"There is another great objection urged against locomotives, which is, the noise that the steam makes in escaping into the chimney; this objection is very singular, as it is not the result of any inherent form in the organization of such engines, but an accidental circumstance. When the engines _were first made_, the steam escaped into the atmosphere, and made comparatively little noise; _it was found difficult then to produce steam in sufficient quantity to keep the engine constantly working, or rather to obtain an adequate rapidity of current in the chimney to give sufficient intensity to the fire. To effect a greater rapidity, or to increase the draught of the chimney, Mr. Stephenson thought that by causing the steam to escape into the chimney through a pipe with its end turned upward, the velocity of the current would be accelerated, and such was the effect_; but, in remedying one evil, another has been produced, which, though objectionable in some places, was not considered as objectionable on a private railroad. The tube through the boiler having been increased, there is now no longer any occasion for the action of the steam to assist the motion of the heated air in the chimney. The steam thrown in this manner into the chimney acts as a trumpet, and certainly makes a very disagreeable noise. Nothing, however, is more easy to remedy, and the very act of remedying this defect will also be the means of economizing the fuel."[41] Mr. Wood then proceeds to show how the noise caused by the blast--how, in fact, the blast itself, might be effectually prevented by adopting the expedient employed in the Wylam engine; which was, to send the exhaust steam, not into the chimney (where alone the blast could act with effect by stimulating the draught), but into a steam-reservoir provided for the purpose. His words are these: "Nothing more is wanted to destroy the noise than _to cause the steam to expand itself into a reservoir, and then allow it to escape gradually to the atmosphere through the chimney._ Upon the Wylam railroad the noise was made the subject of complaint by a neighboring gentleman, and they adopted this mode, which had the effect above mentioned."[42]