Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-08-15
FULT0S's STEAMBOAT.
bscoslsctions OF the Remaining
Passenger of the Rrta4 Trip
A Ossortptisa 81 the Ftrs6 Steamboat Ga
ths Haassa tsy tss Oaly sarvfsszs P.s-
sasisaat "a rls TrtS-A kAas cram
aSsfes .fK Niles an Hear.


lf4st1r y. Cor f1aA1elp1l2 fz1os
This Little salrsCo~n u 50. hera Ssw
Hampshire - rsInar 82tls Ia many respects,
bas aOs the east for laci atias Ia 10 LIS Of
citizens venerable gentleman, ~no sos-
saty zht yssrs ago ~ent down tns Had-
soa River ~ita h3bert Fulton Ga that mem
orable Eri4l trip ol Ehs nrst steamboat.
"a l. Ga oaly sQrV. sor II the nfty passea-
gers ~no aloysd thai disEluctloas and
though no~ as years have almost reached
the century turnp0int, stlu his memory l.
81 clear and as intelLscs 50 strong that hs
. able - Fscau every detail Of the Joaruey
aad TO correct several pprehsRslOns
which have found eredsaee even with
careful historians Not alone for his trip
down the Hudson i DR.. William Perry
notable To-day be stands the oldest liy-
lng graduate Of Hary ard College. a veter-
a. now Ia his ninety seventh year. but
Who Ia 1911 Was senior ia the Cambridge
University. Studying msdicine aftsrward
under the eminent Dc. JOAN arren, he
showed marked ability aud the worthy
physician advised his pFotege 70 settle in
the nour lsbing little town OF Exeter. He
did 50 and soon won an extensive practice
aud a spread reputation for surgical
skill Those who desire glimpse Of the
good old doctors personal appearance
have bat % read the tale OF his grand
daughter. Sarah Orne Jewett, and they
will hnd IN "A Country Doctor" many
traces OF the veteran physician OF Exeter.
Age seems 20 have affected him bur little.
The doctor, sitting In bis pleasant cham
Ter overlooking the eeater OF the beau l.
ful little village, spoke OF his famous trip
7 with Robert Fulton. The name OF the
boat has been so often misquoted," he
said, that even many careful recorders
/ have mention ii Il a. the ClermonL T his
was not her full name Iremember il dis
tinctly. IL was Katherine OF Ciermons,
/ given Ia honor o; Fulton's wife, Kathsrin .
I Livingston. OF Clermont, Columbia Coun
I ". New York Fulton. you knO W, had
gone abroad 70 study his profession as a
I painter. bat having his attention turned
g mechanics he brou ght back To New
I YORK an engine, and over that constructed
the hull OF his vessel. He lacked the nec-
essary money To complete his experiment.,
and his wifs's father. Livingston, then
American Minister 70 England, came TO
his all with financial help"
/ How did you happen TO be. passen-
ger doctorl"
Il was attending Union College at
| Schenectady, y. Y, but was not satisfied
/ with the institution and 50 determined to
/ enter Harvard. On my way home / ar
/ rived at Albany, aud there. to my dis
/ comfort. learned that l must endure a
I long delay, for none OF the river boats
then ia use were % start for several days.
7 | went 70 the tavern and engaged room.
/ But early the next morning a man hur-
I ried into the bar room OF the inn and an
/ uOuncei: The steamboat arrived last
night and Is going to start down the river
at nine o'clock dee .deI at once that l
would be a passenger on the strange craft,
whatever IL might be- There was a lady
OF Connecticut under my charge on her
/ way TO New York city, and when l told
I her that We could take the new steamboat
she expressed her willingness to travel
that way. But il took her so long to got
ready that when we reached the wharf
the boat was steaming of. However
I they were more accommodating on that
/ trip than they would be now. The officers
heard us call and, stopping the vessel,
sent back a small boat to take US on Their
we were of on our voyage.
AT first il was smoo h sailing. or rather
steaming, but in the afternoon-this, you
know, was August 10. 1s)7-shs ran
aground and We had to wait for IA gh tide
before We could hoat of After that the
boat got into more serious trouble, but
| did not happen 20 be on board at the time.
I When we arrived at Kingston | thought
/ would stop over day and visit my brother
/ there aud so went ashore The Katherine
7 OF Clermont cont nued her course, but had
/ gone only a few miles further when her
boiler burst and she had TO be laid up for
repairs for several days Soon after that
she began TO make regular trips between
New York and Albany"
do You remember how the boat looked,
doctor?'
As distinctly as Thought all happened
/ yesterday. She was a rude built craft,
about l25 feet long and nearly twenty feet
vide. with side paddle wheels and a
sheet-iron boiler. She could make about
six miles an hour. You reconect what
trouble there was afterward about the
rights Of the boat, do you not?"
4 can't say do. Unfortunately NY
recollection does not reach 50 far back !"
/ Beg pardon; forgot il was 80 long
I ago. " eli. the owners Of the sailing ves-
sals. who previous TO this had had the mo-
nopoiy II the river transportation. e aimed
that the righs 20 navigate the Hudson be. &.
longed 70 them and they seGred an in-
junction restraining Fulton from using
7 hls stsamb'at- But they couldn't hold
I their case. Tor Daniel Webster appeared
I ia behalf of the steamer, made his frat
7 great plea and won the case. That gave
Mr.. " ebster vide reputation. After
Narl Fulton had many lawsuits for
his patent. cover ug "a it did only cer-
tain points re.stlng % the attachment
of the paddle wheels 20 the axle of the
T crank, left a great opening FOR infringe
ment All his life he vas fighting for
I hIs claims IN tnat respect. slthouzh be and
I Livingston had the monopoly of steam
I traffic on the waters II the = sts through
a zrsns - the Legislature. Fulton con-
structed nos oaly the arss prscricsbls
steamboat for passengers and frs,g ht. but
T siso. IN 1874 he first war steamer of th a
world. the United States steamer Futon
7 the First She suffered worse than tue
I Eathe ~e nf Fiarna1nt fsr shs uas hirv~r