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 Professional Oracle® Programming

Rick Greenwald, Robert Stackowiak, Gary Dodge, David Klein, Ben Shapiro,
Christopher G. Chelliah
Professional Oracle® Programming
 Professional Oracle® Programming

Rick Greenwald, Robert Stackowiak, Gary Dodge, David Klein, Ben Shapiro,
Christopher G. Chelliah
Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted
under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permis-
sion of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright
Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8700. Requests
to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475
Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, or online at http://www.
wiley.com/go/permissions.

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE

NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS
OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING
WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY
MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND
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LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS
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FROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A
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AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAP-
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Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, Wrox, the Wrox logo, and Programmer to Programmer are
trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All other trademarks
are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or
vendor mentioned in this book.
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not
be available in electronic books.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Professional Oracle programming / Rick Greenwald ... [et al.].
p. cm.
Includes indexes.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7645-7482-5 (paper/website)
ISBN-10: 0-7645-7482-5 (paper/website)
1. Oracle (Computer file) 2. Relational databases. I. Greenwald, Rick.
QA76.9.D3P76646 2005
005.75'85--dc22
2005010511
ISBN 13: 978-076-457482-5
ISBN 10: 0-7645-7482-5
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1B/QS/QW/QV/IN
 About the Authors

Rick Greenwald has been in the technology industry for over 20 years and is the author of 12 previous
books, most of them on Oracle. He has been involved with development and databases for his entire
career, including stops at Data General, Cognos, Gupta Technologies, and his current employer, Oracle.
Computers and computing are a sideline for Rick — his real job is father to his three wonderful girls,
with a primary hobby of music appreciation.

Robert Stackowiak is Senior Director of Business Intelligence (BI) in Oracle’s Technology Business Unit.
He is recognized worldwide for his expertise in business intelligence and data warehousing in leading
the North American BI team at Oracle. His background includes over 20 years in IT related roles at
Oracle, IBM, Harris Computer Systems, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers including management
of technical teams, software development, sales and sales consulting, systems engineering, and business
development.

Gary Dodge has been focused on database technology since his first COBOL programming job with IMS
DB/DC in 1976. He joined Oracle Corporation in 1987 and has served in various management and
technical positions within both the sales and consulting divisions. He has been a frequent speaker on
database topics at many local and national information technology conferences. In addition to several
magazine articles, he is co-author (with Tim Gorman) of Oracle8 Data Warehousing and Essential Oracle8i
Data Warehousing, both published by John Wiley & Sons.

David Klein has been in the technology industry for over 20 years with a variety of companies, including
Data General, Wang Laboratories, Gupta Technologies, Oracle, and a few consulting services companies.
He has had many roles, including management of application development and database design teams,
sales and sales consulting, systems engineering and marketing. Recently, he has focused on developing
classroom and online training courses. An active wife and two boys and a 200-year-old house take up any
free time.

Ben Shapiro is the president of ObjectArts Inc., a New York City-based technology consulting company,
and has been designing database systems with Oracle since 1997. ObjectArts has worked with many
large corporate clients developing XML-based publishing tools and web-based applications. Before
ObjectArts, Ben worked with several NYC-based startup companies as a technical lead building content
management software.

Christopher G. Chelliah joined Oracle as a Consultant in 1995. He brings with him project management,
architecture, and development experience from a number of large, multinational sites in the mining, oil
and gas, and telecom industries. Chris has been involved with emerging and database technologies for
his entire career and is an accomplished software architect with a flair for business development. His
expertise has been actively sought by a number of major Oracle clients in Australia, Europe, and the
United States. Chris, his wife and two kids are currently in Singapore, where he leads a team defining
and executing on innovative E-Government strategies for Oracle’s Public Sector industry in Asia Pacific.
 Credits
Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Development Editor
Richard Swadley Sharon Nash

Vice President and Publisher Production Editor

Joseph B. Wikert Felicia Robinson

Executive Editor Technical Editors

Robert Elliott Michael Ault, Tim Gorman,
Wiley-Dreamtech India Pvt Ltd
Editorial Manager
Mary Beth Wakefield Text Design & Composition
Wiley Composition Services
Senior Production Editor
Geraldine Fahey
 Acknowledgments

Although there are a number of names listed on the title page of this book, there are many other people
involved in the creation of the work you are currently reading.

First and foremost, all of the authors would like to thank Bob Elliott and Sharon Nash for their steady
hands on the throttle of this project. Although the birthing of this baby had more than the normal share
of labor pains, the worth and beauty of this offspring owes an enormous amount to them.

Rick Greenwald, in particular, would like to thank two people. First of all, the process of writing three
(is it three already) titles and several revisions of books with Bob Stackowiak has been a wonderful
experience, both professionally and personally. I am delighted to count Bob as a friend, and, thanks to
him, I still don’t know what BI stands for.

Secondly, throughout my writing career, Steven Feurstein has been a mentor as well as a sterling example
of what an author and person should be like. I hope to someday reach his level in terms of writing and,
even more importantly, humanity.

And, of course, I would like to thank my family — LuAnn for helping me have a life that supports writing
and working, and Elinor Vera, Josephine, and Robin Greenwald for giving me all the inspiration anyone
would ever need.

In addition, Rick would like to acknowledge all those people who came through with suggestions and
knowledge at crucial times, including Richard Foote, Raj Mattamal and Tyler Muth.
 Contents

About the Authors v

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction xxvii
Introduction xxvii
What Does This Book Cover? xxvii
Who Is This Book For? xxvii
What You Need to Use This Book xxviii
How Is This Book Structured? xxviii
Part I: Oracle Essentials xxviii
Part II: Data Topics xxix
Part III: Database Programming Languages xxix
Part IV: Programming Techniques xxix
Part V: Business Intelligence Techniques xxx
Part VI: Optimization xxx
The Bigger Picture xxx
Conventions xxx
Source Code xxxi
Errata xxxi
p2p.wrox.com xxxii

Chapter 1: Oracle Architecture and Storage 1

Architecture 2
The Instance 2
Data Organization 6
Data Types 9
Character Data Types 9
BFILE 10
Numeric Data Types 11
Date Data Types 12
RAW and LONG RAW 12
Other Data Types 13
Summary 13
Contents
Chapter 2: Using SQL 15
The Processing Cycle for SQL Statements 15
Connecting to a Database 16
Establishing a Cursor 18
Submitting SQL Statements 18
Receiving Data 21
Performance Considerations 21
Retrieval Performance 22
Using Bind Variables 23
Parallel Operations 25
Summary 26

Chapter 3: Handling Multiple Users 27

Goals 28
Data Integrity 28
Isolation 29
Serialization 29
Transactions 29
Concurrent User Integrity Problems 30
Locks 33
Contention 34
The Oracle Solution 35
Multiversion Read Consistency 35
Integrity Implications 37
Performance Implications 37
Isolation Levels 38
Implementation Issues 39
Write Contention 39
Avoiding Changed Data 40
Summary 41

Chapter 4: Database Design Basics 43

Database Design Phases 45
Conceptual Database Design 45
Logical Database Design 45
Physical Design 46
Practical Design 47
Database Design Tools 48
Database Design Techniques 49
Database Design Case Study Example 53

xii
 Contents
Normalization 54
First Normal Form 56
Second Normal Form 59
Third Normal Form 60
Other Keys 60
Normalization Summary 62
Defining Additional Entities (Tables) 62
Denormalization 63
Other Physical Design Options 64
Object-Oriented Design Options of Oracle 66
Summary 66

Chapter 5: Oracle Security 67

Security Concepts 67
Confidentiality and Privacy 67
Integrity 68
Why Database-Level Security? 68
Authentication 69
Users and Passwords 69
Smart Cards and Biometric Identification 70
Oracle Syntax 70
Authorization 73
System Privileges 74
Object Privileges 74
Roles 75
Stored Procedures 78
Access Control 78
Views 79
Encryption 80
Virtual Private Database 81
Oracle Label Security Option 84
Accountability 85
Auditing 85
Triggers 88
Enterprise Security 88
LDAP 89
Enterprise Users 89
Shared Schemas 89
Database Security 90
Network Security 90
Security Practices 92
Summary 92

xiii
Contents
Chapter 6: The Oracle Data Dictionary 93
What Is the Data Dictionary? 93
Structure of the Oracle Data Dictionary 94
USER_TABLES 95
ALL_TABLES 96
DBA_TABLES 97
TAB 98
V_$FIXED_TABLE 99
The Oracle Data Dictionary During Development 101
Locating and Describing Data Dictionary Views 101
Which Set of Views? 103
Updating the Data Dictionary 107
The Oracle Data Dictionary at Execution Time 108
SQL to Generate SQL 108
Dynamic SQL 110
Summary 112

Chapter 7: Installing Oracle 113

Getting Oracle Software 113
Installing Oracle Server Software 116
System Requirements 116
Installing the Software 117
Accessing Your Oracle Database 122
Installing Oracle Client Software 123
Java Drivers 124
Oracle Client Software 124
Installing the Instant Client 125
Which Driver? 126
Summary 127

Chapter 8: Introduction to SQL 129

A Bit of History 129
Standards 130
SQL Statement Groupings 130
Data Definition Language (DDL) 131
CREATE 131
ALTER 133
DROP 134
Caveat! 134
Data Manipulation Language (DML) 135

xiv
 Contents
SQL: Set-Orientated and Nonprocedural 135
SELECT Statement 135
Multi-Table Access 147
Subqueries 150
Insert 153
UPDATE 155
DELETE 155
COMMIT/ROLLBACK/SAVEPOINT 156
Summary 156

