the new tire went on with unexpected ease and early afternoon saw the tolmans once more bowling along the highway toward northampton. the valley of the connecticut was decked with harvest products as for an autumnal pageant. stacks of corn dotted the fields and pyramids of golden pumpkins and scarlet apples made gay the verandas of the old homesteads or brightened the doorways of the great red barns flanking them.
"all that is needed to transform the scene into a giant hallowe'en festival is to have a witch whisk by on a broomstick, or a ghost bob up from behind a tombstone," declared mrs. tolman. "just think! if we had come by train we would have missed all this beauty."
"i see plainly that you do not appreciate the railroads, my dear," returned her husband mischievously. "this is the second time to-day that you have slandered them. you sound like the early american traveler who asserted that it was ridiculous to build railroads which did very uncomfortably in two days what could be done delightfully by coach in eight or ten."
"why, i should have thought people who had never heard of motor-cars would have welcomed the quicker transportation the railroads offered," was mrs. tolman's reply.
"one would have thought so," answered mr. tolman. "still, when we recall how primitive the first railroads were, the prejudice against them is not to be wondered at."
"how did they differ from those we have now, dad?" doris asked.
"in almost every way," answered her father, with a smile. "you see at the time stephenson invented his steam locomotive nothing was known of this novel method of travel. as i told you, persons were accustomed to make journeys either by coach or canal. then the steam engine was invented and immediately the notion that this power might be applied to transportation took possession of the minds of people in different parts of england. as a result, first one and then another made a crude locomotive and tried it out without scruple on the public highway, where it not only frightened horses but terrified the passers-by. many an amusing story is told of the adventures of these amateur locomotives. a machinist named murdock, who was one of james watt's assistants, built a sort of grasshopper engine with very long piston rods and with legs at the back to help push it along; with this odd contrivance he ventured out into the road one night just at twilight. unfortunately, however, his restless toy started off
before he was ready to have it, and turning down an unfrequented lane encountered a timid clergyman who was taking a peaceful stroll and frightened the old gentleman almost out of his wits. the poor man had never seen a locomotive before and when the steaming object with its glowing furnace and its host of moving arms and legs came puffing toward him through the dusk he was overwhelmed with terror and screamed loudly for help."
a laugh arose from the listeners.
"and that is but one of the many droll experiences of the first locomotive makers," continued mr. tolman. "for example trevithick, another pioneer in the field, also built a small steam locomotive which he took out on the road for a trial trip. it chanced that during the experimental journey he and his fireman came to a tollgate and puffing up to the keeper with the baby steam engine, they asked what the fee would be for it to pass. now the gate keeper, like the minister, had had no acquaintance with locomotives, and on seeing the panting red object looming like a specter out of the darkness and hearing a man's voice intermingled with its gasps and snorts, he shouted with chattering teeth:
"there is nothing to pay, my dear mr. devil! just d-r-i-v-e along as f-a-s-t—as—ever—you—can."
his hearers applauded the story.
"who did finally invent the railroad?" inquired doris after the merriment had subsided.
"george stephenson, an englishman," replied her father. "for some time he had been experimenting with steam locomotives at the newcastle coal mines where some agency stronger than mules or horses was needed to carry the products from one place to another. he had no idea of transporting people when he began to work out the suggestion. all he thought of was a coal train which would run on short lengths of track from mine to mine. but the notion assumed unexpected proportions until the darlington road, the most ambitious of his projects, reached the astonishing distance of thirty-seven miles. when the rails for it were laid the engineer intended it should be used merely for coal transportation, as its predecessors had been; but some of the miners who lived along the route and were daily obliged to go back and forth to work begged that some sort of a conveyance be made that could also run along the track and enable them to ride to work instead of walking. so a little log house not unlike a log cabin, with a table in the middle and some chairs around it, was mounted on a cart that fitted the rails, and a horse was harnessed to the unique vehicle."
"and it was this log cabin on wheels that gave stephenson his inspiration for a railroad train!" gasped doris.
"yes," nodded her father. "when the engineer saw the crude object the first question that came to him was why could not a steam locomotive propel
cars filled with people as well as cars filled with coal. accordingly he set to work and had several coach bodies mounted on trucks, installing a lever brake at the front of each one beside the coachman's box. in front of the grotesque procession he placed a steam locomotive and when he had fastened the coaches together he had the first passenger train ever seen."
