, 1876-01-01
The First Locomotive and Passenger
Car.

Stephenson had been called lunatlc
when be had said that his locomotive
could run twelve miles an hour. One
very distinguished officer of the English
Government, whose duty it was to see that
the mails were carried as quickly as pos
sible, laughed at the idea, and said that
IF ever locomotive ran ten miles an hour
with a mailbag behind it, he would eat
a stewed engine-wheel for his breakfast. "
There was some little excuse fol. this
disbelief, for the first locomotive was a
very clumsy machine. 1t was called the
'Locomotion." Stephenson, when he
built it, was the only man besides his son
who believed it would 60 at all and some
of the learned members of the English
Parliament declared that it could not run
against a strong wind 1t was a small,
clumsy affair, weighing not more than
one-ffth as much as an engine Of the
present time.
The first provementon 1.-THE ''Rock-
et"-was even more ridiculous in appear
ance; but it was found to be faster and
stronger. Before it was accepted by the
railroad company, it was put in a race
with three other engines manufactured
by other engineers; and of the judges and
thousands of persons who witnessed the
race, "nine-tenths were againstth Rock
et,' because of its appearance" Bu
Stephenson received the prize over the
other competitors, one of whom was Cap
tain John Ericsson. His islocomOtive could
run fifteen miles an hour, and once actu
ally drew thirteen tons at the speed o.
twenty nine miles an hour. That per
formance decided the fate of locomotives
and engineers at once set to work to i'm
prove the new motive power.
The first railroad passenger-car wa
simply an old box on wheels, with seat,
running along the sides, door at thu
rear end, and seat in front for the driver
like the box of an omnibus. 1t wa.
called by Stephenson, who invented it
the "Experimeht," because it was no
GENERALLY believed that people woult
travel Oh the railway. III 1895, ab0ut
the time the first lite was finished, 6he 81
the ,btiheibal papers Of England said thai
H6tlllhg epHld Be 'm6fe fidieHi8Hs that
the pfbsbeet 81 locomotives tFatelihA
tHiee, as fast As stage-e6aGhesW Ahd Il
8dded that pe8pie RBuid aa s86n hsHHeI
themselves 10 be hFed 8f Hp8h ane BI
eBngFeFe's F9ekets as trust themselves Il
the, meFey Of sHeh. a HlaghiHe going h
sHeh 4 Faie,H Stephenson h8Re}eFl AFH
iA hls hehef that B8sseHgefs W8HId tFaEeI
by FMl declared that the tlme W8Hld
eQmel. ard be h8ped t9 live n spe II
Ehep v WeHld be Cheaper fpF n p9aF mar
t9 ride thAn n walk, This bFaphppy
threatens ~ he more than fplAllpd' In i
few years, Il Il proposed IN England te
send passengers by rail- vt ordinary Eng
llsh lelter.rRtes, and under . system oI
tickets like poutage.stamps-a slx.eenI
stamp entltling the holder 10 20 by ans
route to any part OF Great Britain. BlI
George Stephenson was not believed then
and tho people continued 10 call HIN
"Daft Geordyn which means "Craz,
George" II was not long after the Stock
ton and Darlington road was opened tina
more passenger.cars were needed. The iirs
improvement on the "Experlmontn was
double car, made out Of two "mourning
coaches" This car was lighted at nigh
by q single candle.-St. Nicholas for Do
eenber.