The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1868-11-06
From the Philadelphia Pubic Ledger.
The Work Of one Mechanic.

patient. pefsevering industry of one
humble mechanic, has seldom received
d more forcible INSTRUMENTATION than in a
book now before-the public in {. new
edition. How thoroughly railwa and
locomotivc engines have revolutionized
the land traffic, transportion and travel |
of the whole civilized world within the
asst forty years need not be told, for it
is within the knowledge of every one
Still there are considerable numbers who
have no adequate idea of the tremendous
magnitude of that revolution. 1t is but
thirty eight years since the Liverpool
and Manchester railway was opened, by
a trial trip, with the first rude attempt
at q locomotive Tor passenger travel, and
yet there are now not less than hun
dred thousand miles Of railway track in
operation. OF this enormous length Of
iron roadway the United States possess a
greatly larger proportion than any other
country, as great indeed as nearly all
others combined. But the statistics Of
the English roads furnish the readiest
means for popular illustration of the vast
change, and immense increase in trans
portation and travel within the period
named In 1866 there were in Great
Britain between Is aud fourteen thous-
and miles OF railway, requiring 1925 To-
| comotives. 1929 passenger carriages,
and 242. 947 burden cars and trucks, for
and vcorobon1;oo AID oil
hat we in this country denominate as
freight In that year the number Of
passengers carried over British railways
amounted 10 the enormous aggregate of
three hundred and thirteen millions six
hundred and ninety nine thousand two
hundred and sixty eight, or a number o,
passengers equal to one third of the pop.
ulation OF the globe. The aggregate
distance run by the passenger and freight
was 142, So7 1853 miles. This is probabl,
not more than a quarter of tie Who'll,
! amount of railway work now done in the
countries where they are in USE
Having made this very brief reference
to the extent Of tue railway system. and
the revolution it has brought about. we
may trace back the brief but wonderfully
rapid course of its progress, until we find
at the other end of the line a poor boy
engaged in the coarsest manual labor
at the mouth of q coal mine, who, in the
year 1900, a: the age Of eighteen, do
not how the letters Of the alphabet This
boy was George Stephenson, the father
of the present railway system. He was
he son of a fireman, tending mining
| ngine, near New Castle on-the Tyne
He had been successfully herd boy, coal
picker, horse driver, assistant fireman,
'splugman" and brakesman, before he
had acquired the first rude elements of
| a school education. 1t was the ambition
Of his youthful life to become an engiae
man and to reach this, to him, proud Gle
Walton, he devoted all the patient indus
| try, the persevering application, and
the intelligent inquiry that boy so cir
cumstanced could bring to the work.
The steam engine he had to deal with
WAS stationary engine, used to raise the
coal from the mine, and rude contri-
vance compared with the grand station
| airy steam engines of the present day.
But the uncultured, untutored. but
thoughtful and ambitious boy, made that
rough machine the study of his life
He clos ely watched its every motion,
trying to trace it back to the moving
cause, and to understand the use and the
| necessity for every part. To familiarize
| himself still further with its constitution,
| it was his custom once a week, when all
the other workrnen were enjoying their
| holiday, to take it apart and clean and
| repair it as thoroughly as he could. 1t
was one OF these early specimens, moved
partly by the force Of steam and partly
by the pressure of the atmosphere In
his constant inquiries on the subject, he
| had beard of the new and superior en-
| gines of Button aud Watt, and these
stimulated his eager desire to kno. all
| about steam machines. But none Of the
Watt engines were within bis reach, and
| he found that the only way to get fur
ther knowledge of them was by means of
books This was great shock-,o him.
for he could not read. To master this
difficulty was his first great task. At
tending his engine the whole of the dav,
he began to take lessons at q poor village
school at the rate of threepence week
Studying his lessons at night, and lookin g
at them as opportunity offered during the
day. it took him two or three years to
| acquire an ordinary knowledge of read
ing, writing and arithmetic. Meanwhile
he was constantly gaining ground as
steady Intelligent, INDUSTRIOUS and temper
ate workman. Before he was of age he oc-