The New York herald., 1871-12-18
LITER AT U r E .

THE HISTORY or THE FIRST LOCOMOTIVES IN
AMERICA. BY Wm H. Brown. Appleton GO.
This Is book which, in spite OF many detects, Is
very welcome contribution to American historical
literature. 1t ls evidently the production or a man
of verS little literary experience, who was so per-
rectiy familiar with the facts Of his subject to be
fairly overwhelmed by them. Almost every page is
a cIeraur.de- f'tse OF names and dates and auto
graph letters and extracts from newspapers-tne
most admirable rough material for an interesting
narrative Of the introduction o. The iron horse In
America that could be desired. Mir. Brown, how
ever, has apparently abored in vain to marshal
this mass OF details into connected and
coherent FORM; and has, therefore. In despair
OF doing better, pltcniorked them together
pell-mell, under some forty three different
heads OF chapters. For this lack Of pains he will be
punished, no doubt, In the course Of the next few
years, by the penalty usually attached to such
heinous literary crime. Some lively. clear.headed
bookmaker viii chance 60 stumble across his vol
ume, VIII at perceive Its ''adaprablty" for =
popular book, and Will appropriate all Mr.. Browns
laboriOus gcanings, and gel respectfully paid, per-
maps in money and fame both, for the theit.
There Is one popular error which Mr.. Brown dis.
pels IN the very earliest pages OF MS book. Tell any
person In your acquaintance that railways are more
than couple of centuries Old ami ne Will laugh at
you as fool. In the minds OF nineteen men
out OF twenty, the railroad and the locomotive
are regarded as Simultaneous nearly stimuli
tanecus discoveries, the one inseparably con-
nected with the other. This is great mis-.
take. Old Roger North speaks Of railways
as being In use IN the neignbOrhood OF the River
Tyne (England) In 1915. But we can 90 even further
back than this. There IS o record or a rail track
being used for the transportation Of coal from the
mines at Newcastle In 1880. The rails were OF tim.
per- but thai detracts nothing from the merit Of the
invention. Certainly the unknown man Of genius
who first hit upon this means OF facilitating the
movement or wheeled carriages ought to rank next
to that other man OF genus-alsO we believe, un.
known-who first invented wheels. Simple as the
discovery was 1t had escaped The attention OF those
great Egyptian and Roman engineers among whose
works are the Pyramids and the Appian Way. In
spite OF need OF some such means being evidently
felt very greatly. The Egyptians spent the labor for
ten years or 100 900 men-though this is one OF the
few facts sir. Brown has apparently missed
10 build o causeway OF huge blocks OF
stone fitted together with exquisite SKILL from the
river Nile to the chosen site at Ghiza, sufficiently
strong to serve FOR the transportation OF the
nous masses of stone and granite which were used
In the construction OF the Pyramids. Had they been
acquainted with the simple-tne ridical0usly SIM
pie-contrivance OF railroad, mere fractional
percentage of this labor woud have been necessary.
The irst iron rails that we have any account OF
were psed at whltehaven, somewhere about l74O;
ard. III 1857. a French traveller in England de-
kcrthes win enthusiasm the immsnsc advantages
Ssye;L Z,y. =. ElEs i. - - 4 Ip,a,,oro,,a,,
OF iron Iv..,,s. l.so-tne year OF tiC .caia!KvA
OF Independence-thc first rails with ledge on the
outer side afterwards changed 10 the inner 81 de
and thea abandoned IN 1889 In favor OF langes
upon the wheels) were cast and road was
constructed with them at the Duke OF Norfolk's
coliery, near Sneffled. The workmen Of the
neghborhood were 50 alarmed at the evident say.
ing LABOR thus effected that they tore up and de-
stroyed the road, and forced Mr.. Curr its builder
to ny for his llfe In $780, however, great advance
was made by the Improvement inthe construction
OF railways enected by Mr. Benjamin Outram VINO
introduced stone props Instead OF timber for the
support Of the ends or Joining OF the ra.is. from
that time ihis class oi roads has, oeen generally
Known as ua'n ro'us -a Contraction Of the "Ou-
tram road ~-rs
MT, srowp. thus describes the first railroads in
Amer"..:-
The frst railroad butt In the uni,ed States was
three miles IN length, extending rom ,nc granite
quarries OF Quincy, Mass, 10 the Neponset hveF.
Tlils road was commonced 10 1876 ana conpleieL IN
1921 IL was built with granite sleepers seven and
hair feet long, iad elgat feet apart. Tne rails h4e
feet apart were Of pine. loot deep, covered VITA
The second railroad was commenced In January,
1877, and completed IN May OF tue same year. ex-
tendng from the coaa mines in Maucn Chunk,
PENNSYLVANIA, TO the Lehgh River, distance or
nine miles. From the summit OF the road, and
within half a mile or the mines, the descent py
plane was nine hundred and eghty-two feet IN
cnned two hundred and twenty-five feet to the
river, and thence TWENTY-FIVE feet In shute 10 THE
SPOT where tue cars were discharged into the boats
Tne cars descended bv gravity with the loaded
wagons, and were drawn up again by mules. The
rails OF tile road were cf timber, laid on wooden
sleapers, ana strapped with nat iron bars.
In 1928 the Delaware aud Hudson Canal Company
constructed n railroad from their coal mines To
| IIonesdale the terUllnaton OF their canal. The
| Baltimore aud ONO Raiir0ad and the South Caro-
.at- N m a
| year.
Before this, however, Colonel Stevens, OF Hobo
KEN had as far back 1912 declared " the Lerls-