"it must have been a funny looking thing!" steve exclaimed, smiling with amusement at the picture the words suggested.
"it certainly was," agreed his father. "if you really wish to know how funny, some time look up the prints of this great-great-grandfather of our present-day pullman and you will be well repaid for your trouble; the contrast is laughable."
"but was this absurd venture a success?" queried mrs. tolman incredulously.
"indeed it was!" returned her husband. "in fact, stephenson, like watt, was one of the few world benefactors whose gift to humanity was instantly hailed with appreciation. the railroad was, to be sure, a wretched little affair when viewed from our modern standpoint, for there were no gates at the crossings, no signals, springless cars, and every imaginable discomfort. fortunately, however, our ancestors had not grown up amid the luxuries of this era, and being of rugged stock that was well accustomed to hardships of every variety they pronounced the invention a marvel, which in truth it was.
"you've said it!" chuckled steve in the slang of the day.
"in the meantime," went on mr. tolman, "conditions all over england were becoming more and more congested, and from every direction a clamor arose for a remedy. you see the invention of steam spinning machinery had greatly increased the output of the manchester cotton mills until there was no such thing as getting such a vast bulk of merchandise to those who were eager to have it. bales of goods waiting to be transported to liverpool not only overflowed the warehouses but were even stacked in the open streets where they were at the mercy of robbers and storms. the canals had all the business they could handle, and as is always the result in such cases their owners became arrogant under their prosperity and raised their prices, making not the slightest attempt to help the public out of its dilemma. undoubtedly something had to be done and in desperation a committee from parliament sent for stephenson that they might discuss with him the feasibility of building a railroad from manchester to liverpool. the committee had no great faith in the enterprise. most of its members did not believe that a railroad of any sort was practical or that it could ever attain speed enough to be of service. however, it was a possibility, and as they did not know which way to turn to quiet the exasperated populace they felt they might as well investigate this remedy. it could do no harm."
mr. tolman paused as he stooped to change the gear of the car.
"so stephenson came before the board, and one question after another was hurled at him. when, however, he was asked, half in ridicule, whether or not his locomotive could make thirty miles an hour and he answered in the affirmative, a shout of derision arose from the parliament members. nobody believed such a miracle possible. nevertheless, in spite of their sceptical attitude, it was finally decided to build the liverpool-manchester road and about a year before its opening a date was set for a contest of locomotives to compete for the five-hundred-pound prize offered by the directors of the road."
"i suppose ever so many engines entered the lists," ventured steve with interest.
"there were four," returned his father.
"and stephenson drove one of them?"
"yes."
"oh, i hope it got the prize!" put in doris eagerly.
her father smiled at her earnestness.
"it did," was his reply. "stephenson's engine was called the 'rocket' and was a great improvement over the locomotive he had used at the mines, for this one had not only a steam blast but a multi-tubular boiler, a tremendous advance in engine building."
"i suppose that the winner of the prize not only got the money the road offered but his engine was
the one chosen as a pattern for those to be used on the new railroad," ventured stephen.
"precisely. so you see a great deal depended on the showing each locomotive made. unluckily in the excitement a tinder box had been forgotten, and when it came time to start, the spark to light the fires had to be obtained from a reading glass borrowed from one of the spectators. this, of course, caused some delay. but once the fires were blazing and steam up, the engines puffed away to the delight of those looking on."
"i am glad stephenson was the winner," put in doris.
"yes," agreed her father. "he had worked hard and deserved success. it would not have seemed fair for some one else to have stolen the fruit of his toil and brain. yet notwithstanding this, his path to fame was not entirely smooth. few persons win out without surmounting obstacles and stephenson certainly had his share. not only was he forced to fight continual opposition, but the opening of the manchester and liverpool road, which one might naturally have supposed would be a day of great triumph, was, in spite of its success, attended by a series of catastrophes. it was on september 15, 1830, that the ceremonies took place, and long before the hour set for the gaily decorated trains to pass the route was lined with excited spectators. the cities of liverpool and manchester also were thronged with those eager to see the engines start or reach their destination.
there were, however, mingled with the crowd many persons who were opposed to the new venture."