Chapter 9: Extended SQL 159

Extended Conditions 159
LIKE and REGEXP_LIKE 159
IN and EXISTS 160
ALL, SOME, and ANY 164
Extended Set Operations 166
UNION 166
INTERSECT 168
MINUS 169
MERGE 171
An Example 172
Caveats 173
TRUNCATE 174
ROWNUM and Ranking 174
Using ROWNUM 174
Using Analytics 177
Flashback Query 179
How It Works 180
Syntax 180
An Example of Flashback Query 180
Caveats 183
Extended Flashback Capabilities 183
Returning Data from Write Operations 183
Additional Extensions 184
Summary 184

Chapter 10: Indexes 185

Index Basics 186
How an Index Works 186
Keys 190
Index Attributes 190

xv
Contents
B-Tree Indexes 193
How It Works 193
B-Tree Index Myths 194
Reverse Key Indexes 196
Function-Based Indexes 197
Function-Based Indexes at Work 198
Caveats 201
Domain Indexes 202
Bitmap Indexes 202
The Structure of a Bitmap Index 203
The Impact of a Bitmap Index 204
Bitmap Join Index 206
Index-Organized Tables 207
Index Clusters 207
Hash Cluster 209
Design and Performance Tips 209
Start Small 209
Key Compression 210
SQL Access Advisor 211
Summary 211

Chapter 11: Constraints 213

Database Integrity Features 213
Data Typing 214
Constraints 215
Triggers and Stored Procedures 215
Types of Constraints 216
NOT NULL 217
PRIMARY KEY 219
UNIQUE 221
FOREIGN KEY 222
CHECK 226
DEFAULT 230
REF Constraints 231
Working with Constraints 232
Alter Table 233
Constraint States 234
Constraints and Indexes 236
Deferrable Constraints 238
Direct Path Operations 238
Constraints and Export/Import 239
Effect on Mutating Table Triggers 239

xvi
 Contents
Constraints on Views 239
Using Database Constraints for Application-Side Rule Checking 240
Summary 240

Chapter 12: Other Database Structures 241

Tablespaces 241
Temporary Tablespaces 242
Undo Tablespaces 243
Compression 243
Partitioning 245
Views 246
Materialized Views 248
Sequences 248
Global Temporary Tables 250
Recycle Bin 250
Synonyms 253
Why Use Synonyms? 253
Working with Synonyms 253
Database Links 255
Advanced Queuing and Streams 255
Streams AQ 255
Streams 256
Streams Summary 258
Objects 258
Stored Procedures, Functions, and Triggers 259
Accessing Flat Files 260
External Tables 260
UTL_FILE 260
SGA Buffer Pool Assignments 260
Workflows 261
Workspace Manager 262
Summary 263

Chapter 13: Functions 265

What Is a Function? 265
Defining Your Own Functions 265
Permissions to Create Functions 266
Where Can Functions Be Used? 266
Defining a Java Function 267
Viewing Information about Your Functions 267
Deleting a Function 268

xvii
Contents
Oracle’s Built-In SQL Functions 268
Aggregate Functions 268
Numeric Functions 275
Character Functions 281
Date and Time Functions 288
Conversion Functions 295
Collection Functions 303
Other Oracle Functions 303
XML Functions 309
Summary 313

Chapter 14: Distributed Queries, Transactions, and Databases 315

Linking Distributed Oracle Databases 316
Distributed Transactions and Two-Phase Commit 319
Heterogeneous Services 320
ODBC 321
Transparent Gateways 322
Summary 323

Chapter 15: PL/SQL Basics 325

Code Architecture 325
The Block Header 326
The Declaration Section 328
The Execution Section 328
The Exception Section 329
How Exceptions Are Handled 329
Error-Related Functions 330
Scoping and Notation 330
PL/SQL language 331
Implementing Logic 335
Conditional Logic 335
Branching 338
Iterative 339
Doing Nothing 340
Creating a PL/SQL Program 341
The Purpose of the Sample Procedure 341
Starting the Code 341
Adding Variables 342
Adding Logic 342
Adding Exception Handling 343

xviii
 Contents
Using PL/SQL Code 344
Preparing for Compilation 344
Compiling PL/SQL Code 344
Running PL/SQL Code 345
Compilation, Source Code, and Dependencies 346
Security 348
Granting Access to PL/SQL units 348
Program Unit Rights 348
Native Compilation 349
Uses of PL/SQL Units 350
Summary 350

Chapter 16: PL/SQL and SQL 351

Basic SQL in PL/SQL 351
Cursors 352
Creating a Cursor 352
Opening a Cursor 352
Fetching Data 352
Closing the Cursor 353
Cursor Attributes 353
Using a Single Cursor 353
Declare Variables 354
Declare Cursor 354
Open a Cursor 354
Fetch 355
Clean Up 356
Running the Procedure 356
Special Data Types 357
%TYPE 357
%ROWTYPE 358
FOR Cursor 359
Syntax 359
Modifying the Example 359
Implicit Cursors 360
REF CURSORs 362
PL/SQL Records and Collections 363
PL/SQL Records 363
PL/SQL Records and SQL 364
Associative Arrays 364
Nested Tables 365
Variable Arrays 366

xix
Contents
Working with Collections 366
Collection Operations 367
Which Collection Type? 369
BULK COLLECT 369
Using BULK COLLECT 370
FORALL 373
Exception Cases 373
FORALL Enhancements 374
Dynamic SQL 375
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE 376
Bulk Operations with Dynamic SQL 376
More on Dynamic SQL 376
Summary 376

Chapter 17: PL/SQL Packages 379

What Is a Package? 379
Impact of Packages 380
Organization 381
Visibility 381
Scope 381
Dependencies 382
Runtime Memory Usage 382
Oracle’s Endorsement 383
An Example 383
The Package Specification 383
The Package Body 384
Running the Example 390
Using Packages Together 391
Your Second Package 392
Package Code 392
Changing the First Package 393
Impact on the Second Package 394
Summary 396

Chapter 18: Introduction to Java Database Programming 397

Java Architecture 398
Java: The Language 398
Java Virtual Machine and Bytecode 398
What about Performance? 399
J2SE and J2EE 400
Oracle’s Java Architecture 406
JDBC and Persistence Frameworks 408
xx
 Contents
Java outside the Database 411
Java inside the Database 412
Building Sample Applications 413
Setting the CLASSPATH 413
Java Application Using JDBC — Basic Ingredients 414
Java Application Using OracleAS TopLink 419
Java Stored Procedures 427
Summary 434

Chapter 19: Triggers 437

What Are Triggers? 437
Types of Triggers 437
Order of Execution 438
Working with Triggers 438
Naming Triggers 438
Permissions for Creating Triggers 439
Creating Triggers 439
:new and :old 440
Update Triggers 441
Delete Triggers 441
Controlling When the Trigger Fires 442
Inserting or Updating? 443
Special Circumstances 443
INSTEAD OF Triggers 444
Triggers for Referential Integrity 448
Triggers in Other Languages 448
Triggers and Mutating Tables 449
Removing Triggers 451
Deleting/Dropping Triggers 451
Disabling Triggers 451
Recompiling Triggers 452
Viewing Triggers in the Data Dictionary 452
Limitations of Triggers 453
Summary 453

Chapter 20: Regular Expressions and Expression Filter 455

Regular Expressions 456
Regular Expression Concepts 457
Relevance to Database Applications 461
Oracle Regular Expressions 462
Usage Scenarios 470

xxi
Contents
Architecture and Performance Considerations 475
Expression Filter 476
Expression Filter Concepts 478
Relevance to Database Applications 484
Summary 485

Chapter 21: Object Relational Interactions with Oracle 487

Object Relational 488
ODBMS and RDBMS and ORDBMS 488
Introducing Oracle Objects 489
Object Types 490
Object Type Methods 493
Inheritance Support 497
Schema Evolution 499
Mapping to UML Concepts 500
Using Oracle Object Types 501
Existing Java Class as a Persistent Object Type 501
Creating Instances of Object Types in the Database 504
Using Java to Interact with Database Objects 506
Object Views on Relational Data 511
Oracle JPublisher (JPub) 515
Configuration and Run Time 516
Publishing SQL and DML Statements 517
Publishing Java Stored Procedures 518
Publishing Object Types 519
Support for Web Services 520
Summary 520

