therewith<br \/>\nthroughout the whole of the breadth, connected with transverse timbers firmly treenailed<br \/>\nand notched into them. When one course was formed, another was laid upon<br \/>\nand firmly treenailed to it. After two or three courses were laid, transverse timbers<br \/>\nwere placed over them close together, so as to form a flooring, on which stone was<br \/>\nplaced to suit the crib as the work progressed. When the under side of the crib<br \/>\ntouched the bottom, it was carefully filled with loose stones and clay puddle to the<br \/>\nwater level. The process of puddling and pumping out the water, and building up the<br \/>\npier within the dam thus formed, then proceeded in the usual manner. In some<br \/>\ncases a powerful steam dredge was employed to clear out the puddle-chambers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_107\" name=\"Footnote_107\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_107\"><span class=\"label\">[107]<\/span><\/a> Mr. Stephenson entertained a very strong opinion as to the inexpediency of making<br \/>\nthis canal, and the impracticability of keeping it open except at an enormous expense.<br \/>\nOf course it was possible to make the canal provided there was money enough<br \/>\nraised for the purpose. But, even if made, he held that it would not long be<br \/>\nused, for there would not be traffic enough to pay working expenses. In 1846, Mr.<br \/>\nStephenson carefully examined the country along the line of the proposed canal, from<br \/>\nTineh on the Mediterranean, to Suez on the Red Sea, in company with the agents of<br \/>\nM. Talabot, a French engineer, and M. de Negrelli, an Austrian engineer. They ascertained<br \/>\nthat there was no difference of level between the two seas, and that consequently<br \/>\na canal capable of being scoured by the waters of either was impracticable.<br \/>\nOn the occasion of Captain Pim&#8217;s reading a paper on the subject of the revived project<br \/>\nof the canal before the Geographical Society on the 11th of April, 1859, Mr. Stephenson<br \/>\ntook part in the discussion which followed. He held that any harbor constructed<br \/>\nat Port Said, however far it might be extended into the sea, would only act<br \/>\nas a mud-trap, and that it would be impracticable to keep such a port open. Mr.<br \/>\nGeorge Rennie had compared the proposed breakwater at Pelusium with the breakwater<br \/>\nat Portland, on which Mr. Stephenson observed, &#8220;Why, at Portland, the stones<br \/>\nare carried out from the shore and thrown into the sea, but at Pelusium there is no<br \/>\nsolid shore, and all the stones must be brought 100 miles. Can there be any comparison<br \/>\nbetween a breakwater at Portland and one in the Mediterranean on a lee-shore,<br \/>\nwhere there is no stone and no foundation whatever? It is only the silt of the<br \/>\nNile. The Nile brings down millions of tons of mud yearly, and hence the Delta<br \/>\nformed at its mouth. The moment you construct a harbor at Port Said and project<br \/>\npiers into the sea, you immediately arrest the course of the mud, and will never be<br \/>\nable to keep the port open. It would be the most extraordinary thing in the world<br \/>\nto project two jetties into an open sea on a lee-shore, which has for almost three<br \/>\nmonths in the year a northeast wind blowing upon it. There is no seaman, except in<br \/>\nfair weather, who would venture to approach such a place. To render it at all accessible<br \/>\nand safe, there must be a harbor of refuge made, and we know from experience<br \/>\nin our own country what a large question that would open up. But even suppose<br \/>\nsuch a harbor to be made. The current carries the mud of the Nile in an easterly<br \/>\ndirection; and if you provide a harbor of refuge, which means a quiescent harbor,<br \/>\nit will act merely as a gigantic mud-trap. I believe it to be nearly if not absolutely<br \/>\ntrue, that there is no large harbor in the world maintained on the delta of a<br \/>\nlarge river. Any such harbor would be silted up in a few years. And whoever has<br \/>\ntraveled over the district between Port Said and Suez, and seen the moving sands,<br \/>\nmust see that it would be necessary to dredge, not only that harbor, but the canal itself.&#8221;<br \/>\nMr. Stephenson&#8217;s conclusion accordingly was that the scheme was impracticable,<br \/>\nthat it would not justify the expenditure necessary to complete it, and that, if<br \/>\never executed, it would prove a commercial failure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_108\" name=\"Footnote_108\"><\/a><a href=\"#FNanchor_108\"><span class=\"label\">[108]<\/span><\/a> Address as President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, January, 1856.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr class=\"chap\">\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Pagexx_1\" name=\"Pagexx_1\"><\/a>{Page1}<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"pfs150\"><a id=\"BOOKS_OF_TRAVEL_AND_ADVENTURE\" name=\"BOOKS_OF_TRAVEL_AND_ADVENTURE\"><\/a>BOOKS OF TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE<\/p>\n<p class=\"pfs90\">PUBLISHED BY<\/p>\n<p class=\"pfs120\">HARPER &amp; BROTHERS, <span class=\"smcap\">New York<\/span>.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"tb\">\n<p class=\"pfs80\"><span class=\"smcap\">Harper &amp; Brothers<\/span> will send any of the following Works by mail, postage free, to any part<br \/>\nof the United States, on receipt of the Price.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"tb\">\n<div class=\"blockquot\">\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">Harper&#8217;s Catalogue of Travel-Books<\/span> <em>is one of the literary curiosities of<br \/>\nthe day, exhibiting at a glance the contributions of modern travel to geographical<br \/>\nand other knowledge. Commencing with South Africa, and marking on a map the<br \/>\ntracks of these travelers, the reader will be astonished to see how thoroughly they<br \/>\ncover the length and breadth of Africa. Livingstone, Ellis, Burton, Du Chaillu,<br \/>\nReade, Andersson, Speke, Davis, Wilson, and others, have within a few years explored<br \/>\nAfrica pretty thoroughly; Egypt and the Holy Land have been repeatedly<br \/>\ndescribed in late times; Layard had given us the revelations of the Euphrates and<br \/>\nthe Tigris valleys; Atkinson had written his admirable accounts of Siberia, illustrated<br \/>\nby his own most brilliant pencil; Huc and others described China; and<br \/>\nnow a hitherto almost unknown portion of the very heart of Asia is opened to us by<br \/>\nthe delightful book of V\u00e1mb\u00e9ry.<\/em>\u2014<span class=\"smcap\">N. Y. Journal of Commerce.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<hr class=\"tb\">\n<div class=\"small\">\n<p><b>Livingstone&#8217;s Zambesi.<\/b> Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and<br \/>\nits Tributaries; and of the Discovery of Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, 1858-1864. By <span class=\"smcap\">David<\/span><br \/>\nand <span class=\"smcap\">Charles Livingstone<\/span>. With Map and Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.<\/p>\n<p><b>Dr. Livingstone&#8217;s South Africa.