forward by the opponents of the bill; but so poor a case was made, and so little objectionable did the engine appear to be, even from the testimony of the opponents, that the Lords did not think it necessary to have any evidence on the other side, although it was tendered by the counsel for the bill."* The cost of obtaining the Act amounted to the enormous sum of 27,000l.

At the first meeting of the directors of the Company at Liverpool, the selection of a principal engineer was taken into consideration. The magnitude of the proposed works, and the vast consequences involved in the experiment, were deeply impressed upon their minds; and they resolved to secure the services of a resident engineer of proved experience and ability. Their attention was naturally directed to Mr. Stephenson as the best man to carry out the undertaking; at the same time they desired to have the benefit of the Messrs. Rennie's professional assistance in superintending the works. Mr. George Rennie had an interview with the directors on the subject, and proposed to undertake the chief superintendence, making six visits in each year, and stipulating that he should have the appointment of the resident engineer. But the responsibility attaching to the direction, in the matter of the efficient carrying on of the works, would not admit of their being influenced by ordinary punctilios on the occasion; and they accordingly declined Mr. Rennie's proposal, and proceeded to appoint Mr. George Stephenson their principal engineer at a salary of 1000l. per annum.

The appointment of Mr. Stephenson was alleged as a grievance by the Messrs. Rennie; but we cannot see that the directors could have acted differently on the occasion. His practical experience and ability were undoubted; his fertility in expedients had been tried and proved in the course of a

* An Account of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. By Henry Booth, Treasurer to the Company. Liverpool: 1830.

CHAP. XX.] MR. STEPHENSON APPOINTED ENGINEER.

249

long life, twenty years of which had now been directed to railway working and construction; he had nearly completed the works of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which were the admiration of all who had seen them. There was, indeed, no other man in England to compare with him in point of practical railway knowledge and experience; and the Liverpool and Manchester directors would have neglected the duty which they owed to their proprietors, had they, out of personal regard or predilection for Mr. Rennie, selected him in preference to George Stephenson. In the course of his six visits in the year, he could have given but an intermittent attention to the works connected with the undertaking, the magnitude of which required the constant personal supervision of an engineer of practical ability. The result, indeed, amply justified the wisdom of the directors' selection.

Mr. Stephenson was no sooner appointed engineer, than he removed his residence to Liverpool, and made arrangements to commence the works. He began with the "impossible"-to do that which the most distinguished engineers of the day had declared that "no man in his senses would undertake to do "—namely, to make the road over Chat Moss! The drainage of the Moss was commenced in June, 1826. It was, indeed, a most formidable undertaking; and the project of carrying a railway along, under, or over such a material as the Moss presented, would certainly never have occurred to an ordinary mind. Michael Drayton supposed Chat Moss to have had its origin at the Deluge. Nothing more impassable could have been imagined than that dreary waste; and Mr. Giles only spoke the popular feeling of the day when he declared that no carriage could stand on it "short of the bottom." In this bog, singular to say, Mr. Roscoe, the accomplished historian of the Medicis, buried his fortune in the hopeless attempt to cultivate it.

When the survey of the line was made, only the edges of the Moss could be entered on, and that with difficulty. One gentleman, of considerable weight and rotundity, when endeavouring to obtain a stand for his theodolite or spiritlevel, felt himself suddenly sinking, when he immediately threw himself down, and rolled over and over until he reached the firm ground in a sorry mess. Other attempts were subsequently made to enter upon the Moss for the same purpose, but they were abandoned for the same reason, the want of a sufficiently solid stand for the theodolite.

