diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/50119-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/50119-0.txt | 2843 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 2843 deletions
diff --git a/old/50119-0.txt b/old/50119-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c1ded74..0000000 --- a/old/50119-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2843 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rocket, by H. C. Knight - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: The Rocket - The Story of the Stephensons, Father and Son - -Author: H. C. Knight - -Release Date: October 3, 2015 [EBook #50119] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROCKET *** - - - - -Produced by Chris Curnow, readbueno and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -[Illustration: A LOCOMOTIVE AND TENDER.] - - - - - THE ROCKET. - - THE STORY OF THE STEPHENSONS, - - Father and Son. - - BY - - _H. C. KNIGHT_, - - AUTHOR OF "NO GAINS WITHOUT PAINS," ETC. - - - WITH TWENTY-SIX ENGRAVINGS - - - London: - T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW. - EDINBURGH; AND NEW YORK. - - 1897 - - - - - Preface. - - -A brief book for the boys. God gives you work to do in the world. He -gives you honourable work. There is much done that is mean and -dishonourable. Depend upon it, _that_ is not His. In the beginning of -your work, character grows _out_ of it; as you go on, your character -goes _into_ it. Therefore the Bible declares that "God, without respect -of persons, judgeth according to every man's work." We judge in the same -way. This little book will show you how much the practice of the -virtues, the humbler virtues, has to do with making good work. - -But keep ever in mind that these virtues, however useful and important -for your work in this world, have no _saving_ power in them—they form no -plea for the favour of God; the key which unlocks the door of Heaven is -not found among them. Like the young man in the Gospel, you may have the -loveliness of every natural virtue, and yet be lost. - -As sinners in the sight of God, you need the atoning blood of the -Redeemer; you need repentance and faith in that blood. Make Jesus -Christ, therefore, the corner-stone of your character; on _that -foundation build_ your character. Cultivate the graces of the Gospel. -Baptize the virtues with your Saviour's love. A noble Christian manhood -can only be attained by the slow and steady endeavours of a heart fixed -on God, and a hand diligent and delighting in the work He has given it -to do. - - - - - Contents. - - - I. LIFE AMONG THE COAL PITS, 9 - - II. MENDING AND MAKING—LITTLE BOB, 19 - - III. WHO BEGAN RAILROADS?—"PUFFING BILLY," 30 - - IV. TWO CITIES THAT WANTED TO GET NEAR EACH - OTHER—A NEW FRIEND, 38 - - V. HUNTING UP HIS OWN WORK—AN ENTERPRISING - QUAKER—WHAT WAS THE RESULT? 46 - - VI. THE TWO CITIES TRYING AGAIN—BUGBEARS, 58 - - VII. GRAPPLING WITH DIFFICULTIES—THE BOG—A - PUZZLE—THE PRIZE OFFER, 72 - - VIII. ROBERT'S RETURN—A CURIOUS ENCOUNTER—THE - PRIZE ENGINE, 86 - - IX. OPENING OF THE NEW ROAD—DIFFICULTIES - VANISH—A NEW ERA, 102 - - X. THE STEPHENSON CENTENARY—HONOUR TO WHOM - HONOUR IS DUE, 121 - - - - - List of Illustrations. - - - LOCOMOTIVE AND TENDER, _Frontispiece_ - - EARLY WORK, 10 - - A SAFETY LAMP, 11 - - BIRTHPLACE OF GEORGE STEPHENSON, 12 - - AT SCHOOL, 17 - - MENDING THE CLOCK, 21 - - THE SUN-DIAL, 29 - - GEORGE STEPHENSON'S FIRST ENGINE, 35 - - "PUFFING BILLY," 36 - - THE VISIT TO "PUFFING BILLY," 44 - - THE TWO STRANGERS, 50 - - A TALK ABOUT RAILWAYS, 54 - - SURVEYING AT NIGHT, 63 - - CHAT MOSS, 74 - - GOOD SERVICE, 81 - - A CURIOUS ENCOUNTER, 87 - - SECTION OF THE FIRST BOILER IN USE, 92 - - SECTION OF A TUBULAR BOILER, 93 - - THE FAILURE, 95 - - TUBES OF A MODERN ENGINE, 96 - - THE "ROCKET," 97 - - OPENING THE LINE, 104 - - WHOLESOME REPROOF, 115 - - LATER DAYS OF GEORGE STEPHENSON, 116 - - VICTORIA BRIDGE, MONTREAL, 118 - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - - THE ROCKET. - - - - - CHAPTER I. - - LIFE AMONG THE COAL PITS. - - -What useful little fellow is this, carrying his father's dinner to him -at the coal-pit? He takes care, also, of his little brothers and -sisters, keeping them clear of the coal-waggons, which run to and fro -before the cottage door. Then he is seen tending a neighbour's cows. -Now, he is moulding mud engines, putting in hemlock sticks for -blow-pipes; besides cutting many a good caper, and uttering all sorts of -drolleries for the benefit of other little boys, who like himself swarm -round, too poor to go to school, if school there were—but schools there -were none. - -The boys called him "Geordie Steve." - -A lad is wanted to shut the coal-yard gates after work is over. Geordie -offers his services and gets the post, earning by it twopence a day. A -neighbour hires him to hoe turnips at fourpence. He is thankful to earn -a bit, for his parents are poor, and every little helps. He sees work -ahead, however, more to his taste. What? He longs to be big enough to go -and work at the coal-pits with his father. For the home of this little -fellow, as you already perceive, is in a coal region. It is in the coal -district of Newcastle, in the north-eastern part of England. - -[Illustration: EARLY WORK.] - -I suppose you never visited a colliery? Coal is found in beds and veins -under ground. Deep holes are made, down which the miners go and dig it -out; it is hoisted out by means of steam-engines. These holes are called -shafts. The pit-men have two enemies to encounter down in the -coal-pits—water, and a kind of gas which explodes on touching the flame -of a candle. The water has to be pumped out; and miners are now provided -with a lamp, called a safety-lamp, which is covered with a fine wire -gauze to keep the gas away from the flame. - -[Illustration: SAFETY LAMP.] - -The coal is brought up from the pit in baskets, loaded on waggons -running on tram-roads, and sent to the sheds. Tram-roads were a sort of -wooden railway. A colliery is a busy and odd-looking spot. - -Geordie's family lived in one room—father, mother, four boys, and two -girls. Snug quarters, one would think; but the working-men of England at -that time had smaller wages and poorer homes than they now have—for -Geordie was born in 1781, in the little village of Wylam, seven miles -from Newcastle, and his full name is George Stephenson. - -[Illustration: BIRTHPLACE OF GEORGE STEPHENSON.] - -James, an elder brother, is "picker;" and by-and-by George is old enough -to be a picker too, going with his father and brother to their daily -tasks, like a man. To clear the coal of stones and dross is their -business. There are a number of pits around, and each one has a -name,—"Dolly Pit," "Water-run Pit," and so on. - -I do not know how long he was picker, but we next find him driving a -gin-horse, at a pit two miles off, across the fields. Away he goes in -the early morning, gladdened all along by many bird songs. George and -the birds are fast friends. He knows where their nests are in the -hedgerows, and watches over them with fatherly affection. At home he has -tame birds, whose pretty, knowing ways are the wonder of the -neighbourhood. For many years a tame blackbird was as much one of the -family as George himself, coming and going at pleasure, and roosting at -night over his head. Sometimes it spent the summer in the woods, but was -sure to come back with cold weather, to share his care and crumbs -through the winter. - -George, too, had a famous breed of rabbits; and as for his dog, it was -one of the most accomplished and faithful creatures in the district. In -fact, the boy had an insight into dumb-brute nature, as we shall find he -had into other things, that gave him power over it—a power which he -never abused, but used kindly and well. - -George next rose to be assistant fireman with his father, at a shilling -a day. He was fourteen, but so small of his age that he used to hide -when the inspector came round, lest he should be thought too small for -his wages. If small in body, he was large in heart, intent in all things -to _do his best_. And this made his work so well done, that it could not -escape the notice of his employers. When he went to the office on -Saturday night to receive his wages, double pay was given him—twelve -instead of six shillings! George could scarcely believe in his good -luck. When he found it was really no mistake, he took the money and -rushed out of the office, exclaiming, "I am now a made man for life!" - -George rapidly shot ahead of his father, a kind old man, who always -stayed fireman, while his boy climbed one round after another up the -ladder of promotion. At seventeen we find him plugman. What duty is -that? A plugman has charge of a pumping-engine, and when the water in -the pit is below the suction-holes, he goes down the shaft and plugs the -tube, in order to make the pump more easily draw. The post required more -skill and knowledge of machinery than any he had filled before, and he -proved himself equal to it. - -Indeed, he loves his engine as he loves his birds. It is a pet with him. -He keeps it in prime order. He takes it to pieces, and cleans it, and -studies it; pries into the whys and wherefores, and is never satisfied -until he understands every spring and cog of the machinery, and gets the -mastery of it. You never find him idling away his time. In leisure -moments he is at his old kink, moulding clay engines, and putting new -thoughts into them. - -He wished to know the history of engines, and how they were thought out -at first. Somebody told him about Watt, the father of steam-power, and -that there were books which would satisfy his curiosity. Books! what -good would books do poor George? He cannot read. Not read? No. He is -eighteen, and hardly knows his letters. Few of the colliers did. They -were generally an ignorant, hard-working, clannish set of men, whose -pay-day was a holiday, when their hard-won earnings were squandered at -cock-fights and in ale-houses. - -If one was found who _did_ read, what a centre of light was he! At night -the men and boys gathered around him, when, by the light of his engine -fire, he would give them the news from an old newspaper, or a scrap of -knowledge from some stray magazine, or a wild story from an odd volume; -and on these occasions no one listened with more profound attention than -George. - -Oh! it was so wonderful to read, he thought. It was to open the gates -into great fields of knowledge. Read he must. The desire grew upon him -stronger and stronger. In the neighbouring hamlet of Welbottle, old -Robin Cowens taught an evening school. - -"I'll go," cried George. - -"And I too," echoed Tommy Musgrove, a fellow-workman, quite carried away -by George's enthusiasm. - -Now they went to Robin's school three evenings a week. I do not know how -it was with Tommy, but old Robin never had a better scholar than George; -indeed, he soon outlearned his master! His schooling cost him threepence -a week, and, poor as it was, put into his hand the two keys of -knowledge, reading and writing. - -These mastered, he longs to use them. Andrew Robertson opens an evening -school nearer than Welbottle, and Andrew proposes to teach arithmetic, a -branch George is anxious to grapple with next. "And he took to figurin' -wonderful," said Master Andrew, speaking of his new scholar, who soon -left his classmates far behind. And no wonder. Every spare moment to -George was more precious than gold dust, and was used accordingly. When -not on duty, he sits by his engine and works out his sums. No beer-shop -ever enticed him to its cups; no cock-fight ever tempted him to be its -spectator. He hated everything low and vulgar. - -[Illustration: AT SCHOOL.] - -Andrew was proud of his pupil, and when George removed to another pit, -the old schoolmaster shifted his quarters and followed him. His books -did not damage his interest in business. Was the plugman going to stay -plugman? No. Bill Coe, a friend of his advanced to be a brakeman, -offered to show George. The other workmen objected. And one in -particular stopped the working of the engine when George took hold of -it; "for," he cried angrily, "Stephenson can't brake, and is too clumsy -ever to learn." - -A brakeman has charge of an engine for raising coal from a pit. The -speed of the ascending coal, brought up in large hazel-wood baskets, is -regulated by a powerful wooden brake, acting on the rim of the -fly-wheel, which must be stopped just when the baskets reach the -settle-board, where they are to be emptied. Brakemen were generally -chosen from experienced engine-men of steady habits; and in spite of the -grumbling of older colliers, envious perhaps at his rise, it was not -long before George learned, and was appointed brakeman at the Dolly Pit. -This was in 1801. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - - MENDING AND MAKING—LITTLE BOB. - - -George was now twenty—sober, faithful, and expert. Finding a little -spare time on his hands, he took to cobbling to increase his gains, and -from this source contrived to save his first guinea. To this greater -diligence he was urged by his love for Fanny Henderson, a fine -sweet-tempered girl, whom he shortly married, and began housekeeping in -the upper room of a small cottage in Wellington, six miles from -Newcastle. Happy were they in each other, and in their simple, -industrious, and frugal habits; and when a little son was born to them, -George, who loved birds, rabbits, and dogs so well, welcomed with all -the tenderness of a father's heart the little Bobby. - -Robert he was named, after the old fireman his grandfather. - -Accidents, they say, will happen in the best-regulated families. Fanny's -family was not an exception. One day the cottage chimney got on fire, -and the neighbours, with friendly zeal, not only poured water enough -down the chimney to put out a much bigger and more alarming fire, but -enough to deluge the poor little home of the brakeman with soot and -water, making a pitiful sight to the young husband when he reached it. -His eight-day clock, the choicest bit of furniture the young couple had, -was completely smothered by ashes. What was to be done? Sending it to a -clock-maker for repairs was quite out of the question—it would cost too -much. - -"I'll try my own hand on it," said George. After righting everything -else, he attacked the clock, took it to pieces, carefully cleaned it, -put it together, set it, and it _ticked_—ticking on as faithfully and -soberly as ever! The astonished neighbours sent him their clocks, and -George became one of the most famous clock doctors thereabouts. - -The young man's reputation for business soon won him a situation in -Killingworth—the best and largest colliery in the region. But his -brightened worldly prospects were soon clouded by a dark sorrow—the -death of his young wife, after three happy years of married life. Poor -George felt it deeply, which was perhaps one reason for accepting a -situation in Scotland, hoping in a change of scene to change the -mournful current of his thoughts. - -[Illustration: MENDING THE CLOCK.] - -Leaving his little boy in kind hands, he set off to the north with his -pack on his back, afoot and alone, for Montrose—a long journey in those -days. Good wages he received, and good friends he no doubt made, for -everybody loved his honest and generous character; yet by the end of the -year he yearned to get back to the friends and scenes of his early days. -It was not home in Scotland; for it is only home where the heart is. -With his savings in his pocket—twenty-eight pounds—back he trudged to -Killingworth; and not before his friendly presence was greatly needed to -comfort his aged parents, plunged in debt and affliction. By a terrible -accident