<\/b> Missionary Travels and Researches in<br \/>\nSouth Africa; including a Sketch of Sixteen Years&#8217; Residence in the Interior of Africa, and<br \/>\na Journey from the Cape of Good Hope to Loando on the West Coast; thence across the<br \/>\nContinent, down the River Zambesi, to the Eastern Ocean. By <span class=\"smcap\">David Livingstone<\/span>, LL.D.,<br \/>\nD.C.L. With Portrait, Maps by Arrowsmith, and numerous Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $4 50.<\/p>\n<p><b>Social Life of the Chinese<\/b>: With some Account of their Religious<br \/>\nGovernmental, and Business Customs and Opinions. With special but not exclusive reference<br \/>\nto Fuhchau. By Rev. <span class=\"smcap\">Justus Doolittle<\/span>, Fourteen Years Member of the American<br \/>\nBoard. With over 150 Illustrations. In Two Volumes. 12mo, Cloth. Beveled Edges, $5 00<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Pagexx_2\" name=\"Pagexx_2\"><\/a>{Page 2}<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The Story of the Great March<\/b>: Diary of General Sherman&#8217;s Campaign<br \/>\nthrough Georgia and the Carolinas. By Brevet Major <span class=\"smcap\">George Ward Nichols<\/span>, Aid-de-Camp<br \/>\nto General Sherman. With a Map and numerous Illustrations, and an Appendix,<br \/>\ncontaining Official Reports by Major-General Sherman, Quarter-master and Commissary<br \/>\nReports, &amp;c. Twenty-second Edition. 12mo, Cloth, Beveled Edges, $2 00.<\/p>\n<p><b>Captain Hall&#8217;s Arctic Researches<\/b> and Life among the Esquimaux.<br \/>\nArctic Researches and Life among the Esquimaux: being the Narrative of an Expedition in<br \/>\nSearch of Sir John Franklin, in the Years 1860, 1861, and 1862. By <span class=\"smcap\">Charles Francis<br \/>\nHall<\/span>. With Maps and 100 Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.<\/p>\n<p><b>V\u00e1mb\u00e9ry&#8217;s Central Asia.<\/b> Travels in Central Asia. Being the Account<br \/>\nof a Journey from Teheran across the Turkoman Desert, on the Eastern Shore of the Caspian,<br \/>\nto Khiva, Bokhara, and Samarcand, performed in the Year 1863. By <span class=\"smcap\">Arminius V\u00e1mb\u00e9ry<\/span>.<br \/>\nWith Map and Woodcuts. 8vo, Cloth, $4 50.<\/p>\n<p><b>Reade&#8217;s Savage Africa.<\/b> Western Africa: Being the Narrative of a<br \/>\nTour in Equatorial, Southwestern, and Northwestern Africa; with Notes on the Habits of<br \/>\nthe Gorilla; on the Existence of Unicorns and Tailed Men; on the Slave Trade; on the<br \/>\nOrigin, Character, and Capabilities of the Negro, and of the future Civilization of Western<br \/>\nAfrica. By <span class=\"smcap\">W. Winwood Reade<\/span>. With Illustrations and a Map. 8vo, Cloth. $4 00.<\/p>\n<p><b>Speke&#8217;s Africa.<\/b> Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile. By<br \/>\nCaptain <span class=\"smcap\">John Hanning Speke<\/span>. With Maps and Portraits, and numerous Illustrations,<br \/>\nchiefly from Drawings by Captain Grant. 8vo, Cloth, uniform with <span class=\"smcap\">Livingstone, Barth,<br \/>\nBurton<\/span>, &amp;c. Price $4 00.<\/p>\n<p><b>Du Chaillu&#8217;s Africa.<\/b> Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa:<br \/>\nwith Accounts of the Manners and Customs of the People, and of the Chase of the Gorilla,<br \/>\nthe Crocodile, Leopard, Elephant, Hippopotamus, and other Animals. By <span class=\"smcap\">Paul B. du<br \/>\nChaillu<\/span>, Corresponding Member of the American Ethnological Society; of the Geographical<br \/>\nand Statistical Society of New York; and of the Boston Society of Natural History.<br \/>\nWith numerous Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.