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diff --git a/31395.txt b/31395.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..548b559 --- /dev/null +++ b/31395.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12532 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Railway Adventures and Anecdotes, by Various, +Edited by Richard Pike + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Railway Adventures and Anecdotes + extending over more than fifty years + + +Author: Various + +Editor: Richard Pike + +Release Date: February 25, 2010 [eBook #31395] +[Last updated: October 3, 2020] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAILWAY ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES*** + + +This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler. + + + + + + RAILWAY ADVENTURES + AND ANECDOTES: + EXTENDING OVER MORE THAN FIFTY YEARS. + + + EDITED BY RICHARD PIKE. + + THIRD EDITION. + + * * * * * + + "The only _bona fide_ Railway Anecdote Book published + on either side of the Atlantic."--_Liverpool Mercury_. + + * * * * * + + LONDON: HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO. + NOTTINGHAM: J. DERRY. + + * * * * * + + 1888. + + NOTTINGHAM: + J. DERBY, PRINTER, WHEELER GATE AND HOUNDS GATE. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Although railways are comparatively of recent date we are so accustomed +to them that it is difficult to realize the condition of the country +before their introduction. How different are the present day ideas as to +speed in travelling to those entertained in the good old times. The +celebrated historian, Niebuhr, who was in England in 1798, thus describes +the rapid travelling of that period:--"Four horses drawing a coach with +six persons inside, four on the roof, a sort of conductor besides the +coachman, and overladen with luggage, have to get over seven English +miles in the hour; and as the coach goes on without ever stopping except +at the principal stages, it is not surprising that you can traverse the +whole extent of the country in so few days. But for any length of time +this rapid motion is quite too unnatural. You can only get a very +piece-meal view of the country from the windows, and with the tremendous +speed at which you go can keep no object long in sight; you are unable +also to stop at any place." Near the same time the late Lord Campbell, +travelling for the first time by coach from Scotland to London, was +seriously advised to stay a day at York, as the rapidity of motion (eight +miles per hour) had caused several through-going passengers to die of +apoplexy. + +It is stated in the year 1825, there was in the whole world, only one +railway carriage, built to convey passengers. It was on the first +railway between Stockton and Darlington, and bore on its panels the +motto--"Periculum privatum, publica utilitas." At the opening of this +line the people's ideas of railway speed were scarcely ahead of the canal +boat. For we are told, "Strange to say, a man on horseback carrying a +flag headed the procession. It was not thought so dangerous a place +after all. The locomotive was only supposed to go at the rate of from +four to six miles an hour; an ordinary horse could easily keep ahead of +that. A great concourse of people stood along the line. Many of them +tried to accompany the procession by running, and some gentlemen on +horseback galloped across the fields to keep up with the engine. At a +favourable part of the road Stephenson determined to try the speed of the +engine, and he called upon the horseman with the flag to get out of his +way! The speed was at once raised to twelve miles an hour, and soon +after to fifteen, causing much excitement among the passengers." + +George Stephenson was greatly impressed with the vast possibilities +belonging to the future of railway travelling. When battling for the +locomotive he seemed to see with true prescience what it was destined to +accomplish. "I will do something in course of time," he said, "which +will astonish all England." Years afterwards when asked to what he +alluded, he replied, "I meant to make the mail run between London and +Edinburgh by the locomotive before I died, and I have done it." Thus was +a similar prediction fulfilled, which at the time he uttered it was +doubtless considered a very wild prophecy, "Men shall take supper in +London and breakfast in Edinburgh." + +From a small beginning railways have spread over the four quarters of the +globe. Thousands of millions of pounds have been spent upon their +construction. Railway contractors such as Peto and Brassey at one time +employed armies of workmen, more numerous than the contending hosts +engaged in many a battle celebrated in history. Considering the mighty +revolutions that have been wrought in social affairs and in the commerce +of the world by railways, John Bright was not far wrong when he said in +the House of Commons "Who are the greatest men of the present age? Not +your warriors, not your statesmen. They are your engineers." + +The Railway era, although of modern date, has been rich in adventures and +incidents. Numerous works have been written upon Railways, also memoirs +of Railway Engineers, relating their struggles and triumphs, which have +charmed multitudes of readers. Yet no volume has been published +consisting exclusively of Railway Adventures and Anecdotes. Books having +the heading of Railway Anecdotes, or similar titles, containing few of +such anecdotes but many of a miscellaneous character, have from time to +time appeared. Anecdotes, racy of the Railway calling and circumstances +connected with it are very numerous: they are to be found scattered in +Parliamentary Blue Books, Journals, Biographies, and many out-of-the-way +channels. Many of them are highly instructive, diverting, and +mirth-provoking, having reference to persons in all conditions. The +"Railway Adventures and Anecdotes," illustrating many a quaint and +picturesque scene of railway life, have been drawn from a great variety +of sources. I have for a long time been collecting them, and am willing +to believe they may prove entertaining and profitable to the railway +traveller and the general reader, relieving the tedium of hours when the +mind is not disposed to grapple with profounder subjects. + +The romance of railways is in the past and not in the future. How +desirable then it is that a well written history of British Railways +should speedily be produced, before their traditions, interesting +associations, and early workers shall be forgotten. A work of such +magnitude would need to be entrusted to a band of expert writers. With +an able man like Mr. Williams, the author of _Our Iron Roads_, and the +_History of the Midland Railway_, presiding over the enterprise, a +history might be produced which would be interesting to the present and +to future generations. The history although somewhat voluminous would be +a necessity to every public and private library. Many of our railway +companies might do worse than contribute 500 or 1000 pounds each to +encourage such an important literary undertaking. It would give an +impetus to the study of railway matters and it is not at all unlikely in +the course of a short time the companies would be recouped for their +outlay. + +Before concluding, it is only right I should express my grateful +acknowledgments to the numerous body of subscribers to this work. Among +them are noblemen of the highest rank and distinction, cabinet ministers, +members of Parliament, magistrates, ministers of all sections of the +Christian church, merchants, farmers, tradesmen, and artisans. Through +their helpful kindness my responsibility has been considerably lightened, +and I trust they will have no reason to regret that their confidence has +been misplaced. + + + + +CONTENTS. + +A.B.C. and D.E.F. 171 +Accident, Abergele, The 220 +,, Beneficial Effect of a Railway 186 +,, Extraordinary 128 +,, ,, 265 +,, Remarkable 172 +,, Versailles, The 96 +Action, A Novel 255 +Advantages of Railway Tunnels 126 +Advertisement, Remarkable 124 +Adventure, Remarkable 146 +Affrighted Toll Keeper 19 +Agent, The Insurance 269 +Air-ways, instead of Railways 83 +Alarmist Views 28 +Almost Dar Now 122 +American Patience and Imperturbability 183 +A'penny a Mile 170 +Army with Banners, An 207 +Atmospheric Railroad Anticipated 14 +Baby Law 216 +Balloonists, Extraordinary Escape of 275 +Bavarian Guards and Bavarian Beer 198 +Bill, Expensive Parliamentary 102 +,, First Railway 16 +Bishop, A Disingenuous 267 +,, An Industrious 248 +Blunder, An Extraordinary 254 +Bookshops, Growth of Station 130 +Booking-Clerk and Buckland, The 248 +Bookstalls, Messrs. Smith's 131 +Brahmin, The Polite 260 +Bride's Lost Luggage, A 142 +Brassey's, Mr., Strict Adherence to his Word 264 +Brougham's, Lord, Speech 60 +Box, Shut up in a large 273 +Buckland's, Mr. Frank, First Railway Journey 175 +Buckland, Mr. Frank, and his Boots 261 +Bridge, Awful Death on a Railroad 273 +Bully Rightly Served, The 190 +Burning the Road Clear 179 +Business, Railway Facilities for 118 +Calculation as to Railway Speed 28 +Capture, Clever 105 +Catastrophe 165 +Carlist Chief as a Sub-contractor, A 213 +Carriage, The Duke's 60 +Casuality, Curious 193 +Chase after a Runaway Engine, A 136 +Child's Idea on Railways, A 179 +Child, Remarkable Rescue of a 249 +Claim for goodwill for a Cow killed on the Railway 268 +Clergy, Appealing to the 83 +Clever, Quite too 181 +Coach _versus_ Railway Accidents 198 +Compensation for Land 106 +,, A Widow's Claim for 242 +Competition, Early Railway 27 +,, For Passengers 167 +,, Goods 135 +Conductor, A Wide-awake 184 +Coincidences, Remarkable 291 +Cook's Railway Excursions, Origin of 87 +Cool Impudence and Dishonesty 248 +Coolness, A Little Boy's 258 +Constable, The Electric 92 +Contracts, Expensive 263 +Contractor, An Accommodating 113 +Contractors and the Blotting Pad, Rival 99 +Contrast, National 171 +Conversion of the Gauge 243 +Counsel, The bothered Queen's 247 +Courting on a Railway thirty miles an hour 159 +Crimea, The First Railway in the 156 +Croydon. It's 271 +Curious Classification, A 294 +Custom of the Country, The 234 +Cuvier's Description of the Locomotive 21 +Damages easily adjusted 127 +Day. The Great Railway Mania 114 +Death. Faithful unto 153 +Decision. A Quick 95 +Decoy Trunk, The 224 +Deodand. The 88 +Difficulties encountered in making Surveys 31 +Difficulty solved, A 181 +Discovery, A Great 144 +Discussion, An Unfortunate 89 +Disguise, Duty in 283 +Dissatisfied Passengers 236 +Doctor and the Officers, The 246 +Dog Ticket 91 +Down Brakes, or Force of Habit 192 +Drink. That accursed 274 +Drinking from the Wrong Bottle 262 +Driving a last spike 224 +Dropping the letter "L" 267 +Dukes and the traveller, The two 114 +Dying Engine Driver, The 191 +Early American Railway Enterprise 66 +Early Morning Ride 187 +Early Steam Carriages 15 +Elevated Sight-seers Wishing to Descend 59 +Engine Driver, A Brave 247 +,, A Mad 278 +Engine Driver's Presence of Mind 232 +,, Driving 230 +,, Fascination 166 +Engineer and Scientific Witness 133 +,, Very Nice to be a Railway 113 +Entertaining Companion 195 +Epigram, Railway 124 +Epitaph, An Engine Driver's 86 +,, on the Victim of a Railway Accident 85 +Escape, Providential 128 +Escapes from being Lynched, Narrow 153 +Everett's Reply to Wordsworth's Protest 123 +Evidence of General Salesman 78 +,, Picture 111 +Evil, A Dreaded 145 +Excursionists put to the proof 294 +Extracts from Macready's Diaries 138 +Fares, Cheap 188 +Fault, At 241 +Female Fragility 250 +Flutter caused by the murder of Mr. Briggs 253 +Fog Signals 121 +Forged Tickets 217 +Fourth of July Facts 244 +Fraud on the Great Northern Company, Immense 161 +Frauds, Attempted 140 +Freak, Singular 170 +Freaks of Concealed Bogs 138 +Frightened at a Red Light 223 +Girl, A Brave 273 +Goat and the Railway, The 155 +Good Things of Railway Accidents 186 +Gravedigger's Suggestion, A 257 +Gray, Thomas. A Railway Projector 22 +Greenlander's First Railway Ride, A 255 +Growing Lad, A 217 +Hartington, The Marquis of, on George Stephenson 283 +Hair-Dresser, The anxious 79 +Heroism of a Driver 270 +Highlander and a Railway Engine, The 138 +Hoax, Accident 167 +Horses _versus_ Railways 262 +How to bear losses 214 +Impressions, A Mexican Chief's Railway 278 +Incident, An amusing 258 +,, An Electric Tramway 282 +Information, Obtaining 154 +Insulted Woman, An 235 +Insured 202 +Judge's feeling against Railways, A County Court 150 +Kangaroo Attacking a Train, A 209 +Kemble's Letter, Fanny 35 +Kid-Gloved Samson, A 184 +Kiss in the Dark, A 256 +Lady and her Lap-dog, The 242 +,, An Exacting 183 +Legislation, Railway 100 +Liabilities of Railway Engineers for Errors 127 +Liability of Companies for Delay of Trains 191 +Life upon a Railway, by a Conductor 148 +Loan Engineering, or Staking out a Railway 172 +Locomotive, A Smuggling 234 +,, Dangerous 292 +Luggage, Lost 112 +,, in Railway Carriages 281 +,, What is Passengers' 243 +Madman in a Railway Carriage, A 201 +Marriage, A Railway 139 +,, and Railway Dividends 228 +Match, A Runaway 93 +Merchant and his Clerk, The 160 +Mistake, A slight 263 +Monetary Difficulties in Spain 212 +Money. Lost and Found 87 +Monkey Signalman, A 294 +Navvy's Reason for not going to Church, A 80 +Nervousness 259 +New Trick. A 203 +Newspaper Wonder, A 211 +Newton, Sir Isaac's Prediction of Railway Speed 14 +Notice, Copy of a 237 +,, A curious 154 +,, A remarkable 252 +,, to Defaulting Shareholders, A Novel 95 +Not to be caught 246 +Novel Attack, A 197 +,, Obstruction 215 +Objections, Sanitary 77 +Opposition, A Landowner's 110 +,, English and American 71 +,, Parliamentary 29 +,, to Making Surveys 75 +Orders, My 280 +Parody upon the Railway Mania 118 +Passengers and other Cattle 158 +,, Third-class 143 +Peto, Sir Morton, and the Balaclava Railway 156 +Peto's, Sir Morton, Railway Mission 104 +Phillippe and the English Navvies, Louis 125 +Photographing an Express Train 259 +Polite Irishman, The 194 +Portmanteau, His 130 +Post Office and Railways. The 119 +Power of Locomotive Engines, Gigantic 94 +Practice, Sharp 80 +Prejudice against carrying Coals by Railways 84 +,, Removed 81 +Presentiment, Mrs. Blackburne's 56 +Profitable Damages 295 +Prognostications of Failure 73 +Pullman's Carriages 295 +Race, A Curious 254 +Railway, An Early 20 +,, An Early Ride on the Liverpool and Manchester 61 +,, Announcement 17 +,, Enterprise 296 +,, Travelling, Early 63 +,, Destroyers in the Franco-German War 223 +,, from Merstham to Wandsworth 16 +,, Liverpool and Manchester 32 +,, Manners 272 +,, Merthyr Tydvil 17 +,, A Profitable 260 +,, Opening of the Darlington and Stockton 26 +,, Romance 93 +,, Sleeper, A 246 +,, Signals 120 +,, Switch Tender and his Child 199 +,, Train turned into a Man-trap 185 +,, Up Vesuvius 274 +Railways, Elevated 214 +,, A Judgment 268 +,, Origin of 13 +Railroad Incident 214 +,, Tracklayer 216 +Rails, Expansion of 158 +Rector and his Pig. The 103 +Redstart, The Black 199 +Rejoinder, A smart 158 +Reproof for Swearing 189 +Request, A Polite 136 +Ride from Boston to Providence in 1835, A 81 +Robinson's, Crabb, First Railway Journey 65 +Ruling Occupation strong on Sunday 186 +Safety on the Floor 147 +Seat, The Safest 268 +Scotch Lady and her Box 272 +Scene at a Railway Junction, Extraordinary 134 +,, Before a Sub-Committee on Standing Orders 176 +Security for Travelling 229 +Sell, A 241 +Seizure of a Railway Train for Debt 208 +She takes Fits 210 +Shrewd Observers 20 +Signalman, An Amateur 97 +Singular Circumstance 125 +Sleeper, A Heavy 276 +Sounds, Remarkable Memory for 266 +Snag's Corners 210 +Snake's Heads 81 +Snowed up on the Pacific Railway 237 +Speed of Railway Engines 30 +Steam defined 137 +,, Pulling a Tooth by 276 +Steel Rails 193 +Stephenson Centenary, The 284 +,, ,, George Robert Stephenson's Address 286 +,, ,, Rev. T. C. Sarjent's Address at the 288 +,, ,, Sir William Armstrong's Address at the 284 +Stephenson's Wedding Present, George 194 +Stopping a Runaway Couple 200 +Stumped 293 +Swindling, Ingenious 292 +Taken Aback 152 +Taking Him Down a Peg 252 +Taste, Loss of 291 +Tay Bridge Accident 245 +Telegraph, Extraordinary use of the Electric 111 +Ticket, A Lost 164 +,, Your 271 +Traffic-Taking 86 +Train Stopped by Caterpillars, A 204 +Travelling, Effects of Constant Railway 281 +,, in Russia 204 +,, Improvement in Third-Class 143 +Trent Station 192 +Trip, An Unpleasant Trial 72 +Tunnel, In a Railway 137 +Very Cool 199 +Waif, An Extraordinary 245 +Ward's, Artemus, Suggestion 197 +Watkin, Sir Edward, on Touting for Business 269 +Way, A Quick 138 +Way-Leaves 13 +Wedding at a Railway Station 166 +What are you going to do? 189 +Whistle, Steam 98 +Wolves on a Railway 197 +Wordsworth's Protest 122 +Yankee Compensation Case, A 218 + + + +ORIGIN OF RAILWAYS + + +The immediate parent of the railway was the wooden tram-road, which +existed at an early period in colliery districts. Mr. Beaumont, of +Newcastle, is said to have been the first to lay down wooden rails as +long ago as 1630. More than one hundred and forty years elapsed before +the invention was greatly improved. Mr. John Carr, in 1776 (although not +the first to use iron rails), was the first to lay down a cast-iron +railway, nailed to wooden sleepers, for the Duke of Newcastle's colliery +near Sheffield. This innovation was regarded with great disfavour by the +workpeople as an interference with the vested rights of labour. Mr. +Carr's life, as a consequence, was in much jeopardy and for four days he +had to conceal himself in a wood to avoid the violence of an indignant +and vindictive populace. + + + + +WAY-LEAVES. + + +Roger North, referring to a visit paid to Newcastle by his brother, the +Lord Keeper Guildford, in 1676, writes:--"Another remarkable thing is +their _way-leaves_; for when men have pieces of ground between the +colliery and the river, they sell the leave to lead coal over the ground, +and so dear that the owner of a rood of ground will expect 20 pounds per +annum for this leave. The manner of the carriage is by laying rails of +timber from the colliery down to the river exactly straight and parallel, +and bulky carts are made with four rowlets fitting these rails, whereby +the carriage is so easy that one horse will draw four or five chaldron of +coals, and is an immense benefit to the coal merchants." + + + + +SIR ISAAC NEWTON'S PREDICTION OF RAILWAY SPEED. + + +In a tract by the Rev. Mr. Craig, Vicar of Leamington, entitled "Astral +Wonders," is to be found the following remarkable passage:--"Let me +narrate to you an anecdote concerning Sir Isaac Newton and Voltaire. Sir +Isaac wrote a book on the Prophet Daniel, and another on the Revelations; +and he said, in order to fulfil certain prophecies before a certain date +terminated, namely 1260 years, there would be a certain mode of +travelling of which the men in his time had no conception; nay, that the +knowledge of mankind would be so increased that they would be able to +travel at the rate of fifty miles an hour. Voltaire, who did not believe +in the Holy Scriptures, got hold of this, and said, 'Now look at that +mighty mind of Newton, who discovered gravity, and told us such marvels +for us all to admire, when he became an old man and got into his dotage, +he began to study that book called the Bible; and it appears that in +order to credit its fabulous nonsense, we must believe that mankind's +knowledge will be so much increased that we shall be able to travel fifty +miles an hour. The poor 'dotard!' exclaimed the philosophic infidel, +Voltaire, in the complaisancy of his pity. But who is the dotard now?" + + + + +THE ATMOSPHERIC RAILROAD ANTICIPATED. + + + _First Voice_. + + "But why drives on that ship so fast, + Without or wave or wind?" + + _Second Voice_. + + "The air is cut away before, + And closes from behind." + + --_The Ancient Mariner_. + +This is the exact principle of the atmospheric railroad, and it is, +perhaps, worthy of note as a curious fact that such a means of locomotion +should have occurred to Coleridge so long ago. + + W. Y. Bernhard Smith, in _Notes and Queries_. + + + + +EARLY STEAM CARRIAGES. + + +Stuart, in his "Historical and Descriptive Anecdotes of Steam Engines and +of their Inventors and Improvers," gives a description of what was +supposed to be the first model of a steam carriage. The constructor was +a Frenchman named Cugnot, who exhibited it before the Marshal de Saxe in +1763. He afterwards built an engine on the same model at the cost of the +French monarch. But when set in motion it projected itself onward with +such force that it knocked down a wall which stood in its way, and--its +power being considered too great for ordinary use--it was put aside as +being a dangerous machine, and was stowed away in the Arsenal Museum at +Paris. It is now to be seen in the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers. + +Mr. Smiles also remarks that "An American inventor, named Oliver Evans, +was also occupied with the same idea, for, in 1772, he invented a steam +carriage to travel on common roads; and, in 1787, he obtained from the +State of Maryland the exclusive right to make and use steam carriages. +The invention, however, never came into practical use. + +"It also appears that, in 1784, William Symington, the inventor of the +steamboat, conceived the idea of employing steam power in the propulsion +of carriages; and, in 1786, he had a working model of a steam carriage +constructed which he submitted to the professors and other scientific +gentlemen of Edinburgh. But the state of the Scotch roads was at that +time so horrible that he considered it impracticable to proceed further +with his scheme, and he shortly gave it up in favour of his project of +steam navigation. + +"The first English model of a steam carriage was made in 1784 by William +Murdoch, the friend and assistant of Watt. It was on the high-pressure +principle and ran on three wheels. The boiler was heated by a spirit +lamp, and the whole machine was of very diminutive dimensions, standing +little more than a foot high. Yet, on one occasion, the little engine +went so fast that it outran the speed of the inventor. Mr. Buckle says +that one night after returning from his duties in the mine at Redruth, in +Cornwall, Murdoch determined to try the working of his model locomotive. +For this purpose he had recourse to the walk leading to the church, about +a mile from the town. The walk was rather narrow and was bounded on +either side by high hedges. It was a dark night, and Murdoch set out +alone to try his experiment. Having lit his lamp, the water shortly +began to boil, and off started the engine with the inventor after it. He +soon heard distant shouts of despair. It was too dark to perceive +objects, but he shortly found, on following up the machine, that the +cries for assistance proceeded from the worthy pastor of the parish, who, +going towards the town on business, was met on this lonely road by the +hissing and fiery little monster, which he subsequently declared he had +taken to be the Evil One in _propria persona_. No further steps, +however, were taken by Murdoch to embody his idea of a locomotive +carriage in a more practical form." + + + + +FIRST RAILWAY BILL. + + +The first Railway Bill passed by Parliament was for a line from +Wandsworth to Croydon, in 1801, but a quarter of a century elapsed before +the first line was actually constructed for carrying passengers between +Stockton and Darlington. People still living can remember the mail +coaches that plied once a month between Edinburgh and London, making the +journey in twelve or fourteen days. The _Annual Register_ of 1820 boasts +that "English mail coaches run 7 miles an hour; French only 4.5 miles; +the former travelling, in the year, forty times the length of miles that +the French accomplish." These coaches were a great improvement on the +previous method of sending the mails. In 1783 a petition to Parliament +stated that "the mails are generally entrusted to some idle boy, without +character, mounted on a worn-out hack." + + "_Progress of the World_" by M. G. Mulhall. + + + + +RAILWAY FROM MERSTHAM TO WANDSWORTH. + + +Charles Knight thus describes this old line:--"The earliest railway for +public traffic in England was one passing from Merstham to Wandsworth, +through Croydon; a small, single line, on which a miserable team of +donkeys, some thirty years ago, might be seen crawling at the rate of +four miles an hour, with several trucks of stone and lime behind them. +It was commenced in 1801, opened in 1803; and the men of science of that +day--we cannot say that the respectable name of Stephenson was not among +them, (Stephenson was then a brakesman at Killingworth)--tested its +capabilities and found that one horse could draw some thirty-five tons at +six miles an hour, and then, with prophetic wisdom, declared that +railways could never be worked profitably. The old Croydon railway is no +longer used. The genius loci must look with wonder on the gigantic +offspring of the little railway, which has swallowed up its own sire. +Lean mules no longer crawl leisurely along the little rails with trucks +of stone through Croydon, once perchance during the day, but the whistle +and the rush of the locomotive are now heard all day long. Not a few +loads of lime, but all London and its contents, by comparison--men, +women, children, horses, dogs, oxen, sheep, pigs, carriages, merchandise, +food,--would seem to be now-a-days passing through Croydon; for day after +day, more than 100 journeys are made by the great railroads which pass +the place." + + + + +RAILWAY ANNOUNCEMENT. + + +The following announcement was published in a London periodical, dated +August 1, 1802:--"The Surrey Iron Railway is now completed over the high +road through Wandsworth town. On Wednesday, June 8, several carriages of +all descriptions passed over the iron rails without meeting with the +least obstacle. Among these, the Portsmouth wagon, drawn by eight horses +and weighing from eight to ten tons, passed over the rails, and did not +appear to make the slightest impression upon them." + + + + +MERTHYR TYDVIL RAILWAY. + + +An Act of Parliament was granted for a railway to Merthyr Tydvil in 1803, +and the following year the first locomotive which ran on a railway is +described in a racy manner by the _Western Mail_, as follows:--"Quaint, +rattling, puffing, asthmatic, and wheezy, the pioneer of ten thousand +gilding creations of beauty and strength made its way between the +white-washed houses of the old tramway at Merthyr. It has a dwarf body +placed on a high framework, constructed by the hedge carpenter of the +place in the roughest possible fashion. The wheels were equally rough +and large, and surmounting all was a huge stack, ugly enough when it was +new, but in after times made uglier by whitewash and rust. Every +movement was made with a hideous uproar, snorting and clanking, and this, +aided by the noise of the escaping steam, formed a tableau from which, +met in the byeway, every old woman would run with affright. The Merthyr +locomotive was made jointly by Trevithick, a Cornishman, and Rees Jones, +of Penydarran. The day fixed for the trial was the 12th of February, +1804, and the track a tramway, lately formed from Penydarran, at the back +of Plymouth Works, by the side of the Troedyrhiw, and so down to the +navigation. Great was the concourse assembled; villagers of all ages and +sizes thronged the spot; and the rumour of the day's doings even +penetrated up the defiles of Taff Vawr and Taff Vach, bringing down old +apple-faced farmers and their wives, who were told of a power and a speed +that would alter everything, and do away with horses altogether. Prim, +cosy, apple-faced people, innocent and primitive, little thought ye then +of the changes which the clanking monster was to yield; how Grey Dobbin +would see flying by a mass of wood and iron, thousands of tons of weight, +bearing not only the commerce of the country, but hundreds of people as +well; how rivers and mountains would afford no obstacle, as the mighty +azure waves leap the one and dash through the other. On the first engine +and trains that started on the memorable day in February, twenty persons +clustered like bees, anxious, we learn in the 'History of Merthyr,' to +win immortality by being thus distinguished above all their fellows; the +trains were six in number, laden with iron, and amidst a concourse of +villagers, including the constable, the 'druggister,' and the class +generally dubbed 'shopwors' by the natives, were Richard Crawshay and Mr. +Samuel Homfray. The driver was one William Richards, and on the engine +were perched Trevithick and Rees Jones, their faces black, but their eyes +bright with the anticipation of victory. Soon the signal was given, and +amidst a mighty roar from the people, the wheels turned and the mass +moved forward, going steadily at the rate of five miles an hour until a +bridge was reached a little below the town that did not admit of the +stack going under, and as this was built of bricks, there was a great +crash and instant stoppage. Trevithick and Jones were of the +old-fashioned school of men who did not believe in impossibilities. The +fickle crowd, too, who had hurrahed like mad, hung back and said 'It +won't do'; but these heroes, the advance-guard of a race who had done +more to make England famous than battles by land or sea, sprang to the +ground and worked like Britons, never ceasing until they had repaired the +mishap, and then they rattled on, and finally reached their journey's +end. The return journey was a failure, on account of gradients and +curves, but the possibility of success was demonstrated; and from this +run on the Merthyr tramway the railway age--marked with throes and +suspense, delays, accidents, and misadventures--finally began." + + + + +AN AFFRIGHTED TOLL-KEEPER. + + +There is a story told by Coleridge about the steam engine which +Trevithick exhibited at work on a temporary railroad in London. +Trevithick and his partner Captain Vivian, prior to this exhibition were +riding on the carriage on the turnpike road near to Plymouth. It had +committed sundry damage in its course, knocking down the rails of a +gentleman's garden, when Vivian saw the toll-bar in front of them closed +he called to Trevithick to slacken speed which he did just in time to +save the gate. The affrighted toll-keeper instantly opened it. "What +have us got to pay?" asked Captain Vivian, careful as to honesty if +reckless as to grammar. + +"Na-na-na-na!" stammered the poor man, trembling in every limb, with his +teeth chattering as if he had got the ague. + +"What have us got to pay, I ask?" + +"Na-noth-nothing to pay! My de-dear Mr. Devil, do drive as fast as you +can! Nothing to pay!" + + + + +AN EARLY RAILWAY. + + +More than twenty years before the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester +Railway, the celebrated engineer Trevithick constructed, not only a +locomotive engine, but also a railway, that the London public might see +with their own eyes what the new high pressure steam engine could effect, +and how greatly superior a railway was to a common road for locomotion. +The sister of Davies Gilbert named this engine "Catch me who can." The +following interesting account in a letter to a correspondent was given by +John Isaac Hawkins, an engineer well known in his day. + +"Sir,--Observing that it is stated in your last number (No. 1232, dated +the 20th instant, page 269), under the head of 'Twenty-one Years' +Retrospect of the Railway System,' that the greatest speed of +Trevithick's engine was five miles an hour, I think it due to the memory +of that extraordinary man to declare that about the year 1808 he laid +down a circular railway in a field adjoining the New Road, near or at the +spot now forming the southern half of Euston Square; that he placed a +locomotive engine, weighing about ten tons, on that railway--on which I +rode, with my watch in hand--at the rate of twelve miles an hour; that +Mr. Trevithick then gave his opinion that it would go twenty miles an +hour, or more, on a straight railway; that the engine was exhibited at +one shilling admittance, including a ride for the few who were not too +timid; that it ran for some weeks, when a rail broke and occasioned the +engine to fly off in a tangent and overturn, the ground being very soft +at the time. Mr. Trevithick having expended all his means in erecting +the works and enclosure, and the shillings not having come in fast enough +to pay current expenses, the engine was not again set on the rail." + + + + +SHREWD OBSERVERS. + + +Sir Richard Phillips was a man of foresight, for, in the year 1813, he +wrote the following words in his "Morning Walk to Kew," a book of some +popularity in its day:--"I found delight in witnessing at Wandsworth the +economy of horse labour on the iron railway. Yet a heavy sigh escaped me +as I thought of the inconceivable millions of money which had been spent +about Malta, four or five of which might have been the means of extending +double lines of iron railway from London to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Holyhead, +Milford, Falmouth, Yarmouth, Dover, and Portsmouth. A reward of a single +thousand would have supplied coaches and other vehicles of various +degrees of speed, with the best tackle for readily turning out; and we +might ere this have witnessed our mail coaches running at the rate of ten +miles an hour, drawn by a single horse, or impelled fifteen miles an hour +by Blenkinsop's steam engine. Such would have been a legitimate motive +for overstepping the income of a nation; and the completion of so great +and useful a work would have afforded rational ground for public triumph +in general jubilee." Mr. Edgeworth, writing to James Watt on the 7th of +August, 1813, remarks, "I have always thought that steam would become the +universal lord, and that we should in time scorn post-horses. An iron +railroad would be a cheaper thing than a road on the common +construction." + + + + +CUVIER'S DESCRIPTION OF THE LOCOMOTIVE. + + +The celebrated Cuvier, in an address delivered by him before the French +Institute in the year 1816, thus referred to the nascent locomotive:--"A +steam engine, mounted upon a carriage whose wheels indent themselves +along a road specially prepared for it, is attached to a line of loaded +vehicles. A fire is lit underneath the boiler, by which the engine is +speedily set in motion, and in a short time the whole are brought to +their journey's end. The traveller who, from a distance, first sees this +strange spectacle of a train of loaded carriages traversing the country +by the simple force of steam, can with difficulty believe his eyes." + +The locomotive thus described by Cuvier was the first engine of the kind +regularly employed in the working of railway traffic. It was impelled by +means of a cogged wheel, which worked into a cogged rail, after the +method adopted by Mr. Blenkinsop, upon the Middleton Coal Railway, near +Leeds; and the speed of the train which it dragged behind it was only +from three to four miles an hour. + +Ten years later, the same power and speed of the locomotive were still +matters of wonderment, for, in 1825, we find Mr. Mackenzie, in his +"History of Northumberland" thus describing the performances on the Wylam +Coal Railroad:--"A stranger," said he, "is struck with surprise and +astonishment on seeing a locomotive engine moving majestically along the +road at the rate of four or five miles an hour, drawing along from ten to +fourteen loaded wagons, weighing about twenty-one-and-a-half tons; and +his surprise is increased on witnessing the extraordinary facility with +which the engine is managed. This invention is indeed a noble triumph of +science." + +In the same year, the first attempt was made to carry passengers by +railway between Stockton and Darlington. A machine resembling the yellow +caravan still seen at country fairs was built and fitted up with seats +all round it, and set upon the rails, along which it was drawn by a +horse. It was found exceedingly convenient to travel by, and the number +of passengers between the two towns so much increased that several bodies +of old stage coaches were bought up, mounted upon railway wheels, and +added to the carrying stock of the Stockton and Darlington Company. At +length the horse was finally discarded in favour of the locomotive, and +not only coals and merchandise, but passengers of all classes, were drawn +by steam. + + --_Railway News_. + + + + +A RAILWAY PROJECTOR. + + +In the year 1819, Thomas Gray--a deep thinker with a mind of +comprehensive grasp--was travelling in the North of England when he saw a +train of coal-wagons drawn by steam along a colliery tramroad. "Why," he +questioned the engineer, "are not these tramroads laid down all over +England, so as to supersede our common roads, and steam engines employed +to convey goods and passengers along them, so as to supersede horse +power?" The engineer replied, "Just propose you that to the nation, sir, +and see what you will get by it! Why, sir, you will be worried to death +for your pains." Nothing daunted by this reply, Thomas Gray could +scarcely think or talk upon any other subject. In vision he saw the +country covered with a network of tramroads. Before his time the famous +Duke of Bridgewater might have some misgivings about his canals. It is +related on a certain occasion some one said to him, "You must be making +handsomely out of your canals." "Oh, yes," grumbled he in reply, "they +will last my time, but I don't like the look of these tramroads; there's +mischief in them." Mr. Gray, with prophetic eye, saw the great changes +which the iron railway would make in the means of transit throughout the +civilized world. In 1820 he brought out his now famous work, entitled +"Observations on a General Iron Railway, or Land Steam Conveyance, to +supersede the necessity of horses in all public vehicles; showing its +vast superiority in every respect over all the present pitiful methods of +conveyance by Turnpike-roads, Canals, and Coasting Traders: containing +every species of information relative to Railroads and Locomotive +Engines." The book is illustrated by a plate exhibiting different kinds +of carriages drawn on the railway by locomotives. He evidently +anticipated that the locomotive of the future would be capable of going +at a considerable speed, for on the plate is engraved these lines:-- + + "No speed with this can fleetest horse compare; + No weight like this canal or vessel bear. + As this will commerce every way promote, + To this let sons of commerce grant their vote." + +Mr. Gray in his book exhibits a marvellous insight into the wants and +requirements of the country. He remarks, "The plan might be commenced +between the towns of Manchester and Liverpool, where a trial could soon +be made, as the distance is not very great, and the commercial part of +England would thereby be better able to appreciate its many excellent +properties and prove its efficacy. All the great trading towns of +Lancashire and Yorkshire would then eagerly embrace the opportunity to +secure so commodious and easy a conveyance, and cause branch railways to +be laid down in every possible direction. The convenience and economy in +the carriage of the raw material to the numerous manufactories +established in these counties, the expeditious and cheap delivery of +piece goods bought by the merchants every week at the various markets, +and the despatch in forwarding bales and packages to the outposts cannot +fail to strike the merchant and manufacturer as points of the first +importance. Nothing, for example, would be so likely to raise the ports +of Hull, Liverpool, and Bristol to an unprecedented pitch of prosperity +as the establishment of railways to those ports, thereby rendering the +communication from the east to the west seas, and all intermediate +places, rapid, cheap, and effectual. Anyone at all conversant with +commerce must feel the vast importance of such an undertaking in +forwarding the produce of America, Brazils, the East and West Indies, +etc., from Liverpool and Bristol, _via_ Hull, to the opposite shores of +Germany and Holland, and, _vice versa_, the produce of the Baltic, _via_ +Hull, to Liverpool and Bristol. Again, by the establishment of morning +and evening mail steam carriages, the commercial interest would derive +considerable advantage; the inland mails might be forwarded with greater +despatch and the letters delivered much earlier than by the extra post; +the opportunity of correspondence between London and all mercantile +places would be much improved, and the rate of postage might be generally +diminished without injuring the receipts of the post office, because any +deficiency occasioned by a reduction in the postage would be made good by +the increased number of journeys which mail steam carriages might make. +The London and Edinburgh mail steam carriages might take all the mails +and parcels on the line of road between these two cities, which would +exceedingly reduce the expense occasioned by mail coaches on the present +footing. The ordinary stage coaches, caravans, or wagons, running any +considerable distance along the main railway, might also be conducted on +peculiarly favourable terms to the public; for instance, one steam engine +of superior power would enable its proprietors to convey several coaches, +caravans, or wagons, linked together until they arrive at their +respective branches, when other engines might proceed on with them to +their destination. By a due regulation of the departure and arrival of +coaches, caravans, and wagons along these branches the whole +communication throughout the country would be so simple and so complete +as to enable every individual to partake of the various productions of +particular situations, and to enjoy, at a moderate expense every +improvement introduced into society. The great economy of such a measure +must be obvious to everyone, seeing that, instead of each coach changing +horses between London and Edinburgh, say twenty-five times, requiring a +hundred horses, besides the supernumerary ones kept at every stage in +case of accidents, the whole journey of several coaches would be +performed with the simple expense of one steam engine. No animal +strength will be able to give that uniform and regular acceleration to +our commercial intercourse which may be accomplished by railways; however +great animal speed, there cannot be a doubt that it would be considerably +surpassed by mail steam carriages, and that the expense would be +infinitely less. The exorbitant charge now made for small parcels +prevents that natural intercourse of friendship between families resident +in different parts of the kingdom, in the same manner as the heavy +postage of letters prevents free communication, and consequently +diminishes very considerably the consumption of paper which would take +place under a less burdensome taxation." + +Mr. Gray's book would no doubt excite ridicule and amazement when +published sixty years ago. The farmers of that day might well be excused +for incredulity when perusing a passage like the following:--"The present +system of conveyance," says Mr. Gray, "affords but tolerable +accommodation to farmers, and the common way in which they attend markets +must always confine them within very limited distances. It is, however, +expected that the railway will present a suitable conveyance for +attending market-towns thirty or forty miles off, as also for forwarding +considerable supplies of grain, hay, straw, vegetables, and every +description of live stock to the metropolis at a very easy expense, and +with the greatest celerity, from all parts of the kingdom." + +A writer in Chambers's Journal, 1847, remarks:--"It was not until after +four or five years of agitation, and several editions of Mr. Gray's work +had been published and successively commented upon by many newspapers, +that commercial men were roused to give the proposed scheme its first +great trial on the road between Liverpool and Manchester. The success of +that experiment, insured by the engineering skill of Stephenson, was the +signal for all that has since been done both in this island and in other +parts of the world. Unfortunately, the public has been too busy these +many years in making railways to inquire to whom it owes its gratitude +for having first expounded and advocated their claims; and probably there +are few men now living who have served the public as effectually, with so +little return in the way of thanks or applause, as Mr. Thomas Gray, the +proposer in 1820 of a general system of transit by railways." + +Poor Gray! He was far ahead of his times. Public men called him a bore, +and people in Nottingham, where he resided, said he was cracked. The +_Quarterly Review_ declared such persons are not worth our notice, and +the _Edinburgh Review_ said "Put him in a straight jacket." Thus the +world is often ignorant of its greatest benefactors. Gray died in +poverty. His widow and daughters earned their living by teaching a small +school at Exeter. + + + + +OPENING OF THE DARLINGTON AND STOCKTON RAILWAY. + + +In the autumn of 1825 the _Times_ gave an account of the origin of one of +the most gigantic enterprises of modern times. In that year the +Darlington and Stockton Railway was formally opened by the proprietors +for the use of the public. It was a single railway, and the object of +its promoters was to open the London market to the Durham Collieries, as +well as to facilitate the obtaining of fuel to the country along its line +and certain parts of Yorkshire. The account of the opening says:-- + +A train of carriages was attached to a locomotive engine of the most +improved construction, and built by Mr. George Stephenson, in the +following order:--(1) Locomotive engine, with the engineer and +assistants; (2) tender with coals and water; next six wagons loaded with +coals and flour; then an elegant covered coach, with the committee and +other proprietors of the railway; then 21 wagons fitted up on the +occasion for passengers; and, last of all, six wagons loaded with coals, +making altogether a train of 38 carriages, exclusive of the engine and +tender. Tickets were distributed to the number of nearly 300 for those +whom it was intended should occupy the coach and wagons; but such was the +pressure and crowd that both loaded and empty carriages were instantly +filled with passengers. The signal being given, the engine started off +with this immense train of carriages. In some parts the speed was +frequently 12 miles per hour, and in one place, for a short distance, +near Darlington, 15 miles per hour, and at that time the number of +passengers was counted to 450, which, together with the coals, +merchandise, and carriages, would amount to nearly 90 tons. After some +little delay in arranging the procession, the engine, with her load, +arrived at Darlington a distance of eight miles and three-quarters, in 65 +minutes, exclusive of stops, averaging about eight miles an hour. The +engine arrived at Stockton in three hours and seven minutes after leaving +Darlington, including stops, the distance being nearly 12 miles, which is +at the rate of four miles an hour, and upon the level part of the railway +the number of passengers in the wagons was counted about 550, and several +more clung to the carriages on each side, so that the whole number could +not be less than 600. + + + + +EARLY RAILWAY COMPETITION. + + +The first Stockton and Darlington Act gave permission to all parties to +use the line on payment of certain rates. Thus private individuals might +work their own horses and carriages upon the railway and be their own +carriers. Mr. Clepham, in the _Gateshead Observer_, gives an interesting +account of the competition induced by the system:--"There were two +separate coach companies in Stockton, and amusing collisions sometimes +occurred between the drivers--who found on the rail a novel element for +contention. Coaches cannot pass each other on the rail as on the road; +and at the more westward public-house in Stockton (the Bay Horse, kept by +Joe Buckton), the coach was always on the line betimes, reducing its +eastward rival to the necessity of waiting patiently (or impatiently) in +the rear. The line was single, with four sidings in the mile; and when +two coaches met, or two trains, or coach and train, the question arose +which of the drivers must go back? This was not always settled in +silence. As to trains, it came to be a sort of understanding that light +wagons should give way to loaded; as to trains and coaches, that the +passengers should have preference over coals; while coaches, when they +met, must quarrel it out. At length, midway between sidings a post was +erected, and a rule was laid down that he who had passed the pillar must +go on, and the coming man go back. At the Goose Pool and Early Nook, it +was common for these coaches to stop; and there, as Jonathan would say, +passengers and coachmen 'liquored.' One coach, introduced by an +innkeeper, was a compound of two mourning coaches, an approximation to +the real railway coach, which still adheres, with multiplying exceptions, +to the stage coach type. One Dixon, who drove the 'Experiment' between +Darlington and Shildon, is the inventor of carriage lighting on the rail. +On a dark winter night, having compassion on his passengers, he would buy +a penny candle, and place it lighted amongst them, on the table of the +'Experiment'--the first railway coach (which, by the way, ended its days +at Shildon, as a railway cabin), being also the first coach on the rail +(first, second, and third class jammed all into one) that indulged its +customers with light in darkness." + + + + +CALCULATION AS TO RAILWAY SPEED. + + +The Editor of _The Scotsman_, having engaged in researches into the laws +of friction established by Vince and Coloumb, published the results in a +series of articles in his journal in 1824 showing how twenty miles an +hour was, on theoretic grounds, within the limits of possibility; and it +was to his writings on this point that Mr. Nicholas Wood alluded when he +spoke of the ridiculous expectation that engines would ever travel at the +rate of twenty, or even twelve miles an hour. + + + + +ALARMIST VIEWS. + + +A writer in the _Quarterly Review_, in 1825, was quite prophetical as to +the dangers connected with railway travelling. He observes:--"It is +certainly some consolation to those who are to be whirled at the rate of +18 or 20 miles an hour by means of a high-pressure engine, to be told +that there is no danger of being sea-sick while on shore, that they are +not to be scalded to death, nor drowned, nor dashed to pieces by the +bursting of a boiler; and that they need not mind being struck by the +flying off or breaking of a wheel. What can be more palpably absurd or +ridiculous than the prospect held out of locomotives travelling _twice as +fast_ as stage coaches! We should as soon expect the people of Woolwich +to suffer themselves to be fired off upon one of Congreve's Ricochet +Rockets, as trust themselves to the mercy of such a machine going at such +a rate. We will back old Father Thames against the Woolwich Railway for +any sum. We trust that Parliament will, in all railways it may sanction, +limit the speed to _eight or nine miles an hour_, which we entirely agree +with Mr. Sylvestor is as great as can be ventured on with safety." + + + + +PARLIAMENTARY OPPOSITION. + + +On the third reading of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Bill in the +House of Commons, The Hon. Edward Stanley moved that the bill be read +that day six months, assigning, among other reasons, that the railway +trains worked by horses would take ten hours to do the distance, and that +they could not be worked by locomotive engines. Sir Isaac Coffin +seconded the motion, indignantly denouncing the project as fraught with +fraud and imposition. He would not consent to see widows' premises +invaded, and "how," he asked, "would any person like to have a railroad +under his parlour window? . . . What, he would like to know, was to be +done with all those who had advanced money in making and repairing +turnpike-roads? What with those who may still wish to travel in their +own or hired carriages, after the fashion of their forefathers? What was +to become of coach-makers and harness-makers, coach-masters and coachmen, +innkeepers, horse-breeders, and horse-dealers? Was the House aware of +the smoke and noise, the hiss and whirl, which locomotive engines, +passing at the rate of ten or twelve miles an hour, would occasion? +Neither the cattle ploughing in the fields or grazing in the meadows +could behold them without dismay. . . . Iron would be raised in price +100 per cent., or, more probably, exhausted altogether! It would be the +greatest nuisance, the most complete disturbance of quiet and comfort in +all parts of the kingdom, that the ingenuity of man could invent!" + + + + +SPEED OF RAILWAY ENGINES. + + +At the present day it is amusing to read the speeches of the counsel +employed against an act of Parliament being passed in favour of the +railway between Liverpool and Manchester. Mr. Harrison, who appeared on +behalf of certain landowners against the scheme, thus spoke with regard +to the powers of the locomotive engine:--"When we set out with the +original prospectus--I am sorry I have not got the paper with me--we were +to gallop, I know not at what rate, I believe it was at the rate of +twelve miles an hour. My learned friend, Mr. Adam, contemplated, +possibly in alluding to Ireland, that some of the Irish members would +arrive in wagons to a division. My learned friend says, that they would +go at the rate of twelve miles an hour, with the aid of a devil in the +form of a locomotive, sitting as a postillion upon the fore-horse, and an +Honourable Member, whom I do not see here, sitting behind him to stir up +the fire, and to keep it up at full speed. But the speed at which these +locomotive engines are to go has slackened; Mr. Adam does not now go +faster than five miles per hour. The learned Sergeant says, he should +like to have seven, but he would be content to go six. I will show you +he cannot go six; and probably, for any practical purposes, I may be able +to show, that I can keep up with him by the canal. Now the real evidence +to which you alone can pay attention shows, that practically, and for +useful purposes, upon the average, and to keep up the rate of speed +continually, they may go at something more than four miles an hour. In +one of the collieries, there is a small engine with wheels four feet in +diameter, which, with moderate weights has gone six; but I will not +admit, because, in an experiment or two, they may have been driven at the +rate of seven or eight miles an hour--because a small engine has been +driven at the rate of six, that this is the average rate at which they +can carry goods upon a railroad for the purpose of commerce, for that is +the point to which the Committee ought to direct their attention, and to +which the evidence is to be applied. It is quite idle to suppose, that +an experiment made to ascertain the speed, when the power is worked up to +the greatest extent, can afford a fair criterion of that which an engine +will do in all states of the weather. In the first place, locomotive +engines are liable to be operated upon by the weather. You are told that +they are affected by rain, and an attempt has been made to cover them; +but the wind will affect them, and any gale of wind which would affect +the traffic on the Mersey, would render it impossible to set off a +locomotive engine, either by poking up the fire, or keeping up the +pressure of the steam till the boiler is ready to burst. I say so, for a +scientific person happened to see a locomotive engine coming down an +inclined plane, with a tolerable weight behind it, and he found that the +strokes were reduced from fifty to twelve, as soon as the wind acted upon +it; so that every gale that would produce an interruption to the +intercourse by the canals, would prevent the progress of a locomotive +engine, so that they have no advantage in that respect." + + + + +DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED IN MAKING RAILWAY SURVEYS. + + +Difficulties connected with making surveys of land were encountered from +the very commencement of railway enterprise. The following dialogue on +the subject took place in the Committee of the House of Commons, April +27, 1825. Mr. Sergeant Spankie was the questioner and George Stephenson +was the respondent. + +_Q_. "You were asked about the quality of the soil through which you +were to bore in order to ascertain the strata, and you were rather +taunted because you had not ascertained the precise strata; had you any +opportunity of boring?" + +_A_. "I had none; I was threatened to be driven off the ground, and +severely used if I were found upon the ground." + +_Q_. "You were right, then, not to attempt to bore?" + +_A_. "Of course, I durst not attempt to bore, after those threats." + +_Q_. "Were you exposed to any inconvenience in taking your surveys in +consequence of these interruptions?" + +_A_. "We were." + +_Q_. "On whose property?" + +_A_. "On my Lord Sefton's, Lord Derby's, and particularly Mr. Bradshaw's +part." + +_Q_. "I believe you came near the coping of some of the canals?" + +_A_. "I believe I was threatened to be ducked in the pond if I +proceeded; and, of course we had a great deal of the survey to make by +stealth, at the time the persons were at dinner; we could not get it by +night, and guns were discharged over the grounds belonging to Captain +Bradshaw, to prevent us; I can state further, I was twice turned off the +ground myself (Mr. Bradshaw's) by his men; and they said, if I did not go +instantly they would take me up, and carry me off to Worsley." + +Committee. _Q_. "Had you ever asked leave?" + +_A_. "I did, of all the gentlemen to whom I have alluded; at least, if I +did not ask leave of all myself, I did of my Lord Derby, but I did not of +Lord Sefton, but the Committee had--at least I was so informed; and I +last year asked leave of Mr. Bradshaw's tenants to pass there, and they +denied me; they stated that damage had been done, and I said if they +would tell me what it was, I would pay them, and they said it was two +pounds, and I paid it, though I do not believe it amounted to one +shilling." + +_Q_. "Do you suppose it is a likely thing to obtain leave from any +gentleman to survey his land, when he knew that your men had gone upon +his land to take levels without his leave, and he himself found them +going through the corn, and through the gardens of his tenants, and +trampling down the strawberry beds, which they were cultivating for the +Liverpool market?" + +_A_. "I have found it sometimes very difficult to get through places of +that kind." + +In some cases, Mr. Williams remarks, large bodies of navvies were +collected for the defence of the surveyors; and being liberally provided +with liquor, and paid well for the task, they intimidated the rightful +owners, who were obliged to be satisfied with warrants of committal and +charges of assault. The navvies were the more willing to engage in such +undertakings, because the project, if carried out, afforded them the +prospect of increased labour. + + + + +LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY. + + +Mr. C. F. Adams, jun., remarks:--"It was this element of spontaneity, +therefore,--the instant and dramatic recognition of success, which gave a +peculiar interest to everything connected with the Manchester and +Liverpool railroad. The whole world was looking at it, with a full +realizing sense that something great and momentous was impending. Every +day people watched the gradual development of the thing, and actually +took part in it. In doing so they had sensations and those sensations +they have described. There is consequently an element of human nature +surrounding it. To their descriptions time has only lent a new +freshness. They are full of honest wonder. They are much better and +more valuable and more interesting now than they were fifty years ago, +and for that reason are well worth exhuming. + +"To introduce the contemporaneous story of the day, however, it is not +necessary even to briefly review the long series of events which had +slowly led up to it. The world is tolerably familiar with the early life +of George Stephenson, and with the vexatious obstacles he had to overcome +before he could even secure a trial for his invention. The man himself, +however, is an object of a good deal more curiosity to us, than he was to +those among whom he lived and moved. A living glimpse at him now is +worth dwelling upon, and is the best possible preface to any account of +his great day of life triumph. Just such a glimpse of the man has been +given to us at the moment when at last all difficulties had been +overcome--when the Manchester and Liverpool railroad was completed; and, +literally, not only the eyes of Great Britain but those of all civilized +countries were directed to it and to him who had originated it. At just +that time it chanced that the celebrated actor, John Kemble, was +fulfilling an engagement at Liverpool with his daughter, since known as +Mrs. Frances Kemble Butler. The extraordinary social advantages the +Kemble family enjoyed gave both father and daughter opportunities such as +seldom come in the way of ordinary mortals. For the time being they +were, in fact, the lions of the stage, just as George Stephenson was the +lion of the new railroad. As was most natural the three lions were +brought together. The young actress has since published her impressions, +jotted down at the time, of the old engineer. Her account of a ride side +by side with George Stephenson, on the seat of his locomotive, over the +as yet unopened road, is one of the most interesting and life-like +records we have of the man and the enterprise. Perhaps it is the most +interesting. The introduction is Mrs. Kemble's own, and written +forty-six years after the experience:-- + +"While we were acting at Liverpool, an experimental trip was proposed +upon the line of railway which was being constructed between Liverpool +and Manchester, the first mesh of that amazing iron net which now covers +the whole surface of England, and all civilized portions of the earth. +The Liverpool merchants, whose far-sighted self-interest prompted to wise +liberality, had accepted the risk of George Stephenson's magnificent +experiment, which the committee of inquiry of the House of Commons had +rejected for the Government. These men, of less intellectual culture +than the Parliament members, had the adventurous imagination proper to +great speculators, which is the poetry of the counting house and wharf, +and were better able to receive the enthusiastic infection of the great +projector's sanguine hope than the Westminster committee. They were +exultant and triumphant at the near completion of the work, though, of +course, not without some misgivings as to the eventual success of the +stupendous enterprise. My father knew several of the gentlemen most +deeply interested in the undertaking, and Stephenson having proposed a +trial trip as far as the fifteen-mile viaduct, they, with infinite +kindness, invited him and permitted me to accompany them: allowing me, +moreover, the place which I felt to be one of supreme honour, by the side +of Stephenson. All that wonderful history, as much more interesting than +a romance as truth is stranger than fiction, which Mr. Smiles's biography +of the projector has given in so attractive a form to the world, I then +heard from his own lips. He was rather a stern-featured man, with a dark +and deeply marked countenance: his speech was strongly inflected with his +native Northumbrian accent, but the fascination of that story told by +himself, while his tame dragon flew panting along his iron pathway with +us, passed the first reading of the Arabian Nights, the incidents of +which it almost seemed to recall. He was wonderfully condescending and +kind, in answering all the questions of my eager ignorance, and I +listened to him with eyes brimful of warm tears of sympathy and +enthusiasm, as he told me of all his alternations of hope and fear, of +his many trials and disappointments, related with fine scorn, how the +"Parliament men" had badgered and baffled him with their book-knowledge, +and how, when at last they had smothered the irrepressible prophecy of +his genius in the quaking depths of Chat Moss, he had exclaimed, 'Did ye +ever see a boat float on water? I will make my road float upon Chat +Moss!' The well-read Parliament men (some of whom, perhaps, wished for +no railways near their parks and pleasure-grounds) could not believe the +miracle, but the shrewd Liverpool merchants, helped to their faith by a +great vision of immense gain, did; and so the railroad was made, and I +took this memorable ride by the side of its maker, and would not have +exchanged the honour and pleasure of it for one of the shares in the +speculation." + + "LIVERPOOL, August 26th, 1830. + +"MY DEAR H--: A common sheet of paper is enough for love, but a foolscap +extra can only contain a railroad and my ecstasies. There was once a man +born at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, who was a common coal-digger; this man had +an immense constructiveness, which displayed itself in pulling his watch +to pieces and putting it together again; in making a pair of shoes when +he happened to be some days without occupation; finally--here there is a +great gap in my story--it brought him in the capacity of an engineer +before a Committee of the House of Commons, with his head full of plans +for constructing a railroad from Liverpool to Manchester. It so happened +that to the quickest and most powerful perceptions and conceptions, to +the most indefatigable industry and perseverance, and the most accurate +knowledge of the phenomena of nature as they affect his peculiar labours, +this man joined an utter want of the 'gift of gab;' he could no more +explain to others what he meant to do and how he meant to do it, than he +could fly, and therefore the members of the House of Commons, after +saying 'There is a rock to be excavated to a depth of more than sixty +feet, there are embankments to be made nearly to the same height, there +is a swamp of five miles in length to be traversed, in which if you drop +an iron rod it sinks and disappears; how will you do all this?' and +receiving no answer but a broad Northumbrian, 'I can't tell you how I'll +do it, but I can tell you I _will_ do it,' dismissed Stephenson as a +visionary. Having prevailed upon a company of Liverpool gentlemen to be +less incredulous, and having raised funds for his great undertaking, in +December of 1826 the first spade was struck in the ground. And now I +will give you an account of my yesterday's excursion. A party of sixteen +persons was ushered into a large court-yard, where, under cover, stood +several carriages of a peculiar construction, one of which was prepared +for our reception. It was a long-bodied vehicle with seats placed across +it back to back; the one we were in had six of these benches, and was a +sort of uncovered _char a banc_. The wheels were placed upon two iron +bands, which formed the road, and to which they are fitted, being so +constructed as to slide along without any danger of hitching or becoming +displaced, on the same principle as a thing sliding on a concave groove. +The carriage was set in motion by a mere push, and, having received this +impetus, rolled with us down an inclined plane into a tunnel, which forms +the entrance to the railroad. This tunnel is four hundred yards long (I +believe), and will be lighted by gas. At the end of it we emerged from +darkness, and, the ground becoming level, we stopped. There is another +tunnel parallel with this, only much wider and longer, for it extends +from the place we had now reached, and where the steam carriages start, +and which is quite out of Liverpool, the whole way under the town, to the +docks. This tunnel is for wagons and other heavy carriages; and as the +engines which are to draw the trains along the railroad do not enter +these tunnels, there is a large building at this entrance which is to be +inhabited by steam engines of a stationary turn of mind, and different +constitution from the travelling ones, which are to propel the trains +through the tunnels to the terminus in the town, without going out of +their houses themselves. The length of the tunnel parallel to the one we +passed through is (I believe) two thousand two hundred yards. I wonder +if you are understanding one word I am saying all this while? We were +introduced to the little engine which was to drag us along the rails. +She (for they make these curious little fire horses all mares) consisted +of a boiler, a stove, a platform, a bench, and behind the bench a barrel +containing enough water to prevent her being thirsty for fifteen +miles,--the whole machine not bigger than a common fire engine. She goes +upon two wheels, which are her feet, and are moved by bright steel legs +called pistons; these are propelled by steam, and in proportion as more +steam is applied to the upper extremities (the hip-joints, I suppose) of +these pistons, the faster they move the wheels; and when it is desirable +to diminish the speed, the steam, which unless suffered to escape would +burst the boiler, evaporates through a safety valve into the air. The +reins, bit, and bridle of this wonderful beast, is a small steel handle, +which applies or withdraws the steam from its legs or pistons, so that a +child might manage it. + +"The coals, which are its oats, were under the bench, and there was a +small glass tube affixed to the boiler, with water in it, which indicates +by its fullness or emptiness when the creature wants water, which is +immediately conveyed to it from its reservoirs. There is a chimney to +the stove, but as they burn coke there is none of the dreadful black +smoke which accompanies the progress of a steam vessel. This snorting +little animal, which I felt rather inclined to pat, was then harnessed to +our carriage, and Mr. Stephenson having taken me on the bench of the +engine with him, we started at about ten miles an hour. The steam horse +being ill adapted for going up and down hill, the road was kept at a +certain level, and appeared sometimes to sink below the surface of the +earth and sometimes to rise above it. Almost at starting it was cut +through the solid rock, which formed a wall on either side of it, about +sixty feet high. You can't imagine how strange it seemed to be +journeying on thus, without any visible cause of progress other than the +magical machine, with its flying white breath and rhythmical, unvarying +pace, between these rocky walls, which are already clothed with moss and +ferns and grasses; and when I reflected that these great masses of stone +had been cut asunder to allow our passage thus far below the surface of +the earth, I felt as if no fairy tale was ever half so wonderful as what +I saw. Bridges were thrown from side to side across the top of these +cliffs, and the people looking down upon us from them seemed like pigmies +standing in the sky. I must be more concise, though, or I shall want +room. We were to go only fifteen miles, that distance being sufficient +to show the speed of the engine, and to take us to the most beautiful and +wonderful object on the road. After proceeding through this rocky +defile, we presently found ourselves raised upon embankments ten or +twelve feet high; we then came to a moss or swamp, of considerable +extent, on which no human foot could tread without sinking, and yet it +bore the road which bore us. This had been the great stumbling-block in +the minds of the committee of the House of Commons; but Mr. Stephenson +has succeeded in overcoming it. A foundation of hurdles, or, as he +called it, basket-work, was thrown over the morass, and the interstices +were filled with moss and other elastic matter. + +"Upon this the clay and soil were laid down, and the road does float, for +we passed over it at the rate of five and twenty miles an hour, and saw +the stagnant swamp water trembling on the surface of the soil on either +side of us. I hope you understand me. The embankment had gradually been +rising higher and higher, and in one place where the soil was not settled +enough to form banks, Stephenson had constructed artificial ones of +woodwork, over which the mounds of earth were heaped, for he said that +though the woodwork would rot, before it did so the banks of earth which +covered it would have been sufficiently consolidated to support the road. +We had now come fifteen miles, and stopped where the road traversed a +wide and deep valley. Stephenson made me alight and led me down to the +bottom of this ravine, over which, in order to keep his road level, he +has thrown a magnificent viaduct of nine arches, the middle one of which +is seventy feet high, through which we saw the whole of this beautiful +little valley. It was lovely and wonderful beyond all words. He here +told me many curious things respecting this ravine; how he believed the +Mersey had once rolled through it; how the soil had proved so unfavorable +for the foundation of his bridge that it was built upon piles, which had +been driven into the earth to an enormous depth; how while digging for a +foundation he had come to a tree bedded in the earth, fourteen feet below +the surface of the ground; how tides are caused, and how another flood +might be caused; all of which I have remembered and noted down at much +greater length than I can enter upon here. He explained to me the whole +construction of the steam engine, and said he could soon make a famous +engineer of me, which, considering the wonderful things he has achieved, +I dare not say is impossible. His way of explaining himself is peculiar, +but very striking, and I understood, without difficulty, all that he said +to me. We then rejoined the rest of the party, and the engine having +received its supply of water, the carriage was placed behind it, for it +cannot turn, and was set off at its utmost speed, thirty-five miles an +hour, swifter than a bird flies (for they tried the experiment with a +snipe). You cannot conceive what that sensation of cutting the air was; +the motion is as smooth as possible, too. I could either have read or +written; and as it was, I stood up, and with my bonnet off 'drank the air +before me.' The wind, which was strong, or perhaps the force of our own +thrusting against it, absolutely weighed my eyelids down. + +"When I closed my eyes this sensation of flying was quite delightful, and +strange beyond description; yet strange as it was, I had a perfect sense +of security, and not the slightest fear. At one time, to exhibit the +power of the engine, having met another steam-carriage which was +unsupplied with water, Mr. Stephenson caused it to be fastened in front +of ours; moreover, a wagon laden with timber was also chained to us, and +thus propelling the idle steam-engine, and dragging the loaded wagon +which was beside it and our own carriage full of people behind, this +brave little she-dragon of ours flew on. Farther on she met three carts, +which, being fastened in front of her, she pushed on before her without +the slightest delay or difficulty; when I add that this pretty little +creature can run with equal facility either backwards or forwards, I +believe I have given you an account of all her capacities. Now for a +word or two about the master of all these marvels, with whom I am most +horribly in love. He is a man from fifty to fifty-five years of age; his +face is fine, though careworn, and bears an expression of deep +thoughtfulness; his mode of explaining his ideas is peculiar and very +original, striking, and forcible; and although his accents indicates +strongly his north country birth, his language has not the slightest +touch of vulgarity or coarseness. He has certainly turned my head. Four +years have sufficed to bring this great undertaking to an end. The +railroad will be opened upon the fifteenth of next month. The Duke of +Wellington is coming down to be present on the occasion, and, I suppose, +what with the thousands of spectators and the novelty of the spectacle, +there will never have been a scene of more striking interest. The whole +cost of the work (including the engines and carriages) will have been +eight hundred and thirty thousand pounds; and it is already worth double +that sum. The directors have kindly offered us three places for the +opening, which is a great favour, for people are bidding almost anything +for a place, I understand." + +Even while Miss Kemble was writing this letter, certainly before it had +reached her correspondent, the official programme of that opening to +which she was so eagerly looking forward was thus referred to in the +Liverpool papers: + +"The day of opening still remains fixed for Wednesday the fifteenth +instant. The company by whom the ceremony is to be performed, is +expected to amount to eight or nine hundred persons, including the Duke +of Wellington and several others of the nobility. They will leave +Liverpool at an early hour in the forenoon, probably ten o'clock, in +carriages drawn by eight or nine engines, including the new engine of +Messrs. Braithwaite and Ericsson, if it be ready in time. The other +engines will be those constructed by Mr. Stephenson, and each of them +will draw about a hundred persons. On their arrival at Manchester, the +company will enter the upper stories of the warehouses by means of a +spacious outside wooden staircase, which is in course of erection for the +purpose by Mr. Bellhouse. The upper storey of the range of warehouses is +divided into five apartments, each measuring sixty-six feet by fifty-six. +In four of these a number of tables (which Mr. Bellhouse is also +preparing) will be placed, and the company will partake of a splendid +cold collation which is to be provided by Mr. Lynn, of the Waterloo +Hotel, Liverpool. A large apartment at the east end of the warehouses +will be reserved as a withdrawing room for the ladies, and is partitioned +off for that purpose. After partaking of the hospitality of the +directors, the company will return to Liverpool in the same order in +which they arrive. We understand that each shareholder in the railway +will be entitled to a seat (transferable) in one of the carriages, on +this interesting and important occasion. It may be proper to state, for +the information of the public, that no one will be permitted to go upon +the railway between Ordsall lane and the warehouses, and parties of the +military and police will be placed to preserve order, and prevent +intrusion. Beyond Ordsall lane, however, the public will be freely +admitted to view the procession as it passes: and no restriction will be +laid upon them farther than may be requisite to prevent them from +approaching too close to the rails, lest accidents should occur. By +extending themselves along either side of the road towards Eccles any +number of people, however great, may be easily accommodated." + +Of the carrying out on the 15th the programme thus carefully laid down, a +contemporaneous reporter has left the following