Chapter 22: Oracle XML DB 521

Overview of the XML DB Repository 521
Protocol-Based Access to XML in the Oracle Repository 522
SQL-Based Access to XML Data in the Oracle Repository 529
Enabling a New Schema for Use with XDB Repositories 533
ACL-Based Security on Oracle XML Repositories 533
XMLType 536
Creating XMLType Columns and Tables 537
XML Views 538
XML Schema 540
SQL/XML and Query Rewrite 533
SQL to XML 554

xxii
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
into being, principally by his own invention, did not then exist. The
only available hands in Glasgow were the blacksmiths and tinners,
little capable of constructing articles out of their ordinary walks; and
even in these they were often found clumsy, blundering, and
incompetent. The result was, that in consequence of the
malconstruction of the larger parts, Watt's first model was only
partially successful. The experiments made with it, however, served
to verify the expectations he had formed, and to place the
advantages of the invention beyond the reach of doubt. On the
exhausting-cock being turned, the piston, when loaded with
eighteen pounds, ascended as quickly as the blow of a hammer; and
the moment the steam-cock was opened, it descended with like
rapidity, though the steam was weak, and the machine snifted at
many openings.
Satisfied that he had laid hold of the right principle of a working
steam-engine, Watt felt impelled to follow it to an issue. He could
give his mind to no other business in peace until this was done. He
wrote to a friend that he was quite barren on every other subject.
"My whole thoughts," said he, "are bent on this machine. I can think
of nothing else." He proceeded to make another and bigger, and, he
hoped, a more satisfactory engine in the following August; and with
that object he removed from the old cellar in King Street to a larger
apartment in the then disused pottery, or delftwork, near the
Broomielaw. There he shut himself up with his assistant, John
Gardiner, for the purpose of erecting his engine. The cylinder was
five or six inches in diameter, with a two-feet stroke. The inner
cylinder was enclosed in a wooden steam-case, and placed inverted,
the piston working through a hole in the bottom of the steam-case.
After two months continuous application and labor it was finished
and set to work; but it leaked in all directions, and the piston was far
from air-tight. The condenser also was in a bad way, and needed
many alterations. Nevertheless, the engine readily worked with ten
and a half pounds pressure on the inch, and the piston lifted a
weight of fourteen pounds. The improvement of the cylinder and
piston continued Watt's chief difficulty, and taxed his ingenuity to the
utmost. At so low an ebb was the art of making cylinders that the
one he used was not bored, but hammered, the collective
mechanical skill of Glasgow being then unequal to the boring of a
cylinder of the simplest kind; nor, indeed, did the necessary
appliances for the purpose then exist anywhere else. In the
Newcomen engine a little water was found upon the upper surface
of the piston, and sufficiently filled up the interstices between the
piston and the cylinder. But when Watt employed steam to drive
down the piston, he was deprived of this resource, for the water and
steam could not coexist. Even if he had retained the agency of the
air above, the drip of water from the crevices into the lower part of
the cylinder would have been incompatible with keeping the cylinder
hot and dry, and, by turning into vapor as it fell upon the heated
metal, it would have impaired the vacuum during the descent of the
piston.
While he was occupied with this difficulty, and striving to
overcome it by the adoption of new expedients, such as leather
collars and improved workmanship, he wrote to a friend, "My old
white-iron man is dead;" the old white-iron man, or tinner, being his
leading mechanic. Unhappily, also, just as he seemed to have got
the engine into working order, the beam broke, and, having great
difficulty in replacing the damaged part, the accident threatened,
together with the loss of his best workman, to bring the experiment
to an end. Though discouraged by these misadventures, he was far
from defeated. But he went on as before, battling down difficulty
inch by inch, and holding good the ground he had won, becoming
every day more strongly convinced that he was in the right track,
and that the important uses of the invention, could he but find time
and means to perfect it, were beyond the reach of doubt. But how
to find the means! Watt himself was a comparatively poor man;
having no money but what he earned by his business of mechanical-
instrument making, which he had for some time been neglecting
through his devotion to the construction of his engine. What he
wanted was capital, or the help of a capitalist willing to advance him
the necessary funds to perfect his invention. To give a fair trial to the
new apparatus would involve an expenditure of several thousand
pounds; and who on the spot could be expected to invest so large a
sum in trying a machine so entirely new, depending for its success
on physical principles very imperfectly understood?
There was no such help to be found in Glasgow. The tobacco
lords,[10] though rich, took no interest in steam power; and the
manufacturing class, though growing in importance, had full
employment for their little capital in their own concerns.

"How Watt succeeded in interesting Dr. Roebuck in his project,

and thus obtained funds to continue his experiments; how he finally
joined with Matthew Boulton in the great firm of Boulton and Watt,
manufacturers of steam-engines; how they pumped out all the water
in the Cornish mines; and how Watt finally attained prosperity as
well as success,—is an interesting story, but rather too long for these
winter afternoons; and as the story of the invention of the steam-
engine is substantially told in the foregoing pages, we must stop our
reading here, more especially as it seems to be tea-time, and I hear
Ellen ringing the bell for supper."
 IX.

ROBERT FULTON.