his father had lost his eyesight. No longer able to work, and -receiving little or no help from his other children, who were barely -able to maintain themselves, the old couple had a hard battle with life. -But George is back again; all will be righted. He paid off their debts, -and removed them to comfortable lodgings beside his own. He has father, -mother, and Bobby to look after, and is thankful and happy in doing it. - -Those were dark days, however, for the working-men of England. War was -draining the country of men and money. Taxes were high, wages low, bread -scarce, and able-bodied men were liable at any time to be impressed for -the army or naval service. George himself was drawn; and go he must, or -find a substitute. He found one, but it cost all he had to hire him. - -Poor George was in straits. His spirits were much damped by the prospect -of things around and before him. All business was in a discouraging -condition. Some of his friends were about to emigrate to America, and he -at one time nearly concluded to join them. It was a sore trial to the -young man. He loved his English home; and bitter tears did he in secret -shed as he visited old haunts—the fields and lanes and scenes of his -boyhood—feeling and fearing that all too soon the wide Atlantic might -roll between him and them. But the necessary funds for such an -enterprise were not forthcoming. George gave it up, therefore, and went -to work for what wages the times would allow. Better times would come. - -The thing nearest his heart was to afford his little son an education. -Keenly alive to his own early deficiencies and disadvantages, he -determined to make them up in Robert. Every spare moment was of two-fold -value to him, and all the work he could pick up he cheerfully did. -Besides tinkering old clocks and cobbling old shoes, he took to cutting -out the pitmen's clothes. Never was there such a fit, for George acted -fully up to the principle that everything which was worth doing was -worth doing well. - -Busy as were his hands, his mind was no less busy, catching up and using -every scrap of knowledge which came in his way. And it was a perpetual -surprise to his fellow-workmen to see what a knack he had at bettering -things. Everything improved in his hands. There was always progress on -his track. - -A new pit was opened at one of the collieries. Streams of water rushed -in, which the most vigorous strokes of the pump could not lower. On the -engine went pumping, pumping, pumping for a year, and the water -continued to flow in, until it was nearly concluded to give up the pit -as a failure. George's curiosity and interest were much excited, and -always, on seeing the men, he asked how matters were coming on. - -"Drowned out, drowned out," was the one and the same answer. - -Over he went to the poor pit, as often as he could, to see for himself; -and over he turned in his mind again and again the whys and wherefores -of the failure. - -"Weel, George," said his friend Kit one day, "what do you mak' o' her? -Do you think you could doctor her?" - -"Man," answered George, "in a week's time I could send you to the -bottom." - -The regular engineers were in high dudgeon with the forth-putting -brakeman. What right had he to know how to cure an evil that had baffled -them? His words, however, were reported at head-quarters; and the -contractor was not long in hastening over to see if he could make his -words good. - -"Well, George," he said, "they tell me you think you can put that engine -to rights." - -"Yes, sir," replied the young man modestly; "I think I can." - -As matters could be no worse, Mr. Dodds was ready to let him try; and -George agreed, on condition that he should choose his own men to help -him. The old hands were highly indignant, but there was no help for it. -So they were ordered off, and George with his gang went on. - -The engine was taken to pieces, examined, righted, and put together -again. It was set to work. Did it go? Many a looker-on shook his head -doubtfully, and prophesied in his inmost heart, "_No_ go." It pumped and -pumped. The obstinate water found it had an antagonist that could master -it. In less than two days it disappeared from the pit, and workmen were -sent to the bottom. Who could gainsay George's skill? - -Mr. Dodds, of course, was delighted. Over and above his wages he put a -ten-pound note into the young man's hand, and engaged him to superintend -his works for the future. - -A profitable job was this. - -The fame of this engineering exploit spread far and wide. As an engine -doctor he took the lead, and many a wheezy old thing was brought him to -cure. Envious engineers tried to put him down. But real merit cannot be -put down. It is stern stuff. - -George's cottage showed the bent of his tastes. It was like an old -curiosity shop, full of models of engines, complete or in parts, hanging -and standing round; for busy as he had need to be—eking out his means by -engineering, by clocks, and by coats—the construction and improvement of -machinery for the collieries was his hobby. - -Likeness of taste drew a young farmer often to the cottage—John -Wigham—who spent most of his evenings in George's society. John had a -smattering of chemistry and philosophy, and a superior knowledge of -mathematics, which made him a desirable companion. George put himself -under his tuition, and again took to "figuring." Tasks set him in the -evening were worked out among the rough toils of the day. And so much -honest purpose did not fail to secure progress. Drawing was another new -line of effort. Sheets of plans and sections gave his rude desk the air -of mind-work somewhere. Thus their winter evenings passed away. - -Bobby was growing up in a little thought-world by himself; for he could -not fail to be interested in all that interested his father—that father -always making his son the companion of his studies, and early -introducing him into the curious and cunning power of machinery. - -Ah, that was a proud day when little Bob was old enough, and knew -enough, to be sent to the academy at Newcastle. He was thirteen. His -father's means had happily been increased. The old engine-wright of the -colliery having died, George Stephenson was promoted to the post, on the -salary of a hundred pounds a year. This was in 1812. - -The new office relieving him from incessant hard work, and the necessity -of earning a shilling by extra labours, he had more time for study and -for verifying his plans of practical improvement; and the consequence -was very considerable improvement in the machinery of the colliery to -which he was attached. - -Meanwhile Robert's education went on apace. The boy was hungry for -knowledge, not only for himself, but to satisfy the voracious appetite -of his father, and the no less keen one of John Wigham. - -Robert joined a literary and philosophical society at Newcastle, whose -fine library opened a rich storehouse of material. Here the boy spent -most of his time out of school, storing his mind with principles, facts, -and illustrations, to carry home on Saturday afternoon. Books also. The -"Edinburgh Encyclopædia" was at his command. A volume of that at the -cottage unfolded a world of wonders. But the library had some books too -choice to be trusted away. How was Robert to get the gist of these home? -His father had often said that a "good drawing and a well-executed plan -would always explain itself;" and many a time he had placed a rough -sketch of machinery before his son, and told him to describe it. Robert, -therefore, when he could do no better, put his drilling to the test, and -copied diagrams and drew pictures, thus taking many an important and -perhaps rare specimen of machinery and science to Killingworth, for his -father's benefit. - -We can well imagine Saturday afternoon was as much a holiday to father -as to son. Robert's coming was hailed with delight. John did not lag far -behind. Some of the neighbours dropped in to listen to discussions which -made the little room a spot of lively interest and earnest toil. A -wide-awake mind allows nothing stagnant around it. - -[Illustration: THE SUN-DIAL.] - -Among the borrowed books of the day was Ferguson's "Astronomy," which -put father and son to calculating and constructing a sun-dial for the -latitude of Killingworth. It was wrought in stone, and fixed over the -cottage door; and there it is still, with its date, August 11, 1816—a -year or two before Robert left school—a fair specimen of the drift of -his boyish tastes. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - - WHO BEGAN RAILROADS?—"PUFFING BILLY." - - -Familiar as it has become to us, who does not stop to look with interest -at the puffing, snorting, screaming steam-horse? And who does not -rejoice in the iron-rail, which binds together, with its slender -threads, the north and the south, and makes neighbours of the east and -the west? - -"Who _began_ railroads?" ask the boys again and again. - -The first idea of the modern railroad had its birth at a colliery nearly -two hundred years ago. In order to lighten the labour of the horses, the -colliers laid straight pieces of wood into the road leading from the pit -to the river, where the coal was discharged; and the waggons were found -to run so much easier, that one horse could draw four or five chaldrons. -As wood quickly wore out, and moreover was liable to rot, the next step -was nailing plates of iron on the wooden rails; which gave them for a -time the name of "plate-way roads." A Mr. Outram making still further -improvements, they were called "Outram roads," or, for shortness' sake, -"tram-roads;" and tram-roads came into general use at the English -collieries. - -"There's mischief in those tram-roads," said a large canal owner, -foreseeing they would one day drive canal stock quite out of the market. - -Improvements thus far had centred on the roads. To convoy heavy loads -easier and faster was the point aimed at. Nobody had yet thought of -self-going trains. Watt, the father of steam-engines, said -steam-carriages might be built. He, however, never tried one, but rather -left the idea to sprout in the brain of an old pupil of his, William -Murdock, who did construct a very small one, running on thin wheels, and -heated by a lamp. It was a curious success in its way, and set other -minds thinking. - -One of these was a tin-miner of Cornwall, Captain Trovethick, a friend -of Murdock, who joined a cousin of his in getting a patent for building -a steam-carriage. It was built, and an odd piece of machinery it was. It -ran on four wheels over a common road, looked like a stage-coach, and -delighted both the inventor and his friends. - -They determined to exhibit it at London. While on its journey, driving -it one day at the top of its speed, they saw a toll-gate in the -distance. Not being able to check it in time, bump it went against the -gate, which flew open in a trice, leaving the affrighted toll-man, in -answer to their inquiry, "How much to pay?" only able to gasp out, -"No—nothing to pay! Drive off as fast as you can! Nothing to pay!" - -It reached London in safety, and was some time on exhibition. Multitudes -flocked to see it, and some called it a fiery dragon. - -"Ah," said Sir Humphrey Davy, very much interested in the invention, "I -hope to see the captain's dragons on all the roads of England yet." - -But the captain exhibited it only as a curiosity, the unevenness of the -roads rendering it for all practical purposes a failure; and he had -neither pluck nor genius enough to lay or clear a track for it himself. -This was in 1803. - -The idea, however, was in England, lodging itself here and there in busy -brains; until, at last, a colliery owner in Newcastle, seeing the great -advantage of having a locomotive on his tram-roads, determined to try -what _he_ could do. Accordingly, he had one built after the Cornish -captain's model. It burst up at starting. Noways baffled, he tried -again. The engine proved a clumsy affair, moved at a snail's pace, often -got off the rails, and at length, voted by the workmen a "perfect -plague," it was taken off. The unsuccessful inventor was called a fool -by his neighbours, and his efforts an apt illustration that "the fool -and his money are soon parted." In spite of failure, Mr. Blackett had -faith that the thing _could_ be done. He built a third, and ran it on -the tram-road that passed by old Bob Stephenson's cottage door. And -George at his colliery, seven miles off, as you may suppose, listened to -every account of it with profound interest. Over he went, as often as he -could, to see "Black Billy," as the locomotive was called—a rough -specimen of machinery at best, doing very little service beyond what a -good horse could do. - -George carried "Black Billy" back in his mind to Killingworth, studying -its defects, and laying plans to improve it. I do not know how long he -was in coming to it, but he at length gave it as his opinion that he -could make a better "travelling engine" than that. - -Tidings came to Killingworth about this time that the trial of a new -engine was to take place on a certain day at Leeds, and George did not -lose the chance of being present. Though the engine moved no faster than -three miles an hour, its constructer counted it a success. It proved, -however, unsteady and unreliable, and at last blew up, which was the end -of it. - -What did George think then? He more than ever wanted to try _his_ hand -at the business. Lord Ravensworth, knowing enough of Stephenson to have -faith in him, hearing of this, advanced means for the enterprise. Good -tools and good workmen were alike wanting; but after much labour, -alteration, and anxiety, in ten months' time the engine was completed -and put on the railway, July 25, 1814. - -Although the best yet made, it was awkward and slow. It carried eight -loaded waggons of thirty tons weight at a speed not above four miles an -hour. The want of springs occasioned a vast deal of jolting, which -damaged the machinery, and at the close of a year's trial it was found -about as costly as horse-power. - -How to increase the power of his engine? that was the puzzling question -which George studied to answer. He wrestled with it day and night, and -at length determined to try again. In due time another was built, -"Puffing Billy," which most persons looked upon as a marvel; but, -shaking their heads, they prophesied it would make a terrible blow-up -some day. "Puffing Billy," however, went to work, and worked steadily -on—a vast advance on all preceding attempts. It attracted little or no -attention outside the narrow circle of the collieries. The great men of -England did not know that, in a far-off nook of the realm, there was -slowly generating a power, under the persistent thought of an humble -working-man, which before many years would revolutionize the trade of -the kingdom, and create a new source of wealth. - -[Illustration: GEORGE STEPHENSON'S FIRST ENGINE.] - -"Puffing Billy," in fact, humble as its pretensions were, has proved to -have been the type of all locomotives since. - -[Illustration: "PUFFING BILLY."] - -Had George Stephenson satisfied himself? No. His evenings were chiefly -spent at home with his son Robert, now under him in the colliery, -studying and discussing together how to evoke the hidden power yet pent -up in "Puffing Billy." The son was even more sanguine than his father, -and many an amendment had "Billy" to undergo to satisfy the quick -intellect and practical judgment of the youth. - -Mr. Stephenson, delighted with Robert's scientific tastes and skill, and -ever alive to the deficiencies of his own education, was anxious to give -him still further advantages. For this purpose he took him from a -promising post at the colliery, and sent him to the University of -Edinburgh. - -Here he enjoyed a six months' course of study; and so well prepared was -he for it by his well-formed habits of application and thinking, that he -gained in six months as much as many a student did in three years. -Certain it was his father felt amply repaid for the draft it made on his -purse, when Robert reappeared at the cottage, in the spring, with a -prize for successful scholarship in mathematics. He was eighteen then. