davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1914-07-19

motive. In the obscure little mining
town Of West Moor. England. this
equally obscure engineer had been puz-
zling his brain for year or more en-
deavoring to provide an economical
means for hauling coal from the Kill
ingworth collieries to the riverside.
Horses at that time were expensive
With a view to saving the cost of the
keep of as many as possible. he t1ied
to perfect one or two mechanical de-
vices as a substitute These did not
satisfy the self made engineer. His
further efforts resulted in the lnven-
tion of the steam locomotive.
This most commonplace chain of events
led to the construction of one of the
Evening star., 1914-07-19
AIYp1cAL DOWN RIVER. WHARF

ginia or who have aunts and uncles and
cousins living in those states. But it Is
a certainty that the figures would be
large.
Among the native river people on this
steamboat one cannot help mentally com
menting that they are not modish in ap-
pearance. They are not dressed as are
the paraders in the F street afternoon
promenade. but a rule they are strong
built and well featured people. One also
cannot help noticing in them that lack
of eagerness and haste. on that fidgety
and nervous state which marks so many
of the city-bred people.
1t Is a fact that many city people pride
themselves on this air and cultivate it.
They call 1t alert" or smart 1t Is a
manner that is not approved by the typi-
cal country man or woman. With them
the inclination is to affect what city peo
ple call 'repoSe."
Most of the natives of the lower coun-
try taking passage on this boat have
sidered perfectly natural things in the
country. and these children remind us
of ourselves, at least those OF who
were country boys and girls.
With these passengers are also many
parcels and bundles and lunch boxes.
These river travellers are not great
patrons of the dining saloon on the
average river boat. They have prob
ably been there. Anyhow. they seem
to prefer their homemade biscuit. jam.
jelly, cold ham and fried chicken. Be
sides it is more economical
x 4
Well. the departure whistle blows. It
is a long blast, which can be heard far
up and down the river and far out over.
the city. Passengers. white and col
ored. line the rail of the decks and ex-
change chaf and farewe1ls with those
who have come down to see them off
and who have now retreated from tie
cabins to the dock.
A mate is saying to a squad of grirny
deckhands. Haul yo' bod in'-mean-
ing the gangplank-and somebody says.
Let go that headline" and it drops
into the river with a splash. There are
some more commands. q bell clangs III
the engine room and sounds throughout
the boat. the loud whistle lets out an
other long blast and the wharf she'd
seems to move.
over toward the flats, or lower Pot"-
Evening star., 1914-07-19

mac Park. the boat Jacks it's way.
there are more bells. the river is
ward the willow trees of the park glide
behind you and the familiar landmarks
OF the city begin to fade. for when this
was written it was a dim and driZzly
morning.
Not many minutes pass when you are
alongside another old wharf. this time
at Alexandria. Along the water front
you note the picturesque old warehouses,
many of them with broken windows and
faded signs bearing the names of men
long dead. The slips are full of little
boats and sloops and schooners, There
are acres of cord wood on the wharfs
and scores of idlers fishing.
Alexandria is the place where the main
Evening star., 1914-07-19

