Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1845-12-19
four mile. per hour-I wish TO say, that I am nc

civ Of Boston in The year 1921, ! think; certain
IL moi la,er than 1872, where ! made a public e1
hihitiun Of il, and advertised IN all lie he@spa
pers for one railway 10 be built 10 Lowell, and al
other 10 Worcester. was then advised BY seve'
raj EnglishmeD. al my fathers house, 10 &c
TO England, because tiefe iron was cheap,
money plenty, population dense, ana lhveh.
tors encouraged. But, as would nor, iney
got models OF my carriages, and carried Them
here. If you will look in any Encyclopedia
printed before 1926. Won will find that all railroads
on which steam cars were 10 run for coal, stone,
&c.. were built with a line OF cast iron cogs The
whole length OF the road. The steam engine had
a cog wheel, which flied into The stationary coss,
10 prevent The wheels slipping on the rail. II you
will look in the Penny Magazine for March,
1888, you will find a toll history OF railroads up
10 that time. and that the writer does not
eloim for England The discovery OF The i'm
provement which adapted il 10 travelling
Il, says: "lf only ten years back II had been
said, that persons could pass, without inconve-
nience or danger, over a distance of 81 miles IN
one hour. the tale would have been treated as one
Of The visionary stories which in former days
were the amusemen,s Of The nursery" Il also
SAYS: "The Stockton and Darlington railway
was the first laid down BY act OF Parliament
Tor The conveyance OF general merchandise and
passengers, as well as Goals; This road was open
ed in the Autumn OF 1925" This railway was
no doubt intended for horse power only, as what
follows proves ii. "The Liverpool and Manches-
Ter railway was commenced in June, 1876. Al
the first projection Of The railway, il was By no
means decided what kind OF power should be en-
ployed for Observation-Disclosures horses or loco
motive engines, or fixed engines drawing the load
by means OF ropes from one station 10 another.
Al length j, was determined in April, 1893, TO Of
fer a premium OF f500 for the most approved To-
conceive" The preceding facts give me the
right Of discovery. | built a wooden railway in
Lynchburg in the year 1877, f.! the purpose Of
removing a large quantity Of earth, and was 50
much pleased with the great saving OF time and
labor, that ! Mcn thought railroads could ad"anta-
geously be built, wherever" there was much ira.
yelling.
Dough, every book which treated on Rail-
WAYS, "Rees' Encyclopedia" among the rest. |
wished 10 get rid of cos-wheels, as | knew their
use was an insuperable bar TO their being used
for travelling. | tried various experiments or3
years before / perfected my plans, and my first
public exhibition was in Boston.
The first railway in the United States, entirely
of wood, Tor The purpose OF conveying Goals, was
from The Mauch Chunk mines to the Lehisli
river in Pennsylvania, (Which | visited, after
building the one in Boston, and is laid ! distance
OF about 3 miles; this was an inclined plain
the loaded wagons ran down BY their own gra-
viiy, and when emplied were drawn back by
mules.
The first railway composed Of wood and iron
united, for The purpose OF morir. mcrehandi-c, !
built myself on VIM. Gray's wharf, in Boston.
in the year 1921, or 1S22: after building il, drew
5000 lbs. weight upon it with one finger IN his
presence. To show how steam could operate, J
sal in the car, fixed a crank 10 a wheel, and held
one end OF a rod in my hand, the other end fast 10
the crank, and moved my hand back ward and
forward, when, instead OF the wheel dipias on
the rail, as every Engineer had before supposed
il would do, the carriage moved forward, 10 the
astonishmeat OF all present.