They were to continue their talk and reading by following along

the developments in the use of steam.
"Uncle Fritz," said Fanchon, "these agnostics make so much fun
of our dear Harry and Lucy, that they will not let me quote from 'The
Botanic Garden.'"
Emma promised that they would laugh as little as they could.
"'The Botanic Garden,'" said Fanchon, "was a stately, and I am
afraid some of you would say very pompous, poem, written by Dr.
Darwin."
"Dr. Darwin write poetry!"
"It is not the Dr. Charles Darwin whom you have heard of; it was
his grandfather," said Uncle Fritz.
And Fanchon went on: "All I ever knew of 'The Botanic Garden'
was in the quotations of our dear Harry and Lucy and Frank. But
dear Uncle Fritz has taken down the book for me, and here it is, with
its funny old pictures of Ladies' Slippers and such things."
"I do not see what Ladies' Slippers have to do with steam-
engines," said Bedford Long, scornfully.
"No!" said Fanchon, laughing; "but I do, and that is the
difference between you and me. Because, you see, I have read
'Harry and Lucy,' and you have not." And she opened "The Botanic
Garden" at the place where she had put in a mark, and read:—
 "Pressed by the ponderous air, the piston falls
Resistless, sliding through its iron walls;
Quick moves the balance beam of giant birth,
Wields its large limbs, and nodding shakes the
earth.
The giant power, from earth's remotest caves
Lifts, with strong arm, her dark reluctant waves,
Each caverned rock and hidden depth explores,
Drags her dark coals, and digs her shining ores."
"That is rather stilted poetry," said Uncle Fritz, "but a hundred
years ago people were used to stilted poetry. It describes sufficiently
well the original pumping-engine of Watt, and the lifting of coal from
the shafts of the deep English mines. Now, it was not till Watt had
made his improvements on the pumping-engine,—say in 1788,—that
it was possible to go any farther in the use of steam than its
application to such absolutely stationary purposes. It is therefore, I
think, a good deal to the credit of Dr. Darwin, that within three years
after Watt's great improvement in the condensing-engine the Doctor
should have written this:—
'Soon shall thy arm, unconquered steam, afar
Drag the slow barge or drive the rapid car.'
It was twelve years after he wrote this, that Fulton had an
experimental steamboat on the river Seine in France. It was sixteen
years after, that, with one of Watt's own engines, Fulton drove the
'Clermont' from New York to Albany in thirty-six hours, and
revolutionized the world in doing it.
"Poor James Mackintosh was in virtual exile in Calcutta at that
time, and he wrote this in his journal: 'A boat propelled by steam
has gone a hundred and fifty miles upon the Hudson in thirty-six
hours. Four miles an hour would bring Calcutta within a hundred
days of London. Oh that we had lived a hundred years later!' In less
than fifty years after Mackintosh wrote those words, Calcutta was
within thirty days of London.
"When Harry and Lucy read these verses in 1825, the 'rapid car'
was still in the future."
 "Yes," said Fanchon; "but Harry says, 'The rapid car is to come,
and I dare say that will be accomplished soon, papa; do not you
think it will?'"
"I have sometimes wondered," said Uncle Fritz, "whether our
American word 'car' where the English say 'wagon' did not come
from the 'rapid car' of Dr. Darwin. Read on, Fanchon." And he put his
finger on the lines which Fanchon read:—
"Or on wide waving wings, expanded, bear
The flying chariot through the fields of air."
"Monsieur ——, the French gentleman, tried a light steam-engine
for the propulsion of a balloon in 1872; but it does not seem to have
had power enough. Messrs. Renard and Krebs, in their successful
flight of August last, used an electric battery.
"But we are getting away from Fulton, who is really the first who
drove the 'slow barge,' and indeed made it a very fast one."
"Did you know him?" asked Emma Fortinbras, whose ideas of
chronology are very vague.
"Oh, no!" said Uncle Fritz; "he died young and before my time.
But I did know a personal companion and friend, nay, a bedfellow of
his, Benjamin Church, who was with him in Paris at one of the crises
of his life. Fulton had a little steamboat on the river Seine, as I said
just now; and he had made interest with Napoleon to have it
examined by a scientific committee. Steam power was exactly what
Napoleon wanted, to take his great army across from Boulogne to
England. The day came for the great experiment. Church and Fulton
slept, the night before, in the same bed in their humble lodgings in
Paris. At daybreak a messenger waked them. He had come from the
river to say that the weight of boiler and machinery had been too
much for the little boat, that her timbers had given way, and that the
whole had sunk to the bottom of the river. But for this misfortune,
the successful steamboat would have sailed upon the Seine, and, for
aught I know, Napoleon's grandchildren would now be emperors of
England."
 Until Watt had completed the structure of the double-acting
condensing-engine, the application of steam to any but the single
object of pumping water had been almost impracticable. It was not
enough, in order to render it applicable to general purposes, that the
condensation of the water should take place in a separate vessel,
and that steam itself should be used, instead of atmospheric
pressure, as the moving power; but it was also necessary that the
steam should act as well during the ascent as during the descent of
the piston. Before steam could be used in moving paddle-wheels, it
was in addition necessary that a ready and convenient mode of
making the motion of the piston continuous and rotary, should be
discovered. All these improvements upon the original form of the
steam-engine are due to Watt, and he did not complete their perfect
combination before the year 1786.
Evans, who, in this country, saw the possibility of constructing a
double-acting engine, even before Watt, and had made a model of
his machine, did not succeed in obtaining funds to make an
experiment upon a large scale before 1801. We conceive, therefore,
that all those who projected the application of steam to vessels
before 1786, may be excluded, without ceremony, from the list of
those entitled to compete with Fulton for the honors of invention. No
one, indeed, could have seen the powerful action of a pumping-
engine without being convinced that the energy which was applied
so successfully to that single purpose, might be made applicable to
many others; but those who entertained a belief that the original
atmospheric engine, or even the single-acting engine of Watt, could
be applied to propel boats by paddle-wheels, showed a total
ignorance of mechanical principles. This is more particularly the case
with all those whose projects bore the strongest resemblance to the
plan which Fulton afterwards carried successfully into effect. Those
who approached most nearly to the attainment of success, were
they who were farthest removed from the plan of Fulton. His
application was founded on the properties of Watt's double-acting
engine, and could not have been used at all, until that instrument of
universal application had received the last finish of its inventor.
 In this list of failures, from proposing to do what the instrument
they employed was incapable of performing, we do not hesitate to
include Savery, Papin, Jonathan Hulls, Périer, the Marquis de
Jouffroy, and all the other names of earlier date than 1786, whom
the jealousy of the French and English nations have drawn from
oblivion for the purpose of contesting the priority of Fulton's claims.
The only competitor, whom they might have brought forward with
some shadow of plausibility, is Watt himself. No sooner had that
illustrious inventor completed his double-acting engine, than he saw
at a glance the vast field of its application. Navigation and
locomotion were not omitted; but living in an inland town, and in a
country possessing no rivers of importance, his views were limited to
canals alone. In this direction he saw an immediate objection to the
use of any apparatus, of which so powerful an agent as his engine
should be the mover; for it was clear, that the injury which would be
done to the banks of the canal, would prevent the possibility of its
introduction. Watt, therefore, after having conceived the idea of a
steamboat, laid it aside, as unlikely to be of any practical value.
The idea of applying steam to navigation was not confined to
Europe. Numerous Americans entertained hopes of attaining the
same object, but, before 1786, with the same want of any
reasonable hopes of success. Their fruitless projects were, however,
rebuked by Franklin, who, reasoning upon the capabilities of the
engine in its original form, did not hesitate to declare all their
schemes impracticable; and the correctness of his judgment is at
present unquestionable.
Among those who, before the completion of Watt's invention,
attempted the structure of steamboats, must be named with praise
Fitch and Rumsey. They, unlike those whose names have been cited,
were well aware of the real difficulties which they were to overcome;
and both were the authors of plans which, if the engine had been
incapable of further improvement, might have had a partial and
limited success. Fitch's trial was made in 1783, and Rumsey's in
1787. The latter date is subsequent to Watt's double-acting engine;
but as the project consisted merely in pumping in water, to be
afterwards forced out at the stern, the single-acting engine was
probably employed. Evans, whose engine might have answered the
purpose, was employed in the daily business of millwright; and
although he might, at any time, have driven these competitors from
the field, he took no steps to apply his dormant invention.
Fitch, who had watched the graceful and rapid way of the Indian
canoe, saw in the oscillating motion of the old pumping-engine the
means of impelling paddles in a manner similar to that given them
by the human arm. This idea is extremely ingenious, and was
applied in a simple and beautiful manner. But the engine was yet too
feeble and cumbrous to yield an adequate force; and when it
received its great improvement from Watt, a more efficient mode of
propulsion had become practicable, and must have superseded
Fitch's paddles had they even come into general use.
The experiments of Fitch and Rumsey in the United States,
although generally considered unsuccessful, did not deter others
from similar attempts. The great rivers and arms of the sea which
intersect the Atlantic coast, and, still more, the innumerable
navigable arms of the Father of Waters, appeared to call upon the
ingenious machinist to contrive means for their more convenient
navigation.
The improvement of the engine by Watt was now familiarly
known; and it was evident that it possessed sufficient powers for the
purpose. The only difficulty which existed, was in the mode of
applying it. The first person who entered into the inquiry was John
Stevens, of Hokoken, who commenced his researches in 1791. In
these he was steadily engaged for nine years, when he became the
associate of Chancellor Livingston and Nicholas Roosevelt. Among
the persons employed by this association was Brunel, who has since
become distinguished in Europe as the inventor of the block
machinery used in the British navy-yards, and as the engineer of the
tunnel beneath the Thames.
Even with the aid of such talent, the efforts of this association
were unsuccessful,—as we now know, from no error in principle, but
from defects in the boat to which it was applied. The appointment of
Livingston as ambassador to France broke up this joint effort; and,
like all previous schemes, it was considered abortive, and
contributed to throw discredit upon all undertakings of the kind. A
grant of exclusive privileges on the waters of the State of New York
was made to this association without any difficulty, it being believed
that the scheme was little short of madness.
Livingston, on his arrival in France, found Fulton domiciliated with
Joel Barlow. The conformity in their pursuits led to intimacy, and
Fulton speedily communicated to Livingston the scheme[11] which he
had laid before Earl Stanhope in 1793. Livingston was so well
pleased with it that he at once offered to provide the funds
necessary for an experiment, and to enter into a contract for Fulton's
aid in introducing the method into the United States, provided the
experiment were successful.
Fulton had, in his early discussion with Lord Stanhope,
repudiated the idea of an apparatus acting on the principle of the
foot of an aquatic bird, and had proposed paddle-wheels in its stead.
On resuming his inquiries after his arrangements with Livingston, it
occurred to him to compose wheels with a set of paddles revolving
upon an endless chain extending from the stem to the stern of the
boat. It is probable that the apparent want of success which had
attended the experiments of Symington[12] led him to doubt the
correctness of his original views.
That such doubt should be entirely removed, he had recourse to
a series of experiments upon a small scale. These were performed at
Plombières, a French watering-place, where he spent the summer of
1802. In these experiments the superiority of the paddle-wheel over
every other method of propulsion that had yet been proposed, was
fully established. His original impressions being thus confirmed, he
proceeded, late in the year 1803, to construct a working model of
his intended boat, which model was deposited with a commission of
French savans. He at the same time began building a vessel sixty-six
feet in length and eight feet in width. To this an engine was
adapted; and the experiment made with it was so satisfactory, as to
leave little doubt of final success.
Measures were therefore immediately taken, preparatory to
constructing a steamboat on a larger scale in the United States. For
this purpose, as the workshops of neither France nor America could
at that time furnish an engine of good quality, it became necessary
to resort to England for that purpose. Fulton had already
experienced the difficulty of being compelled to employ artists
unacquainted with the subject. It is, indeed, more than probable,
that, had he not, during his residence in Birmingham, made himself
familiar, not only with the general features, but with the most minute
details of the engine of Watt, the experiment on the Seine could not
have been made. In this experiment, and in the previous
investigations, it became obvious that the engine of Watt required
important modifications in order to adapt it to navigation. These
modifications had been planned by Fulton; but it now became
important, that they should be more fully tested. An engine was
therefore ordered from Watt and Boulton, without any specification
of the object to which it was to be applied; and its form was directed
to be varied from their usual models, in conformity to sketches
furnished by Fulton.
The order for an engine intended to propel a vessel of large size,
was transmitted to Watt and Boulton in 1803. At about the same
time, Chancellor Livingston, having full confidence in the success of
the enterprise, caused an application to be made to the legislature
of New York for an exclusive privilege of navigating the waters of
that State by steam, that which was granted on a former occasion
having expired.
This privilege was granted with little opposition. Indeed, those
who might have been inclined to object, saw so much of the
impracticable and even of the ridiculous in the project, that they
conceived the application unworthy of serious debate. The condition
attached to the grant was, that a vessel should be propelled by
steam at the rate of four miles an hour, within a prescribed space of
time. This reliance upon the reserved rights of the States proved a
fruitful source of vexation to Livingston and Fulton, and imbittered
the close of the life of the latter, and reduced his family to penury. It
can hardly be doubted that, had an expectation been entertained,
that the grant of a State was ineffectual, and that the jurisdiction
was vested in the general government, a similar grant might have
been obtained from Congress. The influence of Livingston with the
administration was deservedly high, and that administration was
supported by a powerful majority; nor would it have been consistent
with the principles of the opposition to vote against any act of
liberality to the introducer of a valuable application of science.
Livingston, however, confiding in his skill as a lawyer, preferred the
application to the State, and was thus, by his own act, restricted to a
limited field.
Before the engine ordered from Watt and Boulton was
completed, Fulton visited England, and thus had an opportunity of
visiting Birmingham, and directing, in person, its construction. It
could only have been at this time, if ever, that he saw the boat of
Symington;[13] but a view of it could have produced no effect upon
his own plans, which had been matured in France, and carried, so
far as the engine was concerned, to such an extent as to admit of no
alteration.
The engine was at last completed, and reached New York in
1806. Fulton, who returned to his native country about the same
