The life of George Stephenson, railway engineer - Lighthouse ...

108 LIFE OF GEOEGE STEPHENSON. [chap. x.
out of sight of the lamp, which gi-adually disappeared with its
bearer, in the recesses of the mine. It was a critical moment
and the danger was such as would have tried the stoutest heart.
Stephenson, advancing alone, with his yet untried lamp, in the
depths of those underground workings,—calmly venturing his
own life in the determination to discover a mode by which the
lives of many might be saved and death disarmed in these fatal
caverns,— presented an example of intrepid nerve and manly
courage, more noble even than that which, in the excitement of
battle and the collective impetuosity of a charge, carries a man
up to the cannon's mouth.
Advancing to the place of danger, and entering within the
fouled air, his lighted lamp in hand, Stephenson held it firmly
out, in the full current of the blower, and within a few inches of
its mouth ! Thus exposed, the flame of the lamp at first in-
creased, and then flickered and went out ; but there was no explosion
of the gas. Stephenson returned to his companions, who
were still at a distance, and told them what had occurred. Hav-
ing now acquired somewhat more confidence, they advanced with
him to a point from which they could observe him repeat his ex-
periment,—but still at a safe distance. They saw that when the
lighted lamp was held within the explosive mixture, there was a
great flame ; the lamp was almost full of fire ; and then it
smothered out. Again returning to his companions, he relighted
the lamp, and repeated the experiment. This he did several
times, with the same result. At length "Wood and Moodie ven-
tured to advance close to the fouled part of the pit ; and, in mak-
ing some of the later trials, Mr. "Wood himself held up the lighted
lamp to the blower. Such was the result of the first experiments
with the ^rst practical Miner's Safety Lamp ; and such the dar-
ing resolution of its inventor in testing its valuable qualities.
Before leaving the pit, Stephenson expressed his opinion that,
by an alteration of the lamp, which he then contemplated, he
could make it burn better. This was by a change in the slide
through which the air was admitted into the lower part of the
lamp, under the flame. After making some experiments on the
air collected at the blower, by means of bladders which were
mounted with tubes of various diameters, he satisfied himself
;