Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-02-19
'gISIY LOCOMOTIVES.
a rsl win the Pioneer America" Goa
ksraetcfs
49,, grane,sro Chronicle.

aipccr who drove the FIRST locomo'ise
built in the United States. has brougn'
TO light the fact that the builder OF TINS
thst locomotive is resident OF sah
Francisco. His name is David Mathews.
He is a hale and hearty man. VINO
spends his leisure hours over the draw
inc-board. and the walls Of whose rooms
are adorned with sketches and draw
incs of locomotives from the earliest
20 the latest examples. Mr.. Mathews
is a perfect cyclopedia on locomotives.
lie claims that the correct history OF
the locomotive and Of the men who
manned and built them has not yet been
written. and for some time past ne mas
been gathering valuable facts and data
for this purpose. He stated to Chro"-
iele reporter recently that the hrst
smoo,h-tirc locomotive, the prototype
of the present engine. was built by
Richard Trevithick in South Wales IN
1904. II was the first high-pres-
sure engine, and was fitted with
one four-inch cylinder, which,
however. was found to be too
small, and was soon after changed
to an eicht-inch one. This cylinder was
fitted into the boiler, and its piston
communicated its motion to the four
driying-wheels by a system of cog
gearing. The next engine was built IN
ISL by 7. Hackworth and j. Foster,
also in England, and was an improve
ment upon the first in that it had two
cylinders. Several engines of this type
were built. In 1918 William Hadley
built the next engine, with improved
gearing. the cog-wheels giving place to
eccentric gearing. 1t was not until the
following year that George Stephenson
built his engine. almost copy OF that
of Trevithick, it having but one cylin-
der.
All the locomotives used on the rail-
roads in the United States prior to 1880
were built in England and shipped to
this country. The first came in 1928.
1t was called the Stourbridge Lion.
machine which was then considered a
ponderous affair. Ii was intended to
be run on the Delaware and Hudson
railroad, but proved too heavy for the
track, and never drew train of cars
until after alteration some years later.
The Stourbridge Lion was put together
at the West Point Iron Works. on the
corner of West and Beach streets, New
York city, and when finished Ma
thews. who had superintended the
work. had the wheels blocked
in the yard, and then got steam up
to test its running capacity. Thousands
of people came TO see the locomotive
and to speculate upon the velocity with
which it would be able to run on the
wooden tracks then in use. 1t was the
putting together of the Stourbridge
Lion which led Mathews to undertake
the building of the first American loco
motive. This was in 1880. and the en-
CINE was called the Best Friend. twas
fitted with an upright boiler. which
rested on four wheels, only the
hubs and tires of which were
of iron, the spOkcs and felloes
being wooden. The Best Friend
was fitted with an inclined cylinder,
and weighed about four and half tons.
The locomotive was suspended with the
wheels free from the ground, and Adam
Hall. the superintendent of the works.
was awarded the honor of turning OF
the steam. The machine worked per-
fectly. and the sayantS present at once
began to make their calculations how
fast il would run; thereupon Hall put
on more steam. and the machine began
to run so fast that it swayed upon
the blocks which held her. Hall be-
came confused when the side-rod keys
jumped out, and when finally the safety
valve also gave way he jumped OIL to
escape the shower Of hot water and
steam which was escaping. The Best
Friend, therefore, was not only the first
locomotive built in the United States,
but also the first runaway locomotive.
Mathews. her builder, succeeded III
shutting off the steam, and probably
saved the iron horse from bursting her
boiler. But he had demonstrated that
Americans could build engines. The
Best Friend was put upon the Charles
ton road. where it ran one year, when
it bursted, taking with her a colored
fireman. The Best Friend never drew
passenger train.
Mathews at once began to build a
second engine, which he called the West
Point. 1t was fitted up with tubular
horizontal boiler, and looked a great
deal more like the machines of to-day
This was also in 1880. In the follow
ing year there was built the De Witt
Clinton, the engine which drew the first
passenger train in the United States
over the Mohawk and Hudson road.
Mathews claims that he was at her
throttle OH this memorable occa-
sion. lie declares that the pictures
showing the first train, and on which
the engine is named John Bull. are mis-
leading, the John Bull being the rebuilt
George Fulton, an English imported
and unsuccessful engine. From that
time forward new-style engines were
produced almost every year. In 1885,
ii. Allen built an eight-wheel double
ender, which. however, was not sue
cess. II. r. Campbell about the SAME
time hit upon the idea OF putting thu
cylinder in front. In the same yeal
NJ. II. Rcy added the truck, Mr.. Ma
thcws being again the venturesom'
engineer to take the new engine
over the road for the first time
This was in August. Baldwin
Of Philadelphia, completed his frs
engine, the Old lronsidcs. in the sam,
year. This engine was put on the roaC
OH November Odd. In 1888 there wa
built the Arabian, by Phineas Davis
of Baltimore. 1t was a machine of dis
tinct type. and is the only one which
has survived. she being exhibited il
Chicago i'll 1883. The photograph
shows il to be fitted with an upright
boiler and wealth Of gearing. II wa
accounted a success in the early days
but for some reason that particula
style of engine has never become pop