﻿534 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  192 
  9 
  

  

  pointed 
  by 
  the 
  New 
  York 
  State 
  Legislature 
  to 
  study 
  and 
  recommend 
  

   a 
  method 
  to 
  improve 
  the 
  existing 
  overland 
  transportation 
  system 
  had 
  

   suggested 
  the 
  building 
  of 
  the 
  Erie 
  Canal, 
  he 
  denounced 
  the 
  plan 
  vigor- 
  

   ously 
  in 
  a 
  printed 
  pamphlet 
  and 
  strongly 
  urged 
  a 
  railroad. 
  He 
  did 
  

   not 
  then 
  make 
  much 
  of 
  an 
  impression, 
  however, 
  especially 
  as 
  the 
  

   canal 
  recommendation 
  had 
  come 
  from 
  three 
  such 
  prominent 
  men 
  as 
  

   De 
  Witt 
  Clinton, 
  Gouverneur 
  Morris, 
  and 
  his 
  own 
  brother-in-law, 
  

   Robert 
  Livingston. 
  In 
  1812 
  he 
  followed 
  his 
  pamphlet 
  with 
  a 
  similar 
  

   proposal 
  to 
  Congress 
  but 
  with 
  no 
  better 
  results. 
  In 
  1815, 
  when 
  New 
  

   Jersey 
  gave 
  him 
  authority 
  to 
  build 
  a 
  railroad 
  to 
  connect 
  New 
  York 
  

   and 
  Philadelphia, 
  he 
  could 
  not 
  get 
  the 
  necessary 
  financial 
  help 
  to 
  con- 
  

   struct 
  it. 
  Refusing 
  to 
  be 
  discouraged, 
  Stevens 
  turned 
  to 
  Pennsyl- 
  

   vania 
  and 
  succeeded 
  in 
  convincing 
  Horace 
  Binney 
  and 
  Stephen 
  

   Girard, 
  two 
  prominent 
  Philadelphians, 
  of 
  the 
  feasibility 
  of 
  railroads. 
  

   In 
  1819 
  the 
  three 
  petitioned 
  the 
  Pennsylvania 
  Legislature 
  for 
  a 
  rail- 
  

   road 
  charter 
  for 
  a 
  road 
  between 
  Philadelphia 
  and 
  Pittsburgh. 
  This 
  

   was 
  granted 
  four 
  years 
  later, 
  but 
  for 
  a 
  State-owned 
  road 
  between 
  

   Philadelphia 
  and 
  Columbia. 
  The 
  three 
  incorporators, 
  however, 
  did 
  

   not 
  possess 
  the 
  $600,000 
  estimated 
  as 
  necessary 
  to 
  build 
  it, 
  nor 
  could 
  

   they 
  entice 
  any 
  money 
  from 
  anyone 
  else. 
  Their 
  continual 
  conver- 
  

   sations 
  and 
  discussions 
  about 
  railroads 
  had 
  another 
  effect, 
  however, 
  

   in 
  that 
  it 
  brought 
  about 
  in 
  1824 
  the 
  organization 
  in 
  Philadelphia 
  of 
  the 
  

   Pennsylvania 
  Society 
  for 
  the 
  Promotion 
  of 
  Internal 
  Improvements 
  in 
  

   the 
  Commonwealth. 
  This 
  society 
  immediately 
  dispatched 
  William 
  

   Strickland,''^ 
  civil 
  engineer, 
  to 
  England 
  to 
  study 
  and 
  report 
  on 
  rail- 
  

   ways 
  and 
  locomotives. 
  The 
  encouraging 
  fact 
  iu 
  this 
  move, 
  especially 
  

   to 
  Stevens, 
  was 
  that 
  Strickland 
  had 
  instructions 
  to 
  find 
  out 
  how 
  rail- 
  

   roads 
  and 
  locomotives 
  were 
  built, 
  not 
  whether 
  they 
  were 
  of 
  any 
  value, 
  

   showing 
  that 
  the 
  idea 
  of 
  railroads 
  had 
  begun 
  to 
  take 
  root. 
  

  

  Stevens 
  next 
  sought 
  to 
  stir 
  up 
  public 
  interest 
  and 
  activity 
  in 
  behalf 
  

   of 
  railroads. 
  The 
  placid 
  acceptance 
  of 
  the 
  pack 
  horse 
  and 
  stage- 
  

   coach 
  grated 
  on 
  him, 
  and 
  his 
  exasperation 
  Imew 
  no 
  bounds 
  when 
  he 
  

   read 
  in 
  newspapers 
  such 
  statements 
  as 
  this: 
  " 
  I 
  see 
  what 
  will 
  be 
  the 
  

   effect 
  of 
  it; 
  that 
  it 
  will 
  set 
  the 
  whole 
  world 
  a-gadding. 
  Twenty 
  mUes 
  

   an 
  hour, 
  sir! 
  Why, 
  you 
  will 
  not 
  be 
  able 
  to 
  keep 
  an 
  apprentice 
  boy 
  

   at 
  his 
  work! 
  Every 
  Saturday 
  evening 
  he 
  must 
  have 
  a 
  trip 
  to 
  Ohio 
  to 
  

   spend 
  a 
  Sunday 
  with 
  his 
  sweetheart. 
  It 
  will 
  encourage 
  flightiuess 
  

   of 
  intellect. 
  All 
  conceptions 
  will 
  be 
  exaggerated 
  by 
  the 
  magnificent 
  

   notions 
  of 
  distance. 
  Only 
  a 
  hundred 
  miles 
  off! 
  Tut, 
  nonsense, 
  I'll 
  

   step 
  across, 
  madam, 
  and 
  bring 
  you 
  your 
  fan." 
  As 
  a 
  step 
  in 
  practical 
  

   advertising, 
  Stevens 
  in 
  1825, 
  when 
  he 
  was 
  76 
  years 
  old, 
  designed 
  a 
  

   steam 
  locomotive 
  and 
  operated 
  it 
  on 
  a 
  circular 
  track 
  on 
  his 
  estate 
  at 
  

   Hoboken. 
  Of 
  course 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  people 
  who 
  actually 
  saw 
  this 
  

   first 
  locomotive 
  was 
  limited, 
  but 
  these 
  were 
  enthusiastic, 
  and 
  their 
  

   account 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  newspaper 
  stories 
  of 
  the 
  demonstrations 
  had 
  a 
  

  

  