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

CHAP, xxm.] THE SUCCESS OF THE "ROCKET." 271
formed all the stipulated conditions ; and it was declared to be
fully entitled to the prize of 500?., which was awarded to its
makers accordingly. And further to show that the engine had
been working quite within its powers, Mr. Stephenson ordered
it to be brought upon the ground and detached from all in-
cumbrances, when, in making two trips, it was found to travel at
the astonishing rate of thirty-five miles an hour.
The " Rocket " had thus eclipsed the performances of all loco-
motive engines that had yet been constructed, and outstripped
even the sanguine anticipations of its constructors. .Above all,
it effectually answered the report of Messrs. Walker and Ras-
trick, and established the superiority of the locomotive for the
working of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and indeed
all future railways. The success of the experiment, as judged
by the public, may be inferred from the fact that the shares of
the Company immediately rose ten per cent., and nothing further
was heard of the proposed twenty-one fixed engines, engine-
houses, ropes, &c. All this cumbersome apparatus had been
effectually disposed of by the success of the " Rocket " at Rain-
hill.
Very different now was the tone of those directors who had
distinguished themselves by the persistency of their opposition
to Mr. Stephenson's plans. Coolness gave way to eulogy, and
hostility to unbounded offers of friendship. Deeply though he
had felt aggrieved by the conduct pursued towards him during
this eventful struggle, by some from whom forbearance was to
have been expected, Mr. Stephenson never entertained towards
them in after life any angry feehngs ; on the contrary, he for-
gave all. But though the directors afterwards passed unanimous
resolutions eulogizing " the great skill and unwearied energy
of their engineer, he himself, when speaking confidentially to
those with whom he was most intimate, could not help distinguish-
ing between his " foul-weather and fair-weather friends."
The immense consequences involved in the success of the
" Rocket," and the important influence the above contest, in
which it came off the victor, exercised upon the future development
of the railway system, might have led one to suppose that
the directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway would
"