use upon the Killingworth railway. but
1t did not come up to Stephenson's ideals.
About this time people became awaken
ing to the practicability of the use of
steam for all manner of land convey
ances. and the inventors enthusiasm was
retired.
In 1925. eleven wears after he had
tried out the 'Blucher" Stephenson par
ticipated in the celebration of the opening
of England's first passenger railway,
the Stockton and Darlington. He was
appointed chief engineer of the road. and
drove the engine "Locomotion" which he
had built especially for it. The train to
which he harnessed his engine consisted
Of six wagons loaded with flour and coal.
After these came passenger coach-the
first In existence. 1t was in reality an
old stage coach taken off its usual sup
ports and mounted upon wheels taken
from coal car. The directors rode in
this coach over the entire eight miles of
the railways length. Behind them were
twenty-one wagons fitted up for other
passengers, and lastly, six wagon loads
of coal. making in all thirty-eight cars.
The train Travelled at steady pace of
from four to six miles an hour. On its
arrival in Stockton great crowds gath
cred in the streets to see and cheer it.
The railway was indeed success. Event
ually a speed of eight miles an hour was
attained.
Traffic in that vicinity grew apace. The
Liverpool and Manchester line was char
tered to share the increased commerce
Stephenson was offered the post of chief
engineer Of this new railway, and upon
accepting offered to construct a new en-
than that of "Locomotion."
when L went to Liverpool to plan a
line from thence to Manchester" said
he, Il pledged myself to the directors
1 said I had no doubt the locomotive
might be made to go much faster. but
that we had better be moderate at
the beginning. The directors said that
they went to parliament to obtain the
grant, 1 talked of going at a greater
rate than ten miles an hour it would
put a cross upon the concern. 1t was
not an easy task for me to keen the
engine down to ten miles"
Nor did he. His famous locomotive
Rocket. on her first trial. covered
twelve miles in forty-three minutes.
carrying three times her own weight
She weighed seven and a half tons
and subsequently hauled forty-four
tons at a speed OF fourteen miles an
hour She represented the culmia a
ton of Stephensoa's work with the
locomotive Strange to relate. she
brought him fame as a locomotive
builder along lines that are almost as
far removed from his other efforts as
though he had never before con-
structed one
The multitubular boiler and the
steam blast were the essentials of his
latest success. His steady experiment
tation with exhaust steam to relieve
noise had finally met with success, and
he had at last quelled popular objec-
ways. Applying his steam blast he
made the exhaust means of increas-
ing the draught. Other inventors had
Evening star., 1914-07-19

rise from poverty and :snorarce to
glory and wealth. His childhood and
youth had been quite inglorious enough
to please the most fanciful story teller
and his rise in life was singularly spec
tacular. until, eventually, he was Of
fered by the king a peerage, which he
declined.
He was the son of poor but respect
able parents. His father had been
fireman at the village colliery of wy
lam, northumberland. Georges birth
place. Here the family had occupied
mean little cottage. which stood beside
the dusty wooden tramway on which
coal wagons were drawn daily by
horses from the coal pit to the loading
quay. 1t is rather a symbolic picture
thet Of this young boy born directly in
Evening star., 1914-07-19
FIRST IRON HORSE, THE "BLucHER..

the environment which he afterward
so miraculously transformed.
At the age of eight he kept the cows
Of a neighboring widow. The bent of
his mind appeared even then to have
exhibited itself. for it is recorded of him
that his favorite amusement was erect
Ing clay engines. He found the clay IN
the nearby bogs and from the hemlock
which grew about he shaped his make
believe steam pipes.
Six years later he was taken on as an
assistant to his father in firing sta
tionary engine used at the mine. few
years later he acted as plugman on a
new coal pit opened on the Duke of New
castles property. Then he became fire
man and shortly afterward engineman.
He devoted himself to the study of the
stationary engine and its gearing. He
took the machine apart in leisure hours
for the purpose Of mastering its parts.
Tho engine became a kind Of pet with
Evening star., 1914-07-19

not realized that their engines made
steam faster when the exhaust was
turned out into the open air.
In the National Museum at Washington
is the oldest iron horse in the western
hemisphere. the veteran John Bull
This rugged patriarch is another OF
George Stephensons products. 1t is the
direct ancestor Of the whole modern
American species of locomotives.
Hearing of the success which attended
the demonstrations Of the locomotives in
England. an American engineer. Robert
L. Stevens. embarked for England In
1880 to order one of these queer craft for
his American line. the Camden and Am
arrival at the Stephenson locomotive
works at tNewcastle-on-Tyne he witnessed
a demonstration trip of one of George
Stephenson's newest engines. Its per
formance pleased him SO much that he
ordered a similar engine to be built i'm
mediately for his company. Thus was
the first American order given to the
pioneer locomotive builders at Newcastle
on-Tyne.
John Bull breathed his first breath
was shipped to Philadelphia The bill Of
lading showed that the price paid was
ELSA, or $500. When the Jersey ma
CnlIllSlS liudiiy sol Lie Ptii Is dcSeAloicu
they dubbed it John Bull and the name
stuck thereafter.
When first set up John Bull weighed
a trifle over ten tons, or %, 400 pounds.
A locomotive now being built for one Of
our northern lines weighs thirty-three
times as much. The boiler of John
Bull was thirteen feet long and only
thirty inches in diameter. The four
fifty-four-inch driving wheels were main
ly of wood. The firebox was constructed
for burning wood. then plentiful along
the Jersey shore OF the Delaware.
Steam was raised in John Bull the
last week in August 1881. The first cars
drawn by him vera two stage-coach
bodies. mounted upon trucks. They have
heen described as cross between a hay
rack and an open street car Of today,
but the two pairs of big wheels were
close together under the center of the
hoor They were of the English pattern.
and in general arrangement modern Eng
lish railway coaches have deviated from
them but slightly. They were originally
made 10 be drawn by horses. for our
t-great-grandparents had little faith
IN tho success of steam upon their rail-
ways.
John Bull was the progenitor espe-
cially of that type of American locomo-
five which has survived through the long
wears of experimentation in locomotive
construction. Its multitubular polleI.
horizontal cylinder and artificial draught.
caused by the exhaust of steam, are fea.
tures still found in the best type OF
American locomotives.
tCopyright, 1914, by John Efreth Watkinsl
Evening star., 1914-07-19