<\/p>\n<p><b>Squier&#8217;s Central America<\/b>, The States of Central America: Their Geography,<br \/>\nTopography, Climate, Population, Resources, Productions, Commerce, Political<br \/>\nOrganization, Aborigines, &amp;c., &amp;c. Comprising Chapters on Honduras, San Salvador,<br \/>\nNicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Belize, the Bay Islands, the Mosquito Shore, and the<br \/>\nHonduras Inter-Oceanic Railway. By <span class=\"smcap\">E. G. Squier<\/span>, formerly Charg\u00e9 d&#8217;Affaires of the<br \/>\nUnited States to the Republics of Central America. With numerous Original Maps and Illustrations.<br \/>\nA New and Enlarged Edition. 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.<\/p>\n<p><b>Squier&#8217;s Nicaragua<\/b>. Nicaragua: Its People, Scenery, Monuments, Resources,<br \/>\nCondition, and proposed Canal. With 100 Maps and Illustrations. By <span class=\"smcap\">E. G. Squier<\/span>,<br \/>\nformerly Charg\u00e9 d&#8217;Affaires of the United States to the Republics of Central America. A Revised<br \/>\nEdition. 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.<\/p>\n<p><b>Squier&#8217;s Waikna.<\/b> Waikna; or, Adventures on the Mosquito Shore. By<br \/>\n<span class=\"smcap\">Samuel A. Bard<\/span>. With a Map of the Mosquito Shore, and upward of 60 original Illustrations.<br \/>\n12mo, Cloth, $1 50.<\/p>\n<p><b>Burton&#8217;s City of the Saints.<\/b> The City of the Saints; and Across the<br \/>\nRocky Mountains to California. By Captain <span class=\"smcap\">Richard F. Burton<\/span>, Fellow and Gold Medalist<br \/>\nof the Royal Geographical Societies of France and England; H. M. Consul in West Africa;<br \/>\nAuthor of &#8220;The Lake Regions of Central Africa.&#8221; With Maps and numerous Illustrations.<br \/>\n8vo, Cloth, $3 50.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Pagexx_3\" name=\"Pagexx_3\"><\/a>{Page 3}<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Burton&#8217;s Lake Regions of Central Africa.<\/b> The Lake Regions of Central<br \/>\nAfrica, A Picture of Exploration. By <span class=\"smcap\">Richard F. Burton<\/span>, Captain H.M.I. Army;<br \/>\nFellow and Gold Medalist of the Royal Geographical Society. With Maps and Engravings<br \/>\non Wood. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50.<\/p>\n<p><b>Atkinson&#8217;s Amoor Regions.<\/b> Travels in the Regions of the Upper and<br \/>\nLower Amoor, and the Russian Acquisitions on the Confines of India and China. With<br \/>\nAdventures among the Mountain Kirghis; and the Manjours, Manyargs, Toungouz, Touzemtz,<br \/>\nGoldi, and Gelyaks; the Hunting and Pastoral Tribes. By <span class=\"smcap\">Thomas Witlam Atkinson<\/span>,<br \/>\nF.G.S., F.R.G.S., Author of &#8220;Oriental and Western Siberia.&#8221; With a Map and<br \/>\nnumerous Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50.<\/p>\n<p><b>Andersson&#8217;s Okavango River.<\/b> The Okavango River. A Narrative of<br \/>\nTravel, Exploration, and Adventure. By <span class=\"smcap\">Charles John Andersson<\/span>, Author of &#8220;Lake<br \/>\nNgami.&#8221; With a Steel Portrait of the Author, numerous Woodcuts, and a Map, showing<br \/>\nthe Regions explored by Andersson, Cumming, Livingstone, and Du Chaillu. 8vo, Cloth,<br \/>\n$3 50.<\/p>\n<p><b>Stephens&#8217;s Travels in Central America.<\/b> Travels in Central America,<br \/>\nChiapas, and Yucatan. By <span class=\"smcap\">J. L. Stephens<\/span>. With a Map and 88 Engravings. 2 vols., 8vo,<br \/>\nCloth, $6 00.<\/p>\n<p><b>Stephens&#8217;s Travels in Yucatan.<\/b> Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. By<br \/>\n<span class=\"smcap\">J. L. Stephens<\/span>. 