account:-- + +"The town itself [Liverpool] was never so full of strangers; they poured +in during the last and the beginning of the present week from almost all +parts of the three kingdoms, and we believe that through Chester alone, +which is by no means a principal road to Liverpool, four hundred extra +passengers were forwarded on Tuesday. All the inns in the town were +crowded to overflowing, and carriages stood in the streets at night, for +want of room in the stable yards. + +"On the morning of Wednesday the population of the town and of the +country began very early to assemble near the railway. The weather was +favourable, and the Company's station at the boundary of the town was the +rendezvous of the nobility and gentry who attended, to form the +procession at Manchester. Never was there such an assemblage of rank, +wealth, beauty, and fashion in this neighbourhood. From before nine +o'clock until ten the entrance in Crown street was thronged by the +splendid equipages from which the company was alighting, and the area in +which the railway carriages were placed was gradually filling with gay +groups eagerly searching for their respective places, as indicated by +numbers corresponding with those on their tickets. The large and elegant +car constructed for the nobility, and the accompanying cars for the +Directors and the musicians were seen through the lesser tunnel, where +persons moving about at the far end appeared as diminutive as if viewed +through a concave glass. The effect was singular and striking. In a +short time all those cars were brought along the tunnel into the yard +which then contained all the carriages, which were to be attached to the +eight locomotive engines which were in readiness beyond the tunnel in the +great excavation at Edge-hill. By this time the area presented a +beautiful spectacle, thirty-three carriages being filled by elegantly +dressed persons, each train of carriages being distinguished by silk +flags of different colours; the band of the fourth King's Own Regiment, +stationed in the adjoining area, playing military airs, the Wellington +Harmonic Band, in a Grecian car for the procession, performing many +beautiful miscellaneous pieces; and a third band occupying a stage above +Mr. Harding's Grand Stand, at William the Fourth's Hotel, spiritedly +adding to the liveliness of the hour whenever the other bands ceased. + +"A few minutes before ten, the discharge of a gun and the cheers of the +assembly announced the arrival of the Duke of Wellington, who entered the +area with the Marquis and Marchioness of Salisbury and a number of +friends, the band playing 'See the conquering hero comes.' He returned +the congratulations of the company, and in a few moments the grand car, +which he and the nobility and the principal gentry occupied, and the cars +attached to it, were permitted to proceed; we say permitted, because no +applied power, except a slight impulse at first, is requisite to propel +carriages along the tunnel, the slope being just sufficient to call into +effect the principle of gravitation. The tunnel was lighted with gas, +and the motion in passing through it must have been as pleasing as it was +novel to all the party. On arriving at the engine station, the cars were +attached to the _Northumbrian_ locomotive engine, on the southern of the +two lines of rail; and immediately the other trains of carriages started +through the tunnel and were attached to their respective engines on the +northern of the lines. + +"We had the good fortune to have a place in the first train after the +grand cars, which train, drawn by the _Phoenix_, consisted of three open +and two close carriages, each carrying twenty-six ladies and gentlemen. +The lofty banks of the engine station were crowded with thousands of +spectators, whose enthusiastic cheering seemed to rend the air. From +this point to Wavertree-lane, while the procession was forming, the grand +cars passed and repassed the other trains of carriages several times, +running as they did in the same direction on the two parallel tracks, +which gave the assembled thousands and tens of thousands the opportunity +of seeing distinctly the illustrious strangers, whose presence gave +extraordinary interest to the scene. Some soldiers of the 4th Regiment +assisted the railway police in keeping the way clear and preserving +order, and they discharged their duty in a very proper manner. A few +minutes before eleven all was ready for the journey, and certainly a +journey upon a railway is one of the most delightful that can be +imagined. Our first thoughts it might be supposed, from the road being +so level, were that it must be monotonous and uninteresting. It is +precisely the contrary; for as the road does not rise and fall like the +ground over which we pass, but proceeds nearly at a level, whether the +land be high or low, we are at one moment drawn through a hill, and find +ourselves seventy feet below the surface, in an Alpine chasm, and at +another we are as many feet above the green fields, traversing a raised +path, from which we look down upon the roofs of farm houses, and see the +distant hills and woods. These variations give an interest to such a +journey which cannot be appreciated until they are witnessed. The signal +gun being fired, we started in beautiful style, amidst the deafening +plaudits of the well dressed people who thronged the numerous booths, and +all the walls and eminences on both sides the line. Our speed was +gradually increased till, entering the Olive Mountain excavation, we +rushed into the awful chasm at the rate of twenty-four miles an hour. +The banks, the bridges over our heads, and the rude projecting corners +along the sides, were covered with masses of human beings past whom we +glided as if upon the wings of the wind. We soon came into the open +country of Broad Green, having fine views of Huyton and Prescot on the +left, and the hilly grounds of Cheshire on the right. Vehicles of every +description stood in the fields on both sides, and thousands of +spectators still lined the margin of the road; some horses seemed +alarmed, but after trotting with their carriages to the farther hedges, +they stood still as if their fears had subsided. After passing Whiston, +sometimes going slowly, sometimes swiftly, we observed that a vista +formed by several bridges crossing the road gave a pleasing effect to the +view. Under Rainhill Bridge, which, like all the others, was crowded +with spectators, the Duke's car stopped until we passed, and on this, as +on similar occasions, we had excellent opportunities of seeing the whole +of the noble party, distinguishing the Marquis and Marchioness of +Salisbury, the Earl and Countess of Wilton, Lord Stanley, and others, in +the fore part of the car; alongside of the latter part was Mr. Huskisson, +standing with his face always toward us; and further behind was Lord +Hill, and others, among whom the Mayor of Liverpool took his station. At +this place Mr. Bretherton had a large party of friends in a field, +overlooking the road. As we approached the Sutton inclined plane the +Duke's car passed us again at a most rapid rate--it appeared rapid even +to us who were travelling then at, probably, fifteen miles an hour. We +had a fine view of Billings Hill from this neighbourhood, and of a +thousand various coloured fields. A grand stand was here erected, +beautifully decorated, and crowded with ladies and gentlemen from St. +Helen's and the neighbourhood. Entering upon Parr Moss we had a good +view of Newton Race Course and the stands, and at this time the Duke was +far ahead of us; the grand cars appeared actually of diminutive +dimensions, and in a short time we saw them gliding beautifully over the +Sankey Viaduct, from which a scene truly magnificent lay before us. + +"The fields below us were occupied by thousands who cheered us as we +passed over the stupendous edifice; carriages filled the narrow lanes, +and vessels in the water had been detained in order that their crews +might gaze up at the gorgeous pageant passing far above their masts +heads. Here again was a grand stand, and here again enthusiastic +plaudits almost deafened us. Shortly, we passed the borough of Newton, +crossing a fine bridge over the Warrington road, and reached Parkside, +seventeen miles from Liverpool, in about four minutes under the hour. At +this place the engines were ranged under different watering stations to +receive fresh water, the whole extending along nearly half a mile of +road. Our train and two others passed the Duke's car, and we in the +first train had had our engine supplied with water, and were ready to +start, some time before we were aware of the melancholy cause of our +apparently great delay. We had most of us, alighted, and were walking +about, congratulating each other generally, and the ladies particularly, +on the truly delightful treat we were enjoying, all hearts bounding with +joyous excitement, and every tongue eloquent in the praise of the +gigantic work now completed, and the advantages and pleasures it +afforded. A murmur and an agitation at a little distance betokened +something alarming and we too soon learned the nature of that lamentable +event, which we cannot record without the most agonized feelings. On +inquiring, we learnt the dreadful particulars. After three of the +engines with their trains had passed the Duke's carriage, although the +others had to follow, the company began to alight from all the carriages +which had arrived. The Duke of Wellington and Mr. Huskisson had just +shaken hands, and Mr. Huskisson, Prince Esterhazy, Mr. Birch, Mr. H. +Earle, Mr. William Holmes, M.P., and others were standing in the road, +when the other carriages were approaching. An alarm being given, most of +the gentlemen sprang into the carriage, but Mr. Huskisson seemed +flurried, and from some cause, not clearly ascertained, he fell under the +engine of the approaching carriages, the wheel of which shattered his leg +in the most dreadful manner. On being raised from the ground by the Earl +of Wilton, Mr. Holmes, and other gentlemen, his only exclamations +were:--"Where is Mrs. Huskisson? I have met my death. God forgive me." +Immediately after he swooned. Dr. Brandreth, and Dr. Southey, of London, +immediately applied bandages to the limb. In a short time the engine was +detached from the Duke's carriage, and the musician's car being prepared +for the purpose, the Right Honourable gentleman was placed in it, +accompanied by his afflicted lady, with Dr. Brandreth, Dr. Southey, Earl +of Wilton, and Mr. Stephenson, who set off in the direction of +Manchester. + +"The whole of the procession remained at least another hour uncertain +what course to adopt. A consultation was held on the open part of the +road, and the Duke of Wellington was soon surrounded by the Directors, +and a mournful group of gentlemen. At first it was thought advisable to +return to Liverpool, merely despatching one engine and a set of +carriages, to convey home Lady Wilton, and others who did not wish to +return to Liverpool. The Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel seemed +to favour this course; others thought it best to proceed as originally +intended: but no decision was made till the Boroughreeve of Manchester +stated, that if the procession did not reach Manchester, where an +unprecedented concourse of people would be assembled, and would wait for +it, he should be fearful of the consequences to the peace of the town. +This turned the scale, and his Grace then proposed that the whole party +should proceed, and return as soon as possible, all festivity at +Manchester being avoided. The _Phoenix_, with its train, was then +attached to the _North Star_ and its train, and from the two united a +long chain was affixed to his Grace's car, and although it was on the +other line of rail, it was found to draw the whole along exceedingly +well. About half-past one, we resumed our journey; and we should here +mention that the Wigan Branch Railway Company had erected near Parkside +bridge a grand stand, which they and their friends occupied, and from +which they enthusiastically cheered the procession. On reaching the +twentieth mile post we had a beautiful view of Rivington Pike and +Blackstone Edge, and at the twenty-first the smoke of Manchester appeared +to be directly at the termination of our view. Groups of people +continued to cheer us, but we could not reply; our enjoyment was over. +Tyldesley Church, and a vast region of smiling fields here met the eye, +as we traversed the flat surface of Chat Moss, in the midst of which a +vast crowd was assembled to greet us with their plaudits; and from the +twenty-fourth mile post we began to find ourselves flanked on both sides +by spectators extending in a continuous and thickening body all the way +to Manchester. At the twenty-fifth mile post we met Mr. Stephenson +returning with the _Northumbrian_ engine. In answer to innumerable and +eager inquiries, Mr. Stephenson said he had left Mr. Huskisson at the +house of the Rev. Mr. Blackburne, Vicar of Eccles, and had then proceeded +to Manchester, whence he brought back medical assistance, and that the +surgeons, after seeing Mr. Huskisson, had expressed a hope that there was +no danger. Mr. Stephenson's speed had been at the rate of thirty-four +miles an hour during this painful errand. The engine being then again +attached to the Duke's car, the procession dashed forward, passing +countless thousands of people upon house tops, booths, high ground, +bridges, etc., and our readers must imagine, for we cannot describe, such +a movement through an avenue of living beings, and extending six miles in +length. Upon one bridge a tri-colored flag was displayed; near another +the motto of "Vote by ballot" was seen; in a field near Eccles, a poor +and wretchedly dressed man had his loom close to the roadside, and was +weaving with all his might; cries of "No Corn Laws," were occasionally +heard, and for about two miles the cheerings of the crowd were +interspersed with a continual hissing and hooting from the minority. On +approaching the bridge which crosses the Irwell, the 59th regiment was +drawn up, flanking the road on each side, and presenting arms as his +Grace passed along. We reached the warehouses at a quarter before three, +and those who alighted were shown into the large upper rooms where a most +elegant cold collation had been prepared by Mr. Lynn, for more than one +thousand persons. The greater portion of the company, as the carriages +continued to arrive, visited the rooms and partook in silence of some +refreshment. They then returned to their carriages which had been +properly placed for returning. His Grace and the principal party did not +alight; but he went through a most fatiguing office for more than an hour +and a half, in shaking hands with thousands of people, to whom he stooped +over the hand rail of the carriage, and who seemed insatiable in their +desire to join hands with him. Many women brought their children to him, +lifting them up that he might bless them, which he did, and during the +whole time he had scarcely a minute's respite. At half-past four the +Duke's car began to move away for Liverpool. + +"They would have been detained a little longer, in order that three of +the engines, which had been to Eccles for water, might have dropped into +the rear to take their places; but Mr. Lavender represented that the +crowd was so thickening in upon all sides, and becoming so clamorous for +admission into the area, that he would not answer for the peace of the +town, if further delay took place. The three engines were on the same +line of rail as the Duke, and they could not cross to the other line +without getting to a turning place, and as the Duke could not be delayed +on account of his keeping the crowd together, there was no alternative +but to send the engines forward. One of the other engines was then +attached to our train, and we followed the Duke rapidly, while the six +trains behind had only three engines left to bring them back. Of course, +we kept pace with the Duke, who stopped at Eccles to inquire after Mr. +Huskisson. The answer received was that there was now no hope of his +life being saved; and this intelligence plunged the whole party into +still deeper distress. We proceeded without meeting any fresh incident +until we passed Prescot, where we found two of the three engines at the +6.5 mile post, where a turning had been effected, but the third had gone +on to Liverpool; we then detached the one we had borrowed, and the three +set out to meet the six remaining trains of carriages. Our carriages +were then connected with the grand cars, the engine of which now drew the +whole number of nine carriages, containing nearly three hundred persons, +at a very smart rate. We were now getting into vast crowds of people, +most of them ignorant of the dreadful event which had taken place, and +all of them giving us enthusiastic cheers which we could not return. + +"At Roby, his Grace and the Childwalls alighted and proceeded home; our +carriages then moved forward to Liverpool, where we arrived about seven +o'clock, and went down the great tunnel, under the town, a part of the +work which, more than any other, astonished the numerous strangers +present. It is, indeed, a wonderful work, and makes an impression never +to be effaced from the memory. The Company's yard, from St. James's +Street to Wapping, was filled with carriages waiting for the returning +parties, who separated with feelings of mingled gratification and +distress, to which we shall not attempt to give utterance. We afterwards +learnt that the parties we left at Manchester placed the three remaining +engines together, and all the carriages together, so as to form one grand +procession, including twenty-four carriages, and were coming home at a +steady pace, when they were met near Newton, by the other three engines, +which were then attached to the rest, and they arrived in Liverpool about +ten o'clock. + +"Thus ended a pageant which, for importance as to its object and grandeur +in its details, is admitted to have exceeded anything ever witnessed. We +conversed with many gentlemen of great experience in public life, who +spoke of the scene as surpassing anything they had ever beheld, and who +computed, upon data which they considered to be satisfactory, that not +fewer than 500,000 persons must have been spectators of the procession." + +So far from being a success, the occasion was, after the accident to Mr. +Huskisson, such a series of mortifying disappointments and the Duke of +Wellington's experience at Manchester had been so very far removed from +gratifying that the directors of the company felt moved to exonerate +themselves from the load of censure by an official explanation. This +they did in the following language:-- + +"On the subject of delay which took place in the starting from +Manchester, and consequently in the arrival at Liverpool, of the last +three engines, with twenty-four carriages and six hundred passengers, +being the train allotted to six of the engines, we are authorized to +state that the directors think it due to the proprietors and others +constituting the large assemblage of company in the above trains to make +known the following particulars: + +"Three out of the six locomotive engines which belonged to the above +trains had proceeded on the south road from Manchester to Eccles, to take +in water, with the intention of returning to Manchester, and so getting +out of that line of road before any of the trains should start on their +return home. Before this, however, was accomplished, the following +circumstances seemed to render it imperative for the train of carriages +containing the Duke of Wellington and a great many of the distinguished +visitors to leave Manchester. The eagerness on the part of the crowd to +see the Duke, and to shake hands with him, was very great, so much so +that his Grace held out both his hands to the pressing multitude at the +same time; the assembling crowd becoming more dense every minute, closely +surrounded the carriages, as the principal attraction was this particular +train. The difficulty of proceeding at all increased every moment and +consequently the danger of accident upon the attempt being made to force +a way through the throng also increased. At this juncture Mr. Lavender, +the head of the police establishment of Manchester, interfered, and +entreated that the Duke's train should move on, or he could not answer +for the consequences. Under these circumstances, and the day being well +advanced, it was thought expedient at all events to move forward while it +was still practicable to do so. The order was accordingly given, and the +train passed along out of the immediate neighbourhood of Manchester +without accident to anyone. When they had proceeded a few miles they +fell in with the engines belonging to the trains left at Manchester, and +these engines being on the same line as the carriages of the procession, +there was no alternative but bringing the Duke's train back through the +dense multitude to Manchester, or proceeding with three extra engines to +the neighbourhood of Liverpool (all passing places from one road to the +other being removed, with a view to safety, on the occasion), and +afterwards sending them back to the assistance of the trains +unfortunately left behind. It was determined to proceed towards +Liverpool, as being decidedly the most advisable course under the +circumstances of the case; and it may be mentioned for the satisfaction +of any party who may have considered that he was in some measure left in +the lurch, that Mr. Moss, the Deputy Chairman, had left Mrs. Moss and +several of his family to come with the trains which had been so left +behind. Three engines having to draw a load calculated for six, their +progress was of course much retarded, besides a considerable delay which +took place before the starting of the last trains, owing to the +uncertainty which existed as to what had become of the three missing +engines. These engines, after proceeding to within a few miles of +Liverpool, were enabled to return to Park-side, in the neighbourhood of +Newton, where they were attached to the other three and the whole +proceeding safely to Liverpool, where they arrived at ten in the +evening." + +The case was, however, here stated, to say the least, in the mildest +possible manner. The fact was that the authorities at Manchester had, +and not without reason, passed a very panic-stricken hour on account of +the Duke of Wellington. That personage had been in a position of no +inconsiderable peril. Though the reporter preserved a decorous silence +on that point, the ministerial car had on the way been pelted, as well as +hooted; and at Manchester a vast mass of not particularly well disposed +persons had fairly overwhelmed both police and soldiery, and had taken +complete possession of the tracks. They were not riotous but they were +very rough; and they insisted on climbing upon the carriages and pressing +their attentions on the distinguished inmates in a manner somewhat at +variance with English ideas of propriety. The Duke's efforts at +conciliatory manners, as evinced through much hand-shaking, were not +without significance. It was small matter for wonder, therefore, that +the terrified authorities, before they got him out of their town, +heartily regretted that they had not allowed him to have his own way +after the accident to Mr. Huskisson, when he proposed to turn back +without coming to it. Having once got him safely started back to +Liverpool, therefore, they preferred to leave the other guests to take +care of themselves, rather than have the Duke face the crowd again. As +there were no sidings on that early road, and the connections between the +tracks had, as a measure of safety, been temporarily removed, the +ministerial train in moving towards Liverpool had necessarily pushed +before it the engines belonging to the other trains. The unfortunate +guests on those other trains, thus left to their fate, had for the rest +of the day a very dreary time of it. To avoid accidents, the six trains +abandoned at Manchester were united into one, to which were attached the +three locomotives remaining. In this form they started. Presently the +strain broke the couplings. Pieces of rope were then put in requisition, +and again they got in motion. In due time the three other engines came +along, but they could only be used by putting them on in front of the +three already attached to the train. Two of them were used in that way, +and the eleven cars thus drawn by five locomotives, and preceded at a +short distance by one other, went on towards Liverpool. It was dark, and +to meet the exigencies of the occasion the first germ of the present +elaborate system of railroad night signals was improvised on the spot. +From the foremost and pioneer locomotive obstacles were signalled to the +train locomotives by the very primitive expedient of swinging the lighted +end of a tar-rope. At Rainhill the weight of the train proved too much +for the combined motive-power, and the thoroughly wearied passengers had +to leave their carriages and walk up the incline. When they got to the +summit and, resuming their seats, were again in motion, fresh delay was +occasioned by the leading locomotive running into a wheel-barrow, +maliciously placed on the track to obstruct it. Not until ten o'clock +did they enter the tunnel at Liverpool. Meanwhile all sorts of rumours +of general disaster had for hours been circulating among the vast +concourse of spectators who were assembled waiting for their friends, and +whose relief expressed itself in hearty cheers as the train at last +rolled safely into the station. + +We have also Miss Kemble's story of this day, to which in her letter of +August 25th she had looked forward with such eager interest. With her +father and mother she had been staying at a country place in Lancashire, +and in her account of the affair, written in 1876, she says:-- + +"The whole gay party assembled at Heaton, my mother and myself included, +went to Liverpool for the opening of the railroad. The throng of +strangers gathered there for the same purpose made it almost impossible +to obtain a night's lodging for love or money; and glad and thankful were +we to put up with and be put up in a tiny garret by an old friend, Mr. +Radley, of the Adelphi, which many would have given twice what we paid to +obtain. The day opened gloriously, and never was an innumerable +concourse of sight-seers in better humour than the surging, swaying crowd +that lined the railroad with living faces. . . After this disastrous +event [the accident to Mr. Huskisson] the day became overcast, and as we +neared Manchester the sky grew cloudy and dark, and it began to rain. +The vast concourse of people who had assembled to witness the triumphant +arrival of the successful travellers was of the lowest order of mechanics +and artisans, among whom great distress and a dangerous spirit of +discontent with the government at that time prevailed. Groans and hisses +greeted the carriage, full of influential personages, in which the Duke +of Wellington sat. High above the grim and grimy crowd of scowling faces +a loom had been erected, at which sat a tattered, starved-looking weaver, +evidently set there as a _representative man_, to protest against this +triumph of machinery, and the gain and glory which the wealthy Liverpool +and Manchester men were likely to derive from it. The contrast between +our departure from Liverpool and our arrival at Manchester was one of the +most striking things I ever witnessed. + + MANCHESTER, _September_ 20_th_, 1830. + +MY DEAREST H--: + + * * * * * + +"You probably have by this time heard and read accounts of the opening of +the railroad, and the fearful accident which occurred at it, for the +papers are full of nothing else. The accident you mention did occur, but +though the unfortunate man who was killed bore Mr. Stephenson's name, he +was not related to him. [Besides Mr. Huskisson, another man named +Stephenson had about this time been killed on the railroad]. I will tell +you something of the events on the fifteenth, as though you may be +acquainted with the circumstances of poor Mr. Huskisson's death, none but +an eye-witness of the whole scene can form a conception of it. I told +you that we had had places given to us, and it was the main purpose of +our returning from Birmingham to Manchester to be present at what +promised to be one of the most striking events in the scientific annals +of our country. We started on Wednesday last, to the number of about +eight hundred people, in carriages constructed as I before described to +you. The most intense curiosity and excitement prevailed, and though the +weather was uncertain, enormous masses of densely packed people lined the +road, shouting and waving hats and handkerchiefs as we flew by them. +What with the sight and sound of these cheering multitudes and the +tremendous velocity with which we were borne past them, my spirits rose +to the true champagne height, and I never enjoyed anything so much as the +first hour of our progress. I had been unluckily separated from my +mother in the first distribution of places, but by an exchange of seats +which she was enabled to make she rejoined me, when I was at the height +of my ecstasy, which was considerably damped by finding that she was +frightened to death, and intent upon nothing but devising means of +escaping from a situation which appeared to her to threaten with instant +annihilation herself and all her travelling companions. While I was +chewing the cud of this disappointment, which was rather bitter, as I +expected her to be as delighted as myself with our excursion, a man flew +by us, calling out through a speaking trumpet to stop the engine, for +that somebody in the directors' car had sustained an injury. We were all +stopped accordingly and presently a hundred voices were heard exclaiming +that Mr. Huskisson was killed. The confusion that ensued is +indescribable; the calling out from carriage to carriage to ascertain the +truth, the contrary reports which were sent back to us, the hundred +questions eagerly uttered at once, and the repeated and urgent demands +for surgical assistance, created a sudden turmoil that was quite +sickening. At last we distinctly ascertained that the unfortunate man's +thigh was broken. + +"From Lady W--, who was in the duke's carriage, and within three yards of +the spot where the accident happened, I had the following details, the +horror of witnessing which we were spared through our situation behind +the great carriage. The engine had stopped to take in a supply of water, +and several of the gentlemen in the directors' carriage had jumped out to +look about them. Lord W--, Count Batthyany, Count Matuscenitz, and Mr. +Huskisson among the rest were standing talking in the middle of the road, +when an engine on the other line, which was parading up and down merely +to show its speed, was seen coming down upon them like lightning. The +most active of those in peril sprang back into their seats; Lord W-- +saved his life only by rushing behind the duke's carriage, Count +Matuscenitz had but just leaped into it, with the engine all but touching +his heels as he did so; while poor Mr. Huskisson, less active from the +effects of age and ill health, bewildered too by the frantic cries of +'Stop the engine: Clear the track!' that resounded on all sides, +completely lost his head, looked helplessly to the right and left, and +was instantaneously prostrated by the fatal machine, which dashed down +like a thunderbolt upon him, and passed over his leg, smashing and +mangling it in the most horrible way. (Lady W-- said she distinctly +heard the crushing of the bone). So terrible was the effect of the +appalling accident that except that ghastly 'crushing' and poor Mrs. +Huskisson's piercing shriek, not a sound was heard or a word uttered +among the immediate spectators of the catastrophe. Lord W-- was the +first to raise the poor sufferer, and calling to his aid his surgical +skill, which is considerable, he tied up the severed artery, and for a +time at least, prevented death by a loss of blood. Mr. Huskisson was +then placed in a carriage with his wife and Lord W--, and the engine +having been detached from the directors' carriage, conveyed them to +Manchester. So great was the shock produced on the whole party by this +event that the Duke of Wellington declared his intention not to proceed, +but to return immediately to Liverpool. However, upon its being +represented to him that the whole population of Manchester had turned out +to witness the procession, and that a disappointment might give rise to +riots and disturbances, he consented to go on, and gloomily enough the +rest of the journey was accomplished. We had intended returning to +Liverpool by the railroad, but Lady W--, who seized upon me in the midst +of the crowd, persuaded us to accompany her home, which we gladly did. +Lord W-- did not return till past ten o'clock, at which hour he brought +the intelligence of Mr. Huskisson's death. I need not tell you of the +sort of whispering awe which this event threw over our circle; and yet +great as was the horror excited by it, I could not help feeling how +evanescent the effect of it was, after all. The shuddering terror of +seeing our fellow-creature thus struck down by our side, and the +breathless thankfulness for our own preservation, rendered the first +evening of our party at Heaton almost solemn; but the next day the +occurrence became a subject of earnest, it is true, but free discussion; +and after that was alluded to with almost as little apparent feeling as +if it had not passed under our eyes, and within the space of a few +hours." + + + + +MRS. BLACKBURNE'S PRESENTIMENT. + + +Miss Kemble was mistaken in stating Mr. Huskisson after his accident was +removed to Manchester. He was conveyed to the vicarage, at Eccles, near +Manchester. Of the vicar's wife, Dean Stanley's mother thus writes, +(January 17, 1832,):--"There is one person who interests me very much, +Mrs. Tom Blackburne, the Vicaress of Eccles, who received poor Mr. +Huskisson, and immortalised herself by her activity, sense, and conduct +throughout." A writer in the _Cornhill Magazine_, for March, 1884, +referring to the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, +remarks:--"In celebration of this experiment, for even then most people +only looked upon it as a doubtful thing, the houses of the adjacent parts +of Lancashire were filled with guests. Mr. John Blackburne, M.P., asked +his brother and sister-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Blackburne, to stay at +Hale Hall, near Liverpool, (which his ancestors in the direct line had +possessed since 1199,) and to go with his party to the ceremony and fetes +of the day. + +The invitation was accepted, and Mr. and Mrs. Blackburne went to Hale. +Now, however, occurred one of those strange circumstances utterly +condemned by critics of fiction as 'unreal,' 'unnatural,' or +'impossible;' only in this case it happened to be true, in spite of all +these epithets. Mrs. Blackburne, rather strong-minded than otherwise, at +all events one of the last women in the world to be affected by +imagination, became possessed by an unmistakable presentiment, which made +her feel quite sure _that her presence was required at home_; _and she +went home at once_. There were difficulties in her way; every carriage +was required, but she would go. She drove to Warrington, and from thence +'took boat' up the Irwell to Eccles. Canal boats were then regular +conveyances, divided into first and second classes. There were no mobs +or excitement anywhere on the 14th, and Mrs. Blackburne got quickly to +Eccles without any adventures. When there, except that one of her +children was unwell, she could find nothing wrong, or in the least likely +to account for the presentiment which had driven her home in spite of all +the natural enough, ridicule of her husband and friends at Hale. + +Early on the morning of the 15th, an incident occurred, the narration of +which may throw some light on the temper of the times. Mr. Barton, of +Swinton, came to say that a mob was expected to come from Oldham to +attack the Duke of Wellington, then at the height of his unpopularity +among the masses; for just by Eccles three miles of the line was left +unguarded, 'Could Mr. Blackburne say what was to be done?' + +'My husband is away,' said the Vicaress, 'but I know that about fifty +special constables were out last year, the very men for this work, if +their licenses have not expired.' + +'Never mind licenses,' replied Mr. Barton, with a superb indifference to +form, quite natural under the circumstances. 'Where can I find the men?' + +'Oh,' replied Mrs. Blackburne, 'I can get the men for you.' + +Mr. Barton hesitated, but soon with gratitude accepted the offer, and +with the help of the churchwardens and constables 'a guard for the Duke' +was soon collected on the bridge of Eccles, armed with staves and clubs +to be dispersed along the line. + +This done, she had a tent put up for herself and children, with whom were +Lord Wilton's little daughters, the Ladies Elizabeth and Katherine +Egerton, and their governess. The tent was just above the cutting and +looked down on to it, and they would have a good view of the first train, +expected to pass about eleven o'clock. The morning wore on, the crowds +were increasing, and low murmurs of wonder were heard. It was thought +that the experiment had failed. A few of the villagers came into the +field, but none troubled the little band of watchers. The bright +sunshine had passed away, and it had become dark, with large hot drops of +rain, forerunners of a coming thunderstorm. The people lined the whole +of the way from Manchester to Liverpool, and, as far as the eye could +reach, faces were seen anxiously looking towards Liverpool. Suddenly a +strange roar was heard from the crowd, not a cheer of triumph, but a +prolonged wail, beginning at the furthest point of travelling along the +swarming banks like the incoming swirl of a breaker as it runs upon a +gravelled beach. + +Like a true woman, her first thought was for her husband, as Mrs. +Blackburne heard the words repeated on all sides, 'An accident!' 'The +Vicarage!' She flew across the field to the gate and met a sad +procession bringing in a sorely-wounded yet quite conscious man. She saw +in a moment that he had medals on his coat, and had been very tall, so +that it could not be as she feared. The relief of that moment may be +imagined. Then the quiet presence of mind, by practice habitual to her, +and the ready flow of sympathy left her no time to think of anything but +the sufferer, who said to her pathetically, 'I shall not trouble you +long!' She had not only the will but the power to help, even to +supplying from her own medicine chest and stores, kept for the poor, +everything that the surgeons required. + +It was Lord Wilton who suggested the removal of Mr. Huskisson to Eccles +Vicarage and improvised a tourniquet on the spot, while soon the medical +men who were in the train did what they could for him. Mr. Blackburne, +as will be remembered, was not with his wife, and only the presentiment +which had brought Mrs. Blackburne home had given the means of so readily +and quickly obtaining surgical necessaries and rest. Mr. Blackburne, +writing to his mother-in-law the day after this accident, referring to +Mr. Huskisson, remarks:--"To the last he retained his senses. Lord +Granville says when the dying man heard Wilton propose to take him to +this house he exclaimed, 'Pray take me there; there I shall indeed be +taken care of.' + +But fancy my horror! _Not one word did I know of his being here till I +had passed the place_, _and was literally eating my luncheon at +Manchester_! In vain did I try to get a conveyance, till at last the +Duke of Wellington sent to me and ordered his car to start, and I came +with him back, he intending to come here; but the crowd was so _immense_ +that the police dared not let him get out. To be sure, when my people on +the bridge saw me standing with him, they did shout, 'That's as it should +be--Vicar for us!' He said, 'These people seem to know you well.' + +_Entre nous_, at the door I met my love, and after a good cry (I don't +know which was the greatest fool!) set to work. The poor fellow was glad +to see me, and never shall I forget the scene, his poor wife holding his +head, and the great men weeping, for they all wept! He then received the +Sacrament, added some codocils to his will, and seemed perfectly +resigned. But his agonies were dreadful! Ransome says they must have +been so. He expired at nine. We never left him till he breathed his +last. Poor woman! How she lamented his loss; yet her struggles to bear +with fortitude are wonderful. I wish you could have heard him exclaim, +after my petition 'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive . . . ' 'I +have not the smallest ill-will to any one person in the whole world.' +They stay here until Saturday, when they begin the sad journey to convey +him to Sussex. They wanted to bury him at Liverpool, but she refused. I +forgot to tell you that he told Lawrence before starting that he _wished +he were safe back_." + +Mr. Huskisson was not buried at Chichester, for at last Mrs. Huskisson +consented to the popular wish that his body might have a public funeral +at Liverpool, where a statue of him by Gibson now stands in the +cemetery." + + + + +ELEVATED SIGHT-SEERS WISHING TO DESCEND. + + +Sir J. A. Picton, in his _Memorials of Liverpool_, relates an amusing +incident connected with the opening of the railway at that town. "On the +opening of the railway," he remarks, "of course, every point and 'coin of +vantage' from whence the procession could be best seen was eagerly +availed of. A tolerably high chimney had recently been built upon the +railway ground, affording a sufficient platform on the scaffolding at the +top for the accommodation of two or three persons. Two gentlemen +connected with the engineer's department took advantage of this crowning +eminence to obtain a really 'bird's eye view' of the whole proceedings. +They were wound up by the tackle used in hoisting the bricks, and enjoyed +the perspective from their airy height to their hearts' content. When +all was over they, of course, wished to descend, and gave the signal to +be let down again, but alas! there was no response. The man in charge, +excited by the events of the day, confused by the sorrowful news by which +it was closed, and, it may be, oblivious from other causes, had utterly +forgotten his engagement and gone home. Here was a prospect! The shades +of evening were gathering, the multitudes departing, and every +probability of being obliged to act the part of St. Simeon of Stylites +very involuntarily. Despair added force and strength to their lungs, and +at length--their condition and difficulty having attracted +attention--they were relieved from their unpleasant predicament." + + + + +THE DUKE'S CARRIAGE. + + +A correspondent of the _Athenaeum_, in 1830, speaking of the carriage +prepared for the Duke of Wellington at the opening of the Liverpool and +Manchester Railway, remarks: "It rather resembled an eastern pavilion +than anything our northern idea considers a carriage. The floor is 32 +feet long by 8 wide, gilt pillars support a crimson canopy 24 feet long, +and it might for magnitude be likened to the car of Juggernaut; yet this +huge machine, with the preceding steam engine, moved along at its own +fiery will even more swimmingly, a 'thing of heart and mind,' than a ship +on the ocean." + + + + +LORD BROUGHAM'S SPEECH. + + +At a dinner given at Liverpool in celebration of the opening of the +Liverpool and Manchester Railway, Lord Brougham thus discourses upon the +memorable event and the death of Mr. Huskisson:--"When I saw the +difficulties of space, as it were, overcome; when I beheld a kind of +miracle exhibited before my astonished eyes; when I saw the rocks +excavated and the gigantic power of man penetrating through miles of the +solid mass, and gaining a great, a lasting, an almost perennial conquest +over the powers of nature by his skill and industry; when I contemplated +all this, was it possible for me to avoid the reflections which crowded +into my mind, not in praise of man's great success, not in admiration of +the genius and perseverance he had displayed, or even of the courage he +had shown in setting himself against the obstacles that matter afforded +to his course--no! but the melancholy reflection that these prodigious +efforts of the human race, so fruitful of praise but so much more +fruitful of lasting blessing to mankind, have forced a tear from my eye +by that unhappy casualty which deprived me of a friend and you of a +representative!" + + + + +AN EARLY RIDE ON THE LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY. + + +No account of its first beginnings would, however, be complete for our +time, which did not also give an idea of the impressions produced on one +travelling over it before yet the novelty of the thing had quite worn +away. It was a long time, comparatively, after September, 1830, before +the men who had made a trip over the railroad ceased to be objects of +deep curiosity. Here is the account of his experience by one of these +far-travelled men, with all its freshness still lingering about it:-- + +"Although the whole passage between Liverpool and Manchester is a series +of enchantments, surpassing any in the Arabian Nights, because they are +realities, not fictions, yet there are epochs in the transit which are +peculiarly exciting. These are the startings, the ascents, the descents, +the tunnels, the Chat Moss, the meetings. At the instant of starting, or +rather before, the automaton belches forth an explosion of steam, and +seems for a second or two quiescent. But quickly the explosions are +reiterated, with shorter and shorter intervals, till they become too +rapid to be counted, though still distinct. These belchings or +explosions more nearly resemble the pantings of a lion or tiger, than any +sound that has ever vibrated on my ear. During the ascent they become +slower and slower, till the automaton actually labours like an animal out +of breath, from the tremendous efforts to gain the highest point of +elevation. The progression is proportionate; and before the said point +is gained, the train is not moving faster than a horse can pace. With +the slow motion of the mighty and animated machine, the breathing becomes +more laborious, the growl more distinct, till at length the animal +appears exhausted and groans like the tiger, when overpowered in combat +by the buffalo. + +"The moment that the height is reached and the descent commences, the +pantings rapidly increase; the engine with its train starts off with +augmenting velocity; and in a few seconds it is flying down the declivity +like lightning, and with a uniform growl or roar, like a continuous +discharge of distant artillery. + +"At this period, the whole train is going at the rate of thirty-five or +forty miles an hour! I was on the outside, and in front of the first +carriage, just over the engine. The scene was magnificent, I had almost +said terrific. Although it was a dead calm the wind appeared to be +blowing a hurricane, such was the velocity with which we darted through +the air. Yet all was steady; and there was something in the precision of +the machinery that inspired a degree of confidence over fear--of safety +over danger. A man may travel from the Pole to the Equator, from the +Straits of Malacca to the Isthmus of Darien, and he will see nothing so +astonishing as this. The pangs of Etna and Vesuvius excite feelings of +horror as well as of terror; the convulsion of the elements during a +thunderstorm carries with it nothing but pride, much less of pleasure, to +counteract the awe inspired by the fearful workings of perturbed nature; +but the scene which is here presented, and which I cannot adequately +describe, engenders a proud consciousness of superiority in human +ingenuity, more intense and convincing than any effort or product of the +poet, the painter, the philosopher, or the divine. The projections or +transits of the train through the tunnels or arches are very +electrifying. The deafening peal of thunder, the sudden immersion in +gloom, and the clash of reverberated sounds in confined space combine to +produce a momentary shudder or idea of destruction--a thrill of +annihilation, which is instantly dispelled on emerging into the cheerful +light. + +"The meetings or crossings of the steam trains flying in opposite +directions are scarcely less agitating to the nerves than their transits +through the tunnels. The velocity of their course, the propinquity or +apparent identity of the iron orbits along which these meteors move, call +forth the involuntary but fearful thought of a possible collision, with +all its horrible consequences. The period of suspense, however, though +exquisitely painful, is but momentary; and in a few seconds the object of +terror is far out of sight behind. + +"Nor is the rapid passage across Chat Moss unworthy of notice. The +ingenuity with which two narrow rods of iron are made to bear whole +trains of wagons, laden with many hundred tons of commerce, and bounding +across a wide, semi-fluid morass, previously impassable by man or beast, +is beyond all praise and deserving of eternal record. Only conceive a +slender bridge of two minute iron rails, several miles in length, level +as Waterloo, elastic as whalebone, yet firm as adamant! Along this +splendid triumph of human genius--this veritable _via triumphalis_--the +train of carriages bounds with the velocity of the stricken deer; the +vibrations of the resilient moss causing the ponderous engine and its +enormous suite to glide along the surface of an extensive quagmire as +safely as a practiced skater skims the icy mirror of a frozen lake. + +"The first class or train is the most fashionable, but the second or +third are the most amusing. I travelled one day from Liverpool to +Manchester in the lumber train. Many of the carriages were occupied by +the swinish multitude, and others by a multitude of swine. These last +were naturally vociferous if not eloquent. It is evident that the other +passengers would have been considerably annoyed by the orators of this +last group, had there not been stationed in each carriage an officer +somewhat analogous to the Usher of the Black Rod, but whose designation +on the railroad I found to be 'Comptroller of the Gammon.' No sooner did +one of the long-faced gentlemen raise his note too high, or wag his jaw +too long, than the 'Comptroller of the Gammon' gave him a whack over the +snout with the butt end of his shillelagh; a snubber which never failed +to stop his oratory for the remainder of the journey." + +To one familiar with the history of railroad legislation the last +paragraph is peculiarly significant. For years after the railroad system +was inaugurated, and until legislation was invoked to compel something +better, the companies persisted in carrying passengers of the third class +in uncovered carriages, exposed to all weather, and with no more +decencies or comforts than were accorded to swine. + + + + +EARLY RAILWAY TRAVELLING. + + +A writer in _Notes and Queries_ remarks:--"On looking over a diary kept +by my father during two journeys northward in 1830-31, I thought the +readers might be amused with his account of what he saw of railway +travelling, then in its infancy:-- + +"Monday, Oct. 11, 1830, Darlington.--Walked to the railroad, which comes +within half-a-mile of the town. Saw a steam engine drawing about +twenty-five wagons, each containing about two tons and a half of coals. +A single horse draws four such wagons. I went to Stockton at four +o'clock by coach on the railroad; one horse draws about twenty-four +passengers. I did not like it at all, for the road is very ugly in +appearance, and, being only one line with occasional turns for passing, +we were sometimes obliged to wait, and at other times to be drawn back, +so that we were full two hours going eleven miles, and they are often +more than three hours. There is no other conveyance, as the cheapness +has driven the stage-coaches off the road. I only paid 1s. for eleven +miles. The motion was very unpleasant--a continual jolting and +disagreeable noise." + +On Sept. 1, 1831, he remarks:--"The railroad to Stockton has been +improved since I was here, as they are now laying down a second line." + +"Wednesday, Oct. 27, 1830.--Left Manchester at ten o'clock by the +railroad for Liverpool. We enter upon it by a staircase through the +office from the street at present, but there will, I suppose, be an open +entrance, by-and-bye; they have built extensive warehouses adjoining. We +were two hours and a half going to Liverpool (about thirty-two miles), +and I must think the advantages have been a good deal overrated, for, +prejudice apart, I think most people will allow that expedition is the +only real advantage gained; the road itself is ugly, though curious and +wonderful as a work of art. Near Liverpool it is cut very deeply through +rock, and there is a long tunnel which leads into a yard where omnibusses +wait to convey passengers to the inns. The tunnel is too low for the +engines at present in use, and the carriages are drawn through it by +donkeys. The engines are calculated to draw fifty tons. . . I cannot +say that I at all liked it; the speed was too great to be pleasant, and +makes you rather giddy, and certainly it is not smoother and easier than +a good turnpike road. When the carriages stop or go on, a very violent +jolting takes place, from the ends of the carriages jostling together. I +have heard many say they prefer a horse-coach, but the majority are in +favour of the railroad, and they will, no doubt, knock up the coaches." + +"Monday, Sept. 12, 1831.--Left Manchester by coach at ten o'clock, and +arrived in Liverpool at half-past two. . . The railroad is not supposed +to answer vastly well, but they are making a branch to Warrington, which +will hurt the Sankey Navigation, and throw 1,500 men out of employment; +these people are said to be loud in their execrations of it, and to +threaten revenge. It is certain the proprietors do not all feel easy +about it, as one living at Warrington has determined never to go by it, +and was coming to Liverpool by our coach if there had been room. He +would gladly sell his shares. A dividend of 4 per cent. had been paid +for six months, but money had been borrowed. . . . Charge for tonnage of +goods, 10s. for thirty-two miles, which appears very dear to me." + + + + +CRABB ROBINSON'S FIRST RAILWAY JOURNEY. + + +"June 9th, 1833.--(Liverpool). At twelve o'clock I got upon an omnibus, +and was driven up a steep hill to the place where the steam carriages +start. We travelled in the second class of carriages. There were five +carriages linked together, in each of which were placed open seats for +the travellers, four or five facing each other; but not all were full; +and, besides, there was a close carriage, and also a machine for luggage. +The fare was four shillings for the thirty-one miles. Everything went on +so rapidly that I had scarcely the power of observation. The road begins +at an excavation through a rock, and is to a certain extent insulated +from the adjacent country. It is occasionally placed on bridges, and +frequently intersected by ordinary roads. Not quite a perfect level is +preserved. On setting off there is a slight jolt, arising from the chain +catching each carriage, but, once in motion, we proceeded as smoothly as +possible. For a minute or two the pace is gentle, and is constantly +varying. The machine produces little smoke or steam. First in order is +the tall chimney; then the boiler, a barrel-like vessel; then an oblong +reservoir of water; then a vehicle for coals; and then comes, of a length +infinitely extendible, the train of carriages. If all the seats had been +filled, our train would have carried about 150 passengers; but a +gentleman assured me at Chester that he went with a thousand persons to +Newton fair. There must have been two engines then. I have heard since +that two thousand persons or more went to and from the fair that day. +But two thousand only, at three shillings each way, would have produced +600 pounds! But, after all, the expense is so great that it is +considered uncertain whether the establishment will ultimately remunerate +the proprietors. Yet I have heard that it already yields the +shareholders a dividend of nine per cent. And Bills have passed for +making railroads between London and Birmingham, and Birmingham and +Liverpool. What a change it will produce in the intercourse! One +conveyance will take between 100 and 200 passengers, and the journey will +be made in a forenoon! Of the rapidity of the journey I had better +experience on my return; but I may say now that, stoppages included, it +may certainly be made at the rate of twenty miles an hour. + +"I should have observed before that the most remarkable movements of the +journey are those in which trains pass one another. The rapidity is such +that there is no recognizing the features of a traveller. On several +occasions, the noise of the passing engine was like the whizzing of a +rocket. Guards are stationed in the road, holding flags, to give notice +to the drivers when to stop. Near Newton I noticed an inscription +recording the memorable death of Huskisson." + + --_Crabb Robinson's Diary_. + + + + +EARLY AMERICAN RAILWAY ENTERPRISE. + + +Mr. C. F. Adams, in his work on _Railroads_: _Their Origin and Problems_, +remarks:--"There is, indeed, some reason for believing that the South +Carolina Railroad was the first ever constructed in any country with a +definite plan of operating it exclusively by locomotive steam power. But +in America there was not--indeed, from the very circumstances of the +case, there could not have been--any such dramatic occasions and +surprises as those witnessed at Liverpool in 1829 and 1830. +Nevertheless, the people of Charleston were pressing close on the heels +of those at Liverpool, for on the 15th of January, 1831--exactly four +months after the formal opening of the Manchester and Liverpool road--the +first anniversary of the South Carolina Railroad was celebrated with due +honor. A queer-looking machine, the outline of which was sufficient in +itself to prove that the inventor owed nothing to Stephenson, had been +constructed at the West Point Foundry Works in New York during the summer +of 1830--a first attempt to supply that locomotive power which the Board +had, with sublime confidence in possibilities, unanimously voted on the +14th of the preceding January should alone be used on the road. The name +of _Best Friend_ was given to this very simple product of native genius. +The idea of the multitubular boiler had not yet suggested itself in +America. The _Best Friend_, therefore, was supplied with a common +vertical boiler, 'in form of an old-fashioned porter-bottle, the furnace +at the bottom surrounded with water, and all filled inside of what we +call teats running out from the sides and tops.' By means of the +projections or 'teats' a portion at least of the necessary heating +surface was provided. The cylinder was at the front of the platform, the +rear end of which was occupied by the boiler, and it was fed by means of +a connecting pipe. Thanks to the indefatigable researches of an +enthusiast on railroad construction, we have an account of the +performances of this and all the other pioneers among American +locomotives, and the pictures with which Mr. W. H. Brown has enriched his +book would alone render it both curious and valuable. Prior to the +stockholders' anniversary of January 15th, 1831, it seems that the _Best +Friend_ had made several trips 'running at the rate of sixteen to +twenty-one miles an hour, with forty or fifty passengers in some four or +five cars, and without the cars, thirty to thirty-five miles an hour.' +The stockholders' day was, however, a special occasion, and the papers of +the following Monday, for it happened on a Saturday, gave the following +account of it:-- + +"Notice having been previously given, inviting the stockholders, about +one hundred and fifty assembled in the course of the morning at the +company's buildings in Line Street, together with a number of invited +guests. The weather the day and night previous had been stormy, and the +morning was cold and cloudy. Anticipating a postponement of the +ceremonies, the locomotive engine had been taken to pieces for cleaning, +but upon the assembling of the company she was put in order, the +cylinders new packed and at the word the apparatus was ready for +movement. The first trip was performed with two pleasure cars attached, +and a small carriage, fitted for the occasion, upon which was a +detachment of United States troops and a field-piece which had been +politely granted by Major Belton for the occasion. . . The number of +passengers brought down, which was performed in two trips, was estimated +at upward of two hundred. A band of music enlivened the scene, and great +hilarity and good humour prevailed throughout the day." + +It was not long, however, before the _Best Friend_ came to serious grief. +Naturally, and even necessarily, inasmuch as it was a South Carolina +institution, it was provided with a negro fireman. It so happened that +this functionary while in the discharge of his duties was much annoyed by +the escape of steam from the safety valve, and, not having made himself +complete master of the principles underlying the use of steam as a source +of power, he took advantage of a temporary absence of the engineer in +charge to effect a radical remedy of this cause of annoyance. He not +only fastened down the valve lever, but further made the thing perfectly +sure by sitting upon it. The consequences were hardly less disastrous to +the _Best Friend_ than to the chattel fireman. Neither were of much +further practical use. Before this mishap chanced, however in June, +1831, a second locomotive, called the _West Point_, had arrived in +Charleston, and this last was constructed on the principle of +Stephenson's _Rocket_. In its general aspect, indeed, it greatly +resembled that already famous prototype. There is a very characteristic +and suggestive cut representing a trial trip made with this locomotive on +March 5th, 1831. The nerves of the Charleston people had been a good +deal disturbed and their confidence in steam as a safe motor shaken by +the disaster which had befallen the _Best Friend_. Mindful of this fact, +and very properly solicitous for the safety of their guests, the +directors now had recourse to a very simple and ingenious expedient. +They put what they called a 'barrier car' between the locomotive and +passenger coaches of the train. This barrier car consisted of a platform +on wheels upon which were piled six bales of cotton. A fortification was +thus provided between the passengers and any future negro sitting on the +safety valve. We are also assured that 'the safety valve being out of +the reach of any person but the engineer, will contribute to the +prevention of accidents in the future, such as befel the _Best Friend_.' +Judging by the cut which represents the train, this occasion must have +been even more marked for its 'hilarity' than the earlier one which has +already been described. Besides the locomotive and the barrier car there +are four passenger coaches. In the first of these was a negro band, in +general appearance very closely resembling the minstrels of a later day, +the members of which are energetically performing on musical instruments +of various familiar descriptions. Then follow three cars full of the +saddest looking white passengers, who were present as we were informed to +the number of one hundred and seventeen. The excursion was, however, +highly successful, and two-and-a-quarter miles of road were passed over +in the short space of eight minutes--about the speed at which a good +horse would trot for the same distance. + +This was in March, 1831. About six months before, however, there had +actually been a trial of speed between a horse and one of the pioneer +locomotives, which had not resulted in favour of the locomotive. It took +place on the present Baltimore and Ohio road upon the 28th of August, +1830. The engine in this case was contrived by no other than Mr. Peter +Cooper. And it affords a striking illustration of how recent those +events which now seem so remote really were, that here is a man until +very recently living, and amongst the most familiar to the eyes of the +present generation, who was a contemporary of Stephenson, and himself +invented a locomotive during the Rainhill year, being then nearly forty +years of age. The Cooper engine, however, was scarcely more than a +working model. Its active-minded inventor hardly seems to have aimed at +anything more than a demonstration of possibilities. The whole thing +weighed only a ton, and was of one horse power; in fact it was not larger +than those handcars now in common use with railroad section-men. The +boiler, about the size of a modern kitchen boiler, stood upright and was +fitted above the furnace--which occupied the lower section--with vertical +tubes. The cylinder was but three-and-a-half inches in diameter, and the +wheels were moved by gearing. In order to secure the requisite pressure +of steam in so small a boiler, a sort of bellows was provided which was +kept in action by means of a drum attached to one of the car-wheels over +which passed a cord which worked a pulley, which in turn worked the +bellows. Thus, of Stephenson's two great devices, without either of +which his success at Rainhill would have been impossible--the waste steam +blast and the multitubular boiler--Peter Cooper had only got hold of the +last. He owed his defeat in the race between his engine and a horse to +the fact that he had not got hold of the first. It happened in this +wise. Several experimental trips had been made with the little engine on +the Baltimore and Ohio road, the first sections of which had recently +been completed and were then operated upon by means of horses. The +success of these trips was such that at last, just seventeen days before +the formal opening of the Manchester and Liverpool road on the other side +of the Atlantic, a small open car was attached to the engine--the name of +which, by the way, was _Tom Thumb_--and upon this a party of directors +and their friends were carried from Baltimore to Ellicott's Mills and +back, a distance of some twenty-six miles. + +The trip out was made in an hour, and was very successful. The return +was less so, and for the following reason:-- + +"The great stage proprietors of the day were Stockton and Stokes; and on +that occasion a gallant grey, of great beauty and power, was driven by +them from town, attached to another car on the second track--for the +company had begun by making two tracks to the Mills--and met the engine +at the Relay House on its way back. From this point it was determined to +have a race home, and the start being even, away went horse and engine, +the snort of the one and the puff of the other keeping tune and time. + +"At first the grey had the best of it, for his _steam_ would be applied +to the greatest advantage on the instant, while the engine had to wait +until the rotation of the wheels set the blower to work. The horse was +perhaps a quarter of a mile ahead when the safety valve of the engine +lifted, and the thin blue vapour issuing from it showed an excess of +steam. The blower whistled, the steam blew off in vapoury clouds, the +pace increased, the passengers shouted, the engine gained on the horse, +soon it lapped him--the silk was plied--the race was neck and neck, nose +and nose--then the engine passed the horse, and a great hurrah hailed the +victory. But it was not repeated, for, just at this time, when the +grey's master was about giving up, the band which draws the pulley which +moved the blower slipped from the drum, the safety valve ceased to +scream, and the engine--for want of breath--began to wheeze and pant. In +vain Mr. Cooper, who was his own engineer and fireman, lacerated his +hands in attempting to replace the band upon the wheel; the horse gained +upon the machine and passed it, and although the band was presently +replaced, and the steam again did its best, the horse was too far ahead +to be overtaken, and came in the winner of the race." + + + + +ENGLISH AND AMERICAN OPPOSITION. + + +What wonder that such an innovation as railways was strenuously opposed, +threatening, as it did, the coaching interest, and the posting interest, +the canal interest, and the sporting interest, and private interests of +every variety. "Gentlemen, as an individual," said a sporting M.P. for +Cheltenham, "I hate your railways; I detest them altogether; I wish the +concoctors of the Cheltenham and Oxford, and the concoctors of every +other scheme, including the solicitors and engineers, were at rest in +Paradise. Gentlemen, I detest railroads; nothing is more distasteful to +me than to hear the echo of our hills reverberating with the noise of +hissing railroad engines, running through the heart of our hunting +country, and destroying that noble sport to which I have been accustomed +from my childhood." And at Tewkesbury, one speaker contended that "any +railway would be injurious;" compared engines to "war-horses and fiery +meteors;" and affirmed that "the evils contained in Pandora's box were +but trifles compared with those that would be consequent on railways." +Even in go-aheadative America, some steady jog trotting opponents raised +their voices against the nascent system; one of whom (a canal +stockholder, by the way) chronicled the following objective arguments. +"He saw what would be the effect of it; that it would set the whole world +a-gadding. Twenty miles an hour, sir! Why you will not be able to keep +an apprentice-boy at his work; every Saturday evening he must take a trip +to Ohio, to spend the Sabbath with his sweetheart. Grave plodding +citizens will be flying about like comets. All local attachments must be +at an end. It will encourage flightiness of intellect. Veracious people +will turn into the most immeasurable liars; all their conceptions will be +exaggerated by their magnificent notions of distance. 'Only a hundred +miles off! Tut, nonsense, I'll step across, madam, and bring your fan!' +'Pray, sir, will you dine with me to-day at my little box at Alleghany?' +'Why, indeed, I don't know. I shall be in town until twelve. Well, I +shall be there; but you must let me off in time for the theatre.' And +then, sir, there will be barrels of pork, and cargoes of flour, and +chaldrons of coals, and even lead and whiskey, and such-like sober things +that have always been used to sober travelling, whisking away like a set +of sky-rockets. It will upset all the gravity of the nation. If two +gentlemen have an affair of honour, they have only to steal off to the +Rocky Mountains, and there no jurisdiction can touch them. And then, +sir, think of flying for debt! A set of bailiffs, mounted on +bomb-shells, would not overtake an absconded debtor, only give him a fair +start. Upon the whole, sir, it is a pestilential, topsy-turvy, +harum-scarum whirligig. Give me the old, solemn, straightforward, +regular Dutch canal--three miles an hour for expresses, and two for +ordinary journeys, with a yoke of oxen for a heavy load! I go for beasts +of burthen: it is more primitive and scriptural, and suits a moral and +religious people better. None of your hop-skip-and-jump whimsies for +me." + + --_Sharpe's London Journal_. + + + + +AN UNPLEASANT TRIAL TRIP. + + +Mr. O. F. Adams remarks:--"A famous trial trip with a new locomotive +engine was that made on the 9th of August, 1831, on the new line from +Albany to Schenectady over the Mohawk Valley road. The train was made up +of a locomotive, the _De Witt Clinton_, its tender, and five or six +passenger coaches--which were, indeed, nothing but the bodies of stage +coaches placed upon trucks. The first two of these coaches were set +aside for distinguished visitors; the others were surmounted with seats +of plank to accommodate as many as possible of the great throng of +persons who were anxious to participate in the trip. Inside and out the +coaches were crowded; every seat was full. What followed the starting of +the train has thus been described by one who took part in the affair:-- + +"'The trucks were coupled together with chains or chain-links, leaving +from two to three feet slack, and when the locomotive started it took up +the slack by jerks, with sufficient force to jerk the passengers who sat +on seats across the tops of the coaches, out from under their hats, and +in stopping they came together with such force as to send them flying +from their seats. + +"They used dry pitch-pine for fuel, and, there being no smoke or +spark-catcher to the chimney or smoke stack, a volume of black smoke, +strongly impregnated with sparks, coal, and cinders, came pouring back +the whole length of the train. Each of the outside passengers who had an +umbrella raised it as a protection against the smoke and fire. They were +found to be but a momentary protection, for I think in the first mile the +last one went overboard, all having their covers burnt off from the +frames, when a general melee took place among the deck passengers, each +whipping his neighbour to put out the fire. They presented a very motley +appearance on arriving at the first station." Here, "a short stop was +made, and a successful experiment tried to remedy the unpleasant jerks. +A plan was soon hit upon and put into execution. The three links in the +couplings of the cars were stretched to their utmost tension, a rail from +a fence in the neighbourhood was placed between each pair of cars and +made fast by means of the packing yarn from the cylinders. This +arrangement improved the order of things, and it was found to answer the +purpose when the signal was again given and the engine started.'" + + + + +PROGNOSTICATIONS OF FAILURE. + + +In the year 1831, the writer of a pamphlet, who styled himself +_Investigator_, essayed the task of "proving by facts and arguments" that +a railway between London and Birmingham would be a "burden upon the trade +of the country and would never pay." The difficulties and dangers of the +enterprise he thus sets forth:-- + +"The causes of greater danger on the railway are several. A velocity of +fifteen miles an hour is in itself a great source of danger, as the +smallest obstacle might produce the most serious consequences. If, at +that rate, the engine or any forward part of the train should suddenly +stop, the whole would be cracked by the collision like nutshells. At all +turnings there is a danger that the latter part of the train may swing +off the rails; and, if that takes place, the most serious consequences +must ensue before the whole train can be stopped. The line, too, upon +which the train must be steered admits of little lateral deviation, while +a stage coach has a choice of the whole roadway. Independently of the +velocity, which in coaches is the chief source of danger, there are many +perils on the railway, the rails stand up like so many thick knives, and +any one alighting on them would have but a slight chance of his life . . +. Another consideration which would deter travellers, more especially +invalids, ladies, and children, from making use of the railways, would be +want of accommodation along the line, unless the directors of the railway +choose to build inns as commodious as those on the present line of road. +But those inns the directors would have in part to support also, because +they would be out of the way of any business except that arising from the +railway, and that would be so trifling and so accidental that the +landlords could not afford to keep either a cellar or a larder. + +"Commercial travellers, who stop and do business in all the towns and by +so doing render commerce much cheaper than it otherwise would be, and who +give that constant support to the houses of entertainment which makes +them able to supply the occasional traveller well and at a cheap rate, +would, as a matter of course, never by any chance go by the railroad; and +the occasional traveller, who went the same route for pleasure, would go +by the coach road also, because of the cheerful company and comfortable +dinner. Not one of the nobility, the gentry, or those who travel in +their own carriages, would by any chance go by the railway. A nobleman +would really not like to be drawn at the tail of a train of wagons, in +which some hundreds of bars of iron were jingling with a noise that would +drown all the bells of the district, and in the momentary apprehension of +having his vehicle broke to pieces, and himself killed or crippled by the +collision of those thirty-ton masses." + + + + +SIR ASTLEY COOPER'S OPPOSITION TO THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY. + + +Robert Stephenson, while engaged in the survey of the above line, +encountered much opposition from landed proprietors. Many years after +its completion, when recalling the past, he said:--"I remember that we +called one day on Sir Astley Cooper, the eminent surgeon, in the hope of +overcoming his aversion to the railway. He was one of our most +inveterate and influential opponents. His country house at Berkhampstead +was situated near the intended line, which passed through part of his +property. We found a courtly, fine-looking old gentleman, of very +stately manners, who received us kindly and heard all we had to say in +favour of the project. But he was quite inflexible in his opposition to +it. No deviation or improvement that we could suggest had any effect in +conciliating him. He was opposed to railways generally, and to this in +particular. 