LOCOMOTION AND TKANSPORT. 



exceed twenty-four miles a day, while the present transport by 

 railway is effected at the rate of from twelve to fourteen miles 

 an hour. 



20. When we look back upon the state in which every part of 

 the civilised world was placed in relation to this vital element of 

 social and commercial progress, this standard and test, as it may 

 be justly called, of civilisation at an epoch so recent as the first 

 year of the present century, and compare it with the present con- 

 dition not of England only, but of Europe and North America, we 

 cannot fail to be struck with the incalculable amount of benefit to 

 the human race that must result from the extraordinary energy 

 with which the discoveries and resources of science have been 

 applied to the improvement of this instrument of civilisation 

 within the brief interval of twenty-four years, for it is not more 

 since the date of the commencement of railway transport in this 

 country which took the lead in that, as in so many other improve- 

 ments in the arts of life. 



21. In 1830, the first railway for general traffic in passengers 

 and goods between Liverpool and Manchester was opened ; and 

 immediately, of the thirty stage-coaches which had previously 

 run daily between Liverpool and Manchester, one only remained 

 on the road; and that was supported solely by passengers to 

 intermediate places not lying in the direction of the railway. 



The comparatively low fares and extraordinary expedition 

 offered by the railway had the effect which might have been 

 expected. Previously, the number of travellers daily, by the 

 coaches, was about five hundred ; it was immediately augmented 

 above three-fold. Sixteen hundred passengers per day passed 

 between these towns. If the traffic in passengers exceeded all 

 anticipation, the transport of goods, on the contrary, fell short of 

 what was expected. The canal lowered its tariff to the level of 

 the railway charges and increased its speed and its attention to 

 the accommodation of customers. The canal, moreover, winding 

 through Manchester, washed the walls of the warehouses of the 

 merchants and manufacturers. At the other end it communi- 

 cated directly with the Liverpool docks. The goods were there- 

 fore received directly from the ship, and delivered directly to the 

 warehouse, or vice versd ; without the cost, delay, and inconve- 

 nience of intermediate transhipment and cartage. These 

 considerations went far to counterbalance the superior speed 

 of the railway transit for goods ; yet, notwithstanding this 

 inconvenience and obstruction, the company soon found them- 

 selves carriers of merchandise at the rate of a thousand tons 

 per day. 



Thus, the problem of the rapid transport of passengers by steam 

 28 



