CHAP. XI. EVIDENCE AGAINST THE LOCOMOTIVE. 213 



country. I do protest," he concluded, " against a measure 

 like this, supported as it is by such evidence, and founded 

 upon such calculations." 



The case of the other numerous petitioners against 

 the bill still remained to be gone into. Witnesses were 

 called to prove the residential injury which would be 

 caused by the " intolerable nuisance " of the smoke and 

 fire from the locomotives ; and others to prove that the 

 price of coals and iron would "infallibly" be greatly 

 raised throughout the country. This was part of the 

 case of the Duke of Bridge water's trustees, whose wit- 

 nesses " proved " many very extraordinary things. The 

 Leeds and Liverpool Canal Company were so fortunate 

 as to pick up a witness from Hetton, who was ready 

 to furnish some damaging evidence as to the use of 

 Stephenson's locomotives on that railway. This was 

 Thomas Wood, one of the Hetton company's clerks, 

 whose testimony was to the effect that the locomotives, 

 having been found ineffective, were about to be dis- 

 continued in favour of fixed engines. The evidence of 

 this witness, incompetent though he was to give an 

 opinion on the subject, and exaggerated as his statements 

 were afterwards proved to be, was made the most of by 

 Mr. Harrison, when summing up the case of the canal 

 companies. " At length," he said, " we have come to 

 tliis, having first set out at twelve miles an hour, the 

 speed of these locomotives is reduced to six, and now 

 comes down to two or two and a half. They must be 

 content to be pulled along by horses and donkeys ; and 

 all those fine promises of galloping along at the rate of 

 twelve miles an hour are melted down to a total failure 

 the foundation on which their case stood is cut from 

 under them completely ; /or the Act of Parliament, the 

 Committee will recollect, prohibits any person using 

 any animal power, of any sort, kind, or description, 

 except the projectors of the railway themselves ; there- 

 fore, I say, that the whole foundation on which this 



