Chapter 38

ROBERT STEPHENSON'S VICTORIA BRIDGE, LOWER CANADA--ILLNESS AND DEATH--STEPHENSON CHARACTERISTICS.

George Stephenson bequeathed to his son his valuable collieries, his share in the engine manufactory at Newcastle, and his large accumulation of savings, which, together with the fortune he had himself amassed by railway work, gave Robert the position of an engineer millionaire--the first of his order. He continued, however, to live in a quiet style; and although he bought occasional pictures and statues, and indulged in the luxury of a yacht, he did not live up to his income, which went on rapidly accumulating until his death.

There was no longer the necessity for applying himself to the laborious business of a parliamentary engineer, in which he had now been occupied for some fifteen years. Shortly after his father's death, Edward Pease strongly recommended him to give up the more harassing work of his profession; and his reply (15th June, 1850) was as follows:--"The suggestion which your kind note contains is quite in accordance with my own feelings and intentions respecting retirement; but I find it a very difficult matter to bring to a close so complicated a connexion in business as that which has been established by twenty-five years of active and arduous professional duty. Comparative retirement is, however, my intention; and I trust that your prayer for the Divine blessing to grant me happiness and quiet comfort will be fulfilled. I cannot but feel deeply grateful to the Great Disposer of events for the success which has hitherto attended my exertions in life; and I trust that the future will also be marked by a continuance of His mercies."

Although Robert Stephenson, in conformity with this expressed intention, for the most part declined to undertake new business, he did not altogether lay aside his harness; and he lived to repeat his tubular bridges both in Lower Canada and in Egypt. The success of the tubular system, as adopted at Menai and Conway, was such as to recommend it for adoption wherever great span was required; and the peculiar circumstances connected with the navigation of the St. Lawrence and the Nile, may be said to have compelled its adoption in carrying railways across those great rivers.

The Victoria Bridge, of which Robert Stephenson was the designer and chief engineer, is, without exception, the greatest work of the kind in the world. For gigantic proportions and vast length and strength there is nothing to compare with it in ancient or modern times. The entire bridge, with its approaches, is only about sixty yards short of _two miles_, being five times longer than the Britannia across the Menai Straits, seven and a half times longer than Waterloo Bridge, and more than ten times longer than the new Chelsea Bridge across the Thames! It has not less than twenty-four spans of 242 feet each, and one great central span--itself an immense bridge--of 330 feet. The road is carried within iron tubes 60 feet above the level of the St. Lawrence, which runs beneath at a speed of about ten miles an hour, and in winter brings down the ice of two thousand square miles of lakes and rivers, with their numerous tributaries. The weight of iron in the tubes is about ten thousand tons, supported on massive piers, which contain, some six, and others ten thousand tons of solid masonry.

So gigantic a work, involving so heavy an expenditure--about 1,300,000 pounds--was not projected without sufficient cause. The Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, upwards of 1200 miles in length, traverses British North America from the shores of the Atlantic to the rich prairie country of the Far West. It opens up a vast extent of fertile territory for future immigration, and provides a ready means for transporting the varied products of the Western States to the seaboard. So long as the St. Lawrence was relied upon, the inhabitants along the Great Valley were precluded from communication with each other for nearly six months of the year, during which the navigation was closed by the ice.

The Grand Trunk Railway was designed to furnish a line of communication through this great district at all seasons; following the course of the St. Lawrence along its north bank, and uniting the principal towns of Canada. But stopping short on the north shore, it was still an incomplete work; unconnected, except by a dangerous and often impracticable ferry, with Montreal, the capital of the province, and shut off from connection with the United States, as well as with the coast to which the commerce of Canada naturally tends. Without a bridge at Montreal, therefore, it was felt that the system of Canadian railway communication would have been incomplete, and the benefits of the Grand Trunk Railway in a great measure nugatory.

As early as 1846 the construction of a bridge across the St. Lawrence at Montreal was strongly advocated by the local press for the purpose of directly connecting that city with the then projected Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railway. A survey of the bridge was made, and the scheme was reported to be practicable. A period of colonial depression, however, intervened, and although the project was not lost sight of, it was not until 1852, when the Grand Trunk Railway Company began their operations, that there seemed to be any reasonable prospect of its being carried out. In that year, Mr. A. M. Ross--who had superintended, under Robert Stephenson, the construction of the tubular bridge over the Conway--visited Canada, and inspected the site of the proposed bridge, when he readily arrived at the conclusion that a like structure was suitable for the crossing of the St. Lawrence. He returned to England to confer with Robert Stephenson on the subject, and the result was the plan of the Victoria Bridge, of which Robert Stephenson was the designer, and Mr. A. M. Ross the joint and resident engineer.

The particular kind of structure to be adopted, however, formed the subject of much preliminary discussion. Even after the design of a tubular bridge had been adopted, and the piers were commenced, the plan was made the subject of severe criticism, on the ground of its alleged excessive cost. It therefore became necessary for Mr. Stephenson to vindicate the propriety of his design in a report to the directors of the railway, in which he satisfactorily proved that as respected strength, efficiency, and economy, with a view to permanency, the plan of the Victoria Bridge was unimpeachable. There were various methods proposed for spanning the St. Lawrence. The suspension bridge, such as that over the river Niagara, was found inapplicable for several reasons, but chiefly because of its defective rigidity, which greatly limited the speed and weight of the trains, and consequently the amount of traffic which could be passed over such a bridge. Thus, taking the length of the Victoria Bridge into account, it was found that not more than 20 trains could pass within the 24 hours, a number insufficient for the accommodation of the anticipated traffic. To introduce such an amount of material into the suspension bridge as would supply increased rigidity, would only be approximating to the original beam, and neutralizing any advantages in point of cheapness which might be derivable from this form of structure, without securing the essential stiffness and strength. Iron arches were also considered inapplicable, because of the large headway required for the passage of the ice in winter, and the necessity which existed for keeping the springing of the arches clear of the water-line. This would have involved the raising of the entire road, and a largely increased expenditure on the upper works. The question was therefore reduced to the consideration of the kind of _horizontal beam_ or _girder_ to be employed.

Horizontal girders are of three kinds. The _Tubular_ is constructed of riveted rectangular boiler plates. Where the span is large, the road passes within the tube; where the span is comparatively small, the roadway is supported by two or more rectangular beams. Next there is the _Lattice_ girder, borrowed from the loose rough timber bridges of the American engineers, consisting of a top and bottom flange connected by a number of flat iron bars, riveted across each other at a certain angle, the roadway resting on the top, or being suspended at the bottom between the lattice on either side. Bridges on the same construction are now extensively used for crossing the broad rivers of India, and are especially designed with a view to their easy transport and erection. The _Trellis_ or Warren girder is a modification of the same plan, consisting of a top and bottom flange, with a connecting web of diagonal flat bars, forming a complete system of triangulation--hence the name of "Triangular girder," by which it is generally known. The merit of this form consists in its comparative rigidity, strength, lightness, and economy of material These bridges are also extensively employed in spanning the rivers of India. One of the best specimens is the Crumlin viaduct, 200 feet high at one point, which spans the river and valley of the Ebbw near the village of Crumlin in South Wales. This viaduct is about a third of a mile long, divided into two parts by a ridge of hills which runs through the centre of the valley--each part forming a separate viaduct, the one of seven equal spans of 150 feet, the other of three spans of the same diameter. The bridge has been very skilfully designed and constructed, and, by reason of its great dimensions and novel arrangements, is entitled to be regarded as one of the most remarkable engineering works of the day.

"In calculating the strength of these different classes of girders," Mr. Stephenson observed, "one ruling principle appertains, and is common to all of them. Primarily and essentially, the ultimate strength is considered to exist in the top and bottom,--the former being exposed to a compression force by the action of the load, and the latter to a force of tension; therefore, whatever be the class or denomination of girders, they must all be alike in amount of effective material in these members, if their spans and depths are the same, and they have to sustain the same amount of load. Hence, the question of comparative merit amongst the different classes of construction of beams or girders is really narrowed to the method of connecting the top and bottom _webs_, so called." In the tubular system the connexion is effected by continuous boiler plates riveted together; and in the lattice and trellis bridges by flat iron bars, more or less numerous, forming a series of struts and ties. Those engineers who advocate the employment of the latter form of construction, set forth as its principal advantage the saving of material which is effected by employing bars instead of iron plates; whereas Mr. Stephenson and his followers urge, that in point of economy the boiler plate side is equal to the bars, whilst in point of effective strength and rigidity it is decidedly superior. To show the comparative economy of material, he contrasted the lattice girder bridge over the river Trent, on the Great Northern Railway near Newark, with the tubes of the Victoria Bridge. In the former case, where the span is 240.5 feet, and the bridge 13 feet wide, the weight including bearings is 292 tons; in the latter, where the span is 242 feet, the width of the tube 16 feet, the weight including bearings is 275 tons, showing a balance in favour of the Victoria Tube of 17 tons. The comparison between the Newark Dyke Bridge and the Tubular Bridge over the river Aire is equally favourable to the latter; and no one can have travelled over the Great Northern line to York without noting that, as respects rigidity under the passing train, the Tubular Bridge is decidedly superior. It is ascertained that the deflection caused by a passing load is considerably greater in the former case; and Mr. Stephenson was also of opinion that the sides of all trellis or lattice girders are useless, except for the purpose of connecting the top and bottom, and keeping them in their position. They depend upon their connexion with the top and bottom webs for their own support; and since they could not sustain their shape, but would collapse immediately on their being disconnected from their top and bottom members, it is evident that they add to the strain upon them, and consequently to that extent reduce the ultimate strength of the beams. "I admit," he added, "that there is no formula for valuing the _solid_ sides for strains, and that at present we only ascribe to them the value or use of connecting the top and bottom; yet we are aware that, from their continuity and solidity, they are of value to resist horizontal and many other strains, independently of the top and bottom, by which they add very much to the stiffness of the beam; and the fact of their containing more material than is necessary to connect the top and bottom webs, has by no means been fairly established." Another important advantage of the Tubular bridge over the Trellis or Lattice structure, consists in its greater safety in event of a train running off the line,--a contingency which has more than once occurred on a tubular bridge without detriment, whereas in event of such an accident occurring on a Trellis or Lattice bridge, it must infallibly be destroyed. Where the proposed bridge is of the unusual length of a mile and a quarter, it is obvious that this consideration must have had no small weight with the directors, who eventually decided on proceeding with the Tubular Bridge according to Mr. Stephenson's original design.