period, immediately undertook the construction of a boat in which to
place it. In ordering his engine and in planning the boat, Fulton
exhibited plainly how far his scientific researches and practical
experiments had placed him before all his competitors. He had
evidently ascertained, what each successive year's experience proves
more fully, the great advantages possessed by large steamboats
over those of smaller size; and thus, while all previous attempts had
been made in smaller vessels, he alone resolved to make his final
experiment in one of great dimensions. That a vessel, intended to be
propelled by steam, ought to have very different proportions, and
lines of a character wholly distinct from those of vessels intended to
be navigated by sails, was evident to him. No other theory, however,
of the resistance of fluids was admitted at the time than that of
Bossut, and there were no published experiments except those of
the British Society of Arts. Judged in reference to these, the model
chosen by Fulton was faultless, although it will not stand the test of
an examination founded upon a better theory and more accurate
experiments.
The vessel was finished and fitted with her machinery in August,
1807. An experimental excursion was forthwith made, at which a
number of gentlemen of science and intelligence were present. Many
of these were either sceptical or absolute unbelievers. But a few
minutes served to convert the whole party, and satisfy the most
obstinate doubters, that the long-desired object was at last
accomplished. Only a few weeks before, the cost of constructing and
finishing the vessel threatening to exceed the funds with which he
had been provided by Livingston, Fulton had attempted to obtain a
supply by the sale of one third of the exclusive right granted by the
State of New York. No person was found possessed of the faith
requisite to induce him to embark in the project. Those who had
rejected this opportunity of investment, were now the witnesses of
the completion of the scheme, which they had considered as an
inadequate security for the desired funds.
Within a few days from the time of the first experiment with the
steamboat, a voyage was undertaken in it to Albany. This city,
situated at the natural head of the navigation of the Hudson, is
distant, by the line of the channel of the river, rather less than one
hundred and fifty miles from New York. By the old post-road, the
distance is one hundred and sixty miles, at which that by water is
usually estimated. Although the greater part of the channel of the
Hudson is both deep and wide, yet for about fourteen miles below
Albany this character is not preserved, and the stream, confined
within comparatively small limits, is obstructed by bars of sand or
spreads itself over shallows. In a few remarkable instances, the
sloops, which then exclusively navigated the Hudson, had effected a
passage in about sixteen hours; but a whole week was not
unfrequently employed in the voyage, and the average time of
passage was not less than four entire days. In Fulton's first attempt
to navigate this stream, the passage to Albany was performed in
thirty-two hours, and the return in thirty.
Up to this time, although the exclusive grant had been sought
and obtained from the State of New York, it does not appear that
either he or his associate had been fully aware of the vast opening
which the navigation of the Hudson presented for the use of steam.
They looked to the rapid Mississippi and its branches, as the place
where their triumph was to be achieved; and the original boat,
modelled for shallow waters, was announced as intended for the
navigation of that river. But even in the very first attempt, numbers,
called by business or pleasure to the northern or western parts of
the State of New York, crowded into the yet untried vessel; and
when the success of the attempt was beyond question, no little
anxiety was manifested, that the steamboat should be established as
a regular packet between New York and Albany.
With these indications of public feeling Fulton immediately
complied, and regular voyages were made at stated times until the
end of the season. These voyages were not, however, unattended
with inconvenience. The boat, designed for a mere experiment, was
incommodious; and many of the minor arrangements by which
facility of working and safety from accident to the machinery were to
be insured, were yet wanting. Fulton continued a close and attentive
observer of the performance of the vessel; every difficulty, as it
manifested itself, was met and removed by the most masterly as
well as simple contrivances. Some of these were at once adopted,
while others remained to be applied while the boat should be laid up
for the winter. He thus gradually formed in his mind the idea of a
complete and perfect vessel; and in his plan, no one part which has
since been found to be essential to the ease of manœuvre or
security, was omitted. But the eyes of the whole community were
now fixed upon the steamboat; and as all those of competent
mechanical knowledge were, like Fulton himself, alive to the defects
of the original vessel, his right to priority of invention of various
important accessories has been disputed.
The winter of 1807-8 was occupied in remodelling and rebuilding
the vessel, to which the name "Clermont" was now given. The
guards and housings for the wheels, which had been but temporary
structures, applied as their value was pointed out by experience,
became solid and essential parts of the boat. For a rudder of the
ordinary form, one of surface much more extended in its horizontal
dimensions was substituted. This, instead of being moved by a tiller,
was acted upon by ropes applied to its extremity; and these ropes
were adapted to a steering-wheel, which was raised aloft towards
the bow of the vessel.
It had been shown by the numbers who were transported during
the first summer, that at the same price for passage, many were
willing to undergo all the inconveniences of the original rude
accommodations, in preference to encountering the delays and
uncertainty to which the passage in sloops was exposed. Fulton did
not, however, take advantage of his monopoly, but with the most
liberal spirit, provided such accommodations for passengers, as in
convenience and even splendor, had not before been approached in
vessels intended for the transportation of travellers. This was, on his
part, an exercise of almost improvident liberality. By his contract with
Chancellor Livingston, the latter undertook to defray the whole cost
of the engine and vessel, until the experiment should result in
success; but from that hour each was to furnish an equal share of all
investments. Fulton had no patrimonial fortune, and what little he
had saved from the product of his ingenuity was now exhausted. But
the success of the experiment had inspired the banks and capitalists
with confidence, and he now found no difficulty in obtaining, in the
way of loan, all that was needed. Still, however, a debt was thus
contracted which the continued demands made upon him for new
investments never permitted him to discharge. The "Clermont," thus
converted into a floating palace, gay with ornamental painting,
gilding, and polished woods, began her course of passages for the
second year in the month of April.
 The first voyage of this year was of the most discouraging
character. Chancellor Livingston, who had, by his own experiments,
approached as near to success as any other person who, before
Fulton, had endeavored to navigate by steam, and who had
furnished all the capital necessary for the experiment, had plans and
projects of his own. These he urged into execution in spite of the
opposition of Fulton. The boiler furnished by Watt and Boulton was
not adapted to the object. Copied from those used on the land, it
required that its fireplace and flues should be constructed of
masonry. These added so much weight to the apparatus, that the
rebuilt boat would hardly have floated had they been retained. In
order to replace this boiler, Livingston had planned a compound
structure of wood and copper, which he insisted should be tried.
It is only necessary for us to say, that this boiler proved a
complete failure. Steam began to issue from its joints a few hours
after the "Clermont" left New York. It then became impossible to
keep up a proper degree of tension, and the passage was thus
prolonged to forty-eight hours. These defects increased after leaving
Albany on the return, and the boiler finally gave way altogether
within a few miles of New York. The time of the downward passage
was thus extended to fifty-six hours. Fulton was, however, thus
relieved from all further interference; this fruitless experiment was
decisive as to his superiority over his colleague in mechanical skill.
He therefore immediately planned and directed the execution of a
new boiler, which answered the purpose perfectly; and although
there are many reasons why boilers of a totally different form and of
subsequent invention should be preferred, it is, for its many good
properties, extensively used, with little alteration, up to the present
day. But a few weeks sufficed to build and set this boiler, and in the
month of June the regular passages of the "Clermont" were
renewed.
In observing the hour appointed for departure, both from New
York and Albany, Fulton determined to insist upon the utmost
regularity. It required no little perseverance and resolution to carry
this system of punctuality into effect. Persons accustomed to be
waited for by packet-boats and stages, assented with great
reluctance to what they conceived to be a useless adherence to
precision of time. The benefits of this punctuality were speedily
perceptible; the whole system of internal communication of the State
of New York was soon regulated by the hours of arrival and
departure of Fulton's steamboats; and the same system of precision
was copied in all other steamboat lines. The certainty of conveyance
at stated times being thus secured, the number of travellers was
instantly augmented; and before the end of the second summer, the
boat became far too small for the passengers, who crowded to avail
themselves of this novel, punctual, and unprecedentedly rapid
method of transport.
Such success, however, was not without its alloy. The citizens of
Albany and the river towns saw, as they thought, in the steamboat,
the means of enticing their customers from their ancient marts to
the more extensive market of the chief city; the skippers of the river
mourned the inevitable loss of a valuable part of their business; and
innumerable projectors beheld with envy the successful enterprise of
Fulton.
Among the latter class was one who, misled by false notions of
mechanical principles, fancied that in the mere oscillations of a
pendulum lay a power sufficient for any purpose whatever. Availing
himself of a well-constructed model, he exhibited to the inhabitants
of Albany a pendulum which continued its motions for a considerable
time, without requiring any new impulse, and at the same time
propelled a pair of wheels. These wheels, however, did not work in
water. Those persons who felt themselves aggrieved by the
introduction of steamboats, quickly embraced this project, prompted
by an enmity to Fulton, and determined, if they could not defeat his
object, at least to share in the profits of its success.
It soon appeared, from preliminary experiments, made in a sloop
purchased for the purpose, that a steam-engine would be required
to give motion to the pendulum; and it was observed that the water-
wheels, when in connection with the pendulum, had a very irregular
motion. A fly-wheel was therefore added, and the pendulum was
now found to be a useless incumbrance. Enlightened by these
experiments, the association proceeded to build two boats; and
these were exact copies, not only of the hull and all the accessories
of the "Clermont," but the engine turned out to be identical in form
and structure with one which Fulton was at the very time engaged in
fitting to his second boat, "The Car of Neptune."
The pretence of bringing into use a new description of prime
mover was of course necessarily abandoned, and the owners of the
new steamboats determined boldly to test the constitutionality of the
exclusive grant to Fulton. Fulton and Livingston, in consequence,
applied to the Court of Chancery of the State of New York for an
injunction, which was refused. On an appeal to the Court of Errors
this decision of the Chancellor was reversed; but the whole of the
profits which might have been derived from the business of the year
were prevented from accruing to Livingston and Fulton, who,
compelled to contend in price with an opposition supported by
popular feeling in Albany, were losers rather than gainers by the
operations of the season.
As no appeal was taken from this last decision, the waters of the
State of New York remained in the exclusive possession of Fulton
and his partner, until the death of the former. This exclusive
possession was not, however, attended with all the advantages that
might have been anticipated. The immense increase of travel which
the facilities of communication created, rendered it imperative upon
the holders of the monopoly to provide new facilities by the
construction of new vessels. The cost of these could not be defrayed
out of the profits. Hence new and heavy debts were necessarily
contracted by Fulton, while Livingston, possessed of an ample
fortune, required no pecuniary aid beyond what he was able to meet
from his own resources.
The most formidable opposition which was made to the privileges
of Fulton, was founded upon the discoveries of Fitch. We have seen,
that he constructed a boat which made some passages between
Trenton and Philadelphia; but the method which he used, was that
of paddles, which are far inferior to the paddle-wheel. Of the
inferiority of the method of paddles, had any doubt remained,
positive evidence was afforded in the progress of this dispute; for in
order to bring the question to the test of a legal decision, a boat
propelled by them was brought into the waters of the State of New
York. The result of the experiment was so decisive, that when the
parties engaged in the enterprise had succeeded in their designs,
they made no attempt to propel their boats by any other method
than that of wheels.
Fulton, assailed in his exclusive privileges derived from State
grants, took, for his further protection, a patent from the general
government. This is dated in 1809, and was followed by another, for
improvements upon it, in 1811. It now appeared, that the very
circumstance in which the greatest merit of his method consists, was
to be the obstacle to his maintaining an exclusive privilege.
Discarding all complexity, he had limited himself to the simple means
of adapting paddle-wheels to the crank of Watt's engine; and, under
the patent laws, it seems hardly possible that such a simple yet
effectual method could be guarded by a specification. As has been
the case with many other important discoveries, the most ignorant
conceived that they might themselves have discovered it; and those
unacquainted with the history of the attempts at navigation by
steam, were compelled to wonder that it had been left for Fulton to
bring it into successful operation.
Before the death of Fulton, the steamboats on the Hudson River
were increased in number to five. A sixth was built under his
direction for the navigation of the Sound; and, this water being
rendered unsafe by the presence of an enemy's[14] squadron, the
boat plied for a time upon the Hudson. In the construction of this
boat he had, in his own opinion, exhausted the power of steam in
navigation, having given it a speed of nine miles an hour; and it is a
remarkable fact, which manifests his acquaintance with theory and
skill in calculation, that he in all cases predicted with almost absolute
accuracy, the velocity of the vessels he caused to be constructed.
The engineers of Great Britain came, long after, to a similar
conclusion in respect to the maximum of speed.
It is now, however, well known, that, with a proper construction
of prows, the resistance to vessels moving at higher velocities than
nine miles an hour, increases in a much less ratio than had been
inferred from experiments made upon wedge-shaped bodies; and
that the velocity of the pistons of steam-engines may be
conveniently increased beyond the limit fixed by the practice of Watt.
For these important discoveries the world is indebted principally
to Robert L. Stevens. That Fulton must have reached them in the
course of his own practice can hardly be doubted, had his valuable
life been spared to watch the performance of the vessels he was
engaged in building at the time of his premature death.[15] These
were, a large boat intended for the navigation of the Hudson, to
which the name of his partner, Chancellor Livingston, was given, and
one planned for the navigation of the ocean. The latter was
constructed with the intention of making a passage to St.
Petersburg; but this scheme was interrupted by his death, which
took place at the moment he was about to add to his glory, as the
first constructor of a successful steamboat, that of being the first
navigator of the ocean by this new and mighty agent.
 X.

