﻿MECHANICAL 
  TRANSPORT 
  MITMAN 
  533 
  

  

  Philadelphia 
  to 
  Columbia, 
  on 
  the 
  Susquehanna 
  River, 
  required 
  

   five 
  of 
  the 
  customary 
  Conestoga 
  wagons 
  with 
  five 
  horses 
  each 
  and 
  

   73 
  hours' 
  time. 
  Evans 
  proposed 
  at 
  one 
  time 
  to 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  freighting 
  

   companies 
  to 
  do 
  the 
  same 
  thing 
  with 
  one 
  traction 
  engine 
  in 
  48 
  hours. 
  

   But 
  no 
  one 
  in 
  that 
  company 
  or 
  any 
  other 
  paid 
  the 
  slightest 
  attention 
  

   to 
  him. 
  In 
  his 
  disappointment 
  he 
  wrote 
  in 
  1812 
  an 
  Address 
  to 
  the 
  

   People 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  in 
  which 
  appeared 
  the 
  following: 
  "The 
  

   time 
  will 
  come 
  when 
  people 
  will 
  travel 
  in 
  stages 
  moved 
  by 
  steam 
  

   engines 
  from 
  one 
  city 
  to 
  another 
  almost 
  as 
  fast 
  as 
  birds 
  fly, 
  15 
  to 
  20 
  

   miles 
  an 
  hour. 
  Passing 
  through 
  the 
  air 
  with 
  such 
  velocity 
  changing 
  

   the 
  scenes 
  in 
  such 
  rapid 
  succession 
  will 
  be 
  the 
  most 
  exhilarating, 
  de- 
  

   lightful 
  exercise. 
  A 
  carriage 
  will 
  set 
  out 
  from 
  Washington 
  in 
  the 
  

   morning 
  and 
  the 
  passengers 
  will 
  breakfast 
  at 
  Baltimore, 
  dine 
  at 
  

   Philadelphia, 
  and 
  sup 
  at 
  New 
  York 
  the 
  same 
  day. 
  

  

  "To 
  accomplish 
  this, 
  two 
  sets 
  of 
  railways 
  will 
  be 
  laid 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  

   made 
  of 
  wood 
  or 
  iron, 
  on 
  smooth 
  paths 
  of 
  broken 
  stone 
  or 
  gravel 
  with 
  

   a 
  rail 
  to 
  guide 
  the 
  carriages 
  so 
  that 
  they 
  may 
  pass 
  each 
  other 
  in 
  dif- 
  

   ferent 
  directions 
  and 
  travel 
  by 
  night 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  by 
  day; 
  and 
  the 
  pas- 
  

   sengers 
  will 
  sleep 
  in 
  these 
  stages 
  as 
  comfortably 
  as 
  they 
  do 
  now 
  in 
  

   steam 
  stage 
  boats. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  ^j^j 
  [^ 
  ^j 
  come 
  to 
  pass 
  that 
  the 
  mem- 
  

   ory 
  of 
  those 
  sordid 
  and 
  wicked 
  wretches 
  who 
  oppose 
  such 
  improve- 
  

   ments 
  will 
  be 
  execrated 
  by 
  every 
  good 
  man, 
  as 
  they 
  ought 
  to 
  be 
  now." 
  

  

  Whether 
  Evans 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  successful 
  with 
  his 
  road 
  engine 
  no 
  

   one 
  can 
  say, 
  but 
  one 
  can 
  not 
  help 
  but 
  admire 
  his 
  determination, 
  as 
  

   well 
  as 
  the 
  courage 
  with 
  v/hich 
  he 
  expressed 
  his 
  convictions. 
  

  

  Stevens 
  outlived 
  Evans 
  almost 
  20 
  years, 
  but 
  Evans's 
  death 
  brought 
  

   to 
  a 
  close 
  the 
  first 
  period 
  of 
  American 
  invention 
  in 
  steam. 
  Fitcli, 
  the 
  

   surveyor, 
  Rumsey, 
  the 
  millwright, 
  and 
  Stevens, 
  the 
  lawyer-engineer, 
  

   deliberately 
  chose 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  difficult 
  problems 
  in 
  steam-power 
  

   application. 
  They 
  knew, 
  however, 
  that 
  better 
  transportation 
  was 
  

   the 
  greatest 
  need 
  of 
  the 
  colonies 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  and 
  devoted 
  their 
  lives 
  

   in 
  an 
  efi^ort 
  to 
  bring 
  that 
  about. 
  For 
  their 
  efforts 
  and 
  sacrifices 
  the 
  

   nation 
  ov/es 
  them 
  much 
  honor. 
  Evans 
  chose 
  to 
  experiment 
  with 
  

   locomotion 
  on 
  land, 
  but, 
  failing 
  in 
  this, 
  founded 
  America's 
  stationary 
  

   steam 
  engine 
  industry 
  and 
  pointed 
  the 
  way 
  for 
  the 
  industrial 
  use 
  of 
  

   steam 
  power. 
  He 
  did 
  much 
  to 
  allay 
  the 
  fears 
  of 
  high-pressure 
  steam 
  

   and 
  gave 
  to 
  the 
  milling 
  industry, 
  in 
  principle, 
  the 
  system 
  of 
  mechan- 
  

   ically 
  handling 
  grain 
  and 
  fiour. 
  "Wherever 
  the 
  steam 
  mill 
  resounds 
  

   with 
  the 
  hum 
  of 
  industry, 
  whether 
  grinding 
  flour 
  on 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  the 
  

   Schuylkill, 
  or 
  cutting 
  logs 
  in 
  Oregon, 
  there 
  you 
  find 
  a 
  monument 
  to 
  

   the 
  memory 
  of 
  Oliver 
  Evans." 
  

  

  JOHN 
  STEVENS 
  

  

  John 
  Stevens 
  eventually 
  had 
  better 
  luc^ 
  in 
  his 
  fight 
  for 
  railroads 
  

   than 
  did 
  Evans. 
  When 
  he 
  heard 
  in 
  1811 
  that 
  the 
  commission 
  ap- 
  

  

  