body of freight for the down-river coun-
try is taken on board. Much Of it origi-
mates at Baltimore, comes by boat to
Alexandria and is there transhipped tD
the boats which ply between Washington
and those landings on the Potomac at
which the Baltimore Washington boats
do not stop. A considerable tonnage
originates at Alexandria.
AS you see the many classes of freight
and the really heavy volume of it carried
out Of the wharfhouse along Alexandria s
sleepy-looking water front you will prob
ably revise your notion of the somnolence
of the old town You will understand
that the amount of freight starting out
OF Washington for feeding clothing and
housing the population of the lower Po-
tomac valley is trifiing and paltry COM
pared with the volume going out of Alex
Evening star., 1914-07-19

him and he was never weary OF watch
ing and examining it.
All of this time he was wholly uned-
ucated. Realizing his disadvantages he
began to attend the village night school.
Here he displayed a genius for figures.
although he was nineteen before he had
learned to read and write his own name.
At this time his wages were eighteen
shillings a week.
At this period he married and COM
menced to experience repeated financial
encouragement. To add to his distress
his young wife soon died and left him
ly afterward his affairs took turn for
the better.
The lessees of Killingworth colliery en-
gagged him to repair a pumping engine.
Evening star., 1914-07-19

andria or the volume that goes out from
Baltimore and is transshipped at Alex
andria
You should also remember that usually
this freight serves the Potomac popula-
ton only as far down as the landings in
Nomini creek. taking in the landings along
the main current of the Potomac and
those on Mattawoman creek, Port To-
bacco creek, Machodoc creek, Wicomico
river. Maddox creek and a number Of
other Potomac tributaries. Freight to
points further down on Bretons bay, ST
Clements bay. Coan river, st. MaryS riv-
er and Smiths creek is served directly by
the Baltimore Wa shington boats. The
freight cargoes of these boats are general
ly heavy.
Why the people of this territory so
close to Washington supply themselves
Evening star., 1914-07-19

He was successful where all others had
failed. and received ten pounds as a gift.
From then on he became engineman to
the killingworth works. His skill as an
engine doctor was noised abroad, and he
was called upon to cure all of the old
wheezy machines in the district Now
he was ascending the hill Of prosperity
and ready for his great work. And his
age was only thirty-three years.
Two years after the "Blucher' had
made her first trip on the Killingworth
track. while the colliery engineers stood
by and jeered her. Stephenson was still
working for her final perfection. He had
made various improvements, but he was
not completely satisfied. Steam springs
were introduced for the purpose Of easing
the engine weight upon her axles. At
tention was given to the Improvement of
the tracks Plans were made for per-
fecting rail joints SO that their ends would
not separate. His locomotive was in daily
Evening star., 1914-07-19
AN lN1TElRlES1 STING

Few Washingtonians
Know Lower Reaches
of the Potomac-An
Early Morning Start
From Local Docks.
Freight Carried on
Steamers Passengers
on the Boats Places
of Interest Visited,
Where Stops Are
Made and Passengers
Are Allowed Time for
Rambles.
Evening star., 1914-07-19
A Warning.

xf~ONSTANT vigilance is the price OF
~ enduring beauty" said Lillian Rus
sell.
Diet, exercise. sun baths. massage
constant vigilance" she repeated, ''is the
price of enduring beauty. Many splendid
beauties pass their youth recklessly kill
ing time Then, befora they're forty.
time turns round and kills them
Evening star., 1914-07-19
Ry JOHN ELFRETH WATKINS.