'Your scheme,' said he, 'is preposterous in the extreme. It +is of so extravagant a character as to be positively absurd. Then look +at the recklessness of your proceedings! You are proposing to cut up our +estates in all directions for the purpose of making an unnecessary road. +Do you think, for one moment, of the destruction of property involved by +it? Why, gentlemen, if this sort of thing be permitted to go on you will +in a very few years _destroy the nobility_!'" + + + + +OPPOSITION TO MAKING SURVEYS. + + +A great deal of opposition was encountered in making the surveys for the +London and Birmingham Railway, and although, in every case, as little +damage was done as possible, simply because it was the interest of those +concerned to conciliate all parties along the line, yet, in several +instances, the opposition was of a most violent nature; in one case no +skill or ingenuity could evade the watchfulness and determination of the +lords of the soil, and the survey was at last accomplished at night by +means of dark lanterns. + +On another occasion, when Mr. Gooch was taking levels through some of the +large tracts of grazing land, a few miles from London, two brothers, +occupying the land came to him in a great rage, and insisted on his +leaving their property immediately. He contrived to learn from them that +the adjoining field was not theirs and he therefore remonstrated but very +slightly with them, and then walked quietly through the gap in the hedge +into the next field, and planted his level on the highest ground he could +find--his assistant remaining at the last level station, distant about a +hundred and sixty yards, apparently quite unconscious of what had taken +place, although one of the brothers was moving very quickly towards him, +for the purpose of sending him off. Now, if the assistant had moved his +staff before Mr. Gooch had got his sight at it through the telescope of +his level, all his previous work would have been completely lost, and the +survey must have been completed in whatever manner it could have been +done--the great object, however, was to prevent this serious +inconvenience. The moment Mr. Gooch commenced looking through his +telescope at the staff held by his assistant, the grazier nearest him, +spreading out the tails of his coat, tried to place himself between the +staff and the telescope, in order to intercept all vision, and at the +same time commenced shouting violently to his comrade, desiring him to +make haste and knock down the staff. Fortunately for Mr. Gooch, although +nature had made this amiable being's ears longer than usual, yet they +performed their office very badly, and as he could not see distinctly +what Mr. Gooch was about--the hedge being between them--he very simply +asked the man at the staff what his (the enquirer's) brother said. "Oh," +replied the man, "he is calling to you to stop that horse there which is +galloping out of the fold yard." Away went Clodpole, as fast as he could +run, to restrain the unruly energies of Smolensko the Ninth, or whatever +other name the unlucky quadruped might be called, and Mr. Gooch in the +meanwhile quietly took the sight required--he having, with great +judgment, planted his level on ground sufficiently high to enable him to +see over the head of any grazier in the land; but his clever assistant, +as soon as he perceived that all was right, had to take to his heels and +make the shortest cut to the high road. + +In another instance, a reverend gentleman of the Church of England made +such alarming demonstrations of his opposition that the extraordinary +expedient was resorted to of surveying his property during the time he +was engaged in the pulpit, preaching to his flock. This was accomplished +by having a strong force of surveyors all in readiness to commence their +operations, by entering the clergyman's grounds on the one side at the +same moment that they saw him fairly off them on the other, and, by a +well organised and systematic arrangement, each man coming to a +conclusion with his allotted task just as the reverend gentleman came to +a conclusion with his sermon; and before he left the church to return to +his home, the deed was done. + + --Roscoe's _London and Birmingham Railway_. + + + + +SANITARY OBJECTIONS. + + +Mr. Smiles, in his _Life of George Stephenson_, remarks:--"Sanitary +objections were also urged in opposition to railways, and many wise +doctors strongly inveighed against tunnels. Sir Anthony Carlisle +insisted that "tunnels would expose healthy people to colds, catarrhs, +and consumption." The noise, the darkness, and the dangers of tunnel +travelling were depicted in all their horrors. Worst of all, however, +was 'the destruction of the atmospheric air,' as Dr. Lardner termed it. +Elaborate calculations were made by that gentleman to prove that the +provision of ventilating shafts would be altogether insufficient to +prevent the dangers arising from the combustion of coke, producing +carbonic acid gas, which in large quantities was fatal to life. He +showed, for instance, that in the proposed Box tunnel, on the Great +Western Railway, the passage of 100 tons would deposit about 3090 lbs. of +noxious gases, incapable of supporting life! Here was an uncomfortable +prospect of suffocation for passengers between London and Bristol. But +steps were adopted to allay these formidable sources of terror. Solemn +documents, in the form of certificates, were got up and published, signed +by several of the most distinguished physicians of the day, attesting the +perfect wholesomeness of tunnels, and the purity of the air in them. +Perhaps they went further than was necessary in alleging, what certainly +subsequent experience has not verified, that the atmosphere of the tunnel +was 'dry, of an agreeable temperature, and free from smell.' Mr. +Stephenson declared his conviction that a tunnel twenty miles long could +be worked safely and without more danger to life than a railway in the +open air; but, at the same time, he admits that tunnels were nuisances, +which he endeavoured to avoid wherever practicable." + + + + +ELEVATED RAILWAYS. + + +In the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for June, 1830, it is stated:--"There are +at present exhibiting in Edinburgh three large models, accompanied with +drawings of railways and their carriages, invented by Mr. Dick, who has a +patent. These railways are of a different nature from those hitherto in +use, inasmuch as they are not laid along the surface of the ground, but +elevated to such a height as, when necessary, to pass over the tops of +houses and trees. The principal supports are of stone, and, being placed +at considerable distances, have cast-iron pillars between them. The +carriages are to be dragged along with a velocity hitherto unparalleled, +by means of a rope drawn by a steam engine or other prime mover, a series +being placed at intervals along the railway. From the construction of +the railway and carriages the friction is very small." + + + + +EVIDENCE OF A GENERAL SALESMAN. + + +The advantages London derives from railways, in regard to its supply of +good meat, may be gathered from the evidence given by Mr. George Rowley +in 1834, on behalf of the Great Western Railway Company. + +"You have been a general salesman of live and dead stock of all +descriptions in Newgate Market 32 years?"--"Yes." + +"What is about the annual amount of your sales?"--"I turn over 300,000 +pounds in a year." + +"Would a railway that facilitated the communication between London and +Bristol be an advantage to your business?"--"I think it would be a +special advantage to London altogether." + +"In what way?"--"The facility of having goods brought in reference to +live stock is very important; I have been in the habit of paying Mr. +Bowman, of Bristol, 1,000 pounds a-week for many weeks; that has been for +sending live hogs to me to be sold, to be slaughtered in London; and I +have, out of that 1,000 pounds a-week as many as 40 or 50 pigs die on the +road, and they have sold for little or nothing. The exertion of the pigs +kills them." + +"The means of conveying pigs on a railway would be a great +advantage?"--"Yes, as far as having the pigs come good to market, without +being subject to a distemper that creates fever, and they die as red as +that bag before you, and when they are killed in good health they die a +natural colour." + +"Then do I understand you that those who are fortunate enough to survive +the journey are the worse for it?"--"Yes, in weight." + +"And in quality?"--"Yes! All meat killed in the country, and delivered +in the London market dead, in a good state, will make from 6d. to 8d. a +stone more than what is slaughtered in London." + + + + +THE ANXIOUS HAIR-DRESSER. + + +"Clanwilliam mentioned this evening an incident which proves the +wonderful celerity of the railroads. Mr. Isidore, the Queen's coiffeur, +who receives 2,000 pounds a year for dressing Her Majesty's hair +twice-a-day, had gone to London in the morning to return to Windsor in +time for her toilet; but on arriving at the station he was just five +minutes too late, and saw the train depart without him. His horror was +great, as he knew that his want of punctuality would deprive him of his +place, as no train would start for the next two hours. The only resource +was to order a special train, for which he was obliged to pay 18 pounds; +but the establishment feeling the importance of his business, ordered +extra steam to be put on, and convoyed the anxious hair-dresser 18 miles +in 18 minutes, which extricated him from all his difficulties." + + _Raike's Diary from_ 1831 _to_ 1847. + + + + +SHARP PRACTICE. + + +Sir Francis Head, Bart., in his _Stokers and Pokers_, remarks:--"During +the construction of the present London and North Western Railway, a +landlady at Hillmorton, near Rugby, of very sharp practice, which she had +imbibed in dealings for many years with canal boatmen, was constantly +remarking aloud that no navvy should ever "do" her; and although the +railway was in her immediate neighbourhood, and although the navvies were +her principal customers, she took pleasure on every opportunity in +repeating the invidious remark. + +"It had, however, one fine morning scarcely left her large, full-blown, +rosy lips, when a fine-looking young fellow, walking up to her, carrying +in both hands a huge stone bottle, commonly called a 'grey-neck,' briefly +asked her for 'half a gallon of gin;' which was no sooner measured and +poured in than the money was rudely demanded before it could be taken +away. + +"On the navvy declining to pay the exorbitant price asked, the landlady, +with a face like a peony, angrily told him he must either pay for the gin +or _instantly_ return it. + +"He silently chose the latter, and accordingly, while the eyes of his +antagonist were wrathfully fixed upon his, he returned into her measure +the half gallon, and then quietly walked off; but having previously put +into his grey-neck half a gallon of water, each party eventually found +themselves in possession of half a gallon of gin and water; and, however +either may have enjoyed the mixture, it is historically recorded at +Hillmorton that the landlady was never again heard unnecessarily to boast +that no navvy could _do_ her." + + + + +A NAVVY'S REASON FOR NOT GOING TO CHURCH. + + +A navvy at Kilsby, being asked why he did not go to church? duly answered +in geological language--"_Why_, _Soonday hasn't cropped out here yet_!" +By which he meant that the clergyman appointed to the new village had not +yet arrived. + + + + +SNAKES' HEADS. + + +One of the earliest forms of rails used by the Americans consisted of a +flat bar half-an-inch thick spiked down to longitudinal timbers. In the +process of running the train, the iron was curved, the spikes loosened, +and the ends of the bars turned up, and were known by the name of snakes' +heads. Occasionally they pierced the bottoms of the carriages and +injured passengers, and it was no uncommon thing to hear passengers +speculate as to which line they would go by, as showing fewest snakes' +heads. + + + + +PREJUDICE REMOVED. + + +Mr. William Reed, a land agent, was called, in 1834, to give evidence in +favour of the Great Western Railway. He was questioned as to the +benefits conferred upon the localities passed through by the Manchester +and Liverpool Railway. He was asked, "From your knowledge of the +property in the neighbourhood, can you say that the houses have not +decreased in value?" "Yes; I know an instance of a gentleman who had a +house very near, and, though he quarrelled very much with the Company +when they came there, and said, 'Very well, if you will come let me have +a high wall to keep you out of sight,' and a year-and-a-half ago he +petitioned the Company to take down the wall, and he has put up an iron +railing, so that he may see them." + + + + +A RIDE FROM BOSTON TO PROVIDENCE IN 1835. + + +The early railway enterprise in America was not regarded by all persons +with feelings of unmixed satisfaction. Thus we read of the railway +journey taken by a gentleman of the old school, whose experience and +sensations--if not very satisfactory to himself--are worth +recording:--"July 22, 1835.--This morning at nine o'clock I took passage +in a railroad car (from Boston) for Providence. Five or six other cars +were attached to the locomotive, and uglier boxes I do not wish to travel +in. They were made to stow away some thirty human beings, who sit cheek +by jowl as best they can. Two poor fellows who were not much in the +habit of making their toilet squeezed me into a corner, while the hot sun +drew from their garments a villanous compound of smells made up of salt +fish, tar, and molasses. By and bye, just twelve--only twelve--bouncing +factory girls were introduced, who were going on a party of pleasure to +Newport. 'Make room for the ladies!' bawled out the superintendent, +'Come, gentlemen, jump up on the top; plenty of room there.' 'I'm afraid +of the bridge knocking my brains out,' said a passenger. Some made one +excuse and some another. For my part, I flatly told him that since I had +belonged to the corps of Silver Greys I had lost my gallantry, and did +not intend to move. The whole twelve were, however, introduced, and soon +made themselves at home, sucking lemons and eating green apples. . . The +rich and the poor, the educated and the ignorant, the polite and the +vulgar, all herd together in this modern improvement of travelling. The +consequence is a complete amalgamation. Master and servant sleep heads +and points on the cabin floor of the steamer, feed at the same table, sit +in each other's laps, as it were, in the cars; and all this for the sake +of doing very uncomfortably in two days what would be done delightfully +in eight or ten. Shall we be much longer kept by this toilsome fashion +of hurrying, hurrying, from starting (those who can afford it) on a +journey with our own horses, and moving slowly, surely, and profitably +through the country, with the power of enjoying its beauty, and be the +means of creating good inns. Undoubtedly, a line of post-horses and +post-chaises would long ago have been established along our great roads +had not steam monopolized everything. . . . Talk of ladies on board a +steamboat or in a railroad car. There are none! I never feel like a +gentleman there, and I cannot perceive a semblance of gentility in any +one who makes part of the travelling mob. When I see women whom, in +their drawing rooms or elsewhere, I have been accustomed to respect and +treat with every suitable deference--when I see them, I say, elbowing +their way through a crowd of dirty emigrants or lowbred homespun fellows +in petticoats or breeches in our country, in order to reach a table +spread for a hundred or more, I lose sight of their pretensions to +gentility and view them as belonging to the plebeian herd. To restore +herself to her caste, let a lady move in select company at five miles an +hour, and take her meals in comfort at a good inn, where she may dine +decently. . . . After all, the old-fashioned way of five or six miles, +with liberty to dine in a decent inn and be master of one's movements, +with the delight of seeing the country and getting along rationally, is +the mode to which I cling, and which will be adopted again by the +generations of after times." + + --_Recollections of Samuel Breck_. + + + + +APPEALING TO THE CLERGY. + + +Mr. C. F. Adams remarks:--"During the periods of discouragement which, a +few years later, marked certain stages of the construction of the Western +road, connecting Worcester with Albany--when both money and courage +seemed almost exhausted--Mr. De Grand never for a moment faltered. He +might almost be said to have then had Western railroad on the brain. +Among other things, he issued a circular which caused much amusement and +not improbably some scandal among the more precise. The Rev. S. K. +Lothrop, then a young man, had preached a sermon in Brattle Street Church +which attracted a good deal of attention, on the subject of the moral and +Christianizing influence of railroads. Mr. De Grand thought he saw his +occasion, and he certainly availed himself of it. He at once had a +circular printed, a copy of which he sent to every clergyman in +Massachusetts, suggesting the propriety of a discourse on 'The moral and +Christianizing influence of railroads in general and of the Western +railroad in particular.'" + + + + +AIR-WAYS INSTEAD OF RAILWAYS. + + +In the _Mechanics' Magazine_ for July 22nd, 1837, is to be found the +following remarkable suggestion:--"In many parts of the new railroads, +where there has been some objection to the locomotive engines, stationary +ones are resorted to, as everyone knows to draw the vehicles along. Why +might not these vehicles be balloons? Why, instead of being dragged on +the surface of the ground, along costly viaducts or under disagreeable +tunnels, might they not travel two or three hundred feet high? By +balloons, I mean, of course, anything raised in the air by means of a gas +lighter than the air. They might be of all shapes and sizes to suit +convenience. The practicability of this plan does not seem to be +doubtful. Its advantages are obvious. Instead of having to purchase, as +for a railway, the whole line of track passed over, the company for a +balloon-way would only have to procure those spots of ground on which +they proposed to erect stationary engines; and these need in no case be +of peculiar value, since their being a hundred yards one way or the other +would make little difference. Viaducts of course would never be +necessary, cuttings in very few occasions indeed, if at all. The chief +expense of balloons is their inflation, which is renewed at every new +ascent; but in these balloons the gas once in need never to be let out, +and one inflation would be enough." + +The same writer a few years later on observes:--"One feature of the +air-way to supersede the railway would be, that besides preventing the +destruction of the architectural beauties of the metropolis, now menaced +by the multitudinous network of viaducts and subways at war with the +existing thoroughfares, it would occasion the construction of numerous +lofty towers as stations of arrival and departure, which would afford an +opportunity of architectural effect hitherto undreamed of." + + + + +PREJUDICE AGAINST CARRYING COALS BY RAILWAYS. + + +Rev. F. S. Williams in an article upon "Railway Revolutions," +remarks:--"When railways were first established it was never imagined +that they would be so far degraded as to carry coals; but George +Stephenson and others soon saw how great a service railways might render +in developing and distributing the mineral wealth of the country. +Prejudice had, however, to be timidly and vigorously overcome. When it +was mentioned to a certain eminent railway authority that George +Stephenson had spoken of sending coals by railway: 'Coals!' he exclaimed, +'they will want us to carry dung next.' The remark was reported to 'Old +George,' who was not behind his critic in the energy of his expression. +'You tell B--,' he said, 'that when he travels by railway, they carry +dung now!' The strength of the feeling against the traffic is +sufficiently illustrated by the fact that, when the London and Birmingham +Railway began to carry coal, the wagons that contained it were sheeted +over that their contents might not be seen; and when a coal wharf was +first made at Crick station, a screen was built to hide the work from the +observation of passengers on the line. Even the possibility of carrying +coal at a remunerative price was denied. 'I am very sorry,' said Lord +Eldon, referring to this subject, 'to find the intelligent people of the +north country gone mad on the subject of railways;' and another eminent +authority declared: 'It is all very well to spend money; it will do some +good; but I will eat all the coals your railway will carry.' + +"George Stephenson, however, and other friends of coal, held on their +way; and he declared that the time would come when London would be +supplied with coal by railway. 'The strength of Britain,' he said, 'is +in her coal beds; and the locomotive is destined, above all other +agencies, to bring it forth. The Lord Chancellor now sits upon a bag of +wool; but wool has long ceased to be emblematical of the staple commodity +of England. He ought rather to sit upon a bag of coals, though it might +not prove quite so comfortable a seat. Then think of the Lord Chancellor +being addressed as the noble and learned lord on the coal-sack? I'm +afraid it wouldn't answer, after all.'" + + + + +AN EPITAPH ON THE VICTIM OF A RAILWAY ACCIDENT. + + +A correspondent writes to the _Pall Mall Gazette_:--"Our poetic +literature, so rich in other respects, is entirely wanting in epitaphs on +the victims of railway accidents. A specimen of what may be turned in +this line is to be seen on a tombstone in the picturesque churchyard of +Harrow-on-the-Hill. It was, I observe, written as long ago as 1838, so +that it can be reproduced without much danger of hurting the feelings of +those who may have known and loved the subject of this touching elegy. +The name of the victim was Port, and the circumstances of his death are +thus set forth:-- + + Bright was the morn, and happy rose poor Port; + Gay on the train he used his wonted sport. + Ere noon arrived his mangled form they bore + With pain distorted and overwhelmed with gore. + When evening came and closed the fatal day, + A mutilated corpse the sufferer lay." + + + + +AN ENGINE-DRIVER'S EPITAPH. + + +In the cemetery at Alton, Illinois, there is a tombstone bearing the +following inscription:-- + + "My engine is now cold and still. + No water does my boiler fill. + My coke affords its flame no more, + My days of usefulness are o'er; + My wheels deny their noted speed, + No more my guiding hand they heed; + My whistle--it has lost its tone, + Its shrill and thrilling sound is gone; + My valves are now thrown open wide, + My flanges all refuse to glide; + My clacks--alas! though once so strong, + Refuse their aid in the busy throng; + No more I feel each urging breath, + My steam is now condensed in death; + Life's railway o'er, each station past, + In death I'm stopped, and rest at last." + +This epitaph was written by an engineer on the old Chicago and +Mississippi Railroad, who was fatally injured by an accident on the road; +and while he lay awaiting the death which he knew to be inevitable, he +wrote the lines which are engraved upon his tombstone. + + + + +TRAFFIC-TAKING. + + +Between the years 1836 and 1839, when there were many railway acts +applied for, traffic-taking became a lucrative calling. It was necessary +that some approximate estimate should be made as to the income which the +lines might be expected to yield. Arithmeticians, who calculated traffic +receipts, were to be found to prove what promoters of railways required +to satisfy shareholders and Parliamentary Committees. The Eastern +Counties Railway was estimated to pay a dividend of 23.5 per cent.; the +London and Cambridge, 14.5 per cent.; the Sheffield and Manchester, 18.5 +per cent. One shareholder of this company was so sanguine as to the +success of the line that in a letter to the _Railway Magazine_ he +calculated on a dividend of 80 per cent. Bitter indeed must have been +the disappointment of those railway shareholders who pinned their faith +to the estimates of traffic-takers, when instead of receiving large +dividends, little was received, and in some instances the lines paid no +dividend at all. + + + + +MONEY LOST AND FOUND. + + +On Friday night, a servant of the Birmingham Railway Company found in one +of the first-class carriages, after the passengers had left, a pocket +book containing a check on a London Bank for 2,000 and 2,500 pounds in +bank notes. He delivered the book and its contents to the principal +officer, and it was forwarded to the gentleman to whom it belonged, his +address being discovered from some letters in the pocket book. He had +gone to bed, and risen and dressed himself next morning without +discovering his loss, which was only made known by the restoration of the +property. He immediately tendered 20 pounds to the party who had found +his money, but this being contrary to the regulations of the directors, +the party, though a poor man, could not receive the reward. As the +temptation, however, was so great to apply the money to his own use, the +matter is to be brought before a meeting of the directors. + + --_Aris's Gazette_, 1839. + + + + +ORIGIN OF COOK'S RAILWAY EXCURSIONS. + + +Mr. Thomas Cook, the celebrated excursionist, in an article in the +_Leisure Hour_ remarks:--"As a pioneer in a wide field of thought and +action, my course can never be repeated. It has been mine to battle +against inaugural difficulties, and to place the system on a basis of +consolidated strength. It was mine to lay the foundations of a system on +which others, both individuals and companies, have builded, and there is +not a phase of the tourist plans of Europe and America that was not +embodied in my plans or foreshadowed in my ideas. The whole thing seemed +to come to me as by intuition, and my spirit recoiled at the idea of +imitation. + +"The beginning was very small, and was on this wise. I believe that the +Midland Railway from Derby to Rugby _via_ Leicester was opened in 1840. +At that time I knew but little of railways, having only travelled over +the Leicester and Swannington line from Leicester to Long Lane, a +terminus near to the Leicestershire collieries. The reports in the +papers of the opening of the new line created astonishment in +Leicestershire, and I had read of an interchange of visits between the +Leicester and Nottingham Mechanics' Institutes. I was an enthusiastic +temperance man, and the secretary of a district association, which +embraced parts of the two counties of Leicester and Northampton. A great +meeting was to be held at Leicester, over which Lawrence Heyworth, Esq., +of Liverpool--a great railway as well as temperance man--was advertised +to preside. From my residence at Market Harborough I walked to Leicester +(fifteen miles) to attend that meeting. About midway between Harborough +and Leicester--my mind's eye has often reverted to the spot--a thought +flashed through my brain, what a glorious thing it would be if the +newly-developed powers of railways and locomotion could be made +subservient to the promotion of temperance. That thought grew upon me as +I travelled over the last six or eight miles. I carried it up to the +platform, and, strong in the confidence of the sympathy of the chairman, +I broached the idea of engaging a special train to carry the friends of +temperance from Leicester to Loughborough and back to attend a quarterly +delegate meeting appointed to be held there in two or three weeks +following. The chairman approved, the meeting roared with excitement, +and early next day I proposed my grand scheme to John Fox Bell, the +resident secretary of the Midland Counties Railway Company. Mr. Paget, +of Loughborough, opened his park for a gala, and on the day appointed +about five hundred passengers filled some twenty or twenty-five open +carriages--they were called 'tubs' in those days--and the party rode the +enormous distance of eleven miles and back for a shilling, children +half-price. We carried music with us, and music met us at the +Loughborough station. The people crowded the streets, filled windows, +covered the house-tops, and cheered us all along the line, with the +heartiest welcome. All went off in the best style and in perfect safety +we returned to Leicester; and thus was struck the keynote of my +excursions, and the social idea grew upon me." + + + + +THE DEODAND. + + +It was a principle of English common law derived from the feudal period, +that anything through the instrumentality of which death occurred was +forfeited to the crown as a deodand; accordingly down to the year 1840 +and even later, we find, in all cases where persons were killed, records +of deodands levied by the coroners' juries upon locomotives. These +appear to have been arbitrarily imposed and graduated in amount +accordingly as circumstances seemed to excite in greater or less degree +the sympathies or the indignation of the jury. In November, 1838, for +instance, a locomotive exploded upon the Liverpool and Manchester line, +killing its engineer and fireman; and for this escapade a deodand of +twenty pounds was assessed upon it by the coroner's jury; while upon +another occasion, in 1839, when the locomotive struck and killed a man +and horse at a street crossing, the deodand was fixed at no less a sum +than fourteen hundred pounds, the full value of the engine. Yet in this +last case there did not appear to be any circumstances rendering the +company liable in civil damages. The deodand seems to have been looked +upon as a species of rude penalty imposed on the use of dangerous +appliances, a sharp reminder to the companies to look sharply after their +locomotives and employes. Thus upon the 24th of December, 1841, on the +Great Western Railway, a train, while moving through a thick fog at a +high rate of speed, came suddenly in contact with a mass of earth which +had slid from the embankment at the side on to the track. Instantly the +whole rear of the train was piled up on the top of the first carriage, +which happened to be crowded with passengers, eight of whom were killed +on the spot, while seventeen others were more or less injured. The +coroner's jury returned a verdict of accidental death, and at the same +time, as if to give the company a forcible hint to look closer to the +condition of its embankment, a deodand of one hundred pounds was levied +on the locomotive and tender. + + + + +AN UNFORTUNATE DISCUSSION. + + +Two gentlemen sitting opposite each other in a railway carriage got into +a political argument; one was elderly and a staunch Conservative, the +other was young and an ultra-Radical. It may be readily conceived that, +as the argument went on, the abuse became fast and furious; all sorts of +unpleasant phrases and epithets were bandied about, personalities were +freely indulged in, and the other passengers were absolutely compelled to +interfere to prevent a _fracas_. At the end of the journey the +disputants parted in mutual disgust, and looking unutterable things. It +so happened that the young man had a letter of introduction to an +influential person in the neighbourhood respecting a legal appointment +which was then vacant, which the young man desired to obtain, and which +the elderly gentleman had the power to secure. The young petitioner, +first going to his hotel and making himself presentable, sallied forth on +his errand. He reached the noble mansion of the person to whom his +letter of introduction was addressed, was ushered into an ante-room, and +there awaited, with mingled hope and fear, the all-important interview. +After a few minutes the door opened and, horrible to relate! he who +entered was the young man's travelling opponent, and thus the opponents +of an hour since stood face to face. The confusion and humiliation on +the one side, and the hauteur and coldness on the other, may be readily +imagined. Sir Edward C--, however--for such he was--although he +instantly recognized his recent antagonist, was too well-bred to make any +allusion to the transaction. He took the letter of introduction in +silence, read it, folded it up, and returned it to the presenter with a +bitter smile and the following speech: "Sir, I am infinitely obliged to +my friend, Mr. --, for recommending to my notice a gentleman whom he +conceives to be so well fitted for the vacant post as yourself; but +permit me to say that, inasmuch as the office you are desirous to fill +exists upon a purely Conservative tenure, and can only be appropriately +administered by a person of Conservative tendency, I could not think of +doing such violence to your well-known political principles as to +recommend you for the post in question." With these words and another +smile more grim than before, Sir Edward C-- bowed the chapfallen +petitioner out, and he quickly took his way to the railway station, +secretly vowing never again to enter into political argument with an +unknown railway traveller. + + --_The Railway Traveller's Handy Book_. + + + + +DOG TICKET. + + +Shortly after telegraphs were laid alongside of railways, a principal +officer of a railway company got into a compartment of a stopping train +at an intermediate station. The train had hardly left, when an elderly +gentleman, in terms of endearment, invited what turned out to be a little +Skye terrier to come out of its concealment under the seat. The dog came +out, jumped up, and appeared to enjoy his journey until the speed of the +train slackened previous to stopping at a station, the dog then +instinctively retreated to its hiding place, and came out again in due +course after the train had started. The officer of the company left the +train at a station or two afterwards. On its arrival at the London +ticket platform the gentleman delivered up the tickets for his party. +"Dog ticket, sir, please." "Dog ticket, what dog ticket?" "Ticket, sir, +for Skye terrier, black and tan, with his ears nearly over his eyes; +travelling, for comfort's sake, under the seat opposite to you, sir, in a +large carpet bag, red ground with yellow cross-bars." The gentleman +found resistance useless; he paid the fare demanded, when the +ticket-collector--who throughout the scene had never changed a +muscle--handed him a ticket that he had prepared beforehand. "Dog +ticket, sir; gentlemen not allowed to travel with a dog without a dog +ticket; you will have to give it up in London." "Yes, but how did you +know I had a dog? That's what puzzles me!" "Ah, sir," said the +ticket-collector, relaxing a little, but with an air of satisfaction, +"the telegraph is laid on our railway. Them's the wires you see on the +outside; we find them very useful in our business, etc. Thank you, sir, +good morning." It is needless to tell what part the principal officer +played in this little drama. On arrival in London the dog ticket was +duly claimed, a little word to that effect having been sent up by a +previous train to be sure to have it demanded, although, as a usual +practice, dog tickets are collected at the same time as those of +passengers. + + --_Roney's Rambles on Railways_. + + + + +THE ELECTRIC CONSTABLE. + + +The first application of the telegraph to police purposes took place in +1844, on the Great Western Railway, and, as it was the first intimation +thieves got of the electric constable being on duty, it is full of +interest. The following extracts are from the telegraph book kept at the +Paddington Station:-- + +"Eton Montem Day, August 28, 1844.--The Commissioners of Police having +issued orders that several officers of the detective force shall be +stationed at Paddington to watch the movements of suspicious persons, +going by the down train, and give notice by the electric telegraph to the +Slough station of the number of such suspected persons, and dress, their +names (if known), also the carriages in which they are." + +Now come the messages following one after the other, and influencing the +fate of the marked individuals with all the celerity, certainty, and +calmness of the Nemesis of the Greek drama:-- + +"Paddington, 10.20 a.m.--Mail train just started. It contains three +thieves, named Sparrow, Burrell, and Spurgeon, in the first compartment +of the fourth first-class carriage." + +"Slough, 10.50 a.m.--Mail train arrived. _The officers have cautioned +the three thieves_." + +"Paddington, 10.50 a.m.--Special train just left. It contained two +thieves; one named Oliver Martin, who is dressed in black, _crape on his +hat_; the other named Fiddler Dick, in black trousers and light blouse. +Both in the third compartment of the first second-class carriage." + +"Slough, 11.16 a.m.--Special train arrived. Officers have taken the two +thieves into custody, a lady having lost her bag, containing a purse with +two sovereigns and some silver in it; one of the sovereigns was sworn to +by the lady as having been her property. It was found in Fiddler Dick's +watch fob." + +It appears that, on the arrival of the train, a policeman opened the door +of the "third compartment of the first second-class carriage," and asked +the passengers if they had missed anything? A search in pockets and bags +accordingly ensued, until one lady called out that her purse was gone. + +"Fiddler Dick, you are wanted," was the immediate demand of the police +officer, beckoning to the culprit, who came out of the carriage +thunder-struck at the discovery, and gave himself up, together with the +booty, with the air of a completely beaten man. The effect of the +capture so cleverly brought about is thus spoken of in the telegraph +book:-- + +"Slough, 11.51 a.m.--Several of the suspected persons who came by the +various down-trains are lurking about Slough, uttering bitter invectives +against the telegraph. Not one of those cautioned has ventured to +proceed to the Montem." + + + + +RUNAWAY MATCH. + + +Sir Francis Head in his account of the London and North-Western Railway +remarks:--"During a marriage which very lately took place at --, one of +the bridesmaids was so deeply affected by the ceremony that she took the +opportunity of the concentrated interest excited by the bride to elope +from church with an admirer. The instant her parents discovered their +sad loss, messengers were sent to all the railway stations to stop the +fugitives. The telegraph also went to work, and with such effect that, +before night, no less than four affectionate couples legitimately married +that morning were interrupted on their several marriage jaunts and most +seriously bothered, inconvenienced, and impeded by policemen and +magistrates." + + + + +A RAILWAY ROMANCE. + + +An incident of an amusing though of a rather serious nature occurred some +years ago on the London and South-Western Railway. A gentleman, whose +place of residence was Maple Derwell, near Basingstoke, got into a +first-class carriage at the Waterloo terminus, with the intention of +proceeding home by one of the main line down trains. His only +fellow-passengers in the compartment were a lady and an infant, and +another gentleman, and thus things remained until the arrival of the +train at Walton, where the other gentleman left the carriage, leaving the +first gentleman with the lady and child. Shortly after this the train +reached the Weybridge station, and on its stopping the lady, under the +pretence of looking for her servant or carriage, requested her male +fellow-passenger to hold the infant for a few minutes while she went to +search for what she wanted. The bell rang for the starting of the train +and the gentleman thus strangely left with the baby began to get rather +fidgety, and anxious to return his charge to the mother. The lady, +however, did not again put in any appearance, and the train went on +without her, the child remaining with the gentleman, who, on arriving at +his destination took the child home to his wife and explained the +circumstance under which it came into his possession. No application +has, at present, it is understood, been made for the "lost child," which +has for the nonce been adopted by the gentleman and his wife, who, it is +said, are without any family of their own. + + + + +GIGANTIC POWER OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES. + + +Sir Francis Head remarks:--"The gigantic power of the locomotive engines +hourly committed to the charge of these drivers was lately strangely +exemplified in the large engine stable at the Camden Station. A +passenger engine, whose furnace-fire had but shortly been lighted, was +standing in this huge building surrounded by a number of artificers, who, +in presence of the chief superintendent, were working in various +directions around it. While they were all busily occupied, the fire in +the furnace--by burning up faster than was expected--suddenly imparted to +the engine the breath of life; and no sooner had the minimum of steam +necessary to move it been thus created, than this infant Hercules not +only walked _off_, but without the smallest embarrassment walked +_through_ the 14-inch brick wall of the great building which contained +it, to the terror of the superintendent and workmen, who expected every +instant that the roof above their heads would fall in and extinguish +them. In consequence of the spindle of the regulator having got out of +its socket the very same accident occurred shortly afterwards with +another engine, which, in like manner, walked through another portion of +this 14-inch wall of the stable that contained it, just as a +thorough-bred horse would have walked out of the door. And if such be +the irresistible power of the locomotive engine when feebly walking in +its new-born state, unattended or unassisted even by its tender, is it +not appalling to reflect what must be its momentum when, in the full +vigour of its life, it is flying down a steep gradient at the rate of 50 +miles an hour, backed up by, say, 30 passenger carriages, each weighing +on an average 5.5 tons? If ordinary houses could suddenly be placed in +its path, it would, passengers and all, run through them as a musket-ball +goes through a keg of butter; but what would be the result if, at this +full speed, the engine by any accident were to be diverted against a mass +of solid rock, such as sometimes is to be seen at the entrance of a +tunnel, it is impossible to calculate or even to conjecture. It is +stated by the company's superintendent, who witnessed the occurrence, +that some time ago an ordinary accident happening to a luggage train near +Loughborough, the wagons overrode each other until the uppermost one was +found piled 40 feet above the rails!" + + + + +NOVEL NOTICE TO DEFAULTING SHAREHOLDERS. + + +In the early days of railway enterprise there was often much difficulty +in obtaining the punctual payment of calls from the shareholders. The +Leicester and Swannington line was thus troubled. The Secretary, +adopting a rather novel way to collect the calls, wrote to the +defaulters:--"I am therefore necessitated to inform you, that unless the +sum of 2 pounds is paid on or before the 22nd instant, your name will be +furnished to one of the principal and most pressing creditors of the +company." The missives of the Secretary generally had the desired +effect. + + + + +A QUICK DECISION. + + +The elder Brunel was habitually absent in society, but no man was more +remarkable for presence of mind in an emergency. Numerous instances are +recorded of this latter quality, but none more striking than that of his +adventure in the act of inspecting the Birmingham Railway. Suddenly in a +confined part of the road a train was seen approaching from either end of +the line, and at a speed which it was difficult to calculate. The +spectators were horrified; there was not an instant to be lost; but an +instant sufficed to the experienced engineer to determine the safest +course under the circumstances. Without attempting to cross the road, +which would have been almost certain destruction, he at once took his +position exactly midway between the up and down lines, and drawing the +skirts of his coat close around him, allowed the two trains to sweep past +him; when to the great relief of those who witnessed the exciting scene, +he was found untouched upon the road. Without the engineer's experience +which enabled him to form so rapid a decision, there can be no doubt that +he must have perished. + + --_The Temple Anecdotes_. + + + + +THE VERSAILLES ACCIDENT IN 1842. + + +Mr. Charles F. Adams thus describes it:--"On the 8th of May, 1842, there +happened in France one of the most famous and horrible railroad +slaughters ever recorded. It was the birthday of the king, Louis +Phillipe, and, in accordance with the usual practice, the occasion had +been celebrated at Versailles by a great display of the fountains. At +half-past five o'clock these had stopped playing, and a general rush +ensued for the trains then about to leave for Paris. That which went by +the road along the left bank of the Seine was densely crowded, and was so +long that it required two locomotives to draw it. As it was moving at a +high rate of speed between Bellevue and Menden, the axle of the foremost +of these two locomotives broke, letting the body of the engine drop to +the ground. It instantly stopped, and the second locomotive was then +driven by its impetus on top of the first, crushing its engineer and +fireman, while the contents of both the fire-boxes were scattered over +the roadway and among the _debris_. Three carriages crowded with +passengers were then piled on top of this burning mass, and there crushed +together into each other. The doors of the train were all locked, as was +then, and indeed is still, the custom in Europe, and it so chanced that +the carriages had all been newly painted. They blazed up like pine +kindlings. Some of the carriages were so shattered that a portion of +those in them were enabled to extricate themselves, but no less than +forty were held fast; and of these such as were not so fortunate as to be +crushed to death in the first shock perished hopelessly in the flames +before the eyes of a throng of impotent lookers-on. Some fifty-two or +fifty-three persons were supposed to have lost their lives in this +disaster, and more than forty others were injured; the exact number of +the killed, however, could never be ascertained, as the telescoping of +the carriages on top of the two locomotives had made of the destroyed +portion of the train a visible holocaust of the most hideous description. +Not only did whole families perish together--in one case no less than +eleven members of the same family sharing a common fate--but the remains +of such as were destroyed could neither be identified nor separated. In +one case a female foot was alone recognisable, while in others the bodies +were calcined and fused into an undistinguishable mass. The Academy of +Sciences appointed a committee to inquire whether Admiral D'Urville, a +distinguished French navigator, was among the victims. His body was +thought to be found, but it was so terribly mutilated that it could be +recognized only by a sculptor, who chanced some time before to have taken +a phrenological cast of his skull. His wife and only son had perished +with him. + +"It is not easy now to conceive the excitement and dismay which this +catastrophe caused throughout France. The new invention was at once +associated in the minds of an excitable people with novel forms of +imminent death. France had at best been laggard enough in its adoption +of the new appliance, and now it seemed for a time as if the Versailles +disaster was to operate as a barrier in the way of all further railroad +development. Persons availed themselves of the steam roads already +constructed as rarely as possible, and then in fear and trembling, while +steps were taken to substitute horse for steam power on other roads then +in process of construction." + + + + +AN AMATEUR SIGNALMAN. + + +Mr. Williams in his book, _Our Iron Roads_, gives an account of a foolish +act of signalling to stop a train; he says:--"An Irishman, who appears to +have been in some measure acquainted with the science of signalling, was +on one occasion walking along the Great Western line without permission, +when he thought he might reduce his information to practical use. +Accordingly, on seeing an express train approach, he ran a short distance +up the side of the cutting, and began to wave a handkerchief very +energetically, which he had secured to a stick, as a signal to stop. The +warning was not to be disregarded, and never was command obeyed with +greater alacrity. The works of the engine were reversed--the tender and +van breaks were applied--and soon, to the alarm of the passengers, the +train came to a 'dead halt.' A hundred heads were thrust out of the +carriage windows, and the guard had scarcely time to exclaim, 'What's the +matter?' when Paddy, with a knowing touch of his 'brinks,' asked his +'honour if he would give him a bit of a ride?' So polite and ingenuous a +request was not to be denied, and, though biting his lips with annoyance, +the officer replied 'Oh, certainly; jump in here,' and the pilgrim was +ensconced in the luggage van. But instead of having his ride 'for his +thanks,' the functionary duly handed him over to the magisterial +authorities, that he might be taught the important lesson, that railway +companies did not keep express trains for Irish beggars, and that such +costly machinery was not to be imperilled with impunity, either by their +freaks or their ignorance." + + + + +STEAM WHISTLE. + + +In the early days of railways, the signal of alarm was given by the +blowing of a horn. In the year, 1833, an accident occurred on the +Leicester and Swannington railway near Thornton, at a level crossing, +through an engine running against a horse and cart. Mr. Bagster, the +manager, after narrating the circumstance to George Stephenson, asked "Is +it not possible to have a whistle fitted on the engine, which the steam +can blow?" "A very good thought," replied Stephenson. "You go to Mr. +So-and-So, a musical instrument maker, and get a model made, and we will +have a steam whistle, and put it on the next engine that comes on the +line." When the model was made it was sent to the Newcastle factory and +future engines had the whistle fitted on them. + + + + +EXEMPTION FROM ACCIDENTS. + + +Mr. C. F. Adams, remarks:--"Indeed, from the time of Mr. Huskisson's +death, during the period of over eleven years, railroads enjoyed a +remarkable and most fortunate exemption from accidents. During all that +time there did not occur a single disaster resulting in any considerable +loss of life. This happy exemption was probably due to a variety of +causes. Those early roads were in the first place, remarkably well and +thoroughly built, and were very cautiously operated under a light volume +of traffic. The precautions then taken and the appliances in use would, +it is true, strike the modern railroad superintendent as both primitive +and comical; for instance, they involve the running of independent pilot +locomotives in advance of all night passenger trains, and it was, by the +way, on a pioneer locomotive of this description, on the return trip of +the excursion party from Manchester after the accident to Mr. Huskisson, +that the first recorded attempt was made in the direction of our present +elaborate system of night signals. On that occasion obstacles were +signalled to those in charge of the succeeding trains by a man on the +pioneer locomotive, who used for that purpose a bit of lighted tarred +rope. Through all the years between 1830 and 1841, nevertheless, not a +single serious railroad disaster had to be recorded. Indeed, the +luck--for it was nothing else--of these earlier times was truly amazing. +Thus on this same Liverpool and Manchester road, as a first-class train +on the morning of April 17, 1836, was moving at a speed of some thirty +miles an hour, an axle broke under the first passenger carriage, causing +the whole train to leave the rails and throwing it down the embankment, +which at that point was twenty feet high. The carriages were rolled +over, and the passengers in them turned topsy-turvy; nor, as they were +securely locked in, could they even extricate themselves when at last the +wreck of the train reached firm bearings. And yet no one was killed." + + + + +RIVAL CONTRACTORS AND THE BLOTTING PAD. + + +In rails, the same system has prevailed. Ironmasters have been pitted +against each other, as to which should produce an apparent rail at the +lowest price. At the outset of railways the rails were made of iron. +Competition gradually produced rails in which a core, of what is +technically called "cinder," is covered up with a skin of iron; and the +cleverest foreman for an ironmaster was the man who could make rails with +the maximum of cinder and the minimum of iron. In more than one instance +has it been known in relaying an old line the worn-out rails have been +sold at a higher price per ton than the new ones were bought for; yet +this would hardly open the eyes of the buyers. The contrivances which +are resorted to to get hold of one another's prices beforehand by +competing contractors are manifold; and, when they attend in person, they +commonly put off the filling up of their tender till the last moment. +Once a shrewd contractor found himself at the same inn with a rival who +always trod close on his heels. He was followed about and +cross-questioned incessantly, and gave vague answers. Within +half-an-hour of the last moment he went into the coffee room and sat +himself down in a corner where his rival could not overlook him. There +and then he filled up his tender, and, as he rose from the table, left +behind him the paper on which he had blotted it. As he left the room his +rival caught up the blotting paper, and, with the exulting glee of a +consciously successful rival, read off the amount backwards. "Done this +time!" was his mental thought, as he filled up his own tender a dollar +lower, and hastened to deposit it. To his utter surprise, the next day +he found that he had lost the contract, and complainingly asked his rival +how it was, for he had tendered below him. "How did you know you were +below me?" "Because I found your blotting paper." "I thought so. I +left it on purpose for you, and wrote another tender in my bedroom. You +had better make your own calculations next time!" + + --_Roads and Rails_, by W. B. Adams. + + + + +RAILWAY LEGISLATION. + + +A writer in the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_ remarks:--"The expenses, +direct and incidental, of obtaining an Act of Parliament have been in +many cases enormous, and generally are excessive. The adherence to +useless and expensive forms of Parliamentary Committees in what are +called the standing orders, or general regulations for the observance of +promoters of railway bills, on the one part, and the itching for +opposition of railway companies, to resist fancied inroads on vested +rights, supposed injurious competition, on the other part, have been +amongst the sources of excessive expenditure. Mr. Stephenson mentioned +an instance showing how Parliament has entailed expense upon railway +companies by the system complained of. The Trent Valley Railway was +under other titles originally proposed in 1836. It was, however, thrown +out by the standing orders committee, in consequence of a barn of the +value of 10 pounds, which was shown upon the general plan, not having +been exhibited upon an enlarged sheet. In 1840, the line again went +before Parliament. It was opposed by the Grand Junction Railway Company, +now part of the London and North-Western. No less than 450 allegations +were made against it before the standing orders subcommittee, which was +engaged twenty-two days in considering those objections. They ultimately +reported that four or five of the allegations were proved, but the +committee nevertheless allowed the bill to proceed. It was read a second +time and then went into committee, by whom it was under consideration for +sixty-three days; and ultimately Parliament was prorogued before the +report could be made. Such were the delays and consequent expenses which +the forms of the House occasioned in this case, that it may be doubted if +the ultimate cost of constructing the whole line was very much more than +was expended in obtaining permission from Parliament to make it. This +example serves to show the expensive formalities, the delays, and +difficulties, with which Parliament surround railway legislation. +Another instance, quoted by the same authority, will show not only the +absurdity of the system of legislation, but also the afflicting spirit of +competition and opposition with which railway bills are canvassed in +Parliament, and the expensive outlay incurred by companies themselves. + +"In 1845, a bill for a line now existing went before Parliament with +eighteen competitors, each party relying on the wisdom of Parliament to +allow their bill at least to pass a second reading! Nineteen different +parties condemned to one scene of contentious litigation! They each and +all had to pay not only the costs of promoting their own line, but also +the costs of opposing eighteen other bills. And yet conscious as +government must have been of this fact, Parliament deliberately abandoned +the only step it ever took on any occasion of subjecting railway projects +to investigation by a preliminary tribunal. Parliamentary committees +generally satisfied themselves with looking on and watching the ruinous +game of competition for which the public are ultimately to pay. In fact, +railway legislation became a mere scramble, conducted on no system or +principle. Schemes of sound character were allowed to be defeated on +merely technical grounds, and others of very inferior character were +sanctioned by public act, after enormous Parliamentary expenses had been +incurred. Competing lines were granted, sometimes parallel lines through +the same district, and between the same towns." + + + + +AN EXPENSIVE PARLIAMENTARY BILL. + + +A writer in the _Popular Encyclopaedia_ observes:--"But the most +conspicuous example in recent times, which overshadowed all others, of +excessive expenditure in Parliamentary litigation as well as in land and +compensation, is supplied in the history of the Great Northern Company. +The preliminary expenses of surveys, notices to landowners, etc., +commenced in 1844, and the Bill was introduced into the House of Commons +in 1845, when it was opposed by the London and North-Western, the Eastern +Counties, and the Midland Railways. It was further opposed successively +by two other schemes, called the London and York and the Direct Northern. +The contest lasted eighty-two days before the House of Commons, more than +half the time having been consumed by opposition to the Bill. The Bill +was allowed to stand over till next year (1846), when it began, before +the Committee of the House of Lords, where it left off in the Lower House +in the year 1845 on account of the magnitude of the case. The Bill was +before the Upper House between three and four weeks, and in the same year +(1846) it was granted. The promoters of the rival projects were bought +off, and all their expenses paid, including the costs of the opposition +of the neighbouring lines already named, before the Great Northern bill +was passed; and the 'preliminary expenses,' comprising the whole +expenditure of every kind up to the passing of the bill was 590,355 +pounds, or more than half-a-million sterling, incurred at the end of two +years of litigation. Subsequently to the passing of the Act an +additional sum of 172,722 pounds was expended for law engineering +expenses in Parliament to 31st December, 1857, which was spent almost +wholly in obtaining leave from Parliament to make various alterations. +Thus it would appear that a sum total of 763,077 pounds was spent as +Parliamentary charges for obtaining leave to construct 245 miles, being +at the rate of 3,118 pounds per mile." + + + + +THE RECTOR AND HIS PIG. + + +"I have been a rector for many years," writes a clergyman, "and have +often heard and read of tithe-pigs, though I have never met with a +specimen of them. But I had once a little pig given to me which was of a +choice breed, and only just able to leave his mother. I had to convey +him by carriage to the X station; from thence, twenty-three miles to Y +station, and from thence, eighty-two miles to Z station, and from there, +eight miles by carriage. I had a comfortable rabbit-hutch of a box made +for him, with a supply of fresh cabbages for his dinner on the road. I +started off with my wife, children, and nurse; and of these impediments +piggy proved to be the most formidable. First, a council of war was held +over him at X station by the railway officials, who finally decided that +this small porker must travel as 'two dogs.' Two dog tickets were +therefore procured for him; and so we journeyed on to Y station. There a +second council of war was held, and the officials of Y said that the +officials of X (another line) might be prosecuted for charging my piggy +as two dogs, but that he must travel to Z as a horse, and that he must +have a huge horse-box entirely to himself for the next eighty-two miles. +I declined to pay for the horse-box--they refused to let me have my +pig--officials swarmed around me--the station master advised me to pay +for the horse-box and probably the company would return the extra charge. +I scorned the probability, having no faith in the company--the train (it +was a London express) was already detained ten minutes by this wrangle; +and finally I whirled away bereft of my pig. I felt sure that he would +be forwarded by the next train, but as that would not reach Z till a late +hour in the evening, and it was Saturday, I had to tell my pig tale to +the officials; and not only so, but to go to the adjacent hotel and hire +a pig-stye till the Monday, and fee a porter for seeing to the pig until +I could send a cart for him on that day. Of course the pig was sent +after me by the next train; and as the charge for him was less than a +halfpenny a mile, I presume he was not considered to be a horse. Yet +this fact remains--and it is worth the attention of the Zoological +Society, if not of railway officials--that this small porker was never +recognised as a pig, but began his railway journey as two dogs, and was +then changed into a horse." + + + + +SIR MORTON PETO'S RAILWAY MISSION. + + +Mr., afterwards Sir S. Morton Peto, having undertaken the construction of +certain railways in East Anglia, was at this time in the habit of +spending a considerable part of the year in the neighbourhood of Norwich, +and, with his family, joined Mr. Brock's congregation. It will +afterwards appear how many important movements turned upon the friendship +which was thus formed; but it is only now to be noted that, in the course +of frequent conversations, the practicability was discussed of attempting +something which might serve to interest and improve the large number of +labourers employed on the works in progress. They were part of that +peculiar body of men which had been gradually formed during a long course +of years for employment in the construction, first of navigable canals, +and then of railways, and called, from their earlier occupation, +"navvies." They were drawn from diverse parts of the British Islands, +and professed, in some instances, hostile forms of religion, but were +distinguished chiefly by extreme ignorance and all but total spiritual +insensibility. They had, at the same time, a common life and an +unwritten law, affecting their relations to each other, their employers, +and the rest of the world. That they were accessible to kind +attentions--clearly disinterested--followed from their being men, but +they required to be approached with the greatest caution and patience. +Mr. Brock's wide and various sympathy, joined with his friend's steady +support, led--under the divine blessing--to measures which proved very +successful. Mr. Peto constructed commodious halls capable of being moved +onward as the line of railway advanced, and affording comfortable shelter +for the men in their leisure hours, and furnished with books and +publications supplying amusement, useful information, and religious +knowledge. To give life to this apparatus, Christian men, carefully +selected, mingled familiarly with the rude but grateful toilers, helping +them to read and write, encouraging them to acquire self-command, and +above all, especially when they were convened on Sundays, presenting and +pressing home upon them the words of eternal life. + +Mr. Brock had liberty to draw on the "Railway Mission Account," at the +Norwich Bank, to any extent that he found necessary, and in a short time +he had a body of the best men, he was accustomed to say, that he ever +knew at work upon all the chief points of the lines. No part of his now +extended labours gave him greater delight than in superintending these +missionaries, reading their weekly journals, arranging their periodical +movements, counselling and comforting them in their difficulties, and +visiting them, sometimes apart and at other times at conferences for +united consultation and prayer, held at Yarmouth, Ely, or March. + +Results of the best character, of which the record is on high, arose out +of these operations. + + --Birrell's _Life of the Rev. W. Brock_, _D.D._ + + + + +CLEVER CAPTURE. + + +A few days ago (1845), a gentleman left Glasgow in one of the day trains, +with a large sum of money about his person. On the train arriving at the +Edinburgh terminus, the gentleman left it, along with the other +passengers, on foot for some distance. It was not long, however, before +he discovered that his pocket book, containing 700 pounds, in bank notes +was missing. He immediately returned to the terminus, where the first +person he happened to find was the stoker of the train that had brought +him to Edinburgh, who, on being spoken to, remembered seeing the +gentleman leaving the terminus, and another person following close behind +him, whom he supposed to be his servant; he further stated, that the +supposed servant had started to return with the train which had just left +for Glasgow. The gentleman immediately ordered an express train, but as +some time elapsed before the steam could be got up, it was feared the +gentleman and the stoker would not reach Glasgow in time to secure the +culprit. However, having gone the distance in about an hour, they had +the satisfaction of seeing the train before them close to the Cowlairs +station, just about to descend the inclined plane and tunnel, and thus +within a mile and a half of the end of their journey. The stoker +immediately sounded his whistle, which induced the conductor of the +passenger train to conclude that some danger was in the way, who had his +train removed to the other line of rails, which left the road then quite +clear for the express train, which drove past the other with great speed, +and arrived at the terminus in sufficient time to get everything ready +for the apprehension of the robber. The stoker, who thought he could +identify the robber, assisted the police in searching the passenger +train, when the person whom he had taken for the gentleman's servant was +found with the pocket book and also the 700 pounds safe and untouched. +The gentleman then offered a handsome reward to the stoker, who refused +it on the plea that he had only done his duty; not satisfied, however, +with this answer, he left 100 pounds with the manager, requesting him to +pay the expenses of the express train, and particularly to reward the +stoker for his activity, and to remit the remainder to his address. +Shortly after he received the whole 100 pounds, accompanied with a polite +note, declining any payment for the express train, and stating that it +was the duty of the company to reward the stoker, which they would not +omit to do. + + --_Stirling Journal_. + + + + +COMPENSATION FOR LAND. + + +Mr. Williams, in _Our Iron Roads_, gives much interesting information +upon the subject of compensation for land and buying off opposition to +railway schemes. He says:--"One noble lord had an estate near a proposed +line of railway, and on this estate was a beautiful mansion. Naturally +averse to the desecration of his home and its neighbourhood, he gave his +most uncompromising opposition to the Bill, and found, in the Committee +of both Houses, sympathizing listeners. Little did it aid the projectors +that they urged that the line did not pass within six miles of that +princely domain; that the high road was much closer to his dwelling; and +that, as the spot nearest the house would be passed by means of a tunnel, +no unsightliness would arise. But no; no worldly consideration affected +the decision of the proprietor; and, arguments failing, it was found that +an appeal must be made to other means. His opposition was ultimately +bought off for twenty-eight thousand pounds, to be paid when the railway +reached his neighbourhood. Time wore on, funds became scarce, and the +company found that it would be best to stop short at a particular portion +of their line, long before they reached the estate of the noble lord who +had so violently opposed their Bill, by which they sought to be released +from the obligation of constructing the line which had been so obnoxious +to him. What was their surprise at finding this very man their chief +opponent, and then fresh means had to be adopted for silencing his +objections! + +"A line had to be brought near to the property of a certain Member of +Parliament. It threatened no injury to the estate, either by affecting +its appearance or its intrinsic worth; and, on the other hand, it +afforded him a cheap, convenient, and expeditious means of communication +with the metropolis. But the proprietor, being a legislator, had power +at head-quarters, and by his influence he nearly turned the line of +railway aside; and this deviation would have cost the projectors the sum +of _sixty thousand pounds_. Now it so happened that the house of this +honourable member, who had thus insisted on such costly deference to his +peculiar feelings respecting his property, was afflicted with the dry +rot, and threatened every hour to fall upon the head of its owner. To +pull down and rebuild it, would require the sum of thirty thousand +pounds. The idea of compromise, beneficial to both parties, suggested +itself. If the railway company rebuilt the house, or paid 30,000 pounds +to the owner of the estate, and were allowed to pursue their original +line, it was clear that they would be 30,000 pounds the richer, as the +enforced deviation would cost 60,000 pounds; and, on the other hand, the +owner of the estate would obtain a secure house, or receive 30,000 pounds +in money. The proposed bargain was struck, and 30,000 pounds was paid by +the Company. 'How can you live in that house,' said some friend to him +afterwards, 'with the railroad coming so near?' 'Had it not done so,' +was the reply, 'I could not have lived in it at all.' + +"One rather original character sold some land to the London and +Birmingham Company, and was loud and long in his outcries for +compensation, expatiating on the damages which the formation of the line +would inevitably bring to his property. His complaints were only stopped +by the payment of his demands. A few months afterwards, a little +additional land was required from the same individual, when he actually +demanded a much larger price for the new land than was given him before; +and, on surprise being expressed at the charge for that which he had +declared would inevitably be greatly deteriorated in value from the +proximity of the railway, he coolly replied: 'Oh, I made a mistake +_then_, in thinking the railway would injure my property; it has +increased its value, and of course you must pay me an increased price for +it.' + +"On one occasion, a trial occurred in which an eminent land valuer was +put into the witness box to swell the amount of damages, and he proceeded +to expatiate on the injury committed by railroads in general, and +especially by the one in question, in _cutting up_ the properties they +invaded. When he had finished the delivery of this weighty piece of +evidence, the counsel for the Company put a newspaper into his hand, and +asked him whether he had not inserted a certain advertisement therein. +The fact was undeniable, and on being read aloud, it proved to be a +declaration by the land valuer himself, that the approach of the railway +which he had come there to oppose, would prove exceedingly beneficial to +some property in its immediate vicinity then on sale. + +"An illustration of the difference between the exorbitant demands made by +parties for compensation, and the real value of the property, may be +mentioned. The first claim made by the Directors of the Glasgow Lunatic +Asylum on the Edinburgh and Glasgow railway is stated to have been no +less than 44,000 pounds. Before the trial came on, this sum was reduced +to 10,000 pounds; the amount awarded by the jury was 873 pounds. + +"The opposition thus made, whether feigned or real, it was always +advisable to remove; and the money paid for this purpose, though +ostensibly in the purchase of the ground, has been on many occasions +immense. Sums of 35,000, 40,000, 50,000, 100,000, and 120,000 pounds, +have thus been paid; while various ingenious plans have been adopted of +removing the opposition of influential men. An honourable member is said +to have received 30,000 pounds to withdraw his opposition to a Bill +before the House; and 'not far off the celebrated year 1845, a lady of +title, so gossip talks, asked a certain nobleman to support a certain +Bill, stating that, if he did, she had the authority of the secretary of +a great company to inform him that fifty shares in a certain railway, +then at a considerable premium, would be at his disposal.' + +"One pleasing circumstance, however, highly honourable to the gentleman +concerned, must not be omitted. The late Mr. Labouchere had made an +agreement with the Eastern Counties Company for a passage through his +estate near Chelmsford, for the price of 35,000 pounds; his son and +successor, the Right Honourable Henry Labouchere, finding that the +property was not deteriorated to the anticipated extent, voluntarily +returned 15,000 pounds. + +"The practice of buying off opposition has not been confined to the +proprietors of land. We learn from one of the Parliamentary Reports that +in a certain district a pen-and-ink warfare between two rival companies +ran so high, and was, at least on one side, rewarded with such success, +that the friends of the older of the two projected lines thought it +expedient to enter into treaty with their literary opponent, and its +editor very soon retired on a fortune. It is also asserted, on good +authority, that, in a midland county, the facts and arguments of an +editor were wielded with such vigour that the opposing company found it +necessary to adopt extraordinary means on the occasion. Bribes were +offered, but refused; an opposition paper was started, but its conductors +quailed before the energy of their opponent, and it produced little +effect; every scheme that ingenuity could devise, and money carry out, +was attempted, but they successively and utterly failed. At length a +Director hit on a truly Machiavellian plan--he was introduced to the +proprietor of the journal, whom he cautiously informed that he wished to +risk a few thousands in newspaper property, and actually induced his +unconscious victim to sell the property, unknown to the editor. When the +bargain was concluded, the plot was discovered; but it was then too late, +and the wily Director took possession of the copyright of the paper and +the printing office on behalf of the company. The services of the +editor, however, were not to be bought, he refused to barter away his +independence, and retired--taking with him the respect of both friends +and enemies." + + + + +A LANDOWNER'S OPPOSITION. + + +In _Herepath's Railway Journal_ for 1845 we meet with the following:--"A +learned counsel, the other day, gave as a reason for a wealthy and +aristocratic landowner's opposition to a great line of railway +approaching his residence by something more than a mile distance, that +'His Lordship rode horses that would not bear the puff of a steam +engine.' Truly this was a most potent reason, and one that should weigh +heavily against the scheme in the minds of the Committee. His Lordship +has a wood some two miles off, between which and his residence this +railway is intended to pass. His lordship is fond of amusing himself +there in hunting down little animals called hares, and sometimes treats +himself to a stag hunt. Not the slightest interference is contemplated +with his lordship's pastime, or rather pursuit, for such it is, occupying +nearly his whole time, and exercising all the ability of which he is +possessed; but still he objects to the intrusion. The bridge that is to +be constructed by the Company to give access to the wood, or forest, is +in itself all that could be wished, forming, rather than otherwise, an +ornamental structure to his lordship's grounds; but then he fears that +should an engine chance (of course, these chances are not within his +control) to pass under the bridge at the same moment as he is passing +over, his high blood horses would prance and rear, and suffer injury +therefrom. His lordship is very careful and proud of his horse-flesh, +and thinks it hard, and what the legislature ought not to tolerate, that +they (his horses) are to be worried, or subjected to the chance of it, by +making a railway to serve the public wants! + +"This _noble_ man is of opinion, too, that, should the railway be made, +he is entitled to an enormous amount of compensation; and, through his +agent, assigns as a reason for his extravagant demand--we do not +exaggerate the fact--that he is averse to railways in general, and +considers the system as an unjustifiable invasion of the province of +horse-flesh. This horse jockey lord thereby excuses his conscience in +opposing and endeavouring to plunder the railway company as far as he +possibly can." + + + + +PICTURE EVIDENCE. + + +Amongst laughable occurrences that enlivened the committee rooms during +the gauge contest, was a scene occasioned by a parliamentary counsel +putting in as evidence, before the committee on the Southampton and +Manchester line, a printed picture of troubles consequent on a break of +gauge. The picture was a forcible sketch that had appeared a few days +before in the pages of the _Illustrated London News_. Opposing counsel +of course argued against the production of the work of art as testimony +for the consideration of the committee. After much argument on both +sides the chairman decided in favour of receiving the illustration, which +was forthwith put, amidst much laughter, into the hands of a witness, who +was asked if it was a fair picture of the evils that arose from a break +of gauge. The witness replying in the affirmative, the engraving was +then laid before the committee for inspection. + + --_Railway Chronicle_, June 13, 1846. + + + + +EXTRAORDINARY USE OF THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. + + +Oct. 7, 1847. An extraordinary instance has occurred of the application +of the electric telegraph at the London Bridge terminus of the South +Eastern Railway. + +Hutchings, the man found guilty and sentenced to death for poisoning his +wife, was to have been executed at Maidstone Goal at twelve o'clock. +Shortly before the appointed hour for carrying the sentence into effect, +a message was received at the London Bridge terminus, from the Home +Office, requesting that an order should be sent by the electric telegraph +instructing the Under-Sheriff at Maidstone to stay the execution two +hours. By the agency of the electric telegraph the communication was +received in Maidstone with the usual rapidity, and the execution was for +a time stayed. Shortly after the transmission of the order deferring the +execution, a messenger from the Home Office conveyed to the railway the +Secretary of State's order, that the law was to take its course, and that +the culprit was to be at once executed. The telegraph clerk hesitated to +sending such a message without instructions from his principals. The +messenger from the Home Office could not be certain that the order for +Hutchings's execution was signed by the Home Secretary, although it bore +his name; and Mr. Macgregor, the chairman, with great judgment and +humanity, instantly decided that it was not a sufficient authority in +such a momentous matter. + +An officer of confidence was immediately sent to the Secretary of State, +to state their hesitation and its cause, as the message was, in fact, a +death warrant, and that Mr. Walter must have undoubted evidence of its +correctness. On Mr. Walter drawing the attention of the Secretary of +State to the fact, that the transmission of such a message was, in +effect, to make him the Sheriff, the conduct of the railway company, in +requiring unquestionable evidence and authority, was warmly approved. +The proper signature was affixed in Mr. Walter's presence; and the +telegraph then conveyed to the criminal the sad news, that the suspension +of the awful sentence was only temporary. Hutchings was executed soon +after it reached Maidstone. + + --_Annual Register_, 1847. + + + + +LOST LUGGAGE. + + +Sir Francis Head, giving an account of the contents of the Lost Luggage +Office, at Euston Station, observes:--"But there were a few articles that +certainly we were not prepared to meet with, and which but too clearly +proved that the extraordinary terminus-excitement which had suddenly +caused so many virtuous ladies to elope from their red shawls--in short, +to be all of a sudden not only in 'a bustle' behind, but all over--had +equally affected men of all sorts and conditions. + +"One gentleman had left behind him a pair of leather hunting breeches! +another his boot-jacks! A soldier of the 22nd regiment had left his +knapsack containing his kit. Another soldier of the 10th, poor fellow, +had left his scarlet regimental coat! Some cripple, probably overjoyed +at the sight of his family, had left behind him his crutches!! But what +astonished us above all was, that some honest Scotchman, probably in the +ecstasy of suddenly seeing among the crowd the face of his faithful +_Jeanie_, had actually left behind him the best portion of his +bagpipes!!! + +"Some little time ago the superintendent, on breaking open, previous to a +general sale, a locked leather hat-box, which had lain in this dungeon +two years, found in it, under the hat, 65 pounds in Bank of England +notes, with one or two private letters, which enabled him to restore the +money to the owner, who, it turned out, had been so positive that had +left his hat-box at an hotel at Birmingham that he made no inquiry for it +at the railway office." + + + + +VERY NICE TO BE A RAILWAY ENGINEER. + + +A lady in conversation with a railway engineer observed, "It must be very +nice to be a railway engineer, and be able to travel about anywhere you +want to go to for nothing." + +"Yes, madam," was the reply, "It would, as you say, be very nice to +travel about for nothing, _if we were not paid for it_. But you see," he +remarked, "railway engineers are like the cabman's horse. The cabman has +a very thin horse. 