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - - TWO CITIES THAT WANTED TO GET NEAR EACH OTHER—A - NEW FRIEND. - - -Manchester, thirty miles north-east of Liverpool, is the great centre of -the cotton trade in England. Its cloths are found in every market of the -world. Cotton coming to Liverpool is sent to the Manchester mills; and -the goods which the mills turn out are returned to Liverpool to be -shipped. The two cities, therefore, are intimately connected by constant -intercourse and mutual interest. - -Two water communications existed between them; one by the rivers Mersey -and Irwell, the other by the famous Bridgewater Canal, which did an -immense business at an enormous profit. But the Manchester mills were -fast outgrowing these slow and cumbersome modes of travel. Liverpool -warehouses were piled with bales of cotton waiting to go, and the mills -at Manchester had often to stop because it did not come. Goods also -found as much difficulty in getting back. Merchants and manufacturers -both grumbled. Business was in straits. What was to be done? Carting was -quite out of the question. Canal owners were besought to enlarge their -water-power. No, they would do nothing. They were satisfied with things -as they were. Their dividends were sure. - -But want demands supply; need creates resources. Something _must_ be -done to facilitate the transit of goods between the two cities. What? -Build a tram-road, or _rail-road_. Nobody, however, but a very fast man -would risk his good sense by seriously advising a rail-road. Solid men -would certainly shun him. A tram-road was a better understood thing. The -collieries had used small pieces of them for years. A tram-road then. -Business men put their heads together and began earnestly to talk of a -tram-road. - -William James, a rich and enterprising man, entered heartily into the -project, and undertook to make surveys for a suitable route. And not -long after a party of surveyors was seen in the fields near Liverpool. -Their instruments and movements excited attention. People eyed them with -anxiety; suspicions were roused; the inhabitants became alarmed. Who -were they, making such mysterious measurements and calculations on other -people's land? A mob gradually gathered, whose angry tones and -threatening gestures warned the surveyors of a storm brewing over their -heads. Wisely considering that flight was better than fight, they took -themselves off, and by-and-by turned up farther on. - -The landowners, who might be supposed to have known better, told the -farmers to drive them off; and the farmers, with their "hands," were -only too ready to obey. They stationed themselves at the field gates and -bars with pitch-forks, rakes, shovels, and sticks, and dared the -surveyors to come on. A poor chain-man, not quite so nimble as his -pursuers, made his leap over a fence quickened by a pitch-fork from -behind! Even women and children joined the hue and cry, pelting the -strangers with stones and dirt whenever they had a chance. The colliers -were not behind the farmers in their foolish hostility. A stray surveyor -was caught and thrown into a pit. - -At a sight of the theodolite their fury knew no bounds. That unoffending -instrument they seemed to regard as the very Sebastopol of the enemy, to -seize and destroy which was to win the day. Tho surveyors, therefore, -were obliged to hire a noted boxer to carry it, who could make good his -threats on the enemy. A famous fighter among the colliers, determined -not to be outdone, marched up to the theodolite to capture it. A -fist-and-fist fight took place; the collier was sorely beaten, but the -rabble, taking his part against the poor instrument, pelted it with -stones and smashed it to pieces. - -You may well suppose that surveying under such circumstances was no -light matter. What was the gist of the hostility? It is hard to tell. -The canal owners might have had a hand in scattering these wild fears; -fears of what, however, it is not so easy to find out. There was nothing -in a simple horse rail-road, or tram-road, as it is called, to provoke -an opposition so bitter from the people. It was a _new thing_; and new -things, great improvements though they may be on old ones, often stir up -a thousand doubts and fears among the ignorant and unthinking. - -Nor did the project generally take among those who would be most -benefited by it. Mr. James and his friends held public meetings in all -the towns and villages along the way; enterprising men in Liverpool and -Manchester talked it up, and tried to create a public interest; but -there was a holding back, which, while it checked all actual progress in -the enterprise, did not cause it to be altogether given up. The time had -not come; that was all. - -Mr. James had a secret leaning towards the use of steam on the new road. -He would have immediately and unhesitatingly advocated a rail-road run -by locomotives. But that was out of the question. The public were far -behind that point, and to have openly advocated it would have risked his -judgment and good sense in the opinion of the best men. Therefore Mr. -James wisely held his tongue. But hearing of the Killingworth -locomotives, and of a collier who had astonished the natives by his -genius, he determined to make a journey to Newcastle, and see the -"lions" for himself. - -Stephenson was not at home. "Puffing Billy" was; and "Billy" puffed in a -way that took Mr. James's heart at once. He seemed to see at a glance -"Billy's" remarkable power, and was struck with admiration and delight. -"Here is an engine," he exclaimed, "that is destined before long to work -a complete revolution in society." - -The image of "Puffing Billy" followed him home. - -"Why," he wrote to Stephenson's partner in the patent, "it is the -greatest wonder of the age, and the forerunner, I believe, of most -important changes in the modes of travel in the kingdom." - -A few weeks later he made another visit to Killingworth, taking his two -sons with him. "Puffing Billy" was at work, as usual. - -The boys were frightened at the sight of the snorting monster; but -Stephenson encouraged them to mount, with their father, and see how -harmless and manageable the monster was. - -The second visit was even more gratifying than the first. - -"Mr. Stephenson," said James, "is the greatest practical genius of the -age. His fame will rank with that of Watt." - -Mr. James lost all hesitation now about speaking his mind. "Puffing -Billy" had driven the backwardness out of him, and he was willing, at -all hazards, boldly to advocate rail-roads and the steam-horse. No more -tram-roads; steam or nothing. This was in 1821. - -Mr. James entered heart and soul into the new idea of the age. On his -return to Liverpool, it was everywhere his theme; and wherever he had -influence, he tried to stir up men's minds to the benefits and blessings -puffing out in "Puffing Billy." - -[Illustration: THE VISIT TO "PUFFING BILLY."] - -Stephenson rejoiced in such a friend. It was just what he and "Billy" -most needed—somebody to introduce them into the great world. And -Stephenson and his partner offered him a share in the profits of -whatever business he could secure to them. - -But what can one man, or a few men, do in an enterprise like this, -depending upon the verdict of that important power, Public Opinion? And -Public Opinion had not yet made up its mind to it. - -A thousand difficulties bristled in the way. There were both the -indifference of friends and the opposition of enemies at home. In -addition to this, a violent opposition was foreseen in Parliament, which -it needed all the strength and courage of a united constituency to meet. - -Under these discouraging circumstances, there were not enough men of -pluck to push the matter through. - -So everything about the new road went by the board. It was laid on the -shelf, at least for the present, and Liverpool and Manchester trade -jogged on as before. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - - HUNTING UP HIS OWN WORK—AN ENTERPRISING - QUAKER—WHAT WAS THE RESULT? - - -It appears strange to us that so simple a thing as the laying of a rail -seems to be should have taken years of thought and experiment to do it. -Nothing looks easier to prepare than the straight, smooth track of a -railway, such as we now see in use; and yet it was only arrived at by -slow steps through two hundred years. - -In pondering upon the powers of "Puffing Billy," George Stephenson saw -that the efficiency of locomotives must, in a great measure, depend on -what kind of roads they had to run upon. Many were sanguine that -steam-carriages would some day come into use on common roads. After a -long series of experiments, George Stephenson said, "No; the thing -wouldn't pay." For a rough surface seriously impairs the powers of a -locomotive; even sand scattered upon the rails is sufficient to slacken, -and even stop an engine. The least possible friction is desirable, and -this is found on the smooth rail. - -Could they ever be laid uphill, or on "ascending gradients", as the -scientific term is? No; as nearly level as possible, Stephenson's -experiments showed, was the best economy of power. Then how to get rid -of the jolts and jars and breakages of the rails as they were then laid. -He studied and experimented upon both chairs and sleepers, and finally -embodied all his improvements in the colliery railway. - -"Puffing Billy" was in every respect a most remarkable piece of -machinery, and its constructer one of the most sagacious and persistent -of men. But how was the public, ever slow in discovering true merit or -accepting real benefits, to discover and appreciate them? Neither -influence, education, nor patronage had Stephenson to command mind and -means, or to drive his engine through prejudice, indifference, and -opposition, to profit and success. - -But what he could not do, other men could do, and did do. Find a hook, -and there is an eye to fit it somewhere. Yes; there were already men of -property and standing alive with the new idea. While he worked, they -talked—as yet unknown to one another, but each by himself clearing the -track for a grand junction. - -One of these men was Edward Pease, a rich Quaker of Darlington, who, his -friends said, "could look a hundred miles ahead." He needed a quicker -and easier transit for his coals from the collieries north of Darlington -to Stockton, where they were shipped; and Mr. Pease began to agitate, in -his mind, a railroad. A company for this purpose was formed, chiefly of -his own friends, whom he fairly talked into it. Scarcely twenty shares -were taken by the merchants and shipowners of Stockton, whose eyes were -not open to the advantage it would by-and-by be to them. A survey of the -proposed road was made, when to the indifference of the many was added -the opposition of the few. A duke was afraid for his foxes! Shareholders -in the turnpikes declared it would ruin their stock. Timid men said it -was a new thing, and that it was best to let new things alone. The world -would never improve much under _such_ counsel. Edward Pease was hampered -on all sides. Nobody convinced him that his first plan was not the right -one by all odds; but what can a man do in any public enterprise without -supporters? So he reluctantly was obliged to give up his rail-road, and -ask Parliament for liberty to build a tram-road—horse-power instead of -steam-power: he could seem to do no better, and even this was gotten -only after long delay and at considerable cost. - -Among the thousands who carelessly read in the newspapers the passage -through Parliament of the Stockton and Darlington Act, there was one -humble man whose eye kindled as he read it. In his bosom it awakened a -profound interest. He went to bed and got up brooding over it. He was -hungry to have a hand in it; until at last, yearning with an -irrepressible desire to do his own work in the world, he felt he must go -forth to seek it. - -One night a couple of strangers knocked at the door of Edward Pease's -house in Darlington, and introduced themselves as two Killingworth -colliers. One of them handed the master of the mansion a letter of -introduction from a gentleman of Newcastle, recommending him as a man -who might prove useful in carrying out his contemplated road. - -To support the application, a friend accompanied him. - -The man was George Stephenson, and his friend was Nicholas Wood. It did -not take long for Edward Pease to see that Stephenson was precisely the -man he wanted. - -[Illustration: THE TWO STRANGERS.] - -"A railway, and not a tram-road," said Stephenson, when the subject was -fairly and fully opened. - -"A horse railway?" asked Pease. - -"A locomotive engine is worth fifty horses," exclaimed Stephenson; and -once on the track, he launched out boldly in its behalf. - -"Come over to Killingworth and see my 'Puffing Billy,'" said George; -"seeing is believing." And Mr. Pease, as you may suppose, was quite -anxious to see a machine that would outride the fleetest horse. Yet he -did not need "Puffing Billy" to convince him that its constructer knew -what he was advocating, and could make good his pledges. The good -Quaker's courage rapidly rose. He took a new start, and the consequence -was that all other plans and men were thrown aside, and Stephenson was -engaged to put the road through much in his own way. - -The first thing to be done was to make an accurate survey of the -proposed route. Taking Robert with him, who had just come from college, -and who entered as heartily into the enterprise as his father, with two -other tried men, they began work in good earnest. From daylight till -night the surveyors were on duty. One of the men going to Darlington to -sleep one night, four miles off, "Now, you must not start from -Darlington at daybreak," said Stephenson, "but be here, ready to begin -work, at daybreak." He and Robert used to make their home at the -farm-houses along the way, where his good-humour and friendliness made -him a great favourite. The children loved him dearly. The dogs wagged -their approving tails at his approach. The birds had a delighted -listener to their morning songs, and every dumb creature had a kind -glance from his friendly eye. - -But George was not quite satisfied. He wished Mr. Pease to go to -Killingworth to see "Puffing Billy," and become convinced of its -economical habits by an examination of the colliery accounts. He -promised, therefore, to follow George thither, along with a large -stockholder; and over they went in the summer of 1822. - -Inquiring for Stephenson, they were directed to the cottage with a -sun-dial over the door. George drove his locomotive up, hoisted in the -gentlemen, harnessed on a heavy load, and away they went. George no -doubt showed "Billy" off to the best advantage. "Billy" performed -admirably; and the two wondering stockholders went home enthusiastic -believers in locomotive power. - -A good many things had to be settled by the Darlington project. One was -the width of the gauge; that is, the distance between the rails. How -wide apart should they be? Stephenson said the space between the cart -and waggon wheels of a common road was a good criterion. The tram-roads -had been laid down by this gauge—four feet and eight inches—and he -thought it about right for