On

The three resident engineers selected by Mr. Stephenson to superintend the construction of the line, were Mr. Joseph Locke, Mr. Allcard, and Mr. John Dixon. The last was appointed to that portion which included the proposed road across the Moss, and the other two were by no means desirous of exchanging posts with him. On Mr. Dixon's arrival, Mr. Locke proceeded to show him over the length he was to take charge of, and to instal him in office. their arrival at Chat Moss, Mr. Dixon found that the line had already been staked out and the levels taken in detail by the aid of planks laid upon the bog. The cutting of the drains along each side of the proposed road had also been commenced; but the soft pulpy stuff had up to this time flowed into the drains and filled them up as fast as they were cut. Proceeding across the Moss, on the first day's inspection, the new resident, when about half way over, slipped off the plank on which he walked, and sank to his knees in the bog. Struggling only sent him the deeper, and he might have disappeared altogether, but that the workmen, upon planks, hastened to his assistance, and rescued him from his perilous position. Much disheartened, he desired to return, and even for the moment thought of giving up the job; but Mr. Locke assured him that the worst part was now past; so the new resident plucked up heart again, and

CHAP. XX.]

SURVEY OF THE CHAT MOSS.

251

both floundered on until they reached the further edge of the moss, wet and plastered with bog sludge. Mr. Dixon's brother residents endeavoured to comfort him by the assurance that he might in future avoid similar perils, by walking with boards fastened to the soles of his feet, as they had done when taking the levels, and as the workmen did when engaged in making drains in the softest parts of the Moss. Still, the resident engineer could not help being puzzled by the problem of how to construct a road for a heavy locomotive, with a train of passengers or goods, upon a bog which he had found to be incapable of supporting his single individual weight!

Mr. Stephenson's idea was, that such a road might be made to float upon the bog, simply by means of a sufficient extension of the bearing surface. As a ship, or a raft, capable of sustaining heavy loads floated in water, so, in his opinion, might a light road be floated upon a bog, which was of considerably greater consistency than water. Long before the railway was thought of, Mr. Roscoe of Liverpool had adopted the remarkable expedient of fitting his plough horses with flat wooden soles or pattens, to enable them to walk upon the Moss land which he had brought into cultivation. These pattens were fitted on by means of a screw apparatus, which met in front of the foot and was easily fastened. The mode by which these pattens served to sustain the horse is capable of easy explanation, and it will be observed that the rationale alike explains the floating of a railway train. The foot of an ordinary farm horse presents a base of about five inches diameter, but if this base be enlarged to seven inches-the circles being to each other as the squares of the diameters-it will be found that, by this slight enlargement of the base, a circle of nearly double the area has been secured; and consequently the pressure of the foot upon every unit of ground upon which the horse stands,

When the survey of the line was made, only the edges of ze Mass could be entered on, and that with difficulty. One reatieman of considerable weight and rotundity, when enjear ring to obtain a stand for his theodolite or spiritkraft based suddenly sinking, when he immediately tin kimel d. wn, and roiled over and over until he reached the firm ground in a sorry mess. Other attempts were subsequently made to enter upon the Moss for the sume papuse, but they were abandoned for the same reason, the want of a sufficiently solid stand for the theodolite.

The three resident engineers selected by Mr. Stephenson to superintend the construction of the line, were Mr. Joseph Locke, Mr. Aard, and Mr. John Dixon. The last was appointed to that portion which included the proposed road across the Moss, and the other two were by no means desirous of exchanging posts with him. On Mr. Dixon's arrival. Mr. Locke proceeded to show him over the length he was to take charge of, and to instal him in office. On their arrival at Chat Moss, Mr. Dixon found that the line had already been staked out and the levels taken in detail by the aid of planks laid upon the bog. The cutting of the drains along each side of the proposed road had also been commenced; but the soft pulpy stuff had up to this time dowed into the drains and filled them up as fast as they were eut. Proceeding across the Moss, on the first day's inspection, the new resident, when about half way over, slipped of the plank on which he walked, and sank to his knees in the bog. Struggling only sent him the deeper, and he might have disappeared altogether, but that the workmen, upon planks, hastened to his assistance, and rescued him from his perilous position. Much disheartened, he desired to return, and even for the moment thought of giving up the job; but Mr. Locke assured him that the worst part was now past; so the new resident plucked up heart again, and

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