The centenary of steam locomotion on British railway.; is being
celebrated this week and we publish an article on the subject. The changes of life due to the rapid circulation. of passengers and goods are quite incalculable through quickening development in countless directions. The liveliest record that we have yet seen of the coming and progress of railways, steam and electric, is to be found in a supplement to the current number of Punch, contributed by " C. L. G.," who has already extracted from old volumes valuable social history in Punch's History of Modern England. Mr. Punch began his glori- ous career just before the railway speculation mania became acute ; he had as little sympathy with promoters as had the Duke of Wellington; whose letters we printed in May last, saying bluntly " These Rail Roads arc in general rank Jobs." Punch was more pointed in his allusive way. As always, Punch in controversy takes, first, the side of any oppressed against any oppressor ; secondly, of the public against any exploiter. The reproduced illustrations, from Leech and Keene down to living artists, even if familiar to many, are quite delightful. * *
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