'Doesn't your horse have enough to eat?' inquired a +benevolent lady passenger. 'Oh yes, ma'am,' replied cabby, 'I give him +lots o' victuals to eat, only, you see, he hasn't any time to eat 'em.' +So it is with the railway engineer; he has lots of pleasure of all kinds, +only he has not any time to take it." + + + + +AN ACCOMMODATING CONTRACTOR. + + +One railway of some scores of miles hung fire; the directors were +congested with their fears of exceeding the estimates, and so a shrewd +man of business, a contractor, i.e., a man with a mind contracted to +profit and a keen eye to discern the paths of profit, called on them. +This man had made his way upward, and passing through the process of +sub-contracting, had obtained a glimpse of the upper glories. And thus +he relieved the directors from their difficulties, by proffering to make +the railway complete in all its parts, buy the land at the commencement, +and, if required, to engage the station-clerks at the conclusion, with +all the staff complete, so that his patrons might have no trouble, but +begin business off-hand. But the latter condition--the staff and +clerks--being simply a matter of patronage, the directors kept that +trouble in their own hands. + +Our contractor loomed on the directors' minds as a guardian angel, a +guarantee against responsibilities, backed by sufficient sureties, so the +matter was without delay handed over to him, and he knew what to do with +it. + + --_Roads and Rails_, by W. B. Adams. + + + + +THE TWO DUKES AND THE TRAVELLER. + + +The following amusing anecdote is related of a commercial traveller who +happened to get into the same railway carriage in which the Dukes of +Argyle and Northumberland were travelling. The three chatted familiarly +until the train stopped at Alnwick Junction, where the Duke of +Northumberland got out, and was met by a train of flunkeys and servants. +"That must be a great swell," said the "commercial," to his remaining +companion. "Yes," responded the Duke of Argyle, "he is the Duke of +Northumberland." "Bless my soul!" exclaimed the "commercial." "And to +think that he should have been so condescending to two little snobs like +us!" + + + + +THE GREAT RAILWAY MANIA DAY. + + +Never had there occurred, in the history of joint-stock enterprise, such +another day as the 30th of November, 1845. It was the day on which a +madness for speculation arrived at its height, to be followed by a +collapse terrible to many thousand families. Railways had been gradually +becoming successful, and the old companies had, in many cases, bought +off, on very high terms, rival lines which threatened to interfere with +their profits. Both of these circumstances tended to encourage the +concoction of new schemes. There is always floating capital in England +waiting for profitable employment; there are always professional men +looking out for employment in great engineering works; and there are +always scheming moneyless men ready to trade on the folly of others. +Thus the bankers and capitalists were willing to supply the capital; the +engineers, surveyors, architects, contractors, builders, solicitors, +barristers, and Parliamentary agents were willing to supply the brains +and fingers; while, too often, cunning schemers pulled the strings. This +was especially the case in 1845, when plans for new railways were brought +forward literally by hundreds, and with a recklessness perfectly +marvellous. + +By an enactment in force at that time, it was necessary, for the +prosecution of any railway scheme in Parliament, that a mass of documents +should be deposited with the Board of Trade, on or before the 30th of +November in the preceding year. The multitude of these schemes in 1845 +was so great that there could not be found surveyors enough to prepare +the plans and sections in time. Advertisements were inserted in the +newspapers offering enormous pay for even a smattering of this kind of +skill. Surveyors and architects from abroad were attracted to England; +young men at home were tempted to break the articles into which they had +entered with their masters; and others were seduced from various +professions into that of railway engineers. Sixty persons in the +employment of the Ordnance Department left their situations to gain +enormous earnings in this way. There were desperate fights in various +parts of England between property-owners who were determined that their +land should not be entered upon for the purpose of railway surveying, and +surveyors who knew that the schemes of their companies would be +frustrated unless the surveys were made and the plans deposited by the +30th of November. To attain this end, force, fraud, and bribery were +freely made use of. The 30th of November, 1845, fell on a Sunday; but it +was no Sunday at the office near the Board of Trade. Vehicles were +driving up during the whole of the day, with agents and clerks bringing +plans and sections. In country districts, as the day approached, and on +the morning of the day, coaches-and-four were in greater request than +even at race-time, galloping at full speed to the nearest railway +station. On the Great Western Railway an express train was hired by the +agents of one new scheme. The engine broke down; the train came to a +stand-still at Maidenhead, and, in this state, was run into by another +express train hired by the agents of a rival project; the opposite +parties barely escaped with their lives, but contrived to reach London at +the last moment. On this eventful Sunday there were no fewer than ten of +these express trains on the Great Western Railway, and eighteen on the +Eastern Counties! One railway company was unable to deposit its papers +because another company surreptitiously bought, for a high sum, twenty of +the necessary sheets from the lithographic printer, and horses were +killed in madly running about in search of the missing documents before +the fraud was discovered. In some cases the lithographic stones were +stolen; and in one instance the printer was bribed, by a large sum, not +to finish in proper time the plans for a rival line. One eminent house +brought over four hundred lithographic printers from Belgium, and even +then, and with these, all the work ordered could not be executed. Some +of the plans were only two-thirds lithographed, the rest being filled up +by hand. However executed, the problem was to get these documents to +Whitehall before midnight on the 30th of November. Two guineas a mile +were in one instance paid for post-horses. One express train steamed up +to London 118 miles in an hour-and-a-half, nearly 80 miles an hour. An +established company having refused an express train to the promoters of a +rival scheme, the latter employed persons to get up a mock funeral +cortege, and engage an express train to convey it to London; they did so, +and the plans and sections came _in the hearse_, with solicitors and +surveyors as mourners! + +Copies of many of the documents had to be deposited with the clerks of +the peace of the counties to which the schemes severally related, as well +as with the Board of Trade; and at some of the offices of these clerks, +strange scenes occurred on the Sunday. At Preston, the doors of the +office were not opened, as the officials considered the orders which had +been issued to keep open on that particular Sunday, to apply only to the +Board of Trade; but a crowd of law agents and surveyors assembled, broke +the windows, and threw their plans and sections into the office. At the +Board of Trade, extra clerks were employed on that day, and all went +pretty smoothly until nine o'clock in the evening. A rule was laid down +for receiving the plans and sections, hearing a few words of explanation +from the agents, and making certain entries in books. But at length the +work accumulated more rapidly than the clerks could attend to it, and the +agents arrived in greater number than the entrance hall could hold. The +anxiety was somewhat allayed by an announcement, that whoever was inside +the building before the clock struck twelve should be deemed in good +time. Many of the agents bore the familiar name of Smith; and when 'Mr. +Smith' was summoned by the messenger to enter and speak concerning some +scheme, the name of which was not announced, in rushed several persons, +of whom, of course, only one could be the right Mr. Smith at that +particular moment. One agent arrived while the clock was striking +twelve, and was admitted. Soon afterwards, a carriage with reeking +horses drove up; three agents rushed out, and finding the door closed, +rang furiously at the bell; no sooner did a policeman open the door to +say that the time was past, than the agents threw their bundles of plans +and sections through the half-opened door into the hall; but this was not +permitted, and the policeman threw the documents out into the street. +The baffled agents were nearly maddened with vexation; for they had +arrived in London from Harwich in good time, and had been driven about +Pimlico hither and thither, by a post-boy who did not, or would not, know +the way to the office of the Board of Trade. + +The _Times_ newspaper, in the same month, devoted three whole pages to an +elaborate analysis, by Mr. Spackman, of the various railway schemes +brought forward in 1845. "There were no less than 620 in number, +involving an (hypothetical) expenditure of 560 millions sterling; besides +643 other schemes which had not gone further than issuing prospectuses. +More than 500 of the schemes went through all the stages necessary for +being brought before Parliament; and 272 of these became Acts of +Parliament in 1846--to the ruin of thousands who had afterwards to find +the money to fulfil the engagements into which they had so rashly +entered. + + --_Chambers's Book of Days_. + + + + +PARODY UPON THE RAILWAY MANIA. + + +About the time of the bursting of the railway bubble, or the collapse of +the mania of 1844-5, the following clever lines appeared:-- + + "There was a sound of revelry by night."--_Childe Harold_. + + "There was a sound that ceased not day or night, + Of speculation. London gathered then + Unwonted crowds, and moved by promise bright, + To Capel-court rushed women, boys, and men, + All seeking railway shares and scrip; and when + The market rose, how many a lad could tell, + With joyous glance, and eyes that spake again, + 'Twas e'en more lucrative than marrying well;-- + When, hark! that warning voice strikes like a rising knell. + + Nay, it is nothing, empty as the wind, + But a 'bear' whisper down Throgmorton-street; + Wild enterprise shall still be unconfined; + No rest for us, when rising premiums greet + The morn to pour their treasures at our feet; + When, hark! that solemn sound is heard once more, + The gathering 'bears' its echoes yet repeat-- + 'Tis but too true, is now the general roar, + The Bank has raised her rate, as she has done before. + + And then and there were hurryings to and fro, + And anxious thoughts, and signs of sad distress + Faces all pale, that but an hour ago + Smiled at the thoughts of their own craftiness. + And there were sudden partings, such as press + The coin from hungry pockets--mutual sighs + Of brokers and their clients. Who can guess + How many a stag already panting flies, + When upon times so bright such awful panics rise?" + + + + +RAILWAY FACILITIES FOR BUSINESS. + + +A gentleman went to Liverpool in the morning, purchased, and took back +with him to Manchester, 150 tons of cotton, which he sold, and afterwards +obtained an order for a similar quantity. He went again, and actually, +that same evening, delivered the second quantity in Manchester, "having +travelled 120 miles in four separate journeys, and bought, sold, and +delivered, 30 miles off, at two distinct deliveries, 300 tons of goods, +in about 12 hours." The occurrence is perfectly astounding; and, had it +been hinted at fifty years ago, would have been deemed impossible. + + --_Railway Magazine_, 1840. + + + + +RAILWAYS AND THE POST-OFFICE. + + +It might naturally be thought that the new and quicker means of transport +afforded by the railway would be eagerly utilised by the Post-office. +There were, however, difficulties on both sides. The railway companies +objected to running trains during the night, and the old stage-coach +offered the advantage of greater regularity. The railway was quicker, +but was at least occasionally uncertain. Thus, in November, 1837, the +four daily mail trains between Liverpool and Birmingham on ten occasions +arrived before the specified time, on eight occasions were exact to time, +and on 102 occasions varied in lateness of arrival from five minutes to +five hours and five minutes. There were all sorts of mishaps and long +delays by train. The mail guard, like the passenger guard, rode outside +the train with a box before him called an "imperial," which contained the +letters and papers entrusted to his charge. In very stormy weather the +mail guard would prop up the lid of his imperial and get inside for +shelter. On one occasion when the mail arrived at Liverpool the guard +was found imprisoned in his letter-box. The lid had fallen and fastened +in the male travesty of "Ginevra." Fortunately for him it was a +burlesque and not a tragedy. Bags thrown to the guards at wayside +stations not unfrequently got under the wheels of the train and the +contents were cut to pieces. On one occasion, on the Grand Junction, an +engine failed through the fire-bars coming out. The mails were removed +from the train and run on a platelayer's "trolly," but unfortunately the +contents of the bags took fire and were destroyed. But many of these +mishaps were obviated by the invention of Mr. Nathaniel Worsdell, a +Liverpool coachbuilder, in the service of the railway, who took out a +patent in 1838 for an appliance for picking up and dropping mail bags +while the train was at full speed. This is still used. The loads of +railway vehicles, it may be mentioned, were limited by law to four tons +until the passage of the 5 and 6 Vic., c. 55. In 1837, when the weight +of the mails passing daily on the London and Birmingham line was only +about 14cwt., the late Sir Hardman Earle suggested that a special +compartment should be reserved for the mail guard in which he could sort +the letters _en route_. The first vehicle specially set apart for mail +purposes was put upon the Grand Junction in 1838. From this humble +beginning has gradually developed the express mails, in which the chief +consideration is the swift transit of correspondence, and which are +therefore limited in the number of the passengers they are allowed to +carry. The cost of carrying the mails in 1838 and 1839 between +Manchester and Liverpool by rail, including the guard's fare, averaged +about 1 pound a trip, or half of the cost of sending them by coach. The +price paid to the Grand Junction for carriage of mails between Manchester +and Liverpool and Birmingham was 1d. a mile for the guard and 0.75d. per +cwt. per mile for the mails. This brought a revenue of about 3,000 +pounds a year. When the Chancellor of the Exchequer proposed and carried +the imposition of the passenger duty, in 1832, the company intimated to +the Post-office that they should advance the mail guard's fare 0.5d. per +mile. In 1840 an agreement was negotiated between the Post-office and +railway authorities to convey the mails between Lancashire and Birmingham +four times daily for 19 pounds 10s. a day, with a penalty of 500 pounds +on the railway company in case of bad time keeping. This agreement was +not carried into effect. + + --_Manchester Guardian_. + + + + +RAILWAY SIGNALS. + + +The history of railway signals is a curious page in the annals of +practical science. For some years signals seem scarcely to have been +dreamt of. Holding up a hat or an umbrella was at first sufficient to +stop a train at an intermediate station. At level crossings the gates +had to stand closed across the line of rails, and on the top bar hung a +lamp to indicate to drivers that the way was blocked. In 1839, Colonel +Landman, of the Croydon line, said that he should avoid the danger at a +junction during a fog by going slowly, tolling a bell, beating a drum, or +sounding a whistle. The first junction signal was denominated a +lighthouse. The difficulties attending junctions may be judged of by the +fact that when the Bolton and Preston line was ready for opening it was +agreed that no train should attempt to enter or leave the North Union +line at Euxton junction within fifteen minutes of a train being due on +the main line which might interfere with it. The movable rails at +junctions had to be removed by hand and fixed into position by hammer and +pin. Mr. Watts, engineer to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, is +believed to have been one of the first to use the tapering movable +switch. One of Mr. Watts's men invented the back weight, another +designed the crank, while a third suggested the long rod. These +improvements were all about the year 1846. The first fixed signal set up +at stations was an ordinary round flag pole having a pulley on the top, +upon which was hoisted a green flag to stop a train and a red one to +indicate danger on the road. The night signal was a hand lamp hoisted in +the same way. These were superseded by a signal on which an arm was +worked at the end of a rod, and a square lamp with two sides, red and +white, having blinkers working on hinges to shut out the light. These +were used until 1848. The semaphores only came into practical use some +20 years ago, and it is remarkable that the first time they were used on +the Liverpool and Manchester line they were the cause of a slight +collision. The use of signal lights on trains was much advanced by two +accidents which occurred on the North Union line on the 7th September, +1841. One of these happened at Farrington, where two passenger trains +came into collision. The other happened at Euxton, where a coal train +ran into a stage coach which was taking passengers to Southport. The +Rev. Mr. Joy was killed, and several others, including the station +master, who lost one leg, were injured. These were the first serious +accidents investigated by the now Government Inspector of Railways, Sir +Frederic Smith, who was appointed by the Board of Trade under Lord +Seymour's Act. + + --_Manchester Guardian_. + + + + +FOG-SIGNALS. + + +During the prevalence of fogs, when neither signal-posts nor lights are +of any use, detonating signals are frequently employed, which are affixed +to the rails, and exploded by the iron tread of the advancing locomotive. +All guards, policemen, and pointsmen who are not appointed to stations, +and all enginemen, gatemen, gangers and platelayers, and tunnel-men, are +provided with packets of these signals, which they are required always to +have ready for use whilst on duty; and every engine, on passing over one +of these signals, is to be immediately stopped, and the guards are to +protect their train by sending back and placing a similar signal on the +line behind them every two hundred yards, to the distance of six hundred +yards; the train may then proceed slowly to the place of obstruction. +When these detonating signals were first invented, it was resolved to +ascertain whether they acted efficiently, and especially whether the +noise they produced was sufficient to be distinctly heard by the engine +driver. One of them was accordingly fixed to the rails on a particular +line by the authority of the company, and in due time the train having +passed over it, reached its destination. Here the engine driver and his +colleague were found to be in a state of great alarm, in consequence of a +supposed attack being made on them by an assassin, who, they said, lay +down beside the line of rails on which they had passed, and deliberately +fired at them. The efficiency of the means having thus been tested, the +apprehensions of the enginemen were removed, though there was at first +evident mortification manifested that they had been made the subjects of +such a successful experiment. + + --F. S. Williams's _Our Iron Roads_. + + + + +"ALMOST DAR NOW." + + +The following anecdote, illustrative of railroad facility, is very +pointed. A traveller inquired of a negro the distance to a certain +point. "Dat 'pends on circumstances," replied darkey. "If you gwine +afoot, it'll take you about a day; if you gwine in de stage or homneybus, +you make it half a day; but if you get in one of _dese smoke wagons_, you +be almost dar now." + + + + +WORDSWORTH'S PROTEST. + + +Lines written by Wordsworth as a protest against making a railway from +Kendal to Windermere:-- + + "Is there no nook of English ground secure + From rash assault? Schemes of retirement sown + In youth, and 'mid the world kept pure + As when their earliest flowers of hope were blown, + Must perish; how can they this blight endure? + And must he, too, his old delights disown, + Who scorns a false, utilitarian lure + 'Mid his paternal fields at random thrown? + Baffle the threat, bright scene, from Orrest-head, + Given to the pausing traveller's rapturous glance! + Plead for thy peace, thou beautiful romance + Of nature; and if human hearts be dead, + Speak, passing winds; ye torrents, with your strong + And constant voice, protest against the wrong!" + + + + +THE HON. EDWARD EVERETT'S REPLY TO WORDSWORTH'S PROTEST. + + +The Hon. Edward Everett in the course of his speech at the Boston +Railroad Jubilee in commemoration of the opening of railroad +communication between Boston and Canada, observed, "But, sir, as I have +already said, it is not the material results of this railroad system in +which its happiest influences are seen. I recollect that seven or eight +years ago there was a project to carry a railroad into the lake country +in England--into the heart of Westmoreland and Cumberland. Mr. +Wordsworth, the lately deceased poet, a resident in the centre of this +region, opposed the project. He thought that the retirement and +seclusion of this delightful region would be disturbed by the panting of +the locomotive and the cry of the steam whistle. If I am not mistaken, +he published one or two sonnets in deprecation of the enterprise. Mr. +Wordsworth was a kind-hearted man, as well as a most distinguished poet, +but he was entirely mistaken, as it seems to me, in this matter. The +quiet of a few spots may be disturbed, but a hundred quiet spots are +rendered accessible. The bustle of the station-house may take the place +of the Druidical silence of some shady dell; but, Gracious Heavens, sir, +how many of those verdant cathedral arches, entwined by the hand of God +in our pathless woods, are opened to the grateful worship of man by these +means of communication? + +"How little of rural beauty you lose, even in a country of comparatively +narrow dimensions like England--how less than little in a country so vast +as this--by works of this description. You lose a little strip along the +line of the road, which partially changes its character; while, as the +compensation, you bring all this rural beauty, + + 'The warbling woodland, the resounding shore, + The pomp of groves, the garniture of fields,' + +within the reach, not of a score of luxurious, sauntering tourists, but +of the great mass of the population, who have senses and tastes as keen +as the keenest. You throw it open, with all its soothing and humanizing +influences, to thousands who, but for your railways and steamers, would +have lived and died without ever having breathed the life-giving air of +the mountains; yes, sir, to tens of thousands who would have gone to +their graves, and the sooner for the prevention, without ever having +caught a glimpse of the most magnificent and beautiful spectacle which +nature presents to the eye of man, that of a glorious curving wave, a +quarter-of-a-mile long, as it comes swelling and breasting toward the +shore, till its soft green ridge bursts into a crest of snow, and settles +and digs along the whispering sands." + + + + +REMARKABLE ADVERTISEMENT. + + +The most astonishing kind of property to leave behind at a railway +station is mentioned in an advertisement which appeared in the newspapers +dated Swindon, April 27th, 1844. It gave notice "That a pair of bright +bay horses, about sixteen hands high, with black switch tails and manes," +had been left in the name of Hibbert; and notice was given that unless +the horses were claimed on or before the 12th day of May, they would be +sold to pay expenses. Accordingly on that day they were sold. + + --_Household Words_. + + + + +RAILWAY EPIGRAM. + + +In 1845, during the discussions on the Midland lines before the Committee +of the House of Commons, Mr. Hill, the Counsel, was addressing the +Committee, when Sir John Rae Reid, who was a member of it, handed the +following lines to the chairman:-- + + "Ye railway men, who mountains lower, + Who level locks and valleys fill; + Who thro' the _hills_ vast tunnels _bore_; + Must now in turn be _bored by Hill_." + + + + +SINGULAR CIRCUMSTANCE. + + +A certain gentleman of large property, and who had figured, if he does +not now figure, as a Railway Director, applied for shares in a certain +projected railway. Fifty, it seems were allotted to him. Whether that +was the number he applied for or not, deponent saith not; but by some +means nothing (0) got added to the 50 and made it 500. The deposit for +the said 500 was paid into the bankers', the scrip obtained, and before +the mistake could be detected and corrected--for no doubt it was only a +mistake, or at most a _lapsus pennae_--the shares were sold, and some +2000 pounds profit by this very fortunate accident found its way into the +pocket of the gentleman. + + --_Herepath's Journal_, 1845. + + + + +LOUIS PHILIPPE AND THE ENGLISH NAVVIES. + + +Whittlesea Will, William Elthorpe, from Cambridgeshire, had a large +railway experience; during the construction of Longton Tunnel, he told me +the following story:--"Ye see, Mr. Smith (Samuel Smith, of Woodberry +Down), I was a ganger for Mr. Price on the Marseilles and Avignon Line in +France, and I'd gangs of all nations to deal with. Well, I could not +manage 'em nohow mixed--there were the Jarman Gang, the French Gang, the +English, Scotch, and Irish Gangs, of course; the Belgic Gang, the Spanish +Gang, and the Peamounter Gang--that's a Gang, d'ye see, that comes off +the mountains somewhere towards Italy." "Oh, the Piedmontese, you mean." +"Well, you may call 'em Peedmanteeze if you like, but we call'd 'em +Peamounters--and so at last I hit on the plan of putting each gang by +itself; gangs o' nations, the Peamounter gang here, the Jarman gang +there, and the Belgic gang there, and so on, and it worked capital, each +gang worked against the other gang like good 'uns. + +"Well one day our master, Mr. Price, gave the English gang a great +entertainment at a sort of Tea Garden place, near Paris, called Maison +Lafitte, and we were coming home along the road before dark--it was a +summer's evening--singing and shouting pretty loud, I dare say, when a +fat, oldish gentleman rode into the midst of us and pulling up said, +taking off his hat--'I think you are English Navigators.' 'Well, and +what if we are, old fellow, what's that to you?' 'Why, you are making a +very great noise, and I noticed you did not make way for me, or salute me +as we met, which is not polite--every one in France salutes a gentleman. +I've been in England, I like the English,' by this time his military +attendants rode up, and seeing him alone in the midst of us were going to +ride us down at once but the old boy beckoned with his hand for them to +hold back, and continued his sarmont. 'I should wish you,' says he, +quite pleasant, 'whilst you remain in France to be orderly, obliging, +civil, and polite; it's always the best--now remember this: and here's +something for you to remember Louis Philippe by;' putting his hand into +his pocket, he pulled out what silver he had, I suppose, threw it among +us, and rode off--but, my eyes, didn't we give him a cheer!" + + + + +ADVANTAGES OF RAILWAY-TUNNELS. + + +We cannot help repeating a narrative which we heard on one occasion, told +with infinite gravity by a clergyman whose name we at once inquired +about, and of whom we shall only say, that he is one of the worthiest and +best sons of the kirk, and knows when to be serious as well as when to +jest. "Don't tell me," said he to a simple-looking Highland brother, who +had apparently made his first trial of railway travelling in coming up to +the Assembly--"don't tell me that tunnels on railways are an unmitigated +evil: they serve high moral and aesthetical purposes. Only the other day +I got into a railway carriage, and I had hardly taken my seat, when the +train started. On looking up, I saw sitting opposite to me two of the +most rabid dissenters in Scotland. I felt at once that there could be no +pleasure for me in that journey, and with gloomy heart and countenance I +leaned back in my corner. But all at once we plunged into a deep tunnel, +black as night, and when we emerged at the other end, my brow was clear +and my ill-humour was entirely dissipated. Shall I tell you how this +came to be? All the way through the tunnel I was shaking my fists in the +dissenters' faces, and making horrible mouths at them, and _that_ +relieved me, and set me all right. Don't speak against tunnels again, my +dear friend." + + --_Fraser's Magazine_. + + + + +DAMAGES EASILY ADJUSTED. + + +It is related that the President of the Fitchburg Railroad, some thirty +years ago, settled with a number of passengers who had been wet but not +seriously injured by the running off of a train into the river, by paying +them from $5 to $20 each. One of them, a sailor, when his terms were +asked, said:--"Well, you see, mister, when I was down in the water, I +looked up to the bridge and calculated that we had fallen fifteen feet, +so if you will pay me a dollar a foot I will call it square." + + + + +LIABILITIES OF RAILWAY ENGINEERS FOR THEIR ERRORS. + + +An action was tried before Mr. Justice Maule, July 30, 1846--the first +case of the kind--which established the liability of railway engineers +for the consequences of any errors they commit. + +The action was brought by the Dudley and Madeley Company against Mr. +Giles, the engineer. They had paid him 4,000 pounds for the preparation +of the plans, etc., but when the time arrived for depositing them with +the Board of Trade they were not completely ready. The scheme had +consequently failed. This conduct of the defendant it was estimated had +injured the company to the extent of 40,000 pounds. The counsel for the +plaintiff did not claim damages to this amount, but would be content with +such a sum as the jury should, under the circumstances, think the +defendant ought to pay, as a penalty for the negligence of which he had +been guilty. For Mr. Giles, it was contended, that the jury ought not, +at the worst, to find a verdict for more than 1,700 pounds, alleging that +the remainder 2,300 pounds had been paid by him in wages for work done, +and materials used. + +The jury, however, returned a verdict to the tune of 4,500, or 500 pounds +beyond the full sum paid him. + +But, what said the judge? That "it was clear that the defendant had +undertaken more work than he could complete, and that he should not be +allowed to gratify with impunity, and to the injury of the plaintiffs, +his desire to realise in a few months a fortune which should only be the +result of the labour of years." + + + + +EXTRAORDINARY ACCIDENT. + + +Yesterday afternoon, as the Leeds train, which left that terminus at a +quarter-past one o'clock, was approaching Rugby, and within four miles of +that station, an umbrella behind the private carriage of Earl Zetland +took fire, in consequence of a spark from the engine falling on it, and +presently the imperial on the roof and the upper part of the carriage +were in a blaze. Seated within it were the Countess of Zetland and her +maid. The train was proceeding at the rate of forty miles an hour. +Under these circumstances, Her Ladyship and maid descended from the +carriage to the truck, when--despite the caution to hold on given by a +gentleman from a window of one of the railway carriages--the maid threw +herself headlong on the rail, and was speedily lost sight of. On the +arrival of the train at Rugby an engine was despatched along the line, +when the young woman was found severely injured, and taken to the +Infirmary at Leicester. Lady Zetland remained at Rugby, where she was +joined by His Lordship and the family physician last night, by an express +train from Euston-square. How long will railway companies delay +establishing a means of communication between passengers and the guard? + + --_Times_, Dec. 9th, 1847. + + + + +PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE. + + +On Monday, at the New Bailey, two men, named William Hatfield and Mark +Clegg, the former an engine-driver and the latter a fireman in the employ +of the London and North-Western Railway, were brought up before Mr. +Trafford, the stipendiary magistrate, and Captain Whittaker, charged with +drunkenness and gross negligence in the discharge of their duty. Mr. +Wagstaff, solicitor, of Warrington, appeared on behalf of the Company, +and from his statement and the evidence of the witnesses it appeared that +the prisoners had charge of the night mail train from Liverpool to +London, on Saturday, December 25, 1847. The number of carriages and +passengers was not stated, but the pointsman at the Warrington junction +being at his post, waiting for the train, was surprised to hear it coming +at a very rapid rate. He had been preparing to turn the points in order +to shunt the train on to the Warrington junction, but as the train did +not diminish in speed, but rather increased as it approached, he, +anticipating great danger if he should turn the points, determined on the +instant upon letting the train take its course, and not turning them. +Most fortunate was it that he exercised so much judgment and sagacity, +for, in consequence of the acuteness of the curve at Warrington junction +and the tremendous rate at which the train was proceeding--not less than +forty miles an hour--it does not appear that anything could have +otherwise prevented the train from being overturned, and a frightful +sacrifice of human life ensuing. Meantime the train continued its +frightful progress; but the mail guard seated at the end of the train, +perceiving that it was going on towards Manchester, instead of staying at +the junction, signalled to the engine-driver and fireman, but without +effect, no notice whatever being taken of the signal. Finding this to be +the case, he, at very considerable risk, passed over from carriage to +carriage till he reached the engine, where he found both the prisoners +lying drunk. At length, at Patricroft, however, he succeeded in stopping +the train just before it reached that station, a distance of 14 miles +from Warrington. This again appears to be almost a miraculous +circumstance, for at the Patricroft station, on the same line as that on +which the mail train was running was another train, containing a number +of passengers, who thus escaped from the consequences of a dreadful +collision. The prisoners were, of course, immediately given into +custody, and convoyed to the New Bailey prison, while, other assistance +being obtained, the train was taken back again to Warrington junction. +The regulation is in consequence of the sharp curve at this junction, +that the trains shall not run more than five miles an hour. The bench +sentenced both prisoners to two months hard labour. + + --_Manchester Examiner_. + + + + +HIS PORTMANTEAU. + + +An English traveller in Germany entered a first-class carriage in which +there was only one seat vacant, a middle one. A corner seat was occupied +by a German, who evidently had placed his portmanteau on the opposite +one--at least the traveller suspected that this was the case. The latter +asked, "Is this seat engaged?" "Yes," was the reply. When the time for +the departure of the train had almost arrived, the Englishman said, "Your +friend is going to miss the train, if he is not quick." "Oh, that is all +right. I'll keep it for him." Soon the signal came and the train +started, when the passenger seized the portmanteau, and threw it out of +the window, exclaiming, "He's missed his train but he mustn't lose his +baggage!" That portmanteau was the German's. + + + + +GROWTH OF STATION BOOKSHOPS. + + +The gradual rise of the railway book-trade is a singular feature of our +marvellous railway era. In the first instance, when the scope and +capabilities of the rail had yet to be ascertained, the privilege of +selling books, newspapers, etc., at the several stations was freely +granted to any who might think proper to claim it. Vendors came and +went, when and how they chose, their trade was of the humblest, and their +profits were as varying as their punctuality. By degrees the business +assumed shape, the newspaper man found it his interest to maintain a +_locus standi_ in the establishment, and the establishment, in its turn, +discerned a substantial means of helping the poor or the deserving among +its servants. A cripple maimed in the company's service, or a married +servant of a director or secretary, superseded the first batch of +stragglers and assumed responsibility by express appointment. The +responsibility, in truth, was not very great at starting. Railway +travelling, at the time referred to, occupied but a very small portion of +a man's time. The longest line reached only thirty miles, and no +traveller required anything more solid than his newspaper for his hour's +steaming. But as the iron lengthened, and as cities remote from each +other were brought closer, the time spent in the railway carriage +extended, travellers multiplied, and the newspaper ceased to be +sufficient for the journey. At this period reading matter for the rail +sensibly increased; the tide of cheap literature set in. French novels, +unfortunately, of questionable character were introduced by the newsman, +simply because he could buy them at one-third less than any other +publication selling at the same price. The public purchased the wares +they saw before them, and very soon the ingenious caterers for railway +readers flattered themselves that there was a general demand amongst all +classes for the peculiar style of literature upon which it had been their +good fortune to hit. The more eminent booksellers and publishers stood +aloof, whilst others, less scrupulous, finding a market open and +ready-made to their hands were only too eager to supply it. It was then +that the _Parlour Library_ was set on foot. Immense numbers of this work +were sold to travellers, and every addition to the stock was positively +made on the assumption that persons of the better class, who constitute +the larger portion of railway readers, lose their accustomed taste the +moment they smell the engine and present themselves to the railway +librarian. + + --Preface to a Reprinted Article from the _Times_, 1851. + + + + +MESSRS. SMITHS' BOOKSTALLS. + + +The following appeared in the _Athenaeum_, 27th Jan., 1849. "The new +business in bookselling which the farming of the line of the +North-Western Railway by Mr. Smith, of the Strand, is likely to open up, +engages a good deal of attention in literary circles. This new shop for +books will, it is thought, seriously injure many of the country +booksellers, and remove at the same time a portion of the business +transacted by London tradesmen. For instance, a country gentleman +wishing to purchase a new book will give his order, not as heretofore, to +the Lintot or Tonson of his particular district, but to the agent of the +bookseller on the line of railway--the party most directly in his way. +Instead of waiting, as he was accustomed to do, till the bookseller of +his village or of the nearest town, can get his usual monthly parcel down +from his agent 'in the Row'--he will find his book at the locomotive +library, and so be enabled to read the last new novel before it is a +little flat or the last new history in the same edition as the resident +in London. A London gentleman hurrying from town with little time to +spare will buy the book he wants at the railway station where he takes +his ticket--or perhaps at the next, or third, or fourth, or at the last +station (just as the fancy takes him) on his journey. It is quite +possible to conceive such a final extension of this principle that the +retail trade in books may end in a great monopoly:--nay, instead of +seeing the _imprimatur_ of the Row or of Albermarle Street upon a book, +the great recommendation hereafter may be 'Euston Square,' 'Paddington,' +'The Nine Elms,' or even 'Shoreditch.' Whatever may be the effect to the +present race of booksellers of this change in their business--it is +probable that this new mart for books will raise the profits of authors. +How many hours are wasted at railway stations by people well to do in the +world, with a taste for books but no time to read advertisements or to +drop in at a bookseller's to see what is new. Already it is found that +the sale at these places is not confined to cheap or even ephemeral +publications;--that it is not the novel or light work alone that is asked +for and bought. + +"The prophecy of progress contained in the above paragraph has been +fulfilled so far as the North-Western and Mr. Smith are concerned. His +example, however, was not infectious for other lines; and till within the +last three months, when the Great Northern copied the good precedent, and +entered into a contract with Mr. Smith and his son, the greenest +literature in dress and in digestion was all that was offered to the +wants of travellers by the directors of the South-Western, the Great +Western, and other trunk and branch lines with which England is +intersected. A traveller in the eastern, western, and southern counties +who does not bring his book with him can satisfy his love of reading only +by the commonest and cheapest trash--for the pretences to the appearance +of a bookseller's shop made at Waterloo, at Shoreditch, at Paddington, +and at London Bridge, are something ridiculous. This should not be. It +shows little for the public spirit of the directors of our railways that +such a system should remain. Mr. Smith has, we believe, as many as +thirty-five shops at railway stations, extending from London to +Liverpool, Chester and Edinburgh. His great stations are at Euston +Square, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. He has a +rolling stock of books valued at 10,000 pounds. We call his stock +rolling, because he moves his wares with the inclinations of his readers. +If he finds a religious feeling on the rise at Bangor, he withdraws +Dickens and sends down Henry of Exeter or Mr. Bennett; if a love for +lighter reading is on the increase at Rugby, he withdraws Hallam and +sends down Thackeray and Jerrold. He never undersells and he gives no +credit. His business is a ready-money one, and he finds it his interest +to maintain the dignity of literature by resolutely refusing to admit +pernicious publications among his stock. He can well afford to pay the +heavy fee he does for his privilege; for his novel speculation has been a +decided hit--of solid advantage to himself and of permanent utility to +the public." + + --_Athanaeum_, Sept. 5, 1851. + + + + +A RESIDENT ENGINEER AND SCIENTIFIC WITNESS. + + +Shortly after the first locomotives were placed on the London and +Birmingham Railway, a scientific civilian, who had given very positive +evidence before Parliament as to the injury to health and other +intolerable evils that must arise from the construction of tunnels, paid +a visit to the line. The resident engineer accompanied him in a +first-class carriage over the newly-finished portion of the works. As +they drew near Chalk Farm the engineer attracted the attention of his +visitor to the lamp at the top of the carriage. "I should like to have +your opinion on this," he said. "The matter seems simple, but it +requires a deal of thought. You see it is essential to keep the oil from +dropping on the passengers. The cup shape effectually prevents this. +Then the lamps would not burn. We had to arrange an up-cast and +down-cast chimney, in order to ensure the circulation of air in the lamp. +Then there was the question of shadow;"--and so he continued, to the +great edification of his listener, for five or six minutes. When a +satisfactory conclusion as to the lamp had been arrived at, the learned +man looked out of the window. "What place is this?" said he. "Kensal +Green." "But," said the other, "how is that? I thought there was one of +your great tunnels to pass before we came to Kensal Green." "Oh," +replied the Resident, carelessly, "did you not observe? We came through +Chalk Farm Tunnel very steadily." The man of science felt himself +caught. He made no more reports upon tunnels. + + --_Personal Recollections of English Engineers_. + + + + +EXTRAORDINARY SCENE AT A RAILWAY JUNCTION. + + +A most extraordinary and unprecedented scene occurred on Monday morning +at the Clifton station, about five miles from Manchester, where the East +Lancashire line forms a junction with the Lancashire and Yorkshire. The +East Lancashire are in the habit of running up-trains to Manchester, past +the Clifton junction, without stopping, afterwards making a declaration +to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Company of the number of passengers the +trains contain, and for whom they will have to pay toll. The Lancashire +and Yorkshire Company object to this plan, and demand that the trains +shall stop at Clifton, so that the number of passengers can be counted, +and give up their tickets. The East Lancashire Company say that in +addition to their declaration, the other parties have access to all their +books, and to the returns of their (the East Lancashire Company's) +servants; and that the demand to take tickets, or to count, is only one +of annoyance and detention, adopted since the two companies have become +competitors for the traffic to Bradford. Towards the close of last week, +the dispute assumed a serious aspect, by one of the Lancashire and +Yorkshire Company's agents at Manchester (Mr. Blackmore) threatening that +he would blockade or stop up the East Lancashire line, at the point of +junction, with a large balk of timber. The East Lancashire Company got +out a summons against Mr. Blackmore on Saturday; but, notwithstanding +this, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Company's manager proceeded on Monday +to carry the threat into execution, despite the presence of a large body +of the county police. The East Lancashire early trains were allowed to +pass upon the Lancashire and Yorkshire line without obstruction; but at +half-past 10 o'clock in the morning, as the next East Lancashire train to +Manchester was one which would not stop at Clifton, but attempt to pass +on to Manchester, a number of labourers, under the direction of Captain +Laws, laid a large balk of timber, secured by two long iron crowbars, +across the down rails to Manchester of the Lancashire and Yorkshire line, +behind which was brought up a train of six empty carriages, with its +engine at the Manchester end. When the East Lancashire train came in +sight, it was signalled to stop, and the Lancashire and Yorkshire +Company's servants went and demanded the tickets from the passengers. +This demand, however, was fruitless, inasmuch as the East Lancashire +parties had taken the tickets from the passengers at the previous +station--Ringley. The first act of the East Lancashire Company's +servants was to remove the balk of timber, and this they did without +hindrance. They next attempted to force before them the Lancashire and +Yorkshire blockading train. This they were not able to do. The East +Lancashire Company then brought up a heavy train laden with stone, and +took up a position on the top line to Manchester. Thus the Lancashire +and Yorkshire Company's double line of rails was completely blocked +up--one line by their own train, and the other by the stone train of the +East Lancashire Company. In this position matters remained till near 12 +o'clock. There were altogether eight trains on the double lines of rails +of the two companies, extending more than half a mile. After which the +blockade was broken up, and the various trains were allowed to pass +onwards--fortunately without accident or injury to the passengers. + + --_Manchester Examiner_, March 13th, 1849. + + + + +GOODS' COMPETITION. + + +Within the last fortnight, we understand, the London and North-Western, +in conjunction with the Lancashire and Yorkshire, have commenced carrying +goods between Liverpool and Manchester, a distance of 31 miles, at the +ruinously low figure of 6d. per ton, where they used to have 8s. We +further hear that the 6d. includes the expenses of collection and +delivery. The cause is a competition with the East Lancashire and the +canal. At a very low estimate it has been calculated that every ton +costs 6s. 3d., so that they are losing 5s. 9d. on every 6d. earned, or +860 per cent. + +How long this monstrous competition is to continue the directors only +know, but the loss must be frightful on both sides. Chaplin and Horne +had 10s. a ton for collecting and delivering the goods at the London end +of the London and North-Western Railway, and, though the expense must be +less in such comparatively small towns as Liverpool and Manchester, it +can hardly be less than a half that, 5s. Therefore, allowing only 1s. +3d. for the bare railway carriage, which is under a halfpenny a ton a +mile, we have 6s. 3d., the estimate showing the above-mentioned loss of +5s. 9d. on every 6d. earned. + + --_Herepath's Journal_, Sept. 29th, 1849. + + + + +A POLITE REQUEST. + + +An amusing illustration of the formal politeness of a railway guard +occurred some years ago at the Reigate station. He went to the window of +a first class carriage, and said: "If you please, sir, will you have the +goodness to change your carriage here?" "What for?" was the gruff reply +of Mr. Bull within. "Because, sir, if you please, the wheel has been on +fire since half-way from the last station!" John looked out; the wheel +was sending forth a cloud of smoke, and without waiting to require any +further "persuasive influences," he lost no time in condescending to +comply with the request. + + + + +A CHASE AFTER A RUNAWAY ENGINE. + + +Mr. Walker, the superintendent of the telegraphs of the South-Eastern +Railway Company, remarks:--"On New Year's Day, 1850, a collision had +occurred to an empty train at Gravesend, and the driver having leaped +from his engine, the latter darted alone at full speed for London. +Notice was immediately given by telegraph to London and other stations; +and, while the line was kept clear, an engine and other arrangements were +prepared as a buttress to receive the runaway, while all connected with +the station awaited in awful suspense the expected shock. The +superintendent of the railway also started down the line on an engine, +and on passing the runaway he reversed his engine and had it transferred +at the next crossing to the up-line, so as to be in the rear of the +fugitive; he then started in chase, and on overtaking the other he ran +into it at speed, and the driver of the engine took possession of the +fugitive, and all danger was at an end. Twelve stations were passed in +safety; it passed Woolwich at fifteen miles an hour; it was within a +couple of miles of London when it was arrested. Had its approach been +unknown, the money value of the damage it would have caused might have +equalled the cost of the whole line of telegraph." + + + + +STEAM DEFINED. + + +At a railway station, an old lady said to a very pompous looking +gentleman, who was talking about steam communication. "Pray, sir, what +is steam?" "Steam, ma'am, is ah!--steam, is ah! ah! steam is--steam!" +"I knew that chap couldn't tell ye," said a rough-looking fellow standing +by; "but steam is a bucket of water in a tremendous perspiration." + + + + +IN A RAILWAY TUNNEL. + + +Mr. Osborne in the _Sunday at Home_, says, "I have heard from a friend a +strange story of a tunnel, which I will try to tell you as it was told to +me. A well-known engineer was walking one day through a tunnel, a narrow +one, and as he was going along, supposing himself safe, he thought his +ear caught the far-off rumble of a train _in the tunnel_. After stopping +and listening for a moment, he became sure it was so, and that he was +caught, and could not possibly get out in time. What was he to do? +Should he draw himself up close to the side wall, making himself as small +as possible, that the train might not touch him. Or should he lie down +flat between the rails and let the train pass over him. Being an +engineer, and knowing well the shape of things, he decided to lie down +between the rails as his best chance. He had to make up his mind +quickly, for in a minute or so the whole train came to where he lay, and +went thundering over him, and--did him no harm whatever. But he +afterwards told his friends, that in that brief moment of time, while the +train was passing over, he saw his whole past life spread out like a map, +like an illuminated transparency, with every particular circumstance +standing out plain." + + + + +A QUICK WAY. + + +Some years ago, when a new railway was opened in the Highlands, a +Highlander heard of it, and bought a ticket for the first excursion. The +train was about half the distance to the next station when a collision +took place, and poor Donald was thrown unceremoniously into an adjacent +park. After recovering his senses, he made the best of his way home, +when the neighbours asked him how he liked his ride. "Oh," replied +Donald, "I liked it fine; but they have an awfu' nasty quick way in +puttin' ane oot." + + + + +HIGHLANDER AND A RAILWAY ENGINE. + + +We remember hearing a story of an old Highland peasant who happened to +see a railway engine for the first time. He was coming down from the +Grampians into Perthshire, and he thus described the novel monster as it +appeared in his astounded Celtic imagination:--"I was looking doon the +glens, when I saw a funny beast blowing off his perspiration; an' I ran +doon, an' I tried to stop him, but he just gave an awfu' skirl an' +disappeared into a hole."--(meaning, of course, a tunnel). + + --_Once a Week_. + + + + +EXTRACTS FROM MACREADY'S DIARIES. + + +"July 3rd, 1845.--Brewster called to cut my hair; he told me the +tradesmen could not get paid in London, for all the money was employed in +railroads." + +"June 19th, 1850.--We were surprised by the entrance of Carlyle and Mrs. +C--. I was delighted to see them. Carlyle inveighed against +railroads--he was quite in one of his exceptious moods." + + + + +FREAKS OF CONCEALED BOGS. + + +Great difficulties have often been encountered by engineers in carrying +earth embankments across low grounds, which, under a fair, green surface, +concealed the remains of ancient bogs, sometimes of great depth. Thus, +on the Leeds and Bradford Extension, about 600 tons of stone and earth +were daily cast into an embankment near Bingley, and each morning the +stuff thrown in on the preceding day was found to have disappeared. This +went on for many weeks, the bank, however, gradually advancing, and +forcing up on either side a spongy black ridge of moss. On the +South-Western Railway a heavy embankment, about fifty feet high, crossed +a piece of ground near Newham, the surface of which seemed to be +perfectly sound and firm. Twenty feet, however, beneath the surface an +old bog lay concealed; and the ground giving way, the fluid, pressed from +beneath the embankment, raised the adjacent meadows in all directions +like waves of the sea. A culvert, which permitted the flow of a brook +under the bank, was forced down, the passage of the water entirely +stopped, and several thousand acres of the finest land in Hampshire would +have been flooded but for the exertions of the engineer, who completed a +new culvert just as the other had become completely closed. The +Newton-green embankment, on the Sheffield and Manchester line, gave way +in like manner, and to such an extent as to spread out two or three times +its original width. In this case it was found necessary to carry the +line across the parts which yielded, under strong timber shores. On the +Dundalk and Enniskillen line a heavy embankment twenty feet high suddenly +disappeared one night in the bog of Meghernakill, nearly adjoining the +river Fane. The bed of the river was forced up, and the flow of the +water for the time was stopped, and the surrounding country heavily +flooded. A concealed bog of even greater extent, on the Durham and +Sunderland Railway, near Aycliff, was crossed by means of a +double-planked road, about two miles in length. A few weeks after the +line had been opened, part of the road sank one night entirely out of +sight. The defect was made good merely by extending the floating surface +of the road at this portion of the bog. + + --_Quarterly Review_. + + + + +A RAILWAY MARRIAGE. + + +In Maine, a conductor--too busy, we suggest, saying "Go ahead!" to be +particular about wedding formalities--invited his betrothed and a +minister into a car, and while the train was in motion was married; +leaving that station a bachelor, at this station he was a married man! +It is but one of a thousand examples of life as it goes in this fast +country. + + --_New York Nation_. + + + + +ATTEMPTED FRAUDS. + + +Feb. 29, 1849, _Central Criminal Court_.--Robert Duncan, aged 47, +staymaker, Mary Duncan, his wife, who surrendered to take her trial, and +Pierce Wall O'Brien, aged 30, printer, were indicted for conspiring +together to obtain money from the London and North-Western Railway +Company by false pretences. + +From the statement of Mr. Clarkson and the evidence, it appeared that the +charges made against the prisoners involved a most impudent attempt at +fraud. It appears that on the 5th of September last year an accident +occurred to the up mail train from York, near the Leighton Buzzard +station, but, although some injury was occasioned to the train, it seemed +that none of the passengers received any personal injury. On the 26th of +October following, however, the company received a communication from Mr. +Harrison, requiring compensation on behalf of defendant, Robert Duncan, +for an injury alleged to have been sustained by his wife upon the +occasion of the collision referred to, it being represented, also, that +her brother, the defendant O'Brien, who was travelling with her at the +time from York, had likewise received serious injury by the same +accident. The company immediately sent a medical gentleman to the place +described as the residence of these persons, No. 59, George Street, +Southwark, and he there saw the man Robert Duncan, who represented that +his wife was dangerously ill, and that the result of the accident on the +railway was a premature confinement, and that her life was in danger. +Mr. Porter was then introduced to the female defendant, whom he found in +bed, apparently in great pain, and she confirmed her husband's statement. +In the same house the prisoner O'Brien was found in bed, and he also told +the same story about the accident on the railway. It appeared that some +suspicion was entertained by the company of the general character of the +transaction, and they had been instituting inquiries. On the 2nd of +November they received another letter from the prisoner Robert Duncan, in +which he made an offer to accept 60 pounds for the injury his wife had +received, and also stating that Mr. O'Brien was willing to accept a +similar amount for the damage he had sustained. At this it appeared Mr. +Harrison resolved not to have anything further to do with the matter, +unless he received satisfactory proof of the truth of the story told by +the parties; and another solicitor was employed by the defendants, who +brought an action against the company for damages for the alleged injury, +and he proceeded so far as to give notice of trial. The case, however, +never went before a jury in that shape, and by this time it was +discovered that there was no truth in the story told by the defendants. +It was proved at the period when the accident was alleged to have +occurred to the female defendant, she was residing with her husband, and +was in her usual health. With regard to O'Brien, there was no evidence +to show that he was upon the train at the time the accident happened, +but, according to the testimony of a witness named Darke, during the +period when the negotiation was going on with the company, O'Brien +requested him to write a letter to Mr. Harrison to the effect that he was +riding in the same carriage with Mrs. Duncan and her brother at the time +of the accident, and he was aware of her having been injured, and gave +him a written statement to that effect, which he copied. This witness, +in cross-examination, admitted that at the time he wrote the statement he +was perfectly well aware it was false, and he also said that +notwithstanding this, he made no difficulty in doing what O'Brien +requested, and also that he should have been ready to make a solemn +declaration of the truth of the statement if he had been required to do +so. + +A verdict of "Not Guilty" was taken as to the female prisoner, on the +ground that she was acting under the control of her husband. The jury +returned a verdict of "Guilty" against the two male defendants. + +Mr. Clarkson said he was instructed to state that, at the period of the +catastrophe on board the Cricket steam-boat, the prisoners obtained a sum +of 70 pounds from the company to which that vessel belonged, by the false +pretence that they had received injury upon the occasion. + +The Recorder sentenced Duncan to be imprisoned for twelve, and O'Brien +for six months. + + _Annual Register_. + + + + +A BRIDE'S LOST LUGGAGE. + + +The trouble which is bestowed by railway companies to cause the +restitution of lost property is incalculable. Some years ago, a young +lady lost a portmanteau from the rest of her luggage--a pardonable +oversight, for she was a bride starting on a honeymoon trip. The +bridegroom--never on such occasions an accountable being--had not noticed +the misfortune. When the loss was discovered, and application made +respecting it, the lady spoke positively of having seen it at the station +whence they started, then again at a station where they had to change +carriages; she saw it also when they left the railway; it was all safe, +she averred, at the hotel where they stopped for a few days. She was +also certain that it was among the rest of the "things" when they again +started for a watering-place; but, when they arrived there, it was +missing. It contained a new riding habit, value fifteen pounds. The +search that was instituted for this portmanteau recalled that of +Telemachus for Ulysses; the railway officials sent one of their clerks +with a _carte blanche_ to trace the bride's journey to the end of the +last mile, till some tidings of the strayed trunk could be traced. He +went to every station, to every coach-office in connection with every +station, to every town, to every hotel, and to every lodging that the +happy couple had visited. His expenses actually amounted to fifteen +pounds. He came back without success. At length the treasure was found; +but where? At the by-station on another line, whence the bride had +started from home a maiden. Yet she had positively declared, without +doubt or reservation, that she had, "with her own eyes," seen the trunk +on the various stages of her tour; this can only be accounted for by the +peculiar flustration of a young lady just plunged into the vortex of +matrimony. The husband paid the whole of the costs. + + + + +THIRD-CLASS PASSENGERS. + + +The conveyance of passengers at cheap fares was from the commencement of +railways a great public concern, and it was soon found necessary that the +legislature should take action in the matter. Accordingly, by the +Regulation of Railways Act, 1844, all passenger railways were required to +run one train every day from end to end of their line, carrying +third-class passengers at a rate not exceeding one penny a mile, stopping +at all stations, starting at hours approved by the Board of Trade, +travelling at least twelve miles an hour, and with carriages protected +from weather. This enactment greatly encouraged the poorer classes in +railway travelling; but the companies were slow to carry out the new +regulations cheerfully. The trains were timed at most inconvenient +hours; to undertake a journey of any considerable length in one day at +third-class fare was almost out of the question. In fact, a +short-sighted policy of doing almost everything to discourage third-class +travelling was adopted by the Companies. + +A traveller having started on a long journey, thinking to be able to +travel all the way third-class, would find at some stage of the route +that he had arrived, only a few minutes perhaps, after the departure of +the cheap train to his destination, with no alternative but to wait for +hours or proceed by the express and pay accordingly. Moreover, the +third-class carriages were provided with the very minimum of comfort. It +was not seen by the railway executive of that time that the policy +adopted was actually prejudicial to their own interests. + + _Our Railways_, by Joseph Parsloe. + + + + +IMPROVEMENT IN THIRD-CLASS TRAVELLING. + + +The Rev. F. S. Williams, in an article in the _Contemporary Review_, +entitled "Railway Revolutions," remarks:--"We need not go back so far as +the time when third-class passengers had to stand in a sort of cattle-pen +placed on wheels; it is only a few years since the Parliamentary trains +were run in bare fulfilment of the obligations of Parliament, and when a +journey by one of them could never be looked upon as anything better than +a necessary evil. To start in the darkness of a winter's morning to +catch the only third-class train that ran; to sit, after a slender +breakfast, in a vehicle the windows of which were compounded of the +largest amount of wood and the smallest amount of glass, and which were +carefully adjusted to exactly those positions in which the fewest +travellers could see out of them; to stop at every roadside station, +however insignificant; and to accomplish a journey of 200 miles in about +ten hours--such were the ordinary conditions which Parliament in its +bounty provided for the people. Occasionally, moreover, the monotony of +progress was interrupted by the shunting of the train into a siding, +where it might wait for more respectable passenger trains and fast goods +to pass." + +"We remember," says a writer, "once standing on the platform at +Darlington when the Parliamentary train arrived. It was detained for a +considerable time to allow a more favoured train to pass, and, on the +remonstrance of several of the passengers at the unexpected detention, +they were coolly informed, "Ye mun bide till yer betters gaw past, ye are +only the nigger train." + +"If there is one part of my public life," recently said Mr. Allport +(Midland Railway) to the writer, "in which I look back with more +satisfaction than anything else, it is with reference to the boon we +conferred on third-class passengers. When the rich man travels, or if he +lies in bed all day, his capital remains undiminished, and perhaps his +income flows in all the same. But when a poor man travels he has not +only to pay his fare, but to sink his capital, for his time is his +capital; and if he now consumes only five hours instead of ten in making +a journey, he has saved five hours of time for useful labour--useful to +himself, to his family, and to society. And I think with even more +pleasure of the comfort in travelling we have been able to confer upon +women and children. But it took," he added, "five-and-twenty years' work +to get it done." + + + + +A GREAT DISCOVERY. + + +Confound that Pope Gregory who changed the style! He, or some one else, +has robbed the month of February, in ordinary years, of no less than +three days, for Mr. George Sutton, the solicitor, has discovered and +established by the last Brighton Act of Parliament that February has +_really thirty-one days_, while that good-for-nothing Pope led us to +believe it had only twenty-eight. The language of the 45th clause of the +Act or of the bill which went into the Lords is:-- + +"That so much of the said Consolidation Act as enacts that the ordinary +meetings of the company, subsequent to the first ordinary meeting +thereof, shall be held half-yearly on the 31st day of July, and +_thirty-first day of February_ in each year, or within one month before +or after these days shall be, and the same is hereby repealed." + +The next clause enacts, we suppose by reason of "the 31st of February" +being an inconvenient day, that the meetings shall be held on the 31st of +January and the 31st of July, a month before or a month after. + +On account of the great value of an addition of three days to our years, +and, therefore, an annual addition to our lives of three days, we beg to +propose that a handsome testimonial be given to Mr. George Sutton, the +eminent solicitor of the Brighton Railway Company, the author of the Act +and the discoverer of the Pope's wicked conduct. We further propose that +it be given him on "the 31st day of February" next year, and that his +salary be paid on that day, and no other, every year. + + --_Herepath's Journal_, June 24th, 1854. + + + + +A DREADED EVIL. + + +When the old Sheffield and Rotherham line was contemplated, "A hundred +and twenty inhabitants of Rotherham, headed by their vicar, petitioned +against the bill, because they thought the canal and turnpike furnished +sufficient accommodation between the two towns, and because they dreaded +an incursion of the idle, drunken, and dissolute portion of the Sheffield +people as a consequence of increasing the facilities of transit." For a +time the opposition was successful but eventually the Lord's Committee +yielded to the perseverance of the promoters of the bill. + + _Sheffield and Rotherham Independent_. + + + + +REMARKABLE ADVENTURE. + + +A young lady some years ago thus related an adventure she met with in +travelling. "After I had taken my seat one morning at Paddington, in an +empty carriage, I was joined, just as the train was moving off, by a +strange-looking young man, with remarkably long flowing hair. He was, of +course, a little hurried, but he seemed besides to be so disturbed and +wild that I was quite alarmed, for fear of his not being in his right +mind, nor did his subsequent conduct at all reassure me. Our train was +an express, and he inquired eagerly, at once, which was the first station +we were advertised to stop. I consulted my Bradshaw and furnished him +with the required information. It was Reading. The young man looked at +his watch. + +"'Madam,' said he, 'I have but half-an-hour between me and, it may be, +ruin. Excuse, therefore, my abruptness. You have, I perceive, a pair of +scissors in your workbag. Oblige me, if you please, by cutting off all +my hair.' + +"'Sir,' said I, 'it is impossible.' + +"'Madam,' he urged, and a look of severe determination crossed his +features; 'I am a desperate man. Beware how you refuse me what I ask. +Cut my hair off--short, close to the roots--immediately; and here is a +newspaper to hold the ambrosial curls.' + +"I thought he was mad, of course; and believing that it would be +dangerous to thwart him, I cut off all his hair to the last lock. + +"'Now, madam,' said he, unlocking a small portmanteau, 'you will further +oblige me by looking out of the window, as I am about to change my +clothes.' + +"Of course I looked out of the window for a very considerable time, and +when he observed, 'Madam, I need no longer put you to any inconvenience,' +I did not recognise the young man in the least. + +"Instead of his former rather gay costume, he was attired in black, and +wore a grey wig and silver spectacles; he looked like a respectable +divine of the Church of England, of about sixty-four years of age; to +complete that character, he held a volume of sermons in his hand, +which--they appeared so to absorb him--might have been his own. + +"'I do not wish to threaten you, young lady,' he resumed, 'and I think, +besides, that I can trust your kind face. Will you promise me not to +reveal this metamorphosis until your journey's end?' + +"'I will,' said I, 'most certainly.' + +"At Reading, the guard and a person in plain clothes looked into our +carriage. + +"'You have the ticket, my love,' said the young man, blandly, and looking +to me as though he were my father. + +"'Never mind, sir; we don't want them,' said the official, as he withdrew +his companion. + +"'I shall now leave you, madam,' observed my fellow-traveller, as soon as +the coast was clear; 'by your kind and courageous conduct you have saved +my life and, perhaps, even your own.' + +"In another minute he was gone, and the train was in motion. Not till +the next morning did I learn from the _Times_ newspaper that the +gentleman on whom I had operated as hair cutter had committed a forgery +to an enormous amount, in London, a few hours before I met him, and that +he had been tracked into the express train from Paddington; but +that--although the telegraph had been put in motion and described him +accurately--at Reading, when the train was searched, he was nowhere to be +found." + + + + +SAFETY ON THE FLOOR. + + +Many concussions give no warning of their approach, while others do, the +usual premonitory symptoms being a kind of bouncing or leaping of the +train. It is well to know that the bottom of the carriage is the safest +place, and, therefore, when a person has reason to anticipate a +concussion, he should, without hesitation, throw himself on the floor of +the carriage. It was by this means that Lord Guillamore saved his life +and that of his fellow passengers some years since, when a concussion +took place on one of the Irish railways. His Lordship feeling a shock, +which he knew to be the forerunner of a concussion, without more ado +sprang upon the two persons sitting opposite to him, and dragged them +with him to the bottom of the carriage; the astonished persons at first +imagined that they had been set upon by a maniac, and commenced +struggling for their liberty, but in a few seconds they but too well +understood the nature of the case; the concussion came, and the upper +part of the carriage in which Lord Guillamore and the other two persons +were was shattered to pieces, while the floor was untouched, and thus +left them lying in safety; while the other carriages of the train +presented nothing but a ghastly spectacle of dead and wounded. + + --_The Railway Traveller's Handy Book_. + + + + +LIFE UPON THE RAILWAY, BY A CONDUCTOR. + + +The Western Division of our road runs through a very mountainous part of +Virginia, and the stations are few and far between. About three miles +from one of these stations, the road runs through a deep gorge of the +Blue Ridge, and near the centre is a small valley, and there, hemmed in +by the everlasting hills, stood a small one-and-a-half-story log cabin. +The few acres that surrounded it were well cultivated as a garden, and +upon the fruits thereof lived a widow and her three children, by the name +of Graff. They were, indeed, untutored in the cold charities of an +outside world--I doubt much if they ever saw the sun shine beyond their +own native hills. In the summer time the children brought berries to the +nearest station to sell, and with the money they bought a few of the +necessities of the outside refinement. + +The oldest of these children I should judge to be about twelve years, and +the youngest about seven. They were all girls, and looked nice and +clean, and their healthful appearance and natural delicacy gave them a +ready welcome. They appeared as if they had been brought up to fear God +and