Morning herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1837-1840, 1838-06-01
The History Of steam Navigation.


.seon shall thine arm, unconquered steam, afar
Drag the slow barge or drive the rapid car"
Little did Darwin. when expressing so beautifully
and POLITICALLY the above prophecy conceive that such
n shert perod Of time should eapsc il should be
accomplished Yet so is, and in little more than thirty
wears The steamboat has become universal in its
adoption end has effected mighty and unprecedented
revolution in marine communication. The solitary ves
sci which then navigated tie waters OF the Cyce has
swelled in amount such extent that the united
Kingdom possesses least 100000 tons of this kind Of
shipying: and Liverpool the cradle of American
Herce, the commercial emporium OF the west has par
taken already and is about pariake still more of the
extraordinary benefits derived from steam naviga
Eo,n
Ii would be difficult if not impossible to enamerate
th benefits derived from the employme of steam
CATION Previous its adoption possessed, it is
the of navigating tho ocean, but, being de-
pendent upon the tickle and uncertain winds
ofn-ansport when these became violent tempestuous
he 90 frequently became victim to their fury and
the uncertainty of the winds and terrible
trul which being constantly verified in the esola
ting effects that it produced But what boon OBJ
tame by this invention, what glorious power did 1t
inpalrt, power which
agreastng the dark storm, the tempest defying,"
held defiance the united power sf winds and waves
and ught the elements in their widest fury J.
In eff ecting Communication between the seas
that rrouId "our sea-grt ISLE, and particularly be-
tween il and the sister island it has afforded extraord
nary bennett it has changed uncertain tedious and
often sngerous passage of frequently ten twelve
days INFO of many hesrs converting, in the elo
quen la sguag of She'll the Irish Channel into the
Tweed" How fraught with dangerw the intercourse
formerly The annals of the port afford many sad in
stances such the loss of the Earl Mora with all
board and several others equally painful. In a CON-
msrcial point of view il has been extremely advana-
geous. In the words of an intelligent witness before
the committee OF the House of Commons 1t has given
Ireland the and best market for her agrcu
tural produce of all kinds well the cheapest and
best market fem which To bring manufactures Of all
kinds for the consumption Of her population in
In Scotland properly has been irebled qsadru
pied in value in the remote nsrtb, by the facility
which il has afforded ying cattle their staple pre-
Not only has the stearn boa added value to
it has saved it, in nanberess 81 instances from
tion. Thousands OF tons Of shipping have been pre-.
dangers Of lee Shore brought into port in sinking
state lowed from land and obtained good ofng
not mention the many VALUABLE lives thus saved. |
And particular instance of e yervices thus rendered
was exhibited last year. in the sisance rendered TO
Turkish by the Meditcr anean steamship Me-
dea. The former vessel had been embayed Smyr-
ma and would have been infallibly lost had the
Medea towed her out in the face OF gale Of wind.
Rapid the extension Of steam navigation has been in
this country has been far in the United States
of America That country began earlier in the race,
true but has ostsrpped this far greater proper
ton. There il has been the very sinew and arm Of
The pioneer of civilization, has opened
up the navigation of the mighty rivers Of the It's
benefits in this respect, scarcely be appreciated.
The ascent Of the Mississippi formerly occupied
hundred and twenty days. ana, during the dry
and during the foods could be asce nded al all II
occupies thirty days, and be mpished all
times IT'S solitary banks have become bn ~ with indus
nv and the mart OF commerce and the HON, civilized
have sprung up in the heart of the forests
On its alone there four hundred steamboats,
The whole sfthe extensive seaboard in the MON
versed by them and the rapid 81. Lawrence 10 nav-
gated with ease and safety.
lift be true that grand improvement il war aught
that makes ii dreadful aud externnau ug in its
effects dimnishes the chance Of It's empoym ent, the
adopsn of the steamboat, in naval warfare should be
hailed by the philanthropst with pleasure, Should IL
be extensively used and IL should again break
between the great powers Of Europe, would be
longer ths struggle that has hitherto been
Batles would be fought without delay between fleets,
independeH OF wind and tide and hostile tries
would be CALLED by incessant attacks from floating bat
feries which should sweep their with ipu nifty
II may be thought that il would be difficult defend
the machinery from the effects of shot, This
object has however been obtained, in the we known
United States steam frigste Constitution, which
built for a ship Of war, and was thus provided.
Though the adoption OF the boat is univerpal
yet like other Inventions its origin is wrapped In
obsearily We're the question asked, who the in
and others Wst yet IS tho that the honor cam
not be claimed by Of these men, they were only
the means Of bringing in and carrying forward the
OF steam navigation There curious of
steam vessel far back as 1850 or about the middle
OF the sisseesth century. IL is found ia Spanish le
gend, and states. that Blasco de Gsrsy had plan
OF propeing vessels by Of boiling aier that IL
was submitted 10 the regning monarch. who authorized
4 20 be tried in the hsrbor Of Barcelona This was
1one In his presence besides that OF countless number
o. people. IL succeeded, and moved on for several |
miles Dat the prime minister pointed to the king the
tendency the sew power would have overturn exist
ing governments In this legend, however, there 10 |
been believed to have been a fabrication Of the Jesus