The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-02-24
HOUSE OF RErREsESTATIvEs,
Washington, Feb. 81, 1886.
To The Editor Of the Union :

| To The Editor Of the Union:
The anecdote of Robert Fulton, illustrative Of tn
incredullty with which the public receive new anC
strange scientific discoveries, which ] enclosed L
you few days ago, vas, now perceive, slightly
Inaccurate. Mr. Fulton it seems, did not propose
10 lecture upon the practcabIlty Of the application
Of steam to the purposes ofnavgaiion, but his prop
osluon was to lecture upon torpedoes; and II wal
this proposition which the House rejected, as has
been shown by your correspondent "B. b. F."
Il is very certain however that the great Inventor
OF steam navigation, when he first gave the bold idet
to the world, met with many a tnunt and many @
sncer and had many obstacles to encounter IN public
opinion, that would have appalled, u man OF less IN
dOmitabe energy
When his project was submitted to the consider
alton of Napoleon, in France, the encouraging re-
plies Bah, do not annoy me with these silly
visionary projects"
1t will be seen, too, by the following extracts
from the proceedings of the "Americsn Philosophi'
cal Society" published in Philadelphia, that the
idea Of propelling boats by steam was regarded as
a sor, Of "mania" in 1903. The extract is from the
9th volume OF those proceedings, page 80, and may
be found in the Congress library:
"Flrst report of Benjamin H. L1trobe to the
American Philosophical Society, in answer to the
inquiry made by the society Of Rotterdam, ~
"whether any, and what improvements have been
made in the construction Of steam engines"
"PmLApELPHIA, May 20, 1903
GENTLEMEN: The report due from me to the So
ciey in consequence ofthe inquiry made by the So
ciey Of Rotisrdam, ns to the Improvement made IN
America De construction Of the steam engine,
would haM bscn laid before you at much earlier
period had il not been my wiSh 10 submit sevetai
American alterations in the construction of steam
engines which promised to Ice very valuable i'm
provemcnts."
Then follows an account Of the first engines used
in America.
Mr.. Latrobe then proceeds thu"
"During the general lassitude Of mechanical exer-
ton which succeeded the American revolution, the
utility Of the steam engine appears to have been
forgotlen but the sub cct afterwards started into
very general notice in form in which II could not
possibly be attended ,oih much success A sort Of
mama begun to prevail, which has not yet entirely
subsidized for inIpclng, boats by steam engines.
"Dr Franklin proposed to force forward the boat
by the immediate action of the steam upon the wa
ter. Many attempts to simplify the working of the
engine, and more, to dispense with the beam IN
converting the vibratory motion into rotatory mo-
ton, were made. For short time a passage boat,
rowed by steamengine, was established between
Bordentown and Philadelphia; but il pds soon laid
aside
"There are, indeed general objections 10 the Of the
siean-engine for opeliing boats from which parttc,
uiar mode of application can be free. These are
"ls The weight of the engine and fuel.
| "2l. The large space 1t occupies.
3d The tendency in its action to rack the vessel,
and render in enky.
| "4th The expense of its maintenance.
"5th. The irregUlarity of its motion. and the mo-
ton of the water in the boiler and cistern, and OF
the fue-vesse in roug water
9th The difficulty arising from the liability OF
the paddles to break, if light, and from the
weight if made strong.
"Nor have ever heard of an instance verified by
any other testimony than that of the inventor of
speedy and agreeable voyage having been perform
ed in a steamboat Of any construction"
Yet the towering genius Of Robert Fulton dlt
not yield, but struggled against all the opposlo'
of the world, and its SCOTS and bes, until his fna
and complete success proved him to have been ia
in advance of the time in which he lived 1t 10 true
he never reaped the benefit Of his great INVENTION Sc
far as his own pecuDiary interests were concerned
f bu, his coun,rysand the world have gathered rct
harvest of benefit from the application OF steam
navigation, which WINS the result Of his "grea
thought" The advantages Of the application hav
been, and continue to be, immense beyond all cal
cuution; aud for all these benefits the world Is IN
deb,ed to that unquenchable spark in Fulton's aa'
ter mind, to extinguish which there seemed to be
combined effort by all to whom his invention wa
= earliest submitted
, Yours, very truly,
J. s. YOST.