love their humble home and mother. I had often stopped my train and +let them get off at their home, having found them at the station some +three miles from home, after disposing of their berries. + +I had children at home, and I knew their little feet would be tired in +walking three miles, and therefore felt that it would be the same with +these fatherless little ones. They seemed so pleased to ride, and +thanked me with such hearty thanks, after letting them off near home. +They frequently offered me nice, tempting baskets of fruit for my +kindness; yet I never accepted any without paying their full value. + +Now, if you remember, the winter of '54 was very cold in that part of the +State, and the snow was nearly three feet deep on the mountains. + +On the night of the 26th of December, of that year, it turned around +warm, and the rain fell in torrents. A terrible storm swept the mountain +tops, and almost filled the valleys with water. Upon that night my train +was winding its way, at its usual speed, around the hills and through the +valleys, and as the road-bed was all solid rock, I had no fear of the +banks giving out. The night was intensely dark, and the winds moaned +piteously through the deep gorges of the mountains. Some of my +passengers were trying to sleep, others were talking in a low voice, to +relieve the monotony of the scene. Mothers had their children upon their +knees, as if to shield them from some unknown danger without. + +It was near midnight, when a sharp whistle from the engine brought me to +my feet. I knew there was danger by that whistle, and sprang to the +brakes at once, but the brakesmen were all at their posts, and soon +brought the train to a stop. I seized my lantern and found my way +forward as soon as possible, when what a sight met my gaze! A bright +fire of pine logs illuminated the track for some distance, and not over +forty rods ahead of our train a horrible gulf had opened its maw to +receive us! + +The snow, together with the rain, had torn the whole side of the mountain +out, and eternity itself seemed spread out before us. The widow Graff +and her children had found it out, and had brought light brush from their +home below, and built a large fire to warn us of our danger. They had +been there more than two hours watching beside that beacon of safety. As +I went up where that old lady stood drenched through by the rain and +sleet, she grasped my arm and cried: + +"Thank God! Mr. Sherbourn, we stopped you in time. I would have lost my +life before one hair of your head should have been hurt. Oh, I prayed to +heaven that we might stop the train, and, my God, I thank thee!" + +The children were crying for joy. I confess I don't very often pray, but +I did then and there. I kneeled down by the side of that good old woman, +and offered up thanks to an All Wise Being for our safe deliverance from +a most terrible death, and called down blessings without number upon that +good old woman and her children. Near by stood the engineer, fireman, +and brakesmen, the tears streaming down their bronzed cheeks. + +I immediately prevailed upon Mrs. Graff and the children to go back into +the cars out of the storm and cold. After reaching the cars I related +our hair-breadth escape, and to whom we were indebted for our lives, and +begged the men passengers to go forward and see for themselves. They +needed no further urging, and a great many of the ladies went also, +regardless of the storm. They soon returned, and their pale faces gave +full evidence of the frightful death we had escaped. The ladies and +gentlemen vied with each other in their thanks and heartfelt gratitude +towards Mrs. Graff and her children, and assured her that they would +never, never forget her, and before the widow left the train she was +presented with a purse of four hundred and sixty dollars, the voluntary +offering of a whole train of grateful passengers. She refused the +proffered gift for some time, and said she had only done her duty, and +the knowledge of having done so was all the reward she asked. However, +she finally accepted the money, and said it should go to educate her +children. + +The railway company built her a new house, gave her and her children a +life pass over the road, and ordered all trains to stop and let her get +off at home when she wished, but the employes needed no such orders, they +can appreciate all such kindness--more so than the directors themselves. + +The old lady frequently visits my home at H-- and she is at all times a +welcome visitor at my fireside. Two of the children are attending school +at the same place. + + --_Appleton's American Railway Anecdote Book_. + + + + +A COUNTY COURT JUDGE'S FEELING AGAINST RAILWAYS. + + +In a County Court case at Carlisle, reported in the _Carlisle Journal_, +of October 31st, 1851, the judge (J. K. Knowles, Esq.) is represented to +have said:--"You may depend upon it, if I could do anything for you, I +would, for I detest all railways. If they get a verdict in this case it +will be the first, and I hope it will be the last." + + + + +RAILWAY TICKETS. + + +A writer in that valuable miscellany _Household Words_, remarks:--"About +thirteen years ago, a Quaker was walking in a field in Northumberland, +when a thought struck him. The man who was walking was named Thomas +Edmonson. He had been, though a Friend, not a very successful man in +life. He was a man of integrity and honour, as he afterwards abundantly +proved, but he had been a bankrupt, and was maintaining himself as a +clerk at a small station on the Newcastle and Carlisle line. In the +course of his duties in this situation, he found it irksome to have to +write on every railway ticket that he delivered. He saw the clumsiness +of the method of tearing the bit of paper off the printed sheet as it was +wanted, and filling it up with pen and ink. He perceived how much time, +trouble, and error might be saved by the process being done in a +mechanical way; and it was when he set his foot down on a particular spot +on the before mentioned field that the idea struck him how all that he +wished might be done by a machine--how tickets might be printed with the +names of stations, the class of carriage, the dates of the month, and all +of them from end to end of the kingdom, on one uniform system. Most +inventors accomplish their great deeds by degrees--one thought suggesting +another from time to time; but, when Thomas Edmonson showed his family +the spot in the field where his invention occurred to him, he used to say +that it came to his mind complete, in its whole scope and all its +details. Out of it has grown the mighty institution of the Railway +Clearing House; and with it the grand organization by which the Railways +of the United Kingdom act, in regard to the convenience of individuals, +as a unity. We may see at a glance the difference to every one of us of +the present organized system--by which we can take our tickets from +almost any place to another, and get into a carriage on almost any of our +great lines, to be conveyed without further care to the opposite end of +the kingdom--and the unorganized condition of affairs from which Mr. +Edmonson rescued us, whereby we should have been compelled to shift +ourselves and our luggage from time to time, buying new tickets, waiting +while they were filled up, waiting at almost every point of the journey, +and having to do it with divers companies who had nothing to do with each +other but to find fault and be jealous. + +"On Mr. Edmonson's machines may be seen the name of Blaycock; Blaycock +was a watchmaker, and an acquaintance of Edmonson's, and a man whom he +knew to be capable of working out his idea. He told him what he wanted; +and Blaycock understood him, and realized his thought. The third machine +that they made was nearly as good as those now in use. The one we saw +had scarcely wanted five shillings worth of repairs in five years; and, +when it needs more, it will be from sheer wearing away of the brass-work, +by constant hard friction. The Manchester and Leeds Railway Company were +the first to avail themselves of Mr. Edmonson's invention; and they +secured his services at their station at Oldham Road, for a time. He +took out a patent; and his invention became so widely known and +appreciated, that he soon withdrew himself from all other engagements, to +perfect its details and provide tickets to meet the daily growing demand. +He let out his patent on profitable terms--ten shillings per mile per +annum; that is, a railway of thirty miles long paid him fifteen pounds a +year for a license to print its own tickets by his apparatus; and a +railway of sixty miles long paid him thirty pounds, and so on. As his +profits began to come in, he began to spend them; and it is not the least +interesting part of his history to see how. It has been told that he was +a bankrupt early in life. The very first use he made of his money was to +pay every shilling that he ever owed. Ho was forty-six when he took that +walk in the field in Northumberland. He was fifty-eight when he died, on +the twenty-second of June last year." + + + + +TAKEN ABACK. + + +Four young cavalry officers, travelling by rail, from Boulogne to Paris, +were joined at Amiens by a quiet, elderly gentleman, who shortly +requested that a little of one window might be opened--a not unreasonable +demand, as both were shut, and all four gentlemen were smoking. But it +was refused, and again refused on being preferred a second time, very +civilly; whereupon the elderly gentleman put his umbrella through the +glass. "Shall we stand the impertinence of this bourgeois?" said the +officers to one another. "Never." And they thrust four cards into his +hand, which he received methodically, and looked carefully at all four; +producing his own, one of which he tendered to each officer with a bow. +Imagine their feelings when they read on each--"Marshal Randon, Ministre +de Guerre." + + + + +FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH. + + +The engineer of a train near Montreal saw a large dog on the track. He +was barking furiously. The engineer blew the whistle at him, but he did +not stir, and crouching low, he was struck by the locomotive and killed. +There was a bit of white muslin on the locomotive, and it attracted the +attention of the engineer, who stopped the train and went back. There +lay the dead dog, and a dead child, which had wandered upon the track and +gone to sleep. The dog had given his signal to stop the train, and had +died at his post. + + + + +NARROW ESCAPES FROM BEING LYNCHED. + + +A writer in _All the Year Round_, observes:--"A dreadful accident down in +'Illonoy,' had particularly struck me as a warning; for there, while the +shattered bodies were still being drawn from under the piles of shivered +carriages, the driver on being expostulated with, had replied: + +'I suppose this ain't the first railway accident by long chalks!' + +Upon which the indignant passengers were with difficulty prevented from +lynching the wretch; but he fled into the woods, and there for a time +escaped pursuit. + +But, two other railway journeys pressed more peculiarly on my mind; one +was that of eight or ten weeks ago, from Canandaigua to Antrim. It was +there a gentleman from Baltimore, fresh from Chicago, told me of a +railway accident he had himself been witness to, only two days before I +met him. The 2.40 (night) train from Toledo to Chicago, in which he +rode, was upset near Pocahontas by two logs that had evidently been +wilfully laid across the rails. On inquiry at the next station, it was +discovered that a farmer who had had, a week before, two stray calves +killed near the same place, had been heard at a liquor store to say he +would 'pay them out for his calves.' This was enough for the excited +passengers, vexed at the detention, and enraged at the malice that had +exposed them to danger and death. A posse of them instantly sallied out, +beleaguered the farmer's house, seized him after some resistance, put a +rope round his neck, dragged him to the nearest tree, and would have then +and there lynched him, had not two or three of the passengers rescued +him, revolver in hand, and given him up to the nearest magistrate." + + + + +CURIOUS NOTICE. + + +The following notice, for the benefit of English travellers, was +exhibited some years ago in the carriage of a Dutch railway:--"You are +requested not to put no heads nor arms out of te windows." + + + + +OBTAINING INFORMATION. + + +But one of the most difficult things in the world is the levity with +which people talk about "obtaining information." As if information were +as easy to pick up as stones! "It ain't so hard to nuss the sick," said +a hired nurse, "as some people might think; the most of 'em doesn't want +nothing, and them as does doesn't get it." Parodying this, one might +say, it is much harder to "obtain information" than some people think; +the most don't know anything, and those who do don't say what they know. +Here is a real episode from the history of an inquiry, which took place +four or five years ago, into the desirability of making a new line of +railway on the Border. A witness was giving what is called "traffic +evidence," in justification of the alleged need of the railway, and this +is what occurred:-- + +_Mr. Brown_ (the cross-examining counsel for the opponents of the new +line)--Do you mean to tell the committee that you ever saw an inhabited +house in that valley? + +_Witness_--Yes I do. + +_Mr. Brown_--Did you ever see a vehicle there in your life? + +_Witness_--Yes, I did. + +_Mr. Brown_--Very good. + +Some other questions were put, which led to nothing particular: but, just +as the witness--a Scotchman--was leaving the box, the learned gentleman +put one more question:-- + +_Q_.--I am instructed to ask you, if the vehicle you saw was not the +hearse of the last inhabitant? + +_Answer_--It was. + + --_Cornhill Magazine_. + + + + +THE GOAT AND THE RAILWAY. + + +In Prussian Poland the goods and cattle trains are prohibited from +carrying passengers under any conditions, and, however urgent their +necessities, the only exception allowed being the herd-keepers in charge +of cattle. So strictly is this regulation enforced that even medical men +are not allowed to go by them when called for on an emergency, and where +life and death may be the result of their quick transit. This is +generally considered a great hardship, the more so as there are only two +passenger trains daily on the above railroads. But the inventive genius +of a small German innkeeper at Lissa has hit upon a clever plan of +circumventing the government regulations in a perfectly legitimate +manner. He keeps a goat, which he hires out to persons wanting to +proceed in a hurry by a cattle train, at the rate of 6d. per station, the +passenger then applying for a ticket as the person in charge of the goat, +which he obtains without any difficulty. In this manner a well-known +nobleman, residing at Lissa, is frequently seen travelling by the cattle +train to Posen, in the passenger's carriage, and the goat is so tame that +a very slender silk ribbon suffices to keep it from straying. + + + + +THE FIRST RAILWAY IN THE CRIMEA. + + +During the Russian War, in 1854, when the whole country was horror-struck +with the report of the sufferings endured by our brave soldiers in the +Crimea, Mr. Peto, in the most noble and disinterested manner, and at the +cost of his seat in the House of Commons for Norwich--which city he had +represented for several years--constructed for the Government a line of +railway from Balaclava to the English camp before Sebastopol, which at +the end of the war, with its various branches, was 37 English miles in +length and had 10 locomotives on it. In recognition of this patriotic +service the honour of a baronetcy was, in the following year, conferred +upon him by Her Majesty. + + --_Old Jonathan_. + + + + +THE BALACLAVA RAILWAY. + + +The following interesting extract from a communication to the _Times_, by +Sir Morton Peto, Bart., respecting the construction of the railway from +Balaclava to the British camp is worthy of preservation. Sir Morton +remarks:--"It was in the midst of the dreary winter of 1854, when the +British army was suffering unparalleled hardships before Sebastopol, that +it was resolved to construct a railway from Balaclava to the British +camp. Let honour be given where honour is due.--The idea emanated from +the Duke of Newcastle. His Grace applied to our firm to assist in +carrying out the design. The sympathies of all England were excited at +the time by the sufferings of our troops. Every one was emulous to +contribute all that could be contributed to their succour and support. +The firm of which I am a partner was anxious to take its share in the +good work, and, on the Duke of Newcastle's application, we cheerfully +undertook to make all the arrangements for carrying his Grace's views +into execution, on the understanding that the work should be considered +National; and that we should be permitted to execute it without any +charge for profit. + +We accordingly placed at the disposal of Her Majesty's Government the +whole of our resources. We fitted out transports with the stores +necessary for the construction of the railway; employed and equipped +hundreds of men to execute the works; provided a commissariat exclusively +for their use; engaged medical officers to attend to their health, and +placed the whole service under the direction of the most experienced +agents on our staff. These important preliminaries were arranged so +effectually, and with so much despatch, that the Emperor of the French +sent an agent to this country to instruct himself as to the mode in which +we equipped the expedition. + +Every item shipped by us for the works was valued before shipment at its +selling price; and for all these items of valuation, as well as for the +payments which we made for labour, we received the certificate of the +most eminent engineer of the day (the late lamented Mr. Robert +Stephenson). We undertook the execution of the Balaclava Railway as a +'National' work, agreeing to execute it without profit. We performed our +contract to the letter. We never profited by it to the extent of a +single shilling. + +The works (nearly seven miles of railway) were executed in less than a +month; an incredibly short space of time, considering the season of the +year, the severity of the climate, and the difficulties to which, +considering the distance from home, we were all of us exposed. It is a +matter of history that they eventuated in the taking of the great +fortress of Sebastopol. Before the railway was made, all the shot, all +the shell, and all the ammunition necessary for the siege, had to be +carried from Balaclava to the camp, a distance of five miles up hill, +through mud and sludge, upon the backs of the soldiers. An immense +proportion of our troops was told off for this most laborious service; of +whom no less than 25 per cent per month perished in its execution. On +the day the railway was opened, it carried to the camp of the British +army, in 24 hours, more shot and shell than had been brought from +Balaclava for six weeks previously. + +To our principal agent in the Crimea, the late Mr. Beattie, the greatest +credit was due for the way in which the arrangements were made, and the +work executed on that side. Mr. Beattie's labours were so arduous, and +his efforts so untiring, that he died of fatigue within six weeks after +the completion of the work--a victim, absolutely, to his unparalleled +exertions. The only favour in connection with these works which the Duke +of Newcastle ever granted at our request, he granted to the family of +this lamented gentleman. Mr. Beattie left a widow and four children to +deplore his loss, and through the favour of the Duke of Newcastle, the +widow, who now resides with her father, an estimable clergyman in the +North of Ireland, enjoys a pension as the widow of a colonel falling in +the field." + + + + +PASSENGERS AND OTHER CATTLE. + + +At the Eastern Counties meeting (1854) the solicitor cut short a clause +about passengers, animals, and cattle, by reading it "passengers and +other cattle." We do not recollect passengers having been classed with +cattle before. Perhaps the learned gentleman's eyesight was defective, +or the print was not very clear. + + + + +EXPANSION OF RAILS. + + +Robert Routledge, in his article upon railways, remarks:--"It may easily +be seen on looking at a line of rails that they are not laid with the +ends quite touching each other, or, at least, they are not usually in +contact. The reason of this is that space must be allowed for the +expansion which takes place when a rise in the temperature occurs. The +neglect of this precaution has sometimes led to damage and accidents. A +certain railway was opened in June, and, after an excursion train had in +the morning passed over it, the midday heat so expanded the iron that the +rails became, in some places, elevated to two feet above the level, and +the sleepers were torn up; so that in order to admit the return of the +train, the rails had to be fully relaid in a kind of zigzag. In June, +1856, a train was thrown off the metals of the North-Eastern Railway, in +consequence of the rails rising up through expansion." + + + + +A SMART REJOINDER. + + +An American railway employe asked for a pass down to visit his family. +"You are in the employ of the railway?" asked the gentleman applied to. +"Yes." "You receive your pay regularly?" "Yes." "Well, now, suppose +you were working for a farmer, instead of a railway, would you expect +your employer to hitch up his team every Saturday night and carry you +home?" This seemed a poser, but it wasn't. "No," said the man promptly, +"I wouldn't expect that; but if the farmer had his team hitched up and +was going my way, I should call him a contemptible fellow if he would not +let me ride." Mr. Employe came out three minutes afterwards with a pass +good for three months. + + + + +COURTING ON A RAILWAY THIRTY MILES AN HOUR. + + +An incident occurred on the Little Miami Railway which outstrips, in +point of speed and enterprise, although in a somewhat different field, +the lightning express, "fifty-cents-a-mile" special train achievement +which attended the delivery of the recent famous "defalcation report" in +this city. The facts are about thus: A lady, somewhat past that period +of life which _the world_ would term "young"--although she might differ +from them--was on her way to this city, for purposes connected with +active industry. At a point on the road a traveller took the train, who +happened to enter the car in which the young lady occupied a seat. After +walking up and down between the seats, the gentleman found no unoccupied +seat, except the one-half of that upon which the lady had deposited her +precious self and crinoline--the latter very modestly expansive. Making +a virtue of necessity--a "stand-ee" berth or a little self-assurance--he +modestly inquired if the lady had a fellow-traveller, and took a seat. + +As the train flew along with express speed, the strangers entered into a +cosy conversation, and mutual explanations. The gentleman was pleased, +and the lady certainly did not pout. After other subjects had been +discussed, and worn thread-bare, the lady made inquiries as to the price +of a sewing machine, and where such an article could be purchased in this +city. The gentleman ventured the opinion that she had "better secure a +husband first." This opened the way for another branch of conversation, +and the broken field was industriously cultivated. + +By the time the train arrived at the depot in this city, the gentleman +had proposed and been accepted (although the lady afterwards declared she +regarded it all as a good joke). The party separated; the gentleman, all +in good earnest, started for a license, and the lady made her way to a +boarding-house on Broadway, above Third, for dinner. At two o'clock the +gentleman returned with a license and a Justice, to the great +astonishment of the fair one, and after a few tears and +half-remonstrative expressions, she submitted with becoming modesty, and +the Squire performed the little ceremony in a twinkling. If this is not +a fast country, a search-warrant would hardly succeed in finding one. + + --_Cincinnati Commercial_. + + + + +THE MERCHANT AND HIS CLERK. + + +A London merchant resided a few miles from the City, in an elegant +mansion, to and from which he journeyed daily, and invariably by third +class. It happened that one of the clerks in his employ lived in a +cottage accessible by the same line of railway, but he always travelled +first class; the same train thus presenting the anomaly of the master +being in that place which one would naturally assign to the man, and the +man appearing to usurp the position of the master. One day these two +alighted at the terminus in full view of each other. "Well," said Mr. +B--, in that tone of banter which a superior so frequently thinks it +becoming to adopt, "I don't know how you manage to ride first-class, when +in these hard times I find third-class fare as much as I can afford." +"Sir," replied the clerk, "you, who are known to be a person of wealth +and position, may adopt the most economical mode of travelling at no more +risk than being thought eccentric, and even with the applause of some for +your manifest absence of pride. But, as for myself, I cannot afford to +indulge in such irregularities. Among the persons I travel with I am +reported to be a well-paid _employe_, and am respected accordingly; to +maintain this reputation I am compelled to travel in the same manner as +they do, and were I to adopt an inferior mode, it would be attributed to +some serious falling off of income; a circumstance which would occasion +me not only loss of consideration among my _quondam_ fellow-travellers, +but one which, upon coming to the ears of my butcher, baker, and grocer, +might seriously injure my credit with those highly respectable, but +certainly worldly minded tradesmen." Mr. B-- was not slow in recognizing +the full force of the argument, more particularly as the question of his +own liberality was involved, nor did he hesitate to give it a practical +application by immediately increasing the salary of his clerk; not only +to the amount of a first-class season ticket, but something over. + + --_The Railway Traveller's Handy Book_. + + + + +REMARKABLE WILL. + + +Some years ago an old gentleman of very eccentric habits, Mr. John +Younghusband, of Abbey Holme, Cumberland, died, and his will has proved +to be of the most eccentric character. The Silloth Railway runs through +part of his property, an arrangement to which he was most passionately +averse; and though years have elapsed since then, his bitterness was in +no way assuaged. In his will he leaves near 1000 pounds to a solicitor +who opposed the making of the railway; the rest of his money he bequeaths +to a comparative stranger upon these conditions--that the legatee never +speaks to one of the directors of the railway, that he never travels upon +it, that he never sends cattle or other traffic by it; and should he +violate any of these conditions, the estate reverts to the ordinary +succession. To Mr. John Irving and the other directors of the Silloth +line Mr. Younghusband has sarcastically bequeathed a _farthing_. + + + + +IMMENSE FRAUD ON THE GREAT-NORTHERN RAILWAY. + + +In the _Annual Register_ for 1856, November 14th, we read, "Another fraud +connected with the transfer of shares and stock, but on a far grander +scale, and by a much more pretentious criminal, has been discovered. + +"Of late some strange discrepancies had been observed in the accounts of +the Great-Northern Railway Company, and in particular that the amount +paid for dividends considerably exceeded the rateable proportion to the +capital stock. An investigation was directed. The registrar of shares, +Mr. Leopold Redpath, expressed a decided opinion that the investigation +into his department would be useless, and, on its being pressed, +absconded. The investigation developed a long-continued system of frauds +of vast amount, to the amount, it was said, of nearly 250,000 pounds. + +"Mr. Leopold Redpath passed in society as a gentleman of ample means, +great taste, and possessed of the Christian virtue of charity in no +common degree. He had a house in Chester Terrace, handsomely furnished, +and a "place" at Weybridge complete with every luxury that wealth could +procure; gave good dinners with excellent wines; kept good horses and +neat carriages. He was a governor of Christ's Hospital, the St. Ann's +Schools, and subscribed freely to the most useful charities of London. +His appointment on the Great-Northern was worth 300 pounds per annum; but +it was supposed that this was only of consequence to Mr. Redpath as +affording him a regular occupation and an opportunity of operating in the +share-market, in which he was known to have extensive dealings. The +directors of the railway appear to have been perfectly aware that their +servant was living far beyond his salary, but they considered him to be a +very successful speculator. Upon this splendid bubble being blown up, +Redpath fled to Paris; but, finding that the French authorities were not +inclined to protect him, he returned to London and surrendered himself. + +"The mode in which this gigantic swindler had committed his frauds is +simple enough. Having charge of the books in which the stock of the +company is registered, he altered the sum standing in the name of some +_bona fide_ stockholder to a much larger sum, generally by placing a +figure before it, by which simple means 500 became 1,500, or 2,500 +pounds, or any larger number of thousands. The surplus stock thus +_created_ Redpath sold in the stock-market, forging the name of the +supposed transferer, transferring the sum to the account of the supposed +transferee in the register, and either attesting it himself, or causing +it to be attested by a young man, his protege and tool, but who appears +to have been free from guilty cognizance. In some instances the fraud +was but the more direct course of making a fictitious entry of stock, and +then selling it. By these processes the number of shareholders and the +amount of stock on the company's register became greatly magnified, +while, as the _bona fide_ holders of stock remained credited with their +proper investments, there was no occasion for suspicion on their part. +How Redpath dealt with subsequent transfers of the fictitious stock does +not appear. The prisoner was subjected to repeated examination before +the police magistrates, when this prodigious falsification was thoroughly +sifted, and the prisoner was finally committed for trial at the Central +Criminal Court in the following year. It is said that the value of the +leases, furniture, and articles of taste in Redpath's house in Chester +Terrace is estimated at 30,000 pounds, and at Weybridge at a still larger +sum. It is also said that Redpath and Robson, whose forged transfer of +Crystal Palace shares has been recorded in this chronicle, were formerly +fellow clerks. + +"Lionel Redpath was tried, January 16th, 1857, at the Central Criminal +Court, and, being found guilty, was sentenced to transportation for life. +At the same time a junior clerk in his office, Charles Kent, was also +charged as his partner in the crime. It appeared that Kent had acted on +many occasions as attesting witness to the forged transfers which Redpath +had employed to carry out his ends; but, as no guilty knowledge on the +part of the former was shown, he was acquitted. + +"The railway company at first attempted to repudiate the forged stock +which Redpath had put into circulation, but pressing remonstrances, not +unaccompanied by threats, having been made by the Committee of the Stock +Exchange, they consented to acknowledge it. Then came the question by +whom the loss was to be borne; a question which was not solved until +after considerable litigation. The directors asserted that it ought to +be paid out of the current income of the year, and so it was ultimately +decided. This led to a further question between the guaranteed +shareholders and the rest of the company. For the diminution of the +year's earnings caused by taking up the fictitious stock being so great +as to render it impossible to satisfy the guaranteed dividends out of the +residue, it was contended on the part of the holders of those shares +that, by the provisions of the deed of settlement, the deficiency ought +to be made up out of the next year's profits, so that the guarantee that +they should receive their specified dividends was not clogged with the +condition in case a sufficient amount of earnings in each year was made +to pay them. This dispute led to a Chancery suit, the decree in which +was in favour of the holders of the guaranteed shares." + + + + +A LOST TICKET. + + +"Now, then, make haste there, will you, an' give up your ticket," +exclaimed a railway guard to a bandsman in the Volunteers returning from +a review. "Didna I tell ye I've lost it?" "Nonsense, man; feel in your +pockets, you cannot hae lost it." "Can I no?" was the drunken reply; +"man, that's naething, I've lost the big drum!" + + + + +MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT.--SINGULAR ACTION. + + +The _Annual Register_ contains the following interesting case. July 25, +1857.--At the Maidstone Assizes an action arising out of a singular and +melancholy accident was tried. The action, Shilling _v._ The Accidental +Insurance Company, was brought by Charlotte Shilling, widow and +administratrix of Thomas Shilling, to recover from the defendants the sum +of 2000 pounds, upon a policy effected by the deceased on the life of her +father-in-law, James Shilling. The husband of the plaintiff, Thomas +Shilling, carried on the business of a builder at Malling, a short +distance from Maidstone. His father, James Shilling, lived with him; he +was nearly 80 years old, and very infirm, and his son used to drive him +about occasionally in his pony chaise. In the month of March, last year, +an application was made to the defendants to effect two policies for 2000 +pounds each upon the lives of Thomas Shilling and James Shilling, and to +secure that sum in the event of either of them dying from an accident, +and the policies were completed and delivered in the following month of +June. On the evening of the 11th of July, 1856, about half-past 7 +o'clock, the father and son went from Malling with a pony and chaise, for +the purpose of proceeding to a stone quarry at Aylesford, where Thomas +Shilling had business to transact, and they never returned home again +alive. There where two roads by which they could have got to the quarry +from Malling, one of which was rather a dangerous one to be taken with a +vehicle and horse, on account of a steep bank leading to the river Medway +being on one side and the railway passing close to the other; but this +route, it appears, was much shorter than the other, which was nearly two +miles round, and it was consequently constantly used both by pedestrians +and carriages. About 8 o'clock the pony and chaise and the father and +son were seen on this road, and upon arriving at the gate leading to the +quarry, Thomas Shilling got out, leaving the pony and chaise in charge of +his father. Mr. Garnham, the owner of the quarry, was not at home, and +while one of the labourers was conversing with Thomas Shilling, the sound +of an approaching train was heard, and the men advised him to go back to +his pony, for fear it should take fright at the train, and he said he +would do so, as it had been frightened by a train on a previous occasion. +He accordingly went towards the gate where he had left the pony and +chaise, and from that time there was no evidence to show what took place. +The family sat up the whole night awaiting the return of their relatives +in the utmost possible alarm at their absence; but nothing was heard of +them until the following morning, when a bargeman found the drowned pony +and the chaise and the dead bodies of the father and son floating in the +Medway, near the spot where the chaise had been last seen on the previous +evening. They were taken home, and a coroner's inquest was held, and the +only conclusion that could be arrived at was that the pony had taken +fright at the noise of the train, which appeared to have passed about the +time, and that he had jumped into the river, which at this spot was from +12 to 14 feet deep. + +The policy on the life of the father had been assigned to the son, whose +widow claimed the two sums insured from the defendants. That payable on +the death of the son they paid: but they refused to pay that due on the +father's policy, and pleaded to the action several pleas, alleging +certain violations of the conditions; and singularly enough, considering +that they had not disputed the son's policy on the same ground, they now +pleaded that the death was not the result of accident, but arose from +wanton and voluntary exposure to unnecessary danger. + +The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff. + + + + +A CATASTROPHE. + + +An old lady was going from Brookfield to Stamford, and took a seat in the +train for the first and last time in her life. During the ride the train +was thrown down an embankment. Crawling from beneath the _debris_ +unhurt, she spied a man sitting down, but with his legs laid down by some +heavy timber. "Is this Stamford?" she anxiously inquired. "No, madam," +was the reply, "this is a catastrophe." "Oh!" she cried, "then I hadn't +oughter got off here." + + + + +WEDDING AT A RAILWAY STATION. + + +Baltimore has had what it calls a romantic wedding at Camden Station. A +few moments before the departure of the outbound Washington train, a +gentleman accompanied by a lady and another gentleman, whose clerical +appearance indicated his profession, alighted from a carriage and entered +the depot. Upon the locks of the leader of the party the snows of fifty +winters had evidently fallen, while the lady had apparently reached that +age when she is supposed to have lain aside her matrimonial cap. Quietly +approaching the officer on duty within the station, they asked for a room +where a marriage ceremony might be privately performed. The request was +readily granted, and under the leadership of the obliging officer, the +party was conducted to the despatch room, a small lobby in the eastern +part of the building, where in a few minutes the twain were made man and +wife. With pleasant smiles, and a would-be-congratulated look upon their +countenances, they mingled with the crowd in waiting; and when the gates +were thrown open, arm in arm they boarded the train, their +fellow-passengers all the while ignorant of the interesting ceremony. + + --_Illustrated World_. + + + + +ENGINE FASCINATION. + + +The fascination which engines and their human satellites exercise over +some minds is very great; and while speaking on the subject, I am +reminded of a young man who haunted for years one of our chief termini: +he was the son of a leading west end confectioner, so that his early +training had in no way disposed him to an engineering life; but he was +the most remarkable accumulation of statistics in connection therewith I +ever knew. The line employed several hundreds of engines, and he not +only knew the names of all of them, but when they were made, and who had +made them; when each one had last been supplied with a new set of tubes +at the factory--this last, of course only referred to the engines +employed on the main line, which he had an opportunity of seeing, and +would miss when they were laid up for repair--and how this had had the +pressure on its safety-valve increased, and this had been diminished. He +had such a retentive memory for these and kindred facts, that I have seen +the foreman of the works appeal to him for information, which was never +lacking. His penchant was so well known that he had special permission +for access to the works. + + --_Chambers's Journal_. + + + + +COMPETITION FOR PASSENGERS. + + +Mr. Galt remarks:--"In the summer of 1857 the London and North-Western +and Great Northern railways contended with each other for the passenger +traffic from London to Manchester. First-class and second-class +passengers were conveyed at fares, there and back, of seven and sixpence +and five shillings respectively, the distance being 400 miles, and four +clear days were allowed in Manchester. As might have been expected, +trains were well filled, and, but for the fact that the other traffic was +much interfered with, the fares would, it is said, have been +remunerative. As it was, it is said the shareholders lost 1 per cent. +dividend. + +"Another memorable contest was carried on about the year 1853 between the +Caledonian and the Edinburgh and Glasgow Companies. The latter suddenly +reduced the fares between Edinburgh and Glasgow for the three classes +from eight shillings, six shillings, and four shillings, to one shilling, +ninepence, and sixpence. The contest was continued for +a-year-and-a-half, and cost the Edinburgh and Glasgow Company nearly 1 +per cent. in their dividends." + + + + +ACCIDENT HOAX. + + +The following impudent hoax, contained in a letter which appeared in the +_Times_ in 1860, was most annoying to the officials of the Great Northern +Company. It is headed:-- + + "Accident on the Great Northern Railway. + "To the Editor of the _Times_. + +"Sir,--I beg to inform you of a serious accident, attended by severe +injury, if not loss of life, which occured to-day to the 8 o'clock a.m. +train from Wakefield, on the Great Northern railway, near Doncaster, by +which I was a passenger. As the train approached Doncaster, about 9 +o'clock, the passengers were suddenly alarmed by the vehement oscillation +of the carriages. In a few seconds the engine had run off the line, +dragging the greater part of the train with it across the opposite line +of rails. By this time the concussion had become so vehement that the +grappling chains connecting the engine, tender, and first carriage with +the rest of the train providentially snapped. This circumstance saved +the lives of many. But the engine, tender, and first carriage were +hurled over the embankment, all three being together overturned, and the +latter (a second-class one) nearly crushed. The stoker was severely +injured on the head, and his recovery is more than doubtful; the engine +driver contrived to leap off in time to save himself with a few bruises. +The shrieks of the passengers in the overturned carriage (three women and +five men) were fearful; and for some time their extrication was +impossible. One middle-aged woman had her thigh broken, another her arm +fractured. One old man had one, if not two of his ribs broken. The +passengers in the other carriages, in one of which I was travelling, were +less seriously injured, though sufficiently so to talk about +compensation, instead of assisting in earnest those with broken limbs. +The line of rails was torn up for a considerable distance. Owing to the +telegraph being out of gear, some delay in communicating with Doncaster +was experienced. A surgeon and various hands at length arrived with a +special train for the injured passengers, who, after long delay, were +removed to Doncaster. I, of course, as a medical man, rendered what +assistance I could. Those worst injured were conveyed to the Railway +Arms, the recovery of more than one being doubted by myself. At length a +fresh train started from Doncaster, and we reached London nearly two +hours after due. + +The carelessness of the Company will, I hope, be the subject of your +severest animadversion. The accident was caused by the tire of one of +the right wheels of the engine having flown off; and it is clear that the +engine was not in a condition to ply between the stations of the Great +Northern railway. + +I have no objection to your use of my name if you think fit to publish +it. + + Your obedient servant, + Thomas Waddington, M.D., of Wakefield. + Morley's Hotel, Charing Cross, March 26. + +To the above letter the following reply was sent to the _Times_. + + "Alleged Accident on the Great Northern. + "To the Editor of the _Times_. + +"Sir,--The Directors of the Great Northern railway will feel much obliged +by the insertion of the following statement in the _Times_ to-morrow +relative to a letter which appeared therein to-day, signed 'Thomas +Waddington, M.D., of Wakefield,' and headed, 'Accident on the Great +Northern railway.' + +There was no accident whatever yesterday on the Great Northern railway. + +The trains all reached King's Cross with punctuality, the most irregular +in the whole day being only five minutes late. No such person as Thomas +Waddington is known at Morley's Hotel, whence the letter in question is +dated. + + I am, Sir, yours faithfully, + Seymour Clark, General Manager, + King's Cross, March 27. + +In the _Times_ on the day following appeared a letter from the real Dr. +Waddington, of Wakefield, (Edward not "Thomas") confirmatory of the +impudence of the hoax. + + "The alleged Accident on the Great Northern railway. + "To the Editor of the _Times_. + +"Sir,--My attention has been called to a letter in the _Times_ of +yesterday (signed 'Thomas Waddington, M.D., of Wakefield') the signature +of which is as gross and impudent a fabrication as the circumstances +which the writer professes to detail. I need only say there is no 'M.D.' +here named Waddington but myself, and that I was not on the Great +Northern or any other Railway on the 26th inst, when the accident is +alleged to have occured. + +Having obtained possession of the original letter, I have handed it to my +solicitors, in the hope that they may be enabled to discover and bring to +justice the perpetrator of this very stupid hoax. + + I am, Sir, your obedient servant, + Edward Waddington, M.D. + + Wakefield, March 28. + + + + +A'PENNY A MILE. + + +Two costers were looking at a railway time-table. + +"Say, Jem," said one of them, "vot's P.M. mean?" + +"Vy, penny a mile, to be sure." + +"Vell, vot's A.M.?" + +"A'penny a mile, to be sure." + + + + +SINGULAR FREAK. + + +In October, 1857, Mr. Tindal Atkinson applied to Mr. Hammill, at Worship +Street Police Court, to obtain a summons under the following strange +circumstances:-- + +"Mr. Atkinson stated that he was instructed on behalf of the Directors of +the Eastern Counties Railway Company to apply to the magistrate under the +terms of their Act of Incorporation, for a summons against Mr. Henry +Hunt, of Waltham-Cross, Essex, for having unlawfully used and worked a +certain locomotive upon a portion of their line, without having +previously obtained the permission or approval of the engineers or agents +of the company, whereby he had rendered himself liable to a penalty of 20 +pounds. He should confine himself to that by stating that in the dark, +on the night of Thursday, the 1st instant, a locomotive engine belonging +to Mr. Hunt was suddenly discovered by some of the company's servants to +be running along the rails in close proximity to one of the regular +passenger trains on the North Woolwich line. So great was the danger of +a collision, that they were obliged to instantly stop the train till the +stranger engine could get out of the way, to the great terror of the +passengers by the train, and as he was instructed it was almost the +result of a merciful interposition of Providence that a collision had not +occurred between them, in which event it would probably have terminated +fatally, to a greater or lesser extent. He now desired that summonses +might be granted not only against the owner of the engine so used, but +also against the driver and stoker of it, both of whom, it was obvious, +must have been well aware of their committing an unlawful act, and of the +perilous nature of the service in which they were engaged when they were +running an engine at such a time and place. + +"Mr. Hammill said it certainly was a most extraordinary proceeding for +anyone to adopt, and after the learned gentleman's statement he had no +hesitation whatever in granting summonses against the whole of the +persons engaged in it." + + + + +A.B.C. AND D.E.F. + + +A gentleman travelling in a railway carriage was endeavouring, with +considerable earnestness, to impress some argument upon a +fellow-traveller who was seated opposite to him, and who appeared rather +dull of apprehension. At length, being slightly irritated, he exclaimed +in a louder tone, "Why, sir, it's as plain as A.B.C." "That may be," +quietly replied the other, "but I am D.E.F." + + + + +NATIONAL CONTRAST. + + +The contrast which exists between the character of the French and English +navvy may be briefly exemplified by the following trifling anecdote:-- + +"In excavating a portion of the first tunnel east of Rouen towards Paris, +a French miner dressed in his blouse, and an English "navvy" in his white +smock jacket, were suddenly buried alive together by the falling in of +the earth behind them. Notwithstanding the violent commotion which the +intelligence of the accident excited above ground, Mr. Meek, the English +engineer who was constructing the work, after having quietly measured the +distance from the shaft to the sunken ground, satisfied himself that if +the men, at the moment of the accident, were at the head of "the drift" +at which they were working, they would be safe. + +Accordingly, getting together as many French and English labourers as he +could collect, he instantly commenced sinking a shaft, which was +accomplished to the depth of 50 feet in the extraordinary short space of +eleven hours, and the men were thus brought up to the surface alive. + +The Frenchman, on reaching the top, suddenly rushing forward, hugged and +saluted on both cheeks his friends and acquaintances, many of whom had +assembled, and then, almost instantly overpowered by conflicting +feelings--by the recollection of the endless time he had been imprisoned +and by the joy of his release--he sat down on a log of timber, and, +putting both his hands before his face, he began to cry aloud most +bitterly. + +The English "navvy" sat himself down on the very same piece of +timber--took his pit-cap off his head--slowly wiped with it the +perspiration from his hair and face--and then, looking for some seconds +into the hole or shaft close beside him through which he had been lifted, +as if he were calculating the number of cubic yards that had been +excavated, he quite coolly, in broad Lancashire dialect, said to the +crowd of French and English who were staring at him, as children and +nursery-maids in our London Zoological Gardens stand gazing +half-terrified at the white bear, "YAW'VE BEAN A DARMNATION SHORT TOIME +ABAAOWT IT!" + + Sir F. Head's _Stokers and Pokers_. + + + + +REMARKABLE ACCIDENT. + + +The most remarkable railway accident on record happened some years ago on +the North-Western road between London and Liverpool. A gentleman and his +wife were travelling in a compartment alone, when--the train going at the +rate of forty miles an hour--an iron rail projecting from a car on a +side-track cut into the carriage and took the head of the lady clear off, +and rolled it into the husband's lap. He subsequently sued the company +for damages, and created great surprise in court by giving his age at +thirty-six years, although his hair was snow white. It had been turned +from jet black by the horror of that event. + + + + +ENGINEERING LOAN, OR STAKING OUT A RAILWAY. + + +"Beau" Caldwell was a sporting genius of an extremely versatile +character. Like all his fraternity, he was possessed of a pliancy of +adaptation to circumstances that enabled him to succumb with true +philosophy to misfortunes, and also to grace the more exalted sphere of +prosperity with that natural ease attributed to gentlemen with bloated +bank accounts. + +Fertile in ingenuity and resources, Beau was rarely at his wit's end for +that nest egg of the gambler, a stake. His providence, when in luck, was +such as to keep him continually on the _qui vive_ for a nucleus to build +upon. + +Beau, having exhausted the pockets and liberality of his contemporaries +in Charleston, S.C., was constrained to "pitch his tent" in fresh +pastures. He therefore selected Abbeville, whither he was immediately +expedited by the agency of a "free pass." + +Snugly ensconced in his hotel, Beau ruminated over the means to raise the +"plate." The bar-keeper was assailed, but he was discovered to have +scruples (anomalous barkeeper!) The landlord was a "grum wretch," with +no soul for speculation. The cornered "sport" was finally reduced to the +alternative of "confidence of operation." Having arranged his scheme, he +rented him a precious negro boy, and borrowed an old theodolite. Thus +equipped, Beau betook himself to the abode of a neighbouring planter, +notorious for his wealth, obstinacy, and ignorance. Operations were +commenced by sending the nigger into the planter's barn-yard with a +flagpole. Beau got himself up into a charming tableau, directly in front +of the house. He now roared at the top of his voice, +"72,000,000--51--8--11." + +After which he went to driving small stakes, in a very promiscuous +manner, about the premises. + +The planter hearing the shouting, and curious to ascertain the cause, put +his head out of the window. + +"Now," said Beau, again assuming his civil engineering _pose_, "go to the +right a little further--there, that'll do. 47,000--92--5." + +"What the d---l are you doing in my barn-yard?" roared the planter. + +Beau would not consent to answer this interrogation, but pursuing his +business, hallooed out to his "nigger"-- + +"Now go to the house, place your pole against the kitchen door, +higher--stop at that. 86--45--6." + +"I say there," again vociferated the planter, "get out of my yard." + +"I'm afraid we will have to go right through the house," soliloquized +Beau. + +"I'm d--d if you do," exclaimed the planter. + +Beau now looked up for the first time, accosting the planter with a +courteous-- + +"Good day, sir." + +"Good d---l, sir; you are committing a trespass." + +"My dear friend," replied Beau, "public duty, imperative--no +trespass--surveying railroad--State job--your house in the way. Must +take off one corner, sir,--the kitchen part--least value--leave the +parlour--delightful room to see the cars rush by twelve times a day--make +you accessible to market." + +Beau, turning to the nigger, cried out-- + +"Put the pole against the kitchen door again--so, 85." + +"I say, stranger," interrupted the planter, "I guess you ain't dined. As +dinner's up, suppose you come in, and we'll talk the matter over." + +Beau, delighted with the proposition, immediately acceded, not having +tasted cooked provisions that day. + +"Now," said the planter, while Beau was paying marked attention to a +young turkey, "it's mighty inconvenient to have one's homestead smashed +up, without so much as asking the liberty. And more than that, if +there's law to be had, it shan't be did either." + +"Pooh! nonsense, my dear friend," replied Beau, "it's the law that says +the railroad must be laid through kitchens. Why, we have gone through +seventeen kitchens and eight parlours in the last eight miles--people +don't like it, but then it's law, and there's no alternative, except the +party persuades the surveyor to move a little to the left, and as curves +costs money most folks let it go through the kitchen." + +"Cost something, eh?" said the planter, eagerly catching at the bait +thrown out for him. "Would not mind a trifle. You see I don't oppose +the road, but if you'll turn to the left and it won't be much expense, +why I'll stand it." + +"Let me see," said Beau, counting his fingers, "forty and forty is +eighty, and one hundred. Yes, two hundred dollars will do it." +Unrolling a large map, intersected with lines running in every direction, +he continued--"There is your house, and here's the road. Air line. You +see to move to the left we must excavate this hill. As we are desirous +of retaining the goodwill of parties residing on the route, I'll agree on +the part of the company to secure the alteration, and prevent your house +from being molested." + +The planter revolved the matter in his mind for a moment and exclaimed:-- + +"You'll guarantee the alteration?" + +"Give a written document." + +"Then it's a bargain." + +The planter without more delay gave Beau an order on his city factor for +the stipulated sum, and received in exchange a written document, +guaranteeing the freedom of the kitchen from any encroachment by the C. +L. R. R. Co. + +Before leaving, Beau took the planter on one side and requested him not +to disclose their bargain until after the railroad was built. + +"You see, it mightn't exactly suit the views of some people--partiality, +you know." + +The last remark, accompanied by a suggestive wink, was returned by the +planter in a similar demonstration of _owlishness_. + +Beau resumed his theodolite, drove a few stakes on the hill opposite, and +proceeded onward in the fulfilment of his duties. As his light figure +receded into obscurity and the distance, the planter caught a sound +vastly like 40--40--120--200.--And that was the last he ever heard of the +railroad. + + _Appleton's American Railway Anecdote Book_. + + + + +MR. FRANK BUCKLAND'S FIRST RAILWAY JOURNEY. + + +Mr. Spencer Walpole remarks:--"Of Mr. Buckland's Christ Church days many +good stories are told. Almost every one has heard of the bear which he +kept at his rooms, of its misdemeanours, and its rustication. Less +familiar, perhaps, is the story of his first journey by the Great +Western. The dons, alarmed at the possible consequences of a railway to +London, would not allow Brunel to bring the line nearer than to Didcot. +Dean Buckland in vain protested against the folly of this decision, and +the line was kept out of harm's way at Didcot. But, the very day on +which it was opened, Mr. Frank Buckland, with one or two other +undergraduates, drove over to Didcot, travelled up to London, and +returned in time to fulfil all the regulations of the university. The +Dean, who was probably not altogether displeased at the joke, told the +story to his friends who had prided themselves in keeping the line from +Oxford. 'Here,' he said, 'you have deprived us of the advantage of a +railway, and my son has been up to London.'" + + + + +SCENE BEFORE A SUB-COMMITTEE ON STANDING ORDERS. +PETITIONING AGAINST A RAILWAY BILL, 1846. + + +"Well, Snooks," began the Agent for the Promoters, in cross-examination, +"you signed the petition against the Bill--aye?" + +"Yees, zur. I zined summit, zur." + +"But that petition--did you sign that petition?" + +"I do'ant nar, zur; I zined zummit, zur." + +"But don't you know the contents of the petition?" + +"The what, zur?" + +"The contents; what's in it." + +"Oa! Noa, zur." + +"You don't know what's in the petition!--Why, ain't you the petitioner +himself?" + +"Noa, zur, I doan't nar that I be, zur." + +["Snooks! Snooks! Snooks!" issued a voice from a stout and +benevolent-looking elderly gentleman from behind, "how can you say so, +Snooks? It's your petition." The prompting, however, seemed to produce +but little impression upon him for whom it was intended, whatever effect +it may have had upon the minds of those whose ears it reached, but for +whose service it was not intended]. + +"Really, Mr. Chairman," observed the Agent for the Bill, who appeared to +have no idea of _Burking_ the inquiry, "this is growing interesting." + +"The interest is all on your side," remarked the Agent for the petition +(against the Bill). + +"Now, Snooks," continued the Agent for the Bill, "apply your mind to the +questions I shall put to you, and let me caution you to reply to them +truly and honestly. Now, tell me--who got you to sign this petition?" + +"I object to the question," interposed the Agent for the petition. "The +matter altogether is descending into mean, trivial, and unnecessary +details, which I am surprised my friend opposite should attempt to +trouble the Committee with." + +"I can readily understand, sir," replied the other, "why my friend is so +anxious to get rid of this inquiry--simple and short as it will be; but I +trust, sir, that you will consider it of sufficient importance to allow +it to proceed. I purpose to put only a few questions more on this +extraordinary petition against the Bill (the bare meaning of the name of +which the petitioner does not seem to understand) for the purpose of +eliciting some further information respecting it." + +The Committee being thus appealed to by both parties, inclined their +heads for a few moments in order to facilitate a communication in +whispers, and then decided that the inquiry might proceed. It was +evident that the matter had excited an interest in the minds and breasts +of the honourable members of the Committee; created as much perhaps by +the extreme mean and poverty-stricken appearance of the witness--a +miserable, dirty, and decrepit old man--as by the disclosures he had +already made. + +"Well, Snooks, I was about to ask you (when my friend interrupted me) who +got you to sign the petition, or that zummit as you call it?" + +"Some genelmen, zur." + +"Who were they--do you know their names?" + +"Noa, zur, co'ant say I do nar 'em a', zur." + +"But do you know any of them, was that gentleman behind you one?" + +[The gentleman referred to was the fine benevolent-looking individual who +had previously kindly endeavoured to assist the witness in his answers, +and who stood the present scrutiny with marked composure and +complaisance]. + +"Yees, zur, he war one on 'em." + +"Do you know his name?" + +"Noa, zur, I doant; but he be one of the railway genelmen." + +"What did he say to you, when he requested you to sign the petition?" + +"He said I ware to zine (pointing to the petition) that zummit." + +"When and where, pray, did you sign it?" + +"A lot o' railway genelmen kum to me on Sunday night last; and they wo' +make me do it, zur." + +"On Sunday night last, aye!" + +"What, on Sunday night!" exclaimed one honourable member on the extreme +right of the Chairman, with horror depicted on his countenance; "are you +sure, witness, that it was done in the evening of a Sabbath?" + +"The honourable member asks you, whether you are certain that you were +called upon by the railway gentlemen to sign the petition on a Sunday +evening? I think you told me last Sunday evening." + +"Oa, yees, zur; they kum just as we war a garing to chapel." + +"Disgraceful, and wrong in the extreme!" ejaculated the honourable +member. + +"And did not that gentleman" (continued the Agent for the Bill), "nor any +of the railway gentlemen, as you call them, when they requested you to +sign, explain the nature and contents of the petition?" + +"Noa, zur." + +"Then you don't know at this moment what it's for?" + +"Noa, zur." + +"Of course, therefore, it's not your petition as set forth?" + +"I doant nar, zur. I zined zummit." + +"Now, answer me, do you object to this line of railway? Have you any +dislike to it?" + +"O, noa, zur. I shud loak to zee it kum." + +"Exactly, you should like to see it made. So you have been led to +petition against it, though you are favourable to it?" + +The petitioner against the Bill did not appear to comprehend the precise +drift of the remark, and his only reply to the wordy fix into which the +learned agent had drawn him was made in the dumb-show of scratching with +his one disengaged hand (the other being employed in holding his hat) his +uncombed head--an operation that created much laughter, which was not +damped by the Agent's putting, with a serious face, a concluding question +or remark to him to the effect that he presumed he (the witness) had not +paid, or engaged to pay, so many guineas a day to his friend on the other +side for the prosecution of the opposition against the Bill--had he; yes, +or no? The witness's appearance was the only and best answer. + +The petition, of course, upon this _expose_, was withdrawn. + +This, the substance of what actually took place before one of the +Sub-Committees on Standing orders will give some idea of the nature of +many of the petitions against Railway Bills, especially on technical +points. It will serve to show in some measure what heartless mockeries +these petitions mostly are; the moral evils they give birth to--and that, +even while complaining of errors, they are themselves made up of +falsehood. + + + + +AN IDEA ON RAILWAYS. + + +A happy comment on the annihilation of time and space by locomotive +agency, is as follows:--A little child who rode fifty miles in a railway +train, and then took a coach to her uncle's house, some five miles +further, was asked on her arrival if she came by the cars. "We came a +little way in the cars, and all the rest of the way in a carriage." + + + + +BURNING THE ROAD CLEAR. + + +It is related of Colonel Thomas A. Scott, that on one occasion, when +making one of his swift trips over the American lines under his control, +his train was stopped by the wreck of a goods train. There was a dozen +heavily loaded covered trucks piled up on the road, and it would take a +long time to get help from the nearest accessible point, and probably +hours more to get the track cleared by mere force of labour. He surveyed +the difficulty, made a rough calculation of the cost of a total +destruction of the freight, and promptly made up his mind to burn the +road clear. By the time the relief train came the flames had done their +work and nothing remained but to patch up a few injuries done to the +track so as to enable him to pursue his way. + + + + +HARSH TREATMENT OF A MAN OF COLOUR. + + +My treatment in the use of public conveyances about these times was +extremely rough, especially on "The Eastern Railroad," from Boston to +Portland. On the road, as on many others, there was a mean, dirty, and +uncomfortable car set apart for coloured travellers, called the "Jim +Crow" car. Regarding this as the fruit of slaveholding prejudice, and +being determined to fight the spirit of slavery wherever I might find it, +I resolved to avoid this car, though it sometimes required some courage +to do so. The coloured people generally accepted the situation, and +complained of me as making matters worse rather than better, by refusing +to submit to this proscription. I, however, persisted, and sometimes was +soundly beaten by the conductor and brakeman. On one occasion, six of +these "fellows of the baser sort," under the direction of the conductor, +set out to eject me from my seat. As usual, I had purchased a +first-class ticket, and paid the required sum for it, and on the +requirement of the conductor to leave, refused to do so, when he called +on these men "to snake me out." They attempted to obey with an air which +plainly told me they relished the job. They, however, found me _much +attached_ to my seat, and in removing me tore away two or three of the +surrounding ones, on which I held with a firm grasp, and did the car no +service in some respects. I was strong and muscular, and the seats were +not then so firmly attached or of as solid make as now. The result was +that Stephen A. Chase, superintendent of the road, ordered all passenger +trains to pass through Lynn, where I then lived, without stopping. This +was a great inconvenience to the people, large numbers of whom did +business in Boston, and at other points of the road. Led on, however, by +James N. Buffum, Jonathon Buffum, Christopher Robinson, William Bassett, +and others, the people of Lynn stood bravely by me, and denounced the +railway management in emphatic terms. Mr. Chase made reply that a +railroad corporation was neither a religious nor a reformatory body; and +that the road was run for the accommodation of the public; and that it +required the exclusion of the coloured people from its cars. With an air +of triumph he told us that we ought not to expect a railroad company to +be better than the Evangelical Church, and that until the churches +abolished the "negro pew," we ought not to expect the railroad company to +abolish the negro car. This argument was certainly good enough as +against the Church, but good for nothing as against the demands of +justice and equity. My old and dear friend, J. N. Buffum, made a point +against the company that they "often allowed dogs and monkeys to ride in +first-class cars, and yet excluded a man like Frederick Douglass!" In a +very few years this barbarous practice was put away, and I think there +have been no instances of such exclusion during the past thirty years; +and coloured people now, everywhere in New England, ride upon equal terms +with other passengers. + + --_Life and Times of Frederick Douglass_. + + + + +QUITE TOO CLEVER + + +The elder Dumas was at the railway station, just starting to join his +yacht at Marseilles. Several friends had accompanied him, to say +good-bye. Suddenly he was informed that he had a hundred and fifty +kilogrammes excess of luggage. "Ho, ho!" cried Dumas. "How many +kilogrammes are allowed?" "Thirty for each person," was the reply. +Silently he made a mental calculation, and then in a tone of triumph bade +his secretary take places for five. "In that way," he explained, "we +shall have no excess." + + + + +A DIFFICULTY SOLVED. + + +Among the improvements that have been carried out at Windsor during the +autumn, has been an entire alteration in the draining of the Home Park +about Frogmore. New drains have been laid, and the waste earth has been +used to level the ground. This portion of the Royal domain was almost +wild at the beginning of the present reign. It consisted of fields, with +low hedges and deep ditches, and was intersected by a road, on which +stood several cottages and a public-house. It was quite an eyesore, and +Prince Albert was at his wit's end to know how to convert it into a park +and exclude the public, as before this could be done, it was necessary to +make a new road in place of the one it was desired to abolish, and +altogether a large outlay was inevitable; and even in those days, it was +out of the question to apply to Parliament for the amount required, +which, I believe, was about 80,000 pounds. + +The difficulty, however, was solved in rather a strange way. In the +early days of railroads they were looked upon as nuisances, and the +authorities at Windsor Castle were firmly resolved that no line should +approach the Royal borough, in which resolution they were warmly +supported by the equally stupid and short-sighted managers of Eton +College. Although the inhabitants sighed for a railway, none was brought +nearer than Slough. At this moment, when the park question was being +agitated, the South Western Directors brought forward a proposition that +they should make a line into Windsor, running along one side of the Home +Park, and right under the Castle. This audacious idea was regarded with +indignation at the Castle, until a hint was received that possibly, if +Royal interest were forthcoming to support the plan, the Company might be +able to facilitate the proposed alterations; and it then came out, +strangely enough, they had fixed the precise sum needed (80,000 pounds) +as compensation for the disturbance of the Royal property. No more was +heard of the objections to the scheme, which had been so vehemently +denounced a few days before, but, no sooner did it transpire that the +South-Western plan was not opposed by the Castle interest than down came +the Great-Western authorities in a fever of indignation, for it appeared +they had received an explicit promise that, if Windsor was ever +desecrated by a railway, they should have the preference. So resolute +was their attitude, that so far as I remember, the sitting of Parliament +was actually protracted in order that their Bill might be passed; not +that they got it without paying, for they gave 20,000 pounds for an old +stable and yard which were required for their station, and which happened +to stand on Crown property. Things were sometimes managed strangely +enough in those days. + + --_Truth_, Dec. 29, 1881. + + + + +AN EXACTING LADY. + + +A lady of fashion with a pugdog and a husband entered the train at +Paddington the other day. There were in the carriage but two persons, a +well-known Professor and his wife; yet the lady of fashion coveted, not +indeed his chair, but his seat. "I wish to sit by the window, sir," she +said, imperiously, and he had to move accordingly. "No, sir, that won't +do," she said, as he meekly took the next place. "I can't have a +stranger sitting close to me. My husband must sit where you are." + + _Gentleman's Magazine_. + + + + +AMERICAN PATIENCE AND IMPERTURBABILITY. + + +About an hour after midnight, on our journey from Boston to Albany, we +came to a sudden pause where no station was visible; and immediately, +very much to my surprise, the engine-driver, conductor, and several +passengers were seen sallying forth with lanterns, and hastening down the +embankment on our right. "What are they going to do now?" said I to a +gentleman, who, like myself, kept his seat. "Only to take a look at some +cars that were smashed this morning," was the reply. On opening the +window to observe the state of affairs, as well as the darkness would +allow, there, to be sure, at the bottom and along the side of the high +bank, lay an unhappy train, just as it had been upset. The locomotive on +its side was partly buried in the earth; and the cars which had followed +it in its descent lay in a confused heap behind. On the top of the bank, +near to us, the last car of all stood obliquely on end, with its hind +wheels in the air in a somewhat grotesque and threatening attitude. All +was now still and silent. The killed and wounded, if there were any, had +been removed. No living thing was visible but the errant engineer and +others from our train clambering with lanterns in their hands over a +prostrate wreck, and with heedless levity passing critical remarks on the +catastrophe. Curiosity being satisfied all resumed their places, and the +train moved on without a murmur of complaint as to the unnecessary, and, +considering the hour, very undesirable delay. I allude to the +circumstance, as one of a variety of facts that fell within my +observation, illustrative of the singular degree of patience and +imperturbability with which railway travellers in America submit +uncomplainingly to all sorts of detentions on their journey. + + _Things as they are in America_, by W. Chambers, 1853. + + + + +A WIDE-AWAKE CONDUCTOR. + + +Dana Krum, one of the conductors on the Erie Railway, was approached +before train time by an unknown man, who spoke to him as if he had known +him for years. "I say, Dana," said he, "I have forgotten my pass, and I +want to go to Susquehanna; I am a fireman on the road, you know." But +the conductor told him he ought to have a pass with him. It was the +safest way. Pretty soon, Dana came along to collect tickets. Seeing his +man, he spoke when he reached him. "Say, my friend, have you got the +time with you?" "Yes," said he, as he pulled out a watch, "it is twenty +minutes past nine." "Oh, it is, is it? Now, if you don't show me your +pass or fare, I will stop the train. There is no railway man that I ever +saw who would say 'Twenty minutes past nine.' He would say, +'Nine-twenty.'" He settled. + + + + +A KID-GLOVED SAMSON. + + +A correspondent of the _Chicago Journal_ relates the following feat of +strength, to which he was witness:-- + +"On Sunday, about nine o'clock A.M., as the train westward was within +three or four miles of Chicago, on the Fort Wayne road, a horse was +discovered on the stilt-work between the rails. The train was stopped, +and workmen were sent to clear the track. It was then discovered that +the body of the horse was resting on the sleepers. His legs having +passed through the open spaces, were too short to reach the ground. +Boards and rails were brought, and the open space in front of the horse +filled up, making a plank road for him in case he should be got up, and +by means of ropes one of his fore feet was raised, and there matters came +to a halt. It seemed that no strength or stratagem could avail to +release the animal. Levers of boards were splintered, and the men tugged +at the ropes in vain, when a passenger, who was looking quietly on, +stepped forward, leisurely slipped off a pair of tinted kids, seized the +horse by the tail, and with tremendous force hurled him forward on the +plank road. No one assisted, and, indeed, the whole thing was done so +quickly that assistance was impossible. The horse walked away looking +foolish, and casting suspicious side-glances towards his caudal +extremity. The lookers-on laughed and shouted, while the stranger +resumed his kids, muttering something about the inconvenience of railway +delays, lit a cigar, and walked slowly into the smoking car. He was +finely formed, of muscular appearance, was very fashionably dressed, wore +a moustache and whiskers of an auburn or reddish colour, and to all +questions as to who he was, only answered that he was a Pennsylvanian +travelling westward for his health. The horse would certainly weigh at +least twelve hundred." + + + + +A RAILWAY TRAIN TURNED INTO A MAN-TRAP. + + +A branch of the Bombay presidency runs through a wild region, the +inhabitants of which are unsophisticated savages, addicted to thievery. +The first day the line was opened a number of these Arcadians conspired +to intercept the train, and have a glorious loot. To accomplish their +object they placed some trunks of trees across the rails; but the engine +driver, keeping a very sharp look out, as it happened to be his first +trip on the line in question, descried the trunks while yet they were at +a considerable distance from him. The breaks were then put on, and when +the locomotive had approached within a couple of feet of the trunks it +was brought to a standstill. Then, instantaneously, like Roderick Dhu's +clansmen starting from the heather, natives, previously invisible, +swarmed up on all sides, and, crowding into the carriages, began to +pillage and plunder everything they could lay their hands upon. While +they were thus engaged, the guard gave the signal to the driver, who at +once reversed his engine and put it to the top of its speed. The reader +may judge of the consternation of the robbers when they found themselves +whirled backwards at a pace that rendered escape impossible. Some poor +fellows that attempted it were killed on the spot. + + --_Central India Times_, June 22, 1867. + + + + +THE RULING OCCUPATION STRONG ON SUNDAY. + + +In an Episcopal church in the north, not one hundred miles from Keith, a +porter employed during the week at the railway station, does duty on +Sunday by blowing the bellows of the organ. The other Sunday, wearied by +the long hours of railway attendance, combined, it may be, with the +soporific effects of a dull sermon, he fell sound asleep during the +service, and so remained when the pealing of the organ was required. He +was suddenly and rather rudely awakened by another official when +apparently dreaming of an approaching train, as he started to his feet +and roared out, with all the force and shrillness of stentorian lungs and +habit, "Change here for Elgin, Lossiemouth, and Burghead." The effect +upon the congregation, sitting in expectation of a concord of sweet +sounds, may be imagined--it is unnecessary to describe it. + + --_Dumfries Courier_, 1866. + + + + +THE GOOD THINGS OF RAILWAY ACCIDENTS. + + +We have always thought that, except to lawyers and railway carriage and +locomotive builders, railway accidents were great misfortunes, but it is +evident we were wrong and we hasten to acknowledge our error. Speaking +on Thursday with a respectable broker about the heavy damages (2,000 +pounds) given the day before on account of the Tottenham accident against +the Eastern Counties Company in the Court of Exchequer, he observed, "It +is rather good when these things happen as it moves the stock. I have +had an order for some days to buy Eastern Counties at 56 and could not do +it, but this verdict has sent them down one per cent., and enabled me now +to buy it." With all our railway experience we never dreamt of such a +benefit as this accruing from railway accidents, but it is evidently +among the possibilities. + + --_Herepath's Railway Journal_, June 7th, 1860. + + + + +BENEFICIAL EFFECT OF A RAILWAY ACCIDENT. + + +A gentleman who was in a railway collision in 1869, wrote to the _Times_ +in November of that year. After stating that he had been threatened with +a violent attack of rheumatic fever; in fact, he observed, "my condition +so alarmed me, and my dread of a sojourn in a Manchester hotel bed for +two or three months was so great, that I resolved to make a bold sortie +and, well wrapped up, start for London by the 3.30 p.m. Midland fast +train. From the time of leaving that station to the time of the +collision, my heart was going at express speed; my weak body was in a +profuse perspiration; flashes of pain announced that the muscular fibres +were under the tyrannical control of rheumatism, and I was almost beside +myself with toothache. From the moment of the collision to the present +hour no ache, pain, sweat, or tremor has troubled me in the slightest +degree, and instead of being, as I expected, and indeed intended, in bed +drinking _tinct. aurantii_, or absorbing through my pores oil of +horse-chestnut, I am conscientiously bound to be at my office bodily +sound. Don't print my name and address, or the Midland Company may come +down upon me for compensation." + + + + +AN EARLY MORNING RIDE TO THE RAILWAY STATION. + + +In the course of his peregrinations, the railway traveller may find +himself in some out-of-the-way place, where no regular vehicle can be +obtained to convey him to the station, and this _contretemps_ is +aggravated when the time of departure happens to be early in the morning. +Captain B--, a man of restless energy and adventurous spirit, emerged +early one morning from a hovel in a distant village, where from stress of +weather he had been compelled to pass the night. It was just dawn of +day, and within an hour of the train he wished to go by would start from +the station, about six miles distant. He had with him a portmanteau, +which it would be impossible for him to carry within the prescribed time, +but which he could not very well leave behind. Pondering on what he +should do, his eye lighted on a likely looking horse grazing in a field +hard by, while in the next field there was a line extended between two +posts, for the purpose of drying clothes upon. The sight of these +objects soon suggested the plan for him to adopt. In an instant he +detached the line, and then taking a piece of bread from his pocket, +coaxed the animal to approach him. Captain B-- was an adept in the +management of horses, and as a rough rider, perhaps, had no equal. In a +few seconds he had, by the aid of a portion of the line, arranged his +portmanteau pannier-wise across the horse's back, and forming a bridle +with the remaining portion of the line, he led his steed into the lane, +and sprang upon his back. The horse rather relished the trip than +otherwise, and what with the unaccustomed burden, and the consciousness +that he was being steered by a knowing hand, he sped onwards at a +terrific pace. While in mid career, one of the mounted police espied the +captain coming along the road at a distance; recognizing the horse, but +not knowing the rider, and noticing also the portmanteau, and the uncouth +equipment, this rural guardian of the peace came to the conclusion that +this was a case of robbery and horse stealing; and as the captain neared +him, he endeavoured to stop him, and stretched forth his hand to seize +the improvised bridle, but the gallant equestrian laughed to scorn the +impotent attempt, and shook him off, and shot by him. Thus foiled, the +policeman had nothing to do than to give chase; so turning his horse's +head he followed in full cry. The clatter and shouts of pursuer and +pursued brought forth the inhabitants of the cottages as they passed, and +many of these joined in the chase. Never since Turpin's ride to York, or +Johnny Gilpin's ride to Edmonton, had there been such a commotion caused +by an equestrian performance. To make a long story short, the captain +reached the station in ample time; an explanation ensued; a handsome +apology was tendered to the patrol, and a present equally handsome was +forwarded, together with the abstracted property, to the joint owner of +the horse and the clothes-line. + + + + +CHEAP FARES. + + +In the year 1868, Mr. Raphael Brandon brought out a book called _Railways +and the Public_. In it he proposes that the railways should be purchased +and worked by the government; and that passengers, like letters, should +travel any distance at a fixed charge. He calculates that a threepenny +stamp for third-class, a sixpenny stamp for second-class, and a shilling +stamp for first-class, should take a passenger any distance whether long +or short. With the adoption of the scheme, he believes, such an impetus +would be given to passenger traffic that the returns would amount to more +than double what they are at present. There may be flaws in Mr. +Brandon's theory, yet it may be within the bounds of possibility that +some great innovator may rise up and do for the travelling public by way +of organization what Sir Rowland Hill has done for the postage of the +country by the penny stamp. + + + + +WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO? + + +The above question was asked by a man of his friend who had been injured +in a railway accident, "I am first going in for repairs, and then for +_damages_," was the answer. + + + + +REPROOF FOR SWEARING. + + +The manager of one of the great Indian railways, in addressing a European +subordinate given to indulge in needless strong language, wrote as +follows:--"Dear sir, it is with extreme regret that I have to bring to +your notice that I observed very unprofessional conduct on your part this +morning when making a trial trip. I allude to the abusive language you +used to the drivers and others. This I consider an unwarrantable +assumption of my duties and functions, and, I may say, rights and +privileges. Should you wish to abuse any of our employes, I think it +will be best in future to do so in regular form, and I beg to point out +what I consider this to be. You will please to submit to me, in writing, +the form of oath you wish to use, when, if it meets my approval, I shall +at once sanction it; but if not, I shall refer the same to the directors; +and, in the course of a few weeks, their decision will be known. +Perhaps, to save time, it might be as well for you to submit a list of +the expletives generally in use by you, and I can then at once refer +those to which I object to the directors for their decision. But, +pending that, you will please to understand that all cursing and swearing +at drivers and others engaged on the traffic arrangements in which you +may wish to indulge must be done in writing, and through me. By adopting +this course you will perceive how much responsibility you will save +yourself, and how very much the business of the company will be +expedited, and its interests promoted." + + + + +THE BULLY RIGHTLY SERVED. + + +In the _Railway Traveller's Handy Book_, there is an account of an +occurrence which took place on the Eastern Counties line:--"A big hulking +fellow, with bully written on his face, took his seat in a second-class +carriage, and forthwith commenced insulting everybody by his words and +gestures. He was asked to desist, but only responded with language more +abusive. The guard was then appealed to, who told him to mind what he +was about, shut the door, and cried 'all right.' Thus encouraged the +miscreant continued his disgraceful conduct, and became every moment more +outrageous. In one part of the carriage were four farmers sitting who +all came from the same neighbourhood, and to whom every part along the +line was well known. One of these wrote on a slip of paper these words, +'Let us souse him in Chuckley Slough.' This paper was handed from one to +the other, and each nodded assent. Now, Chuckley Slough was a pond near +one of the railway stations, not very deep, but the waters of which were +black, muddy, and somewhat repellent to the olfactory nerves. The +station was neared and arrived at; in the meantime the bully's conduct +became worse and worse. As they emerged from the station, one of the +farmers, aforesaid, said to the fellow, 'Now, will you he quiet?' 