ATt RDAY n e Y t
the iron horse
celebrates [ h e
hundredth ami
yersary of its
birth.
George Stephen
sons e II e i n e .
Blucher, July %,
l S l 4, convinced
4 dubious British
public that it was
Il practical loco
Evening star., 1914-07-19
GEORGE STEPHENSON,
Inventor of frat locomotive.

greatest world d-revolutionizing inventions
of history. The result of George Stephen
sons. perseverance was the epoch-mak- :
ing Blucher.
Locomotives. of course. had been heard
Of before. The idea was only quickened
in the mind of Stephenson. Those. how
ever. which had been invented would
carry themselves just so far and no far
ther. They were merely big toys 1t
remained for him to demonstrate that
steam could be made to propel an en-
zine and draw a load besides.
On her maiden trip on the tracks of
Evening star., 1914-07-19

VAST part Of the
po u l a ii on OF
Washington knows
the Potomac river
only as a place Of
recreation or sport
and confines its
knowledge OF the
extent Of the river
to the harbor Of
Washington, t h .
angling reaches Of
the stream in its
Evening star., 1914-07-19
IRro1[rNTnoDE or TRANSIT IN 4owER PoTor1Ac COUNTRY

tomac folk are sentimental. yet they are
in some ways very practical. They want
to buy as cheaply and on as favorable
credit terms they can.
1t Is interesting to watch this freight
as it is brought on board at Alexandria.
You will see rolls of tar paper and wall
paper. cases of canned fish, boxes Of
Evening star., 1914-07-19

first from Baltimore. second from Alex
andria and third and meagerly from
Washington IS a mystery, and perhaps it
is not a mystery. Baltimore has been Il
habit with them for generations. 1t is
not easy to break a habit so long con-
firmed. But the habit might yield to the
seduction of price and quality. The Po-
Evening star., 1914-07-19

You may read the inscription on the
monument, which tells a historic story.
On the east face is this:
Erected on the site Of the old null
berry tree under which the first col.
onists of Maryland assembled to es-
tablish a government where the perse-
cuted and oppressed of every creed and
of every cline might repose In peace and
security, adore their common God and en-
JOY the priceless blessings OF civil and
religious liberty
On the north face 10 this:
Leonard Calvert. second son OF George
Calvert, first baron OF Baltimore. and
Anne, his wife. led the first colonists 10
Maryland Nov .. 16SS-March 8. 1854.
Founded ST. Mary's March q. 1854. died
June 8. 1641."
On the south face is this:
by his wisdom, justice and fidelity he
fostered the infancy OF the colony guild
ed 1t through great perils and dying left
it at peace. The descendants and success
sors Of the men he governed here record
their grateful recognition of his virtues
November, MDCCCXC.
On the west face:
ITO the Memory OF Leonard Calvert
first governor Of Maryland. this monu-
ment is erected by the state Of Maryland"
Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1914-02-06
THE PEAR ARTICLES ARE HERE.

They're here-those pear articles-published
on the first page of this issue so you d stand no
show of missing them, and the general intent and
purpose of the whole series are compressed into
this first article. Frankly, we think they are the
biggest feature any newspaper in this county has
offered its readers for years and written as they
are directly and especially for the Thurston
county farmer series that no farmer in the
county can afford to miss.
Every step in the ear-growing business, from
the question of practicability and advsability on
through, step by step, to the time when you pick
the ripened fruit and prepare it for the market
will be discussed in this series. The aim is to
popularize it and to keep it away from the tech
nicalties of the textbook, and every statement is
fact, conservatively expressed. The truth is
what has been sought and the truth you will find
there, undressed and unvarnished
We want you to read this series and we want
your friends and neighbors to read it, and if, in
the course of the discussion, some points come
up upon which you want little more informa-
ton, all you have to do is to write the editor and
tell him so. If he can get it, he will.
Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1914-02-06
WHAT OUR FATHERS READ ABOUT
IN THIS PAPER FIFTY YEARS AGO
(FrOm The Warrington Standard fOl
February o, 1864. Vol. Nv.
No. 49,

