HISTORICAL AND PRACTICAL TREATISE UPON ELEMENTAL LOCOMOTION, BY MEANS OF STEAM CARRIAGES ON COMMON ROADS: SHOWING THE COMMERCIAL, POLITICAL, AND MORAL ADVANTAGES; THE MEANS BY WHICH AN ILLUSTRATED BY PLATES, AND EMBODYING THE report of, and almost the whole evidence before, WITH AN APPENDIX. BY ALEXANDER GORDON, CIVIL ENGINEER, ONE OF THE WITNESSES EXAMINED. "Next to the general influence of the seasons, upon which the regular supply of our wants, and "This (the steam carriage) is one of the most important improvements in the means of LONDON: PRINTED FOR B. STEUART, 139, CHEAPSIDE; & W. BLACKWOOD, EDINBURGH. PREFACE. In the belief, that a work upon Elemental Locomotion, -for the purpose of showing the utility, commercially, politically and morally, of introducing it into general practice upon the highways of the United Kingdom, and how the knowledge and practice of mechanical science had brought this desideratum within our power, -is now required for the information of society in general, I venture, after eight years spent in anxious experiment, and observation, upon this important branch of mechanical philosophy, to publish the following treatise, which pretends only to the name of a useful work; and is offered as such to the public with an earnest hope, that a subject of such vital interest may be taken up, and considered with the attention it deserves. Mr. Nicholas Wood has so fully treated of Railroads and Locomotive Carriages thereon, that I only introduce so much of that subject as may be necessary to connect the experiments of early projectors with the happy results in later experiments; and to show the superior advantage of Steam-carriages on common roads. Without such a short account of Railway Engines a material defect would have appeared in my history of the progress of locomotion. In Chapter I., the Commercial importance of a rapid and cheap inland communication is considered; the most obvious advantages are mentioned as concisely as possible; and the conversion of Steam to Economic purposes brought out and established by plain statistical deduction. The science of political economy, of all others the most difficult and indeterminate, finds, in the latter topic, a happy exemption from its general character: deep-rooted prejudice, and individual interests, being all that the philanthropist has here to contend with. In Chapter II. is shown the process by which Elementary power may be converted into a substitute for animal power. In Chapter III. such particulars are historically given of the construction of various Steam-carriages, as may afford information to engineers and others, who, from remote locality, or other circumstances, are unacquainted with the extent of improvement to which this branch of science has practically been brought. In Chapter IV. is described the kind of Road on which Steam-carriages may be made to travel; and the loss of advantage on an inclined rail clearly exhibited. In one or other of these Chapters I have embodied, verbatim, almost the whole of the valuable evidence of the various Witnesses examined before the Committee of the House of Commons, upon the subject I treat of, The evidence of each witness is necessarily varied in its nature, and it is quoted in smaller type, in order that as much information as possible may be concentrated at the points where most required. In Chapter V. the very favourable Report of the said Committee is likewise reprinted, and forms a valuable 612 testimonial to the intelligence, discrimination, and public spirit of the honourable members who formed it. In this Chapter I have also shortly considered the Ways and Means by which the conversion of Steam to the various important ends suggested can be effectually operated. For endeavouring to open up, and call public attention to, a new path in Economical Science, admirably adapted to supplement artificially the livelihood, property, and happiness of the British Nation, and that at a moment when our natural resources have become totally inadequate for these purposes, I need make no apology. The subject has been deemed worthy of three months' close investigation by the highest and most enlightened legislature in the world. And it is a field beyond all others, of a political kind, suited to the labours of the philanthropist. ALEXANDER GORDON, 145, Strand, London, April, 1832. |