CHAP. IV. BRAKESMAN AT WEST MOOR. 47 



Stephenson had become a thriving man, he did not 

 forget the humble pair who had thus succoured and 

 entertained him on his way; he sought their cottage 

 again, when age had silvered their hair ; and when he 

 left the aged couple, on that occasion, they may have 

 been reminded of the old saying that we may sometimes 

 " entertain angels unawares." 



Reaching home, Stephenson found that his father 

 had met with a serious accident at the Blucher Pit, 

 which had reduced him to great distress and poverty. 

 While engaged in the inside of an engine, making some 

 repairs, a fellow-workman accidentally let in the steam 

 upon him. The blast struck him full in the face ; he 

 was terribly scorched, and his eyesight was irretrievably 

 lost. The helpless and infirm man had struggled for a 

 time with poverty ; his sons who were at home, poor 

 as himself, were little able to help him, while George 

 was at a distance in Scotland. On his return, however, 

 with his savings in his pocket, his first step was to pay 

 off his father's debts, amounting to about 15/. ; and 

 shortly after he removed the aged pair from Jolly's Close 

 to a comfortable cottage adjoining the tramroad near 

 the West Moor at Killingworth, where the old man 

 lived for many years, supported entirely by his son. 



Stephenson was again taken on as a brakesman at 

 the West Moor Pit. He does not seem to have been 

 very hopeful as to his prospects in life about the 

 time (1807-8). Indeed the condition of the working 

 class generally was then very discouraging. England 

 was engaged in a great war, which pressed upon 

 the industry, and severely tried the resources, of the 

 country. Heavy taxes were imposed upon all the 

 articles of consumption that would bear them. There 

 was a constant demand for men to fill the army, navy, 

 and militia. Never before had England witnessed such 

 drumming and fifing for recruits. In 1805, the gross 

 forces of the United Kingdom amounted to nearly 