the railway; so this gauge was adopted. - -One thing which hampered Stephenson not a little was the want of the -right sort of workmen—quick-minded, skilful mechanics, who could put his -ideas into the right shape. The labour of originating so much we can -never know. He had nothing to copy from, and nobody's experience to go -by. Happily he proved equal to his task. We can readily imagine his -anxiety as the work progressed. Hope and fear must have in turn raised -and depressed him. Not that he had any doubts in regard to the final -issue of the grand experiment of railroads. They _must_ go! - -Dining one day at a small inn with Robert, and John Dixon, after walking -over the route, then nearly completed—"Lads," he said, "I think you will -live to see the day when railroads will be the great highway for the -king and all his subjects. The time is coming when it will be cheaper -for a working-man to travel on a railway than to walk on foot. There are -big difficulties in the way, I know; but it will surely come to pass. I -can hardly hope to live to see that day, much as I should like to do so; -for I know how slow all human progress is, and how hard it is to make -men believe in the locomotive, even after our ten years' success in -Killingworth." - -While the father roughed it through, Robert's health failed. His close -application to business made sad inroads upon a frame naturally more -delicate than his father's; and an offer to go out and superintend some -mining operations in South America was thankfully accepted, in the hope -that a sea-voyage and less exciting labours might restore him. - -[Illustration: A TALK ABOUT RAILWAYS.] - -Robert shortly sailed; and his father pushed on alone, with that brave -spirit which carried him through many a darker hour. - -On the 27th of September the Stockton and Darlington Railway was -finished and opened. A great many came to see the new mode of -travelling, which had proved a fruitful subject of talk, far and near, -for many months;—some to rejoice; some to see the bubble burst; some -with wonder, not knowing what to think; some with determined hostility. -The opposition was strong: old England against young England; the -counter currents of old and new ideas. - -The road ran from Stockton to Darlington, a distance of twelve miles, -and thence to the Etherly collieries—in all, thirty-two miles. - -Four steam-engines were employed, and two stationary engines to hoist -the train over two hills on the route. The locomotives were of six-horse -power, and went at the rate of five or six miles an hour. Slow as this -was, it was regarded with wonder. A "travelling engine" seemed almost a -miracle. One day a race came off between a locomotive and a coach -running on the common highway; and it was regarded as a great triumph -that the former reached Stockton first, leaving the coach one hundred -yards behind. - -The road was built for a freight road, to convey lime, coal, and bricks -from the mines and kilns in the interior to the sea-board for shipment -abroad. Carrying passengers was not thought of. Enterprise, however, in -this direction took a new start. A company was soon formed to run two -coaches on the rails between Darlington and Stockton by horse-power. -Each coach accommodated six inside passengers, and from fifteen to -twenty outside; was drawn by one horse; and went at the rate of nine -miles an hour. - -"We seated ourselves," said a traveller of those days, "on the top of -the 'Defence' coach, and started from Stockton highly interested with -the novelty of the scene and of this new and extraordinary conveyance. -Nothing could be more surprising than the rapidity and smoothness of the -motion." Yet the coach was without springs, and jerked and jolted over -the joints of the rails with a noise like the clinking of a mill-hopper. - -"Such is the first great attempt to establish the use of railways," -writes a delighted editor, "for the general purposes of travelling; and -such is its success, that the traffic is already great, and, considering -that there was formerly no coach at all on either of the roads along -which the railroad runs, quite wonderful. A trade and intercourse have -arisen out of nothing, and nobody knows how." - -Such was their small and imperfect beginning, _we_ should say, now that -railroads, improved and perfected, have fulfilled Stephenson's -prediction uttered in the little inn, and have become the great highways -of the civilized world. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - - THE TWO CITIES TRYING AGAIN—BUGBEARS. - - -One, two, three years passed by, and the Liverpool and Manchester -project started up again. It was not dead, it had only slept; and the -three years had almost worn out the patience of both merchants and -manufacturers. Trade between the two cities must have speedier and -easier transit. Trade is one of the great progressive elements in the -world. It goes ahead; it will have the right of way; it will have the -right way—the best, safest, cheapest way of doing its business. Yet it -is not selfish; its object is the comfort and well-being of men. To do -this, it breaks down many a wall which selfishness has built up, it cuts -through prejudices, it rides over a thousand "can't be's" of timid and -learned men; for learned men are not always practical. They sometimes -say things cannot be done, when it only needs a little stout trying to -overcome difficulties and do them. - -A learned man once said that crossing the Atlantic by steam was -impossible. - -"For the good of the race, we must have something truer than wind and -tougher than sails," said Trade. And it was not many years before ships -steamed into every port. - -"Carriages travelling at twelve, sixteen, eighteen, twenty miles an -hour! Such gross exaggerations of the power of a locomotive we scout. It -can never be!" cries a sober Quarterly. - -"You may scout it as much as you please," rejoins Trade; "but just as -soon as people need a cheaper, pleasanter, swifter mode of travel, it -will be _done_." And now the railway carriages thread the land in their -arrowy flight. - -"The magnetic telegraph! a miserable chimera," cries a knowing -statesman. "Nobody who does not read outlandish jargon can understand -what a telegraph means." - -"You will soon find out," answers Trade. And now it buys pork by the -hundred barrels, and sells grain by the thousand bushels; while armies -march and fleets sail at its bidding. Treaties are signed at its word; -and the telegraph girdles the world. - -You see Trade is a civilizer; and Christian civilization makes all the -difference in the world between Arabs and Englishmen. - -Liverpool merchants were now fairly awake. "What is to be done?" was the -question. Something. Could there be a _third_ water-line between the two -cities? No; there was not water enough for that. - -Would the Bridgewater Canal increase its power and reduce its charges? -No. - -A tram-road or a rail-road, then. There was no other alternative. - -Mr. James, who was so much interested before, had failed and left the -country. When he left, he said to his friends, "When you build a road, -build a railroad, and get George Stephenson to do it." - -The Darlington and Stockton enterprise could not fail to be known at -Liverpool; and a drift of opinion gradually began to set in strongly in -favour of the railway. People talked about it in good earnest. - -"A railway!" cried the canal owners. "It is absurd; it is only got up to -frighten us; it will slump through, as it did before." They were easy. - -"Let us go to Darlington and Killingworth and see for ourselves," said -the merchants; and four gentlemen were sent on a visit of inquiry. They -went first to Darlington, where the works were in vigorous progress, -though not done. It was in 1824, the year before they were finished. -Here they met Stephenson. He took them to Killingworth to see "Puffing -Billy." - -Seeing was believing. "Billy's" astonishing feats won them completely -over; and they went back to Liverpool warm for a railroad. Their clear -and candid report convinced merchants, bankers, and manufacturers, who -gave a verdict in its favour. Public opinion was now coming over. - -Books were opened for funds. There was no lack of subscribers. Money was -ready. To be sure of the _safety_ of locomotive power, a second -deputation was sent to Killingworth, taking with them a practical -mechanic, better able to judge about it than themselves. The man had -sense enough to see and to own that while he could not insure safety -over nine or ten miles an hour, there was nothing to be afraid of slower -than that. Then a third body went. The enterprise required caution, they -thought. - -Yes, it did. - -Having decided upon steam-power, the next thing was to secure the right -sort of man to carry on the work. Stephenson was that man. His energy -and ability were indispensable. Before trying to get a charter from -Parliament, the route needed to be surveyed again, and a careful -estimate of expenses made. - -The Stockton road done, Stephenson was free to engage in this new -enterprise; his success in that proving his principles true on a larger -scale. - -The canal owners now took alarm. They saw there was a dangerous rival, -and they came forward in the most civil and conciliatory manner, -professing a wish to oblige, and offering to put steam-power on their -canals. It was too late. Their day had gone by. - -You know the violent opposition made to a former survey. How would it be -again? Did three years scatter the ignorance out of which it grew? Ah, -no. There was little if any improvement. The surveyors were watched and -dogged by night and by day. Boys hooted at them, and gangs of turbulent -men threatened them with violence. Mr. Stephenson barely escaped -duckings, and his unfortunate instruments capture and destruction. -Indeed, he had to take with him a body-guard to defend them. Much of the -surveying had to be done by stealth, when people were at dinner, or with -a dark lantern at night. - -When dukes and lords headed the hostility, you cannot wonder that their -dependants carried it on. One gentleman declared that he would rather -meet a highwayman or see a burglar on his premises than an engineer; and -of the two he thought the former the more respectable! Widows complained -of damaged corn-fields, and gardeners of their violated strawberry-beds; -and though Stephenson well knew that in many cases not a whit of damage -had been done, he paid them for fancied injuries in the hope of stopping -their tongues. - -[Illustration: SURVEYING AT NIGHT.] - -A survey made under such circumstances must needs have been imperfect; -but it was as good as could be made. And no time was lost in taking -measures to get a Bill before Parliament. - -A storm of opposition against railways suddenly arose, and spread over -every corner of the kingdom. Newspapers and pamphlets swarmed with -articles crying them down. Canal and turnpike owners spared no pains to -crush them. The most extraordinary stories were set afloat concerning -their dangers. Boilers would burst, and passengers be blown to atoms; -houses along the way would be burned; the air would become black with -smoke and poisoned by cinders; and property on the road would be -stripped of its value. - -The Liverpool and Manchester Bill, however, got into Parliament, and -went before a Committee of the House of Commons to decide upon it, in -March 1825. - -First, its friends had to show the _necessity_ of some new mode of -travel between the two cities; and that it was not difficult to do. - -But when it came to asking for liberty to build a railway and run a -locomotive, the matter was more difficult to manage. And to face the -tremendous opposition rallied against it, the pluck of its friends was -severely tried. - -The battle had to be fought inch by inch. - -Stephenson, of course, was the chief witness for locomotives. But what -headway could he, an uneducated Northumbrian mechanic, make against -members of Parliament, backed by all the chief engineers of the kingdom? -For very few had faith in him; but those few had strong faith. He was -examined and cross-examined. They tried to bully him, to puzzle him, to -frighten him. On the subject of locomotives his answers were clear. He -declared he could drive an engine, and drive it safely, at the rate of -twelve miles an hour! - -"Who can believe what is so notoriously in the teeth of all experience?" -cried the opposition; "the witness is a madman!" - -Famous engineers were called on the stand. What had _they_ to say? One -declared the scheme a most wild one. He had no confidence in -locomotives. They were affected by wind and weather; with difficulty -were kept on the track, and were liable to constant accidents; indeed, a -gale of wind would render it impossible to start a locomotive, either by -poking the fire or keeping up the steam till the boiler should burst: -they could never be relied on. - -The proposed route had to cross an ugly quagmire, several miles in -extent, called Chat Moss, a very shaky piece of land, no doubt; and here -the opposition took a strong stand. "No engineer in his senses," cried -one, "would think of going through Chat Moss. No carriage could stand on -the Moss short of the bottom." - -"It is absurd to hold out the notion that locomotives can travel twice -as fast as stage-coaches," said another; "one might as soon trust -himself to a rocket as to the mercy of a machine going at that rate." - -"Carriages cannot go at anything like that speed," added another; "if -driven to it, the wheels would only spin on their axles like a top, and -the carriages would stand stock-still!" - -So much for learned arguments against it. - -Then came the dangers of it. "The dumb animals would never recover from -the sight of a locomotive; cows would not give their milk; cattle could -not graze, nor horses be driven along the track," cried the opposition. - -"As to that," said Stephenson, "come to Killingworth and see. More quiet -and sensible beasts cannot be found in the kingdom. The farmers _there_ -never complain." - -"Well," asked one, "suppose, now, one of those engines to be going along -a railroad at the rate of nine or ten miles an hour, and that a cow were -to stray upon the line and get in the way of the engine; would not -_that_, think you, be a very awkward circumstance?" - -"Yes," answered Stephenson, with a droll twinkle in his eye; "very -awkward indeed—_for the coo_!" - -The fellow, as you may suppose, backed off. - -The danger in other respects was thus dwelt on: "In addition to the -smoke and the noise, the hiss and the whirl which locomotive engines -make, going at the rate of ten or twelve miles an hour, and filling the -cattle with dismay, what," asked an honourable member, "is to be done -with all those who have advanced money in making and mending turnpikes? -What with those who may still wish to travel in their own or hired -carriages, after the fashion of their forefathers? What is to become of -coach-makers and harness-makers, coach-masters and workmen, inn-keepers, -horse-breeders, and horse-dealers? Iron would be raised one hundred per -cent., or more probably exhausted altogether! The price of coal would be -ruinous. Why, a railroad would be the greatest nuisance, the biggest -disturbance of quiet and comfort, in all parts of the kingdom, that the -ingenuity of man could invent." - -Not content with belittling his engine, they could not stop short of -abusing Stephenson himself. "He is more fit for Bedlam than anywhere -else," they cried; "he never had a plan—he is not capable of making one. -Whenever a difficulty is pressed, as in the case of a tunnel, he gets -out of it at one end; and when you try to catch him at that, he gets out -at the