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

314 LIFE OF GEOKGE STEPHENSON. [chap. xxvi.
away. But it had its dark side also. Any one who remembers
the journey by stage from Manchester to London will associate
it with recollections and sensations of not unmijted delight. To
be perched for twenty hours, exposed to all weathers, on the
outside of a coach, trying in vain to find a soft seat—sitting now
with the face to the wind, rain, or sun, and now with the back
— ;
without any shelter such as the commonest penny-a-mile parliamentary
train now daily provides—was a miserable undertaking,
looked forward to with horror by many whose business called
upon them to travel frequently between the provinces and the
metropolis. I^Tor were, the inside passengers more agreeably
accommodated. To be closely packed up in a little inconve-
nient, straight-backed vehicle, where the cramped limbs could
not be in the least extended, nor the wearied frame indulge in
any change of posture, was felt by many to be a terrible thing.
Then there were the constantly-recurring demands, not always
couched in the politest terms, for an allowance to the driver
every two or three stages, and to the guard every six or eight
and if the gratuity did not equal their expectations, growling
and open abuse were not unusual. These desagremens, together
with the exactions practised on travellers by inn keepers, seri-
ously detracted from the romance of stage-coach travelling ; and
there was a general disposition on the part of the public to
change the system for a better.
The avidity with which the public at once availed them-
selves of the railways proved that this better system had be'en
discovered. Notwithstanding the reduction of the coach fares
between London and Birmingham to one third of their previous
rate, the public preferred travelling by the railway. They saved
in time ; and they saved in money, taking the whole expense
into account. In point of comfort there could be no doubt as to
the infinite superiority of the railway carriage. But there re-
mained the question of safety, which had been a great bugbear
with the early opponents of railways,' and was made the most
of by the coach proprietors to deter the public from using them.
It was predicted that trains of passengers would be blown to
pieces, and that none but fools would entrust their persons to
the conduct of an explosive machine such as the locomotive. It