Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1859-12-01
Railwayism.

the system OF Raiwayism +? We have claimed
the credit of that development for George
Stephenson upon the following grounds:
As early as the reign of Charles the Second
aoay-ledres (Which would now be called rail
! roads), were in use in that part of England
called Northumberland, chiefly in connection
with the coal-mines near the town of Newcastle
npon-Tyne. A century later they were des
crbed by Arthur Young, who noted that
pieces of wood were let into the roads for The
the wheels Of the coal-wagons to run upon,
which so much eased the traction, that one
horse was able to draw, with ease, fifty or six
ty bushels of coal The same principle may
be seen in operation in our streets every day.
| The Passenger Railroad Cars owe their facili-
| ties and success to it.
The wagon roads were not confined to the
North of England They were to be seen in
part of Scotland, and in connection with col
Iieres at Whitehaven, Sheffield, Longborough,
Derby and Coalbrookedale Cast iron rails
were first used over a century ago, at White
haven. BY degrees, great economy in horse
power was obtained. Numerous projectors
suggested plans for mpelng wagons or other
carriages along the rails some by rails, some
| by the application Of steam-power on the nigh
pressure principle.
Over two hundred years ago, one Solomon
de Caus was imprisoned in the Bcetre, at Paris
as a mailman, one Of his out-of-the-way points
being the belief that 10y steam ships could he
navigated and carriages moved. At later
period, others got the idea that carriages
might be propelled along ordinary highways,
by this same motive power. In 1863, French
man named Cugnot exhibited steam carriage
before Marshal SAKE. which, when set in mo-
tion, went forward with so much force that it
knocked down Il wall which stood in its way
DR.. Smiles says, in his excellent Life of George
/ Stephenson, An American inyel tor, named
| Oliver Evans, was also occupied with the
same idea, for, in 1872, he invented steam
carriage, to travel on common roads, and in
! 1877 he obtained from the State of Maryland
the exclusive right to make and use steam car
riages. His invention, however, never came
/ into practical use"
| This, our correspondent informs US, is mis-.
take. Mr.. Evans invented and constructed a
/ high pressure steam locomotive capable of good
/ work upon iron railroads, (practicalIy had it
! running in the streets of Philadelphia, and,
as early as 1909, vaiuIy endeavored to organ
! ize a company to make railroad from Phila-
delphia to New York He clearly saw what
might be, though he did not anticipate the
! full extent In 1918, Mr. Evans wrote as
! follows The time will come when people
will travel in stages moved by steam engines,
/ from one city to another, almost as fast as
! birds fly, fifteen or twenty miles an hour \
carriage will set out at Washington in the
morning, passengers will breakfast at Balti
] "a .l,,li
York the same dav To accomplish this, two
sets OF railways will be laid SO nearly level as
not in any place to deviate more than two de
/ grees from horizontal line, made OF wood or
! iron, on smooth parts Of broken stone OF
/ gravel. with rail to guide the carriages 50
| that they may pass each other in different di-
rections, and travel by night as well as 10y
day and the passengers will sleep in these
stages as comfortably as they now DO in steam
stage boats
| In 1854 Mr. Sym;ngton, who made expert
men,s on steam igatiou-though Fulton
most undoubtedly must be considered the in
ventor of steamboats,, seeing that he was ac-
| tually the fiji person who did run a vessel by
steam upon tie water, for a diStauce-con-
Strncted a Stcam-carrage to run on common
roads In the same year William Murdock,
| assistant of James Watt, made a seam-oco-
motive, on the highpreSSure principle. which
| actually ran eway With him. In 1902, Rich
chard Trevethck patented Is similar invention,
with the Improvement Of moving piston by
the elasticity of steam against the pressure
only Of the atmosphere, an1 actually ran it,
on ordinary roads, from Cornwall to Loudon.
H. subsequently made several improvements.
I In Mr. Entt coll inr
owner, who made a great many experiments
on adapting steam locomotives to railway
travelling, discovered that the weight of the
engine would of itself produce sufficient ad-
heSion to enable it to drag after ton a smooth
tram road, the requisite number OF wagons, in
all kinds of weather. This was a great step
in advance.
About the same time, George Stephenson,
then a man with little education, was engine
wright Of the collieres at killingworth, near
/ Newcastle, and desired to save expense 10y u
more economical haulage of the coal from the
pits to the side of the river Tyne. The keep
of horses was costly, and he wished to use an
engine on the tram road to supersede them
| He made himself acquainted with the principle
and working of Trevethick's and other steam
! locomotives within reach and set to work to
make one of his own-combining, embodying
and improving the good points of the others
Lord Ravensworth, who had a large coa
property in the vicinity, authorized him to con-
struct an engine at his cost. He put smooth
wheels upon his locomotive, and his engine
after ten months labor upon it, made its first
trip in July, 1914, drawing eight loaded car
riagcS OF thirty tons weight at four miles an
hour, and continuing in regular work for some
time In the following year, Stephenson in
vented the steam-blast, which doubled the
power of the engine. Practically, that was
the commencement of the Railway system. !
Other improvements followed, and, withoHt
much original invention, but great adaptive