The population of Portland, Ore, is
found by recent census to be 4,674.
The steamer Pioneer" built by
Messrs. Miller & Ethridge, made a
trial trip to Tumwater yesterday. Her
machinery worked to perfection and
she made very good speed, notwith-
standing but one-third allowance of
steam was raised. The Pioneer" has
a well-arranged cabin, IS feet long and
about IL wide, and can carry comfort
ably 30 or 40 passengers. Mr.. Miller
informs us that he intends her special
ly for hauling logs but will run her
between ports of the Sound as business
may justify.
Oregon papers say the telegraph line
connecting Sacramento and Portland
will be completed in a few days. The
company intends to continue the line
to Victoria the coming summer.
On Saturday last the eleventh ses-
sion of the legislature closed it's la
bors, upon which event we congratu-
late the honorable members, their con-
stitutents, and the people of the ter
ritory at large. We have nothing to
say of any of the honorable gentlemen
composing this body further than we
find their names connected with mat
tiers of public interest. Collectively,
as LEGISLATURE we do not hesitate in
ranking them beneath the meanest de-
liberate body of which we have any
knowledge in point of ability and pa
triOtism.
Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1914-02-06

at was not like this in the olden days. runs
the old popular college song and those Of us who
have heard it and many of us who have not are
inclined to think ''they' did things better in the
''good old days" before the newspaper and the
things done these days. But we re wrong
in that assumption so far as many things go
"they" did not do them any better then in fact,
did not do them well do now. The only
difference lies in the fact that we do not know
so very we'll how they did things then, while
sometimes some of us think we know too we'll
how they are done today.
The legislature is a in point. The thir-
teenth session was the worst of them all, say.
Perhaps so. To those of us who kept in close
touch with it, it was far from elevating, in
spring spectacle, so far from it that the memory
of it brings disgust. But it not very much
different fifty years ago. Here is what The Wash
ington Standard for February 6, 1854 said of
the legislature which had just closed:
'The bargain and sale of principle Of you
vote for my bill and l will vote for yours was
so systematically and unscrupulously pursued
that but few measures were passed which would
be endorsed on their merits by anything like
majority of the legislators, when once outside of
the capital. We think the legislators did many
'acts' they ought not to have done and left un-
done many things they should have DONE and as
a body they are unwell. AS legislators, we hope
me 'er to look on their likes again. That they
passed some good acts will not deny; but that
they passed by more than they passed. we be-
ieve.'
Sounds very much like what we read and
thought less than year ago, doesn't itf
Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1914-02-06

Those who attended the massmeeting of the
farmers OF the county in this city last Saturday
agree in saying that it was one of the most rep
resentative gatherings of the kind for long
time, and the interest displayed there and the ac-
tivity with which the special committee of fifteen
has taken up the work assigned to it give promise
OF an even greater attendance at later meetings
The lack of interest in governmental affairs and
the woeful lack of attention given to the details
OF government compose one of the principal
faults of our government; consequently when the
residents of section gather to discuss such mat
ters as came before last Saturdays meeting and
propose to go into them further at later meetings.
the incident speaks well for the civic welfare of
that community.
Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1914-02-06
BARRING CHILD LABOR FROM COMMERCE.

Very likely you know but little aside from
what the newspapers and magazines have told
you of the problem of child labor and the evils
connected with the nefarious system, because
you have had no occasion to come into contact
with it. Yet you, as constituents of that some
times nebulous thing we call Society, are as Wit
ally interested in child labor as the child him
self, and beings interested you, it would seem,
should heartily endorse the plan now before
Congress to prohibit from entering interstate
commerce any or all goods manufactured by child
labor
We believe you will approve of that measure.
We know you would if you spent but short half
hour in the poorer sections of any large city of
the East at least if not of the West, for we do
not happen to be personally acquainted with
ditions here. The pity of it is sou-rending as the
burden Of it is intolerable upon those who must
strive to bear and in the striving are thrown to
the side, little deeper and little farther into
that underworld which seldom sees the light of
hope, by the merciless wheel of such commerce.
We must remove this blot before our Society
can be rightly formed. Such plan will go far
toward removing it. Write your congressman
and tell him you like it.