GEORGE STEPHENSON AND THE LOCOMOTIVE.

"What I say is this," said Nahum, "that all your Vesuvius

dividends, and all your pickers and slobbers, and shirtings at four
cents, and all the rest of your great cotton victory, depend on
railroads. If your father could not go to Lewiston and see his
foreman and people, and come back before you can say Jack
Robinson, there would be no mills at Lewiston such as there are.
There might be a poor little sawmill making shingles, as you free-
traders want." This with scorn at Fergus, perhaps, or some one else
suspected of views unfavorable to protection.
Then Nahum shook hands with Uncle Fritz, and apologized for his
zeal, adding: "I am telling the boys why I want to go to Altoona, and
to become a railroad man. I say that the new plant in India might
knock cotton higher than a kite, and that people might learn to live
without novels or magazines, but that they must have transportation
all the same. And I am going into the railroad business. I am going
to hew down the mountains and fill up the valleys." The boy was
fairly eloquent in his enthusiasm.
"It is in your blood, my brave fellow," said Uncle Fritz. "People
thought your grandfather was crazy when he said it, sixty years ago.
But it proved he was the seer and the prophet, and they were the
fools."
"And who invented railroads?" asked Blanche.
"As to that, the man invented a railroad who first put two boards
down over two ruts to make a cart run easier. Almost as soon as
there were mines, there must have been some sort of rail for the
use of the wagons which brought out the ore. These rails became so
useful that they were continued from the mine to the high-road,
whatever it was. But it was not till the first quarter of this century,
that rails were laid for general use. The earliest railroad in the United
States was laid at the quarries in Quincy, in Massachusetts, in 1825."
Uncle Fritz was so well pleased at their eagerness that he
brought out for them some of the old books, and some of the new.
In especial he bade them all read Smiles's "Life of Stephenson"
before they came to him again. For to George Stephenson, as they
soon learned, more than to any one man, the world owes the step
forward which it made when locomotives were generally used on
railroads. Since that time the improvements in both have gone on
together.
Before they met again, at Uncle Fritz's suggestion, Fergus and
Hester prepared this sketch of the details of Stephenson's earlier
invention, purposely that Uncle Fritz might use it when these papers
should be printed together.

