New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-03-08

experiments in Steam n Navigation Mr.. Parker en-
tered into an elaborate disquisition on the dis
puted question Of priority He adduced the testi
mony Of various witnesses three Of whom were
present at the meeting) to show that Mr.. Fitch
| unquestionably made the first experiments with
stesm on the Collect" in September 1877. Mr..
Fulton and Chancellor Livingston were on board
Fitchs vessel on this first trip.
Futons boat which succeeded in reaching
Albany, was Of the following dimensions On
deck, 1873 feet long originally; l4i feet wide on
the bottom II feet wide on deck feet 10 the
bold, midships and feet in the bow. IL was
panked with l inch boards. The boat made
/ about miles an hour
Upon the subject Of Fulton's claim, Mr. Parker
remarked that he could do nc better than TO state
! in the words a another, the eloquent Mr.. II r.
! TuckermaD,l that 1t is very narrow view OF
/ Fulton's claims 10 grateful respect which estl.
mates them solely according to the degree Of
originality he manifested in the application Of
steam to navigation. The great fact in the con-
! trove. remains indisputable that the only in
! ventor VIM persevered in giving practical use
10 the knowledge already gained on the subject,
and continued to try expedients until crowned
| with a success which introduced steam naviga-
! ton, w0s Robert Fulton.
Rev. DR.. GRIswoLD remarked that he had read
with surprise and regret the altogether erroneous
observations Of the magazine writer quoted by
Mr. Parker upon the subject Of Fulton's expert.
ments. At this day it was simply absurd to allege
that Fulton made the first successful experiment
in steam navigation. To claim such credit for
Fulton, was to abandon it for the country. In
England the matter had been much discussed re-
Gently, and twas easy to perceive that the claims
of Symiugton could be maintained against those
Of Futon-against any claims but those of John
Fitch-since the pretensOns Of De Garay at Bar
celons Huls in England, Miller In Scotland, and
Jouiroy in France, were too vague and unintel-
hgible TO deserve consideration. Symlngton's
boat was constructed in l7sS, and its greatest
speed was five miles an hour, upon one of the
| highland lakes Of Scotland, and IN the following
year seven miles, upon the Clyde. Fitch, who
| was poor man, and uneducateG, possessed IN
questionable genius the vision of steamboats, had
| haunted him half his life and the details of his
first boat had been arranged in his mind at least
two years, when he launched upon the Delaware,
! in 1884, the PerSeUerdHce-the precursor of the
! fleets Of steamers which no swarm the rivers,
! lakes, and seas OF the world This was ten years
! before Fulton built his boat upon the Hudson, and
! one year before Symlngton ito whom and to other
foreign claimants Of the discovery the Intelligence
! of Fitchs plans probably suggested all they ac-
! complishedl made his trial on Loeb Dalswinton.
Dr. Gris~od said that brief memoir upon the
| subject, which he had written many years ago,
had led to a correspondence between himself aud
| the late Noah Webster who in one of his letters
stated that he had seen, and In another that he
| had been a passenger upon the boat of Fitch as
to the success of whose experiments DR.. Web
ster 8 testimony was very positive That dlstln'
| guished person had declared himself indignant
that a new Americas had kept from the Colum-
| bus of this discovery the gratitude of mankind.
In the library of the Philosophical Society in Phil
adelphia, and in other repositories for such treas.
ures in that city, there were many important doc
uments illustrative of this history, and Miss Lese,
sister of the eminent painter, and herself honor
| obl J,etfv had in bad haan
wears engaged upon Life OF Fitch, for which she
| had very ample materias-her father, while re.
siding in London, having been his most service
| able friend and patron, and after Fltchs death
the exhibitor and explsner Of his designs to Full
| ton Miss Lese's book, he had no doubt, would
| be q most important contribution TO our annals
| upon this subject entirely conclusive. OF Fitch
he had said that he bad genius-not simply iacul.
ties for the application of the ideas OF Others but
a genuine creative energy. Failing In his efforts
| TO persuade the people of the benefits that would
| result from his invention, he went 10 Kentucky,
| in the hope Of obtaining from certain contemplated
speculations in land, such means as Fulton de-
| rived from an appreclatlng patron. He was dis
appointed and in a ft Of despair threw himself
ut the Mississippi leaving directions that If his
| BODY were recovered it should be buried beside
the Father of Waters, that the musical noise Of
| boats moved by steam up aid down that great
! river might be his everlasting requiem. la this
request was more true poetry than in all else that
! bad been said or written Of steam navigation.
! Fitch felt that he had given new impulse 70 civ
/ izntion-that be had marked the limits of a new
| era for the human race; and with the confidence
| Of a prophet whom God had commissioned, he
| ioretold the passage Of steamships against the
| winds across the Atlantic and he saw all the
grand results Of his discovery which had been so
! el0Quenty described by the reverend gentleman
70 v hose paper the Society had listened.
From the letters Of DR. Webster, referred to by
Dr. Griswod, we transcribe the following ex-
Noah Webster to R ". Gristcold Dee. 10, 1889.
pr,R SIS D. your s'eh Of joan fitch you lsty r. marked
ms He bat h bo 10 I7s7 Ia my D, have myself aotsi
ht ,te 5l 'st yn at ,he whaa The Delaware
Day of February 7s7 The Governor and Coaac we're 80 much
grit Of the boat that they presented Mr. itch
viii superb nsg About that TINS the company aiding Mr.
FITCH seut ha % France 81 the fsqas Of M at our Consul
Fac- n to ss,tss BY Revolution and nothing vor Of
srw.rd gre,snd O. ~ Fulton Jer ,1am~afior TIE paper @
~ FHa, c'ins bis 4. lens o. ,lsn l1' n, Asf nt
holse vch he predicted hat TINS the Atlantic you'd be
81 t-hoa.e 70 buy Kentucky or racing funds ,com
pi- h scheme bqt s bia ned - sa'.ai AID D''pPoa.-d N
rd Pittsburgh ard finally ended A lie 0T Pliasag ne is Al
Il R. wy Rprr. e,i.rolo.
Noah Webster u ". Gris0od, 1870
T. Ugh Mr. Fitch that be perfectly 90 noastra'ei the
p'aeeay of- .oeu- u BE- tsd l1i ioi pa,oa,
that :, me con have e'of ne s,rs, Ia
i Rev w. G,nrorB
Mr.. PARKER had procured model Of the Boat
with which John Fitch made bis experiments
on the Collect Pond in New.York, The site now
occupied in part by the Halls Of Justice in
the wear 1877 1t was on the table during the
! evening. az well as a model Of the boat of Mr..
Fulton. made by Mr. John Clark, who worked on
board the Cermont" during her first trip to
| ALBANY ip 1907 Mr. Clark is now 81 years OF
age, was present at this meeting, and attracted
much attention The model of Fitchs boat, first
alluded TO, is little more than three feet in
length. and represents the boilers, paddle wheels,
screw propeller, &c, used by Fitch. 1t is the
work of Mr. John Hutchings, now living at No.
3 Westey.place Williamsburgh,l who assisted
in setting the boiler and steered the boat for Mr..
Fitch during bis first experiment on the Collect