CHAP. VI.

HIS THIRD LAMP.

87

he observed that if the boy had been provided with his lamp, his life would have been saved. Accordingly, on the 20th of November, he went over to Newcastle to order his third lamp from Mr. Watson, a plumber in that town. Mr. Watson referred him to his clerk, Henry Smith; whom Stephenson invited to join him at a neighbouring publichouse, where they might quietly talk over the matter together, and the plan of the new lamp could be finally settled. They adjourned to the "Newcastle Arms," near the present High Level Bridge, where they had some ale, and a design of the lamp was drawn in pencil upon a halfsheet of foolscap, with a rough specification subjoined. The sketch now before us still bears the marks of the ale;

it is a very rude design, but quite sufficient to work from. It was immediately placed in the hands of the workmen, finished in the course of a few days, and experimentally

88

STEPHENSON'S CLAIMS TO THE FIRST CHAP. VI.

tested in the Killingworth pit like the previous lamps, on the 30th of November, by which time neither Stephenson nor Wood had heard of Sir Humphry Davy's experiments, nor of the lamp which that gentleman proposed to construct.

A long and heated controversy afterwards took place as to the respective merits of George Stephenson and Sir Humphry Davy, as the inventor of the safety-lamp. A committee was formed on both sides, and the facts were stated in various ways. It is perfectly clear, however, that Mr. Stephenson had ascertained the fact that flame will not pass through tubes of a certain diameter--the principle on which the safety-lamp is constructed-before Sir Humphry Davy had formed any definite idea on the subject, or invented the model lamp afterwards exhibited by him before the Royal Society. Mr. Stephenson had actually constructed a lamp on such a principle, and proved its safety at the risk of his life, before Sir Humphry had communicated his views to any individual on the subject; and by the time that the first public intimation had been given of his discovery, Stephenson's second lamp had been constructed and tested in like manner in the Killingworth pit. The first was tried on the 21st of October, 1815, the second was tried on the 4th of November; but it was not until the 9th of November that Sir Humphry Davy presented his first lamp to the public. And by the 30th of the same month, as we have seen, Stephenson had constructed and tested his third safety-lamp, improved after careful observation and experiment in an actual coal-pit. His theory of the “burnt air was no doubt wrong; but his lamp was right; and that was the great fact which mainly concerned him. He had, without being aware of it, followed Bacon's rule, as laid down long before by Da Vinci-"Begin with observations, go on with experiments, and, supported by both, try to find a law and causes.' There seems to be no room for doubt that George Stephenson was the first to discover the fact that flame will not pass through tubes of a certain diameter; but to Sir Humphry

CHAP. VI.

INVENTION OF THE SAFETY-LAMP.

89

Davy belongs the merit of pointing out the true law on which the safety-lamp is constructed.

The subject of this important invention excited so much interest in the northern mining districts, and Mr. Stephenson's numerous friends considered his lamp so completely successful, having stood the test of repeated experiments, -that they urged him to bring his invention before the Philosophical and Literary Society of Newcastle, of some of whose apparatus he had availed himself in the course of his experiments on fire-damp. After much persuasion, he consented to do so; and a meeting was appointed for the purpose of receiving his explanations, on the evening of the 5th of December, 1815. Mr. Stephenson was at that time so diffident in manner and unpractised in speech, that he took with him his friend Mr. Nicholas Wood, to act as his interpreter and expositor on the occasion. From eighty to a hundred of the most intelligent members of the Society were present at the meeting, when Mr. Wood stood forward to expound the principles on which the lamp had been formed, and to describe the details of its construction. Several questions were put, to which Mr. Wood proceeded to give replies to the best of his knowledge. But Stephenson, who up to that time had stood behind Wood, screened from notice, observing that the explanations given were not quite correct, could no longer control his reserve; and standing forward, he proceeded in his strong Northumberland dialect, to describe the lamp, down to its minutest details. He then produced several bladders full of carburetted hydrogen, which he had collected from the blowers in the Killingworth mine, and proved the safety of his lamp by numerous experiments with the gas, repeated in various ways; his earnest and impressive manner exciting in the minds of his auditors the liveliest interest both in the inventor and his invention.