other." - -"We protest," they said, "against a measure supported by such evidence -and founded upon such calculations. We protest against the Exchange of -Liverpool striding across the land of this country. It is despotism -itself." - -What had the friends of locomotive power to say? - -"We beseech you," they pleaded to the Committee, "not to crush it in its -infancy. Let not this country have the disgrace of putting a stop to -that which, if cherished, may in the end prove of the greatest advantage -to our trade and commerce. We appeal to you in the name of the two -largest towns in England; we appeal to you in the name of the country at -large; and we implore you not to blast the hopes that this powerful -agent, Steam, may be called in for the purpose of aiding land -communication: only let it have a fair trial, and these little -objections and private prejudices will be done away." - -Flaws were picked in the surveys, and the estimate of costs based on -them. The surveys, quite likely, were imperfect; indeed, how could they -be otherwise, when every mile of the line had to be done at the risk of -life? - -The battle lasted two months, and a very exciting one it was. It was -skilfully and powerfully carried on. Who beat? - -_The opposition._ The Bill was lost. - -Matters looked dark enough. Judging from appearances, the enterprise was -laid on the shelf, and the day of railways long put off. As for poor -Stephenson, his short day of favour seemed about gone. His being called -a madman, and regarded as a fool, as he had been by the opposition, was -not without its effect upon his newly-made friends. Their faith in him -sensibly cooled. But he did not lose faith in himself, not he. He had -waited long for the triumph of his engine, and he could wait longer. A -great blessing to the nation was locked up in it he well knew; and the -nation would have it some time, in spite of everything. - -Was the enterprise a second time to be abandoned? - -No, no. Taking breath, its friends again started to their feet. "Never -give up," was their motto, for they were in earnest. They rallied, and -met in London to consult what to do next. - -Mr. Huskisson, a member of Parliament for Liverpool, came into the -meeting and urged them to try again—to try at the next session of -Parliament. - -"Parliament must, in the end, grant you an Act," he said, "if you are -determined to have it." And try they determined to, for a horse railroad -at least. - -For this purpose another and more careful survey had to be made. - -Stephenson was left out. A _known_ man must be had. They meant to get -surveyors and engineers with well-established reputation to back them -up. Stephenson was too little known. He had no fame beyond a little -circle in one corner of the kingdom. How did he feel to be thus thrown -in the back-ground? George was not a man to grumble; he was too noble to -complain. In fact, you see, he was ahead of the times; too far ahead to -be understood and appreciated. He could afford to wait. - -Two brothers of the name of Rennie were appointed in his stead. In time -the new survey was finished; the plans drawn, and the expenses reckoned -up. Changes were made in the route. Ill-tempered landowners were left on -one side, and every ground of complaint avoided that could be. - -The new Bill was then carried to Parliament, and went before the -Committee in March the next year. The opposition was strong, indeed, but -less furious. Much of its bitterness was gone. It made a great show of -fears, which the advocates of the Bill felt it was not worth while to -waste words in answering. They left it to the road to answer them. Build -it, and see. - -Mr. Huskisson and others supported it in a strong and manly tone; and -after a third reading, the Bill passed in the House of Commons. So far, -so good. It then had to go to the House of Lords. What would befall it -there? The same array of evidence on both sides was put forward. The -poor locomotive engine, which had proved such a bugbear in the House of -Commons, was regarded as quite a harmless affair by most of the lords; -and the opposition made such poor work in showing off its dangers, that -no plea in its behalf was called for. They were satisfied, they said; -and the Bill passed almost unanimously. Victory! victory! - -The victory cost more than twenty thousand pounds! For a first cost it -looked large. But nothing worth doing can be done without effort, and -effort made _in faith_. Nothing done, nothing have. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - - GRAPPLING WITH DIFFICULTIES—THE BOG—A - PUZZLE—THE PRIZE OFFER. - - -The real work was now to be done. Hopes and fears had yet to be -verified. - -At the first meeting of the directors, a man to put the enterprise -through was to be chosen. Who? The Rennies were anxious to get the -appointment. They naturally expected it. They had made the survey, and -their name had had weight in getting the Act of Parliament. But they -could not superintend the details of the work. They had other -enterprises on foot. - -Stephenson, no doubt, was _the_ man. The directors felt him to be so. No -one could long be with him without feeling his power. Besides, what he -had done had been ably done. At the risk of offending the Rennies and -their friends, they chose him, and the result proved the wisdom of their -choice. - -On receiving the appointment, he immediately moved to Liverpool, and the -work began in good earnest. It was a stupendous undertaking for those -days. Chat Moss had to be filled in, sixty-three bridges built, -excavations made, tunnels cut, and all the practical details carried -out, with very little past experience to profit by. Neither was the kind -of labour well understood, nor was there that division of labour between -contractors and engineers which relieves one man of too heavy a -responsibility. In fact, tools and men had to be made; and Stephenson -had to make both! - -The great quagmire was first grappled with. "No man in his senses would -undertake to make a road over Chat Moss," opposers said in Parliament; -"that were to undertake the impossible." Stephenson, however, meant to -try. Formidable it certainly was. Cattle ploughing on farms bordering -the bog, where it ran underneath the tilled land, had to wear flat-soled -boots in order to keep their hoofs from sinking down into the soft soil. - -The proposed route ran four miles across it, and the way had to be -drained and filled in with sand and gravel. The drainage tasked their -ingenuity to the utmost, and almost baffled the workmen. After that was -in some degree accomplished, waggon-load after waggon-load of earth was -thrown on for weeks and weeks: but it only sank into the mire and -disappeared—not an inch of solid footing seemed gained; and on they -went, filling and filling, without apparently having made the least -impression on the Moss,—the greedy bog only cried out for more. - -[Illustration: CHAT MOSS.] - -Stephenson's men began to have their doubts. The opposition might have -judged more correctly after all. They asked him what he thought. "Go -ahead!" was his answer. By-and-by the directors began to have _their_ -fears. It looked to them like a very unpromising job. So it was. After -waiting and waiting in vain for signs of progress, they called a meeting -on the edge of the Moss, to see if it were not best to give up. The bog, -they were afraid, might swallow up all their funds, as it had done -everything else. Stephenson lost not a whit of his courage. "Go ahead!" -was his counsel. He never for a moment doubted of final success. And -considering the great outlay already made, they wisely gave in to him. - -Monstrous stories were afloat of the terrible accidents taking place -there. Every now and then the stage drivers brought into Manchester the -astonishing news of men, horses, carts, and Stephenson himself submerged -and sunk for ever in the insatiable quagmire! Time corrected one only to -publish another. Newsmongers were kept in a state of delightful -excitement, and tea-table gossip was spiced to suit the most credulous -and marvel-loving taste, until the Moss was conquered, as conquered it -was acknowledged to be, when, six months after the directors had met to -vote to leave it to its original unproductiveness, they were driven over -it on a smooth and secure rail to Manchester! - -Another tough job was tunnelling Liverpool—excavating a mile and a third -of road through solid rock. Night and day the boring, blasting, and -hewing were kept in vigorous execution. Sometimes the miners were -deluged with water, sometimes they were in danger of being overwhelmed -by heavy falls of wet sand from overhead. Once, when Stephenson was gone -from town, a mass of loose earth came tumbling on the heads of the -workmen, frightening them, if nothing more. On his return they were in a -most refractory state, complaining of the dangers, and stoutly refusing -to go back to work. Wasting no time on words, Stephenson shouldered a -pick-axe, and called for recruits to follow. Into the tunnel he marched, -and the whole gang after him. Nothing more was heard of fears, and the -work went bravely and steadily on. - -Besides laying out all the work, Stephenson had to make the tools. All -the waggons, trucks, carriages, switches, crosses, signals, were planned -and manufactured under his superintendence, besides meeting and -providing for a thousand exigencies constantly occurring in a new -enterprise like this, giving full scope to all the sagacity, invention, -and good-humour which naturally belonged to him. - -The expenses of the road were heavy, and money was not always -forthcoming. If the works lagged in consequence of it, the hopes of the -directors fell; so that Stephenson's energies were taxed to the utmost -during the four years of the work; and he showed, what observation and -history both teach us, that efficient men are men of _detail_ as well as -men of great plans. - -Remember this, boys—for we sometimes despise little particulars and the -day of small things—that the secret of effective doing lies not only in -making wise plans, but in filling up the minutest parts with promptness -and fidelity. There must be detail, to achieve any great and good work. -If you would possess the fruits of learning, you must get them by the -toil of daily drudgery. If you undertake to become rich, you must not -despise the small gains and little economies by which a fortune is made. -If you would obtain a noble Christian manhood, you must not neglect -hourly self-restraint, watchfulness, and prayer, or the daily exercise -of those humbler virtues and godly industries which make the woof of -character. - -Stephenson strikingly illustrated the practical force of this principle. -The minutest detail of every plan in this new enterprise was thought out -and carried on by himself, or under his direct supervision. Both in -summer and winter he rose early. Before breakfast you might find him on -a morning round, visiting the extensive workshops where the machines and -tools were made; or perhaps Bobby is brought to the door, and mounted on -this his favourite horse, he is off fifteen miles to inspect the -progress of a viaduct—a ride long enough to whet the appetite for a -tempting breakfast, one would think. But nothing tempts him from his -frugal habits: he eats "crowdie"—and that made by himself—which is -nothing more or less than oatmeal hasty-pudding and milk. Again he is -off, inspecting the labours of his men all along the line from point to -point, pushing the works here, advising there, and inspiring everywhere. -Bobby is a living witness that one beast, at least, is not to be scared -by a locomotive. He can face the snorting monster without so much as a -shy step, or a prick of the ears. _He_ afraid! not Bobby. - -Returning home, pay-rolls are to be examined, perhaps, when every item -of expense must be accounted for; or drawings are to be made, or -directions given, or letters written. - -Several young men were received into his family to be trained for -engineers. A second wife—frugal, gentle, and friendly—superintended his -household. Their evenings were passed in study and conversation, -brightened by the genial humour of the remarkable man whose genius drew -them together, and whose good-tempered pleasantries relieved the heavier -tasks of mind and body. The compendium of all his instruction was,—Learn -for yourselves, think for yourselves, master principles, persevere, be -industrious, and there is no fear for you. It is an indication of the -value of these instructions, that every young man trained under him rose -to eminent usefulness. "Ah," he sometimes said, on relating a bit of his -own early history, "you don't know what work is in these days." And yet -work is work all the world over. - -In spite of the best Stephenson could do, the directors, looking at -their unproductive capital, and not fully comprehending all the -difficulties to be overcome, sometimes urged greater despatch. - -"Now, George," said Friend Cropper one day, "thou must get on with the -railway; thou must really have it opened by the first of January next." - -"Consider the heavy nature of the works, sir," rejoined George, "and how -much we have been delayed by want of money, to say nothing of the bad -weather. The thing is impossible." - -"Impossible!" cried Cropper. "I wish I could get Napoleon to thee; he -would tell thee there is no such word as 'impossible.'" - -"Tush!" exclaimed George, "don't tell me about Napoleon. Give me men, -money, and material, and I'll do what Napoleon couldn't do—drive a -railroad over Chat Moss." - -He might have retorted more significantly by asking the directors what -_they_ meant to do; for Liverpool was tunnelled and Chat Moss railed -before they could agree what kind of power to put on it. There were some -who insisted upon using horse-power; but the majority thought that was -out of the question. Meeting after meeting was held, debate followed -debate, and the whole body became more and more puzzled as the road -itself neared completion. - -Some kind of machine; but _what_?