THE LOCOMOTIVE 245 



a man to combine the advantage of country life for himself 

 and family with the advantages of a central location for his 

 business office. 



Locomotives and growth of the United States. The 

 locomotive has had a tremendous influence on the develop- 

 ment of the United States. As we think of the vast reaches 

 of plains and the great chains of mountains extending across 

 our country, we can readily appreciate how slow must have 

 been the growth of the country without the aid of the loco- 

 motive. Many parts of the country which now support a 

 prosperous population would not even be open to settlement 

 had it not been for the locomotive. 



Locomotive and travel. The locomotive has made travel 

 easy and cheap, so that while a century ago few people 

 traveled beyond the confines of their own town, to-day it is 

 common for people to travel over all parts of the United 

 States. The knowledge gained of how other people live 

 has a broadening influence and tends to produce a feeling 

 of toleration for others, and travel thus results in more 

 harmonious cooperation between different sections of the 

 country. 



History of steam engine and locomotive. The steam 

 engine and locomotive play so important a part in our lives 

 to-day that it is difficult to see how we could get along with- 

 out them; and yet the railroads in this country have all 

 been developed within the last hundred years. It will be 

 interesting to look at the history of the steam engine and 

 locomotive and see the changes through which they passed 

 while developing their present form. 



The first steam engine was made in 120 B.C. by Hero of 

 Alexandria in Egypt. This was so arranged that steam in 

 escaping from small tubes on a flask caused it to rotate in 

 much the same way that a lawn sprinkler revolves when 

 water is forced from it. The device was only a toy, and no 

 useful application was made of it. 



