were so clogged by the dust and soot, that it was brought to a complete stand-still. George was always ready to turn his hand to anything, and his ingenuity, never at fault, immediately set to work for the repair of the unfortunate clock. He was advised to send it to the clockmaker, but that would have cost money; and he declared that he would repair it himself

at least he would try. The clock was accordingly taken to pieces and cleaned; the tools which he had been accumulating by him for the purpose of constructing the Perpetual Motion machine, enabled him to do this; and he succeeded so well that shortly after the neighbours sent him their clocks to clean, and he soon became one of the most famous clock-doctors in the neighbourhood.

It was while living at Willington Quay that George Stephenson's only son Robert was born, 16th of December, 1803. The child was from his earliest years familiarised with the steady industry of his parents; for there were few if any idle moments. spent in that cottage. When his father was not busy in making or mending shoes, cutting out shoe-lasts, or cleaning. clocks, he was occupied with some drawing or model, in constructing which he sought to improve himself. The child was from the first, as may well be imagined, a great favourite with his father, whose evening hours were made happier by his presence. George Stephenson's strong "philoprogenitiveness," as phrenologists call it, had in his boyhood expended itself on birds, and dogs, and rabbits, and even on the poor old ginhorses which he had driven at the Callerton pit; and now he found in his child a more genial object on which to expend the warmth of his affection.

The christening of the child took place in the schoolhouse at Wallsend, the old parish church being at the time in so dilapidated a condition from the "creeping" of

The congregation in a church near Newcastle were one Sunday morning plentifully powdered with chips from the white ceiling of the church, which had

the ground underneath, consequent upon the excavation of the coal, that it was considered dangerous to enter it. On this occasion, Robert Gray and Anne Henderson, who had officiated as bridesman and bridesmaid at the wedding, came over again to Willington, and stood as godfather and godmother to little Robert, as the child was named, after his grandfather.

After working for about three years as a brakesman at the Willington machine, George Stephenson was induced to leave his situation there for a similar one at the West Moor Colliery, Killingworth. It was while residing at Killingworth that his remarkable practical qualities as a workman were first recognised by his employers, and that he slowly but surely acquired that reputation as an Engineer and an Inventor by which he afterwards became so extensively known and honoured. The principal interest of his biography, therefore, necessarily begins from the period of his residence in that place.

been crept under, being above an old mine. "It's only the pit a-creeping," said the parish clerk, by way of encouragement to the people to remain. But it would not do; for there was a sudden creep out of the congregation. The clerk went at last, with a powdered head, crying out, "It's only a creep."Our Coal Fields and our Coal Pits.

33

CHAP. VI.

BRAKESMAN AT WEST MOOR, KILLINGWORTH.

THE village of Killingworth lies about seven miles north of Newcastle, and is one of the best known collieries in that neighbourhood. The workings of the coal are of vast extent, giving employment to a large number of workpeople. The colliery stands high, and commands an extensive view of the adjacent country: it overlooks the valley of the Tyne on the south, and the pinnacles of the Newcastle spires may be discerned in the distance, when not obscured by the clouds of smoke which rise up from that vast hive of manufacturing industry.

To this place George Stephenson first came as a brakesman in the year 1804. He had not been long there, however, before he received an invitation from the owners of a colliery near Montrose in Scotland, to proceed thither and superintend the working of one of Bolton and Watt's engines. He accepted the offer, and made arrangements to leave Killingworth for a time.

Not long before his temporary removal, he sustained a heavy loss in the death of his wife, for whom he entertained the tenderest affection. He long lamented his bereavement, and continued tenderly to cherish her memory. Having left his boy in charge of a worthy neighbour, he set out upon his long journey to Scotland on foot, with his kit upon his back. While in Scotland he was paid good wages, and contrived to save 284, which he brought back to Killingworth with him,

D

after an absence of about a year. His friend Coe states that while in the North, George Stephenson had tried to make some alterations in the engine which he worked, but without success, and that this led to a disagreement between him and the colliery owners. Longing to get back to his own kindred -his heart yearning for the son whom he had left behind, Stephenson took leave of his Montrose employers, and trudged back to Killingworth on foot as he had gone. He related to his friend on his return, that when on the borders of Northumberland, late one evening, footsore and wearied with his long day's journey, he knocked at a small farmer's cottage door, and requested shelter for the night. It was refused, and then he entreated that, being sore tired and unable to proceed any further, they would permit him to lie down in the outhouse, for that a little clean straw would serve him. The farmer's wife appeared at the door, looked at the traveller, then retiring with her husband, the two confabulated a little apart, and finally they invited Stephenson into the cottage. Always full of conversation and anecdote, he soon made himself at home in the farmer's family, and spent with them a few pleasant hours. He was hospitably entertained for the night, and when he left the cottage in the morning, he pressed them to make some charge for his lodging, but they would not hear of such a thing. They asked him to remember them kindly, and if he ever came that way, to be sure and call again. Many years after, when Stephenson had become a thriving man, he did not forget the humble couple who had thus succoured and entertained him on his way; he sought their cottage again, when age had silvered their hair; and when he left the aged couple, on that occasion, they may have been reminded of the old saying that we may sometimes" entertain angels unawares."

Reaching home, Stephenson found that his father had met with a serious accident at the Blucher Pit, which had

reduced him to great distress and poverty. While engaged in the inside of an engine, making some repairs, a fellowworkman accidentally let in the steam upon him. The blast struck him full in the face-he was terribly scorched, and his eyesight was irretrievably lost. The helpless and infirm man had struggled for a time with poverty; his sons who were at home, poor as himself, were little able to help him, while George was at a distance in Scotland. On his return, however, with his savings in his pocket, his first step was to pay off his father's debts, amounting to about 157.; soon afterwards he removed the aged pair from Jolly's Close to a comfortable cottage adjoining the tram road near the West Moor at Killingworth, where the old man lived for many years, supported entirely by his son. He was quite blind, but cheerful to the last. One of his greatest pleasures, towards the close of his life, was to receive a visit from his grandson Robert, who would ride straight into the cottage mounted on his "cuddy," and call upon his grandfather to admire the points of the animal. He would then dilate upon the ears, fetlocks, and quarters of the donkey, and generally conclude by pronouncing him to be a "real blood."

Stephenson was again taken on as a brakesman at the West Moor Pit. He does not seem to have been very hopeful as to his prospects in life about the time (1807-8). Indeed the condition of the working class generally was then very discouraging. England was engaged in a great war, which pressed heavily upon the industry, and severely tried the resources of the country. Heavy taxes were imposed upon all the articles of consumption that would bear them. Incomes of 50%. a year and upwards were taxed 10 per cent. There was a constant demand for men to fill the army, navy, and militia. Never before had England heard such drumming and fifing for recruits. In 1805, the gross forces of the United Kingdom amounted to nearly 700,000 men, and early in