But, 10 build railroads for trareHing was my
principal object, and as | received no encourage
lnent in Boston came on 10 New York, where |
placed INV carriage and railroad in the Ameri-
can Museum, and advertised it in all the news
papers. Many came 10 see il, but ! do not re-
member any person who gave me any encourage
menl except Major Noah. ] think he tried 10 gel
IN a COMPANY 10 build a railroad from New
Brunswick 10 Trenton; but he could not succeed.
| then made a similar exhibition al Camden. lOp-
posite Philadelphia, with no better success. ]
next visited Baltimore and then Washington, and
placed nv railroad and car in fI0nt oi The Capitol
50 tha, every person ston{d see il. | advertised in
all The newspapers, and a ifieEd Of mine wrote
10 the Editor Of a Baltimore paper, that would
guarantee 10 carry passengers from Washington
10 New York in me dau, II a railroad could lie
built. | know The letter was published in some
Baltimore paner, but The PROJECT was treated Is
an lille d,cam, unworthy OF notice by sane men.
then came an TO Richmond, and pelitioned
the Common Council 10 lei me build a railroad
from the Basin 10 Rockets, al mn orn elpenSe;
!, ,o bnuuepor ,raS moi UTaUtei StaId q Stm-
mer in Charleston, S. c., on the same business,
and was at the Governors House, and advised a
railroad being laid from Charleston 10 Orange
burg, and have one fork thence 10 Columbia. and
another 10 Hamburg. As | saw hui litlc pros
pect Of a company teing formed for that purpose,
and The yellow fever breaking out, took 4 packet
for New York. One of The passengers died, and
The rest OF Us chose 10 remain on deck day and
night. until We arrived in sight OF New York.
We were then ordered not 10 visit The city for 80
days. was Sci,, and out OF money. had
spent 8 years OF nj life, and al least Slo,uOD 10
railroad projects. | wrote 10 my father Tor help
he sen, me a small sum Of money, and stated in
his letter, that he was then upwards OF ~ years
old, was very feeble, and he had but a short lime
10 live, and begssd me TO quit my raiLrood schemes,
and all other inventions, during his life. He said
he conld constantly hear me ridiruLed for leaving
mercantile pursuits in Richmond, where | was
gaining money as fast as heart could desire, 10
pursue with such priinQeitu, a business so painful
and precarious. | felt keenly the truth OF his re-
marks, as was conscious that should have
made 100000, il | had slaid there. | made
a solemn promise never 10 read or speak OIL
railroads during my fathers life; and as | had
$4,000 Of old debts due me by Virginia coun-
Try merchants, (Which | had entirely neglected
| concluded 70 try 10 collect enough 10 buy me a
small farm, and retire from all my former as
sociales for a short time. \ did 50, and IN Flu
wanna county | married, became a farmer, and
lived a happy life, until | lost all my property BY
fire. | began life again, and was getting along
again quite conlenied, until | broke my lcg-it
was very badly sci, and a, The risk Of my life, |
went IS miles 10 Richmond 10 get il re-sel-but
modification had commenced before | got there,
and il was cut of aborc the knee. The wound
healed so ra pidly, that al the end OF lSdays (belng
exceedingly anxious 10 see my afflicted ianlily,)
! LETT The hospital against The tciSt and adrice ~
The Surgeon. | caught cold and bruisedlhe wound
in getting home. For a vcar afterwards, ] was
confned 10 mn bed, during which time, my proper
~ was all said 10 pay distant creditors who did
not know my situation, and ] can now, after a
lapse OF three years, only walk on crutches.-
The bone, or marrow OF my leg, feels as II II
was in a fire. My father died a few months ago,
uCoi iDuSiuu, dScu COi liz VIZ al OlH-tl III hS
Revolutionary war, but for the last GO years OF
his life a Preacher-of-the- Gospel: OF course ! am
free from my solemn promise 10 him, and have a
right 10 speak Of Railroads.
II has been suggested 10 me, that as my dis
covery has been so beneficial 10 the whole world
and England in particular, that had better visit
Europe next Summer. But | cannot help think
ing that there is ~liberality enough in The people OF
the United States 10 contribute 10 the support OF
one who has done so much for them.
think have a claim in equity on all persons
who travel by Railroads, for the great speed and
comfort with which they now move, pertuIming
nearly the same journey in hours which took me
davs in the years 1913 and IA in mail stages. II
any liberal person in any part Of The United
States is Of this opinion, they can enclose in letter
By mail whatever they choose, and direct il 10 me
at "Central Plains Post Office, Fluvanna county,
Virginia" My sons viii keep an account OF il,
and repay it if ever able.
To give my children (and | have nine) a good
education is all | wish, and certainly that claim
is humble enough. Please publish this in your