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

28 LIFE OF GEOEGE STEPHENSON. [chap. ii.
Eobert Hawthorn, now the Duke's engineer at Walbottle ; and
old Stephenson went to work it as fireman, his son George act-
ing as the engineman or plugman. At this time he was about
seventeen years old,—a very youthful age for occupying so re-
sponsible a post. He had thus already got ahead of his father
in his station as a workman ; for the plugman holds a higher
grade than the fireman, requiring more practical knowledge and
skill, and usually receiving higher wages.
The duty of the plugman was to watch the engine and to see
that it kept well in work, and that the pumps were efficient in
drawing the water. When the water-level in the pit was
lowered, and the suction became incomplete through the ex-
posure of the suction holes, then his business was to proceed to
the bottom of the shaft, and plug the tube so that the pump
should draw ; hence the designation of Plugman. If a stop-
page in the engine took place through any defect in it which he
was incapable of remedying, then it was his duty to call in the
aid of the chief engineer of the colliery to set the engine to
rights.
But from the time when George Stephenson was appointed
fireman, and more particularly afterwards as engineman, he ap-
plied himself so assiduously and so successfully to the study of
the engine and its gearing,—taking the machine to pieces in his
leisure hours for the purpose of cleaning and mastering its va-
rious parts,—that he very soon acquired a thorough practical
knowledge of its construction and mode of working, and thus
he very rarely needed to call to his aid the engineer of tlje col-
liery. His engine became a sort of pet with him, and he was
never wearied of watching and inspecting it with devoted admi-
ration.
There is indeed a peculiar fascination about an engine, to the
intelligent workman who watches and feeds it. It is almost
sublime in its untiring industry and quiet power; capable of
performing the most gigantic work, yet so docile that a child's
hand may guide it. No wonder, therefore, that the workman,
who is the daily companion of this lifelike machine, and is con-
stantly watching it with anxious care, at length comes to regard
it with a degree of personal interest and regard, speaking of it