[141] A work to which I beg to acknowledge my indebtedness for the main
facts of this notice.
[142] On her wedding finger-ring (the internal diameter of which was
7/8ths of an inch!) her husband had rudely engraved the pretty old
English posy:
'God above
Increase our love.'
[143] A very remarkable man. Being anxious to ascertain how castings
were made, in order to substitute cast-iron pumps for the bored wooden
tubes formerly in use in the Cornish mines, he went 'up the country'
for the purpose; but was refused admittance into any of the foundries,
until he hit upon the expedient of dressing himself in rags and
feigning to be half-witted, whereupon he gained employment as a sort of
messenger to the workmen, and thus got an opportunity of acquiring the
much-desired information.
[144] Still largely in use, in almost precisely the form in which he
designed it in 1797.
[145] Cf. Gregory's 'Mechanics;' Ree's 'Cyclopædia;' and Stuart's
'History of the Steam Engine;' Luke Hebert on 'Railways;' Lean's
'Historical Account of the Steam Engine in Cornwall;' Davies Gilbert's
'Observations on the Steam Engine,' in _Philosophical Transactions_,
25 Jan., 1827; 'Memoirs of Distinguished Men of Science in 1807-8,' by
Wm. Walker, junr.; R. Edmonds, junr.'s 'Contributions to the Biography
of R. Trevithick;' the _Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal_ for Oct.,
1859; and _All the Year Round_, 4th Aug., 1860:--for much valuable
technical, and other, information on the subject of Trevithick's
inventions.
[146] Cf. _Engineering_, 27th March, 1868--'Trevithick was the real
inventor of the locomotive;' also Zerah Colburn's 'History of the
Locomotive,' p. 13 (ed. 1871); and O. D. Hedley's 'Who invented the
Locomotive?' (ed. 1858). The second model had a horizontal instead of a
vertical cylinder. His locomotive of 1804, built at Newcastle-on-Tyne,
was specially fitted with flanged wheels for running on a railway.
[147] Sir Humphry Davy spoke of these machines more euphemistically as
Trevithick's 'dragons.'
[148] Trevithick was born April 13th, 1771, and died April 22nd, 1833.
George Stephenson was born June 9th, 1781, and died Aug. 12th, 1848.
[149] Viz., not until 1814--twelve years after Trevithick's locomotive.
[150] Brunel, who afterwards constructed the Thames Tunnel, at Wapping,
is said to have formed the highest opinion of Trevithick's inventive
skill in this operation. (It had been previously attempted by Dodd.)
Trevithick very nearly lost his life when the water flooded the
driftway, owing to his insisting upon seeing all his men safely out
before him.
[151] Trevithick's claim to the invention of the screw-propeller was
disputed.
[152] Earlier attempts were made in 1788 and 1803. The first
remunerative steamboat for passengers seems to have been the _Comet_,
which ran, in 1812, between Glasgow and Helensburgh, on the Clyde.
[153] 'The next step was to call in the aid of Steam to Agriculture.
Steam is almost an Englishman.'--_Emerson._
[154] Trevithick, before leaving England for South America in 1816
being pressed for money, sold a half share of his patent in the
high-pressure steam expansive pole-engine to Messrs. Williams, of
Scorrier, for £200. He remained abroad for ten years.
[155] Some of the remains of the machinery were seen lying about on the
mountain-sides in 1850.
_VIVIAN_,