—ah, that was the question. You would -naturally have thought, "A locomotive, of course." But no; since -Parliament opposition raged against it, steam had lost ground in the -public estimation, and it was very slow in getting back to favour. -Locomotives, or "travelling engines," as they were called, were hid in a -cloud of doubts,—and more than ever since the Parliament debates. "They -were dangerous, they were frightful, they could never go fast -enough,—their utmost speed would not be ten miles an hour." Some of the -most distinguished engineers would give no opinion of them at all. They -had none. It was certainly hard to patronize them in spite of their -indifference, and possibly their sneers. Certainly, if the poor -locomotive depended on their verdict, its fate was sealed. - -[Illustration: GOOD SERVICE.] - -One stanch friend remained. Stephenson stood faithfully by "Puffing -Billy," puffing away in his far-off Northumberland home. He never -flinched advocating its principles, and urged the directors to try one -on the road. They at last ordered one to be built,—one that would be of -service to the company, and no great nuisance to the public. It was -built, and excellent service it did, drawing marl from the cuttings and -excavations to fill up the bogs and hollows. Nevertheless, it settled -nothing, and convinced nobody not already convinced. - -Meanwhile the directors were deluged with projects, plans, and advice -for running their road. Scheme upon scheme was let loose upon them;—some -engines to go by water-power, some by gas, some by cog-wheels. All the -engineering science in the kingdom was ready to engineer for them in its -own way; but who among all could pronounce the best way, and upon the -whole decide which was the right motive power? - -A deputation was despatched to Darlington and Stockton to inspect the -fixed and locomotive engines employed on that road; but the deputation -came back differing so among themselves, that the directors were more -puzzled than ever. Two professional engineers of high reputation were -then sent, who, on their return, reported in favour of _fixed -engines_—for safety, speed, economy, and convenience, fixed engines by -all odds; reiterating again and again all the frightful stories of -danger and annoyance charged upon steam. They proposed dividing the road -into nineteen stages, of a mile and a half in length, and having -twenty-one stationary engines at different points to push and draw the -trains along. The plan was carefully matured. - -Poor Stephenson! how did he feel? "Well," he said, with the calm -earnestness of a man of faith, "one thing I know, that before many years -railroads will become the great highways of the world." - -Could the directors accept the project without consulting him? Again -they met. What had he to say concerning it? Fight it he did. He dwelt -upon its complicated nature, the liability of the ropes and tackling to -get out of order, the failure of one engine retarding and damaging and -stopping the whole line; a phase of the matter which did not fail to -make an impression. The directors were moved. The rich Quaker, Cropper, -however, headed the stationary-engine party, and insisted upon adopting -it. "But," answered the others, "ought we to make such an outlay of -money without first giving the locomotive a fair trial?" And Stephenson -pleaded powerfully, as you may suppose, in its behalf. "Try it, try it," -he urged; "for speed and safety there is nothing like it." And the words -of a man with strong faith are strong words. "Besides," he said, "the -locomotive is capable of great improvements. It is young yet; its -capacities have never been thoroughly tested. When proper inducements -are held out, a superior article will be offered to the public." - -Never were directors in a greater strait. There was no withstanding -Stephenson, for he knew what he was talking about. All the rest were -schemers. At last one of the directors said, "Wait; let us offer a prize -for a new locomotive, built to answer certain conditions, and see what -sort of engine we can get." - -That was fair. It was right his engine should be properly tested. All -agreed; and in a few days proposals were issued for the building of one. -There were eight conditions, two of which were that if the engine were -of six tons weight, it should be able to draw twenty tons, at a speed as -high as _ten_ miles an hour. The prize was five hundred pounds. - -The offer excited a great deal of attention, and many people made -themselves merry at its expense. The conditions were absurd, they said; -nobody but a set of fools would have made them: it had already been -proved impossible to make a locomotive-engine go at ten miles an hour. -And one gentleman in his heat even went so far as to say that if it ever -_were_ done, he would undertake to eat a stewed engine-wheel for his -breakfast! As that condition was fully answered, it is to be hoped that -he was generously relieved from his rash promise and his indigestible -dish. - -More candid minds turned with interest to the development of this new -force struggling into notice. Stephenson felt how much depended on the -issue; and the public generally concluded to suspend their verdict upon -the proper working of railways, until time and talent gave them better -means of judging. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - ROBERT'S RETURN—A CURIOUS ENCOUNTER—THE - PRIZE ENGINE. - - -One step forward; yes, a great one too, Stephenson thought. His beloved -locomotive was to have a chance of being properly introduced to the -great English public, and he felt that it needed only to be known to be -valued. The building of it was a matter of no small moment, and he -wanted, above all things, a tried and skilful hand to superintend and -put into its construction every conceivable improvement. It must be the -best engine yet built. - -Where should he find the right man? No one would answer like his son -Robert, so Robert he determined to send for. Robert, you remember, went -to South America three years before. There he had regained his health, -and on receiving his father's letter, he made immediate preparations to -return to England. - -[Illustration: A CURIOUS ENCOUNTER.] - -On his way, at a poor little comfortless inn, in a poor little -comfortless sea-port on the Gulf of Darien, where he was waiting to take -ship, he met two strangers, one evidently an Englishman, who by his -shabby appearance looked as if the world had gone hard with him. A -fellow-feeling drew the young man towards his poor countryman, and on -inquiry who should it prove to be but the old Cornwall tin-miner, -Captain Trovethick, whose first steam-carriage had awakened so much -curiosity in London nearly a quarter of a century before! - -He had sown his idea to the winds. Others had caught it up, cherished -it, pondered over it, examined it, dissected it, improved it, embodied -it, and by patient study and persistent endeavour had reduced it to a -practical force. And Robert Stephenson was now on his way to inaugurate -it as one of the great commercial values of the kingdom, and of the -world. The poor inventor, what had he done meanwhile? While others -worked, had he slept? Oh no. He had tried an easier and a shorter cut to -fame and fortune. You remember he left his "dragon," as some people -called his locomotive, in London, quite careless what became of it, and -went scheming and speculating in other things. Several years after, in a -shop window, it attracted the attention of a French gentleman passing -by. He was from Peru, and had just come to England to get a steam-engine -for pumping water from some gold-diggings in the New World. Delighted -with the model, he bought it for twenty guineas. Taking it with him to -Lima, an engine was built on the plan of it, which worked admirably. The -gentleman was then sent back to England to hunt up and bring out the -inventor himself. The captain was found, and came forth from his -obscurity into sudden notice and demand. The gentleman engaged him to -make five pumping-engines according to his model; which he did, and -shipped them to Lima, the captain himself soon following. - -At Lima he was received with great honours and a public rejoicing. A -guard of honour was appointed to wait on him; and, in view of the wealth -he was supposed to be able to engineer from their mines, a massive -silver statue of him, as the benefactor of Peru, began to be talked of. - -Of course poor Trovethick thought his fortune made, and no doubt looked -back with pity on his humble English life. Friends at home spread the -news of his successes; and when they stated that the smallest estimate -of his yearly income amounted to one hundred thousand pounds, no wonder -he was pronounced a success! Tardier steps to fortune seemed tedious, -and many of his old associates perhaps sighed over the wholesome toil of -a slower-paced prosperity. - -Years passed on, and the poor captain next turns up at Cartagena, -penniless and pitiable! In crossing the country, he had lost everything. -Fording rivers, penetrating forests, and fighting wild beasts, had left -him little else than a desire to reach England again; and Robert -Stephenson gave him fifty pounds to get home with. Sudden fortunes are -apt as suddenly to vanish, while those accumulated by the careful -husbandry of economy, industry, and foresight reward without waste: so -character is stronger than reputation—for one is built on what we are, -the other on what we seem to be; and, like a shadow, reputation may be -longer or shorter, or only a distorted outline of character. One holds -out because it is real; the other often disappears because it is but a -shadow. - -Robert reached home in December 1827, right heartily welcomed, we may -well believe, by his father, who was thankful to halve the burden of -responsibility with such a son. To build the prize locomotive was _his_ -work. - -Stephenson had long been a partner in a locomotive factory at Newcastle, -which had hitherto proved a losing concern to the owners. There was -little or no market for their article; but they struggled on, year after -year, waiting for better times. Nobody saw better times but Stephenson. -He saw them ahead, shooting through the gloomy clouds of indifference -and prejudice. And now he calculated it was very near. So he sent Robert -to Newcastle to take charge of the works there, and construct an engine -that would make good all his words. - -It was a critical moment, but he had no fears of the result. Robert -often came to Liverpool to consult with his father, and long and -interesting discussions took place between father and son concerning the -best mode of increasing and perfecting the powers of the mechanism. One -thing wanted was greater speed; and this could only be gained by -increasing the quantity and the quality of the steam. For this effect a -greater heating surface was necessary, and mechanics had long been -experimenting to find the best and most economical boiler for -high-pressure engines. - -Young James, son of that Mr. James who, when the new Liverpool and -Manchester route was talked of, was the first to discover and -acknowledge George Stephenson's genius, made the model of an improved -boiler, which he showed to the Stephensons. Perhaps he was one of the -boys who went to Killingworth with his father to see the wonders of -"Puffing Billy," and whose terrors at the snorting monster were only -soothed by a pleasant and harmless ride on his back. Whether this gave -him a taste for steam-engines we do not know. At any rate he introduces -himself to our notice now with a patented model of an improved boiler in -his hand, which Stephenson thinks it may be worth his while to make -trial of. "Try it," exclaimed the young inventor—"try it, and there will -be no limit to your speed. Think of thirty miles an hour!" - -[Illustration: SECTION OF THE FIRST BOILER IN USE.] - -"Don't speak of thirty miles an hour," rejoined Stephenson; "I should -not dare talk about such a thing aloud." For I suppose he could hardly -forget how Parliament committees had branded him as a fool and a madman -for broaching such beliefs. - -[Illustration: SECTION OF A TUBULAR BOILER.] - -The improved boiler was what is called a multi-tubular boiler. You do -not understand that, I suppose. An iron boiler is cast, six feet long, -and three feet and a third in diameter. It is to be filled half full of -water. Through this lower half there run twenty-five copper tubes, each -about three inches in diameter, open at one end to the fire, through -which the heat passes to the chimney at the other end. You see this -would present a great deal of heating surface to the water, causing it -to boil and steam off with great rapidity. The invention was not a -sudden growth, as no inventions are. Fire-tubes serving this use started -in several fertile minds about the same time, and several persons -claimed the honour of the invention; but it was Stephenson's practical -mind which put it into good working order and made it available. For he -told Robert to try it in his new locomotive. - -He did. The tubes were of copper, manufactured by a Newcastle -coppersmith, and carefully inserted into the ends of the boiler by -screws. Water was put into the boiler, and in order to be sure there was -no leakage, a pressure was put on the water; when, lo, the water -squirted out at every screw, and the factory floor was deluged! Poor -Robert was in despair. He sat down and wrote to his father that the -whole thing was a failure. - -A failure indeed! Back came a letter by the next post telling him to "go -ahead and try again!" The letter, moreover, suggested a remedy for the -disaster—fastening the tubes into the boiler by fitting them snugly into -holes bored for the purpose, and soldering up the edges. And it proved -to be precisely what Robert himself had thought of, after the first -bitter wave of disappointment had subsided. So he took heart and went to -work again. Success crowned his efforts. A heavy pressure was put on the -water, and not a drop oozed out. The boiler was completely water-tight. - -This is precisely the kind of boiler now in use: some have fifty tubes; -the largest engines one hundred and fifty. - -[Illustration: THE FAILURE.] - -Various other improvements were incorporated into the new engine, which, -as you do not probably understand much about machinery, would not -particularly interest you. - -At last the new engine was finished. It weighed only four tons and a -quarter—little less than two tons under the weight required by the offer -of the directors. The tender, shaped like a waggon, carried the fuel in -one end and the water in the other. - -It was forthwith put on the Killingworth track, fired up, and started -off. Robert must have watched its operations with intense anxiety. -Nothing could have met his expectations like the new boiler. It in fact -outdid his highest hopes. The steam made rapidly, and in what seemed to -him then marvellous quantities. Away went a letter to Liverpool that -very evening. - -[Illustration: TUBES OF A MODERN ENGINE.] - -"The 'Rocket' is all right and ready," wrote the young man joyfully. -That was the engine's name, "Rocket,"—on account of its speed, perhaps. -"Puffing Billy" was quite cast into the shade. - -It was shortly afterwards shipped to Liverpool, in good time for the -grand trial. - -[Illustration: THE "ROCKET."] - -The trial, rapidly approaching, elicited a great and general interest. -The public mind was astir. The day fixed was the first of October. -Engineers, mechanics, and scientific men, from far and near, flocked to -Liverpool. The ground where the exhibition was to take place was a level -piece of railroad two miles long, a little out of the city. Each engine -was to make twenty trips, at a rate of speed not under ten miles an -hour, and three competent men were appointed as judges. - -Four engines were entered on the list,—the "NOVELTY," the "SANS-PAREIL," -the "ROCKET," the "PERSEVERANCE." - -Several others were built for the occasion in different parts of the -kingdom, or rather projected and begun, but were not finished in time. - -In order to afford ample opportunity for their owners to get them in -good working order, the directors postponed the trial till October 6th. -The day arrived, and a glance at the country around showed that an -unusual occasion was drawing people together. Multitudes from the -neighbouring towns assembled on the ground at an early hour. The road -was lined with carriages, and a high staging afforded the ladies an -opportunity of witnessing the novel race. - -The "Novelty" and "Sans-pareil," though first on the list, were not -ready at the hour appointed. What engine was? The "Rocket." Stephenson, -next on the roll, was called for by the judges, and promptly the little -"Rocket" fired up at the call. It performed six trips in about -fifty-three minutes. - -The "Novelty" then proclaimed itself ready. It was a light, trim engine, -of little more than three tons weight, carrying its fuel and water with -it. It took no load, and ran across the course sometimes at the rate of -twenty-five miles an hour. The "Sans-pareil" also came out. - -The "Perseverance," not able to go faster than five or six miles an -hour, withdrew from the contest. As the day was now far spent, further -exhibition was put off till the morrow. - -What exciting discussions must have taken place among