"I believe," he says, "that it would have lost the
company their bill if he had gone beyond eight or nine miles an
hour. If he had stated his intention of going twelve or fifteen
miles an hour, not a single person would have believed it to be
practicable." Mr. Alderson had, indeed, so pressed the point of
"twelve miles an hour," and the promoters were so alarmed lest it
should appear in evidence that they contemplated any such
extravagant rate of speed, that immediately on Mr. Alderson
sitting down, Mr. Joy proceeded to re-examine Stephenson, with
the view of removing from the minds of the committee an
impression so unfavorable, and as they supposed, so damaging to
their case. "With regard," asked Mr. Joy, "to all those
hypothetical questions of my learned friend, they have been all
put on the supposition of going twelve miles an hour; now that is
not the rate at which, I believe, any of the engines of which you
have spoken have traveled?" "No," replied Stephenson, "except as
an experiment for a short distance." "But what they have gone has
been three, five, or six miles an hour?" "Yes." "So that those
hypothetical cases of twelve miles an hour do not fall within
your general experience?" "They do not."
The committee also seem to have entertained some alarm as to the
high rate of speed which had been spoken of, and proceeded to
examine the witness farther on the subject.
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