ABILITY OF DRIVERS. 225 



or for him ; and even after all this work, he has to 

 pass a severe examination before he is allowed to 

 take charge of an engine. 



Then he goes through similar tests and trials as 

 driver of goods trains before the lives of passengers 

 are entrusted to him, sometimes being sent back as 

 fireman, and having to go through all the trials 

 again, until he works his way to the top of the tree, 

 and is allowed to drive an express. 



I wish that something of the kind could be done 

 with the drivers of the locomotive engine which 

 we call a horse. If authorised boards of examiners 

 could be formed, and horse-owners would agree to 

 employ no man or boy who could not produce a 

 certificate showing that he was competent to do the 

 work for which he engaged himself, we should find 

 the lives of our horses nearly, if not quite, doubled in 

 length, the amount of work trebled, and the cost 

 halved. As the reader will see, I am only appealing 

 to the personal interests of the owners, and am con- 

 sidering the horse as a mere machine, without more 

 feelings than if it were made of steel and brass. 



' Upon the railway,' says Mr. Eeynolds, ' nothing 

 should be regarded lightly,' and so it ought to be 

 with regard to the horse. 



One of the first faults of the bearing-rein, con- 

 sidered as a part of the machinery, is, that it prevents 



Q 



