278 THE PUBLIC OPENING. CHAP. XIV. 



ing altogether from two to three hundred persons. 

 These trips were usually made on Saturday afternoons, 

 when the works could be more conveniently stopped 

 and the line cleared for the occasion. In these experi- 

 ments Mr. Stephenson had the able assistance of Mr. 

 Henry Booth, the secretary of the Company, who con- 

 trived many of the arrangements in the passenger 

 carriages, not the least valuable of which was his inven- 

 tion of the coupling screw, still in use on all passenger 

 railways. 



At length the line was finished, and ready for the 



public ceremony of the opening, which took place on 



the 15th of September, 1830, and attracted a vast 



number of spectators from all parts of the country. 



The completion of the railway was justly regarded as 



an important national event, and the ceremony of the 



opening was celebrated accordingly. The Duke of 



Wellington, then Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, 



Secretary of State, Mr. Huskisson, one of the members 



br Liverpool and an earnest supporter of the project 



Tom its commencement, were amongst the number of 



distinguished public personages present. 



Eight locomotive engines, constructed at the Stephen- 

 fcon works, had been delivered and placed upon the line, 

 the whole of which had been tried and tested, weeks 

 before, with perfect success. The several trains of 

 carriages accommodated in all about six hundred per- 

 sons. The " Northumbrian " engine, driven by George 

 Stephenson himself, headed the line of trains ; then 

 followed the " Phoenix," driven by Eobert Stephenson ; 

 the " North Star," by Eobert Stephenson, senior (brother 

 of Gleorge) ; the " Rocket," by Joseph Locke ; the 

 " Dart," by Thomas L. Gooch ; the " Comet " by William 

 Allcard ; the " Arrow," by Frederick Swan wick ; and 

 the " Meteor," by Anthony Harding. The procession 

 was cheered in its progress by thousands of spectators- 

 through the deep ravine of Olive Mount ; up the Sutton 



