A history of the growth of the steam-engine . ck was characteristically an inventor of the typi-cal sort. He invented many valuable devices, but broughtbut few into even experimental use, and reaped little advan-tage from any of them. He was ingenious, a thorough me-chanic, bold, active, and indefatigable ; but his lack of per-sistence made his whole life, as Smiles has said, but aseries of beginnings. It is at about this period that we find evidence of theintelligent labors of another of our own countrymen—one 1 Life of Trevithick. 178 THE MODERN STEAM-ENGINE. who, in consequence of the unobt
A history of the growth of the steam-engine . ck was characteristically an inventor of the typi-cal sort. He invented many valuable devices, but broughtbut few into even experimental use, and reaped little advan-tage from any of them. He was ingenious, a thorough me-chanic, bold, active, and indefatigable ; but his lack of per-sistence made his whole life, as Smiles has said, but aseries of beginnings. It is at about this period that we find evidence of theintelligent labors of another of our own countrymen—one 1 Life of Trevithick. 178 THE MODERN STEAM-ENGINE. who, in consequence of the unobtrusive manner in -whichhis work was done, has never received the full credit towhich he is entitled. CoiONEL John Stevens, of Hoboken, as he is generallycalled, was bom in the city of New York, in 1749; butthroughout his business-life he was a resident of New Jer-sey. His attention is said to have been first called to the ap-plication of steam-power by seeing the experiments of JohnFitch with his steamer on the Delaware, and he at once de-. Colonel John Stevens. voted himself to the introduction of steam-navigation withcharacteristic energy, and with a success that will be indi-cated when we come to the consideration of that this far-sighted engineer and statesman saw plainly STEAM-LOCOMOTION ON EAILEOADS. 179 the importance of applying the steam-engine to land-trans-portation as -well as to navigation ; and not only that, buthe saw with equal distinctness the importance of a well-devised and carefully-prosecuted scheme of internal com-munication by a complete system of railroads. In 1812 hepublished a .pamphlet containing Documents tending toprove the superior advantages of Railways and Steam-Car-riages over Canal-Navigation. At this time, the onlylocomotive in the world was that of Trevithick and Vivian,at Merthyr Tydvil, and the railroad itself had not grownbeyond the old wooden tram-roads of the collieries. YetColonel Stevens says, in this pa;per : I can see n
Size: 1439px × 1737px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookidc, booksubjectsteamengines