'No, I +won't,' was the answer. 'You won't, won't you?' asked a second farmer. +'You're determined you won't?' inquired a third. 'You're certain you +won't?' asked the fourth. To all of which queries the response was in +negatives, with certain inelegant expletives added thereto. 'Then,' said +the four farmers speaking as one man, and rising in a body, 'out you go.' +So saying, they seized the giant form of the wretch, who struggled hard +to escape but to no purpose; they forced him to the window, and while the +train was still travelling at a slow pace, and Chuckley Slough appeared +to view, they without more ado thrust the huge carcass through the +window, and propelling it forward with some force, landed it exactly in +the centre of the black, filthy slough. The mingled cries and oaths of +the man were something fearful to hear; his attempts at extrication and +incessant slipping still deeper in the mire, something ludicrous to +witness; all the passengers watched him with feelings of gratified +revenge, and the last that was seen of him was a huge black mass, having +no traces of humanity about it, crawling up the bank in a state of utter +prostration. In this instance the remedy was rather a violent one; but +less active measures had been found to fail, and there can be little +doubt that this man took care ever afterwards not to run the risk of a +similar punishment by indulging in conduct of a like nature." + + + + +LIABILITY OF COMPANIES FOR DELAY OF TRAINS. + + +There have been cases where claims have been made and recovered in courts +of law for loss arising from delay in the arrival of trains, but the law +does not render the company's liability unlimited. A remarkable case +occurred not long since. A Mr. Le Blanche sued the London and +North-Western Company for the cost of a special train to Scarborough, +which he had ordered in consequence of his being brought from Liverpool +to Leeds, too late for the ordinary train from Leeds to Scarborough. A +judgment in the county court was given in favour of the applicant. + +The railway company appealed to the superior court, and the points raised +were argued by able counsel, when the decision of the county court judge +was confirmed. The company was determined to put the case to the utmost +possible test, and on appealing to the Supreme Court of Judicature the +judgment was reversed, the decision being to the effect that, whilst +there was some evidence of wilful delay, the measure of damage was wrong. + + --_Our Railways_, by Joseph Parsloe. + + + + +THE DYING ENGINE DRIVER. + + +Doubts have been expressed whether our iron ships will ever be regarded +in the same affectionate way as "liners" used to be regarded by our "old +salts." It has been supposed that the latest creations of science will +not nourish sentiment. The following anecdote shows, however, as +romantic an attachment to iron as was ever manifested towards wood. On +the Great Western Railway, the broad gauge and the narrow gauge are +mixed; the former still existing to the delight of travellers by the +"Flying Dutchman," whatever economical shareholders may have to say to +the contrary. The officials who have been longest on the staff also +cling to the broad gauge, like faithful royalists to a fast disappearing +dynasty. The other day an ancient guard on this line was knocked down +and run over by an engine; and though good enough medical attendance was +at hand, had skill been of any use, the dying man wished to see "the +company's" doctor. The gentleman, a man much esteemed by all the +employes, was accordingly sent for. "I am glad you came to see me start, +doctor, (as I hope) by the up-train," said the poor man. "I am only +sorry I can do nothing for you, my good fellow," answered the other. "I +know that; it is all over with me. But there!--I'm glad it was _not one +of them narrow-gauge engines that did it_!" + + --_Gentleman's Magazine_. + + + + +"DOWN BRAKES," OR FORCE OF HABIT. + + +An Illinois captain, lately a railroad conductor, was drilling a squad, +and while marching them by flank, turned to speak to a friend for a +moment. On looking again toward his squad, he saw they were in the act +of "butting up" against a fence. In his hurry to halt them, he cried, +"Down brakes! Down brakes!" + + + + +TRENT STATION. + + +This station on the Midland system is often a source of no little +perplexity to strangers. Sir Edward Beckett thus humorously describes +it:--"You arrive at Trent. Where that is I cannot tell. I suppose it is +somewhere near the river Trent, but then the Trent is a very long river. +You get out of your train to obtain refreshment, and having taken it, you +endeavour to find your train and your carriage. But whether it is on +this side or that, and whether it is going north or south, this way or +that way, you cannot tell. Bewildered, you frantically rush into your +carriage; the train moves off round a curve, and then you are horrified +to see some lights glaring in front of you, and you are in immediate +expectation of a collision, when your fellow-passenger calms your fears +by telling you that they are only the tail lamps of your own train." + + + + +STEEL RAILS. + + +The first steel rail was made in 1857, by Mushet, at the Ebbw-Vale Iron +Co.'s works in South Wales. It was rolled from cast blooms of Bessemer +steel and laid down at Derby, England, and remained sixteen years, during +which time 250 trains and at least 250 detached engines and tenders +passed over it daily. Taking 312 working days in each year, we have the +total of 1,252,000 trains and 1,252,000 detached engines and tenders +which passed over it from the time it was first laid before it was +removed to be worked over. + +The substitution of steel for iron, to an extent rendered possible by the +Bessemer process, has worked a great and abiding change in the condition +of our ways, giving greater endurance both in respect of wear and in +resistance to breaking strains and jars. + +Two steel rails of twenty-one feet in length were laid on the 2nd of May, +1862, at the Chalk Farm Bridge, side by side with two ordinary rails. +After having outlasted sixteen faces of the ordinary rails, the steel +ones were taken up and examined, and it was found that at the expiration +of three years and three months, the surface was evenly worn to the +extent of only a little more than a quarter of an inch, and to all +appearance they were capable of enduring a great deal more work. The +result of this trial was to induce the London and North Western to enter +very extensively into the employment of steel rails. + + _Knight's Dictionary of Mechanics_. + + + + +CURIOUS CASUALTY. + + +Out of three truck loads of cattle on the Great Western Railway two of +the animals were struck dead by the lightning on Monday afternoon, July +5, 1852, not very far from Swindon. What renders it remarkable is, that +one animal only in each of the two trucks was struck, and five or six +animals in each escaped uninjured. The animal killed in one of the +trucks was a bull, the cows escaping injury, and in the other truck it +was a bull or an ox that was killed. + + + + +GEORGE STEPHENSON'S WEDDING PRESENT. + + +A correspondent, writing to the _Derbyshire Courier_ the week following +the Stephenson Centenary celebration at Chesterfield, remarks:--"The +other day I met a kindly and venerable gentleman who possesses quite a +fund of anecdotes relating to the Stephensons, father and son. It +appears we have, or had, relations of old George residing in Derby. +Years ago, says my friend, an old gentleman, who by his appearance and +carriage was stamped as a man distinguished among his fellow-men, was +inquiring on Derby platform for a certain engine-driver in the North +Midland or the Birmingham and Derby service, whose name he gave. On the +driver being pointed out, the gentleman, with the rough but pleasing +north-country burr in his voice, said, after asking his name, "Did you +marry --?" "Yes, sir." "Then she's my niece, and I hope you'll make her +a good husband. I have not had the chance of giving you a wedding +present until now." Then slipping into his hand a bank note for 50 +pounds, he talked of other matters. The joy of the engine-driver at +receiving so welcome a present was not greater than being recognised and +kindly received by his wife's illustrious uncle, George Stephenson." + + + + +THE POLITE IRISHMAN. + + +It's a small matter, but a gentleman always feels angry at himself after +he has given up his seat, in a railway car, to a female who lacks the +good manners to acknowledge the favour. The following "hint" to the +ladies will show that a trifle of politeness properly spread on, often +has a happy effect. + +The seats were all full, one of which was occupied by a rough-looking +Irishman; and at one of the stations a couple of evidently well-bred and +intelligent young ladies came in to procure seats, but seeing no vacant +ones, were about to go into a back car, when Patrick rose hastily, and +offered them his seat, with evident pleasure. "But you will have no seat +yourself?" responded one of the young ladies with a smile, hesitating, +with true politeness, as to accepting it. "Never ye mind _that_!" said +the Hibernian, "ye'r welcome to 't! I'd ride upon the cow-catcher till +New York, any time, for a smile from such _jintlemanly_ ladies;" and +retreated hastily to the next car, amid the cheers of those who had +witnessed the affair. + + + + +AN ENTERTAINING COMPANION. + + +Once, during a tour in the Western States, writes Mr. Florence, the +actor, an incident occurred in which I rather think I played the victim. +We were _en route_ from Cleveland to Cincinnati, an eight or ten-hour +journey. After seeing my wife comfortably seated, I walked forward to +the smoking car, and, taking the only unoccupied place, pulled out my +cigar case, and offered a cigar to my next neighbour. He was about sixty +years of age, gentlemanly in appearance, and of a somewhat reserved and +bashful mien. He gracefully accepted the cigar, and in a few minutes we +were engaged in conversation. + +"Are you going far west?" I inquired. + +"Merely so far as Columbus." (Columbus, I may explain is the capital of +Ohio.) "And you, sir?" he added, interrogatively. + +"I am journeying toward Cincinnati. I am a theatrical man, and play +there to-morrow night." I was a young man then, and fond of avowing my +profession. + +"Oh, indeed! Your face seemed familiar to me as you entered the car. I +am confident we have met before." + +"I have acted in almost every State in the Union," said I. "Mrs. +Florence and I are pretty generally known throughout the north-west." + +"Bless me?" said the stranger in surprise, "I have seen you act many +times, sir, and the recollection of Mrs. Florence's 'Yankee Girl,' with +her quaint songs, is still fresh in my memory." + +"Do you propose remaining long in Columbus?" + +"Yes, for seven years," replied my companion. + +Thus we chatted for an hour or two. At length my attention was attracted +to a little, red-faced man, with small sharp eyes, who sat immediately +opposite us and amused himself by sucking the knob of a large walking +stick which he carried caressingly in his hand. He had more than once +glanced at me in a knowing manner, and now and then gave a sly wink and +shake of the head at me, as much as to say, "Ah, old fellow, I know you, +too." + +These attentions were so marked that I finally asked my companion if he +had noticed them. + +"That poor man acts like a lunatic," said I, _sotto voce_. + +"A poor half-witted fellow, possibly," replied my fellow-traveller. "In +your travels through the country, however, Mr. Florence, you must have +often met such strange characters." + +We had now reached Crestline, the dinner station, and, after thanking the +stranger for the agreeable way in which he had enabled me to pass the +journey up to this point, I asked him if he would join Mrs. Florence and +myself at dinner. This produced an extraordinary series of grimaces and +winks from the red-faced party aforesaid. The invitation to dinner was +politely declined. + +The repast over, our train sped on toward Cincinnati. I told my wife +that in the smoking car I had met a most entertaining gentleman, who was +well posted in theatricals, and was on his way to Columbus. She +suggested that I should bring him into our car, and present him to her. +I returned to the smoking car and proposed that the gentleman should +accompany me to see Mrs. Florence. The proposal made the red-faced man +undergo a species of spasmodic convulsions which set the occupants of the +car into roars of laughter. + +"No, I thank you," said my friend, "I feel obliged to you for the +courtesy, but I prefer the smoking car. Have you another cigar?" + +"Yes," said I, producing another Partaga. + +I again sat by his side, and once more our conversation began, and we +were quite fraternal. We talked about theatres and theatricals, and then +adverted to political economy, the state of the country, finance and +commerce in turn, our intimacy evidently affording intense amusement to +the foxy-faced party near us. + +Finally the shrill sound of the whistle and the entrance of the conductor +indicated that we had arrived at Columbus, and the train soon arrived at +the station. + +"Come," said the red-faced individual, now rising from his seat and +tapping my companion on the shoulder, "This is your station, old man." + +My friend rose with some difficulty, dragging his hitherto concealed feet +from under the seat, when, for the first time, I discovered that he was +shackled, and was a prisoner in charge of the Sheriff, going for seven +years to the state prison at Columbus. + + + + +NOVEL ATTACK. + + +Auxerre, November 15th, 1851.--Last week, at the moment when a railway +tender was passing along the line from Saint Florentin to Tonnerre, a +wolf boldly leaped upon it and attacked the stoker. The man immediately +seized his shovel and repulsed the aggressor, who fell upon the rail and +was instantly crushed to pieces. + + --_National_. + + + + +WOLVES ON A RAILWAY. + + +In 1867, "A cattle train on the Luxemburg Railway was stopped," says the +_Nord_, "two nights back, between Libramont and Poix by the snow. The +brakesman was sent forward for aid to clear the line, and while the +guard, fireman, engine-driver, and a customs officer were engaged in +getting the snow from under the engine they were alarmed by wolves, of +which there were five, and which were attracted, no doubt, by the scent +of the oxen and sheep cooped up in railed-in carriages. The men had no +weapons save the fire utensils belonging to the engine. The wolves +remained in a semicircle a few yards distant, looking keenly on. The +engine-driver let off the steam and blew the whistle, and lanterns were +waved to and fro, but the savage brutes did not move. The men then made +their way, followed by the wolves, to the guard's carriage. Three got in +safe; whilst the fourth was on the step one of the animals sprang on him, +but succeeded only in tearing his coat. They all then made an attack, +but were beaten off, one being killed by a blow on the head. Two hours +elapsed before assistance arrived, and during that time the wolves made +several attacks upon the sheep trucks, but failed to get in. None of the +cattle were injured." + + + + +ARTEMUS WARD'S SUGGESTION. + + +"I was once," he remarks, "on a slow California train, and I went to the +conductor and suggested that the cowketcher was on the wrong end of the +train; for I said, 'You will never overtake a cow, you know; but if you'd +put it on the other end it might be useful, for now there's nothin' on +earth to hinder a cow from walkin' right in and bitin' the folks!" + + + + +COACH VERSUS RAILWAY ACCIDENTS. + + +A coachman once remarked, "Why you see, sir, if a coach goes over and +spills you in the road there you are; but if you are blown up by an +engine, where are you?" + + + + +BAVARIAN GUARDS AND BAVARIAN BEER. + + +"In England," says Mr. Wilberforce, "the guard is content to be the +servant of the train; in Germany he is in command of the passengers. +'When is the train going on?' asked an Englishman once of a foreign +guard. 'Whenever I choose,' was the answer. To judge from the delays +the trains make at some of the stations, one would suppose that the guard +had uncontrolled power of causing stoppages. You see him chatting with +the station-master for several minutes after all the carriages have been +shut up, and at last, when the topics of conversation are exhausted, he +gives a condescending whistle to the engine-driver. Time seems never to +be considered by either guards or passengers. Bavarians always go to the +station half-an-hour before the train is due, and their indifference to +delay is so well known that the directors can put on their time book 'As +the time of departure from small stations cannot be guaranteed, the +travellers must be there twenty-five minutes beforehand.'" Mr. +Wilberforce should not have omitted to mention the main cause of these +delays, which appears at the same time to constitute the final cause of a +Bavarian's existence--Beer. Guards and passengers alike require +alcoholic refreshment at least at every other station. At Culmbach, the +fountain of the choicest variety of Bavarian beer, the practice had risen +to such a head that, as we found last summer, government had been forced +to interfere. To prevent trains from dallying if there was beer to drink +at Culmbach was obviously impossible. The temptation itself was removed; +and no beer was any longer allowed to be sold at that fated railway +station, by reason of its being so superlatively excellent. + + --_Saturday Review_, 1864. + + + + +THE RAILWAY SWITCH-TENDER AND HIS CHILD. + + +On one of the railroads in Prussia, a few years ago, a switch-tender was +just taking his place, in order to turn a coming train approaching in a +contrary direction. Just at this moment, on turning his head, he +discerned his little son playing on the track of the advancing engine. +What could he do? Thought was quick at such a moment of peril! He might +spring to his child and rescue him, but he could not do this and turn the +switch in time, and for want of that hundreds of lives might be lost. +Although in sore trouble, he could not neglect his greater duty, but +exclaiming with a loud voice to his son, "Lie down," he laid hold of the +switch, and saw the train safely turned on to its proper track. His boy, +accustomed to obedience, did as his father commanded him, and the fearful +heavy train thundered over him. Little did the passengers dream, as they +found themselves quietly resting on that turnout, what terrible anguish +their approach had that day caused to one noble heart. The father rushed +to where his boy lay, fearful lest he should find only a mangled corpse, +but to his great joy and thankful gratitude he found him alive and +unharmed. Prompt obedience had saved him. Had he paused to argue, to +reason whether it were best--death, and fearful mutilation of body, would +have resulted. The circumstances connected with this event were made +known to the King of Prussia, who the next day sent for the man and +presented him with a medal of honour for his heroism. + + + + +VERY COOL. + + +Some years ago at a railway station a gentleman actually followed a +person with a portmanteau, which he thought to be his, but the fellow, +unabashed, maintaining it to be his own property, the gentleman returned +to inquire after his, and found, when too late, that his first suspicions +were correct. + + + + +THE BLACK REDSTART. + + +A railway carriage had been left for some weeks out of use in the station +at Giessen, Hesse Darmstadt, in the month of May, 1852, and when the +superintendent came to examine the carriage he found that a black +redstart had built her nest upon the collision spring; he very humanely +retained the carriage in its shed until its use was imperatively +demanded, and at last attached it to the train which ran to +Frankfort-on-the-Maine, a distance of nearly forty miles. It remained at +Frankfort for thirty-six hours, and was then brought back to Giessen, and +after one or two short journeys came back again to rest at Giessen, after +a period of four days. The young birds were by this time partly fledged, +and finding that the parent bird had not deserted her offspring, the +superintendent carefully removed the nest to a place of safety, whither +the parent soon followed. The young were, in process of time, full +fledged and left the nest to shift for themselves. It is evident that +one at least of the parent birds must have accompanied the nest in all +its journeys, for, putting aside the difficulty which must have been +experienced by the parents in watching for every carriage that arrived at +Giessen, the nestlings would have perished from hunger during their stay +at Frankfort, for everyone who has reared young birds is perfectly aware +that they need food every two hours. Moreover, the guard of the train +repeatedly saw a red-tailed bird flying about that part of the carriage +on which the nest was placed. + + + + +STOPPING A RUNAWAY COUPLE. + + +Captain Galton who some years ago was the government railway inspector, +in one of his reports relates the following singular circumstance. "A +girl who was in love with the engine-driver of a train, had engaged to +run away from her father's house in order to be married. She arranged to +leave by a train this man was driving. Her father and brother got +intelligence of her intended escape; and having missed catching her as +she got into the train, they contrived, whether with or without the +assistance of a porter is not very clear, to turn the train through +facing points, as it left the station, into a bog." The captain does not +pursue the subject further in his report, so that we are left in +ignorance as to the success of the plan for stopping a contemplated +runaway marriage. + + + + +A MADMAN IN A RAILWAY CARRIAGE. + + +We subjoin from the _Annual Register_ for 1864 an account of an alarming +occurrence which took place July 4th of that year:--"In one of the +third-class compartments of the express train leaving King's Cross +Station at 9.15 p.m., a tall and strongly-built man, dressed as a sailor, +and having a wild and haggard look, took his seat about three minutes +before the train started. He was accompanied to the carriage by a woman, +whom he afterwards referred to as his wife, and by a man, apparently a +cab-driver, of both of whom he took leave when the train was about to +start. It had scarcely done so, when, on putting his hand to his pocket, +he called out that he had been robbed of his purse, containing 17 pounds, +and at once began to shout and gesticulate in a manner which greatly +alarmed his fellow-travellers, four in number, in the same compartment. +He continued to roar and swear with increasing violence for some time, +and then made an attempt to throw himself out of the window. He threw +his arms and part of his body out of the window, and had just succeeded +in placing one of his legs out, when the other occupants of the carriage, +who had been endeavouring to keep him back, succeeded in dragging him +from the window. Being foiled in this attempt, he turned round upon +those who had been instrumental in keeping him back. After a long and +severe struggle, which--notwithstanding the speed the train was running +at--was heard in the adjoining compartments, the sailor was overcome by +the united exertions of the party, and was held down in a prostrate +position by two of their number. Though thus secured, he still continued +to struggle and shout vehemently, and it was not till some time +afterwards, when they managed to bind his hands and strap him to the +seat, that the passengers in the compartment felt themselves secure. +This train, it may be explained, makes the journey from London to +Peterborough, a distance little short of eighty miles, without a single +stoppage; and as the scene we have been describing began immediately +after the train left London, the expectation of having to pass the time +usually occupied between the two stations (one hour and fifty minutes) +with such a companion must have been far from agreeable. While the +struggle was going on, and even for some time afterwards, almost frantic +attempts were made to get the train stopped. The attention of those in +the adjoining compartment was readily gained by waving handkerchiefs out +of the window, and by-and-by a full explanation of the circumstances was +communicated through the aperture in which the lamp that lights both +compartments is placed. A request to communicate with the guard was made +from one carriage to another for a short distance, but it was found +impossible to continue it, and so the occupants of the compartments +beyond the one nearest the scene of the disturbance could learn nothing +as to its nature, a vague feeling of alarm seized them, and all the way +along to Peterborough a succession of shouts of 'Stop the train,' mixed +with the frantic screams of female passengers, was kept up. On the +arrival of the train at Peterborough the man was released by his captors +and placed on the platform. No sooner was he there, however, than he +rushed with a renewed outburst of fury on those who had taken the chief +part in restraining his violence, and as he kept vociferating that they +had robbed him of his money, it was some time before the railway +officials could be got to interfere--indeed, it seemed likely for some +time that he would be allowed to go on in the train. As remonstrances +were made from all quarters to the station-master to take the fellow into +custody, he at length agreed, after being furnished with the names and +addresses of the other occupants of the carriage, to hand him over to the +police. The general impression on those who witnessed the sailor's fury +seemed to be that he was labouring under a violent attack of delirium +tremens, and he had every appearance of having been drinking hard for +some days. Had there been only one or even two occupants of the +compartment besides himself, there seems every reason to believe that a +much more deadly struggle would have ensued, as he displayed immense +strength." + + + + +INSURED. + + +The engine of an ordinary railway train broke down midway between two +stations. As an express train was momentarily expected to arrive at the +spot, the passengers were urgently called upon to get out of the +carriages. A countryman in leather breeches and top-boots, who sat in a +corner of one of the carriages, comfortably swathed in a travelling +blanket, obstinately refused to budge. In vain the porter begged him to +come out, saying the express would reach the spot in a minute, and the +train would in all probability be dashed to pieces. The traveller pulled +an insurance ticket out of his breeches pocket, exclaiming, "Don't you +see I've insured my life?" and with that he set up a horse laugh, and +sunk back into his corner. They had to force him out of the train, and +an instant afterwards the express ran into it. + + + + +A NEW TRICK. + + +A novel illustration of the ingenuity of thieves has been afforded by an +incident reported from the continent. For some time past a North German +railway company had been suffering from the repeated loss of goods which +were sent by luggage train, and which, notwithstanding all research and +precautions, continued to disappear in a very mysterious manner. The +secret which the inquiries set on foot had failed to discover was at +length revealed by a rather amusing accident. A long box, on one side of +which were words equivalent to "This side up," had, in disregard of this +caution, been set up on end in the goods shed. Some time afterwards the +employes were not a little startled to hear a voice, apparently +proceeding from the box in question, begging the hearers to let the +speaker out. On opening the lid, the railway officials were surprised +and amused to find a man inside standing on his head. In the explanation +which followed, the fellow wanted to account for his appearance under +such unusual circumstances as due to the result of a wager, but he was +given into custody, and it was soon found that the thieves had adopted +this method of conveying themselves on to the railway premises, and that +during the absence of the employes they had let themselves out of the box +which they at once filled with any articles they could lay their hands +on, refastened the lid, and then decamped. But for the unfortunate +inability of human nature to endure an inverted position for an +indefinite period, the ingenious authors of the scheme might have +flourished a long time without detection. + + + + +A TRAIN STOPPED BY CATERPILLARS. + + +_Colonies and India_ quotes from a New Zealand paper the following +story:--In the neighbourhood of Turakina an army of caterpillars, +hundreds of thousands strong, was marching across the railway line, bound +for a new field of oats, when the train came along. Thousands of the +creeping vermin were crushed by the wheels of the engine, and suddenly +the train came to a dead stop. On examination it was found that the +wheels of the engine had become so greasy that they kept on revolving +without advancing--they could not grip the rails. The guard and the +engine driver procured sand and strewed it on the rails, and the train +made a fresh start, but it was found that during the stoppage +caterpillars in thousands had crawled all over the engine, and all over +the carriages inside and out. + + + + +TRAVELLING IN RUSSIA. + + +Of course, travelling in Russia is no longer what it was. During the +last quarter of a century a vast network of railways has been constructed +and one can now travel in a comfortable first-class carriage from Berlin +to St. Petersburg or Moscow, and thence to Odessa, Sebastopol, the Lower +Volga, or even the foot of the Caucasus; and, on the whole, it must be +admitted that the railways are tolerably comfortable. The carriages are +decidedly better than in England, and in winter they are kept warm by +small iron stoves, such as we sometimes see in steamers, assisted by +double windows and double doors--a very necessary precaution in a land +where the thermometer often descends to 30 degrees below zero. The +trains never attain, it is true, a high rate of speed--so at least +English and Americans think--but then we must remember that Russians are +rarely in a hurry, and like to have frequent opportunities of eating and +drinking. In Russia time is not money; if it were, nearly all the +subjects of the Tsar would always have a large stock of ready money on +hand, and would often have great difficulty in spending it. In reality, +be it parenthetically remarked, a Russian with a superabundance of ready +money is a phenomenon rarely met with in real life. + +In conveying passengers at the rate of from fifteen to thirty miles an +hour, the railway companies do at least all that they promise, but in one +very important respect they do not always strictly fulfil their +engagements. The traveller takes a ticket for a certain town, and on +arriving at what he imagines to be his destination, he may merely find a +railway station surrounded by fields. On making inquiries he finds to +his disappointment, that the station is by no means identical with the +town bearing the same name, and that the railway has fallen several miles +short of fulfilling the bargain, as he understood the terms of the +contract. Indeed, it might almost be said as a general rule railways in +Russia, like camel drivers in certain Eastern countries, studiously avoid +the towns. This seems at first a strange fact. It is possible to +conceive that the Bedouin is so enamoured of tent life and nomadic +habits, that he shuns a town as he would a man-trap; but surely civil +engineers and railway contractors have no such dread of brick and mortar. +The true reason, I suspect, is that land within or immediately without +the municipal barrier is relatively dear, and that the railways, being +completely beyond the invigorating influence of healthy competition, can +afford to look upon the comfort and convenience of passengers as a +secondary consideration. + +It is but fair to state that in one celebrated instance neither engineers +nor railway contractors were to blame. From St. Petersburg to Moscow the +locomotive runs for a distance of 400 miles, almost as "the crow" is +supposed to fly, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left. For +fifteen weary hours the passenger in the express train looks out on +forest and morass and rarely catches sight of human habitation. Only +once he perceives in the distance what may be called a town; it is Tver +which has been thus favoured, not because it is a place of importance, +but simply because it happened to be near the straight line. And why was +the railway constructed in this extraordinary fashion? For the best of +all reasons--because the Tsar so ordered it. When the preliminary survey +was being made, Nicholas learned that the officers intrusted with the +task--and the Minister of Ways and Roads in the number--were being +influenced more by personal than by technical considerations, and he +determined to cut the Gordian knot in true Imperial style. When the +Minister laid before him the map with the intention of explaining the +proposed route, he took a ruler, drew a straight line from the one +terminus to the other, and remarked in a tone that precluded all +discussion, "You will construct the line so!" And the line was so +constructed--remaining to all future ages, like St. Petersburg and the +Pyramids, a magnificent monument of autocratic power. + +Formerly this well-known incident was often cited in whispered philippics +to illustrate the evils of the autocratic form of government. Imperial +whims, it was said, override grave economic considerations. In recent +years, however, a change seems to have taken place in public opinion, and +some people now venture to assert that this so-called Imperial whim was +an act of far-seeing policy. As by far the greater part of the goods and +passengers are carried the whole length of the line, it is well that the +line should be as short as possible, and that branch lines should be +constructed to the towns lying to the right and left. Apart from +political considerations, it must be admitted that a great deal may be +said in support of this view. + +In the development of the railway system there has been another +disturbing cause, which is not likely to occur to the English mind. In +England, individuals and companies habitually act according to their +private interests, and the State interferes as little as possible; +private initiative acts as it pleases, unless the authorities can prove +that important bad consequences will necessarily result. In Russia, the +_onus probandi_ lies on the other side; private initiative is allowed to +do nothing until it gives guarantees against all possible bad +consequences. When any great enterprise is projected, the first question +is--"How will this new scheme affect the interests of the State?" Thus, +when the course of a new railway has to be determined, the military +authorities are always consulted, and their opinion has a great influence +on the ultimate decision. The consequence of this is that the railway +map of Russia presents to the eye of the tactician much that is quite +unintelligible to the ordinary observer--a fact that will become apparent +to the uninitiated as soon as a war breaks out in Eastern Europe. Russia +is no longer what she was in the days of the Crimean war, when troops and +stores had to be conveyed hundreds of miles by the most primitive means +of transport. At that time she had only about 750 miles of railway; now +she has more than 11,000 miles, and every year new lines are constructed. + + _Russia_, by D. M. Wallace, M.A. + + + + +AN ARMY WITH BANNERS. + + +As giving an idea of the old way of signalling and precautions employed +to ensure safety on the Hudson River Railroad nearly forty years ago, we +append the following from the _Albany Journal_. It should be premised +that this road extends from New York to East Albany, a distance of only +144 miles:-- + +"AN ARMY WITH BANNERS.--As you are whirled along over the Hudson River +Railroad at the rate of 40 miles an hour, you catch a glimpse, every +minute or two, of a man waving something like a white pocket handkerchief +on the end of a stick, with a satisfactory sort of expression of +countenance. If you take the trouble to count, you will find that it +happens some two hundred times between East Albany and Thirty-first +street. It looks like rather a useless ceremony, at first glance, but is +a pretty important one, nevertheless. + +"There are 225 of these 'flagmen' stationed at intervals along the whole +length of the line. Just before a train is to pass, each one walks over +his "beat," and looks to see that every track and tie, every tunnel, +switch, rail, clamp, and rivet, is in good order and free from +obstruction. If so, he takes his stand with a white flag and waves it to +the approaching train as a signal to 'come on'--and come on it does, at +full speed. If there is anything wrong, he waves a red flag, or at night +a red lamp, and the engineer, on seeing it, promptly shuts off the steam, +and sounds the whistle to 'put down the brakes.' Every inch of the road +is carefully examined after the passage of each train. Austrian +espionage is hardly more strict." + + + + +SEIZURE OF A RAILWAY TRAIN FOR DEBT. + + +The financial difficulties under which some railway companies have +recently laboured were brought to a crisis lately in the case of the +Potteries, Shrewsbury, and North Wales Railway, a line running from +Llanymynech to Shrewsbury, with a projected continuation to the +Potteries. A debenture holder having obtained a judgment against the +company, a writ was forthwith issued, and a few days back the sheriff's +officers unexpectedly presented themselves at the company's principal +station in Shrewsbury, and formally entered upon possession. The down +train immediately after entered the station, and the bailiffs, without +having given any previous intimation to the manager, whose office adjoins +the station, seized the engines and carriages, and refused to permit the +outgoing train to start, although many passengers had taken tickets. +Ultimately the manager obtained the requisite permission, and it was +arranged that the train should make the journey, one of the bailiffs +meanwhile remaining in charge. The acting-sheriff refused a similar +concession with regard to the further running of the trains, and it being +fair day at Shrewsbury, and a large number of persons from various +stations along the line having taken return tickets, much inconvenience +to the public was likely to ensue. The North Wales section of this line +was completed in August last at a cost of a little over 1,100,000 pounds, +and was opened for passenger and goods traffic on the 13th of that month. +As has already been stated, the ordinary traffic of the line was, after +the enforcement of the writ, permitted to be continued, with the proviso +that a bailiff should accompany each train. This condition was naturally +very galling to the officials of the railway company, but they +nevertheless treated the representative of the civil law with a marked +politeness. On the night of his first becoming a constant passenger by +the line he rode in a first-class carriage to Llanymynech, and on the +return journey the attentive guard conducted him to a similar compartment +which was devoted to his sole occupation. On arriving at Kennerly the +bailiff became conscious of the progress of an elaborate process of +shunting, followed by an entire stoppage of the train. After sitting +patiently for some minutes it occurred to him to put his head out of the +window and inquire the reason for the delay, and in carrying out the idea +he discovered that the train of which his carriage had lately formed a +part was vanishing from sight round a distant curve in the line. He lost +no time in getting out and making his way into the station, which he +found locked up, according to custom, after the passage through of the +last down train. Kennerly is a small roadside station about 12 miles +from Shrewsbury, and offers no accommodation for chance guests; and, had +it been otherwise, it was of course the first duty of the bailiff to look +after the train, of which he at that moment was supposed to be in +"possession." There being no alternative, he started on foot for +Shrewsbury, where he arrived shortly after midnight, having accomplished +a perilous passage along the line. It appeared, on inquiry, that in the +course of the shunting the coupling-chain which connected the tail coach +with the body of the train had by some means become unlinked; hence the +accident. The bailiff accepted the explanation, but on subsequent +journeys he carefully avoided the tail-coach. + + _Railway News_, 1866. + + + + +A KANGAROO ATTACKING A TRAIN. + + +The latest marsupial freak is thus given by a thoroughly reliable +correspondent of the _Courier_ (an Australian paper):--A rather exciting +race took place between the train and a large kangaroo on Wednesday night +last. When about nine miles from Dalby a special surprised the kangaroo, +who was inside the fences. The animal ran for some distance in front, +but getting exhausted he suddenly turned to face his opponent, and jumped +savagely at the stoker on the engine, who, not being able to run, gamely +faced the "old man" with a handful of coal. The kangaroo, however, only +reached the side of the tender, when, the step striking him, he was +"knocked clean out of it" in the one round. No harm happened beyond a +bit of a scare to the stoker, as the kangaroo picked himself up quickly +and cleared the fence. + + + + +SHE TAKES FITS. + + +Some time ago, an old lady and gentleman were coming from Devenport when +the train was crowded. A young man got up and gave the old lady a seat, +while his companion, another young gent, remained stedfast and let the +old gent stand. This did not suit the old gentleman, so he concluded to +get a seat in some way, and quickly turning to the young man on the seat +beside his wife, he said:--"Will you be so kind as to watch that woman +while I get a seat in another carriage? She takes fits!" This startled +the young gent. He could not bear the idea of taking charge of a fitty +woman, so the old gentleman got a seat, and his wife was never known to +take a fit afterwards. + + + + +SNAGS' CORNERS. + + +The officials of a Michigan railroad that was being extended were waited +upon the other day by a person from the pine woods and sand hills who +announced himself as Mr. Snags, and who wanted to know if it could be +possible that the proposed line was not to come any nearer than three +miles to the hamlet named in his honour. + +"Is Snags' Corners a place of much importance?" asked the President. + +"Is it? Well, I should say it was! We made over a ton of maple sugar +there last spring!" + +"Does business flourish there?" + +"Flourish! Why, business is on the gallop there every minute in the +whole twenty-four hours. We had three false alarms of fire there in one +week. How's that for a town which is to be left three miles off your +railroad?" + +Being asked to give the names of the business houses, he scratched his +head for awhile, and then replied-- + +"Well, there's me, to start on. I run a big store, own eight yokes of +oxen, and shall soon have a dam and a sawmill. Then there's a blacksmith +shop, a post-office, a doctor, and last week over a dozen patent-right +men passed through there. In one brief year we've increased from a +squatter and two dogs to our present standing, and we'll have a lawyer +there before long." + +"I'm afraid we won't be able to come any nearer the Corners than the +present survey," finally remarked the President. + +"You won't! It can't be possible that you mean to skip a growing place +like Snags' Corners!" + +"I think we'll have to." + +"Wouldn't come if I'd clear you out a place in the store for a ticket +office?" + +"I don't see how we could." + +"May be I'd subscribe 25 dols.," continued the delegate. + +"No, we cannot change." + +"Can't do it nohow?" + +"No." + +"Very well," said Mr. Snags as he put on his hat. "If this 'ere railroad +thinks it can stunt or cripple Snags' Corners by leaving it out in the +cold it has made a big mistake. Before I leave town to-day I'm going to +buy a windmill and a melodeon, and your old locomotives may toot and be +hanged, sir--toot and be hanged!" + + + + +A NEWSPAPER WONDER. + + +The _Railway Journal_, an American newspaper, containing the latest +intelligence with respect to home and foreign politics, the money market, +Congress debates, and theatrical events, is now printed and published +daily in the trains running between New York and San Francisco. All the +news with which its columns are filled is telegraphed from different +parts of the States to certain stations on the line, there collected by +the editorial staff travelling in the train, and set up, printed, and +circulated among the subscribing passengers while the iron horse is +persistently traversing plains and valleys, crossing rivers, and +ascending mountain ranges. Every morning the traveller may have his +newspaper served up with his coffee, and thus keep himself informed of +all that is going on in the wide world during a seven days' journey +covering over three thousand miles of ground. He who pays his +subscription at New York, which he can do at the railway ticket-office, +receives the last copy of his paper on the summit of the Sierra Nevada. +The production of a news-sheet from a flying printing office at an +elevation of some ten thousand feet above the level of the sea is most +assuredly a performance worthy of conspicuous record in journalistic +annals, and highly creditable to American enterprise. + + + + +MONETARY DIFFICULTIES IN SPAIN. + + +Sir Arthur Helps, in his life of Mr. Brassey, remarks:--"There were few, +if any, of the great undertakings in which Mr. Brassey embarked that gave +him so much trouble in respect of the financial arrangements as the +Spanish railway from Bilbao to Tudela. The secretary, Mr. Tapp, thus +recounts the difficulties which they had to encounter:-- + +"'The great difficulty in Spain was in getting money to pay the men for +doing the work--a very great difficulty. The bank was not in the habit +of having large cheques drawn upon it to pay money; for nearly all the +merchants kept their cash in safes in their offices, and it was a very +debased kind of money, coins composed of half copper and half silver, and +very much defaced. You had to take a good many of them on faith. I had +to send down fifteen days before the pay day came round, to commence +getting the money from the bank, obtaining perhaps 2,000 or 3,000 pounds +a day. It was brought to the office, recounted, and put into my safe. +In that way I accumulated a ton-and-a-half of money every month during +our busy season. When pay week came, I used to send a carriage or a +large coach, drawn by four or six mules, with a couple of civil guards, +one on each side, together with one of the clerks from the office, a man +to drive, and another--a sort of stableman--who went to help them out of +their difficulty in case the mules gave any trouble up the hilly country. +I was at the office at six o'clock, and I was always in a state of +anxiety until I knew that the money had arrived safely at the end of the +journey. More than once the conveyance broke down in the mountains. On +one occasion the axle of our carriage broke in half from the weight of +the money, and I had to send off two omnibuses to relieve them. I had +the load divided, and sent one to one section of the line and one to the +other. + +"'Q.--Was any attempt made to rob the carriage? + +"'A.--Never; we always sent a clerk armed with a revolver as the +principal guard. We heard once of a conspiracy to rob us; but, to avoid +that, we went by another road. We were told that some men had been seen +loitering about the mountain the night before.'" + + + + +A CARLIST CHIEF AS A SUB-CONTRACTOR. + + +The natural financial difficulties of constructing a railway in Spain +were added to by the strange kind of people Mr. Brassey's agents were +obliged to employ. One of the sub-contractors was a certain Carlist +chief whom the government dared not arrest on account of his great +influence. Mr. Tapp thus relates the Carlist chief's mode of settling a +financial dispute:-- + +"When he got into difficulties, Mr. Small, the district agent, offered +him the amount which was due to him according to his measured work. He +had over 100 men to pay, and Mr. Small offered him the money that was +coming to him, according to the measurement, but he would not have it, +nor would he let the agent pay the men. He said he would have the money +he demanded; and he brought all his men into the town of Orduna, and the +men regularly bivouacked round Mr. Small's office. They slept in the +streets and stayed there all night, and would not let Mr. Small come out +of the office till he had paid them the money. He attempted to get on +his horse to go out--his horses were kept in the house (that is the +practice in the houses of Spain); but when he rode out they pulled him +off his horse and pushed him back, and said that he should not go until +he had paid them the money. He passed the night in terror, with loaded +pistols and guns, expecting that he and his family would be massacred +every minute, but he contrived eventually to send his staff-holder to +Bilbao on horseback. The man galloped all the way to Bilbao, a distance +of twenty-five miles, and went to Mr. Bartlett in the middle of the +night, and told him what had happened. Mr. Bartlett immediately sent a +detachment up to the place to disperse the men. This Carlist threatened +that if Mr. Small did not pay the money he would kill every person in the +house. When he was asked, 'Would you kill a man for that?' he replied, +'Yes, like a fly,' and this coming from a man who, as I was told, had +already killed fourteen men with his own hand, was rather alarming. Mr. +Brassey and his partners suffer a great amount of loss by their contracts +for the Bilbao railway." + + + + +HOW TO BEAR LOSSES. + + +During the construction of the Bilbao line, shortly before the proposed +opening, it set in to rain in such an exceptional manner that some of the +works were destroyed. The agent telegraphed to Mr. Brassey to come +immediately, as a certain bridge had been washed down. About three hours +afterwards another telegram was sent, stating that a large bank was +washed away; and next morning, another, stating the rain continued, and +more damage had been done. Mr. Brassey, turning to a friend, said, +laughingly: "I think I had better wait until I hear that the rain has +ceased, so that when I do go, I may see what is left of the works, and +estimate all the disasters at once, and so save a second journey." + +No doubt Mr. Brassey felt these great losses that occasionally came upon +him much as other men do; but he had an excellent way of bearing them, +and, like a great general, never, if possible, gave way to despondency in +the presence of his officers. + + + + +RAILROAD INCIDENT. + + +An Englishwoman who travelled some years ago in America writes:--"I had +found it necessary to study physiognomy since leaving England, and was +horrified by the appearance of my next neighbour. His forehead was low, +his deep-set and restless eyes significant of cunning, and I at once set +him down as a swindler or a pickpocket. My conviction of the truth of my +inference was so strong that I removed my purse--in which, however, +acting by advice, I never carried more than five dollars--from my pocket, +leaving in it only my handkerchief and the checks for my baggage, knowing +that I could not possibly keep awake the whole morning. In spite of my +endeavours to the contrary, I soon sunk into an oblivious state, from +which I awoke to the consciousness that my companion was withdrawing his +hand from my pocket. My first impulse was to make an exclamation; my +second, which I carried into execution, to ascertain my loss, which I +found to be the very alarming one of my baggage checks; my whole property +being thereby placed at this vagabond's disposal, for I knew perfectly +well that if I claimed my trunks without my checks the acute +baggage-master would have set me down as a bold swindler. The keen-eyed +conductor was not in the car, and, had he been there, the necessity for +habitual suspicion incidental to his position would so far have removed +his original sentiments of generosity as to make him turn a deaf ear to +my request; and there was not one of my fellow-travellers whose +physiognomy would have warranted me in appealing to him. So, +recollecting that my checks were marked Chicago, and seeing that the +thief's ticket bore the same name, I resolved to wait the chapter of +accidents, or the reappearance of my friends. With a whoop like an +Indian war-whoop the cars ran into a shed--they stopped--the pickpocket +got up--I got up too--the baggage-master came to the door. 'This +gentleman has the checks for my baggage,' said I, pointing to the thief. +Bewildered, he took them from his waistcoat pocket, gave them to the +baggage-master, and went hastily away. I had no inclination to cry 'stop +thief!' and had barely time to congratulate myself on the fortunate +impulse which had led me to say what I did, when my friends appeared from +the next carriage. They were too highly amused with my recital to +sympathize at all with my feelings of annoyance, and one of them, a +gentleman filling a high situation in the east, laughed heartily, saying, +in a thoroughly American tone, 'The English ladies must be cute customers +if they can outwit Yankee pickpockets.'" + + + + +NOVEL OBSTRUCTION. + + +On a certain railroad in Louisiana the alligators have the bad habit of +crawling upon the track to sun themselves, and to such an extent have +they pushed this practice that the drivers of the locomotives are +frequently compelled to sound the engine whistle in order to scare the +interlopers away. + + --_Railway News_, 1867. + + + + +BABY LAW. + + +The railways generously permit a baby to be carried without charge; but +not, it seems, without incurring responsibility. It has been lately +decided, in "Austin _v._ the Great Western Railway Company," 16 L. T. +Rep., N. S., 320, that where a child in arms, not paid for as a +passenger, is injured by an accident caused by negligence, the company is +liable in damages under Lord Campbell's Act. Three of the judges were +clearly of opinion that the company had, by permitting the mother to take +the child in her arms, contracted to carry safely both mother and child; +and Blackburn, J., went still further, and was of opinion that, +independently of any such contract, express or implied, the law cast upon +the company a duty to use proper and reasonable care in carrying the +child, though unpaid for. It may appear somewhat hard upon railway +companies to incur liabilities through an act of liberality, but they +have chosen to do so. The law is against them, that is clear; but they +have the remedy in their own hands. There was some reason for exempting +a child in arms, for it occupies no place in the carriage, and is but a +trifling addition of weight. But now it is established that the company +is responsible for the consequences of accident to that child, the +company is clearly entitled to make such a charge as will secure them +against the risk. The right course would be to have a tariff, say +one-fifth or one-fourth of the full fare, for a child in arms; and if +strict justice was done, this would be deducted from the fares of the +passengers who have the ill-luck to face and flank the squaller. + + --_Law Times_, 1867. + + + + +RAILROAD TRACKLAYER. + + +The railroad tracklayer is now working along regularly at the rate of a +mile a day. The machine is a car 60 feet long and 10 feet wide. It has +a small engine on board for handling the ties and rails. The ties are +carried on a common freight car behind, and conveyed by an endless chain +over the top of the machinery, laid down in their places on the track, +and, when enough are laid, a rail is put down on each side in proper +position and spiked down. The tracklayer then advances, and keeps on its +work until the load of ties and rails is exhausted, when other car loads +are brought. The machine is driven ahead by a locomotive, and the work +is done so rapidly that 60 men are required to wait on it, but they do +more work than twice as many could do by the old system, and the work is +done quite as well. The chief contractor of the road gives it as his +opinion that when the machine is improved by making a few changes in the +method of handling rails and ties it will be able to put down five or six +miles per day. This will render it possible to lay down track twelve +times as fast as the usual rate by hand, and it will do the work at less +expense. The invention will be of immense importance to the country in +connection with the Pacific railroad, which it was calculated could be +built as fast as the track could be laid, and no faster; but hereafter +the speed will be determined by the grading, which cannot advance more +than five miles a day. Thirty millions of dollars have already been +invested on the Pacific railroad, and if the time of completion is +hastened one year by this tracklayer, as it will be if Central and Union +Companies have money enough to grade each five miles a day, there will be +a saving of three million dollars on interest alone on that one road. + + --_Alla California_, 1868. + + + + +A GROWING LAD. + + +"This your boy, ma'am?" inquired a collector of a country woman, "he's +too big for a 'alf ticket." "Oh, is he?" replied the mother. "Well, +perhaps he is now, mister; but he wasn't when he started. The train is +ever so much behind time--has been so long on the road--and he's a +growing lad!" + + + + +FORGED TICKETS. + + +Attempts to defraud railway companies by means of forged tickets are +seldom made, and still more seldom successful. In 1870, a man who lived +in a toll-house near Dudley, and who rented a large number of tolls on +the different turnpikes, in almost every part of the country, devised a +plan for travelling cheaply. He set up a complete fount of type, +composing stick, and every requisite for printing tickets, and provided +himself with coloured papers, colours, and paints to paint them, and +plain cards on which to paste them; and he prepared tickets for journeys +of great length, and available to and from different stations on the +London and North-Western, Great Western, and Midland lines. On arriving +one day at the ticket platform at Derby, he presented a ticket from +Masbro' to Smethwick. The collector, who had been many years in the +service of the company, thought there was something unusual in the +ticket. On examination he found it to be a forgery, and when the train +arrived at the platform gave the passenger into custody. On searching +his house, upwards of a thousand railway tickets were discovered in a +drawer in his bedroom, and the apparatus with which the forgeries were +accomplished was also secured. On the prisoner himself was the sum of +199 pounds 10s., and it appeared that he came to be present at the annual +letting of the tolls on the different roads leading out of Derby. The +punishment he received was sufficiently condign to serve as a warning to +all who might be inclined to emulate such attempts after cheap +locomotion. + + --Williams's _Midland Railway_. + + + + +A YANKEE COMPENSATION CASE. + + +A horny-handed old farmer entered the offices of one of the railroad +companies, and inquired for the man who settled for hosses which was +killed by locomotives. They referred him to the company's counsel, whom, +having found, he thus addressed:-- + +"Mister, I was driving home one evening last week--" + +"Been drinking?" sententiously questioned the lawyer. + +"I'm centre pole of the local Tent of Rechabites," said the farmer. + +"That doesn't answer my question," replied the man of law; "I saw a man +who was drunk vote for the prohibition ticket last year." + +"Hadn't tasted liquor since the big flood of 1846," said the old man. + +"Go ahead." + +"I will, 'Squire. And when I came to the crossing of your line--it was +pretty dark, and--zip! along came your train, no bells rung, no whistles +tooted, contrary to the statutes in such cases made and provided, +and--whoop! away went my off-hoss over the telegraph wires. When I had +dug myself out'n a swamp some distance off and pacified the other +critter, I found that thar off-hoss was dead, nothing valuable about him +but his shoes, which mout have brought, say, a penny for old iron. +Well--" + +"Well, you want pay for that 'ere off-hoss?" said the lawyer, with a +scarcely repressed sneer. + +"I should, you see," replied the farmer, frankly; "and I don't care about +going to law about it, though possibly I'd get a verdict, for juries out +in our town is mostly made up of farmers, and they help each other as a +matter of principle in these cases of stock killed by railroads." + +"And this 'ere off-hoss," said the counsel, mockingly, "was well bred, +wasn't he? He was rising four years, as he had been several seasons +past. And you had been offered 500 pounds for him the day he was killed, +but wouldn't take it because you were going to win all the prizes in the +next race with him? Oh, I've heard of that off-horse before." + +"I guess there's a mistake somewhere," said the old farmer, with an air +of surprise; "my hoss was got by old man Butt's roan-pacing hoss, Pride +of Lemont, out'n a wall-eyed no account mare of my own, and, now that +he's dead, I may say that he was twenty-nine next grass. Trot? Why, +Fred Erby's hoss that he was fined for furious driving of was old Dexter +alongside of him! Five hundred pounds! Bless your soul, do you think +I'm a fool, or anyone else? It is true I was made an offer for him the +last time I was in town, and, for the man looked kinder simple, and you +know how it is yourself with hoss trading, I asked the cuss mor'n the +animal might have been worth. I asked him forty pounds, but I'd have +taken thirty." + +"Forty?" gasped the lawyer; "forty?" + +"Yes," replied the farmer, meekly and apologetically; "it kinder looks a +big sum, I know, for an old hoss; but that 'ere off-hoss could pull a +mighty good load, considering. Then I was kinder shook up, and the pole +of my waggon was busted, and I had to get the harness fixed, and there's +my loss of time, and all that counts. Say fifty pounds, and it's about +square." + +The lawyer whispered softly to himself, "Well, I'll be hanged!" and +filled out a cheque for fifty pounds. + +"Sir," said he, covering the old man's hand, "you are the first honest +man I have met in the course of a legal experience of twenty-three years; +the first farmer whose dead horse was worth less than a thousand pounds, +and could trot better without training. Here, also, is a free pass for +yourself and your male heirs in a direct line for three generations; and +if you have a young boy to spare we will teach him telegraphing, and find +him steady and lucrative employment." + +The honest old farmer took the cheque, and departed, smiting his brawny +leg with his horny hand in triumph as he did so, with the remark-- + +"I knew I'd ketch him on the honest tack! Last hoss I had killed I swore +was a trotter, and all I got was thirty pounds and interest. Honesty is +the best policy." + + --_Once a Week_. + + + + +ABERGELE ACCIDENT. + + +The Irish mail leaving London at shortly after seven A.M., it was timed +in 1868 to make the distance to Chester, one hundred and sixty-six miles, +in four hours and eighteen minutes; from Chester to Holyhead is +eighty-five miles, for running which the space of one hundred and +twenty-five minutes was allowed. Abergele is a point on the seacoast in +North Wales, nearly midway between these two places. On the 20th of +August, 1868, the Irish mail left Chester as usual. It was made up of +thirteen carriages in all, which were occupied--as the carriages of that +train usually were--by a large number of persons whose names, at least, +were widely known. Among these, on this particular occasion, were the +Duchess of Abercorn, wife of the then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, with +five children. Under the running arrangements of the London and +North-Western line a goods train left Chester half-an-hour before the +mail, and was placed upon the siding at Llanddulas, a station about a +mile-and-a-half beyond Abergele, to allow the mail to pass. From +Abergele to Llanddulas the track ascended by a gradient of some sixty +feet to the mile. On the day of the accident it chanced that certain +wagons between the engine and the rear end of the goods train had to be +taken out to be left at Llanddulas, and, in doing this, it became +necessary to separate the train and to leave five or six of the last +wagons in it standing on the main line, while those which were to be left +were backed on to a siding. The employe whose duty it was to have done +so, neglected to set the brake on the wagons thus left standing, and +consequently when the engine and the rest of the train returned for them, +the moment they were touched, and before a coupling could be effected, +the jar set them in motion down the incline toward Abergele. They +started so slowly that a brakeman of the train ran after them, fully +expecting to catch and stop them, but as they went down the grade they +soon outstripped him, and it became clear that there was nothing to check +them until they should meet the Irish mail, then almost due. It also +chanced that the wagons thus loosened were oil wagons. + +The mail train was coming up the line at a speed of about thirty miles an +hour, when its engine-driver suddenly perceived the loose wagons coming +down upon it around the curve, and then but a few yards off. Seeing that +they were oil wagons, he almost instinctively sprang from his engine, and +was thrown down by the impetus and rolled to the side of the road-bed. +Picking himself up, bruised but not seriously hurt, he saw that the +collision had already taken place, that the tender had ridden directly +over the engine, that the colliding wagons were demolished, and that the +front carriages of the train were already on fire. Running quickly to +the rear of the train, he succeeded in uncoupling six carriages and a +van, which were drawn away from the rest before the flames extended to +them by an engine which most fortunately was following the train. All +the other carriages were utterly destroyed, and every person in them +perished. + +The Abergele was probably a solitary instance, in the record of railway +accidents, in which but one single survivor sustained any injury. There +was no maiming. It was death or entire escape. The collision was not a +particularly severe one, and the engine driver of the mail train +especially stated that at the moment it occurred the loose wagons were +still moving so slowly that he would not have sprung from his engine had +he not seen that they were loaded with oil. The very instant the +collision took place, however, the fluid seemed to ignite and to flash +along the train like lightning, so that it was impossible to approach a +carriage when once it caught fire. The fact was that the oil in vast +quantities was spilled upon the track and ignited by the fire of the +locomotive, and then the impetus of the mail train forced all of its +leading carriages into the dense mass of smoke and flame. All those who +were present concurred in positively stating that not a cry, nor a moan, +nor a sound of any description was heard from the burning carriages, nor +did any one in them apparently make an effort to escape. + +Though the collision took place before one o'clock, in spite of the +efforts of a large gang of men who were kept throwing water on the line, +the perfect sea of flame which covered the line for a distance of some +forty or fifty yards could not be extinguished until nearly eight o'clock +in the evening, for the petroleum had flowed down into the ballasting of +the road, and the rails were red-hot. It was, therefore, small occasion +for surprise that when the fire was at last gotten under, the remains of +those who lost their lives were in some cases wholly undistinguishable, +and in others almost so. Among the thirty-three victims of the disaster, +the body of no single one retained any traces of individuality; the faces +of all were wholly destroyed, and in no case were there found feet or +legs or anything approaching to a perfect head. Ten corpses were finally +identified as those of males, and thirteen as those of females, while the +sex of ten others could not be determined. The body of one passenger, +Lord Farnham, was identified by the crest on his watch, and, indeed, no +better evidence of the wealth and social position of the victims of this +accident could have been asked for than the collection of articles found +on its site. It included diamonds of great size and singular brilliancy; +rubies, opals, emeralds; gold tops of smelling bottles, twenty-four +watches--of which but two or three were not gold--chains, clasps of bags, +and very many bundles of keys. Of these, the diamonds alone had +successfully resisted the intense heat of the flame; the settings were +nearly all destroyed. + + + + +RAILWAY DESTROYERS IN THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR. + + +One obvious means of hampering the military operations of the Germans was +the cutting of railroads, so as to interrupt and overthrow on-coming +trains. This method was resorted to by bands of volunteers, calling +themselves "The Wild Boars of Ardennes," and "Railway Destroyers." Here +again the invaders incurred great