rival competitors -and their friends! What a scrutiny of the merits and demerits, the -virtues and defects of opposing engines! - -Before the appointed hour the next day, the bellows of the "Novelty" -gave out; and as this was one of its merits—a bellows to increase the -draught of the air-blast—its builders were forced to retire from the -list. - -Soon after, a defect was discovered in the boiler of the "Sans-pareil." -Mr. Hackworth begged for time to mend it; as there was no time, his -request could not be granted, and he too withdrew his claims. - -The "Rocket" alone stood its ground. The "Rocket," therefore, was again -called for. Stephenson attached to it a carriage large enough to hold a -party of thirty, and drove his locomotive along the line at the rate of -twenty-five and thirty miles an hour, to the amazement and delight of -every one present. - -The next morning it was ordered to be in readiness to answer the various -specifications of the offer. It snorted and panted, and steamed over the -race-ground in proud trim, drawing about thirteen tons weight. In twenty -trips, backward and forward, its greatest speed was twenty-nine miles an -hour—three times greater than Nicholas Wood, one of the judges, declared -to be possible. Its average rate was fifteen miles—five miles beyond the -rate specified for the prize. The performance appeared astonishing. -Spectators were filled with wonder. The poor directors began to see fair -weather; doubts were solved, disputes settled; the "Rocket" had cleared -the track for them. There could no longer be any question how to run the -road. George Cropper, who had steadily countenanced stationary engines, -lifted up his hands exclaiming, "Stephenson has at last delivered -himself!" - -The two other locomotives, however, were allowed to reappear on the -stage; but both broke down, and the "Rocket" remained victor to the -last. It had performed and more than performed all it promised, -fulfilled all the conditions of the directors' offer, and was -accordingly declared to have nobly earned the prize—five hundred pounds. - -But the money was little, compared with the profound satisfaction which -the Stephensons felt at this public acknowledgment of the worth of their -lifelong labours. George's veracity, skill, intelligence, had all been -doubted, denied, derided by men of all classes. Even old friends turned -against him, and thought his mind was crazed by "one idea." He had to -struggle on alone; faithful to his convictions, patiently biding his -time, yet earnestly pleading his cause on every suitable occasion. He -had a blessing for the world; and he knew when it felt its want of it, -it would have it. That time had come. The directors flocked around him -with flattering congratulations. All shyness and coolness vanished. -Friends were no longer few. The shares of the company immediately rose -ten per cent. Men and means were at his disposal. George Stephenson was -a happy man. - -The "Rocket" had blown stationary engines to the winds. And Steam that -day, on the land as well as on the water, took its place as one of the -grand moving powers of the world. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - - OPENING OF THE NEW ROAD—DIFFICULTIES VANISH—A - NEW ERA. - - -There was no more waiting for work at the locomotive factory in -Newcastle. Orders immediately arrived from the directors to build eight -large engines for the new road, and all the workshops were astir with -busy life. The victorious little "Rocket" was put on the road, and -sensibly helped to finish it. Neither faith, nor men, nor means were now -wanting, and the labour in every part went heartily on. - -In June a meeting of the directors was held in Manchester, when the -"Rocket" made a trip from Liverpool to that city with a freight and -passenger train, running through in two hours. Chat Moss never quivered. -And the directors, I dare say, would have been very glad to forget their -disconsolate meeting on the edge of it, when they nearly voted -themselves beaten by the bog, only Stephenson would not let them. - -On the 15th of September 1830, there was to be a public opening of the -road, and preparations were made at each end, and all along the way, for -the grand event. The occasion awakened a deep and universal interest. It -was justly regarded as a national event, to be celebrated with becoming -honours. The Duke of Wellington, then Prime Minister, was present; also -Sir Robert Peel, and Mr. Huskisson, whose stirring words had revived the -drooping spirits of the directors after their defeat in Parliament, and -whose influence had served to get their Bill successfully through at -last. No one, perhaps, had watched the progress of the enterprise with -deeper interest than Mr. Huskisson, or rejoiced more in the vanquishing -of one difficulty after another to its final finishing. Great numbers -came from far and near, who, assembling by the slow mode of travel of -those days, took time accordingly. - -Carriages lined the roads and lanes; the river was crowded with boats; -and soldiers and constables had their hands full to keep the people from -the track. - -[Illustration: OPENING THE LINE.] - -The new locomotives, eight in number, having been carefully tested, -steamed proudly up. The "Northumbrian," driven by George Stephenson, -took the lead. Next the "Phœnix," under Robert's charge. The "North -Star," by a brother of George. The "Rocket," and the rest, with their -trains, followed. Six hundred persons were in this procession, flying at -the rate of twenty-five miles an hour! Oh the wonder and admiration -which the spectacle excited! These noble steam-horses, panting, -prancing, snorting, puffing, blowing, shooting through tunnels, dashing -across bridges, coursing high embankments, and racing over the fields -and far away! England and the world never saw before a sight like that. - -But the joy and the triumph of the occasion were destined to be damped -by a sad disaster. At Parkenside, seventeen miles from Liverpool, the -"Northumbrian," which carried the Duke and his party, was drawn up on -one track, in order to allow the other trains to pass in review before -them on the other. Mr. Huskisson had alighted, and, standing outside, -was talking with the Duke, when a hurried cry of "Get in! get in!" went -up from the bystanders. For on came the "Rocket," steaming at full -speed. Mr. Huskisson, startled and confused, attempted to regain the -carriage an instant too late: he was struck down, and the "Rocket" went -over him. - -"I have met my death!" exclaimed the unfortunate man; which, alas! -proved but too true, for he died that evening. - -A sad confusion prevailed. The wounded gentleman was lifted into the -carriage, and the "Northumbrian" took him over the track home, a -distance of fifteen miles, in about twenty minutes. So swiftly and -easily done! The use rather than the abuse of the new power made the -strongest impression. - -The mournful accident threw a cloud over the occasion. The Duke wished -to stop the celebration, and immediately return to Liverpool. Mr. -Huskisson's friends joined with him in the wish. Others felt that -Manchester should not be disappointed in witnessing the arrival of the -trains, and that the accident might become magnified and misrepresented, -and thus operate mischievously upon public sentiment in relation to -railroads; the party therefore consented to proceed to their journey's -end, but were unwilling to mingle in any of the rejoicings common to -such occasions. - -But the railroad needed no such demonstrations to publish or to prove -its worth. It had within itself more substantial proof. Time was saved; -labour was saved; money was saved. Coal, cotton, and every article of -merchandise useful to men, could be carried cheaper, could be had -cheaper than ever before; and, what was better, had in quantities -sufficient to satisfy the industry and necessities of men. And with -cheapness were combined comfort and safety. The first eighteen months, -700,000 persons were carried over the road, and not an accident -happened! - -But were not people frightened by the smoke, cinders, fire, and noise of -the engines, as the opposition in Parliament had declared they would be? -No, no. It was not long before everybody wanted land near the track; and -land, therefore, near the road rapidly rose in value. The farmers who -had driven the surveyors from their fields, now complained of being left -on one side; and those who had farms near the station to rent, rented -them at a much higher rate than ever before. Barren lots became suddenly -profitable, and even Chat Moss was turned into productive acres! - -In 1692, an old writer states, "There is an admirable commodiousness -both for men and women of the better rank to travel from London, the -like of which has not been known in the world; and that is, by -stage-coaches, wherein one may be transferred to any place, sheltered -from foul weather, with a velocity and speed equal to the fastest posts -in foreign countries; for the stage-coaches called 'Flying-coaches' make -forty or fifty miles a day." - -An English paper, bearing the date of January 1775, has this -advertisement: "HEREFORD MACHINE, in a day and a half, twice a week, -continues flying from the Swan in Hereford, Monday and Thursday, to -London." - -In the Scriptures we find Isaiah, with prophetic eye, looking over the -centuries to these later times and penning down: "Every valley shall be -exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked -shall be made straight, and the rough places plain;" and "swift -passengers" are seen executing the world's affairs—no meagre description -of the great means of intercourse in our day, the railway and the -telegraph. The prophet saw in it a clearing of the way for the coming -kingdom of the Redeemer, which is some time to spread over the whole -earth as "the waters cover the sea." Men make good tools and instruments -for themselves. They forget they are perfecting them for God also, who -is using them, and who will use them, to make known the precious gospel -of his Son, "peace on earth, and good-will to men." - -What powerful preachers for the Sabbath are the railway and the -telegraph, doing away with all necessity and every excuse for Sabbath -travelling as they do! Long journeys and the most urgent business can be -done between Sabbath and Sabbath, giving a rest-day to the nation. And -this view of them is deserving of more and more regard. - -The institution of the Sabbath was founded with the human race. It was -meant to be the rest-day of the entire world. It was set up as a -blessing: "The Lord blessed the Sabbath-day, and hallowed it." The -bodies of man and beast need it. The muscles, bones, nerves, sinews, and -brain cannot endure the strain of constant and uninterrupted work. It is -the day for making up the waste of the animal frame caused by continual -labour and excitement. Night rest is not enough. The God of Nature and -of the Sabbath has fitted the one to the other. - -When the knowledge of God had faded out of the earth, and he had chosen -a people to restore and preserve it, besides a code of national laws -particularly for them, he enacted from Sinai a code of moral laws for -man. Among them was the rest-law of the Sabbath. It is the fourth -commandment of the Decalogue, taught in all our Sabbath schools, -pulpits, and homes: "Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy: in it -thou shalt do no work," man nor beast. Further, God promises a great -reward to those who call "the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, -honourable; not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, -nor speaking thine own words, but delighting thyself in the Lord;" -showing not only the rest-use of the Sabbath, but its soul-use, as a day -of special intercourse with God. - -"The Sabbath was made for man," says Jesus Christ; and the _Christian_ -Sabbath has incorporated into it the finishing of the great plan of our -redemption, when Christ, - - "Who endured the cross and grave, - Sinners to redeem and save," - -arose from the dead, according to the Scriptures. Thus it is -appropriately called "the Lord's day;" the day when our worldly business -is to be set aside, and when Christ presses his claims upon the hearts -and consciences of men. It is a break in the hurrying whirl of this -life's interests, to consider the solemn issues of eternity, and that -atoning love which is mighty to save all who by repentance and faith -accept its terms of mercy. - -We find it was on the observance or desecration of the Sabbath that the -prosperity of the Hebrew nation hung. "You bring wrath upon the nation," -cried Nehemiah to the Sabbath-breaking traders. "This very profanation -has been the cause of our disasters in times past." For Sabbath -profanation leads to forgetfulness of God; and God left out, what -becomes of man? Ruin stares him in the face. "The ungodly shall not -prosper." What becomes of a nation? Ruin! They shall be left to their -own doings. The French nation blotted out the Sabbath, and showed what -it was _to be left of God_. - -When an African prince sent an embassy to Queen Victoria with costly -presents, and asked her to tell him in return the secret of England's -greatness and England's glory, presenting him with a copy of the Bible, -the Queen replied, "Tell your prince that _this_ is the secret of -England's greatness." - -For all our institutions, all our civil and religious interests, we need -the morality of the Bible, the conscience and the self-restraint which -the Bible enjoins; and for this purpose we must vigorously support the -institutions of the Bible. Foremost in the foreground is the Sabbath. It -has come down to us through the ages, the great commemoration-day of a -finished creation and a completed atonement, summoning men to call on -the name of the Lord, and bless and praise his holy name. - -On its observance the highest moral education of the people depends. -Every railroad corporation is bound to be a Sabbath-keeping corporation. -It _makes time enough_ to do its work. The _nature_ of its work demands -responsible men. An immense amount of property is in its hands, -requiring officers of scrupulous integrity to manage its interests. The -gross receipts of eight railways terminating in London are over £200,000 -a week. - -It has the life and limbs of thousands upon thousands intrusted to its -charge, at the mercy of its employés, engineers, firemen, brakemen, -switchmen, the recklessness or unfaithfulness of any of whom may bring -sudden death to scores, and plunge a nation into mourning. These men, to -be _kept_ the right men, need the Sabbath. To be honest, responsible, -vigilant, true, God-fearing men, fit for their posts of duty, they _must -have_ the Sabbath. - -Many roads are Sabbath-keeping. Some of those which do run on that day -are poorly paid. Carrying the mail helps them out. They run, perhaps, -for that purpose. But is it _necessary_ to keep up Sabbath violation on -our great routes in order to forward the mail? Does not the Saturday -telegraph do away with that necessity? Every important item of business -can be put through on the wires in time. - -The side of the Sabbath is the side of God. - - * * * * * - -What became of George Stephenson and his son Robert? the boys will have -the curiosity to ask. - -George and Robert Stephenson took their rank among the great men of -England—that class of great men who contribute to the true prosperity of -the world, by giving it better tools to do its labour with. A good tool -is a great civilizer. The more perfect the instrument, the better the -work. The more perfect the instrument, the greater the number of persons -benefited; for the sagacity necessary to invention and