From the first projection of the Victoria Bridge, the difficulties of executing such a work across a wide river, down which an avalanche of ice rushes to the sea every spring, were pronounced almost insurmountable by those best acquainted with the locality. The ice of two thousand miles of inland lakes and upper rivers, besides their tributaries, is then poured down stream, and, in the neighbourhood of Montreal especially, it is often piled up to the height of from forty to fifty feet, placing the surrounding country under water, and doing severe damage to the massive stone buildings along the noble river front of the city. To resist so prodigious a pressure, it was necessary that the piers of the proposed bridge should be of the most solid and massive description. Their foundations are placed in the solid rock; for none of the artificial methods of obtaining foundations, suggested by some engineers for cheapness' sake, were found practicable in this case. Where the force exercised against the piers was likely to be so great, it was felt that timber ice-breakers, timber or cast-iron piling, or even rubble-work, would have proved but temporary expedients. The two centre piers are eighteen feet wide, and the remaining twenty-two piers fifteen feet; to arrest and break the ice, an inclined plane, composed of great blocks of stone, was added to the up-river side of each pier--each block weighing from seven to ten tons, and the whole were firmly clamped together with iron rivets.

To convey some idea of the immense force which these piers are required to resist, we may briefly describe the breaking up of the ice in March, 1858, while the bridge was under construction. Fourteen out of the twenty-four piers were then finished, together with the formidable abutments and approaches to the bridge. The ice in the river began to show signs of weakness on the 29th March, but it was not until the 31st that a general movement became observable, which continued for an hour, when it suddenly stopped, and the water rose rapidly. On the following day, at noon, a grand movement commenced; the waters rose about four feet in two minutes, up to a level with many of the Montreal streets. The fields of ice at the same time were suddenly elevated to an incredible height; and so overwhelming were they in appearance, that crowds of the townspeople, who had assembled on the quay to watch the progress of the flood, ran for their lives. This movement lasted about twenty minutes, during which the jammed ice destroyed several portions of the quay-wall, grinding the hardest blocks to atoms. The embanked approaches to the Victoria Bridge had tremendous forces to resist. In the full channel of the stream, the ice in its passage between the piers was broken up by the force of the blow immediately on its coming in contact with the cutwaters. Sometimes thick sheets of ice were seen to rise up and rear on end against the piers, but by the force of the current they were speedily made to roll over into the stream, and in a moment after were out of sight. For the two next days the river was still high, until on the 4th April the waters seemed suddenly to give way, and by the following day the river was flowing clear and smooth as a millpond, nothing of winter remaining except the masses of bordage ice which were strewn along the shores of the stream. On examination of the piers of the bridge, it was found that they had admirably resisted the tremendous pressure; and though the timber "cribwork" erected to facilitate the placing of floating pontoons to form the dams, was found considerably disturbed and in some places seriously damaged, the piers, with the exception of one or two heavy stone blocks, which were still unfinished, escaped uninjured. One heavy block of many tons' weight was carried to a considerable distance, and must have been torn out of its place by sheer force, as several of the broken fragments were found left in the pier.

The works in connection with the Victoria Bridge were begun on the 22nd July, 1854, when the first stone was laid, and continued uninterruptedly during a period of 5.5 years, until the 17th December, 1859, when the bridge was finished and taken off the contractor's hands. It was formally opened for traffic early in 1860; though Robert Stephenson did not live to see its completion.

The tubular system was also applied by the same engineer, in a modified form, in the two bridges across the Nile, near Damietta in Lower Egypt. That near Benha contains eight spans or openings of 80 feet each, and two centre spans, formed by one of the largest swing bridges ever constructed,--the total length of the swing-beam being 157 feet,--a clear water-way of 60 feet being provided on either side of the centre pier. The only novelty in these bridges consisted in the road being carried _upon_ the tubes instead of within them; their erection being carried out in the usual manner, by means of workmen, materials, and plant sent out from England.

During the later years of his life, Mr. Stephenson took considerable interest in public affairs and in scientific investigations. In 1847 he entered the House of Commons as member for Whitby; but he does not seem to have been very devoted in his attendance, and only appeared on divisions when there was a "whip" of the party to which he belonged. He was a member of the Sanitary and Sewage Commissions, and of the Commission which sat on Westminster Bridge. The last occasions on which he addressed the House were on the Suez Canal and the cleansing of the Serpentine. He pronounced the Suez Canal to be an impracticable scheme. "I have surveyed the line," said he, "I have travelled the whole distance on foot, and I declare there is no fall between the two seas. Honourable members talk about a canal. A canal is impossible--the thing would only be a ditch."

Besides constructing the railway between Alexandria and Cairo, he was consulted, like his father, by the King of Belgium, as to the railways of that country; and he was made Knight of the Order of Leopold because of the improvements which he had made in locomotive engines, so much to the advantage of the Belgian system of inland transit. He was consulted by the King of Sweden as to the railway between Christiana and Lake Miosen, and in consideration of his services was decorated with the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olaf. He also visited Switzerland, Piedmont, and Denmark, to advise as to the system of railway communication best suited for those countries. At the Paris Exhibition of 1855 the Emperor of France decorated him with the Legion of Honour in consideration of his public services; and at home the University of Oxford made him a Doctor of Civil Laws. In 1855 he was elected President of the Institute of Civil Engineers, which office he held with honour and filled with distinguished ability for two years, giving place to his friend Mr. Locke at the end of 1857.

Mr. Stephenson was frequently called upon to act as arbitrator between contractors and railway companies, or between one company and another,--great value being attached to his opinion on account of his weighty judgment, his great experience, and his upright character, and we believe his decisions were invariably stamped by the qualities of impartiality and justice. He was always ready to lend a helping hand to a friend, and no petty jealousy stood between him and his rivals in the engineering world. The author remembers being with Mr. Stephenson one evening at his house in Gloucester Square, when a note was put into his hands from his friend Brunel, then engaged in his first fruitless efforts to launch the _Great Eastern_. It was to ask Stephenson to come down to Blackwall early next morning, and give him the benefit of his judgment. Shortly after six next morning Stephenson was in Scott Russell's building-yard, and he remained there until dusk. About midday, while superintending the launching operations, the baulk of timber on which he stood canted up, and he fell up to his middle in the Thames mud. He was dressed as usual, without great-coat (though the day was bitter cold), and with only thin boots upon his feet. He was urged to leave the yard, and change his dress, or at least dry himself; but with his usual disregard of health, he replied, "Oh, never mind me--I'm quite used to this sort of thing;" and he went paddling about in the mud, smoking his cigar, until almost dark, when the day's work was brought to an end. The result of this exposure was an attack of inflammation of the lungs, which kept him to his bed for a fortnight.

He was habitually careless of his health, and perhaps he indulged in narcotics to a prejudicial extent. Hence he often became "hipped" and sometimes ill. When Mr. Sopwith accompanied him to Egypt in the _Titania_, in 1856, he succeeded in persuading Mr. Stephenson to limit his indulgence in cigars and stimulants, and the consequence was that by the end of the voyage he felt himself, as he said, "quite a new man." Arrived at Marseilles, he telegraphed from thence a message to Great George Street, prescribing certain stringent and salutary rules for observance in the office there on his return. But he was of a facile, social disposition, and the old associations proved too strong for him. When he sailed for Norway, in the autumn of 1859, though then ailing in health, he looked a man who had still plenty of life in him. By the time he returned, his fatal illness had seized him. He was attacked by congestion of the liver, which first developed itself in jaundice, and then ran into dropsy, of which he died on the 12th October, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. {368} He was buried by the side of Telford in Westminster Abbey, amidst the departed great men of his country, and was attended to his resting-place by many of the intimate friends of his boyhood and his manhood. Among those who assembled round his grave were some of the greatest men of thought and action in England, who embraced the sad occasion to pay the last mark of their respect to this illustrious son of one of England's greatest working men.