GEORGE STEPHENSON.
An efficient and economical working locomotive engine still
remained to be invented, and to accomplish this object Stephenson
now applied himself. Profiting by what his predecessors had done,—
warned by their failures and encouraged by their partial successes,—
he began his labors. There was still wanting the man who should
accomplish for the locomotive what James Watt had done for the
steam-engine, and combine in a complete form the best points in
the separate plans of others, embodying with them such original
inventions and adaptations of his own, as to entitle him to the merit
of inventing the working locomotive, as James Watt is to be
regarded as the inventor of the working condensing-engine. This
was the great work upon which George Stephenson now entered,
though probably without any adequate idea of the ultimate
importance of his work to society and civilization.
 He proceeded to bring the subject of constructing a "Travelling
Engine," as he denominated the locomotive, under the notice of the
lessees of the Killingworth Colliery,[16] in the year 1813. Lord
Ravensworth, the principal partner, had already formed a very
favorable opinion of the new colliery engine-wright from the
improvements which he had effected in the colliery engines, both
above and below ground; and after considering the matter, and
hearing Stephenson's explanations, he authorized him to proceed
with the construction of a locomotive, though his lordship was by
some called a fool for advancing money for such a purpose. "The
first locomotive that I made," said Stephenson, many years after,
when speaking of his early career at a public meeting in Newcastle,
"was at Killingworth Colliery, and with Lord Ravensworth's money.
Yes, Lord Ravensworth and partners were the first to intrust me,
thirty-two years since, with money to make a locomotive engine. I
said to my friends, there was no limit to the speed of such an
engine, if the works could be made to stand."
Our engine-wright had, however, many obstacles to encounter
before he could get fairly to work upon the erection of his
locomotive. His chief difficulty was in finding workmen sufficiently
skilled in mechanics and in the use of tools to follow his instructions,
and embody his designs in a practical shape. The tools then in use
about the colliery were rude and clumsy, and there were no such
facilities, as now exist, for turning out machinery of any entirely new
character. Stephenson was under the necessity of working with such
men and tools as were at his command, and he had in a great
measure to train and instruct the workmen himself. The new engine
was built in the workshops at the West Morr, the leading mechanic
being John Thirlwall, the colliery blacksmith,—an excellent mechanic
in his way, though quite new to the work now intrusted to him.
In this first locomotive, constructed at Killingworth, Stephenson
to some extent followed the plan of Blenkinsop's engine. The
wrought-iron boiler was cylindrical, eight feet in length and thirty-
four inches in diameter, with an internal flue-tube twenty inches
wide passing through it. The engine had two vertical cylinders, of
eight inches diameter and two feet stroke, let into the boiler, which
worked the propelling gear with cross-heads and connecting-rods.
The power of the two cylinders was combined by means of spur-
wheels, which communicated the motive power to the wheels
supporting the engine on the rail. The engine thus worked upon
what is termed the second motion. The chimney was of wrought-
iron, round which was a chamber extending back to the feed-pumps,
for the purpose of heating the water previous to its injection into the
boiler. The engine had no springs, and was mounted on a wooden
frame supported on four wheels. In order to neutralize as much as
possible the jolts and shocks which such an engine would necessarily
encounter, from the obstacles and inequalities of the then very
imperfect plate-way, the water-barrel, which served for a tender, was
fixed to the end of a lever and weighted; the other end of the lever
being connected with the frame of the locomotive carriage. By this
means the weight of the two was more equally distributed, though
the contrivance did not by any means compensate for the total
absence of springs.
The wheels of the locomotive were all smooth, Stephenson
having satisfied himself by experiment that the adhesion between
the wheels of a loaded engine and the rail would be sufficient for the
purposes of traction.[17]
The engine was, after much labor and anxiety, and frequent
alterations of parts, at length brought to completion, having been
about ten months in hand. It was placed upon the Killingworth
Railway on the 25th of July, 1814, and its powers were tried on the
same day. On an ascending gradient of 1 in 450, the engine
succeeded in drawing after it eight loaded carriages, of thirty tons
weight, at about four miles an hour; and for some time after it
continued regularly at work.
Although a considerable advance upon previous locomotives,
"Blucher" (as the engine was popularly called) was nevertheless a
somewhat cumbrous and clumsy machine. The parts were huddled
together. The boiler constituted the principal feature; and, being the
foundation of the other parts, it was made to do duty not only as a
generator of steam, but also as a basis for the fixings of the
machinery and for the bearings of the wheels and axles. The want of
springs was seriously felt; and the progress of the engine was a
succession of jolts, causing considerable derangement to the
working. The mode of communicating the motive power to the
wheels by means of the spur-gear also caused frequent jerks, each
cylinder alternately propelling or becoming propelled by the other, as
the pressure of the one upon the wheels became greater or less
than the pressure of the other; and when the teeth of the cog-
wheels became at all worn, a rattling noise was produced during the
travelling of the engine.
As the principal test of the success of the locomotive was its
economy as compared with horse-power, careful calculations were
made with the view of ascertaining this important point. The result
was, that it was found the working of the engine was at first barely
economical; and at the end of the year the steam-power and the
horse-power were ascertained to be as nearly as possible upon a par
in point of cost.
We give the remainder of the history of George Stephenson's
efforts to produce an economical working locomotive in the words of
his son Robert, as communicated to Mr. Smiles in 1856, for the
purposes of his father's "Life."
"A few months of experience and careful observation upon the
operation of this (his first) engine convinced my father that the
complication arising out of the action of the two cylinders being
combined by spur-wheels would prevent their coming into practical
application. He then directed his attention to an entire change in the
construction and mechanical arrangements, and in the following year
took out a patent, dated Feb. 28, 1815, for an engine which
combined in a remarkable degree the essential requisites of an
economical locomotive,—that is to say, few parts, simplicity in their
action, and great simplicity in the mode by which power was
communicated to the wheels supporting the engine.
"This second engine consisted, as before, of two vertical
cylinders; which communicated directly with each pair of the four
wheels that supported the engine by a cross-head and a pair of
connecting-rods. But in attempting to establish a direct
communication between the cylinders and the wheels that rolled
upon the rails, considerable difficulties presented themselves. The
ordinary joints could not be employed to unite the engine, which
was a rigid mass, with the wheels rolling upon the irregular surface
of the rails; for it was evident that the two rails of the line of railway
could not always be maintained at the same level with respect to
each other,—that one wheel at the end of the axle might be
depressed into a part of the line which had subsided, while the other
would be elevated. In such a position of the axle and wheels it was
clear that a rigid communication between the cross-head and the
wheels was impracticable. Hence it became necessary to form a joint
at the top of the piston-rod where it united with the cross-head, so
as to permit the cross-head always to preserve complete parallelism
with the axle of the wheels with which it was in communication.
"In order to obtain the flexibility combined with direct action,
which was essential for insuring power and avoiding needless friction
and jars from irregularities in the rail, my father employed the 'ball
and socket joint' for effecting a union between the ends of the cross-
heads, where they were united with the crank-pins attached to each
driving-wheel. By this arrangement the parallelism between the
cross-head and the axle was at all times maintained, it being
permitted to take place without producing jar or friction upon any
part of the machine.
"The next important point was to combine each pair of wheels by
some simple mechanism, instead of the cog-wheels which had
formerly been used. My father began by inserting each axle into two
cranks, at right angles to each other, with rods communicating
horizontally between them. An engine was made upon this plan, and
answered extremely well. But at that period (1815) the mechanical
skill of the country was not equal to the task of forging cranked
axles of the soundness and strength necessary to stand the jars
incident to locomotive work; so my father was compelled to fall back
upon a substitute which, though less simple and less efficient, was
within the mechanical capabilities of the workmen of that day, either
for construction or repair. He adopted a chain, which rolled over
indented wheels placed on the centre of each axle, and so arranged
that the two pairs of wheels were effectually coupled and made to
keep pace with each other. But these chains after a few years' use
became stretched, and then the engines were liable to irregularity in
their working, especially in changing from working back to forward
again. Nevertheless, these engines continued in profitable use upon
the Killingworth Colliery Railway for some years. Eventually the chain
was laid aside, and the wheels were united by rods on the outside
instead of rods and crank-axles inside, as specified in the original
patent; and this expedient completely answered the purpose
required, without involving any expensive or difficult workmanship.
"Another important improvement was introduced in this engine.
The eduction steam had hitherto been allowed to escape direct into
the open atmosphere; but my father having observed the great
velocity with which the smoke issued from the chimney of the same
engine, thought that by conveying the eduction steam into the
chimney, and there allowing it to escape in a vertical direction, its
velocity would be imparted to the smoke from the engine, or to the
ascending current of air in the chimney. The experiment was no
sooner made than the power of the engine became more than
doubled; combustion was stimulated, as it were, by a blast;
consequently, the power of the boiler for generating steam was
increased, and in the same proportion, the useful duty of the engine
was augmented.
"Thus, in 1815 my father had succeeded in manufacturing an
engine which included the following important improvements on all
previous attempts in the same direction: simple and direct
communication between the cylinder and the wheels rolling upon the
rails; joint adhesion of all the wheels, attained by the use of
horizontal connecting-rods; and, finally, a beautiful method of
exciting the combustion of fuel by employing the waste steam which
had formerly been allowed to escape uselessly. It is perhaps not too
much to say that this engine, as a mechanical contrivance, contained
the germ of all that has since been effected. It may be regarded, in
fact, as a type of the present locomotive engine.
"In describing my father's application of the waste steam for the
purpose of increasing the intensity of combustion in the boiler, and
thus increasing the power of the engine without adding to its
weight, and while claiming for this engine the merit of being a type
of all those which have been successfully devised since the
commencement of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, it is
necessary to observe that the next great improvement in the same
direction, the 'multitubular boiler,' which took place some years later,
could never have been used without the help of that simple
expedient, the steam-blast, by which power only, the burning of
coke was rendered possible.
"I cannot pass over this last-named invention of my father's
without remarking how slightly, as an original idea, it has been
appreciated; and yet how small would be the comparative value of
the locomotive engine of the present day, without the application of
that important invention.
"Engines constructed by my father in the year 1818, upon the
principles just described, are in use on the Killingworth Colliery
Railway to this very day (1856), conveying, at the speed of perhaps
five or six miles an hour, heavy coal-trains, probably as economically
as any of the more perfect engines now in use."
The invention of the steam-blast by George Stephenson in 1815
was fraught with the most important consequences to railway
locomotion; and it is not saying too much to aver that the success of
the locomotive has been in a great measure the result of its
adoption. Without the steam-blast, by means of which the intensity
of combustion is maintained at its highest point, producing a
correspondingly rapid evolution of steam, high rates of speed could
not have been kept up; the advantages of the multitubular boiler
(afterward invented) could never have been fully tested; and
locomotives might still have been dragging themselves unwieldily
along at a rate of a little more than five or six miles an hour.
As the period drew near for the opening of the line, the question
of the tractive power to be employed was anxiously discussed. At
the Brusselton decline, fixed engines must necessarily be made use
of; but with respect to the mode of working the railway generally, it
was decided that horses were to be largely employed, and
arrangements were made for their purchase.
Although locomotives had been regularly employed in hauling
coal-wagons on the Middleton Colliery Railway, near Leeds, for more
than twelve years, and on the Wylam and Killingworth Railways,
near Newcastle, for more than ten years, great scepticism still
prevailed as to the economy of employing them for the purpose in
lieu of horses. In this case, it would appear that seeing was not
believing. The popular scepticism was as great at Newcastle, where
the opportunities for accurate observation were the greatest, as
anywhere else. In 1824 the scheme of a canal between that town
and Carlisle again came up; and although a few timid voices were
raised on behalf of a railway, the general opinion was still in favor of
a canal. The example of the Hetton Railway, which had been
successfully worked by Stephenson's locomotives for two years past,
was pointed to in proof of the practicability of a locomotive line
between the two places; but the voice of the press, as well as of the
public, was decidedly against the "new-fangled roads."
When such was the state of public opinion as to railway
locomotion, some idea may be formed of the clear-sightedness and
moral courage of the Stockton and Darlington directors in ordering
three of Stephenson's locomotive engines, at a cost of several
thousand pounds, against the opening of the railway.
These were constructed after Stephenson's most matured
designs, and embodied all the improvements which he had contrived
up to that time. No. 1 engine, the "Locomotion," which was first
delivered, weighed about eight tons. It had one large flue, or tube,
through the boiler, by which the heated air passed direct from the
furnace at the one end, lined with fire-bricks, to the chimney at the
other. The combustion in the furnace was quickened by the adoption
of the steam-blast in the chimney. The heat raised was sometimes
so great, and it was so imperfectly abstracted by the surrounding
water, that the chimney became almost red-hot. Such engines, when
put to their speed, were found capable of running at the rate of from
twelve to sixteen miles an hour; but they were better adapted for
the heavy work of hauling coal-trains at low speed—for which,
indeed, they were specially constructed—than for running at the
higher speed afterward adopted. Nor was it contemplated by the
directors as possible, at the time when they were ordered, that
locomotives could be made available for the purposes of passenger
travelling. Besides, the Stockton and Darlington Railway did not run
through a district in which passengers were supposed to be likely to
constitute any considerable portion of the traffic.
We may easily imagine the anxiety felt by George Stephenson
during the progress of the works toward completion, and his mingled
hopes and doubts—though the doubts were but few—as to the issue
of this great experiment. When the formation of the line near
Stockton was well advanced, the engineer one day, accompanied by
his son Robert and John Dixon, made a journey of inspection of the
works. The party reached Stockton, and proceeded to dine at one of
the inns there. After dinner, Stephenson ventured on the very
unusual measure of ordering in a bottle of wine, to drink success to
the railway. John Dixon relates with pride the utterance of the
master on the occasion "Now, lads," said he to the two young men,
"I venture to tell you that I think you will live to see the day when
railways will supersede almost all other methods of conveyance in
this country,—when mail-coaches will go by railway, and railroads
will become the great highways for the king and all his subjects. The
time is coming when it will be cheaper for a working man to travel
on a railway than to walk on foot. I know there are great and almost
insurmountable difficulties to be encountered, but what I have said
will come to pass as sure as you now hear me. I only wish I may live
to see the day, though that I can scarcely hope for, as I know how
slow all human progress is, and with what difficulty I have been able
to get the locomotive introduced thus far, notwithstanding my more
than ten years' successful experiment at Killingworth." The result,
however, outstripped even George Stephenson's most sanguine
expectations; and his son Robert, shortly after his return from
America in 1827, saw his father's locomotive generally adopted as
the tractive power on mining-railways.
Tuesday, the 27th of September, 1825, was a great day for
Darlington. The railway, after having been under construction for
more than three years, was at length about to be opened. The
project had been the talk of the neighborhood for so long that there
were few people within a range of twenty miles who did not feel
more or less interested about it. Was it to be a failure or a success?
Opinions were pretty equally divided as to the railway; but as
regarded the locomotive, the general belief was that it would "never
answer." However, there was the locomotive "No. 1" delivered upon
the line, and ready to draw the first train of wagons on the opening
day.
A great concourse of people assembled on the occasion. Some
came from Newcastle and Durham, many from the Aucklands, while
Darlington held a general holiday and turned out all its population.
To give éclat to the opening, the directors of the company issued a
programme of the proceedings, intimating the times at which the
procession of wagons would pass certain points along the line. The
proprietors assembled as early as six in the morning at the
Brusselton fixed engine, where the working of the inclined planes
was successfully rehearsed. A train of wagons laden with coals and
merchandise was drawn up the western incline by the fixed engine,
a length of nineteen hundred and sixty yards in seven and a half
minutes, and then lowered down the incline on the eastern side of
the hill, eight hundred and eighty yards, in five minutes.
 At the foot of the incline the procession of vehicles was formed,
consisting of the locomotive engine No. 1, driven by George
Stephenson himself; after it, six wagons loaded with coals and flour;
then a covered coach containing directors and proprietors; next,
twenty-one coal-wagons fitted up for passengers (with which they
were crammed); and lastly, six more wagons loaded with coals.
Strange to say, a man on a horse, carrying a flag with the motto
of the company inscribed on it, Periculum privatum utilitas publica,
[18] headed the procession! A lithographic view of the great event,
published shortly after, duly exhibits the horseman and his flag. It
was not thought so dangerous a place, after all. The locomotive was
only supposed to be able to go at the rate of from four to six miles
an hour, and an ordinary horse could easily keep ahead of that.
Off started the procession, with the horseman at its head. A
great concourse of people stood along the line. Many of them tried
to accompany it by running, and some gentlemen on horseback
galloped across the fields to keep up with the train. The railway
descending with a gentle decline toward Darlington, the rate of
speed was consequently variable. At a favorable part of the road
Stephenson determined to try the speed of the engine, and he called
upon the horseman with the flag to get out of his way! Most
probably, deeming it unnecessary to carry his periculum privatum
farther, the horseman turned aside, and Stephenson "put on the
steam." The speed was at once raised to twelve miles an hour, and,
at a favorable part of the road, to fifteen. The runners on foot, the
gentlemen on horseback, and the horseman with the flag were
consequently soon left far behind. When the train reached
Darlington, it was found that four hundred and fifty passengers
occupied the wagons, and that the load of men, coals, and
merchandise amounted to about ninety tons.
At Darlington the procession was rearranged. The six loaded
coal-wagons were left behind, and other wagons were taken on with
a hundred and fifty more passengers, together with a band of music.
The train then started for Stockton,—a distance of only twelve miles,
—which was reached in about three hours. The day was kept
throughout the district as a holiday; and horses, gigs, carts, and
other vehicles, filled with people, stood along the railway, as well as
crowds of persons on foot, waiting to see the train pass. The whole
population of Stockton turned out to receive the procession, and,
after a walk through the streets, the inevitable dinner in the Town
Hall wound up the day's proceedings.

