The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1877-09-13

time the trial of the locomotive was to
be made. The road ran for nearly
quarter of mile along the coal docks,
facing the village, which had sprung
suddenly from the wilderness at the
back of the canal, and had been named
Honesdale, in honor of Philip Hone,
formerly Mayor of New York, and a
patron of the great coal enterprise. After
quitting the docks the track turned alb
ruptly to the west by curve of most
threatening radius, and crossed the
Lackawana River, over slender hem
lock trestle, nearly 100 feet high. When
the ponderous locomotive was placed
on the track, the impression became
general that it was too heavy to be
borne by the hemlock rails. and Mr..
Allen was importuned by many promi-
nent men among the vast assemblage OF
spectators, not to attempt the crossing
of the trestle. He saw the great
danger at a glance, bnt feeling that
locomotive power on railroads was des-
tined to become universal in years to
come, the pride of possessing the dis
tinction of having been the man to di-
rect the energies of the first one on the
continent, overpowered his sense OF
danger, and he declared that he would
make the trip, let the consequences be
what they might. He steamed up the
engine, land after running it slowly back
ward and forward on the dock in sight
of the assembled hundreds for a few
minutes, he pulled the Unbelievable
open, and shouting a loud "good bye"
to the crowd, dashed away from the vii
lage, around the curve, and over the
shaking and swaying trestle at a rate of
speed estimated at fifteen miles an
hour. He ran several miles up the
track, and then returned to the village
amid the shouts of the populace and the
booming of cannon. Although the To-
connective, as locomotive, was perfect
success, the railroad was not calculated
to stand its use, and the expense of
adapting it to the weight of the loco
motive being too great to call for con-
sideration at that day, the engine was
housed' in shanty on. the dock,
where it lay for years, a prey to neglect
and decay. Its boiler was finally taken
to Carbonate, where it is in use and
excellent order to-day. The pump was
used by an employee of the company for
several years, and was at last washed
away by freshet and lost The rest
of the machinery was broken up and
sold for old iror. The two other locomo-
tives shared the same fate. Only one or
two relics of the pioneer locomotive of
America are in existence to-day. The
engine was called the Stourbridge Lion,
from the place of its manufacture. The
machine weighed seven tons, four tons
There were four wheels, connected by
side-rods. Vertical cylinders on each
side of the rear end of the boiler COM
municated motion to huge walking
beam, connected with the side-rods OF
the driving-w by other long iron
rods. The engine was covered with
rods and joints, and its appearance was
that of great grasshopper. John B.
Jervis, who ordered the locomotive, and
Horatio Allen, who ran it, are still liv-
ing, the one in Rome, N. Y, the other
in New York City. Both have since
achieved some of the greatest engineer.
ing triumphs this country has known.
There is another interesting and i'm.
portant fact connected with the running
of the Stourbridge Lion. The success
full application of steam power to rail
roads has always been dated from the
trial of Stephenson's Rocket, Ericsson's
Novelty, and the Sans Pareil and Perse
verance, in Liverpool, on the 14th of DC
tober, 1929. The Stourbridge Lior
demonstrated two months before, in {
remote and insulated part of America
that the idea was grand success.