[Picture: Robert Stephenson's Burial-place in Westminster Abbey]

It would be out of keeping with the subject thus drawn to a conclusion, to pronounce any panegyric on the character and achievements of George and Robert Stephenson. These for the most part speak for themselves. Both were emphatically true men, exhibiting in their lives many sterling qualities. No beginning could have been less promising than that of the elder Stephenson. Born in a poor condition, yet rich in spirit, he was from the first compelled to rely upon himself; and every step of advance which he made was conquered by patient labour. Whether working as a brakesman or an engineer, his mind was always full of the work in hand. He gave himself thoroughly up to it. Like the painter, he might say that he had become great "by neglecting nothing." Whatever he was engaged upon, he was as careful of the details as if each were itself the whole. He did all thoroughly and honestly. There was no "scamping" with him. When a workman he put his brains and labour into his work; and when a master he put his conscience and character into it. He would have no slop-work executed merely for the sake of profit. The materials must be as genuine as the workmanship was skilful. The structures which he designed and executed were distinguished for their thoroughness and solidity; his locomotives were famous for their durability and excellent working qualities. The engines which he sent to the United States in 1832 are still in good condition; and even the engines built by him for the Killingworth Colliery, upwards of thirty years ago, are working steadily there to this day. All his work was honest, representing the actual character of the man.

He was ready to turn his hand to anything--shoes and clocks, railways and locomotives. He contrived his safety-lamp with the object of saving pitmen's lives, and perilled his own life in testing it. Whatever work was nearest him, he turned to and did it. With him to resolve was to do. Many men knew far more than he; but none were more ready forthwith to apply what he did know to practical purposes. It was while working at Willington as a brakes-man, that he first learnt how best to handle a spade in throwing ballast out of the ships' holds. This casual employment seems to have left upon his mind the strongest impression of what "hard work" was; and he often used to revert to it, and say to the young men about him, "Ah, ye lads! there's none o' ye know what _wark_ is." Mr. Gooch says he was proud of the dexterity in handling a spade which he had thus acquired, and that he has frequently seen him take the shovel from a labourer in some railway cutting, and show him how to use it more deftly in filling waggons of earth, gravel, or sand. Sir Joshua Walmsley has also informed us, that, when examining the works of the Orleans and Tours Railway, Mr. Stephenson, seeing a large number of excavators filling and wheeling sand in a cutting, at a great waste of time and labour, went up to the men and said he would show them how to fill their barrows in half the time. He showed them the proper position in which to stand so as to exercise the greatest amount of power with the least expenditure of strength; and he filled the barrow with comparative ease again and again in their presence, to the great delight of the workmen. When passing through his own workshops, he would point out to his men how to save labour, and to get through their work skilfully and with ease. His energy imparted itself to others, quickening and influencing them as strong characters always do--flowing down into theirs, and bringing out their best powers.

His deportment towards the workmen employed under him was familiar, yet firm and consistent. As he respected their manhood, so did they respect his masterhood. Although he comported himself towards his men as if they occupied very much the same level as himself, he yet possessed that peculiar capacity for governing which enabled him always to preserve among them the strictest discipline, and to secure their cheerful and hearty services. Mr. Ingham, M.P. for South Shields, on going over the workshops at Newcastle, was particularly struck with this quality of the master in his bearing towards his men. "There was nothing," said he, "of undue familiarity in their intercourse, but they spoke to each other as man to man; and nothing seemed to please the master more than to point out illustrations of the ingenuity of his artisans. He took up a rivet, and expatiated on the skill with which it had been fashioned by the workman's hand--its perfectness and truth. He was always proud of his workmen and his pupils; and, while indifferent and careless as to what might be said of himself, he fired up in a moment if disparagement were thrown upon any one whom he had taught or trained."

In manner, George Stephenson was simple, modest, and unassuming, but always manly. He was frank and social in spirit. When a humble workman, he had carefully preserved his sense of self-respect. His companions looked up to him, and his example was worth even more to many of them than books or schools. His devoted love of knowledge made his poverty respectable, and adorned his humble calling. When he rose to a more elevated station, and associated with men of the highest position and influence in Britain, he took his place amongst them with perfect self-possession. They wondered at the quiet ease and simple dignity of his deportment; and men in the best ranks of life have said of him that "He was one of Nature's gentlemen."

Probably no military chiefs were ever more beloved by their soldiers than were both father and son by the army of men who, under their guidance, worked at labours of profit, made labours of love by their earnest will and purpose. True leaders of men and lords of industry, they were always ready to recognise and encourage talent in those who worked for and with them. Thus it was pleasant, at the openings of the Stephenson lines, to hear the chief engineers attributing the successful completion of the works to their able assistants; whilst the assistants, on the other hand, ascribed the glory to their chiefs.

Mr. Stephenson, though a thrifty and frugal man, was essentially unsordid. His rugged path in early life made him careful of his resources. He never saved to hoard, but saved for a purpose, such as the maintenance of his parents or the education of his son. In later years he became a prosperous and even a wealthy man; but riches never closed his heart, nor stole away the elasticity of his soul. He enjoyed life cheerfully, because hopefully. When he entered upon a commercial enterprise, whether for others or for himself, he looked carefully at the ways and means. Unless they would "pay," he held back. "He would have nothing to do," he declared, "with stock-jobbing speculations." His refusal to sell his name to the schemes of the railway mania--his survey of the Spanish lines without remuneration--his offer to postpone his claim for payment from a poor company until their affairs became more prosperous--are instances of the unsordid spirit in which he acted.

Another marked feature in Mr. Stephenson's character was his patience. Notwithstanding the strength of his convictions as to the great uses to which the locomotive might be applied, he waited long and patiently for the opportunity of bringing it into notice; and for years after he had completed an efficient engine he went on quietly devoting himself to the ordinary work of the colliery. He made no noise nor stir about his locomotive, but allowed another to take credit for the experiments on velocity and friction made with it by himself upon the Killingworth railroad.

By patient industry and laborious contrivance, he was enabled, with the powerful help of his son, to do for the locomotive what James Watt had done for the condensing engine. He found it clumsy and inefficient; and he made it powerful, efficient, and useful. Both have been described as the improvers of their respective engines; but, as to all that is admirable in their structure or vast in their utility, they are rather entitled to be described as their Inventors. While the invention of Watt increased the power, and at the same time so regulated the action of the steam-engine, as to make it capable of being applied alike to the hardest work and to the finest manufactures, the invention of Stephenson gave an effective power to the locomotive, which enabled it to perform the work of teams of the most powerful horses, and to outstrip the speed of the fleetest. Watt's invention exercised a wonderfully quickening influence on every branch of industry, and multiplied a thousand-fold the amount of manufactured productions; and Stephenson's enabled these to be distributed with an economy and despatch such as had never before been thought possible. They have both tended to increase indefinitely the mass of human comforts and enjoyments, and to render them cheap and accessible to all. But Stephenson's invention, by the influence which it is daily exercising upon the civilisation of the world, is even more remarkable than that of Watt, and is calculated to have still more important consequences. In this respect, it is to be regarded as the grandest application of steam power that has yet been discovered.

The Locomotive, like the condensing engine, exhibits the realisation of various capital, but wholly distinct, ideas, promulgated by many ingenious inventors. Stephenson, like Watt, exhibited a power of selection, combination, and invention of his own, by which--while availing himself of all that had been done before him, and superadding the many skilful contrivances devised by himself--he was at length enabled to bring his engine into a condition of marvellous power and efficiency. He gathered together the scattered threads of ingenuity which already existed, and combined them into one firm and complete fabric of his own. He realised the plans which others had imperfectly formed; and was the first to construct, what so many others had unsuccessfully attempted, the practical and economical working locomotive.

Mr. Stephenson's close and accurate observation provided him with a fulness of information on many subjects, which often appeared surprising to those who had devoted to them a special study. On one occasion the accuracy of his knowledge of birds came out in a curious way at a convivial meeting of railway men in London. The engineers and railway directors present knew each other as railway men and nothing more. The talk had been all of railways and railway politics. Mr. Stephenson was a great talker on those subjects, and was generally allowed, from the interest of his conversation and the extent of his experience, to take the lead. At length one of the party broke in with "Come now, Stephenson, we have had nothing but railways; cannot we have a change and try if we can talk a little about something else?" "Well," said Mr. Stephenson, "I'll give you a wide range of subjects; what shall it be about?" "Say _birds' nests_!" rejoined the other, who prided himself on his special knowledge of this subject. "Then birds' nests be it." A long and animated conversation ensued: the bird-nesting of his boyhood, the blackbird's nest which his father had held him up in his arms to look at when a child at Wylam, the hedges in which he had found the thrush's and the linnet's nests, the mossy bank where the robin built, the cleft in the branch of the young tree where the chaffinch had reared its dwelling--all rose up clear in his mind's eye, and led him back to the scenes of his boyhood at Callerton and Dewley Burn. The colour and number of the bird's eggs, the period of their incubation, the materials employed by them for the walls and lining of their nests, were described by him so vividly, and illustrated by such graphic anecdotes, that one of the party remarked that, if George Stephenson had not been the greatest engineer of his day, he might have been one of the greatest naturalists.

His powers of conversation were very great. He was so thoughtful, so original, and so suggestive. There was scarcely a department of science on which he had not formed some novel and sometimes daring theory. Thus Mr. Gooch, his pupil, who lived with him when at Liverpool, informs us that when sitting over the fire, he would frequently broach his favourite theory of the sun's light and heat being the original source of the light and heat given forth by the burning coal. "It fed the plants of which that coal is made," he would say, "and has been bottled up in the earth ever since, to be given out again now for the use of man." His son Robert once said of him, "My father flashed his bull's eye full upon a subject, and brought it out in its most vivid light in an instant: his strong common sense, and his varied experience operating upon a thoughtful mind, were his most powerful illuminators."

