Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1883-01-14

town in the presence Of large coocsuFss
Of people, including many distinguiShed
characters Of our clrly history. Among
Others Who witnessed tin second trial wss
Gen. Gates, Of Revolutionary celebrity, and
hia certificate 10 appended 70 the many tes-
timonials which we're furnished By those
present - 10 the suecegtul operation Ct
the second vessel constructed ~ Rumsey's 3
ingenuity. This boat, bearing Q score Of
passengers, attained q speed Of four miles an
hour; was readily handled and managed,
and after plying up and down The river for
several hours anfid the cheers OF the multi
tude who lined its banks, landed its de-.
lighted passengers, and was voted success
by all who witnessed its trial.
lnventsFs' Controversies
Meanwhile, however, controversies had
arisen between the friends OF Rumsey and
those OF John Fitch, who had exhibited the
working model of . paddle wheel steam.
boat on the Deleware in 17S6 Ruusey's
friends claimed that Fitch, who was en-.
gagged rs asurveyor iniKentucky In l7SS, hed
there heard OF Rumsey's successful apptt.
cation Of steam 10 navigation from Major
Bedinger, Q resident Of Sheppardstown,
who met Fitch in Kentucky. and that the
latter, ON getting the information, imms-
diately took up the idea OF naviQaon,
which he subsequsntly wotksd, out = Phil;
sdsIpsss ~
dated N the application Of ths ytsaM -
tor to boats, they referred 70 the lsttsr's
correepondence, still preserved In West
cotts Biography and Whittlessy's Memoir.
to show that as late % 1854, and moro than
a year after Rumsey's first steamboat navt.
gated the Potomac, Fitch had no knowledge
OF the existence Of the steam enaine, and
that when he did hear Of II, he spent near
ly q year in endeavoring to apply II 70
steam land carrisges before forming bis at'
'tention at oil to It's possible uses In nAviya.
ton.
ERumsey went to Philadelphia Ia 1850
and was apparently successful In eonytnc.
ing the sardnis of that city that he was en-.
titled to the credit OF the, first invention,
as we'll as impi Messing them with . belief In
his own general merit, for they formed
Scientific Association with BENJAMIN
franklin as its President and called II the
Rumsian Society, which united IN letter
TO the Speaker OF the New York House OF
Delegates, urging that Rumseys services
be recognized by New York, besides later.
esting themselves in paving the way for the
inventors efforts in England, where he
went in l7sS TO ask help in building an
ocean steamer.
English Experiences.
DR.. Benjamin Rush gave hima letter to
DR.. Settsam, OF London, and with this and
other cordial endorsements, he arrived in
London in the summer of l7Ss. For time
his prospects looked tattering. He secured
sufficient aid to have suitable hull for
his proposed ocean steamer launched upon
the Thames, and began the work OF equip.
ping her with proper machinery.
II was at this period Of bis life that he
met Robert Fulton, young American
artist, who going abroad to extend his
skill in his profession, had been obliged TO
take up other means OF livelihood. aud WAS
then engaged IN trying TO interest the Brit.
ish Government in device for destroying
vessels by torpedo warfare. There Is no
doubt that close Acquaintance grew up
between Rumsey and Fulton and that the
former confided his plans to his new found
friend. Perhaps the varying fortunes OF
the two increased their intimacy, for
shortly after II began Rumsey's horizon
daIkened rapidly. The interest Of bis
English acquaintances in his project
tagged; his debts accumulated rapidly; he
vas forced TO make transfers OF large
shares Of his Inventions to escape Lon
don jail, and finally, without means %
complete his venture, he was left stranded
among comparative strangers, only to be
noticed as an eccentric monomaniac on the
subject of his invention-the theme Of
newspaper ridicule and playhouse wit.
In the hope of securing means to com.
plete his vessel he was induced to attempt
a series OF scientific lectures, but hard
work and disappointment had begun 10
tell heavily upon him. lie appeared be.
fore an audience in London TO commence
his lecture course, but before he had ut.
tered word of his address he was stricken
with paralysis and was carried from the
stsge 10 the room in which he died few
days after.
The Quesiioa or Psiority.
Rumsey died in 1892. Fulton, who had
never given any attention TO steam navi-
CATION before his meeting with Rumsey,
and was never known In connection with
the subject before the latters death, began
work upon il in 1898. His correspondence
upon the subject with the Earl Of Stanhops
runs through 1894 and about this time he
formed the acquaintance and the connec.
tion with Livingston, which resulted In
wheel stesmb boat Clermont, on thf Stpdson
river, in 1907. For how much d ds sue.
cess he was indebted TO his former init.
macy with Rumsey there are no means Of
judging, nor does the inquiry affect the
latier's priority in his field OF invention.
The ocean steamer which he hoped 10 see
finished passed into the hands OF bis credi.
tors and there is no record OF its compile.
ton, but his successful work on this side
of the Atlantic is as we'll authenticated as
any other chapter in the history OF inyen.
ton. The is footnote 10 the English
edition Of Brissot DeWarville's Travels In
America In which that author speaks OF
having seen the vessel Of the American
living in the Thames near london Q few
years sfter Rumseys death, and there Ii
mention else where ofits subsequent use on
that river. bnt the accomplishment oil its
design was left for later year, and Other
hands.
As 10 whether the preiensions OF earlier
claimants than either Rumsey. Fitch or
Fulton are not supported by the same ciam
OF testimony, and tend to make Others
eau al contributors To q common end. IL
may be argued that the earlier successes
mentioned in the books were either without
proper Authorization or fell short OF
practical demonstration. The account given
by Gonzalez in 1925, OF Blasco DeGaray's
successful steam navigation is l643, hiss no
corroboration in the archives OF Spain or its
written history; the plan OF the Marquis OF
Worcester never reached beyond pamph.
let, and that OF Jonathan Hull ends with
an engraving and the tradition OF . failure.
Cassin's boat on the Fulds was an imprsc.
ticable contrivance. moved by pouring
water on an overshot wheel, and Bour.
noulle's and Genevis plan, which were
adaptations of the::duck's foot principle,
were fiat failures. Those OF Count Auvsn,
De Perrin and Marquis De Joutffoy, were
unsuccessful and that Of William Henry,
the Pennsylvania, ended with his model,
which failed 10 work.
The earliest public and successful adspte.
ton OF steam TO practical purposes Of nsvi.
CATION, were those OF RumHy, Fitch and
Fulton, and Of theIe Rumsey's exhibition
was made at Sbeppsrdstown, on the
Potomac, twenty years before Fulton
launched the Ciermont on the Hudoon.
and months before Fitch. according 10 his
own account, had heard Of the steam engine,
a.