"opposed to it?" steve repeated with surprise.
"yes. it seems odd, doesn't it?"
"but why didn't they want a railroad?" persisted the boy. "i thought that was the very thing they were all demanding."
"you must not forget the condition of affairs at the time," said his father. "remember the advent of steam machinery had deprived many of the cotton spinners of their jobs and in consequence they felt bitterly toward all steam inventions. then in addition there were the stagecoach drivers who foresaw that if the railroads supplanted coaches they would no longer be needed. moreover innkeepers were afraid that a termination of stage travel would lessen their trade."
"each man had his own axe to grind, eh?" smiled steve.
"i'm afraid so," his father answered. "human nature is very selfish, and then as now men who worked for the general welfare regardless of their own petty preferences were rare. to the side of the enemies of the infant invention flocked every one with a grievance. the gentry argued that the installation of locomotives would frighten the game out of the country and ruin the shooting. other opposers contended that the smoke from the engines would not only kill the birds but in time kill the patrons of the railroads as well. still others
protested that the sparks from the funnels might set fire to the fields of grain or to the forests. a swarm of added opponents dwelt on the fact that the passengers would be made ill by the lurching of the trains; that the rapid inrush of air would prevent their breathing; and that every sort of people would be herded together without regard to class,—the latter a very terrible calamity in a land where democracy was unknown. even such intelligent men as the poet wordsworth and the famous writer ruskin came out hotly against the innovation, seeing in it nothing but evil."
"didn't the opening of the manchester and liverpool railroad convince the kickers they were wrong?" asked steve.
"unfortunately not," was mr. tolman's reply. "you see several unlucky incidents marred the complete success of the occasion. as the trains trimmed with bunting and flowers started out the scene seemed gay enough. on one car was a band of music; on another the directors of the road; and on still another rode the duke of wellington, who at that time was prime minister of england and had come down from london with various other dignitaries to honor the enterprise. church bells rang, cannon boomed, and horns and whistles raised a din of rejoicing. but everywhere among the throng moved a large group of unemployed laborers who had returned from the napoleonic wars in a discontented frame of mind and resented the use of steam machinery. they were
on edge for trouble and if there were none they were ready to make it. so strong was the resentment of this element against the government that it seemed tempting providence for the prime minister to venture into the manufacturing district of manchester. at first it was decided that he would better omit the trip altogether; but on second thought it seemed wiser for him not to add fuel to the flames by disappointing the mill workers. the audience was in too ugly a mood to be angered. therefore wellington bravely resolved to carry out the program and ride in one of the open cars."
"i hope nothing happened to him, dad!" gasped doris breathlessly.
"nothing beyond a good many minor insults and indignities," responded her father. "he was, however, in constant peril, and to those who bore the responsibility of the function he was a source of unceasing anxiety. but in spite of the jeers of the mob, their crowding and pushing about his car, he kept a smiling face like the true gentleman he was. some of the rougher element even went so far as to hurl missiles at him. you can imagine how worried his friends were for his safety and how the directors who had invited him fidgeted. and as if this worry were not enough, by and by a fine rain began to fall and those persons riding in the open coaches, as well as the decorations and the spectators, got well drenched. then there were delays on the turnouts while one train passed another; and as a climax to these discouragements, mr.
hickson, a member of parliament from liverpool, got in the path of an approaching engine, became confused and was run over; and although stephenson himself carried him by train to liverpool he died that evening."
"i should call the fête to introduce the steam engine into england a most disastrous and forlorn one," remarked mrs. tolman.
"well, in reality it was not such a failure as it sounds," replied her husband, "for only those most closely connected with it sensed the misfortunes that attended it. the greater part of the people along the route were good-humored and pleased; they marveled at the trains as they passed, cheered the duke and the authorities with him, listened with delight to the band, and made a jest of the rain. a holiday crowd, you know, is usually quite patient. hence the delays that fretted the guests and the officials of the road did not annoy the multitudes so vitally."
"poor stephenson really got some satisfaction out of the day then," sighed mrs. tolman.