discovery, and -the intelligence required to mature them, are large-hearted and -broad-minded. They work for the many, not for the few. - -The history of railways in England it is not my object to give you, and -that enters largely into the remaining period of George Stephenson's -life; you will find it fully detailed in Smiles's Life of him. He became -rich and famous, yet he always preserved the simple habits and tastes of -his early days. Though asked to dine at the richly-spread tables of -lords and baronets, no dish suited his taste better than his frugal -oat-meal "crowdie," and no cook served it better than himself. Kings and -queens thought it a privilege to talk with him. Liverpool erected a -statue of him. The King of Belgium knighted him. But he cared little for -honours. When somebody, wishing to dedicate a book to him, asked what -his "ornamental initials" were, "I have to state," replied he, "that I -have no flourishes to my name, either before or after. I think it will -be as well if you merely say, 'George Stephenson.'" - -Young men beginning life often called upon him for advice and -assistance. He hated show and foppery, and a weakness in that direction -often got reproof. One day one came flourishing a gold-headed cane. "Put -by that stick, my man," said Stephenson, "and I will talk with you." - -"You will, sir, I hope, excuse me," he said on another occasion to a -very gaily dressed youth; "I am plain-spoken, and am sorry to see a -clever young man like you disfigured by that fine-patterned waistcoat -and all these chains and fang-dangs. If I, sir, had bothered my head -with these things when I was of your age, I would not have been where I -now am." - -Wholesome as were his reproofs, his counsel was as reliable, and his -help as timely. From the mine of his own rugged experience he had -gathered truths richer than grains of gold; and he never allowed any -good opportunity to pass without insisting upon the practice of those -homelier and sterner virtues which form the strong woof of character. -When building a road between Birmingham and London, Robert walked twenty -times over the entire route, illustrating the patient assiduity taught -him by his father. No slipshod work could escape their eye. "_Neglect -nothing_," was their motto. As a Killingworth collier he put his brains -and his heart into his work. As a master-builder he put his conscience -into it. All his work was honest, representing the actual character of -the man. - -[Illustration: WHOLESOME REPROOF.] - -When the rough and tumble of life began to subside, and he became a more -stationary engine, with greater leisure for the enjoyment of his now -ample home, his old love of birds, dogs, horses, and rabbits revived. -There was not a bird's nest upon his grounds that he did not know, and -he often watched the nest-building operations with a builder's interest; -a blade of grass, a bit of bark, a nest of birds, an ant tugging for one -poor grain, were all to his mind revelations of the wonderful mechanism -and creative power of God. - -[Illustration: LATER DAYS OF GEORGE STEPHENSON.] - -He died in August 1848, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. - -Robert proved himself worthy of such a father. They were alike in -character, intimately associated in the great engineering enterprises of -their day, and bound to each other by the fondest affection. - -George built roads, Robert bridges to run them over; for railroads have -given birth to the most stupendous and splendid bridges the world ever -saw. The famous Tubular Bridge over the Strait of Menai—connecting -Holyhead with the mainland—and the High Level Bridge at Newcastle, built -by him, are monuments of engineering skill. You often see pictures of -them. The most remarkable work of his genius, however, is on the other -side of the Atlantic Ocean. - -It was desirable that the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, terminating at -Montreal, should be connected with the sea-board; and the road was -accordingly extended from Montreal to Portland, Maine. But the river St. -Lawrence, deep and broad, sweeping down its mighty current the waters -and ice of the great lakes, broke the line and separated the road into -two parts. The river must be spanned. A bridge must be built. It was a -stupendous undertaking, but "Robert Stephenson can do it." Robert -Stephenson did do it. It is thrown from Languire to a point half a mile -below the city, a distance of nearly two miles. It is composed of -twenty-four spans, and has three million feet of solid masonry in it. -The road runs through iron tubes, sixty feet above the river, and the -train is nine minutes going across. There are ten thousand tons of iron -in the tubes. It was six years in building. It is called the Goliath of -bridges; and is named the Victoria Bridge, in honour of Queen Victoria. - -[Illustration: VICTORIA BRIDGE, MONTREAL.] - -Robert drafted, calculated, estimated, and superintended section after -section of this immense work, and yet never visited the scene of labour! -photographs were sent him of its progress step by step. It was finished -December 1859, and opened with all the festal honours possible in that -season of the year. At the entertainment given there was one -toast—"Robert Stephenson, the greatest engineer the world ever -saw"—followed by no cheers. A deep hush swept over the assembly. - -For Robert Stephenson was dead. He died on the 12th of October, two -months before the completion of the work, in the rich prime of a noble -manhood. His death was looked upon as a public calamity; and England, -with a true sense of his worth, laid him side by side with her most -honoured dead. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, with her kings and -queens, her princes and poets, her warriors and statesmen. The funeral -procession was between two and three miles long; thousands lined the -streets, and thousands pressed into the Abbey. Tickets were necessary in -order to get entrance; and one of the most pressing applicants was an -humble working-man, who years before had driven the first -locomotive-engine from Birmingham to London, with Robert Stephenson at -his elbow. - -The humble Newcastle collier-boy crowned his life with honourable toil; -and at his death a nation mourned a great man fallen. - - - - - CHAPTER X. - - THE STEPHENSON CENTENARY—HONOUR TO - WHOM HONOUR IS DUE. - - -George Stephenson was born on the 9th of June 1781. - -The year 1881 was therefore the hundredth since his birth,—completed -"the centenary;" and it occurred to many thoughtful and influential -persons as a right thing to do that it should be marked by some special -mode of public celebration. For the man born just one hundred years -before had done a great work in his day; a work the full benefit of -which we are only now beginning to enjoy. - -England is not ungrateful to the memory of her distinguished sons, and -keeps many anniversaries with a good deal of pomp and circumstance. She -does not forget a Shakespeare and a Burns, or a Wellington and a Nelson; -she loves to remember the establishment of the first printing-press, and -the victories at Trafalgar and Waterloo. Such being the case, it cannot -be denied that there was a peculiar fitness in her doing honour to "the -Father of Railways,"—to the man whose successful patience, energy, and -courage have so largely added to the national wealth and developed the -national resources. - -A century ago, when Stephenson was born, no one had dreamed of or -imagined such a thing as railway traffic. That great idea was reserved -for the brain of the son of a colliery engine tenter; and we have seen -in the foregoing pages under what discouragement, and in the face of -what colossal difficulties, he conceived and carried it out. The -steam-engine in use in his youth and manhood was a crude, awkward, and -disjointed affair, always coming to grief, and incapable of any -important work. The locomotive, as Stephenson found it, was nothing more -than a clumsy stationary engine put on a clumsy truck, which rattled and -shook as it crept along at the rate of four miles an hour, so that every -moment it seemed about to tumble to pieces. And the railway on which it -ran was not less imperfect; it was nothing more than a system of light -thin rails, which rested, or at least were intended to rest, upon blocks -of stone or rough wooden sleepers. - -Stephenson, as we have seen, resolved upon reforming all this. He soon -improved the track, giving it greater solidity and firmness; and then he -turned to the engine, which he continued to perfect almost to the day of -his death. There was much in the circumstances of the time to stimulate -his activity. The coal trade was increasing largely, and those engaged -in it were anxious to send their "black diamonds" over the country with -all possible speed. They could no longer tolerate engines that rattled -and jolted to and fro at the rate of only four miles an hour! They were -ambitious, and wanted a speed of ten miles. Well, we know what -Stephenson did: he invented an engine that attained fifteen miles an -hour; and then, unresting and unhasting, he addressed himself to the -task of extending—or, rather, creating—our railway system. - -He succeeded: and now there are eighteen thousand miles of railway in -England;[1] and our ordinary trains make thirty miles, our express -trains fifty and sixty miles an hour; and millions of men and women -travel where formerly only hundreds went; and journeys that occupied a -day and a night, like the journey from London to Exeter, are -accomplished in half-a-dozen hours. Why, we leave London at ten, and -reach Edinburgh at seven the same evening; a journey which, when -Stephenson was born, could not be performed under a couple of days and -nights! - -Footnote 1: - - At the close of 1880 there were 17,700 miles, employing 300,000 - persons, and 13,174 locomotives. In this vast net-work of iron roads a - capital of not less than £70,000,000 is sunk, yielding an annual - return of £30,000,000. Upwards of 600,000,000 journeys are made on the - average every year. - -So marvellous a tale reads like a romance from some Eastern fairy-book. -Yet it is literally true, and the work has been done in the sight and -memory of thousands of living men. Was it not a work which deserved "a -centenary"? - -And the man: did _he_ not deserve it? If ever indomitable perseverance -merited public applause, it was that of George Stephenson. We will say -nothing more of the trials and labours of his early years; but even -after he had made his engine, and undertaken to construct the first -English railway, what obstacles he had to conquer, what difficulties to -surmount! Both Houses of Parliament were against him; the world was -against him. People were horrified at the thought of "turning the -locomotive loose on the country." They drew dreadful pictures of the -evil it would do. Families sitting by their own firesides, it was said, -would not be safe. A runaway engine, twenty tons in weight, would dash -through a whole line of houses, toppling them down one after the other -like houses built of cards. How was such a monster to be controlled? A -screw loose, or a wrong turn of the handle, and it would bound out of -the control of its driver. Then, again, others would ask, who wanted to -travel more than ten miles an hour? Who wanted to rush through the -country at a rate which would take away the breath? Was it not "flying -in the face of Providence"? Moreover, these new "trains" were to start -exactly to the minute, and what could be more inconvenient? "It was the -regular thing in those days to keep the carriage and four a whole hour -waiting at the door, till every room of the house had been gone through -several times to see that nothing was left behind." - -But Stephenson was not to be daunted. Possessed with one great thought, -he kept to it manfully, and laboured day by day and night by night with -unsurpassable energy. Such a man—the author of so great a work—surely -deserved a centenary. - -And a noble centenary it was. Both at Newcastle and at Chesterfield—the -two towns with which Stephenson was most closely connected—the day was -observed as a holiday, and thousands took part in the different -ceremonies. - -At Newcastle, the streets of which were gaily decorated with tall -Venetian masts covered with red cloth, and each surmounted by a trophy -of flags,—with ornamental mottoes, wreaths and festoons of glossy -foliage, and a brave show of banners and garlands, there was a grand -procession of modern railway engines, which started from the Central -Railway Station, and proceeded, amidst the cheers of thousands, to -Wylam, George Stephenson's birth-place, eight miles distant. These -engines, sixteen in number, were the finest modern science could -construct: some of them had driving-wheels six feet in diameter, and -outside cylinders which measured in diameter nearly a foot and a half. -How bright they were with their shining copper and polished steel, and -how the sunlight flashed from them as, linked together, they rolled -along the iron way! On reaching Wylam they were placed for exhibition -along with the five old original locomotives—namely, the Killingworth -(the first that Stephenson ever made), the Hatton Colliery engine, the -old Darlington engine, No. 1 Locomotive from Darlington, and -Stephenson's old "Victor" from the North-Eastern Railway. - -A special train followed, carrying the Mayors of Newcastle and other -towns, with many persons of local celebrity. Opposite George -Stephenson's birth-place it stopped; the Mayor of Newcastle alighted -with his friends, and in honour of the day planted an oak-tree. The -return journey was then made, and the engines we have named were thrown -open to public inspection. - -The next event was a procession of members of the corporations, public -bodies, trade societies, and workmen of Newcastle, Gateshead, Jarrow, -and South Shields, together with the miners of Northumberland and -Durham—some 40,000 altogether—who, through the garlanded and bannered -streets, marched to the town moor. There three platforms had been -erected, from which the various trade representatives delivered -appropriate addresses. - -In the evening a grand banquet took place, at which the Mayor of -Newcastle presided; and the day's festivities concluded with a brilliant -display of fireworks. - -At Chesterfield the public rejoicings, if necessarily on a less -extensive scale, were not less cordial. Of course, there was a -procession; there was also a special choral service in the parish -church; and we read of a banquet, a concert, and a fireworks finale. - -But all this was temporary,—belonged only to the day, and with the day -passed away. So it was resolved to raise funds for the establishment of -a permanent memorial, which, it is to be hoped, may be in existence, -active and prosperous, when a bi-centenary and a tri-centenary in their -turn come round. This will be a "Stephenson College of Physical -Science," to be erected at Newcastle, at a cost of £20,000. And a -Stephenson Scholarship Fund is also being raised, which will place the -higher education within the reach of youths of Stephenson's social rank -imitating Stephenson in his perseverance, energy, love of knowledge, and -patient industry. - - - - -Transcribers note. - -Spelling, Punctuation and Hyphenation have been kept as the original. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rocket, by H. C. Knight - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROCKET *** - -***** This file should be named 50119-0.txt or 50119-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/1/1/50119/ - -Produced by Chris Curnow, readbueno and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - |