Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-10-16


friend "Quicksilver Bob"
In l77s the following notice was posted in
this city
"The excessive heat of the weather. the pres
ent scarcity OF candles and other considerations
induce the council To- recommend the inhani-
ttnts To iorhear Illuminating the city ON satnt-
"TIMOrHY MArLNCs, Sec"
Fulton was thirteen, the irreprcssible age
aud his inventive genius aStOnished the
statd citizens of Lancaster by producing
number uf aky rockets. He hal bought can
dies for the illumination, and trading them
for paste board and powder, he made the
rockers in spite Of the laughter Ot men ana
boys, and succeeded as he did IN later years
with the steamboat
The book has many details of his life in
Lancaster OF the fights in the streets between
the W hig aud the Tory boys, OF the carica-
lures of HeSSiau soldiers drawn 10y tuton,
and tho at-host with paddle wheels, built
by Fulton and Christopher GumpL
BATTLES OF THE BoNs.
ON one occasion his genious for caricsture
brought on y small riot in the streets ul thls
quiet old town. The fights between the
Wing aud Tory boys were 50 frequent thN
the city fathers stretched a rope across the
street, and il either party crossed 1t thsre
would be a row. " Robert made sketch ol
the spot, and drew upon his imasinauoh
sufficiently to represent the rebel boys cross
ing the rope and thrashiug the Tories
The exhibition of this sketch was enough
| to urge the rebel boys to Jump the rope, ana
| the ight that resulted WAS so terrific that the
| authorities " prohibited all gatherings Of the
| same Kind i'll future As the only gather
ing that would answer this description would
be a free light o! small boys, thu inference Is
| that such fights had been smiled upon by the
authorities in the past
Mr.. Jacob Messersmith's gun shop was
isvorite haunt OF the lad, and an apprentice
| named ChristopherGumpfws was his best friend.
lot hFfS =
| father, Deter Gumpr, to the COuestoga, where
| the old gentleman passed long afternoons
| fishing from a boat, in the neighboThood oI
Rockford, at that time the most quiet ana Sc
Cluded part of the tOuestOga tor the banks
were forest clad, aud the water WAS shaded
| 10y the high blum Of Indian rock. The boys
| pOIed the boat while the Old gentleman
| tishsd, and 50 the mind of Fulton was tlrned
| towards devIsiug some more easy method OF
| propeIling the craft The result was the mt
| ting Of pair of psdile-wh heels TO the boat, to
| be worked 10y a crank at the centre. This
may seem 4 trtle to US, but we must remem-
| Der that i'll those days the principle was
| novel.
| Mr Knox in most entertaining style and
! with careful attention to detail aud incident
| traces the trials, the struggles and the tri-
| umphs of Robert Fulton from youth to
| death from the paddle boat 10 the building
| OF the first war steamer, and IL is not merely
| record OF the application of steam TO nsNl.
| CATION, but OF the many enterprises in which
| the mans restless energy found scope. The
| account of his successful submarine boat W Ill
| surprise those who have more recently been
| AstOnished by Jules Nerne's story of the
| Nautilus, and its partial realization in the
| recent performances OF submarine boats II
| France and Russis, and in New York harOOr
| Mr.. kuoN first traced the history of steam
| navigation In America, on the hudson, th
| Ohio, the Mississippi aud the lakes; and h
| gives so many graphic descriptions of th'
rivermen and riyercrstt. so skillfully inter
sperces valued fact with pleasant incident
| tnat this part of the book will be read eager
| ly. In fact the whole work, though at time
encountered with scientific detail, Is so Ar
| ranged that this can be readily skipped bI
the unscientitiC. When the reader Teache
the account OF the progress of ocean steam
ship building he Will no doubt find mucI
OF this dead matter, unless he be a seCOn,
, | Fulton, and can move on to the CLOSING
chapters on vessels OF war, tOrpedOes, an
| submarine navigation.
! That this marvellous progress is largely th
e result Of the impetus given 10y the mind an
, | will OF one man the reader is never sUttere
! | TO forget for he has been told how FultO
= succeeded not alone in the building OF steaC
; ships, but 10 the construction Of submarin
4 ships, suUmirin5 guns and torpedOes.
i a BRAVE JOKER.
= This suggests comment on the inventor
4 coolness aud courage and his way OF keePin
5 all controllaUIe circumstances under perfe
u sway. He was lecturing to large audienC
. in New York on torpedoes, aud after arou
ing much interest by exhibiting the tOrped
cases and the clock work that caused the e.
plostOn when the machine had been place
: under a vessel and the operator had reache
a safe distance he turned to a case and dray
i ing out peg, said "Gentlemen, this is
. charged torpedo, with which precisely in
Il present state, intend TO blow up vessel
, contains one hundred and seventy pounds
u powder, and il were to allow the clockwor
Q to run fifteen minutes it would blow US all
!. atoms" The hall was empty in a few mi
!. utes, and though he calmly replaced the pc
y he could not induce the frightened citIze
u to return.
Il When the English admiralty commissi,
IT suggested tnat Fulton should accept a
> warG on condition of suppressing his torpe
u system, he replied I" will never con
u to let these inventions lie dormant shou
- my country at any time have need OF ther
u Were you to grant me an annuity OF 500
year, l wOuId sacrifice all to the safety al
10 Independence Of my country"
y Our citizens do not all appreciate the faC
81 that one OF the greatest men our count
d ever prod uced, the first great inventor OF
- nation OF inventors, was not Yankee, but
ie citizen OF our county and made his III
successful in ventiOns in the celebration
the Fourth Of July by rockets and the ma
Is igaton of the COnestoga by paddles. The
"a, things should revive our patriotic pride al
'9 our interest in the Conestoga
W "Its loveliness increases,
OF 1t shall never
III Pass into nothin gness"
ID Which the prosac reader may interpret
H. mean that 1t will never dry up. In this
r spect it does not resemble the writer.
le -
| d Il. int ha uprHl - f,gl