Mr. Stephenson had once a conversation with a watchmaker, whom he astonished by the extent and minuteness of his knowledge as to the parts of a watch. The watchmaker knew him to be an eminent engineer, and asked him how he had acquired so extensive a knowledge of a branch of business so much out of his sphere. "It is very easy to be explained," said Mr. Stephenson; "I worked long at watch-cleaning myself, and when I was at a loss, I was never ashamed to ask for information."

Towards the close of his life he frequently went down to Newcastle, and visited the scenes of his boyhood. "I have been to Callerton," said he one day to a friend, "and seen the fields in which I used to pull turnips at twopence a day; and many a cold finger, I can tell you, I had."

His hand was open to his former fellow-workmen whom old age had left in poverty. To poor Robert Gray, of Newburn, who acted as his bridesman on his marriage to Fanny Henderson, he left a pension for life. He would slip a five-pound note into the hand of a poor man or a widow in such a way as not to offend their delicacy, but to make them feel as if the obligation were all on his side. When Farmer Paterson, who married a sister of George's first wife, Fanny Henderson, died and left a large young family fatherless, poverty stared them in the face. "But ye ken," said our informant, "_George struck in fayther for them_." And perhaps the providential character of the act could not have been more graphically expressed than in these simple words.

On his visit to Newcastle, he would frequently meet the friends of his early days, occupying very nearly the same station, whilst he had meanwhile risen to almost world-wide fame. But he was no less hearty in his greeting of them than if their relative position had continued the same. Thus, one day, after shaking hands with Mr. Brandling on alighting from his carriage, he proceeded to shake hands with his coachman, Anthony Wigham, a still older friend, though he only sat on the box.

Robert Stephenson inherited his father's kindly spirit and benevolent disposition. He almost worshipped his father's memory, and was ever ready to attribute to him the chief merit of his own achievements as an engineer. "It was his thorough training," we once heard him say, "his example, and his character, which made me the man I am." On a more public occasion he said, "It is my great pride to remember, that whatever may have been done, and however extensive may have been my own connection with railway development, all I know and all I have done is primarily due to the parent whose memory I cherish and revere." {377} To Mr. Lough, the sculptor, he said he had never had but two loves--one for his father, the other for his wife.

Like his father, he was eminently practical, and yet always open to the influence and guidance of correct theory. His main consideration in laying out his lines of railway was what would best answer the intended purpose, or, to use his own words, to secure the maximum of result with the minimum of means. He was pre-eminently a safe man, because cautious, tentative, and experimental; following closely the lines of conduct trodden by his father, and often quoting his maxims.

In society Robert Stephenson was simple, unobtrusive, and modest; but charming and even fascinating in an eminent degree. Sir John Lawrence has said of him that he was, of all others, the man he most delighted to meet in England--he was so manly, yet gentle, and withal so great. While admired and beloved by men of such calibre, he was equally a favourite with women and children. He put himself upon the level of all, and charmed them no less by his inexpressible kindliness of manner than by his simple yet impressive conversation.

His great wealth enabled him to perform many generous acts in a right noble and yet modest manner, not letting his right hand know what his left hand did. Of the numerous kindly acts of his which have been made public, we may mention the graceful manner in which he repaid the obligations which both himself and his father owed to the Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Institute, when working together as humble experimenters in their cottage at Killingworth. The Institute was struggling under a debt of 6200 pounds which seriously impaired its usefulness as an educational agency. Robert Stephenson offered to pay one-half of the sum, provided the local supporters of the Institute would raise the remainder; and conditional also on the annual subscription being reduced from two guineas to one, in order that the usefulness of the institution might be extended. The generous offer was accepted, and the debt extinguished.

Both father and son were offered knighthood, and both declined it. During the summer of 1847, George Stephenson was invited to offer himself as a candidate for the representation of South Shields in Parliament. But his politics were at best of a very undefined sort; indeed his life had been so much occupied with subjects of a practical character, that he had scarcely troubled himself to form any decided opinion on the party political topics of the day, and to stand the cross fire of the electors on the hustings might have been found an even more distressing ordeal than the cross-questioning of the barristers in the Committees of the House of Commons. "Politics," he used to say, "are all matters of theory--there is no stability in them: they shift about like the sands of the sea: and I should feel quite out of my element amongst them." He had accordingly the good sense respectfully to decline the honour of contesting the representation of South Shields.

We have, however, been informed by Sir Joseph Paxton, that although George Stephenson held no strong opinions on political questions generally, there was one question on which he entertained a decided conviction, and that was the question of Free-trade. The words used by him on one occasion to Sir Joseph were very strong. "England," said he, "is, and must be a shopkeeper; and our docks and harbours are only so many wholesale shops, the doors of which should always be kept wide open." It is curious that his son Robert should have taken precisely the opposite view of this question, and acted throughout with the most rigid party amongst the protectionists, supporting the Navigation Laws and opposing Free Trade.

But Robert Stephenson will be judged in after times by his achievements as an engineer, rather than by his acts as a politician; and happily these last were far outweighed in value by the immense practical services which he rendered to trade, commerce, and civilisation, through the facilities which the railways constructed by him afforded for free intercommunication between men in all parts of the world. Speaking in the midst of his friends at Newcastle, in 1850, he observed:--

"It seems to me but as yesterday that I was engaged as an assistant in laying out the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Since then, the Liverpool and Manchester and a hundred other great works have sprung into existence. As I look back upon these stupendous undertakings, accomplished in so short a time, it seems as though we had realised in our generation the fabled powers of the magician's wand. Hills have been cut down and valleys filled up; and when these simple expedients have not sufficed, high and magnificent viaducts have been raised, and if mountains stood in the way, tunnels of unexampled magnitude have pierced them through, bearing their triumphant attestation to the indomitable energy of the nation, and the unrivalled skill of our artisans."

As respects the immense advantages of railways to mankind, there cannot be two opinions. They exhibit, probably, the grandest organisation of capital and labour that the world has yet seen. Although they have unhappily occasioned great loss to many, the loss has been that of individuals; whilst, as a national system, the gain has already been enormous. As tending to multiply and spread abroad the conveniences of life, opening up new fields of industry, bringing nations nearer to each other, and thus promoting the great ends of civilisation, the founding of the railway system by George Stephenson and his son must be regarded as one of the most important events, if not the very greatest, in the first half of this nineteenth century.

[Picture: The Stephenson Memorial Schools, Willington Quay]

INDEX.

ACCIDENTS in coal-mines, 89, 119.

Adam, Mr., counsel for Liverpool and Manchester Railway, 160, 166.

Alderson, Mr. (afterwards Baron), 160, 163, 165, 168.

Alton Grange, G. Stephenson's residence at, 234-6, 263.

Ambergate Railway slip, 259; Lime-works, 278.

Anna, Santa, mines at, 196.

Arnold, Dr., on Railways, 273.

Ashby-de-la-Zouch, 233.

Atmospheric Railway system, 286, 308.

* * * * *

BEAUMONT, Mr., his wooden waggon-ways, 5.

Belgium, G. Stephenson's visit to, 296.

Benton Colliery and village, 44, 47, 51, 61.

Berwick Royal Border Bridge, 311.

Birds and bird-nesting, 15, 17, 25, 58, 353, 375.

Birmingham and Derby Railway, 268.

Bishop Auckland coal-field, 123.

Black Callerton, 18, 26, 29, 32.

Blackett, Mr., Wylam, 13, 74.

Blast, invention of the Steam, 85, 208, 211.

Blenkinsop's Locomotive, 72, 80.

Blisworth Cutting, 243.

Boiler, multi-tubular, 210.

Booth, Henry, Liverpool, 210, 222.

Bradshaw, Mr., opposes Liverpool and Manchester line, 155.

Braithwaite, Isaac, Locomotive, 214, 230.

Brakeing coal-engine, 27, 36, 40.

Brandling, Messrs., 105, 312.

Brandreth's Locomotive, "Cycloped," 214.

Bridges, Railway, on Liverpool line, 185; improved bridges, 310-19; tubular bridges, 326-40, 360.

Bridgewater Canal monopoly, 147, 157.

Britannia Tubular Bridge, 339.

British Association Meeting at Newcastle, 279.

Brougham, Mr. William, counsel on Liverpool and Manchester Bill, 158, 160.

Bruce's School, Newcastle, 53, 59.

Brunel, I. K., 230, 304, 367.

Brunton's Locomotive, 73.

Brussels, railway celebrations at, 267.

Brusselton incline, 135.

Buckland, Dr., 350.

Bullbridge, Ambergate, 260.

Burstall's Locomotive, "Perseverance," 214, 218.

* * * * *

CALLERTON Colliery and village, 18, 26, 29, 32.

Canal opposition to Railways, 146, 157, 238.

Cartagena, R. Stephenson at, 200.

Chapman's Locomotive, 73.

Characteristics of the Stephensons, 368-80.

Chat Moss, William James's attempted Survey, 151; Mr. Harrison's speech, 166; evidence of Francis Giles, C.E., 167; Mr. Alderson's speech, 168; description of, 174; construction of Railway over, 177.

Chester and Birkenhead Railway, 286.

Chester and Holyhead Railway, 320.

Chesterfield, 279, 283.

Clanny, Dr., his safety-lamp, 92.

Clark, Edwin, C.E., 331, 335, 338.