odium by announcing that, on the +departure of a train in the disaffected districts, the mayor and +principal inhabitants should be made to take their places on the engine, +so that if the peasants chose to upset the conveyance, their surest +victims would be their own compatriots. + + --_Annual Register_, 1870. + + + + +FRIGHTENED AT A RED LIGHT. + + +A driver, not on duty, had been drinking, and was, in company with his +fireman, walking in the vicinity of the Edgware Road, when he suddenly +started violently, and seizing his mate's arm, shouted-- + +"Hold hard, mate--hold hard!" + +"What's the matter?" cried the fireman. + +"Matter!" roared the driver, "why, you're a-running by the red light;" +and he pointed to the crimson glare which streamed through a glass bottle +in a chemist's window. + +"Come along; that's nothing," said the fireman, trying to drag him on. + +"What, run by the red light, and go afore Dannel in the morning?" +retorted the driver, and no persuasion could or did get him to pass the +shop. He was a Great Western man, and the "Dannel" whom he held in such +wholesome awe was the celebrated engineer, now Sir Daniel Gooch, and +chairman of that line. He was then the locomotive chief, and renowned +above all other things for maintaining discipline among his staff, while +they cherished a feeling for him very much akin to what we hear of the +clannish enthusiasm of the ancient Scotch. + + + + +THE DECOY TRUNK. + + +August 27, 1875. The Metropolitan magistrates have had before them a +case which seems likely to show how some, at least, of the robberies at +railway stations are accomplished. Some ingenious persons, it appears, +have devised a way by which a trunk can be made to steal a trunk, and a +portmanteau to annex a portmanteau. The thieves lay a trunk artfully +contrived on a smaller trunk; the latter clings to the former, and the +owner of the larger carries both away. The decoy trunk is said to be +fitted with a false bottom, which goes up when it is laid on a smaller +trunk, and with mechanism inside which does for the innocent trunk what +Polonius recommended Laertes to do for his friend, and grapples it to its +heart with hooks of steel. In fact, the decoy duck--we do not know how +better to describe it--is made to perform an office like that of certain +flowers, which suddenly close at the pressure of a fly or other insect +within their cup and imprison him there. + + --_Annual Register_, 1875. + + + + +DRIVING A LAST SPIKE. + + +There are now two lines crossing the American continent. The western +section of the new route goes through on the thirty-parallel--far enough +south from the Rocky Mountains for the current of the train's own motion +to be acceptable even in December, and to be a grateful relief in June. +Beginning at San Francisco, the additional line runs south through +California to Fort Yuma on the Colorado river; thence along the southern +border of the territories of Arizona and New Mexico, and across the +centre of Kansas, until it joins the lines connecting the Southern States +with New York. The undertaking is a vast one, and has been one of some +difficulty; but its completion has been the occasion of very little +display. Never was a great project of any kind brought to a successful +result with so much of active work and so little of actual talk. A cable +message a line in length told the story a month ago to European readers, +and none of the American papers appear to have dealt with the matter as +anything out of the ordinary run of daily events. + +Far otherwise was it with the finishing touch twelve years ago to the +other Transcontinental line. The whole world heard of what was then +done. All the bells in all the great cities of the United States rang +out jubilant peals as the last stroke sent home the last spike on the +last rail of the new highway of travel. The news was flashed by +telegraph everywhere throughout the Union, and that there might be no +delay in its transmission and no hindrance to its simultaneous reception, +a certain pre-arranged signal was given and all the wires were for the +time being kept free of other business. There were cases in which, to +save time in ringing out the glad news, the message was conveyed on +special wires right up to the bell towers; and everywhere there was a +feeling that a great victory had been won. Preceding the consummation, +there had been some wonderful feats in railroad construction. From the +Missouri river on the one side and from the Sacramento on the other, the +two companies--the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific--advanced +against each other in friendly rivalry. The popular idea was that the +length of the line of each company would be measured to the point at +which it joined rails with the other. This was hardly the case; but an +arrangement was come to after the completion of the work which has given +this notion the strength of a tradition. The greater part of the Union +Pacific route was over comparatively even ground, and it was not until +the Salt Lake region was being approached that any serious constructive +difficulties presented themselves. It was otherwise with the company +advancing eastward. The line had to be carried over the Sierra Nevada, +the ascent beginning almost from the starting point, and rising seven +thousand feet in a hundred miles. On the other side of the mountain +range, the descent was in turn formidable. Over this part of the road it +was impossible to proceed rapidly. The work was surrounded with +difficulties, and there were competent engineers who had no confidence +that it could be carried out. Progress could only be made at the outset +at the rate of about twenty miles each year; but in this slow work there +was time to profit by experience, so that eventually, when it became a +question simply of many hands, the platelayer went forward with the swing +of an army on the march. Then it was that the two companies went +vigorously into the race of construction. In one day, in 1868, the Union +men were able to inform the Central men by telegraph that they had laid +as many as six miles since morning. A few days afterwards the response +came from the Central men that they had just finished as their day's work +a stretch of seven miles. Spurred to fresh activity by this display, the +Union men next reported to the other side a complete stretch for a day's +work of seven and a half miles! The answer came back in the +extraordinary announcement that the workers for the Central Company were +prepared to lay ten miles in one day! The Union people were inclined to +regard this as mere boasting, and the Vice-President of the company +implied as much when he made an offer to bet ten thousand dollars that in +one day such a stretch of railroad could not be well and truly laid. It +is not on record that the bet was taken up. But the fact remains that it +was made, that the Central army of workers heard of it, and that they +determined to make good the pledge given in their name. So a day was +fixed for the attempt. From the Union side men came to take note of the +work and to measure it, and their verdict at the close of the day's toil +was that not only had the promised ten miles been constructed, but that +the measurement showed two hundred feet over! And this, on the words of +an authority, is how it was done:--When the car loaded with rails came to +the end of the track, the two outer rails on either side were seized with +iron nippers, hauled forward off the car, and laid on the ties by four +men who attended exclusively to this work. Over these rails the cars +were pushed forward and the process repeated. Then came a gang of men +who half-drove the spikes and screwed on the fish-plates on the dropped +rails. At a short interval behind these came a gang of Chinamen, who +drove home the spikes already inserted and added the rest. A second +squad of Chinamen followed, two deep, on each side of the single track, +the inner men carrying shovels and the outer men wielding picks, their +duty being to ballast the track. Every movement was thus carefully +arranged, and there was no loss of time. The average rate of speed at +which the work was done was 1 min. 47.5 secs. to every 240 feet of +perfected track. There was, of course, an army of disciplined helpers, +whose duty it was to bring up the materials. In this great feat of +construction more than four thousand men found employment in various +capacities. When they had carried their line four miles further east, +the Central and the Union men met each other, the point of connection +being known as Promontory. Afterwards the two companies made an +arrangement whereby the Union Pacific relinquished fifty-three miles of +road to the Central, thus fixing on Ogden as the western terminus of the +one line and the eastern terminus of the other. The popular belief is +that the fifty-three miles were obtained by the Central Pacific directors +as an acknowledgement of the greater engineering difficulties they had to +overcome in laying their part of the track, and that they served a +handicapping purpose at the end of this wonderful railroad competition. + +The placing of the final tie on the Pacific lines, as has been hinted, +was a ceremonious undertaking. The event took place on Monday, March +10th, 1869. Representatives were present from almost every part of the +Union, and the construction parties, not yet wholly dispersed, made up a +greater crowd than had been seen at Promontory before or is likely ever +to be seen there again--for, with the fixing of the termini at another +point, the glory of the place has departed. The connecting tie had been +made of California laurel. It was beautifully polished, and bore a +series of inscribed silver plates. The tie was carefully placed, and +over it the rails were laid by picked men on behalf of each company. The +spikes were then inserted--one of gold, silver, and iron, from Arizona; +another of silver, from Nevada; and a third of gold, from California. +President Stanford, of the Central Pacific, armed with a hammer of solid +silver, drove the last spike, the blow falling precisely at noon, and the +news of the completion of the road being flashed abroad as it fell. Then +the two locomotives, one from the west and the other from the east, drew +up to each other on the single line, coming into gentle collision, that +they in their way, in the pleasing conceit of their drivers, might +symbolise the fraternisation that went on. It does not spoil the story +of the ceremony to state that the laurel tie, with its inscriptions and +its magnificent mountings, was only formally laid, and that it became +from that day a relic to be officially cherished; and it should be added +that the more serviceable tie which replaced it was cut into fragments by +men eager to have some memento of the occasion. Other ties for a time +shared the same fate, until splinters of what was claimed to be "the last +tie laid" became as common as pieces of the Wellington boots the great +commander is said to have left behind him at Waterloo. + +With the junction of the two lines, it became possible to make safely in +one week an overland journey that not many years before required months +in its execution, and was attended by many hardships and dangers. It +was, however, a route better known even in the days when the legend of +the pilgrims over it was "Pike's Peak or bust!" than is the region +crossed by the new southern line. This line opens up what is practically +an undiscovered and an unsettled country, but the region traversed has +been ascertained to be so rich in resources as to fully justify the heavy +expenditure involved in the construction of the line. In another year +the line will become a powerful agent in the development of the Union, +for it will then be connected with the lines that run through Texas into +Louisiana, and New Orleans and San Francisco will be brought into direct +communication with each other. This, in fact, has been a prominent +object in the undertaking. The effect of it will be to cheapen the +tariff on goods from the Pacific Coast to Europe, and will, it is +believed, have the effect of controlling a large share of the Asiatic +trade. + + --_Leeds Mercury_, April 23rd, 1881. + + + + +MARRIAGE AND RAILWAY DIVIDENDS. + + +Marriage would not seem to have any close connection with railroad +traffic, but we find an officer of an East Indian railroad company +explaining a falling off in the passenger receipts of the year (1874) by +the fact that it was a "twelfth year," which is regarded by the Hindoos +as so unfavourable to marriage that no one, or scarcely any one, is +married. And, as weddings are the great occasions in Hindoo life when +there is great pomp and a general gathering together of friends, they +cause a great deal of travelling. + + + + +SECURITY FOR TRAVELLING. + + +A civil engineer, of long experience in connection with railways, gives +some reassuring statements as to the precautions taken in keeping the +lines in order. The majority of accidents occur, not from defects in the +line, but from imperfections in the living agents who have charge of the +signals and other arrangements of trains in transit. The engineer +says:--"To begin at the bottom, we have the ganger of the 'beat,' a man +selected from the waymen after several years' service for his aptitude +and steadiness, whose duty it is to patrol his length of two or three +miles every morning, and to make good fastenings, etc., afterwards +superintending his gang in packing, replacing rails, sleepers, and other +necessary repairs. Over the ganger is the inspector of permanent way, +responsible for the gangers doing their duty, who generally goes over all +his district once a day on the engine, and walks one or more gangers' +beats. The inspectors, again, are under the district superintendent or +engineer, who makes frequent inspections both by walking and on the +engine. The ganger, if in want of men or materials, reports to his +inspector, who, if they are required, sends a requisition to the +engineer, keeping a small stock at his head-quarters to supply urgent +demands. The engineer in his turn keeps the whole in harmony, +sanctioning the employment of the necessary men, and ordering the +materials, the only check upon the number of men or quantity of materials +being the total half-yearly expenditure. Directors never within my +experience grudge an outlay necessary to keep the line in good order; +but, should they limit the expenditure from financial motives, it would +then clearly be the duty of the engineer to recommend a reduction of +speed to a safe point. Occasionally, idle gangers are met with, who are +always asking for more men, and as naturally meeting with refusal. + + + + +THE NUMBER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY. + + +Lord Lymington, M.P., relates the following amusing tale of his +experience with an inquiring and hospitable gentleman in Arkansas:--"He +introduced himself to me very kindly on learning that I was a traveller +and an Englishman, and offered me the hospitalities of the town. It was +very obliging of him, but unfortunately I could not stay, so we had a +chat while I was waiting for the train. During this chat his eye fell on +a portmanteau of mine which I had caused to be marked, for convenience +sake and easy identification, with the cabalistic figures 120. This he +scanned for some time with ill-concealed curiosity, and finally, turning +to me, said rather abruptly, 'If I am not mistaken, you are a nobleman, +are you not?' I admitted that such was my unhappy lot. 'Then,' he said, +'I presume that number there on your valise is what they call in the +nobility armorial bearings, is it not--in fact, your crest?' 'Hardly +that,' I modestly replied. 'A number is only borne as a crest, I +believe, by much more illustrious persons--for example, the Beast in the +Apocalypse.' 'Oh!' he replied, and then, after meditating a moment or +two, asked, 'Have your family been long in England?' 'Yes,' I said, +'they have been there for some time. But why do you ask?' 'Perhaps the +number refers,' he replied, 'to the number of generations, just as they +recite them in the Old Testament, you know?' 'Yes,' I unhesitatingly and +with prompt mendacity replied, 'that is exactly it, and I don't see how +you hit it so cleverly.' He smiled all over with delight as the train +rushed up, and waved kind farewells to me as long as we were in sight." + + + + +ENGINE DRIVING. + + +But the regulator once in his hand, the engine-driver has only begun his +experience. He goes through an apprenticeship with different varieties +of engines. He must pick up what knowledge he can himself, and he must +always be on the alert to benefit from the experience of others. The +locomotive in its varying "moods" must be his constant study, and he must +work it so that he shall not infringe more than an average share of a +multiplicity of rules and regulations. The best position in the service, +apart from that of superintendence, is in the driving of an express +engine, and the greatest honour that can be conferred on an engine-driver +is to select him to take charge of the locomotive on a Royal train. Only +the best men are picked out to drive the Queen, and the best engine on +the road is detailed for the Royal service; and although on those +occasions railway officials, who are the superiors of the driver, get on +the foot-boards, the latter is for the time being master of the +situation. Should the locomotive superintendent dictate to him, it would +be to confess that the driver was unworthy of his high trust, and so the +superintendent is content to look on; but it is the contentment born of +the conviction that he has chosen for the task a driver whose experience +is great, and whose watchfulness and care and knowledge of enginery have +given him a claim to the chief service his company has for him. Not that +there is any more risk in running the Queen's train than in running an +ordinary passenger express. In fact, the risk is reduced to a minimum. +A pilot engine has gone before to keep the way clear. The pilot engine +is fifteen minutes in advance of the Royal carriages at every station, +and the space travelled over in that fifteen minutes is kept free and +unobstructed. The speed of the train is carefully regulated, and amongst +other provisions for security the siding points are for the moment +spiked. Every crossing gate is guarded from the time of the passage of +the advance engine until the train follows in its wake. Everything is +done to make the Royal journey over a railroad a safe one. Such +arrangements, however, if they add to the responsibility, heighten also +the pride a man feels in being the Queen's driver. + +So far as the companies are concerned, it may be said that there is a +fair field and no favour all the way from the fire-box in the +cleaning-shed up to the footboard on the locomotive that takes Her +Majesty from Windsor to Ballater. Promotion comes practically as a +result of competitive examination. The mistake of a weak appointment is +soon rectified, and the precautions taken to test a man's capacity in one +grade before raising him to another are an absolute barrier to +incompetence. But there are circumstances under which a man's chances +are weakened. His responsibilities make him liable for the faults of +others, and mistakes of this kind go to his discredit. Then if he is not +companionable, or is over-confident, tricks may be played which will +prevent his going forward as rapidly as he otherwise would. Mr. Reynolds +tells the story of a driver who had come to a dead stop on a journey +because he was short of steam. The cause was a mystery. There appeared +to be nothing wrong with the engine or the fire, and apparently the +boiler was also in trim. It was eventually found that some one had put +soft soap in the tender, and the water there being hot, the soap was +gradually dissolved and introduced into the boiler, with the result that +the grease covered the tubes, and together with the suds prevented the +transmission of heat to the water. An enemy had done this, but under the +rules the driver was responsible for his engine, and he was suspended; +only, however, to be reinstated when once the mischief was traced to the +perpetrator. Even an act which to the ordinary spectator is a marvellous +example of presence of mind may, interpreted by the company's rules, be +an offence on the part of the engine-driver. An engine attached to a +train broke from the tender in the course of its journey, and became +separated. Noticing the mishap, the driver slackened speed, allowed the +tender and carriages to come up, and while the train was still in motion +he and the fireman adroitly secured the runaway, and no harm was done. +The men interested did not think it advisable to report the occurrence. +But the clever management of the engine had been noticed by a peasant in +a field, and Hodge, in his wonderment, began to talk about the affair all +round the country-side. Then the story found its way to a station +master, and thence to headquarters, and an inquiry brought the matter to +light, and ended in the two men being advised not to do the same thing +again. It was held that under the circumstances the train should have +been stopped. + + + + +ENGINE DRIVERS' PRESENCE OF MIND. + + +An able writer upon railway topics remarks:--"I have alluded to a +driver's coolness and resolution in an accident, but no chronicle ever +has or ever will be written which will tell one tithe of the accidents +which the courage and presence of mind of these men have averted. A +railway ran over a river--indeed, it might be called an arm of the sea: +as it was the inlet to an important harbour, provision was obliged to be +made for the shipping, and so the piece of line which crossed the water, +at a height of seventy feet, was, in fact, a bridge which swung round +when large vessels had to pass. I need hardly say that such a point was +carefully guarded. At each end, at a fitting distance, a man was placed +specially to indicate whether the bridge was open or shut. One day, as +the express was tearing along on its up journey, the driver received the +usual 'all right' signal; but to his horror, on coming in full sight of +the bridge, he found it was wide open, and a gulf of fatal depth yawning +before him. He sounded his brake-whistle, that deep-toned scream which +signals the guard, and he and his fireman held on, as before described, +to the brake and regulator. The speed of the train was, of course, +checked; but so short was the interval, so great had been the impetus, +that it seemed almost impossible to prevent the whole train from going +over into the chasm. Had the rails been in the least degree slippery, +any of the brakes out of order, or the driver less determined, there +would then have occurred the most fearful railway accident ever known in +England; but by dint of quick decision and cool courage the danger was +averted; the train was brought to a standstill when the buffers of the +engine absolutely and literally overhung the chasm. Three yards more, +and a different result might have had to be chronicled. + +"Some of my readers may remember an incident in railway history which +dates back to our first great Exhibition. I mention it here for its +singularity, and for my having known the driver whose coolness was so +marked. In ascending a very long gradient, the hindmost carriages of the +train snapped their couplings when at the top; the engine rattled on with +the remainder, while these ran down the slope, which was several miles in +length, with a velocity which, of course, increased every moment. To +make matters worse, the next train on the same line was comparatively +close behind, and, in fact, shortly came in sight. The driver of this +second train, a watchful and experienced hand, saw the carriages rushing +towards him, and divined that they were on the same line. If he +continued steaming on, of course, in a couple of minutes he would come +into direct collision with them, while, on the other hand, if he ran +back, the carriages would probably gather such way that they would leap +from the bank. So, with great presence of mind and wonderful judgment of +speed, he ran back at a pace not quite as fast as the carriages were +approaching, so that eventually they overtook him, and struck his moving +engine with a blow that was scarcely more perceptible than the jar +usually communicated by coupling on a fresh carriage. When this was +done, all the rest was easy; he resumed his down journey, and pushed the +frightened passengers safely before him until they reached their +destination, where the officials, as may readily be supposed, were in a +state of frantic despair at the loss of half the train." + + + + +A SMUGGLING LOCOMOTIVE. + + +A singular adaptation of the locomotive has just been made in Russia. +Information having been given to the authorities at Alexandrovo, on the +Polish frontier, that the locomotive of the express leaving that station +for Warsaw had been ingeniously converted into a receptacle for smuggled +goods, it was carefully examined during its sojourn at the station. +Though nothing was found wrong, it was deemed advisable that a +custom-house official should accompany the train to its destination, when +the engine furnace and boiler were emptied and deliberately taken to +pieces. In the interior was discovered a secret compartment containing +one hundred and twenty-three pounds of foreign cigars and several parcels +of valuable silk. Several arrests were made, including that of the +driver; but his astonishment at finding the engine to which he had been +so long accustomed converted into a hardened offender against the laws +was so genuine that he was released and allowed to return to his duties. + + + + +THE CUSTOM OF THE COUNTRY. + + +An English lady accustomed to travelling abroad, and able to converse +fluently in the languages of the countries she visited, recently found +herself alone in a railway carriage in Germany, when two foreigners +entered with pipes in their mouths, smoking strong tobacco furiously. +She quietly told them in their own language that it was not a smoking +carriage, but they persisted in continuing to smoke, remarking that it +was "the custom of the country," upon which the lady took from her pocket +a pair of gloves and commenced cleaning them with benzoline. Her +fellow-passengers expressed their disgust at the nauseous effluvium, when +she remarked that it was the custom of her country. She was soon left in +the sole possession of the carriage. + + --_Truth_. + + + + +AN INSULTED WOMAN. + + +Mark Twain in his interesting work "A Tramp Abroad," thus refers to a +railroad incident:--"We left Turin at 10 the next morning by a railway, +which was profusely decorated with tunnels. We forgot to take a lantern +along, consequently we missed all the scenery. Our compartment was full. +A ponderous, tow-headed, Swiss woman, who put on many fine-lady airs, but +was evidently more used to washing linen than wearing it, sat in a corner +seat and put her legs across into the opposite one, propping them +intermediately with her up-ended valise. In the seat thus pirated sat +two Americans, greatly incommoded by that woman's majestic coffin-clad +feet. One of them begged her, politely, to remove them. She opened her +wide eyes and gave him a stare, but answered nothing. By-and-by he +preferred his request again, with great respectfulness. She said, in +good English, and in a deeply offended tone, that she had paid her +passage and was not going to be bullied out of her 'rights' by ill-bred +foreigners, even if she _was_ alone and unprotected. + +"'But I have rights also, madam. My ticket entitles me to a seat, but +you are occupying half of it.' + +"'I will not talk with you, sir. What right have you to speak to me? I +do not know you. One would know that you come from a land where there +are no gentlemen. No _gentleman_ would treat a lady as you have treated +me.' + +"'I come from a land where a lady would hardly give me the same +provocation.' + +"'You have insulted me, sir! You have intimated that I am not a +lady--and I hope I am _not_ one, after the pattern of your country.' + +"'I beg that you will give yourself no alarm on that head, madam but at +the same time I must insist--always respectfully--that you let me have my +seat.' + +"Here the fragile laundress burst into tears and sobs. + +"'I never was so insulted before! Never, never! It is shameful, it is +brutal, it is base, to bully and abuse an unprotected lady who has lost +the use of her limbs and cannot put her feet to the floor without agony!' + +"'Good heavens, madam, why didn't you say that at first! I offer a +thousand pardons. And I offer them most sincerely. I did not know--I +_could_ not know--that anything was the matter. You are most welcome to +the seat, and would have been from the first if I had only known. I am +truly sorry it all happened, I do assure you.' + +"But he couldn't get a word of forgiveness out of her. She simply sobbed +and snuffled in a subdued but wholly unappeasable way for two long hours, +meantime crowding the man more than ever with her undertaker-furniture, +and paying no sort of attention to his frequent and humble little efforts +to do something for her comfort. Then the train halted at the Italian +line, and she hopped up and marched out of the car with as firm a leg as +any washerwoman of all her tribe! And how sick I was to see how she had +fooled me!" + + + + +DISSATISFIED PASSENGERS. + + +Any one wanting a fair and yet amusing account of what really occurs to a +person travelling in America should read G. A. Sala's book called +_America Revisited_. He speaks of a gentleman from the Eastern States +whom he met in the train across the continent, and who thus held forth +upon the difference between reality and guide-books:-- + +"There ain't no bottling up of things about me. This overland journey's +a fraud, and you oughter know it. Don't tell me. It's a fraud. This +Ring must be busted up. Where are your buffalers? Perhaps you'll tell +me that them cows is buffalers. They ain't. Where are your prairie +dogs? They ain't dogs to begin with, they're squirrels. Ain't you +ashamed to call the mean little cusses dogs? But where are they? There +ain't none. Where are your grizzlies? You might have imported a few +grizzlies to keep up the name of your railroad. Where are your herds of +antelopes scudding before the advancing train? Nary an antelope have you +got for to scud. Rocky Mountains, sir? They ain't rocky at all--they're +as flat as my hand. Where are your savage gorges? I can't see none. +Where are your wild injuns? Do you call them loafing tramps in dirty +blankets, injuns? My belief is that they are greasers looking out for an +engagement as song and dance men. They're 'beats,' sir, 'dead beats,' +they're 'pudcocks,' and you oughter be told so." + +Another passenger in the train with Mr. Sala was of a poetic mind, and he +softly sang to himself during the whole journey over the Rocky Mountains +the following effusion:-- + + Beautiful snow, + Beautiful snow, + B-e-e-e-eautiful snow, + How I'd like to have a revolver and go + For the beast that wrote about beautiful snow. + + + + +COPY OF A NOTICE. + + +The following is a verbatim copy of a notice exhibited at Welsh railway +station. It is, perhaps, only a little more incomprehensible than +Bradshaw. "List of Booking: You passengers must careful. For have them +level money for ticket and to apply at once for asking tickets when will +booking window open. No tickets to have after the departure of the +trains." + + + + +SNOWED UP ON THE PACIFIC RAILWAY. + + +A writer in the _Leisure Hour_ remarks:--"It is no joke when a town like +New York or London is blocked up for a few hours by snow. Both labour +and capital have then to submit to a strike from nature; but it is a more +serious matter when a man is snowed up in the middle of the Pacific +Railway. He is not then kept at home, but kept away from it; he is not +in the midst of comforts, but most unpleasantly out of their reach. He +may, too, have to endure his privations and annoyances for a week, or +even a month. . . Avalanches, in spite of snow-sheds and galleries, +spring into ravines which the trains have to cross. . . . It was, +however, with some little alarm that the writer found himself caverned +for a considerable time under one of these dark snow-sheds. The +difficulty of running through the snow impediments had so exhausted the +fuel that it was necessary to go to a wood-station in the mountains. As +it was the favourite resort of avalanches, the prudent conductor of our +train directed the pilot to back the carriages into a snow-shed, and then +be off the more quickly with engine and tender for a supply of fuel. It +was bitterly cold and in the dead of night. The snow was piled up around +the gallery, and had in many places penetrated through the crevices. The +silence was profound. The sense of utter loneliness and desolation was +complete. The return of the engine after a lengthened absence was a +relief, like the spring sun following an arctic winter. + +"The first parties snowed up were wholly unprepared. They had had their +dollar meal at the last station, and were far enough from the next when +fixed in the bank. It was, however, a rare harvest for the nearest +store. The necessity of some was the opportunity of others. Food of +inferior quality brought fabulous prices. A dispute, involving a heavy +wager, arose about one article of fare. Was it antelope or not? The +vendor admitted that a very lean old cow had been sacrificed on the +pressing occasion. + +"For a little while some fun was got out of the trouble of snowed-up +trains. Delicate attentions were tendered by gentlemen as cooks' mates +to the ladies. Oyster-cans were converted into culinary utensils, and +telegraph wire proved excellent material for gridirons. Many a joke was +passed in the train kitchen, and hearty was the appetite for the rude +viands thus rudely dressed. But when the food grew more difficult to +obtain, and the wood supply became less and less, the mirth was +considerably slackened. It is true that despatches were sent off for +help, and cargoes of provisions were steamed up as near as the snow would +permit; but it was hard work to carry over the snow, and insufficient was +the supply. Frightful growlings arose from the men and sad lamentations +from the women. Short allowance of food, with intense cold, could not be +positively enjoyed any time; but to be cooped up within snow walls in +such a desolate region, far from expecting friends or urgent business, +was most annoying. One spoke of absolute necessity to be at his office +within the week, as heavy bills had to be prepared for. Another was +going about an important speculation, which would utterly break down if +he were detained three days. Alas! he was there above three weeks. + +"The sorrows of the heart were worse. A mother was there hastening to +nurse a sick daughter. A father had been summoned to the dying bed of +his son. A husband was hoping to clasp again a wife from whom a long +voyage had separated him. One poor fellow was an especial object of +sympathy. He was hastening to an anxiously waiting bride. He had to +cool the ardour of his passion in the snow-bound car, and pass the day +appointed for his wedding in shivering reflections. In one of the snow +depths was detained an interesting couple who had casually met on the +western side and were obeying the mandate of the heart and of friends in +proceeding to the east to effect their happy union. The three weeks they +were compelled to pass together, under these cold and trying +circumstances, must have given them a famous insight into each other's +character, and this before the knot was tied. + +"The story is told of one resolute man who, though but newly married, had +been compelled to take a business journey. He was most impatient to +return home, and was awhile confounded with his unfortunate imprisonment. +When he found that little chance existed for an early escape, his heart +prompted him to a bold enterprise. He was still two hundred miles from +home. He had no guide before him but the telegraph posts. He could +expect little provision on the way, as the stations were frozen up; but, +sustained by conjugal affection, the good fellow set off on his lonely +walk over the snow. Notwithstanding terrible sufferings, and some free +fighting with wolves, he did his march in five days only. What a +greeting he deserved! + +"Those who had not his courage and strength were compelled to endure the +cars. Americans are not folks to whine about a trouble; they succeed so +often that their faith is strong. Though the most luxurious of people, +the men--and the women too--can bear reverses nobly. But they never +dream of Oriental submissiveness. They struggle hard to rise, and make +the best of things till a change comes. So with those in the cars. They +soon found amusements; they chatted and laughed, played games and sang; +the best jokes were recollected and repeated, and the liveliest tales +were told; charades were acted; a judge and jury scene afforded much +amusement; lectures were given to approving assemblies. The Sundays were +decently observed, and services were held morning and evening; reading +was dispensed with, and the sermons were extempore perforce. + +"The worst part of their sufferings came when for forty-eight hours they +were under a snow-shed without light, and with the stoves empty. As, for +the maintenance of warmth, every crevice in the cars was stopped, the +misery of close and unwholesome atmosphere was added to their sorrows. +The writer, as an old traveller, has had some experience of odd sleeping +dens, and has been obliged at times to inhale a pestiferous air, though +he has never endured so much from this discomfort as in his winter +passage on the Pacific Railway. For hours in the long nights, as well as +in the day, he preferred standing outside on the platform, with the +thermometer from fifteen to twenty-five below zero, rather than encounter +the foul atmosphere and stifling heat within. + +"Meanwhile the brave Chinamen were summoned to the rescue. They are +capital fellows to withstand the cold, and work with a will to clear a +passage. For a distance of two hundred miles the blockade existed, and +several trains were thus caught on the way. Eight hundred freight wagons +were detained at Cheyenne. At one period the cold was 30 degrees below +zero. The worst part of the road was toward Sherman, 8,252 feet above +the sea. Wyoming and West Nebraska were the coldest regions. + +"In this great blockade, strange to say, the mortality was but small. +Three died during the imprisonment, and two in consequence of cold. But +an interesting compensation was made, for five births took place in this +season of trial. The principal sufferers were those in the second-class +carriages. Room, however, was made for the more delicate in the already +crowded first-class cars." + + + + +A SELL. + + +The _Indianapolis News_ is responsible for the following story. A +railroad official of Indianapolis had, among other passes, one purporting +to carry him freely over the Warren and Tonawanda Narrow-Gauge Railway. +Happening to be near Warren, he thought he would use this pass. Now, it +appears that some enterprising citizens of Pennsylvania once proposed to +lay a pipe-line for petroleum between Warren and Tonawanda. The +Legislature having refused to sanction their scheme, they "engineered" a +bill for building a narrow-gauge line, which passed, the oil capitalists +not conceiving that they had any interest in opposing it. It is needless +to say the narrow-gauge line was the "desiderated pipe-line." The +enterprising citizens carried their joke so far as to issue annual passes +over the road, receiving others in return. When the traveller sought for +the Warren station on this line he found a chimney, and for the +narrow-gauge an iron-lined hole in the ground. It is hardly surprising +that now he is moved to anger at the slightest reference to the "Warren +and Tonawanda Narrow Gauge." + + + + +AT FAULT. + + +It is rather a serious matter that our public companies, and especially +our railway companies, are doing their best to degrade our language. I +am not going to be squeamish and object strongly to the use of the word +_Metropolitan_, though I think it indefensible. Still, it is too bad of +them to persist in using the word _bye-laws_ for _by-laws_--so +establishing solidly a shocking error. The word _bye_ has no existence +in England except as short for _be with you_, in the phrase _Good-bye_. +The so called by-laws are simple laws by the other laws, and have nothing +to do with any form of salutation. In a bill of the Great Western +Railway I find the announcement that tickets obtained in London on any +day from December 20th to 24th will be available for use on _either_ of +those days--this _either_ meaning the five days from the 20th December to +the 24th inclusive. Either of five! After this I am not surprised that, +in a contribution of my own to a daily paper, the editor gravely altered +the phrase _the last-named_, applied to one of three people, to _latter_. +In a railway advertisement I read a day or two ago, "From whence." Now, +what is the good of such fine words as _whence_ and _thence_ if they are +thus to be ill-used? Surely the railway companies might have some one +capable of seeing that their grammar has some pretence to correctness. + + --_Gentleman's Magazine_. + + + + +A WIDOW'S CLAIM FOR COMPENSATION. + + +Some time ago a railway collision on one of the roads leading out of New +York killed, among others, a passenger living in an interior town. His +remains were sent home, and a few days after the funeral the attorney of +the road called upon the widow to effect a settlement. She placed her +figures at twenty thousand dollars. "Oh! that sum is unreasonable," +replied the attorney. "Your husband was nearly fifty years old." "Yes, +sir." "And lame?" "Yes." "And his general health was poor?" "Quite +poor." "And he probably would not have lived over five years?" +"Probably not, sir." "Then it seems to me that two or three thousand +dollars would be a fair compensation." "Two or three thousand!" she +echoed. "Why, sir, I courted that man for ten years, run after him for +ten more, and then had to chase him down with a shotgun to get him before +a preacher! Do you suppose that I'm going to settle for the bare cost of +shoe leather and ammunition?" + + + + +THE LADY AND HER LAP-DOG. + + +The following scene occurred at the high-level Crystal Palace line:--"A +newspaper correspondent was amused at the indignation of a lady against +the porters who interfered to prevent her taking her dog into the +carriage. The lady argued that Parliament had compelled the companies to +find separate carriages for smokers, and they ought to be further +compelled to have a separate carriage for ladies with lap-dogs, and it +was perfectly scandalous that they should be separated, and a valuable +dog, worth perhaps thirty or forty guineas, should be put into a dog +compartment. I have some of the B stock of the railway, upon which not a +penny has ever been paid, and I could not help comparing my experience of +this particular line of railway with that of my fellow-traveller, and +wondering what sort of a train that would be which would provide +accommodation for all the wants and wishes of railway travellers." + + + + +WHAT IS PASSENGERS' LUGGAGE? + + +A gentleman removing took with him on the Great Western railway articles +consisting of six pairs of blankets, six pairs of sheets, and six +counterpanes, valued at 16 pounds, belonging to his household furniture. +They were in a box, which was put in the luggage van and lost. The +question at law was whether these articles came within the definition, +"ordinary passengers' luggage," for which, if lost, the passenger could +claim damages from the Company. + +The judges of the Court of Queen's Bench sitting in Banco have decided +that such is not personal luggage. + +"Now," (said the Lord Chief Justice) "although we are far from saying +that a pair of sheets or the like taken by a passenger for his use on a +journey might not fairly be considered as personal luggage, it appears to +us that a quantity of articles of that description intended, not for the +use of the traveller on the journey, but for the use of his household, +when permanently settled, cannot be held to be so." + + --_Herepath's Railway Journal_, Jan. 10, 1871. + + + + +CONVERSION OF THE GAUGE. + + +The conversion of the gauge on the South Wales section of the Great +Western railway in 1872 was of the heaviest description, the period of +labour lasting from seventeen to eighteen hours a day for several +successive days. It was the greatest work of its kind, and nothing +exactly like it will ever be done in England again. The lines of rail to +be connected would have made about 400 miles in single length, the number +of men employed was about 1500; and the time taken was two weeks nearly. +Oatmeal and barley water was made into a thin gruel and given to the men +as required. It was the only drink taken during the day. I had not a +single case of drunkenness or illness. I have often heard these men +speak with great approbation of the supporting power of oatmeal drink. + + --_J. W. Armstrong_, _C.E._ + + + + +FOURTH-OF-JULY FACTS. + + +At a banquet in Paris attended by Americans in celebration of the late +Fourth of July, Mr. Walker's speech in reply to the toast of the material +prosperity of the United States and France, and the establishment of +closer commercial relations between them, was especially striking and +interesting. He remarked, "In 1870 the cost of transporting food and +merchandise between the Western and Eastern States was from a +cent-and-a-half to two cents a ton a mile. I well remember a +conversation which I had in 1870 or 1871 with Mr. William B. Ogden, of +Chicago, one of the modest railway kings of that primitive period. In a +vein of sanguine prophecy, Mr. Ogden exclaimed to me, 'Mr. Walker, you +will live to see freight brought from Chicago to New York at a cent a ton +a mile!' 'Perhaps so,' I replied; 'but I fear this result will not be +reached in my time.' In 1877 or 1878 the cost had fallen to +three-eighths of a cent a ton a mile, and although this price was not +remunerative, I was told by one of the highest authorities in railway +matters that five-eighths of a cent would be perfectly satisfactory. The +effect of this reduction in the cost of transportation is precisely as +though the unexhaustible grain fields and pastures across the Mississippi +had been moved bodily eastward to the longitude of Ohio and Western New +York. It is estimated that it takes a quarter of a ton of bread and meat +to feed a grown man in Massachusetts for a year. The bread and meat come +to him from the far west, and I have no doubt that it will astonish you +to be told, as it lately astonished me, that a single day of this man's +labour, even if it be of the commonest sort, will pay for transporting +his year's subsistence for a thousand miles." + + + + +TAY BRIDGE ACCIDENT. + + +Dec. 28, 1879. A fearful disaster occurred in Scotland. As the train +from Edinburgh to Dundee was crossing the bridge, two miles in length, +which spans the mouth of the Tay, a terrible hurricane struck the bridge, +about four hundred yards of which was, with the train, dashed into the +sea below. About seventy persons were in the train, of whom not one +escaped, nor, when the divers were able to descend, could a single body +be found in the carriages, or among the bridge girders, and some days +elapsed before any were recovered. No conclusive evidence could be +produced to show whether the train was blown off the rails and so dragged +the girders down, or whether the bridge was blown away and the train ran +into the chasm thus made. The night was intensely dark, and the wind +more violent than had ever been known in the country. + + _Annual Register_, 1879. + + + + +AN EXTRAORDINARY WAIF. + + +The following is a translation from the Norwegian newspaper +_Morgenbledet_, dated Feb. 20th:--"By private letter from Utsue, an +island on the western coast of Norway, is communicated to Dapposten the +intelligence that on the 12th inst. some fishermen pulled on the Firth to +haul their nets, and had hardly finished their labour when they sighted +an extraordinary object some distance further out. The superstitious +fears of sea monsters which have been written a good deal about lately +held them back for some time, but their curiosity made them approach the +supposed sea monster, and, to their great surprise, they found that it +was something like a building. As the sea was calm they immediately +commenced to tow it to shore, where it was hauled up on the beach, and +was then found to be a damaged railway wagon. The wheels were off, the +windows smashed, and one door hanging on its hinges. By the name on it, +"Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway," it was at once surmised that it must +have been one of the wagons separated from the train which met with the +disaster on the Tay Bridge. In the carriage was a portmanteau containing +garments, some of them marked 'P.B.' The wagon was sent, on the 14th, to +Hangesund, to be forwarded thence to Bergen." + + + + +A RAILWAY SLEEPER. + + +A railway pointsman, caught napping at his post and convicted of wilful +negligence, said to the gaoler who was about to lock him up, "I always +supposed that the safety of a railroad depended on the soundness of its +sleepers?" "So it does," replied the gaoler, "but such sleepers are +never safe unless they are bolted in." + + + + +NOT TO BE CAUGHT. + + +The following incident is said to have occurred on the North London +Railway:--Some time ago a passenger remarked, in the hearing of one of +the company's servants, how easy it was to "do" the company, and said, "I +often travel from Broad Street to Dalston Junction without a +ticket--anyone can do it--I did it yesterday." When he alighted he was +followed by the official, who asked him how it was done. For a +consideration he agreed to tell him. This being given, "Now," said the +inquirer, "how did you go from Broad Street to Dalston Junction yesterday +without a ticket?" "Oh," was the reply, "I walked." + + + + +THE DOCTOR AND THE OFFICERS. + + +The following is rather a good story from the Emerald Isle:--A doctor and +his wife got into a train near--well, we will not say where. In the same +carriage with the doctor were two strange officers. The doctor's wife +got into another compartment of the same train, the doctor not having +seen his wife in the hurry, neither knew that they were travelling by the +same train until both had got into different carriages. Said one of the +officers to his companion, "That is the ugliest woman I ever saw." "She +is," replied the Son of Mars. "I should not like to be obliged to kiss +her," responded the first speaker. "I should not mind doing it," +sullenly said the doctor. "You never would, sir, think of such a thing," +said the officer. "I'll bet you a sovereign I will," answered the man of +"pills and potions." "Done," said the officer. So when they all got out +at the station, the doctor went forward and kissed his wife, and won his +sovereign--the easiest-earned fee he had ever received. The officers +looked rather astonished when he presented his wife to them. + + + + +THE BOTHERED QUEEN'S COUNSEL. + + +Mr. Merewether, Q.C., got into the train one morning with a whole batch +of briefs and a talkative companion. He wanted to go through his briefs, +but his companion would not let him work. He tried silence, he tried +grunting, he tried sarcasm. At length, when they came to Hanwell, the +gossip hit upon the unfortunate remark, "How well the asylum looks from +the railway!" "Pray, sir," replied Mr. Merewether, "how does the railway +look from the asylum?" The man was silent. + + + + +A BRAVE ENGINE DRIVER. + + +An American contemporary says:--"John Bull, of Galion (Ohio), ought to +have his name recorded in an enduring way, for few have ever behaved so +nobly as that engine driver of the New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio +railroad. As he was driving a passenger train last month he found that, +through somebody's blunder, a freight train was approaching on the same +track, and a collision was inevitable. He could have saved his own life +by leaping from the engine, but, dismissing all thoughts of himself, he +resolved to try and save the passengers committed to his care. So he +reversed the engine and set the air-brakes, and then put on full steam, +started the locomotive ahead, broke the coupling attached to the train, +and dashed on to receive the shock of the collision. The passengers +escaped all injury, while the brave engineer was so badly hurt that he +died in a few hours. Such heroism as this should not go unnoticed." The +_Cincinnati Inquirer_ says: "He remained in the car until the engine +leaped into the air and was dashed into the ditch, when he attempted to +spring to the ground, but had his foot caught between the frames of the +engine and tender, striking his head on the ground and causing the fatal +injuries. Railroad men say that the act of detaching the engine as he +did, not even derailing the baggage car with his engine at the high rate +of speed, and all in 150 feet, is without parallel in railroading. A +purse of 500 dollars was raised by the grateful passengers. The body has +been shipped to Galion for burial." + + + + +AN INDUSTRIOUS BISHOP. + + +In noticing the "Life of the Rt. Rev. Samuel Wilberforce, D.D., Lord +Bishop of Oxford, and afterwards of Winchester," a writer in the +_Athenaeum_ remarks:--"Busy he was, both in Oxford and in London, and his +correspondence with all kinds of people was unusually large. A large +proportion of his letters were written in the railway train, and dated +from 'near' this town, or 'between' this and that. We remember to have +heard from one who was his companion in a railway carriage that before +the journey was half-finished the adjoining seat was littered with +envelopes of letters which he had read, and with the answers he had +written since he started. All this undeniably shows energy and +determination, and power to work." + + + + +COOL IMPUDENCE AND DISHONESTY. + + +Some days since, the trains of the North London Railway were all late, +and consequently every platform was crowded. At one of the stations an +unfortunate passenger attempted to enter an already over-crowded +first-class compartment, but one of the occupants stoutly resisted the +intrusion. Thereupon, the unfortunate one said, "I will soon settle +this," and called the guard to the carriage door. He then requested the +official to ask two of the occupants to produce their tickets, which +proved to be third-class ones. In spite of the delinquents protesting +there was no room in the train elsewhere, they were ejected, and the +unfortunate one took their place. The other passengers were naturally +rather indignant; and, seeing this, the successful intruder quietly said, +"I am very sorry to have had to turn those two gentlemen out, especially +as I have heard them say they were already late for an important +engagement in the city; and I am all the more sorry, seeing that I only +hold a third-class ticket myself." + + --_Truth_. + + + + +THE BOOKING-CLERK AND BUCKLAND. + + +Mr. Frank Buckland had been in France and was returning via Southampton, +with an overcoat stuffed with natural history specimens of all sorts, +dead and alive. Among them was a monkey, which was domiciled in a large +inside breast-pocket. As Buckland was taking his ticket, Jocko thrust up +his head and attracted the attention of the booking-clerk, who +immediately--and very properly--said, "You must take a ticket for that +dog, if it's going with you." "Dog," said Buckland, "it's no dog, it's a +monkey." "It is a dog," replied the clerk. "It's a monkey," retorted +Buckland, and proceeded to show the whole animal, but without convincing +the clerk, who insisted on five shillings for the dog-ticket to London. +Nettled at this, Buckland plunged his hand into another pocket and +produced a tortoise, and laying it on the sill of the ticket window said, +"Perhaps you'll call that a dog too." The clerk inspected the tortoise. +"No," said he, "we make no charge for them--they're insects." + + + + +REMARKABLE RESCUE OF A CHILD. + + +An engineer on a locomotive going across the western prairie day after +day, saw a little child come out in front of a cabin and wave to him, so +he got in the habit of waving back to the child, and it was the day's joy +to see this little one come out in front of the cabin door and wave to +him while he answered back. One day the train was belated, and it came +on to the dusk of the evening. As the engineer stood at his post he saw +by the headlight that little girl on the track, wondering why the train +did not come, looking for the train, knowing nothing of her peril. A +great horror seized upon the engineer. He reversed the engine. He gave +it in charge of the other man, and then he climbed over the engine, and +he came down on the cowcatcher. He said though he had reversed the +engine, it seemed as though it were going at lightning speed, faster and +faster, though it was really slowing up, and with almost supernatural +clutch he caught the child by the hair and lifted it up, and when the +train stopped, and the passengers gathered around to see what was the +matter, there the old engineer lay, fainted dead away, the little child +alive and in his swarthy arms. + + + + +FEMALE FRAGILITY. + + +There was a time when American women prided themselves on their +fragility. To be healthy, strong or plump was thought to be the height +of vulgarity, and refinement was held to be inseparable from leanness and +consumption. These views still obtain--so it is said--in Boston, and +especially in Bostonian literary circles; but elsewhere the American +woman is growing plump and healthy, and is actually proud of it. While +wise men are heartily glad of this change in female sentiment and tissue, +it must be admitted that there is one form of feminine fragility which +has its value. There is a rare condition of the bony system in which the +bones are so fragile that the slightest blow is sufficient to break them. +A baby thus afflicted cannot be handled, even by the most experienced +mother, without danger; and a man with fragile bones is so liable to be +broken, that there is sometimes no safety for him outside of a glass +case. The late Mrs. Baker--for that was her latest name--was not so +fragile that she could not be handled by a careful man, but still a very +light blow would usually break her. She did not share the Bostonian +opinion of the vulgarity of strength, but she was, nevertheless, very +proud of her fragility, and by its aid her husband managed to amass a +comfortable fortune within three years after their marriage. She is +perhaps the only fragile woman on record of whom it can be said that her +whole value consisted in her fragility, but, as her story shows, her +fragility was the sole capital invested in her husband's business. In +January, 1870, Mrs. Baker--then a single woman, as to whose maiden name +there is some uncertainty--was married to Mr. Wheelwright--James G. +Wheelwright, of Worcester, Mass. Her husband married her on account of +her well-known fragility, but he treated her with such kindness that in +the whole course of their married life he never once broke her, even by +accident. In February, 1870, the Wheelwrights removed to Utica, N.Y., +and one day Mr. Wheelwright took his wife to the railway station, and had +her break her leg in a small hole on the platform. He at once sued the +railway company for 10,000 dols., being the value set by himself on his +wife's leg, and ten days afterwards accepted 5,000 dols. as a compromise, +and withdrew the suit The Wheelwrights left Utica in June, 1870, and in +the following August the dutiful Mrs. Wheelwright, who now called herself +Mrs. Thomas, broke her other leg in a hole in the platform of the railway +station at Pittsburg. Again her husband sued the railway company for +15,000 dols., and compromised for 6,500 dols. The leg was mended +successfully, and in July, 1871, we find the Thomases, now passing under +the name of Mr. and Mrs. Smiley, at Cincinnati, where Mr. Smiley, after +long searching, discovered a piece of ragged and uneven sidewalk, upon +which his wife made a point of falling and breaking her right arm. This +time the city was sued for 15,000 dols., and Mr. Smiley proved that his +wife was a school teacher by profession, and that the breaking of her arm +rendered it impossible for her to teach, for there as on that she could +not wield a rod or even a slipper. The city paid the 15,000 dols. and +the Smileys, having by honest industry thus made 26,500 dols., removed to +Chicago, and entered their names on the hotel register as Mr. and Mrs. +McGinnis, of Portland, Me. On the second day after their arrival at the +hotel, Mr. McGinnis found an eligible place on the piazza for Mrs. +McGinnis to break another leg, which that excellent woman promptly did. +The usual suit of 15,000 dols. was brought, and the hotel-keeper, fearing +that the notoriety of the suit would injure his hotel, was glad to +compromise by paying 8,000 dols. By this time, it is understood, Mrs. +McGinnis was willing to retire from business, but her husband had set his +heart on making 50,000 dols., and like a good wife she consented to break +some more bones. It should be said that there was very little pain +attending a fracture of any one of the lady's bones, and that she did not +in the least mind the monotony of lying in bed while the broken bones +knitted themselves together. There can, therefore, be no charge of +cruelty brought against her husband. Indeed, she herself entered with a +hearty goodwill into the scheme of making a living with her bones, and +would go out to break a leg with as much cheerfulness as if she was going +to a theatre. In March, 1872, Mrs. Wilkins--hitherto known as Mr. +McGinnis--walked into an open trench in a street in St. Louis and broke +another leg. This time the suit brought by Mr. Wilkins against the city +did not succeed, and the inquiries which were put on foot as to the +antecedents of the Wilkinses fairly frightened them out of the city. +They turned up a month later in Detroit, where the weather was still +cold, and much snow had recently fallen. There were still 16,000 dollars +to be made before the industrious pair would have the whole of their +desired 50,000 dollars, and it was decided that Mrs. Wilkins--who had +changed her name to Mrs. Baker--should fall on the icy pavement and break +both arms. This, it was estimated, would be worth at least 8,000 dols., +and it was hoped that the subsequent judicious breakage of two legs on +the premises of a Canadian railway would bring in 8,000 dols. more, after +which the Bakers intended to retire from business. Early one morning Mr. +Baker took his wife out and had her fall on a nice piece of ice, where +she broke both arms. Unfortunately, she fell more heavily than was +necessary, and, in addition, broke her neck and instantly expired. The +grief of Mr. Baker naturally knew no bounds, and he sued for 25,000 +dols., all of which he recovered. He had thus made 59,500 dols. by the +aid of his fragile wife, and demonstrated that as a source of steady +income a woman who breaks easily is almost priceless. Still, nothing +could console him for the loss of his beloved partner, and he is to-day a +lonely and unhappy man. + + --_New York Times_. + + + + +TAKING HIM DOWN A PEG. + + +A guard of a railway train, upon the late occasion of a _hitch_, which +detained the passengers for some time, gave himself so much importance in +commanding them, that one old gentleman took the wind out of his sails by +calling him to the carriage door, and saying, "May I take the liberty, +sir, of asking you what occupation you filled previous to being a railway +guard?" + + + + +A REMARKABLE NOTICE. + + +On a certain railway, the following notice appeared:--"Hereafter, when +trains moving in opposite directions are approaching each other on +separate lines, conductors and engineers will be required to bring their +respective trains to a dead halt before the point of meeting, and be very +careful not to proceed till each train has passed the other." + + + + +FLUTTER CAUSED BY THE MURDER OF MR. BRIGGS. + + +My vocations led me to travel almost daily on one of the Great Eastern +lines--the Woodford Branch. Every one knows that Muller perpetrated his +detestable act on the North London Railway, close by. The English middle +class, of which I am myself a feeble unit, travel on the Woodford branch +in large numbers. Well, the demoralization of our class,--which (the +newspapers are constantly saying it, so I may repeat it without vanity) +has done all the great things which have ever been done in England,--the +demoralization of our class caused, I say, by the Bow tragedy, was +something bewildering. Myself a transcendentalist (as the _Saturday +Review_ knows), I escaped the infection; and day after day I used to ply +my agitated fellow-travellers with all the consolations which my +transcendentalism and my turn for French would naturally suggest to me. +I reminded them how Julius Caesar refused to take precautions against +assassination, because life was not worth having at the price of an +ignoble solicitude for it. I reminded them what insignificant atoms we +all are in the life of the world. Suppose the worse to happen, I said, +addressing a portly jeweller from Cheapside,--suppose even yourself to be +the victim, _il n'y a pas d'homme necessaire_. We should miss you for a +day or two on the Woodford Branch; but the great mundane movement would +still go on, the gravel walks of your villa would still be rolled, +dividends would still be paid at the bank, omnibuses would still run, +there would still be the old crush at the corner of Fenchurch street. +All was of no avail. Nothing could moderate in the bosom of the great +English middle class their passionate, absorbing, almost blood-thirsty +clinging to life. + + --Matthew Arnold's _Essays in Criticism_. + + + + +AN EXTRAORDINARY BLUNDER. + + +A correspondent, writing from Amelia les Bains, says:--A very singular +blunder was committed the other day by the officials of a railway station +between Prepignan and Toulon. A gentleman who had been spending the +winter here with his family, left last week for Marseilles, taking with +him the body of his mother-in-law, who died six weeks ago, and who had +expressed a wish to be buried in the family vault at Marseilles. When he +reached Marseilles and went with the commissioner of police--whose +presence is required upon these occasions--to receive the body from the +railway officials, he noticed to his great surprise that the coffin was +of a different shape and construction from that which he had brought from +here. It turned out upon further inquiry that a mistake had been +committed by the officials, who had sent on to Toulon the coffin +containing his mother-in-law's body, believing that it held the remains +of a deceased admiral, which was to be embarked for interment in Algeria, +while the coffin awaiting delivery was the one which should have been +sent on. The gentleman who was placed in this awkward predicament, +having requested the railway officials to communicate at once with Toulon +by telegraph, proceeded thither himself with the coffin of the admiral, +but the intimation had arrived too late. He ascertained when he got +there that the first coffin had been duly received, taken on board, amid +"the thunder of fort and of fleet," the state vessel which was waiting +for it, and despatched to Algeria. He at once called upon the maritime +prefect of Toulon, and explained the circumstances of the case, but +though a despatch-boat was sent in pursuit, the other vessel was not +overtaken. He is now at Toulon awaiting her return, and I believe that +he declines to give up the coffin containing the deceased admiral until +he regains possession of his mother-in-law's remains. + + + + +A CURIOUS RACE. + + +In July, 1877, a carrier-pigeon tried conclusions with a railway train. +The bird was a Belgian voyageur, bred at Woolwich, and "homed" to a house +in Cannon Street, City. The train was the Continental mail-express timed +not to stop between Dover and Cannon Street Station. The pigeon, +conveying an urgent message from the French police, was tossed through +the railway carriage window as the train moved from the Admiralty Pier, +the wind being west, the atmosphere hazy, but the sun shining. For more +than a minute the bird circled round till it attained an altitude of +about half-a-mile, and then it sailed away Londonwards. By this time the +engine had got full steam on, and the train was tearing away at the rate +of sixty miles an hour; but the carrier was more than a match for it. +Taking a line midway between Maidstone and Sittingbourne, it reached home +twenty minutes before the express dashed into the station; the train +having accomplished seventy-six-and-a-half miles to the pigeon's seventy, +but being badly beaten for all that. + + --_All the Year Round_. + + + + +A GREENLANDER'S FIRST RAILWAY RIDE. + + +Hans Hendrik, a native of Greenland, thus describes his first journey by +rail in America:--"Then our train arrived and we took seats in it. When +we had started and looked at the ground, it appeared like a river, making +us dizzy, and the trembling of the carriage might give you headache. In +this way we proceeded, and whenever we approached houses they gave +warning by making big whistle sound, and on arriving at the houses they +rung a bell and we stopped for a little while. By the way we entered a +long cave through the earth, used as a road, and soon after we emerged +from it again. At length we reached our goal, and entered a large +mansion, in which numbers of people crowded together." He likens the +people going out of the railway-station to a "crowd of church-goers, on +account of their number." + + --_Good Words_, April, 1880. + + + + +A NOVEL ACTION. + + +Will bad table manners vitiate legal grounds of action? A collision +recently occurred while an Italian commercial traveller was eating a +Bologna sausage in a railway train. The shock of the collision drove the +knife so violently against his mouth as to widen it. He brought suit for +damages. The defence was that the injuries were caused by the knife; +that the knife should never be carried to the mouth, and that the +plaintiff, having injured himself by reason of his bad habit of eating, +must take the consequences and pay his own doctor's bill. The case is +not yet finally decided. + + --_Echo_, Oct. 1st., 1880. + + + + +A KISS IN THE DARK. + + +On one of the seats in a railway train was a married lady with a little +daughter; opposite, facing them, was another child, a son, and a coloured +"lady" with a baby. The mother of these children was a beautiful matron +with sparkling eyes, in exuberant health and vivacious spirits. Near her +sat a young lieutenant, dressed to kill and seeking a victim. He scraped +up an acquaintance with the mother by attentions to the children. It was +not long before he was essaying to make himself very agreeable to her, +and by the time the sun began to decline, one would have thought they +were old familiar friends. The lieutenant felt that he had made an +impression--his elation manifested it. The lady, dreaming of no wrong, +suspecting no evil, was apparently pleased with her casual acquaintance. +By-and-by the train approached a tunnel. The gay lieutenant leaned over +and whispered something in the lady's ear. It was noticed that she +appeared as thunderstruck, and her eyes immediately flamed with +indignation. A moment more and a smile lighted up her features. What +changes? That smile was not one of pleasure, but was sinister. It was +unperceived by the lieutenant. She made him a reply which apparently +rejoiced him very much. For the understanding properly this narrative, +we must tell the reader what was whispered and what was replied. "I mean +to kiss you when we get into the tunnel!" whispered the lieutenant. "It +will be dark; who will see it?" replied the lady. Into earth's +bowels--into the tunnel ran the train. Lady and coloured nurse quickly +change seats. Gay lieutenant threw his arms around the lady sable, +pressed her cheek to his, and fast and furious rained kisses on her lips. +In a few moments the train came out into broad daylight. White lady +looked amazed--coloured lady, bashful, blushing--gay lieutenant befogged. +"Jane," said the white lady, "what have you been doing?" "Nothing!" +responded the coloured lady. "Yes, you have," said the white lady, not +in an undertone, but in a voice that attracted the attention of all in +the carriage. "See how your collar is rumpled and your bonnet smashed." +Jane, poor coloured beauty, hung her head for a moment, the "observed of +all observers," and then, turning round to the lieutenant, replied: +"_This man kissed me in the tunnel_!" Loud and long was the laugh that +followed among the passengers. The white lady enjoyed the joke +amazingly. Lieutenant looked like a sheep-stealing dog, left the +carriage at the next station, and was seen no more. + + --_Cape Argus_. + + + + +THE GRAVEDIGGER'S SUGGESTION. + + +The Midland Railway, on being extended to London, was the occasion of the +removal of a vast amount of house property, also it interfered to a +certain extent with the graveyard belonging to Old St. Pancras Church. +The company had purchased a new piece of ground in which to re-inter the +human remains discovered in the part they required. Amongst them was the +corpse of a high dignitary of the French Romish Church. Orders were +received for the transmission of the remains to his native land, and the +delicate work of exhuming the corpse was entrusted to some clever +gravediggers. On opening the ground they were surprised to find, not +bones of one man, but of several. Three skulls and three sets of bones +were yielded by the soil in which they had lain mouldering. The +difficulty was how to identify the bones of a French ecclesiastic amid so +many. After much discussion, the shrewdest gravedigger suggested that, +being a Frenchman, the darkest coloured skull must be his. Acting upon +this idea, the blackest bones were sorted and put together, until the +requisite number of rights and lefts were obtained. These were +reverently screwed up in a new coffin, conveyed to France, and buried +with all the pomp and circumstance of the Roman Catholic Church. + + + + +AN AMUSING INCIDENT. + + +An American correspondent writes:--"I have just finished reading a most +amusing incident, and, as it occurs in a book not likely to fall into the +hands of many of the members, I am tempted to relate it, although it +might prove to be 'stale.' Well, to begin: It tells of a maiden lady, +who, having arrived at the mature age of 51 without ever having seen a +railway train, decides to visit New York. The all-important day having +arrived, she seats herself calmly on the platform of the country station, +and gazes with amazement as the train draws up, takes on its passengers, +and pursues its journey. As she stares after it the stationmaster asks +her why she did not get on if she wishes to go to New York. 