Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 9.djvu/338

310 Savings was incorporated, and William Livingston established himself in trade. For a quarter of a century Mr. Livingston

was one of the most active, most enterprising, and most public-spirited citizens of Lowell. Much of the western portion of the city was built up by his instrumentality.

The Middlesex Company was established in 1830, as was the Lowell fire department. The Town Hall was also built; and Lowell numbered sixty-four hundred and seventy-seven inhabitants.

In 1830, Mr. Jackson undertook to connect Boston and Lowell with a railroad. A macadamized road had been surveyed, when this new road was projected; and it was a part of the original plan to have the cars drawn by horses. The successful operation of Stephenson's Liverpool and Manchester Railroad was known to Mr. Jackson, and he was encouraged to persevere. The road was completed at a cost of $1,800,000 and was opened to the public, July 4, 1835. The cars and locomotive would be a curiosity to-day. The former, resembling Concord coaches, were divided by a partition into two compartments, each entered by two doors, on the sides. The interiors of the compartments were upholstered with drab-colored cashmere, and each accommodated eight passengers. The conductor and engineer had each a silver whistle. After the former had ascertained the destination of each passenger and collected the necessary fare, he would close the car doors, climb to his place in a cab at the top of the coach, and whistle to the

engineer as a signal for starting. The engineer, who was protected by no cab, would respond with his whistle, when