Clay Cross Colliery, G. Stephenson leases, 277.

Clegg and Samuda's Atmospheric Railway, 287.

Clephan, Mr., description of first railway traffic, 140.

Cleveland, Duke of, and Stockton and Darlington Railway, 125.

Clock-mending and cleaning, 35, 51, 345.

Coach, first railway, 139.

Coal trade, 3, 11; staiths, 10; haulage, early expedients for, 5, 7, 63, 143; traffic by Railway, 138, 276; mining, George Stephenson's adventures in, 234, 277; theory of formation of, 351.

Coalbrookdale, rails early cast at, 6.

Coe, Wm., fellow workman of G. Stephenson, 21, 26, 31.

Coffin, Sir I., 172.

Colliery districts, 1-4; machinery and workmen, 7-11.

Colombia, mining association of, 193; Robert Stephenson's residence in, 196.

Contractors, railway, 229, 249.

Conway, tubular bridge at, 334.

Cooper, Sir Astley, Robert Stephenson's interview with, 238.

Crich Lime-works, Ambergate, 278.

Cropper, Isaac, Liverpool, 187, 217.

Cugnot's steam-carriage, 64-6.

Curr, John, his cast-iron Railway at Sheffield, 6.

Cuttings, railway, Tring, 242; Blisworth, 243; Ambergate, 259; Oakenshaw and Normanton, 259.

"Cycloped" Locomotive, 214.

* * * * *

DARLINGTON and Stockton Railway, 123, 136.

Davy, Sir Humphry, his description of Trevithick's steam-carriage, 68; his paper on fire-damp in mines, 92; his safety-lamp, 101-3; testimonial, 104.

Denman, Lord, 345.

Derby, Earl of, 172.

Dewley Burn Colliery, 16.

Direct lines, mania for, 292.

Dixon, John, C.E., assists in survey of Stockton and Darlington line, 136; assistant engineer, Liverpool and Manchester Railway, 175-9.

Dodds, Ralph, Killingworth, 42-4, 50, 86.

Drayton Manor, George Stephenson's visit to, 349.

Dutton Viaduct, 254.

Durham, Earl of, _See_ Lambton.

* * * * *

EAST COAST Railway to Scotland, 306-9.

Edgworth, Mr., sailing-waggons, 63; advocacy of Railways, 148.

Edinburgh University, Robert Stephenson at, 121.

Education, George Stephenson's self-education, 24, 47; Robert Stephenson's, 50, 121; George Stephenson's ideas of, 191, 281.

Egg-hatching by artificial heat, 23, 344.

Egyptian Tubular Bridges, Robert Stephenson's, 357.

Emerson, George Stephenson's meeting with, 353.

Emigration, George Stephenson contemplates, 40, 116.

Engine, study of, 22, 62, 78, 80.

Ericsson, Mr., engineer, 204, 214.

Estimates, railway, 165, 249.

"Experiment," the first railway coach, 139.

Explosion of fire-damp, 89.

Evans's steam-carriage, 65.

* * * * *

FAIRBAIRN, Wm., C.E., 28; at Percy Main Colliery, 34; experiments on iron tubes, 328-30.

Fire-damp, explosions of, 89.

Fixed-engine power, 118, 129, 135, 203, 205.

Floating road, Chat Moss, 176.

Floating Conway and Britannia Tubes, 332.

Follett, Sir Wm., 350.

Forth-street Works, Newcastle, 132, 193.

Foster, Jonathan, Wylam. 75, 77, 80, 310.

Franklin's lightning experiment repeated by Robert Stephenson, 56.

Free trade, George Stephenson's views on, 379.

Friction on common roads and Railways, 113.

* * * * *

GARDENING, George Stephenson's pursuits in, 58, 342.

Gateshead, 4, 314.

Gauge of Railways, 134, 304.

"Geordy" safety-lamp, invention of, 93.

Giles, Francis, C.E., 167, 174, 230.

Gooch, F. L., C.E., 188, 190, 220, 336, 371.

Gradients, George Stephenson's views on, 115, 284.

Grand Allies, Killingworth, 41, 46. ,, Junction Railway, 230, 253. ,, Trunk Railway, Canada, 359.

Gray, Robert, 24, 36, 376.

Gray, Thomas, 148.

Great Western Railway, 230, 232, 304.

* * * * *

HACKWORTH, Timothy, his engine "Sanspareil," 214, 216, 218.

Half-lap joint, G. Stephenson's, 111.

Harrison, Mr., barrister, 160, 166.

Hawthorn, Robert, C.E., 22.

Heating surface in Locomotives, 208, 209.

Hedley, William, Wylam, 77.

Henderson, Fanny, 32.

Heppel, Kit, 42, 45.

Hetton Railway, 117.

High Level Bridge, Newcastle, 2, 312. ,, Street House, Wylam, 14.

Holyhead, Railway to, 320.

Howick, Lord, and the Northumberland Atmospheric Railway, 307, 309.

Hudson, George, the Railway King, 291, 312.

Huskisson, Mr., M.P., and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, 172; killed at its opening, 223.

Hydraulic presses at the Britannia Bridge, 237.

* * * * *

INCLINES, self-acting, 9, 61.

Iron railway bridges, 312, 325.

* * * * *

JAMES, William, surveys a line between Liverpool and Manchester, 150; visits Killingworth, 151; superseded by George Stephenson, 154.

Jameson, Professor, Edinburgh, 122.

Jessop, William, C.E., 6.

Jolly's Close, Newburn, 20, 24.

Jones, Rees, on Trevithick's Locomotive, 71.

* * * * *

KEELMEN of the Tyne, 10-11.

Killingworth, West Moor, 31, 36, 38, 40; High Pit, 41; colliery explosions and mining, 89; Locomotive, 84, 88; the underground machinery, 109.

Kilsby Tunnel, 245.

* * * * *

LAMBTON, Mr. (Earl of Durham), 137.

Lamp, safety, invention of, 93.

Last-making competition, 59.

Lardner, Dr., and Railways, 284, 286.

Lattice Girder Bridges, 361.

Leeds Mechanics' Institute, George Stephenson's Speech at, 281.

Leicester and Swannington Railway, 232.

Lemington Coal-staith, 74.

Leopold, King of the Belgians, and Railways, 266; George Stephenson's interviews with, 268, 296.

Level Railways, advantages of, 115, 284.

Liddell, Sir T. (Lord Ravensworth), 46, 62.

Lime-works at Ambergate, George Stephenson's, 278.

Literary and Philosophical Institute, Newcastle, 53, 102, 280, 378.

Littleborough Tunnel, 255.

Liverpool and Manchester Railway projected, 147; surveyed by Wm. James, 150; the survey opposed, 151; George Stephenson engaged, 154; prospectus issued, 155; deputations visit Killingworth, 151, 154-5; opposition of the land-owners and canal companies, 156-7; the bill in committee, 160; rejected, 169; scheme prosecuted, 170; Messrs. Rennie appointed engineers, 171; the bill passed, 172; George Stephenson again engaged as engineer, 173; construction of the line across Chat Moss, 176; discussions as to the working power to be employed, 203; George Stephenson advocates the Locomotive, 201; prize of 500 pounds for best engine, 207; won by Stephenson's "Rocket," 218; public opening of the line, 222; results of the traffic, 228.

Locke, Mr. Joseph, C.E., 26, 175, 367.

"Locomotion" engine, No. I, Darlington, 135, 142.

Locomotive engine, invention of, 7; Robison and Watt's idea, Cugnot's steam-carriage, 64; Evans and Symington's, 65; Murdock's model, 66; Trevithick's steam-carriage, 67; his tram engine, 69, 74; Blenkinsop's engine, 72; Chapman and Brunton's engines, 73; Blackett's Wylam engine, 74; Kenton and Coxlodge engine, 80; Stephenson's Killingworth locomotive, 81, 86; Stockton and Darlington locomotives, 135; prize at Liverpool for the best engine, 207; won by the "Rocket," 218; the "Arrow," 222; further improvements, 226.

Locomotive manufactory, Stephenson's, at Newcastle, 132, 193, 199, 310.

Long Benton. _See_ Benton.

London and Birmingham Railway projected, 237; the Stephensons appointed engineers, 238; opposition to the Bill, Sir Astley Cooper, 239; the Bill rejected, 240; Bill passed, 241; the works, 242; Tring Cutting, 244; Blisworth Cutting, 243; Primrose Hill Tunnel, 244; Kilsby Tunnel, 245; magnitude of the works, 249.

Losh, Mr., Newcastle, 111, 152.

Lough's statue of George Stephenson, 355.

* * * * *

MANCHESTER and Leeds Railway 254; the Act obtained, 255; construction of summit tunnel, 256; magnitude of the works, 257.

Manchester, trade with Liverpool, increase of, 146, 154.

Mania, the Railway, 288.

Maps, Newcastle district, 2; Stockton and Darlington Railway, 123; Liverpool and Manchester Railway, 150; Leicester and Swannington Railway, 233; London and Birmingham Railway, 242; Menai Strait, 325.

Mariquita, Robert Stephenson at, 196.

Mechanical Engineers, Society of, 353.

Mechanics' Institutes, George Stephenson's interest in, 280.

Menai Suspension Bridge, 320; Railway Bridge, 331.

Merstham Tram-road, 153.

Microscope, George Stephenson's, 346.

Middlesborough-on-Tees, 144.