120 Engravings, from Drawings by <span class=\"smcap\">F. Catherwood<\/span>. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth,<br \/>\n$6 00.<\/p>\n<p><b>Stephens&#8217;s Travels in Egypt.<\/b> Travels in Egypt, Arabia Petr\u00e6a, and the<br \/>\nHoly Land. By <span class=\"smcap\">J. L. Stephens<\/span>. Engravings. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 00.<\/p>\n<p><b>Stephens&#8217;s Travels in Greece.<\/b> Travels in Greece, Turkey, Russia, and<br \/>\nPoland. By <span class=\"smcap\">J. L. Stephens<\/span>. Engravings. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 00.<\/p>\n<p><b>Arizona and Sonora.<\/b> The Geography, History, and Resources of the Silver<br \/>\nRegion of North America. By <span class=\"smcap\">Sylvester Mowry<\/span>, late Lieutenant United States Army,<br \/>\nlate United States Boundary Commissioner, &amp;c. With Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<b>From Dan to Beersheba<\/b>;&#8221; or, The Land of Promise as it now Appears.<br \/>\nIncluding a Description of the Boundaries, Topography, Agriculture, Antiquities, Cities, and<br \/>\nPresent Inhabitants of that Wonderful Land. With Illustrations of the Remarkable Accuracy<br \/>\nof the Sacred Writers in their Allusions to their Native Country. By <span class=\"smcap\">Rev. J. P. Newman<\/span>,<br \/>\nD.D. Maps and Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $1 75.<\/p>\n<p><b>Hunting in South Africa.<\/b> African Hunting from Natal to the Zambesi,<br \/>\nincluding Lake Ngami, the Kalahari Desert, &amp;c., from 1852 to 1860. By <span class=\"smcap\">William Charles<br \/>\nBaldwin<\/span>, Esq., F.R.G.S. With Illustrations by James Wolf and J. B. Zwecker. 12mo,<br \/>\nCloth, $1 50.<\/p>\n<p><b>Wyoming<\/b>; Its History, Stirring Incidents, and Romantic Adventures. By<br \/>\n<span class=\"smcap\">George Peck<\/span>, D.D. With Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth, $1 75.<\/p>\n<p><b>Journal of a Residence on a Georgia Plantation<\/b> in 1838-1839. By<br \/>\n<span class=\"smcap\">Frances Anne Kemble<\/span>. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"smcap\">Three Years in Japan<\/span>. The Capital of the Tycoon: A Narrative of a<br \/>\nThree Years&#8217; Residence in Japan. By. Sir <span class=\"smcap\">Rutherford Alcock<\/span>, K.C.B., Her Majesty&#8217;s Envoy<br \/>\nExtraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Japan. With Maps and numerous Illustrations.<br \/>\n2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 50.<\/p>\n<p><b>The Sioux War.<\/b> History of the Sioux War and Massacres of 1862 and<br \/>\n1863. By <span class=\"smcap\">Isaac V. D. Heard<\/span>. With Portraits and Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth, $1 75.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Pagexx_4\" name=\"Pagexx_4\"><\/a>{Page 4}<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Crusoe&#8217;s Island<\/b>: A Ramble in the Footsteps of Alexander Selkirk. With,<br \/>\nSketches of Adventure in California and Washoe. By <span class=\"smcap\">J. Ross Browne<\/span>. With Illustrations.<br \/>\n12mo, Cloth, $1 75.<\/p>\n<p><b>Davis&#8217;s Carthage.<\/b> Carthage and Her Remains: Being an Account of the<br \/>\nExcavations and Researches on the Site of the Ph\u0153nician Metropolis in Africa and other<br \/>\nAdjacent Places. Conducted under the Auspices of Her Majesty&#8217;s Government. By Dr.<br \/>\n<span class=\"smcap\">Davis<\/span>, F.R.G.S. Profusely Illustrated with Maps, Woodcuts, Chromo-Lithographs, &amp;c.,<br \/>\n&amp;c. 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.<\/p>\n<p><b>Lamont&#8217;s Seasons with the Sea-Horses.