The history of the first locomotives in America. From original ...

208 HISTORY OF THE FIRST LOCOMOTIVES IN AMERICA.
and Hudson Eailroad ; ttat the first of these engines,
the "Stourbridge Lion," arrived in the city of New
York by the ship John Jay on the l7th of May, 1829,
and was set up by Mr. Allen in the yard of the West
Point Foundery Works, then in the city, and, with
steam from the shops, publicly exhibited for several
weeks, and visited by thousands attracted by the novel-
ty of the machine.
We have shoWn that the " Stourbridge Lion " was
next shipped up the Hudson River to Eondout, where
it arrived on the 4th of July, 1829, and thence forwarded
by the Delaware and Hudson Canal to Hones-
dale, where it was landed on the 23d of July, was im-
mediately placed upon the company's railroad, and made '
its first trial-trip under steam on Saturday, the 8th day
of August, 1829, in the presence of several thousand
spectators attracted from all parts of the coimtry to
witness the advent of the first locomotive in America.
We have also shown that on that memorable occasion
Mr. Allen stood alone upon the engine, and with
his own hand opened the valve that gave the impulse
to the driving-wheel that made the first revolution upon
a railroad in America.
From the most reliable sources our readers have
been informed that the first locomotive ever built in
America was a " Liliputiali " affair, made for experi-
mental purposes alone. It was nevertheless a locomo-
tive, and was built by Peter Cooper, Esq., of New York,
well and most favorably known as the founder and
patron of the Cooper Institute of that city. This little
machine of Mr. Cooper's (we call it little because it
weighed less than a ton) was expressly built to demonstrate
a principle upon the Baltimore and Ohio
Eailroad vdth regard to the capability of a locomotive
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