Middleton Railway, Leeds, 72, 148.

Midland Railway, 257.

Militia, G. Stephenson, drawn for, 40.

Mining, coal, 3, 7, 92; in South America, 197.

Montrose, G. Stephenson at, 38.

Moodie, underviewer at Killingworth, 94-7, 119.

Morecambe Bay, proposed reclamation of, 262.

Morton-on-the-Marsh Railway, 153.

Multitubular boiler, 208.

Murdock's model Locomotive, 66.

Murray, Mathew, Leeds, 72.

* * * * *

NASMYTH'S steam hammer, 312, 316.

Navvies, railway, 250-52.

Nelson, the fighting pitman 29.

Newburn Colliery, 20, 22.

Newcastle and Berwick Railway, 306. ,, and Carlisle Railway, 12, 203. ,, and Darlington Railway, 306.

Newcastle-on-Tyne in ancient times, 1-3; Literary and Philosophical Institute, 378; Stephenson, jubilees at, 206, 310; High Level Bridge, 312; George Stephenson's statue, 354.

Newcomen's atmospheric engine, 8, 41.

Nile, R. Stephenson's tubular bridges over, 357.

North Midland Railway, 257, 261.

North, Roger, description of early tram-roads, 5.

Northampton, opposition of to Railways, 232.

Northumberland Atmospheric Railway, 337.

"Novelty," Locomotive, 214, 216, 218, 230.

* * * * *

OLIVE MOUNT Cutting, Liverpool, 185.

Openings of Railways, Hetton, 118; Stockton and Darlington, 136; Middlesborough, 143; Liverpool and Manchester, 222; London and Birmingham, 268; Birmingham and Derby, 268; East Coast route to Scotland, 319; Britannia Bridge, 339; Trent Valley, 352.

Organization of labour, G. Stephenson's, 182, 222, 225.

Outram, Benj., Little Eaton, 6.

* * * * *

PARLIAMENT and Railways, 292, 294.

Parr Moss, Railway across, 181.

Passenger traffic of early Railways, 138, 156, 160.

Paxton, Sir Joseph, 378.

Pease, Edward, projects the Stockton and Darlington Railway, 123; first interview with George Stephenson, 156; visits Killingworth, 129; joins Stephenson in Locomotive Manufactory, 132, 199, 202; Stephenson's esteem and gratitude, 145; letters to Robert Stephenson, 199, 253, 357.

Peel, Sir Robert, 224, 293.

Penmaen Mawr, Railway under, 321.

Permanent way of Railroads, 110.

Perpetual motion, George Stephenson studies, 34, 48.

"Perseverance." Burstall's Locomotive, 214, 218.

Phillips, Sir R., speculations on Railways, 148.

Pile-driving by steam, 312, 316.

Pitmen, Northumbrian, 8.

"Planet" Locomotive, 229.

Plugman, duties of, 22.

Politics, George and Robert Stephenson's, 378-9.

Primrose Hill Tunnel, 244.

Prophecies of railway failure, 158, 166, 172.

Pumping-engines, George Stephenson's skill in, 38, 41, 44, 247.

Pupils, George Stephenson's, 190-2, 269.

Pyrenean Pastoral, 298.

* * * * *

'QUARTERLY,' the, on railway speed, 159.

Queen, the, her first use of the Railway, 274; opens the High Level and Royal Border Bridges, 319; visits the Britannia Bridge, 338.

* * * * *

RAILS, cast and wrought iron, 6, 133.

Railways, early, 5-7; Merthyr Tydfil (Pen-y-darran), 69, 71; Middleton, Leeds, 72; Wylam, 74; Killingworth, 84, 116; Hetton, 118; Stockton and Darlington, 123; Liverpool and Manchester, 222; Grand Junction, 230, 253; Great Western, and Leicester and Swannington, 232; London and Birmingham, 237; Navvies, 250; Manchester and Leeds, 254; Midland, 257; York and North Midland, 261; travelling, 270-4; undulating, 284; atmospheric, 286; Chester and Birkenhead, 286; mania, 288; Newcastle and Berwick, and Newcastle and Darlington, 306; South Devon, 308; Chester and Holyhead, 320; Trent Valley, 352.

Rainhill, locomotive competition at, 215.

Rastrick, Mr., C.E., 219, 253.

Ravensworth, Earl of, 46, 82.

Rennie, Messrs., C.E., 123, 171, 173, 325.

Road locomotion, Cugnot's steam-carriage, 64; Evans and Symington's, 65; Trevithick's, 67; George Stephenson on, 113.

Robertson, Andrew, schoolmaster, 24, 28.

Robins, anecdote of George Stephenson and the, 265.

Robison, Dr., his idea of a Locomotive, 64.

"Rocket," the, its construction, 210; arrangements of, 212; wins the prize of 500 pounds, 218.

Roscoe, Mr., his farm on Chat Moss, 169, 174, 176.

Ross, A. M., Engineer, 360.

Royal Border Bridge, Berwick, 311.

Rutter's School, Benton, 50, 55.

* * * * *

SAFETY-LAMP, Dr. Clanny's, 92; Stephenson's first lamp, 94; second lamp, 99; third lamp, 100; Sir H. Davy's paper, 92; his lamp, 101; the safety-lamp controversy, 102; the Davy and Stephenson testimonials, 104-6; comparative merits of the Davy and "Geordy" lamps, 107-8.

Sailing-waggons on tram-roads, 63.

"Samson" Locomotive, 227.

Sandars, Joseph, Liverpool, 147, 149, 154.

Sankey Viaduct, 185.

"Sanspareil" Locomotive, Tim Hackworth's, 214, 216, 218.

Sea, the force of, 321, 323.

Seguin, Mr., C.E., his tubular boiler, 210.

Self-acting incline, 61.

Sibthorpe, Colonel, on Railways, 231, 274.

Simplon Road, Midland Railway compared with, 257.

Snibston Colliery purchased by George Stephenson, 234.

Sopwith, Mr., C.E., 96, 297.

Spanish Railway, George Stephenson's survey of, 298.

Speed, railway, on Middleton Railway, 72; Wylam, 80; Killingworth, 85, 156; Coxlodge, 80; Stockton and Darlington, 143; G. Stephenson before Committee of House of Commons on, 282.

Speed of engines tried at Rainhill, 214-19; of the "Northumbrian," 224; George Stephenson's views on, 282.

Spur-gear, locomotive, 83.

Staiths, coal, 10.

Stationary-engine power, 118, 129, 135, 203, 205.

Statues of George Stephenson, 354.

Steam-blast, invention of, 85, 208-11.

Steam-springs, G. Stephenson's, 112.

Stephenson family, the, 15, 17, 19, 21, 39; "Old Bob," 14, 15, 39, 55.

Stephenson, George, birth and parentage, 13, 15; employed as herd-boy, makes clay engines, 16, 17; plough-boy; drives the gin-horse, 18; assistant-fireman, 19; fireman, 21; engineman--study of the steam-engine, 22; his schoolmasters, 24, 48, 60; learns to brake an engine, 26; duties as brakesman, 27; soles shoes, 28; saves his first guinea, 29; fights with a pitman, 30; marries Fanny Henderson, 33; heaves ballast, 34; cleans clocks, 35; death of his wife, 36; goes to Scotland, 37; returns home, 38; brakesman at West Moor, Killingworth, 39; drawn for the militia, 40; takes a brakeing contract, 41; cures pumping-engine, 42; engine-wright to the colliery, 46; evenings with John Wigham, 48; education of his son, 50-4; cottage at West Moor, 57; the sun-dial, 60; erects winding and pumping engines, 61; study of locomotive, 62; makes his first travelling-engine, 82; invents the steam-blast, 85; second locomotive, 85; fire in the main, personal courage, 90; invents and tests his safety-lamps, 93, 102; the Stephenson testimonial, 105; further improvements in the Killingworth locomotive, 110; constructs the Hetton Railway, 117; surveys and constructs the Stockton and Darlington Railway, 128; his second wife, 129; starts a Locomotive Manufactory, 132; appointed engineer of the Liverpool and Manchester line, 154; examined before Parliamentary Committee, 162; the Railway across Chat Moss, 173-86, 192; life at home, 190; the "Rocket" constructed, 210; public opening of Liverpool and Manchester line, 223; engineer of Grand Junction, 230; purchases Snibston Colliery, and removes to Alton Grange, 234; appointed joint engineer of London and Birmingham Railway, 237; engineer of Manchester and Leeds Railway, 253; of Midland Railway, 257; of York and North Midland Railway, 261; life at Alton Grange, 263; visit to Belgium and interviews with King Leopold, 267; takes lease of Clayross Colliery, 277; lime-works at Ambergate, residence at Tapton House, 278; appearance at Mechanics' Institutes, 280; opinions of railway speed, 282; views as to atmospheric system of working, 287; opposes the railway mania, 290; again visits Belgium, 295; visit to Spain, 297; retires from the profession of engineering, 301; Newcastle and Berwick Railway, and Chester and Holyhead Railway, 307; habits, conversation, etc., 343; theory of coal formation, 351; meeting with Emerson, 352; illness and death, 354; characteristics, 368.

