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

TREVITHICK'S ENGINE. 41
the Middleton collieries to the town of Leeds, atout
tiree and a quarter miles, on the 12tliof August, 1812.
For a ntimber of years it was a permanent object of
curiosity, and was visited by crowds of strangers from
all parts. These engines (for several were afterward
constructed) drew after them thirty coal-cars, loaded,
at a speed of three and a quarter miles per hour,
and were in use for many years, and may justly be con-
sidered as the first instance of the employment of loco-
motive power for commercial purposes.
Another curious experiment was tried in 1812, to
overcome the want of friction upon the road and increase
the power of the engine. A Mr. Chapman, of New-
castle, took out a patent for this invention. The plan
was a chain stretched from one end of the road to the
other. The chain was passed once round a grooved
barrel-wheel under the centre of the engine, so that,
when the wheels turned, the locomotive would, as it
were, drag itself along the railway. The experiment
was tried with an engine constructed for the purpose on
the Heaton Eailwa}', near Newcastle, but it was so
clumsy in its action that it was soon abandoned.
But the most remarkable, extravagant, and amusing
experiment of all, and one which must bring to the
countenance of our readers at the present day a smile,
was the one adopted by a Mr. Brunton, of the Butterby
Works, Derbyshire, in 1813, who took out a patent for
a machine which was to go upon legs like a horse. This
contrivance had two legs attached to the back part, •
which, being alternately moved by the engine, pushed
it before them. These legs, or propellers, imitated the
legs of a man or the fore-legs of a horse, with joints,
and when worked by the machine alternately lifted
and pressed against the ground or road, propelling
Digitized by Microsoft®