<\/b> Seasons with the Sea-Horses,<br \/>\nor, Sporting Adventures in the Northern Seas. By <span class=\"smcap\">James Lamont<\/span>, Esq., F.G.S. With Map<br \/>\nand Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $3 00.<\/p>\n<p><b>Life and Adventure in the South Pacific.<\/b> By <span class=\"smcap\">Jones<\/span>. With Illustrations.<br \/>\n8vo, Cloth, $1 50.<\/p>\n<p><b>Pfeiffer&#8217;s Last Travels and Autobiography.<\/b> The Last Travels of Ida<br \/>\nPfeiffer: inclusive of a Visit to Madagascar. With an Autobiographical Memoir of the Author.<br \/>\nTranslated by <span class=\"smcap\">H. W. Duloken<\/span>. Steel Portrait. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.<\/p>\n<p><b>Lord Elgin&#8217;s Mission to China, &amp;c.<\/b> Narrative of Lord Elgin&#8217;s Mission<br \/>\nto China and Japan in 1857, &#8217;58, &#8217;59. By <span class=\"smcap\">Laurence Oliphant<\/span>, Secretary to Lord Elgin.<br \/>\nIllustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50.<\/p>\n<p><b>Life in Spain.<\/b> Past and Present. By <span class=\"smcap\">Walter Thornbury<\/span>, Author of<br \/>\n&#8220;Every Man his own Trumpeter,&#8221; &#8220;Art and Nature,&#8221; &#8220;Songs of the Cavaliers and Roundheads,&#8221;<br \/>\n&amp;c. With Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.<\/p>\n<p><b>The Prairie Traveller.<\/b> A Hand-Book for Overland Emigrants. With<br \/>\nMaps, Illustrations, and Itineraries of the Principal Routes between the Mississippi and the<br \/>\nPacific By <span class=\"smcap\">Randolph B. Marcy<\/span>, U. S. Army. Published by Authority of the War Department.<br \/>\n16mo, Cloth, $1 00.<\/p>\n<p><b>Ellis&#8217;s Madagascar.<\/b> Three Visits to Madagascar during the Years 1853\u20141854\u20141856.<br \/>\nIncluding a Journey to the Capital, with Notices of the Natural History of the<br \/>\nCountry and of the Present Civilization of the People. By the Rev. <span class=\"smcap\">William Ellis<\/span>, F.H.S.,<br \/>\nAuthor of &#8220;Polynesian Researches.&#8221; Illustrated by a Map and Woodcuts from Photographs,<br \/>\n&amp;c. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50.<\/p>\n<p><b>Fankwei<\/b>; or, The San Jacinto in the Seas of India, China, and Japan.<br \/>\nBy <span class=\"smcap\">William Maxwell Wood<\/span>, M.D., U.S.N., late Surgeon of the Fleet to the United States<br \/>\nEast India Squadron, Author of &#8220;Wandering Sketches in South America, Polynesia,&#8221; &amp;c.,<br \/>\n&amp;c. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.<\/p>\n<p><b>Page&#8217;s La Plata.<\/b> La Plata: The Argentine Confederation and Paraguay.<br \/>\nBeing a Narrative of the Exploration of the Tributaries of the River La Plata and Adjacent<br \/>\nCountries, during the Years 1853, &#8217;54, &#8217;55, and &#8217;56, under the orders of the United States<br \/>\nGovernment. By <span class=\"smcap\">Thomas J. Page<\/span>, U.S.N., Commander of the Expedition. With Maps<br \/>\nand numerous Engravings. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.<\/p>\n<p><b>The Land and the Book<\/b>; or, Biblical Illustrations drawn from the Manners<br \/>\nand Customs, the Scenes and the Scenery of the Holy Land. By <span class=\"smcap\">W. M. Thomson<\/span>, D.D.,<br \/>\nTwenty-five Years a Missionary of the A.B.C.F.M. in Syria and Palestine. With two elaborate<br \/>\nMaps of Palestine, an Accurate Plan of Jerusalem, and <em>several Hundred Engravings<\/em>,<br \/>\nrepresenting the Scenery, Topography, and Productions of the Holy Land, and the Costumes,<br \/>\nManners, and Habits of the People. Two elegant Large 12mo Volumes, Cloth, $5 00.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"transnote\">\n<p><a id=\"TN\" name=\"TN\"><\/a><strong>TRANSCRIBER&#8217;S NOTE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been<br \/>\ncorrected after careful comparison with other occurrences<br \/>\nwithin the text and consultation of external sources.<\/p>\n<p>Some illustrations had no caption in the original text. A caption,<br \/>\nmatching the name in the List of Illustrations, has been added in these cases.<br \/>\nThese captions have the text enclosed in (), for example <a href=\"#Page_110\">p. 110<\/a> (Colliery Wagons).<\/p>\n<p>Except for those changes noted below, misspelling by the author,<br \/>\ninconsistent or archaic usage, has been retained. For example,<br \/>\nchainman, chain-man; lifetime, life-time; mail train, mail-train;<br \/>\nwrought iron, wrought-iron; &#8216;savans&#8217; retained (archaic form of &#8216;savants&#8217;).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#Page_ix\">p. ix<\/a> &#8216;Kingdon&#8217; changed to &#8216;Kingdom&#8217;.<br \/>\n<a href=\"#Page_97\">p. 97<\/a> &#8216;Frith&#8217; changed to &#8216;Firth&#8217;.<br \/>\n<a href=\"#Page_115\">p. 115<\/a> &#8220;Robin Cowen&#8217;s&#8221; changed to &#8220;Robin Cowens&#8217;s&#8221;.<br \/>\n<a href=\"#Page_135\">p. 135<\/a> &#8216;and, and Mr.&#8217; changed to &#8216;and Mr.&#8217;<br \/>\n<a href=\"#Page_208\">p. 208<\/a> &#8216;compararatively&#8217; changed to &#8216;comparatively&#8217;.<br \/>\n<a href=\"#Page_212\">p. 212<\/a> &#8216;Frith&#8217; changed to &#8216;Firth&#8217;.<br \/>\n<a href=\"#Page_220\">p. 220<\/a> &#8216;Frith&#8217; changed to &#8216;Firth&#8217;.<br \/>\n<a href=\"#Page_239\">p. 239<\/a> &#8216;orginal&#8217; changed to &#8216;original&#8217;.<br \/>\n<a href=\"#Page_330\">p. 330<\/a> &#8216;cenveniently&#8217; changed to &#8216;conveniently&#8217;.<br \/>\n<a href=\"#Page_410\">p. 410<\/a> &#8217;tisue&#8217; changed to &#8217;tissue&#8217;.<br \/>\n<a href=\"#Page_416\">p. 416<\/a> &#8216;enconiums&#8217; changed to &#8216;encomiums&#8217;.<br \/>\n<a href=\"#Page_445\">p. 445<\/a> &#8216;cleet&#8217; changed to &#8216;cleat&#8217;.<br \/>\nIndex entry: <a href=\"#EGYPT\">&#8216;Egypt&#8217;<\/a> page &#8216;507&#8217; changed to &#8216;475&#8217;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with<br \/>\nalmost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or<br \/>\nre-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included<br \/>\nwith this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>THE LIFE OF&nbsp;George Stephenson and his son Robert Stephenson Comprising also a history of the invention and introduction of the railway locomotive. By Samual Smiles With Portraits and Numerous Illustrations. &nbsp; [iii] PREFACE. The present is a revised edition of the Life of George Stephenson and of his son Robert Stephenson, to which is prefixed a history of the Railway and the Locomotive in its earlier stages, uniform with the early history of the Steam-engine given in vol. iv. of &#8220;Lives of the Engineers&#8221; containing the memoirs of Boulton and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3078,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[102],"tags":[127,56,128,129,130,131],"class_list":["post-3074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-hstory","tag-earlestown-history","tag-sankey-viaduct","tag-railway","tag-stephenson","tag-collins-green","tag-newton-station"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3074"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3170,"href":"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3074\/revisions\/3170"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}