Stephenson, Robert, his birth, death of his mother, 36; his father's care for his education, 50; is put to Rutter's school, Benton, 50; sent to Bruce's school, Newcastle, 52; evenings with his father, 54; his boyish tricks, 55; repeats Franklin's lightning experiment, 56; his father's assistant, 50, 53; gives lessons to the pitmen's sons, 60; calculates the latitude for a sundial at Killingworth, 60; his recollections of the trial of the first safety-lamp, 94; apprenticed to a coal viewer, 119; sent to college at Edinburgh, 121; assists in survey of Stockton and Darlington Railway, 128; assists in survey of Liverpool and Manchester Railway, 153; leaves England for Colombia, 193; residence at Mariquita, 196; resigns his situation as mining engineer, 199; rencontre with Trevithick at Cartagena, 200; shipwreck, 201; return to Newcastle, 202; pamphlet on the locomotive engine, 206; discussions with his father as to the locomotive, 208; constructs the "Rocket," 210; wins the prize, 218; improvements in the locomotive, 221; appointed engineer of Leicester and Swannington Railway, 232; his first tunnel, 233; finds coal at Snibston, 234; appointed joint engineer of London and Birmingham Railway, 237; construction of the works, 242; overcomes the difficulties of the Kilsby Tunnel, 248; letter to Sir Robert Peel on "undulating railways," 293; his extensive employment, 302-3; the competitor of Brunel, 304; engineer of Newcastle and Berwick Railway, 306; engineer of Royal Border Bridge, Berwick, 311; engineer of High Level Bridge, Newcastle, 312; engineer of Chester and Holyhead Railway, 320; constructs the Britannia and Conway Tubular Bridges, 324; succeeds to his father's wealth, and arranges to retire from business, 357; designs tubular bridges for Canada and Egypt, 357; member of Parliament, foreign honours, 366; death, 368; character, 377.

Stock Exchange and railway speculation, 289.

Stockton and Darlington Railway, projected, promoted by Edward Pease, 123; act passed, 125; re-surveyed by G. Stephenson, 128; opening of the Railway, 136; the coal traffic, 138; the first passenger coach, 139; coaching companies, 140; increase of the traffic, 141; town of Middlesborough, 144.

Strathmore, Earl of, 46, 105.

Sun-dial at Killingworth, 60, 280.

Swanwick, Frederick, C.E., 190, 192, 352.

Symington, Wm., steam-carriage, 65.

* * * * *

TAPTON HOUSE, Chesterfield, 278, 341.

Tram-roads, early, 5; Croydon and Merstham, 147.

Travelling by Railway, 160.

Trevithick, Richard, C.E., his steam-carriage, 67; his train-engine, and substitute for steam-blast, 70; rencontre with Robert Stephenson at Cartagena, 200.

Trent Valley Railway, 352.

Trellis girder bridges, 360.

Tring Cutting, 242.

Tubular boilers, 209.

Tubular bridges, 334, 339, 360.

Tunnels, railway, Liverpool, 183; Primrose Hill, 244; Kilsby, 245; Watford, 245; Littleborough, 255.

Tyne, the, at Newcastle, 3, 10, 11, 315.

* * * * *

VIADUCTS, Sankey, 185; Dutton, 254; Berwick, 311; Newcastle, 312.

Victoria Bridge, Montreal, 357-66.

Vignolles, Mr., C.E., 171, 185, 204.

* * * * *

WAGGON-ROADS, early, 4-7, 16, 63.

Walker, James, C.E., 159.

Wallsend, Newcastle, 1, 33.

Walmsley, Sir Joshua, 297, 299, 371.

Wandsworth and Croydon Tramway, 69, 147.

Watford Tunnel, 245.

Watt, James, and the Locomotive, 64.

Way-leaves for waggon roads, 5.

Wellington, Duke of, and Railways, 223, 274.

West Moor, Killingworth, 37, 40, 91, 108.

Whitehaven, early Railroad at, 6.

Wigham, John, Stephenson's teacher, 48-9.

Willington Quay, 28, 31-6.

Wilton, Earl of, 172.

Wood, Nicholas, prepares drawing of safety-lamp, 94; is present at its trial, 95; assists at experiments on fire-damp, 98; appears with Stephenson before Newcastle Institute, 102; opinion of the "Geordy" lamp, 108; experiments with Stephenson on friction, 117; accident in pit, 119; visits Edward Pease with G. Stephenson, 126.

Woolf's tubular boilers, 209.

Wylam Colliery and village, 12-14. ,, waggon-way, 74, 78.

* * * * *

YORK and North Midland Railway, 261.

Young, Arthur, description of early waggon-roads, 5.

NOTES.

{4} In the Newcastle dialect, a chare is a narrow street or lane. At the local assizes some years since, one of the witnesses in a criminal trial swore that "_he saw three men come out of the foot of a chare_." The judge cautioned the jury not to pay any regard to the man's evidence, as he must be insane. A little explanation by the foreman, however, satisfied his lordship that the original statement was correct.

{5} 'Six Months' Tour,' vol. iii. 9

{26} Father of Mr. Locke, M.P., the engineer. He afterwards removed to Barnsley, in Yorkshire.

{33} The Stephenson Memorial Schools have since been erected on the site of the old cottage at Willington Quay represented in the engraving at the head of this chapter.

{38} This incident was related by Robert Stephenson during a voyage to the north of Scotland in 1857, when off Montrose, on board his yacht _Titania_; and the reminiscence was communicated to the author by the late Mr. William Kell of Gateshead, who was present, at Mr. Stephenson's request, as being worthy of insertion in his father's biography.

{52} Speech at Newcastle, on the 18th of June, 1844, at the meeting held in celebration of the opening of the Newcastle and Darlington Railway.

{57} Robert Stephenson was perhaps, prouder of this little boyish experiment than he was of many of his subsequent achievements. Not having been quite accurately stated in the first edition of this book, Mr. Stephenson noted the correction for the second, and wrote the author (Sept. 18th, 1857) as follows:--"In the kite experiment, will you say, that the copper-wire was insulated by a few feet of silk cord; without this, the experiment cannot be made."

{70} Mr. Zerah Colburn, in his excellent work on 'Locomotive Engineering and the Mechanism of Railways,' points out that Mr. Davies Gilbert noted the effect of the discharge of the waste steam up the chimney of Trevithick's engine in increasing the draught, and wrote a letter to 'Nicholson's Journal' (Sept. 1805) on the subject. Mr. Nicholson himself proceeded to investigate the subject, and in 1806 he took out a patent for "steam-blasting apparatus," applicable to fixed engines. Trevithick himself, however, could not have had much faith in the steam-blast for locomotive purposes, or else he would not have taken out his patent for urging the fire by means of fanners. But the fact is, that while the speed of the locomotive was only four or five miles an hour, the blast was scarcely needed. It was only when high speeds were adopted that artificial methods of urging the fire became necessary, and that the full importance of the invention was recognised. Like many other inventions, stimulated if not originated by necessity, the steam-blast was certainly reinvented, if not invented, by George Stephenson.

{71} 'Mining Journal,' 9th September, 1858.

{73} Other machines, with legs, were patented in the following year by Lewis Gompertz and by Thomas Tindall. In Tindall's specification it is provided that the power of the engine is to be assisted by a _horizontal windmill_; and the four pushers, or legs, are to be caused to come successively in contact with the ground, and impel the carriage!

{82} Speech at the opening of the Newcastle and Darlington Railway, June 18, 1844.

{95} The Editor of the 'Athenaeum' having (Nov. 8th, 1862) characterized the author's account of this affair as "perfectly untrue" and a "fiction," it becomes necessary to say a few words in explanation of it. The Editor of the 'Athenaeum' quotes in support of his statement a passage from Mr. Nicholas Wood, who, however does not say that the anecdote is "perfectly untrue," but merely that "the danger was _not quite so great_ as is represented:" he adds that "at most an explosion might have burnt the hands of the operator, but would not extend a few feet from the blower." However that may be, we were not without good authority for making the original statement. The facts were verbally communicated to the author in the first place by Robert Stephenson, to whom the chapter was afterwards read in MS., in the presence of Mr. Sopwith, F.R.S. at Mr. Stephenson's house in Gloucester Square, and received his entire approval. But at the time at which Mr. Stephenson communicated the verbal information, he also handed a little book with his name written in it, still in the author's possession, saying, "Read that, you will find it all there." We have again referred to the little book which contains, among other things, a pamphlet, entitled _Report on the Claims of Mr. George Stephenson relative to the Invention of his Safety Lamp_. _By the Committee appointed at a Meeting holden in Newcastle_, _on this 1st of November_, _1817_. _With an Appendix containing the Evidence_. Among the witnesses examined were George Stephenson, Nicholas Wood, and John Moodie, and their evidence is given in the pamphlet. We quote that of Stephenson and Moodie, which was not contradicted, but in all material points confirmed by Wood, and was published, we believe, with his sanction. George Stephenson said, that he tried the first lamp "in a part of the mine where the air was highly explosive. Nicholas Wood and John Moodie were his companions when the trial was made. They became frightened when they came within hearing of the blower, and would not go any further. Mr. Stephenson went alone with the lamp to the mouth of the blower," etc. This evidence was confirmed by John Moodie, who said the air of the place where the experiment was about to be tried was such, that, if a lighted candle had been introduced, an explosion would have taken place that would have been "extremely dangerous." "Told Stephenson it was foul, and hinted at the danger; nevertheless, Stephenson _would_ try the lamp, confiding in its safety. Stephenson took the lamp and went with it into the place in which Moodie had been, and Moodie and Wood, apprehensive of the danger, retired to a greater distance," etc. The other details of the statement made in the text, are fully borne out by the published evidence, the accuracy of which, so far as the author is aware, has never before been called in question.

