The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1873-11-26
LECTURE or nuON. WV. PAlssO4s
AZ brandon.
subject :---Gcorgc Stephenson.


subject :---Gcorge Stephenson.
The second lecture of the course at Bran.
don was delivered by Hon. William Par
sons, on Tuesday evening. The Cnugrcga-
| tional church, where the lecture was given.
was well filled by an apprecativc audience.
| Prof J. 5. Cillcy, \. NJ. introduced the
| speaker The honorable speaker is one Of
the best and most popular Of lecturers
now in the field, and on thi. occasion. as
usual. did not fail to enlist the entire SYM
| pathies Of his hearers in his subject. lie
has much Of the fine Irish wit in is host
and most cultivated type. aud his manner
of speaking is at once interesting and origi-
nal. II would be impossible to attempt to
! give an abstract of this lecture that would
cmbody in il half of the interest felt by
those who listened to its delivery. We
shall cndcavor TO give some of the facts rs
set forth by the speaker concerning Ste
phenson. the father Of railways
Although born in the very drcgs of hui
manity he raised himself by his own UNI
aided cndeavors to such height rs to
achieve wealth and greatness and become
| through his achievements. one of the great
est bcnefactors of mankind. He was born
| upon the Scottish border, near the coast of
northumberland, among peculiar peo-
| pie, amongst the mineral wealth of that
kingdom, which covers an area of five hun
! 1rpl cniioro p,iIoc nj To-,
fifty millions OF people. considered and
treated as bondsmcn or saps, and at that
time deprived of the right OF suffrage. 1t
is true that they carried their lives in their
own hands. Contrast the CHEEKY, bright
face of the farmer going to his daily labor
with the pale face of the collier, with his
shaded light and bundle of sticks for scat
folding. lie goes miles under the ground.
burrowing his way like rat, and frames
himself in with sticks from five to six feet
long, which they call scalfoltling. Here
they work from day to day, carrying their
lives in their hands as they are almost daily
overwhelmed by the falling in of the roof
or the explosion Of the gas, there having
been, as statistics prove. 14000 lives sacri-
feed in ten years. 1t was among and Of
these people that Stephenson was born.
Little children five or six years old were
employed in these collerics, and here
Stephenson himself, was employed in
tending gates provided to regulate ventila-
ton. At eight years of age he came
out into the upper world, and earned ten
cents per day in driving a horse IN mill.
At eighteen years of age he first became
known to the public in rescuing the bodies
of those who had lost their lives by an en-
plosion in coal pit At this time, too, he
was employed as an attendant upon a
stationary steam engine. He loved his
labor and his business, and looked at the
engine rs an intelligent creature, was con-
stantly examining it, taking it apart and
putting ii together again, and, on the sly,
adding improvements. At the close of the
day he busted himself with other occupa-
tions, and became noted, in that region as
cutter of coats and dresses, and mender
of clocks and watches, so that when he
fell in love, he showed his devotion hv
mending Fanny Henderson's shoes.
Although the system of running wagons
upon tramways or rails Was known and put
into practice by the Egyptians long before
the time of George Stephenson, still he and
he alone was the real founder of RAILWAYS.
The question at this time that agitaled the
British mind was what should take the place
of horses as a motive power upon land.
Great Britain has just come out of her I'M
natural struggle with America. Some pro-
posed the use of sails on a boat, but they
were found chimerical. The speaker then
rapidly and graphically described the seyc-
raj attempts made to produce a working,
serviceablc locomotive before Stephenson
took hold of it, and their failures. Ste
phcnson at this time had aproperty of some
$4,000, and this he expended in the con
structon of his first locomotive, which,
however, was practically Il failure, as he
could not attain a speed exceed
ing two miles per hour Poverty be-
gins to pinch him, and he begins
to exhibit the man of genius, pa
thence and perseverance" for it is a mis-
taken idea that genious can accomplish
great results without continued persistent
labor. His thoughts were constantly bent
upon the matter, day and night. He mort
cages muscle and brain and makes one of
the grandest inventions of the age. He in
vented the tubular boiler by which the
steam, which had been wasted, was made |
to pass through the smokestack, driving
the fierce flames through the boiler and |
around the tubes. The puff of the engine
lhat we daily hear is the result of Stephen |
sons steam blast. 1t was, in effect, apply
ing to the steam boiler the principle of the
circulation of the blood With this inn
proyement in the generation of steam, he
attained speed of eight miles an hour,
which was destined to be increased TO al.
most the speed of the bird in the air. As
the weakest link in chain is the test of
It's strength, so was the speed of the horse
the measure Of locomo,ion. The engine
has now attained n speed of lifty-five miles
an hour The speaker then drew a rapid
and graphic word picture of the locomo-
tive rushing To the relief of Boston and
Chicago, in response to theircry of anguish
and for help, flashed along the wires, so
that the combined discoveries of Stephen
son, Franklin and Morse were able TO
afford almost immediate relief.
The many explosions of gas in the mines,
at about this time, led those interested to
try to find lamp that could be safely used
that would give light and at the same time
not communicate flame to the escaping gas.
Davy, on scientific principles, discovered
.hat the flame would not pcnetrnte small