Shortly after, Sir H. Davy's model lamp was received. and exhibited to the coal-miners at Newcastle, on whicn occasion the observation was made by several gentlemen, Why, it is the same as Stephenson's !"

90

STEPHENSON'S CLAIMS TO THE FIRST

CHAP. VI.

Notwithstanding Mr. Stephenson's claim to be regarded as the first inventor of the Tube Safety Lamp, his merits do not seem to have been recognised at the time beyond the limits of his own district. Sir Humphry Davy carried off all the éclat which attached to the discovery. What chance had the unknown workman of Killingworth with so distinguished a competitor? The one was as yet but a colliery engine-wright, scarce raised above the manual-labour class, without chemical knowledge or literary culture, pursuing his experiments in obscurity, with a view only to usefulness; the other was the scientific prodigy of his day, the pet of the Royal Society, the favourite of princes, the most brilliant of lecturers, and the most popular of philosophers.

No small indignation was expressed by the friends of Sir Humphry Davy at this "presumption" on Stephenson's part. The scientific class united to ignore him entirely in the matter. In 1831, Dr. Paris, in his Life of Sir Humphry Davy,' thus spoke of Stephenson, in connexion. with his claims as an inventor of the safety-lamp :-" It will hereafter be scarcely believed that an invention so eminently scientific, and which could never have been derived but from the sterling treasury of science, should have been claimed on behalf of an engine-wright of Killingworth, of the name of Stephenson-a person not even possessing a knowledge of the elements of chemistry."

But Mr. Stephenson was really far above claiming for himself an invention which did not belong to him. He had already accomplished a far greater thing than even the making of a safety-lamp-he had constructed the first successful locomotive, which was to be seen daily at work upon the Killingworth railway. By the important improvements he had made in the engine, he might almost be said to have invented it; but no one-not even the philosophers-detected as yet the significance of that wonderful machine. It excited no scientific interest, called forth no leading articles in the newspapers or the reviews, and

CHAP. VI.

INVENTION OF THE SAFETY-LAMP.

91

formed the subject of no eloquent lectures at the Koyal Society; for railways were, as yet, comparatively unknown, and the might which slumbered in the locomotive was scarcely, as yet, even dreamt of. What railways were to become, rested in a great measure with that enginewright of Killingworth, of the name of Stephenson," though he was scarcely known as yet beyond the limits of his own district.

66

As to the value of the invention of the safety-lamp, there could be no doubt; and the colliery owners of Durham and Northumberland, to testify their sense of its importance, determined to present a testimonial to its inventor. A meeting of coal-owners was called to consider the subject; but, previous to its taking place, Mr. Robert William Brandling, of Gosforth, a warm friend of Stephenson, although he could not attend the meeting, anxious that justice should be done in the matter, addressed a letter to the committee, dated the 22nd August, 1816, in which he expressed the wish that a strict examination should take place previous to the adoption of any measure which might carry a decided opinion to the public, as to the person to whom the invaluable discovery of the safety-lamp was actually due. "The conviction," said he, "upon my mind is, that Mr. George Stephenson, of Killingworth colliery, is the person who first discovered and applied the principle upon which safetylamps may be constructed: for, whether the hydrogen gas is admitted through capillary tubes, or through the apertures of wire gauze, which may be considered as merely the orifices of capillary tubes, does not, as I conceive, in the least affect the principle."

On the 31st of August following, a meeting of the coalowners was held at Newcastle, for the purpose of presenting Sir Humphry Davy with a reward for "the invention of his Safety-Lamp." To this no objection could be taken; for though the principle on which the first safety-lamps of Stephenson and Davy were constructed was the same; and although Stephenson's lamp was, unquestionably, the first successful lamp that was constructed on such principle, and