The principal circumstances connected with the construction of

the "Rocket," as described by Robert Stephenson to Mr. Smiles, may
be briefly stated. The tubular principle was adopted in a more
complete manner than had yet been attempted. Twenty-five copper
tubes, each three inches in diameter, extended from one end of the
boiler to the other, the heated air passing through them on its way
to the chimney; and the tubes being surrounded by the water of the
boiler. It will be obvious that a large extension of the heating surface
was thus effectually secured. The principal difficulty was in fitting the
copper tubes in the boiler ends so as to prevent leakage. They were
manufactured by a Newcastle copper-smith, and soldered to brass
screws which were screwed into the boiler ends, standing out in
great knobs. When the tubes were thus fitted, and the boiler was
filled with water, hydraulic pressure was applied; but the water
squirted out at every joint, and the factory floor was soon flooded.
Robert went home in despair; and in the first moment of grief he
wrote to his father that the whole thing was a failure. By return of
post came a letter from his father, telling him that despair was not to
be thought of,—that he must "try again;" and he suggested a mode
of overcoming the difficulty, which his son had already anticipated
and proceeded to adopt. It was to bore clean holes in the boiler
ends, fit in the smooth copper tubes as tightly as possible, solder up,
and then raise the steam. This plan succeeded perfectly; the
expansion of the copper completely filling up all interstices, and
producing a perfectly water-tight boiler, capable of standing extreme
external pressure.
 The mode of employing the steam-blast for the purpose of
increasing the draught in the chimney, was also the subject of
numerous experiments. When the engine was first tried, it was
thought that the blast in the chimney was not sufficiently strong for
the purpose of keeping up the intensity of the fire in the furnace, so
as to produce high-pressure steam with the required velocity. The
expedient was therefore adopted of hammering the copper tubes at
the point at which they entered the chimney, whereby the blast was
considerably sharpened; and on a farther trial it was found that the
draught was increased to such an extent as to enable abundance of
steam to be raised. The rationale of the blast may be simply
explained by referring to the effect of contracting the pipe of a
water-hose, by which the force of the jet of water is proportionately
increased. Widen the nozzle of the pipe and the jet is, in like
manner, diminished. So is it with the steam-blast in the chimney of
the locomotive.
Doubts were, however, expressed whether the greater draught
obtained by the contraction of the blast-pipe were not
counterbalanced in some degree by the pressure upon the piston.
Hence a series of experiments was made with pipes of different
diameters, and their efficiency was tested by the amount of vacuum
that was produced in the smoke-box. The degree of rarefaction was
determined by a glass tube fixed to the bottom of the smoke-box,
and descending into a bucket of water, the tube being open at both
ends. As the rarefaction took place, the water would of course rise in
the tube, and the height to which it rose above the surface of the
water in the bucket was made the measure of the amount of
rarefaction. These experiments proved that a considerable increase
of draught was obtained by the contraction of the orifice;
accordingly, the two blast-pipes opening from the cylinders into
either side of the "Rocket" chimney, and turned up within it, were
contracted slightly below the area of the steam-ports; and before
the engine left the factory, the water rose in the glass tube three
inches above the water in the bucket.
 The other arrangements of the "Rocket" were briefly these: The
boiler was cylindrical with flat ends, six feet in length, and three feet
four inches in diameter. The upper half of the boiler was used as a
reservoir for the steam, the lower half being filled with water.
Through the lower part the copper tubes extended, being open to
the fire-box at one end, and to the chimney at the other. The fire-
box, or furnace, two feet wide and three feet high, was attached
immediately behind the boiler, and was also surrounded with water.
The cylinders of the engine were placed on each side of the boiler, in
an oblique position, one end being nearly level with the top of the
boiler at its after end, and the other pointing toward the centre of
the foremost or driving pair of wheels, with which the connection
was directly made from the piston-rod to a pin on the outside of the
wheel. The engine, together with its load of water, weighed only four
tons and a quarter; and it was supported on four wheels, not
coupled. The tender was four-wheeled, and similar in shape to a
wagon,—the foremost part holding the fuel, and the hind part a
water-cask.
When the "Rocket" was finished, it was placed upon the
Killingworth Railway for the purpose of experiment. The new boiler
arrangement was found perfectly successful. The steam was raised
rapidly and continuously, and in a quantity which then appeared
marvellous. The same evening Robert despatched a letter to his
father at Liverpool, informing him to his great joy, that the "Rocket"
was "all right," and would be in complete working trim by the day of
trial. The engine was shortly after sent by wagon to Carlisle, and
thence shipped for Liverpool.
The time so much longed for by George Stephenson had now
arrived, when the merits of the passenger locomotive were about to
be put to the test. He had fought the battle for it until now, almost
single-handed. Engrossed by his daily labors and anxieties, and
harassed by difficulties and discouragements which would have
crushed the spirit of a less resolute man, he had held firmly to his
purpose through good and through evil report. The hostility which
he had experienced from some of the directors opposed to the
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