"oh, yes, indeed," said her husband. "although i fancy the death of mr. hickson must have overshadowed his rejoicings. notwithstanding this, however, the railroad proved itself a practical venture, which was the main thing. such slight obstacles as the terror of the horses and the fact that the tunnels into liverpool were so low that the engines had to be detached and the trains hauled into the yards by mules could be remedied."
a flicker of humor danced in mr. tolman's eyes.
"and did england begin to build railroads right away?" steve inquired.
"yes, and not only england but france also. frenchmen who crossed the channel took home glowing accounts of the novel invention and immediately the french government realized that that country must also have railroads. but just as the conservative element in england had been sceptical and blocked stephenson's progress—or tried to—so a corresponding faction in france did all it could to cry down the enterprise. even those who upheld the introduction of the roads advocated them for only short distances out of paris; a long trunk route they labeled as an absurdity. iron was too expensive, they argued; furthermore the mountains of the country rendered extensive railroading impossible. france did not need railroads anyway. nevertheless the little group of seers who favored the invention persisted and there was no stopping the march of which they were the heralds. railroads had come to stay and they stayed."
"it was a fortunate thing they did, wasn't it?" murmured doris.
"a very fortunate thing," returned mr. tolman heartily. "every great invention is usually suggested by a great need and so it was with this one. by 1836 the craze for railroad building swept both hemispheres. in england the construction of lines
to most out-of-the-way and undesirable places were proposed, and the wildest schemes for propelling trains suggested; some visionaries even tried sails as a medium of locomotion instead of steam. rich and poor rushed to invest their savings in railroads and alas, in many cases the misguided enthusiasts lost every shilling of their money in the project. great business firms failed, banking houses were ruined, and thousands of workmen were thrown out of employment. in consequence a reaction followed and it was years before wary investors could again be induced to finance a railroad. in the interim both engines and coaches underwent improvement, especially the third-class carriage which in the early days was nothing more than an open freight car and exposed its unhappy patrons to snow, rain, and freezing weather."
"great scott!" cried steve. "i should say there was room for improvement if that was the case."
"there was indeed," echoed his father. "in fact, it was a long time before travel by train became a pleasure. most of the engines used pitch pine or soft coal as a fuel and as there were no guards on the smokestacks to prevent it, the smoke, soot, and cinders used to blow back from the funnels and shower the passengers. on the first railroad trip from new york to albany those sitting outside the coaches were compelled to put up umbrellas to protect themselves from these annoyances."
"imagine it!" burst out doris, with a rippling laugh.
"nor were the umbrellas of any service for long," continued mr. tolman, "for the sparks soon burned their coverings until nothing but the steel ribs remained."
"i don't wonder the trip was not a pleasure," smiled mrs. tolman.
"yet, in spite of its discomfort, it was a novelty and you must not forget that, as i said before, the public of that period was a simple and less exacting one than is the public of to-day. we make a frightful fuss if we are jolted, chilled, crowded, delayed, or made uncomfortable; but our forefathers were a hale and hearty lot—less overworked perhaps, less nervous certainly, less indulged. they had never known anything better than cold houses, draughty and crowded stagecoaches, and stony highways—plenty of obstacles, you see, and few luxuries. therefore with naïve delight they welcomed one new invention after another, overlooking its defects and considering themselves greatly blessed to have anything as fine. probably we, who are a thousand per cent better off than they, do more grumbling over the tiny flaws in the mechanism of our lives than they did over the mammoth ones."
"oh, come, dad!" protested stephen. "aren't you putting it rather strong?"
"not a whit too strong, steve," mrs. tolman interrupted. "i believe we are a fussy, pampered,
ungrateful generation. it is rather pathetic, too, to think it is we who now reap the benefits of all those perfected ideas which our ancestors enjoyed only in their most primitive beginnings. it seems hardly fair that stephenson, for example, should never have seen a modern pullman.
"he was spared something, wasn't he, dad?" chuckled steve mischievously.
but mr. tolman did not heed the remark.
"he had the vision," returned he softly, "the joy of seeing the marvel for the first time, imperfect as it was. perhaps that was compensation enough. it is the reward of every inventor. remember it is no mean privilege to stand upon the peak in darien which keats pictures."