{105} The tankard bore the following inscription--"This piece of plate, purchased with a part of the sum of 1000 pounds, a subscription raised for the remuneration of Mr. GEORGE STEPHENSON for having discovered the fact that inflamed fire-damp will not pass through tubes and apertures of small dimensions, and having been _the first_ to apply that principle in the construction of a safety-lamp calculated for the preservation of human life in situations formerly of the greatest danger, was presented to him at a general meeting of the subscribers, Charles John Brandling, Esq., in the Chair. January 12th, 1818."

{107} The accident above referred to was described in the 'Barnsley Times,' a copy of which, containing the account, Robert Stephenson forwarded to the author, with the observation that "it is evidently written by a practical miner, and is, I think, worthy of record in my father's Life."

{125} Mr. Pease died at Darlington, on the 31st of July, 1858, aged ninety two.

{129} The story has been told that George was a former suitor of Miss Hindmarsh, while occupying the position of a humble workman at Black Callerton, but that having been rejected by her, he made love to and married Fanny Henderson; and that long after the death of the latter, when he had become a comparatively thriving man, he again made up to Miss Hindmarsh, and was on the second occasion accepted. This is the popular story, and different versions of it are current. Desirous of ascertaining the facts, the author called on Thomas Hindmarsh, Mrs. Stephenson's brother, who assured him that George knew nothing of his sister until he (Hindmarsh) introduced him to her, at George's express request, about the year 1818 or 1819. The author was himself originally attracted by the much more romantic version of the story, and gave publicity to it many years since; but after Mr. Hindmarsh's explicit statement, he thought fit to adopt the soberer, and perhaps, the truer view.

{130} The first clause in any railway act, empowering the employment of locomotive engines for the working of passenger traffic.

{131} This incident, communicated to the author by the late Edward Pease, has since been made the subject of a fine picture by Mr. A. Rankley, A.R.A., exhibited at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1861.

{144} Middlesborough does not furnish the only instance of the extraordinary increase of population in certain localities, occasioned by railways. Hartlepool, in the same neighbourhood, has in thirty years increased from 1330 to above 15,000; and Stockton-on-Tees from 7763 to above 16,000. In 1831 Crewe was a little village with 295 inhabitants; it now numbers upwards of 10,000. Rugby and Swindon have quadrupled their population in the same time. The railway has been the making of Southampton, and added 30,000 to its formerly small number of inhabitants. In like manner the railway has taken London to the sea-side, and increased the population of Brighton from 40,000 to nearly 100,000. That of Folkestone has been trebled. New and populous suburbs have sprung up all round London. The population of Stratford-le-Bow and West Ham was 11,580 in 1831; it is now nearly 40,000. Reigate has been trebled in size, and Redhill has been created by the railway. Blackheath, Forest Hill, Sydenham, New Cross, Wimbledon, and a number of populous places round London, may almost be said to have sprung into existence since the extension of railways to them within the last thirty years.

{147} Lives of the Engineers, vol. i. p. 371.

{189} Mr. Gooch's letter to the author, December 13th, 1861. Referring to the preparations of the plans and drawings, Mr. Gooch adds, "When we consider the extensive sets of drawings which most engineers have since found it right to adopt in carrying out similar works, it is not the least surprising feature in George Stephenson's early professional career, that he should have been able to confine himself to so limited a number as that which could be supplied by the hands of one person in carrying out the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway; and this may still be said, after full allowance is made for the alteration of system involved by the adoption of the large contract system."

{193} Letter to the author.

{196} Letter to Mr. Illingworth. September 25th, 1825.

{199} Letter to Mr. Illingworth. April 9th, 1827.

{201} 'Geological Transactions of Cornwall.' i. 222.

{206} The arguments used by Mr. Stephenson with the directors, in favour of the locomotive engine, were afterwards collected and published in 1830 by Robert Stephenson and Joseph Locke, as "compiled from the Reports of Mr. George Stephenson." The pamphlet was entitled, 'Observations on the Comparative Merits of Locomotive and Fixed Engines.' Robert Stephenson, speaking of the authorship many years after, said, "I believe I furnished the facts and the arguments, and Locke put them into shape. Locke was a very flowery writer, whereas my style was rather bald and unattractive; so he was the editor of the pamphlet, which excited a good deal of attention amongst engineers at the time."

{207} The conditions were these:--

1. The engine must effectually consume its own smoke.

2. The engine, if of six tons weight, must be able to draw after it, day by day, twenty tons weight (including the tender and water-tank) at _ten miles_ an hour, with a pressure of steam on the boiler not exceeding fifty pounds to the square inch.

3. The boiler must have two safety-valves, neither of which must be fastened down, and one of them be completely out of the control of the engineman.

4. The engine and boiler must be supported on springs, and rest on six wheels, the height of the whole not exceeding fifteen feet to the top of the chimney.

5. The engine, with water, must not weigh more than six tons; but an engine of less weight would be preferred on its drawing a proportionate load behind it; if only four and a half tons, then it might be put on only four wheels. The Company to be at liberty to test the boiler, etc., by a pressure of one hundred and fifty pounds to the square inch.

6. A mercurial gauge must be affixed to the machine, showing the steam pressure above forty-five pounds per square inch.

7. The engine must be delivered, complete and ready for trial, at the Liverpool end of the railway, not later than the 1st of October, 1829.

8. The price of the engine must not exceed 550 pounds.

{214} The inventor of this engine was a Swede, who afterwards proceeded to the United States, and there achieved considerable distinction as an engineer. His Caloric Engine has so far proved a failure, but his iron cupola vessel, the "Monitor," must be admitted to have been a remarkable success in its way.

{219} The "Rocket" is now to be seen at the Museum of Patents at Kensington, where it is carefully preserved.

{234} Tubbing is now adopted in many cases as a substitute for brick-walling. The tubbing consists of short portions of cast-iron cylinder fixed in segments. Each weighs about 4.5 cwt., is about 3 or 4 feet long, and about 0.375 of an inch thick. These pieces are fitted closely together, length under length, and form an impermeable wall along the side of the pit.

{263} During this period he was engaged on the North Midland, extending from Derby to Leeds; the York and North Midland, from Normanton to York; the Manchester and Leeds; the Birmingham and Derby, and the Sheffield and Rotherham Railways; the whole of these, of which he was principal engineer, having been authorised in 1836. In that session alone, powers were obtained for the construction of 214 miles of new railways under his direction, at an expenditure of upwards of five millions sterling.

{288} The question of the specific merits of the atmospheric as compared with the fixed engine and locomotive systems, will be found fully discussed in Robert Stephenson's able 'Report on the Atmospheric Railway System,' 1844, in which he gives the result of numerous observations and experiments made by him on the Kingstown Atmospheric Railway, with the object of ascertaining whether the new power would be applicable for the working of the Chester and Holyhead Railway, then under construction. His opinion was decidedly against the atmospheric system.

{289} The Marquis of Clanricarde brought under the notice of the House of Lords, in 1845, that one Charles Guernsey, the son of a charwoman, and a clerk in a broker's office, at 12s. a week, had his name down as a subscriber for shares in the London and York line, for 52,000 pounds. Doubtless he had been made useful for the purpose by the brokers, his employers.

{309} "When my father came about the office," said Robert, "he sometimes did not well know what to do with himself. So he used to invite Bidder to have a wrestle with him, for old acquaintance' sake. And the two wrestled together so often, and had so many 'falls' (sometimes I thought they would bring the house down between them), that they broke half the chairs in my outer office. I remember once sending my father in a joiner's bill of about 2 pounds 10s. for mending broken chairs."

{324} The simple fact that in a heavy storm the force of impact of the waves is from one and a-half to two tons per square foot, must necessarily dictate the greatest possible caution in approaching so formidable an element. Mr. R. Stevenson (Edinburgh) registered a force of three tons per square foot at Skerryvore, during a gale in the Atlantic, when the waves were supposed to run twenty feet high.

{327} Robert Stephenson's narrative in Clark's 'Britannia and Conway Tubular Bridges,' vol. i. p. 27.

{329a} 'Account of the Construction of the Britannia and Conway Tubular Bridges.' By W. Fairbairn, C.E. London, 1849.

{329b} Mr. Stephenson continued to hold that the elliptical tube was the right idea, and that sufficient justice had not been done to it. A year or two before his death Mr. Stephenson remarked to the author, that had the same arrangement for stiffening been adopted to which the oblong rectangular tubes owe a great part of their strength, a very different result would have been obtained.

{335} 'The Britannia and Conway Tubular Bridges.' By Edwin Clark. Vol. II, pp. 683-4.

{336} No. 34, Gloucester Square, Hyde Park, where he lived.

{350} The above anecdote is given on the authority of Mr. Sopwith. F.R.S.

{354} The second Mrs. Stephenson having died in 1845, George married a third time in 1848, about six months before his death. The third Mrs. Stephenson had for some time been his housekeeper.

{368} In 1829 Robert Stephenson married Frances, daughter of John Sanderson, merchant, London; but she died in 1842, without issue, and Mr. Stephenson did not marry again. Until the close of his life, Robert Stephenson was accustomed twice in every year to visit his wife's grave in Hampstead churchyard.

{377} Address as President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, January, 1856.