'Get on,' +says Miss Polly, in surprise, 'get on! Why, bless me, if I didn't think +this whole concern went!' Being placed on the next train, she proceeds +on her way, when, finally, having seen so many wonderful things, she +concluded not to be astonished, whatever may happen. A collision occurs +and the gentleman next to her is thrown to the end of the car among a +heap of broken seats. She supposes it to be the usual manner of +stopping, and quietly remarks: 'Ye fetch up rather sudden, don't ye?'" + + + + +A LITTLE BOY'S COOLNESS. + + +The suit of William O'Connor against the Boston and Lowell Railroad at +Lawrence has resulted in a verdict for the plaintiff in $10,000, one-half +the amount sued for. This suit grew out of an accident which occurred +August 27th, 1880. The plaintiff was the father of a child then between +five and six years old. He and his brother, three years older, were +crossing a private way maintained by the railroad for the Essex Company, +and the younger boy, while walking backward, stepped between the rail and +planking of the roadway inside and was unable to extricate his foot. At +that moment the whistle of a train was heard within a few hundred feet +and out of sight around a curve, and it appeared from the evidence that +the older brother, finding himself unable to relieve his brother, ran +down the track toward the train; but finding that he could not attract +the attention of the trainmen to his brother's condition, and that he +must be run over, ran back to him, and, telling him to lie down, pulled +him outward and down and held him there until the train had passed. Both +feet of the little fellow were cut off or mangled so that amputation was +necessary. The theory of the defence was that the boy was not caught, +but while running across the track, fell and was run over. But the +testimony of the older brother was unshaken in every particular. It +would be difficult to match the nerve, thoughtfulness, and disregard of +self displayed by this boy, who at that time was less than nine years +old. + + + + +PHOTOGRAPHING AN EXPRESS TRAIN. + + +An interesting application of the instantaneous method of photography was +recently made by a firm of photographers at Henley-on-Thames. These +artists were successful in photographing the Great Western Railway +express train familiarly known as the "Flying Dutchman," while running +through Twyford station at a speed of nearly sixty miles an hour. The +definition of this lightning-like picture is truly wonderful, the details +of the mechanism on the flying locomotive standing out as sharply as the +immovable telegraph posts and palings beside the line. The photographers +are now engaged, we believe, in constructing a swift shutter for their +camera which will reduce the period of exposure of the photographic plate +to 1-500th of a second. The same artists have also executed some +charming pictures of the upper Thames, with floating swans and moving +boats, which cannot but win the admiration of artists and all lovers of +the picturesque. + + --_Cassell's Family Magazine_, Nov. 1880. + + + + +NERVOUSNESS. + + +Surely people are far more _nervous_ now than they used to be some +generations back. The mental cultivation and the mental wear which we +have to go through tends to make that strange and inexplicable portion of +our physical construction a very great deal too sensitive for the work +and trial of daily life. A few days ago I drove a friend who had been +paying us a visit over to our railway station. He is a man of fifty, a +remarkably able and accomplished man. Before the train started, the +guard came round to look at the tickets. My friend could not find his; +he searched his pockets everywhere, and although the entire evil +consequence, had the ticket not turned up, could not possibly have been +more than the payment a second time of four or five shillings, he got +into a nervous tremor painful to see. He shook from head to foot; his +hand trembled so that he could not prosecute his search rightly, and +finally he found the missing ticket in a pocket which he had already +searched half-a-dozen times. Now contrast the condition of this +highly-civilized man, thrown into a painful flurry and confusion at the +demand of a railway ticket, with the impassive coolness of a savage, who +would not move a muscle if you hacked him in pieces. + + --_Fraser's Magazine_. + + + + +A PROFITABLE RAILWAY. + + +The shortest and most profitable railway in the world is probably to be +seen at Coney Island, the famous suburban summer resort of New York. +This is the "Marine Railway," which connects the Manhattan Beach Hotel +and the Brighton Beach Hotel. It is 2,000 feet in length, is laid with +steel rails, and has a handsome little station at each end. Its +equipment consists of two locomotives and four cars, open at the sides, +and having reversible seats; and a train of two cars is run each way +every five minutes. The cost of this miniature road, including stations +and equipment, was 27,000 dols., and it paid for itself in a few weeks +after it was opened for business. The operating expenses are 30 dols. a +day, and the average receipts are 450 dols. a day the entire season, 900 +dols. being sometime taken in. The fare charged is five cents. The +property paid a profit last year of 500 dols. per cent on its cost. + + + + +THE POLITE BRAHMIN. + + +Owing to the various dialects in the South of India, as a matter of +convenience the English language is much used for personal communication +by the natives of different parts of the Presidency of Madras. Mr. +Edward Lear, who has travelled much in that part of the country, gives +the following interesting account of a journey:--"I was in a second-class +railway carriage going from Madras to Bangalore. There was only one +other passenger beside myself and servant, and he was a Brahmin, dressed +all in white, with the string worn over the shoulder, by which you may +always recognise a Brahmin. He had a great many boxes and small +articles, which took up a great deal of room in the compartment, and when +at the next station the door was opened for another passenger to get in, +the guard said:-- + +"'You cannot have all those boxes inside the carriage; some of them must +be taken out.' + +"'Oh, sir,' said the Brahmin in good English, 'I assure you these +articles are by no means necessary to my comfort, and I hope you will not +hesitate to dispose of them as you please.' + +"Accordingly, therefore, the boxes were taken away. Then the newcomer +stepped in; he was also a native, but dressed in quite a different manner +from the Brahmin, his clothing being blue, green, red, and all the +colours of the rainbow, so that one saw at once the two persons were from +different parts of India. Presently he surprised me by saying to the +Brahmin, + +"'Pray, sir, excuse me for having given you the trouble of removing any +part of your luggage; I am really quite sorry to have given you any +inconvenience whatever.' + +"To which the Brahmin replied, 'I beg sir, you will make no apologies; it +is impossible you can have incommoded me by causing the removal of those +trifling articles; and, even if you have done so, the pleasure of your +society would afford me perfect compensation.'" + + + + +MR. FRANK BUCKLAND AND HIS BOOTS. + + +Mr. Spencer Walpole furnishes some interesting and amusing gossip about +the late Mr. Frank Buckland, describing some of his many eccentricities, +and telling many stories relative to his peculiar habits. He had, it +seems, a great objection to stockings and boots and coats, his favourite +attire consisting of nothing else than trousers and a flannel shirt. +Boots were his special aversion, and he never lost an opportunity of +kicking them off his feet. + +"On one occasion," we are told, "travelling alone in a railway carriage, +he fell asleep with his feet resting on the window-sill. As usual, he +kicked off his boots, and they fell outside the carriage on the line. +When he reached his destination the boots could not, of course, be found, +and he had to go without them to his hotel. The next morning a +platelayer, examining the permanent way, came upon the boots, and +reported to the traffic manager that he had found a pair of gentleman's +boots, but that he could not find the gentleman. Some one connected with +the railway recollected that Mr. Buckland had been seen in the +neighbourhood, and, knowing his eccentricities, inferred that the boots +must belong to him. They were accordingly sent to the Home Office, and +were at once claimed." + + + + +DRINKING FROM THE WRONG BOTTLE. + + +An incident has occurred on one of the suburban lines which will +certainly be supposed by many to be only _ben trovato_, but it is a real +fact. A lady, who seemed perfectly well before the train entered a +tunnel, suddenly alarmed her fellow-passengers during the temporary +darkness by exclaiming, "I am poisoned!" On re-emerging into daylight, +an awkward explanation ensued. The lady carried with her two bottles, +one of methylated spirit, the other of cognac. Wishing, presumably, for +a refresher on the sly, she took advantage of the gloom; but she applied +the wrong bottle to her lips. Time pressed, and she took a good drain. +The consequence was she was nearly poisoned, and had to apply herself +honestly and openly to the brandy bottle as a corrective, amidst the +ironical condolence of the passengers she had previously alarmed. + + --_Once a Week_. + + + + +HORSES VERSUS RAILWAYS. + + +A horse for every mile of road was the allowance made by the best +coachmasters on the great routes. On the corresponding portions of the +railway system the great companies have put a locomotive engine per mile. +If a horse earned a hundred guineas a year, out of which his cost had to +be defrayed, he did well. A single locomotive on the Great Northern +Railway (and that company has 611 engines for 659 miles of line) was +stated by John Robinson, in 1873, to perform the work of 678 +horses--work, that is, as measured by resistance overcome; for the +horses, whatever their number, could not have reached the speed of fifty +miles an hour, at which the engines in questions whirled along a train of +sixteen carriages, weighing in all 225 tons. There are now upwards of +13,000 locomotives at work in the United Kingdom, each of them earning on +the average, 4,750 pounds per annum. But we have at the same time more +horses employed for the conveyance of passengers than we had in 1835. In +omnibus and station work--waiting upon the steam horse--there is more +demand for horseflesh than was made by our entire coaching system in +1835. + + + + +A SLIGHT MISTAKE. + + +An Irish newspaper is responsible for the following:--"A deaf man named +Taff was run down and killed by a passenger train on Wednesday morning. +He was injured in a similar way about a year ago." + + + + +EXPENSIVE CONTRACTS. + + +An interesting glimpse into the inner working of State, and especially +Russian, Government railways was afforded in a recent discussion on +railway management in Russia, published by the _Journal_ of the German +Railroad Union. During this debate it appears that the details were +published of the famous contract of the late American Winans with the +Government concerning the Nicholas Railroad. By the use of considerable +money, Winans succeeded in making a contract, to extend from July 1st, +1866, for eight years, by which the Government was to pay him for oiling +cars and small car repairs at an agreed rate per passenger and per ton +mile. In addition to this he received a fixed sum of about 15,000 pounds +(78,000 dols.) per year for painting and maintaining the interior of the +passenger cars; 6,000 pounds for keeping up the shops, and finally 8,000 +pounds yearly for renewing what rolling stock might be worn out. The St. +Nicholas line was eventually taken over by the Great Russian Company, +which in 1872 succeeded in making the Government annul the contract by +paying Winans a penalty of 750,000 pounds, which the Great Russian +Company paid back with interest within four years. If the contract had +been continued it would have cost the company more than one-third of its +net earnings, since the saving amounts to nearly 523,000 pounds per +annum. Another contract which the Government had made for the same road +with a sleeping-car company was settled shortly afterward by the +Government taking from the company the few cars it had on hand, and +paying 75,000 pounds for them and 10,000 pounds a year for the unexpired +seven years of the contract. + + + + +MR. BRASSEY'S STRICT ADHERENCE TO HIS WORD. + + +The following is one of such stories, illustrative of one phase of Mr. +Brassey's character--his strict adherence to his word, under all +circumstances. + +When the "Sambre and Meuse" was drawing towards completion, Mr. Brassey +came along as usual with a staff of agents inspecting the progress of the +work. Stopping at Olloy, a small place between Mariembourg and Vireux, +near a large blacksmith's shop, the man, a Frenchman or Belgian, came +out, and standing up on the bank, with much gesticulation and flourish, +proceeded to make Mr. Brassey a grand oration. Anxious to proceed, Mr. +Brassey paid him no particular attention, but good naturedly endeavoured +to cut the matter short, with "Oui, oui, oui," and at length got away, +the Frenchman apparently expressing great delight. + +"Well, gentlemen, what are you laughing at, what is the joke?" said he to +his staff as they went along. + +"Why, sir, do you know what that fellow said, and for what he was +asking?" + +"No, indeed, I don't; I supposed he was complimenting me in some way, or +thanking me for something." + +"He _was_ complimenting you, sir, to some tune, and asking, as a souvenir +of his happy engagement under the Great Brassey, that you would of your +goodness make him a present of the shop, iron, tools, and all belonging!" + +"Did he, though! I did not understand that." + +"No sir, but you kept on saying, 'Oui, oui, oui,' and the fellow's +delighted, as he well may be, they're worth 50 or 60 pounds." + +"Oh, but I didn't mean that, I didn't mean that. Well, never mind, if I +said it, he must _have_ them." + +It must be borne in mind, that at that time, at best, Mr. Brassey knew +very little French, and his staff were well aware of the fact." + +Sep. 13, 1872. + + S. S. + + + + +EXTRAORDINARY ACCIDENT. + + +In a leading article in the _Birmingham Post_, Nov. 12th, 1880, the +writer remarks:--"The report of Major Marindin on the collision which +took place between two Midland trains, in Leicestershire, about a month +ago, has just been published, but it adds nothing to the information +given at the time when the accident happened. The case was, as the +report says, one of a remarkable, if not unprecedented nature, for the +collision arose from a passenger train running backwards instead of +forwards nearly half-a-mile, without either driver or stoker noticing +that its movement was in the wrong direction. Shortly after the train +had passed the village station of Kibworth, where it was not timed to +stop, the driver observed a knocking sound on his engine. He pulled up +the train in order to ascertain the cause of this, and finding that +nothing serious was the matter, proceeded on his journey again, or rather +intended to do so, for, by an extraordinary mistake, he turned the screw +the wrong way, so as to reverse the action of the engine, and to direct +the train back to Kibworth. There, a mineral train was making its way +towards Leicester, and as the line was on a sharp incline the result +might have been a most destructive collision. It was, however, reduced +to one of a comparatively mild description by the promptness and +efficiency with which the brakes were applied to both the trains. Had +not the mineral train been pulled up, and the passenger train lowered +from a speed of twenty to three or four miles an hour, probably the whole +of the passengers would have been crushed between the two engines. The +passengers, therefore, owed their safety to the excellent brake-power +which was at command. The excuse offered by the driver of the passenger +train for turning the engine backwards was the shape of the reversing +screw, which was of a construction not commonly used on the Midland line, +though many of the company's engines were so fitted. The fireman had +also his apology for making the same oversight. He said he was at the +time stooping down to adjust the injector. Major Marindin, though +admitting that the men were experienced, careful, and sober, refuses to +accept either of these excuses; but he can supply no better reason +himself for the amazing oversight they committed. The only satisfactory +part of the report is that in which the working of the brake mechanism is +spoken of. The passenger train had the Westinghouse brake fitted to all +the carriages, and such was its efficiency that, had it extended to the +engine and tender as well, Major Marindin believes the accident would +have been entirely prevented." + + + + +REMARKABLE MEMORY FOR SOUNDS. + + +Among strange mental feats the strangest perhaps yet recorded are the +following singular feats of memory for sound, related in the _Scientific +American_. In the city of Rochester, N. Y., resides a boy named Hicks, +who, though he has only lately removed from Buffalo to Rochester, has +already learned to distinguish three hundred locomotive engines by the +sound of their bells. During the day the boy is employed so far from the +railway that he seldom hears a passing train; but at night he can hear +every train, his house being near the railroad. To give an idea of his +wonderful memory for sounds (and his scarcely less wonderful memory for +numbers also) take the following cases. Not long ago young Hicks went to +Syracuse, and while there, he, hearing an engine coming out of the +round-house, remarked to a friend that he knew the bell, though he had +not heard it for five years: he gave the number of the engine, which +proved to be correct. Again, not long since, an old switch-engine, used +in the yards at Buffalo, was sent to Rochester for some special purpose. +It passed near Hicks' house, and he remarked that the engine was number +so and so, and that he had not heard the bell for six years. A boarder +in the house ran to the railroad, and found the number given by Hicks was +the correct one. To most persons the bells on American locomotives seem +all much alike in sound and _timbre_, though, of course, a good ear will +readily distinguish differences, especially between bells which are +sounded within a short interval of time. But that anyone should be able +in the first place to discriminate between two or three hundred of these +bells, and in the second place to retain the recollection of the slight +peculiarities characterising each for several years, would seem +altogether incredible, had we not other instances--such as Bidder's and +Colburn's calculating feats, Morphy's blindfold chess-play, etc.--of the +amazing degree in which one brain may surpass all others in some special +quality, though perhaps, in other respects, not exceptionally powerful, +or even relatively deficient. + + --_Gentleman's Magazine_, March 1880. + + + + +A DISINGENUOUS BISHOP. + + +Max. O'Rell, the French author, in his book _John Bull at Home_, writes +English people are very great on words; lying is unknown. I was +travelling by rail one day with an English bishop. There were five in +our compartment. On arriving at a station we heard a cry, "Five minutes +here!" My lord bishop, with the greatest haste, set to work to spread +out travelling-bag, hat-box, rug, papers, &c. A lady appeared at the +door, and asked, "Is there room here?" "Madam," replied the bishop, "all +the seats are full." When the poor lady had been sent about her +business, we called his lordship's attention to the fact that there were +only five of us in the carriage, and that, consequently all the seats +were not taken. "I did not say that they were," answered my lord; "I +said that they were _full_." + + + + +DROPPING THE LETTER "L." + + +In an advertisement by a railway company of some unclaimed goods, the "l" +dropped from the word "lawful," and it reads now, "People to whom these +packages are directed are requested to come forward and pay the _awful_ +charges on the same." + + + + +THE SAFEST SEAT IN A RAILWAY CARRIAGE. + + +The _American Engineer_, as the result of scientific calculations and +protracted experience, says the safest seat is in the middle of the last +car but one. There are some chances of danger, which are the same +everywhere in the train, but others are least at the above-named place. + + + + +RAILWAYS A JUDGMENT. + + +In _White's Warfare of Science_ there is an account of a worthy French +Archbishop who declared that railways were an evidence of the divine +displeasure against innkeepers, inasmuch that they would be punished for +supplying meat on fast days by seeing travellers carried by them past +their doors. + + + + +CLAIM FOR GOODWILL FOR COW KILLED ON THE RAILWAY. + + +A farmer living near the New York Central lost a cow by a collision with +a train on the line; anxious for compensation he waited upon the manager +and after stating his case, the manager said, "I understand she was thin +and sick." "Makes no difference," replied the farmer. "She was a cow, +and I want pay for her." "How much?" asked the manager. "Two hundred +dollars!" replied the farmer. "Now look here," said the manager, "how +much did the cow weigh?" "About four hundred, I suppose," said the +farmer. "And we will say that beef is worth ten cents a pound on the +hoof." "It's worth a heap more than that on the cow-catcher!" replied +the indignant farmer. "But we'll call it that, what then? That makes +forty dollars, shall I give you a cheque for forty dollars?" "I tell you +I want two hundred dollars," persisted the farmer. "But how do you make +the difference? I'm willing to pay full value, forty dollars. How do +you make one hundred and sixty dollars?" "Well, sir," replied the +farmer, waxing wroth, "I want this railroad to understand that I'm going +to have something special for the goodwill of that cow!" + + + + +THE INSURANCE AGENT. + + +An agent of an accident insurance company entered a smoking car on a +western railroad train a few days ago, and, approaching an exceedingly +gruff old man, asked him if he did not want to take out a policy. He was +told to get out with his policy, and passed on. A few minutes afterwards +an accident occurred to the train, causing a fearful shaking to the cars. +The old man jumped up, and seizing a hook at the side of the car to +steady himself, called out, "Where is that insurance man?" The question +caused a roar of laughter among the passengers, who for the time forgot +their dangers. + + --_Harper's Weekly_, May 8th, 1880. + + + + +TOUTING FOR BUSINESS AND FRAUDS. + + +Sir Edward Watkin observed at the half-yearly meeting of the South +Eastern Railway Company, January, 1881:--"The result of this compensating +law under which the slightest neglect makes the company liable, and the +only thing to be considered is the amount of damages--the effect of this +unjust law is to create a new profession compounded of the worst elements +of the present professions--viz., expert doctors, expert attorneys, and +expert witnesses. You will get a doctor to swear that a man who has a +slight knock on the head to say that he has a diseased spine, and will +never be fit for anything again, and never be capable of being a man of +business or the father of a family. The result of that is all we can do +is to get some other expert to say exactly the contrary. Then you have a +class of attorneys who get up this business. We had an accident, I may +tell you, at Forrest-hill two years ago. Well, there was a gentleman--an +attorney in the train. He went round to all the people in the train and +gave them his card; and, having distributed all the cards in his +card-case, he went round and expressed extreme regret to the others that +he could not give them a card; but he gave them his name as 'So and So,' +his place was in 'Such a street,' and the 'No, So and So' in the City. +That was touting for business. Now, there is a very admirable body +called the "Law Association." Why does not the Law Association take hold +of cases of that kind? Well, you saw in the paper the case of Roper _v._ +the South Eastern. Now that was a peculiar thing. Roper declared that +from an injury he had received in a slight accident at the Stoney-street +signal box, outside Cannon-street he was utterly incapacitated, and that, +for I don't know how many weeks and months, he was in bed without +ceasing. The doctors, I believe, put pins and needles into him, but he +never flinched, and when the case came before the court we found that +some of the medical experts declared that it was just within the order of +Providence that in twenty years he might get better; but these witnesses +thought that the chances were against it, and that he would be a hopeless +cripple. So evidence was given as to his income; and the idea was to +capitalise it at 8,000 pounds. That man had paid 4d. for his ticket I +think--I forget the exact amount. Our counsel, the Attorney-General, +went into the thing, with the very able assistance of Mr. Willis, who +deserves every possible credit. We also had Mr. Le Gros Clarke, the +eminent consulting surgeon of the company, and Dr. Arkwright from the +north of England, and they told us that in their opinion it was a +swindle. And it was a swindle. The result of it was, the +Attorney-General put his foot down upon it, and declared that it was a +swindle, and the jury unanimously non-suited Mr. Roper. Well, singularly +enough, when I say he had paid 4d., I think it was not absolutely proved +that he was in the train at all. But although this was a case in which +the jury said there was no case, and where the Judge summed up strongly +that it was a fraud, and where the most eminent surgeon said it was an +absolute delusion altogether, and where, in point of fact, justice was +done entirely to you as regards the verdict, you have 2,300 pounds to pay +for costs of one kind or another in defending a case of swindling, +because when you try to recover the costs the man becomes bankrupt, and +you won't get a farthing; and I do mean to say I have described a state +of the law and practice that ought to excite the reprobation of every +honest man in England." + + + + +HEROISM OF A DRIVER. + + +An engine-driver on the Pennsylvania Railway yesterday saved the lives of +600 passengers by an extraordinary act of heroism. The furnace door was +opened by the fireman to replenish the fire while the train was going at +thirty-five miles an hour. The back draught forced the flames out so +that the car of the locomotive caught fire, and the engine-driver and the +fireman were driven back over the tender into the passenger car, leaving +the engine without control. The speed increased, and the volume of flame +with it. There was imminent danger that all the carriages would take +fire, and the whole be consumed. The passengers were panic-stricken. To +jump off was certain death; to remain was to be burned alive. The +engine-driver saw that the only way to save the passengers was to return +to the engine and stop the train. He plunged into the flames, climbed +back over the tender, and reversed the engine. When the train came to a +standstill, he was found in the water-tank, whither he had climbed, with +his clothes entirely burnt off, his face disfigured, his hands shockingly +burned, and his body blistered so badly that the flesh was stripped off +in many places. Weak and half-conscious he was taken to the hospital, +where his injuries were pronounced serious, with slight chance of +recovery. As soon as the train stopped the flames were easily +extinguished. The unanimous testimony of the passengers is that the +engine-driver saved their lives. His name is Joseph A. Sieg. + + --_Daily News_, Oct. 24th, 1882. + + + + +IT'S CROYDON. + + +As an early morning train drew up at a station, a pleasant looking +gentleman stepped out on the platform, and, inhaling the fresh air, +enthusiastically observed to the guard, "Isn't this invigorating?" "No, +sir, it's Croydon," replied the conscientious employe. + + + + +YOUR TICKET. + + +On a Georgia railroad there is a conductor named Snell, a very clever, +sociable man, fond of a joke, quick at repartee, and faithful in the +discharge of his duties. One day as his train well filled with +passengers, was crossing a low bridge over a wide stream, some four or +five feet deep, the bridge broke down, precipitating the two passenger +cars into the stream. As the passengers emerged from the wreck they were +borne away by the force of the current. Snell had succeeded in catching +hold of some bushes that grew on the bank of the stream, to which he held +for dear life. A passenger less fortunate came rushing by. Snell +extended one hand, saying, "Your ticket, sir; give me your ticket!" The +effect of such a dry joke in the midst of the water may be imagined. + + --_Harper's Magazine_. + + + + +AN OLD SCOTCH LADY ON THE LOSS OF HER BOX. + + +Dean Ramsay in his _Reminiscences_ remarks:--"Some curious stories are +told of ladies of this class, as connected with the novelties and +excitement of railway travelling. Missing their luggage, or finding that +something has gone wrong about it, often causing very terrible distress, +and might be amusing, were it not to the sufferer so severe a calamity. +I was much entertained with the earnestness of this feeling, and the +expression of it from an old Scottish lady, whose box was not forthcoming +at the station where she was to stop. When urged to be patient, her +indignant exclamation was, "I can bear ony pairtings that may be ca'ed +for in God's providence; but I canna stan' pairtin' frae ma claes." + + + + +RAILWAY MANNERS. + + +A gentleman was travelling by rail from Breslau to Oppeln and found +himself alone with a lady in a second-class compartment. He vainly +endeavoured to enter into conversation with the other occupant of the +carriage; her answers were invariably curt and snappish. Baffled in his +attempts, he proceeded to light a cigar to while away the time. Then the +lady said to him: "I suppose you have never travelled second-class +before, else you would know better manners." Her travelling companion +quietly rejoined: "It is true, I have hitherto only studied the manners +of the first and third-classes. In the first-class the passengers are +rude to the porters, in the third-class the porters are rude to the +passengers. I now discover that in the second-class the passengers are +rude to each other." + + + + +A BRAVE GIRL. + + +Kate Shelley, to whom the Iowa Legislature has just given a gold medal +and $200, is fifteen years old. She lives near Des Moines, at a point +where a railroad crosses a gorge at a great height. One night during a +furious storm the bridge was carried away. The first the Shelleys knew +of it was when they saw the headlight of a locomotive flash down into the +chasm. Kate climbed to the remains of the bridge with great difficulty, +using an improvised lantern. The engineer's voice answered her calls, +but she could do nothing for him, and he was drowned. As an express +train was almost due, she then started for the nearest station, a mile +distant. A long, high bridge over the Des Moines River had to be crossed +on the ties--a perilous thing in stormy darkness. Kate's light was blown +out, and the wind was so violent that she could not stand, so she crawled +across the bridge, from timber to timber, on her hands and knees. She +got to the station exhausted, but in time to give the warning, though she +fainted immediately. + + --_Detroit Free Press_, May 13th, 1882. + + + + +SHUT UP IN A LARGE BOX. + + +The Merv correspondent of the _Daily News_ in a letter dated the 30th of +April, 1881, remarks, "I was very much amused by the description given me +by some Tekkes of the Serdar's departure for Russia. It seems that my +informants accompanied him up to the point where the trans-Caspian +railway is in working order. 'They shut Tockme Serdar and two others in +a large box (sanduk) and locked him in, and then dragged him away across +the Sahara. And,' added the speakers, 'Allah only knows what will happen +to them inside that box.' The box, I need hardly say, was a railway +carriage." + + + + +AWFUL DEATH ON A RAILROAD BRIDGE. + + +A man commonly known as "Billy" Cooper, of the town of Van Etten, was +walking on the railroad track at a point not far distant from his home. +In crossing the railroad bridge he made a miss-step, and, slipping, fell +between the ties, but his position was so cramped that he was unable to +get out of the way of danger. There, suspended in that awful manner, +with the body dangling below the bridge, he heard a train thundering +along in the distance, approaching every moment nearer and nearer. No +one will ever know the struggles for life which the poor fellow made, but +they were futile; with arms pinioned to his sides he was unable to signal +the engineer. The train came sweeping on upon its helpless victim until +within a few feet of the spot, when the engineer saw the man's head and +endeavoured to stop his heavy train. But too late; the moving mass +passed over, cutting his head from the shoulders as clean as it could +have been done by the guillotine itself. Cooper was 60 years of age. + + --_Ithaca_ (N.Y.) _Journal_. + + + + +THAT ACCURSED DRINK. + + +An English traveller in Ireland, greedy for information and always +fingering the note-book in his breast pocket, got into the same railway +carriage with a certain Roman Catholic archbishop. Ignorant of his rank, +and only perceiving that he was a divine, he questioned him pretty +closely about the state of the country, whisky drinking, etc. At last he +said, "You are a parish priest, yourself, of course." His grace drew +himself up. "I _was_ one, sir," he answered, with icy gravity. "Dear, +dear," was the sympathizing rejoinder. "That accursed drink, I suppose." + + + + +RAILWAY UP VESUVIUS. + + +This railway, the last new project in mountain-climbing, is now finished. +It is 900 metres in length, and will enable tourists to ascend by it to +the very edge of the crater. The line has been constructed with great +care upon a solid pavement, and it is believed to be perfectly secure +from all incursions of lava. The mode of traction is by two steel ropes +put in motion by a steam engine at the foot of the cone. The wheels of +the carriages are so made as to be free from any danger of leaving the +rails, besides which each carriage is furnished with an exceedingly +powerful automatic brake, which, should the rope by any chance break, +will stop the train almost instantaneously. One of the chief +difficulties of the undertaking was the water supply; but that has been +obviated by the formation of two very large reservoirs, one at the +station, the other near the observatory. + + --_Railway Times_, 1879. + + + + +EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPE OF BALLOONISTS. + + +Yesterday evening, Aug. 6th, 1883, a special train of "empties," which +left Charing-cross at 5.55 to pick up returning excursionists from +Gravesend, had some extraordinary experiences, such as perhaps had hardly +ever occurred on a single journey. On leaving Dartford, where some +passengers were taken up, the train was proceeding towards Greenhithe, +when the driver observed on the line a donkey, which had strayed from an +adjoining field. An endeavour was made to stop the train before the +animal was reached, but without success, and the poor beast was knocked +down and dragged along by the firebox of the engine. The train was +stopped, and with great difficulty the body of the animal, which was +killed, was extricated from beneath the engine. While this was in +progress, a balloon called the "Sunbeam," supposed to come either from +Sydenham or Tunbridge Wells, passed over the line, going in the direction +of Northfleet. The two aeronauts in the car were observed to be short of +gas, and were throwing out ballast, but, notwithstanding this, the +balloon descended slowly, and when some distance ahead of the train was, +to the horror of the passengers, seen to drop suddenly into the railway +cutting two or three hundred yards only in advance of the approaching +train. The alarm whistle was sounded, and the brakes put on, and as the +balloon dragged the car and its occupants over the down line there seemed +nothing but certain death for them; but suddenly the inflated monster, +now swaying about wildly, took a sudden upward flight, and, dragging the +car clear of the line, fell into an adjoining field just when the train +was within a hundred yards of the spot. The escape was marvellous. + + + + +PULLING A TOOTH BY STEAM. + + +"Dummy," is a deaf mute newsman on the Long Island Railroad. Lately he +had suffered much in mind and body from an aching tooth. He did not like +dentists, but he resolved that the tooth must go. He procured a piece of +twine, and tied one end of it to the tooth and the other end to the rear +of an express train. When the train started, Dummy ran along the +platform a short distance, and then dropped suddenly on his knees. The +engine whistled, and dummy cried, but the train took the tooth. + + + + +A HEAVY SLEEPER. + + +It happens, in numerous instances, that virtuous resolves are made +overnight with respect to early rising, which resolves, when put to the +test, are doomed only to be broken. Some years ago a clergyman, who had +occasion to visit the West of England on very important business, took up +his quarters, late at night, at a certain hotel adjacent to a railway, +with a view of starting by the early train on the following morning. +Previous to retiring to rest, he called the "boots" to him, told him that +he wished to be called for the early train, and said that it was of the +utmost importance that he should not oversleep himself. The reverend +gentleman at the same time confessed that he was a very heavy sleeper, +and as there would be probably the greatest difficulty in awakening him, +he (the "boots") was to resort to any means he thought proper in order to +effect his object. And, further, that if the business were effectually +accomplished, the fee should be a liberal one. The preliminaries being +thus settled, the clergyman sought his couch, and "boots" left the room +with the air of a determined man. At a quarter to five on the following +morning, "boots" walked straight to "No. twenty-three," and commenced a +vigorous rattling and hammering at the door, but the only answer he +received was "All right!" uttered in a very faint and drowsy tone. Five +minutes later, "boots" approached the door, placing his ear at the +keyhole, and detecting no other sound than a most unearthly snore, he +unceremoniously entered the room, and laying his brawny hands upon the +prostrate form of the sleeper, shook him violently and long. This attack +was replied to by a testy observation that he "knew all about it, and +there was not the least occasion to shake him so." "Boots" thereupon +left the room, somewhat doubtingly, and only to return in a few minutes +afterwards and find the Rev. Mr. -- as sound asleep as ever. This time +the clothes were stripped off, and a species of baptismal process was +adopted, familiarly known as "cold pig." At this assault the enraged +gentleman sat bolt upright in bed, and with much other bitter remark, +denounced "boots" as a barbarous follow. An explanation was then come +to, and the drowsy man professed he understood it all, and was _about_ to +arise. But the gentleman who officiated at the -- hotel, having had some +experience in these matters, placed no reliance upon the promise he had +just received, and shortly visited "No. twenty-three" again. There he +found that the occupant certainly had got up, but it was only to replace +the bedclothes and to lie down again. "Boots" now felt convinced that +this was one of those cases which required prompt and vigorous handling, +and without more ado, therefore, he again stripped off the upper +clothing, and seizing hold of the under sheet, he dragged its depository +bodily from off the bed. The sleeping man, sensible of the unusual +motion, and dreamily beholding a stalwart form bent over him, became +impressed with the idea that a personal attack was being made upon him, +probably with a view to robbery and murder. Under this conviction, he, +in his descent, grasped "boots" firmly by the throat, the result being +that both bodies thus came to the floor with a crash. Here the two +rolled about for some seconds in all the agonies of a death struggle, +until the unwonted noise and the cries of the assailants brought several +persons from all parts of the hotel, and they, seeing two men rolling +frantically about in each other's arms, and with the hand of each +grasping the other's throat, rushed in and separated them. An +explanation was of course soon given. The son of the church was +effectually awakened, he rewarded the "boots," and went off by the train. + +Fortune subsequently smiled upon "boots," and in the course of time he +became proprietor of a first-rate hotel. In the interval the Rev. Mr. -- +had risen from a humble curate to the grade of a dean. Having occasion +to visit the town of --, he put up at the house of the ex-boots. The two +men saw and recognized each other, and the affair of the early train +reverted to the mind of both. "It was a most fortunate circumstance," +said the dean, "that I did not oversleep myself on that morning, for from +the memorable journey that followed, I date my advancement in the Church. +But," he continued, with an expression that betokened some tender +recollection, "if I ever should require you to wake me for an early train +again, would you mind placing a mattress or feather-bed on the floor?" + + --_The Railway Traveller's Handy Book_. + + + + +A MAD ENGINE-DRIVER. + + +A startling event happened at an early hour yesterday morning (Jan. 8th, +1884), in connection with the mail train from Brest, which is due in +Paris at ten minutes to five o'clock. Whilst proceeding at full speed +the passengers observed the brakes to be put on with such suddenness that +fears were entertained that a collision was imminent, especially as the +spot at which the train was drawn up was in utter darkness. Upon the +guard reaching the engine he found the stoker endeavouring to overpower +the driver, who had evidently lost his reason. After blocking the line +the guard joined the stoker, and succeeded in securing the unfortunate +man, but not until he had offered a desperate resistance. The locomotive +was then put in motion, the nearest station was reached without further +misadventure, and the driver was placed in custody. The train ultimately +arrived in Paris after two hours' delay. + + + + +A MEXICAN CHIEF'S RAILWAY IMPRESSIONS. + + +Steam and gunpowder have often proved the most eloquent apostles of +civilization, but the impressiveness of their arguments was, perhaps, +never more strikingly illustrated than at the little railway station of +Gallegos, in Northern Mexico. When the first passenger train crossed the +viaduct, and the Wizards of the North had covered the festive tables with +the dainties of all zones, the governor of Durango was not the most +distinguished visitor; for among the spectators on the platform the +natives were surprised to recognise the Cabo Ventura, the senior chief of +a hill-tribe, which had never formally recognised the sovereignty of the +Mexican Republic. The Cabo, indeed, considered himself the lawful ruler +of the entire _Comarca_, and preserved a document in which the Virey +Gonzales, _en nombre del Rey_--in the name of the King--appointed him +"Protector of all the loyal tribes of Castro and Sierra Mocha." His +diploma had an archaeological value, and several amateurs had made him a +liberal offer, but the old chieftain would as soon have sold his scalp. +His soul lived in the past. All the evils of the age he ascribed to the +demerits of the traitors who had raised the banner of revolt against the +lawful king; and as for the countrymen of Mr. Gould, the intrusive +_Yangueses_, his vocabulary hardly approached the measure of his contempt +when he called them _herexes y combusteros_--heretics and humbugs. + +"But it cannot be denied," Yakoob Khan wrote to his father, "that it has +pleased Allah to endow those sinners with a good deal of brains;" and the +voice of nature gradually forced the Cabo to a similar conclusion, till +he resolved to come and see for himself. + +When the screech of the iron Behemoth at last resounded at the lower end +of the valley, and the train swept visibly around the curve of the +river-gap, the natives set up a yell that waked up the mountain echoes; +men and boys waved their hats and jumped to and fro, in a state of the +wildest excitement. Only the old Cabo stood stock-still. His gaze was +riveted upon the phenomenon that came thundering up the valley; his keen +eye enabled him to estimate the rate of speed, the trend of the up-grade, +the breadth, the length, the height of the car. When the train +approached the station, the crowd surged back in affright, but the Cabo +stood his ground, and as soon as the cars stopped he stepped down upon +the track. He examined the wheels, tapped the axles, and tried to move +the lever; and when the engine backed up for water, he closely watched +the process of locomotion, and walked to the end of the last car to +ascertain the length of the train. He then returned to the platform and +sat down, covering his face with both hands. + +Two hours later the Governor of Durango found him in still the same +position. + +"Hallo, Cabo," he called out, "how do you like this? What do you think +now of America Nueva?" ("New America," a collective term for the +republics of the American continent). + +The chieftain looked up. "_Sabe Dios_--the gods know--Senor Commandante, +but _I_ know this much: With Old America it's all up." + +"Is it? Well, look here: would you now like to sell that old diploma? I +still offer you the same price." + +The Cabo put his hand in his bosom, drew forth a leather-shrouded old +parchment, and handed it to his interlocutor. "Vengale, Usted--it's +worthless and you are welcome to keep it." Nevertheless, he connived +when the Governor slipped a gold piece into the pouch and put it upon his +knees, minus the document. + +But just before the train started, the Governor heard his name called, +and stepped out upon the platform of the palace-car, when he saw the old +chieftain coming up the track. + +"I owe you a debt, senor," said he, "_y le pagare en consejo_, I want to +pay it off in good advice: Beware of those strangers." + +"What strangers?" + +"The caballeros who invented this machine." + +"Is that what you came to tell me?" laughed the Governor as the train +started. + +The old Cabo waved his hand in a military salute. "_Estamos ajustade_, +Senor Commandante, this squares our account." + + --_Atlantic Monthly_, Jan., 1884. + + + + +MY ORDERS. + + +"Ticket, sir!" said an inspector at a railway terminus in the City to a +gentleman, who, having been a season ticket holder for some time, +believed his face was so well known that there was no need for him to +show his ticket. "My face is my ticket," replied the gentleman a little +annoyed. "Indeed!" said the inspector, rolling back his wristband, and +displaying a most powerful wrist, "well, my orders are to punch all +tickets passing on to this platform." + + + + +LUGGAGE IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES. + + +The question of the liability of railway companies in the event of +personal accident through parcels falling from a rack in the compartments +of passenger trains has been raised in the Midlands. In December last, a +tailor named Round was travelling from Dudley to Stourbridge, and, on the +train being drawn up at Round Oak Station, a hamper was jerked from the +racks and fell with such force as to cause him serious injury. Certain +medical charges were incurred, and Mr. Round alleged that he was unable +to attend to his business for five weeks in consequence of the accident. +He therefore claimed 50 pounds by way of compensation. Sir Rupert +Kettle, before whom the case was tried, decided that the company was not +liable, and could not be held responsible for whatever happened in +respect to luggage directly under the control of passengers. The case is +one of some public interest, inasmuch as a parcel falling from a rack is +not an uncommon incident in a railway journey. Moreover, the hamper in +question belonged, not to the plaintiff, but to a glass engraver, and +contained four empty bottles, two razors, and a couple of knives. + + --_Daily News_, March 29th, 1884. + + + + +EFFECTS OF CONSTANT RAILWAY TRAVELLING. + + +A writer in _Cassell's Magazine_ remarks:--"We hear individuals now and +then talking of the ease with which the season-ticket holder journeys +backwards and forwards daily from Brighton. By the young, healthy man, +no doubt, the journey is done without fatigue; but, after a certain time +of life, the process of being conveyed by express fifty miles night and +morning is anything but refreshing. The shaking and jolting of the best +constructed carriage is not such as we experience in a coach on an +ordinary road; but is made up of an infinite series of slight +concussions, which jar the spinal column and keep the muscles of the back +and sides in continued action." Dr. Radcliff, who has witnessed many +cases of serious injury to the nervous system from this cause, +contributed the following conclusive case some years ago to the pages of +the _Lancet_:--"A hale and stout gentleman, aged sixty-three, came to me +complaining of inability to sleep, numbness in limbs, great depression, +and all the symptoms of approaching paralytic seizure. He was very +actively engaged in large monetary transactions, which were naturally a +source of anxiety. He had a house in town; but, having been advised by +the late Doctor Todd to live at Brighton, he had taken a house there, and +travelled to and fro daily by the express train. The symptoms of which +he complained began to appear about four months after taking up his +residence at Brighton, and he had undergone a variety of treatment +without benefit, and was just hesitating about trying homaeopathy when I +saw him. I advised him to give up the journey for a month, and make the +experiment of living quietly in town. In a fortnight his rest was +perfectly restored, and the other symptoms rapidly disappeared, so that +at the end of the month he was as well as ever again. After three +months, he was persuaded to join his family at Brighton, and resumed his +daily journeys. In a few days his rest became broken and in two months +all the old symptoms returned. By giving up the journeys and again +residing in town, he was once more perfectly restored; but, it being the +end of the season, when the house at Brighton could not readily be +disposed of, and yielding to the wishes of his family, he again resumed +his journeys. In a month's time he was rendered so seriously unwell that +he hesitated no longer in taking up his permanent abode in town; and +since that time--now more than two years ago--he has enjoyed perfect +health." + + + + +AN ELECTRIC TRAMWAY INCIDENT. + + +The following appeared in the _Irish Times_ (Dublin, 1884): "It is not +generally known that the country people along the line of the electric +railway make strange uses of the insulated rails, which are the medium of +electricity on this tramway, in connection with one of which an +extraordinary and very remarkable occurrence is reported. People have no +objection to touch the rail and receive a smart shock, which is, however, +harmless, at least so far. On Thursday evening a ploughman, returning +from work, stood upon this rail in order to mount his horse. The rail is +elevated on insulators 18 inches above the level of the tramway. As soon +as the man placed his hands upon the back of the animal it received a +shock, which at once brought it down, and falling against the rail it +died instantly. The remarkable part is, that the current of electricity +which proved fatal to the brute must have passed through the body of the +man and proved harmless to him." + + + + +DUTY IN DISGUISE. + + +A gate-keeper in the employ of the Hessian Railway Company was recently +the hero of an amusing incident. His wife being ill, he went himself to +milk the goat; but the stubborn creature would not let him come near it, +as it had always been accustomed to have this operation performed by its +mistress. After many fruitless efforts, he at length decided to put on +his wife's clothes. The experiment succeeded admirably; but the man had +not time to doff his disguise before a train approached, and the +gatekeeper ran to his accustomed post. His appearance produced quite a +sensation among the officials of the passing train. The case was +reported and an inquiry instituted, which however resulted in his favour, +as the railway authorities granted the honest gate-keeper a gratuity of +ten marks for the faithful discharge of his duties. + + + + +THE MARQUIS OF HARTINGTON ON GEORGE STEPHENSON. + + +The Marquis of Hartington, when laying the foundation stone of a public +hall to be erected in memory of the inventor and practical introducer of +railway locomotion, expressed himself as follows:--"That almost all the +progress which this country has made in the last half-century is mainly +due to the development of the railway system. All the other vast +developments of the power of steam, all the developments of manufacturing +and mining industry would have availed but little for the greatness and +prosperity of this country--in fact they could hardly have existed at all +if there had been wanting those internal communications which have been +furnished by the locomotive engine to railways brought into use by +Stephenson. The changes which have been wrought in the history of our +country by the invention, the industry, and perseverance of one man are +something that we may call astounding. There are some things which +exceed the dreams of poetry and romance. We are justly proud of our +imperial possessions, but the steam engine, and especially the locomotive +steam-engine, the invention of George Stephenson--has not only increased +the number of the Queen's subjects by millions, but has added more +millions to her Majesty's revenues than have been produced by any tax +ever invented by any statesman. Comfort and happiness, prosperity and +plenty, have been brought to every one of her Majesty's subjects by this +invention in far greater abundance than has ever been produced by any +law, the production of the wisest and most patriotic Parliament. The +results of the career of a man who began life as a herd boy, and who up +to eighteen did not know how to read or write, and yet was able to confer +such vast benefits upon his country and mankind for all time, is worthy +of a national and noble memorial." + + + + +THE STEPHENSON CENTENARY. + + +Of all celebrations in the North of England there was never the like of +the centenary of the birth-day of George Stephenson, June 9th, 1881. The +enthusiastic crowds of people assembled to honour the occasion were never +before so numerous on any public holiday. Sir William Armstrong, C.B., +in his speech at the great banquet remarked:--"The memory of a great man +now dead is a solemn subject for a toast, and I approach the task of +proposing it with a full sense of its gravity. We are met to celebrate +the birth of George Stephenson, which took place just 100 years ago--a +date which nearly coincides with that at which the genius of Watt first +gave practical importance to the steam-engine. Up to that time the +inventive faculties of man had lain almost dormant, but with the advent +of the steam-engine there commenced that splendid series of discoveries +and inventions which have since, to use the words of Dr. Bruce, +revolutionised the state of the world. Amongst these the most momentous +in its consequences to the human race is the railway +system--(cheers)--and with that system including the locomotive engine as +its essential element, the name of George Stephenson will ever be +pre-eminently associated. In saying this, I do not mean to ignore the +important parts played by others in the development of the railway +system; but it is not my duty on this occasion to review the history of +that system and to assign to each person concerned his proper share of +the general credit. To do this would be an invidious task, and out of +place at a festival held in honour of George Stephenson only. I shall, +therefore, pass over all names but his, not even making an exception in +favour of his distinguished son. (Cheers.) It seldom or never happens +that any great invention can be exclusively attributed to any one man; +but it is generally the case that amongst those who contribute to the +ultimate success there is one conspicuous figure that towers above all +the rest, and such is the figure which George Stephenson presents in +relation to the railway system. (Cheers.) To be sensible of the +benefits we have derived from railways and locomotives let us consider +for a moment what would be our position if they were taken from us. The +present business of the country could not be carried on, the present +population could not be maintained, property would sink to half its +value--(hear, hear)--and instead of prosperity and progress we should +have collapse and retrogression on all sides. (Cheers.) What would +Newcastle be if it ceased to be a focus of railways? How would London be +supplied if it had to fall back upon turnpike roads and horse traffic? +In short, England as it is could not exist without railways and +locomotives; and it is only our familiarity with them that blunts our +sense of their prodigious importance. As to the future effects of +railways, it is easy to see that they are destined to diffuse industrial +populations over those vast unoccupied areas of the globe that abound in +natural resources, and only wait for facilities of access and transport +to become available for the wants of man. There is yet scope for an +enormous extension of railways all over the world, and the fame of +Stephenson will continue to grow as railways continue to spread. (Loud +cheers.) But I should do scant justice to the memory of George +Stephenson if I dwelt only on the results of his achievements. Many a +great reputation has been marred by faults of character, but this was not +the case with George Stephenson. His manly simplicity and frankness, and +his kindly nature won for him the respect and esteem of all who knew him +both in the earlier and later periods of his career--(cheers)--but the +prominent feature in his character was his indomitable perseverance, +which broke down all obstacles, and converted even his failures and +disappointments into stepping stones to success. It was not the desire +for wealth that actuated him in the pursuit of his objects, but it was a +noble enthusiasm, far more conducive to great ends than the hope of gain, +that carried him forward to his goal. Unselfish enthusiasm such as his +always gives a tone of heroism to a character, and heroism above all +things commands the homage of mankind. Newcastle may well be proud of +its connection with George Stephenson, and the proceedings of this day +testify how much his memory is cherished in this his native district. +Any memorial dedicated to him would be appropriate to this occasion, and +if such memorial were connected with scientific instruction it would be +in harmony with his well-known appreciation of the value of scientific +education, and of the sacrifices he made to give his son the advantage of +such an education. (Cheers.) I now, gentlemen, have to propose to you +the toast which has been committed to me, and which is 'Honour to the +memory of George Stephenson, and may the college to be erected to his +memory prove worthy of his fame.' I must ask you to drink this toast +standing; and consider that the birth of Stephenson is a subject of +jubilation. I think that although he is dead we may drink that toast +with hearty cheering. (Hear, hear, and loud cheers.) + +Mr. George Robert Stephenson, who was warmly cheered on rising to respond +to the toast, said: "Mr. Mayor and gentlemen,--Let me, in the first place +thank Sir William Armstrong for the many kind words he has uttered in +honour of the memory of George Stephenson. It is true that he was, as +Sir William said, one of the most kind-hearted and unselfish men that +ever lived; but I suppose that no man has had a more up-hill struggle +during the present century. (Cheers). I have now in my possession +documents that would show in his early life the extraordinary and +peculiar nature of the opposition that was brought against him as a poor +man. He was opposed by many of the leading engineers of the day; some of +these men using language which, it is not incorrect to say, was not only +injurious but wicked. This is not the proper occasion to weary you with +a long speech, but with the view of showing the peculiar mode of +engineers reporting against each other, I could very much wish, with your +permission, to read a few sentences from documents that I have in my +possession, dating back to 1823. (Hear, hear). This, gentlemen, will +clearly show the sort of opposition I have alluded to. It occurs at the +end of a report by an opponent upon some projected work on which the four +brothers were engaged:--'But we cannot conclude without saying that such +a mechanic as Mr. Stephenson, who can neither calculate, nor lay his +designs on paper, or distinguish the effect from the cause, may do very +well for repairing engines when they are constructed, but for building +new ones, he must be at great loss to his employers, from the many +alterations that will take place in engine-building, when he goes by what +we call the rule of thumb.' In a preceding sentence he is taunted with +being like the fly going round on a crank axle, and shouting 'What a dust +I am kicking up.' Gentlemen, the dust that George Stephenson kicked up +formed itself into a cloud, and in every part of the globe to which it +reached it carried with it and planted the seeds of civilization and +wealth. Notwithstanding the hard and illiberal treatment to which he was +exposed, he was not beaten; on the contrary, by his genius and his +never-failing spirit, he raised himself above the level of the very men +who opposed every effort he made towards the advancement of engineering +science--efforts which have resulted in a vast improvement of our means +for extracting the valuable products of the earth, and also of our means +of conveying them at a cheap rate to distant markets. It is not too much +to say that George Stephenson headed a movement by which alone could +employment have been found for an ever-increasing population." + +In the town of Chesterfield the Centenary was celebrated most +befittingly. It was there the father of railways spent his latter days, +and there he died. Although there was not such a flood of oratory as at +Newcastle-upon-Tyne, many interesting speeches were delivered in +connection with the event. We give some extracts from an address +delivered by the Rev. Samuel C. Sarjant, B.A., Curate-in-Charge at that +time--delivered at Holy Trinity Church, Chesterfield. An address which, +for ability, nice discrimination of thought, and true appreciation of the +subject, would not disgrace any pulpit in Christendom:-- + +"We meet to-day for the highest of all purposes, the worship of Almighty +God. But we also meet to show our regard for the memory of one of the +great and gifted dead. It is no small distinction of this town that the +last days of George Stephenson were spent in it. And it adds to the +interest of this church that it contains his mortal remains. With little +internally to appeal to the eye, or to gratify taste, this church has yet +a spell which will draw visitors from every part of the world. Men will +come hither from all lands to look with reverence upon the simple resting +place of him who was the father of the Locomotive and of the Railway +system. And perhaps the naked simplicity which marks that spot is in +keeping with a life, the grandeur of which was due solely to the man +himself, and not to outward helps and circumstances . . . + +"Toil has its roll of heroes, but few, if any, of them are greater than +he whose birth we commemorate to-day. He was pre-eminently a self-made +man, one who 'achieved' greatness by his own exertions. Granting that he +was gifted with powers of body and mind above the average, these were his +only advantages. The rest was due to hard work, patient, persistent +effort. He had neither wealth, schooling, patrons, nor favouring +circumstances. He comes into the arena like a naked athlete to wrestle +in his own strength with the difficulties before him. And these were +many and great! + +"I need not dwell upon the details of a life which is so well known to +most, and to some present so vividly, from personal intercourse and +friendship. We all know what a battle he fought, how nobly and well, +first striving by patient plodding effort to remove his own ignorance, +cheerfully bending himself to every kind of work that came in his way, +and seeking to gain not only manual expertness, but a mastery of +principles. We know how he went on toiling, observing, experimenting, +saying little--for he was never given to the 'talk of the lips'--but +doing much, letting slip no chance of getting knowledge, and of turning +it to practical account. He was one of those, who + + While his companions slept + Was toiling upwards in the night. + +And in due time his quiet work bore fruit. He invented a safety-lamp +which alone should have entitled him to the gratitude of posterity. He +then set himself to improve the locomotive, and fit it for the future +which his prescient mind discerned, and on a fair field he vanquished all +competitors. He then sought to adapt the roadway to the engine and make +it fit for its new work. And then, hardest task of all, he had to +convince the public that railway travelling was a possible thing; that it +could he made safe, cheap, and rapid. In doing this he was compelled to +design, plan, and execute almost everything with his own mind and hand. +All classes and interests were against him, the engineers, the land +owners, the legislature, and the public. He had to encounter the +phantoms of ignorance and fear, the solid resistance of vested interests, +and the bottomless quagmires of Chat Moss. But he triumphed! And it was +a well-earned reward as he looked down from his pleasant retreat at +Tapton upon the iron bands which glistened below, to know that they were +part of a network which was spreading over the whole land and becoming +the one highway of transit and commerce. Nor was this all his +satisfaction. He knew that Europe and America were welcoming the +railway, and that it was promising to link together the whole civilized +world. + +"Of the 'profit' of his labours to humanity I scarcely venture to speak, +since it cannot possibly be told in a few words. The railway system has +revolutionised society. It has powerfully affected every class, every +interest and department of life. It has given an incredible impulse to +commerce, quickened human thought, created a new language, new habits, +tastes and pleasures. It has opened up fields of industry and enterprise +inaccessible and unknown before. It has cheapened the necessaries and +comforts of life, enhanced the value of property, promoted the fellowship +of class with class, and brought unnumbered benefits and advantages +within the reach of all. And it is yet, as to the world at large, but in +the infancy of its development. + +"How much, then, do we owe, under God, to George Stephenson. How much, +not merely to his energy and diligence, but to his courage, patience, and +uprightness? For these qualities, quite as much as gifts of genius and +insight, contributed to his final success. He was crowned because he +strove 'lawfully.' His patience was as great in waiting as his energy in +working. He did not work from greed or self-glorification; and therefore +the hour of success, when it came, found him the same modest, +self-restrained man as before. He neither overrated the value of the +system which he had set up, nor made it a means of speculation and +gambling. He was a man of sterling honesty and uprightness--of +self-control, simple in his habits and tastes, given to plain living and +high thinking. And yet he was most kindly, genial, and cheery, of strong +affections, considerate of his workpeople, tender to his family, full of +love to little children and pet animals, brimming with fun and good +humour. He had the gentleness of all noble natures, the largeness of +mind and heart which could recognise ability and worth in others, and +give rivals their due. For the young inventor, or for such of his +helpers as showed marked diligence or promise, he had ready sympathy and +aid. Nor ought we to pass unnoticed his love of nature and of natural +beauty. Strong throughout his whole life, this was especially +conspicuous at its close. Such leisure as his last days brought was +spent amidst flowers and fruits, gardens and greeneries which he had +planned and filled, and from the midst of whose treasures he could look +forth over venerable trees and green fields upon a wide and varied +landscape. And yet, even in this relaxation, the old energy and +earnestness of purpose asserted themselves. He toiled and experimented, +watching the growth of his plants and flowers with more than professional +pains. Nor is it improbable that the ardour which led him to confine +himself for hours together in a heated and unhealthy atmosphere led to +his fatal illness. + +"We are bound, then, to mark and admit how much the moral element in the +worker contributed to his success, and to the freshness of the regard +which is felt for his memory and name. England is proud of his works, +but prouder still of the man who did them. Far different would have been +the result if impatience, ungenerousness, and love of greed had marred +his life and work. The tributes of respect which we gladly lay upon his +tomb to-day, would probably have been placed elsewhere." + + + + +REMARKABLE COINCIDENCES. + + +Many years ago the editor of this book and an elderly lady, the widow of +a well-known farmer, took tickets from Little Bytham for Edenham in +Lincolnshire. They were the only passengers, and as the railway passed +for nearly two miles through Grimsthorpe park, she asked the driver if he +would stop at a certain spot which would have saved us both perhaps +half-a-mile's walk. The request was politely refused. After going a +good distance the train was suddenly pulled up. I opened the window and +found it had stopped at the very spot we desired. The stoker came +running by with a fine hare which the train had run over. I said we can +get out now and he said, Oh yes. And so through this strange +misadventure to poor pussy our walk was much shortened. + +Some years before the above occurrence I was travelling by the early +morning mail train from the Midlands to the West of England. At Taunton +I perceived a crowd of persons gathered at the front of the train. I +went forward and saw a corpse was being removed from the van to a hearse +outside the station. On reading the inscription on the coffin plate I +was somewhat taken aback to find my own name. So Richard Pike living and +Richard Pike dead had been travelling by the same train. Perhaps rarely, +if ever, have two more singular circumstances occurred in connection with +railway travelling. + + + + +LOSS OF TASTE. + + +Serjeant Ballantine in his _Experiences of a Barrister's Life_, +says:--"There was a singular physical fact connected with him (Sir Edward +Belcher), he had entirely lost the sense of taste; this he frequently +complained of, and could not account for. A friend of mine, an eminent +member of the Bar, suffers in the same way, but is able to trace the +phenomenon to the shock that he suffered in a railway collision." + + + + +INGENIOUS SWINDLING. + + +A party of gentlemen who had been to Doncaster to see the St. Leger run, +came back to the station and secured a compartment. As the train was +about to start, a well-dressed and respectable looking man entered and +took the only vacant seat. Shortly after they had started, he said, +"Well, gentlemen, I suppose you have all been to the races to-day?" They +replied they had. "Well," said the stranger, "I have been, and have +unfortunately lost every penny I had, and have nothing to pay my fare +home, but if you promise not to split on me, I have a plan that I think +will carry me through." They all consented. He then asked the gentleman +that sat opposite him if he would kindly lend him his ticket for a +moment; on its being handed to him he took it and wrote his own name and +address on the back of the ticket and returned it to the owner. Nothing +more was said until they arrived at the place where they collected +tickets; being the races, the train was very crowded, and the +ticket-collector was in a great hurry; the gentlemen all pushed their +tickets into his hands. The collector then asked the gentleman without a +ticket for his, who replied he had already given it him. The collector +stoutly denied it. The gentleman protested he had, and, moreover, would +not be insulted, and ordered him to call the station-master. On the +station-master coming, he said he wished to report the collector for +insulting him. "I make a practice to always write my name and address on +the back of my ticket, and if your man looks at his tickets he will find +one of that description." The man looked and, of course, found the +ticket, whereupon he said he must have been mistaken, and both he and the +stationmaster apologised, and asked him not to report the case further. + + + + +DANGEROUS LUGGAGE. + + +Complaints are sometimes made of the want of due respect paid on the part +of porters to passengers' luggage. It appears that occasionally a like +lack of caution is manifested by owners to their own property. It is +said that on a train lately on a western railway in America, some +passengers were discussing the carriage of explosives. One man contended +that it was impossible to prevent or detect this; if people were not +allowed to ship nitro-glycerine or dynamite legitimately, they'd smuggle +it through their baggage. This assertion was contradicted emphatically, +and the passenger was laughed at, flouted, and ignominiously put to +scorn. Rising up in his wrath, he produced a capacious valise from under +the seat, and, slapping it emphatically on the cover, said, "Oh, you +think they don't, eh? Don't carry explosives in cars? What's this?" and +he gave the valise a resounding thump, "Thar's two hundred good dynamite +cartridges in that air valise; sixty pounds of deadly material; enough to +blow this yar train and the whole township from Cook County to +Chimborazo. Thar's dynamite enough," he continued; but he was without an +auditor, for the passengers had fled incontinently, and he could have sat +down upon twenty-two seats if he had wanted to. And the respectful way +in which the baggage men on the out-going trains in the evening handled +the trunks and valises was pleasant to see. + +The neglect of carefulness appears, in one instance at least, to have +involved inconvenience to the offending official. "An unknown genius," +says an American periodical, "the other day entrusted a trunk, with a +hive of bees in it, to the tender mercies of a Syracuse +'baggage-smasher.' The company will pay for the bees, and the doctor +thinks his patient will be round in a fortnight or so." + + --Williams's _Our Iron Roads_. + + + + +STUMPED. + + +Several Sundays ago a Philadelphia gentleman took his little son on a +railway excursion. The little fellow was looking out of the window, when +his father slipped the hat off the boy's head. The latter was much +grieved at his supposed loss, when papa consoled him by saying that he +would "whistle it back." A little later he whistled and the hat +reappeared. Not long after the little lad flung his hat out of the +window, shouting, "Now, papa, whistle it back again!" A roar of laughter +in the car served to enhance the confusion of perplexed papa. Moral: +Don't attempt to deceive little boys with plausible stories. + + + + +EXCURSIONISTS PUT TO THE PROOF. + + +A good story is told of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln Railway +Company. A week or two since, the company ran an excursion train to +London and back, the excursion being intended for their workmen at Gorton +and Manchester. There was an enormous demand for the tickets; so +enormous that the officials began, to use an expressive term, "to smell a +rat." But the sale of the tickets was allowed to proceed. The journey +to London was made, and a considerable number of the passengers +congratulated themselves upon the remarkably cheap outing they were +having. But on the return journey they made a most unpleasant discovery. +Their tickets were demanded at Retford, and then the ticket-collectors +insisted upon the holder of every ticket proving that he was in the +employ of the company. The result can be imagined. There were more +persons in the train who had no connection with the company than there +were of the company's employes; and the former had either to pay a full +fare to and from London, or to give their names and addresses preparatory +to being summoned. We hear, from a reliable source, that the fares thus +obtained amount to about 300 pounds. + + --_Echo_, Sept. 23, 1880. + + + + +A MONKEY SIGNALMAN. + + +We learn from the _Colonies_ that a monkey signalman manages the railway +traffic at Witenhage, South Africa. The human signalman has had the +misfortune to lose both his legs, and has trained a baboon to discharge +his duties. Jacky pushes his master about on a trolly, and, under his +directions, works the lever to set the signals with a most ludicrous +imitation of humanity. He puts down the lever, looks round to see that +the correct signal is up, and then gravely watches the approaching train, +his master being at hand to correct any mistake. + + + + +A CURIOUS CLASSIFICATION. + + +The guard of an English railway carriage recently refused to allow a +naturalist to carry a live hedgehog with him. The traveller, indignant, +pulled a turtle from his wallet and said, "Take this too!" But the guard +replied good naturedly, "Ho, no, sir. It's dogs you can't carry; and +dogs is dogs, cats is dogs, and 'edge'ogs is dogs, but turtles is +hinsects." + + + + +PULLMAN'S CARRIAGES. + + +In the discussion on Mr. C. Douglas Fox's recent paper on the +Pennsylvania railway, Mr. Barlow, the engineer of the Midland, observed +that there was a certain attractive power about a Pullman's carriage, +which ought not to be overlooked, a power which brought passengers to it +who would not otherwise travel by railway. A Pullman's carriage weighed +somewhere about twenty tons. The cost of hauling that weight was about +1.5d. per mile; that was the sum which the Midland Company proposed to +charge for first-class passengers, so that one first-class passenger +would pay the haulage of the carriage. If the attractive power of the +carriage brought more than one first-class passenger it would of course +pay itself. + + _Herepath's Railway Journal_, Jan. 23, 1875. + + + + +PROFITABLE DAMAGES. + + +The Springfield _Republican_, of 1877, is responsible for the following +story:--"The industry of railroading has developed some thrifty +characters, among whom a former employe of the New York, New Haven, and +Hartford road deserves high rank. He was at one time at work in the +Springfield depot, and while taking a trunk out of a baggage car from +Boston he was thrown over and hurt, the baggage-smashing art being for a +time reversed. The injured employe suffered terribly, and crawled around +on crutches until the Boston and Albany and the New Haven roads united +and gave him 6000 dollars. He was cured the next day. Shortly +afterwards a man on the Boston and Albany road was killed, and the +Company gave his widow 3,000 dollars. The former cripple, who had scored +6,000 dollars already, soon married her, and thus counted 9,000 dollars. +He recovered his health so completely that he was able again to work on +the railroad, but finally, not being hurt again within a reasonable time, +he retired to a farm which he had bought with a part of the proceeds of +his former calamities." + + + + +RAILWAY ENTERPRISE. + + +It would be difficult to close this series of Railway Anecdotes more +appropriately than in the words of George Stephenson's celebrated son +Robert at a banquet given to him at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in August, 1850. +"It was but as yesterday," he said, "that he was engaged as an assistant +in tracing the line of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Since that +period, the Liverpool and Manchester, the London and Birmingham, and a +hundred other great works had sprung into vigorous existence. So +suddenly, so promptly had they been accomplished, that it appeared to him +like the realization of fabled powers, or the magician's wand. Hills had +been cut down, and valleys had been filled up; and where this simple +expedient was inapplicable, high and magnificent viaducts had been +erected; and where mountains intervened, tunnels of unexampled magnitude +had been unhesitatingly undertaken. Works had been scattered over the +face of our country, bearing testimony to the indomitable enterprise of +the nation and the unrivalled skill of its artists. In referring thus to +the railway works, he must refer also to the improvement of the +locomotive engine. This was as remarkable as the other works were +gigantic. They were, in fact, necessary to each other. The locomotive +engine, independent of the railway, would be useless. They had gone on +together, and they now realized all the expectations that were +entertained of them. It would be unseemly, as it would be unjust, if he +were to conceal the circumstances under which these works had been +constructed. No engineer could succeed without having men about him as +highly-gifted as himself. By such men he had been supported for many +years past; and, though he might have added his mite, yet it was to their +co-operation that all his success was owing." + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAILWAY ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES*** + + +******* This file should be named 31395.txt or 31395.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/1/3/9/31395 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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