The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1890-06-12
FULTON'S FOLLY"
So It Was Called BY the Skep-
tics.
6eDs Interesting "reminiscences of Early
6teamb0ating Days on ths Hud.
SON The First American
Steamboat.

IL Is dlmcult In these days OF rapid
ocean travel. says George ?. IIasbrouck
In brakes Magazine, to realize that in
the beginning Of tho century, people
wero wondering over strange new
thing in navigation, boat moved by
steam. That the application Of steam
TO boats as motive power had been
considered by many minds as . matter
certain Of accomplishment long before
It became an actual fact, admits OF no
doubt, and just as tho names OF Treve-
thick, Hackworth and Stephenson must
" bracketed together in connection
with the locomotive, so must those Of
Fitch, Stevens, Fulton and others be
associated with the invention Of the
steamboat.
That the name OF John Fitch stands
preeminent at the head Of tho list, there
can be no question, for while It must be
admitted that numerous models were
made OF steamboats,, accompanied by
illustrations Of their working, both in
France and England prior to Fitch's
time, there is nothing to show that he
benefited by the work which preceded
his, and It is an absolute fact that no
boat moved by steam, of any practical
value, ever existed until Fitch launched
the first steamboat on the Delaware on
the Goth Of June. 1856. This boat made
tho then remarkable speed OF seven
miles an hour. In 1887 the Legislature
secured ITO John Fitch the sole right
and advantage Of using the steamboat
lately invented by him" and in this and
the following years his boats ran
regularly on the Delaware. It was not
until 1896 that New York had her first
exhibition of q steamboat, screw pro-
pellor built by Fitch being placed on q
fresh water pond called the Collect,
near Canal street.
II has been the fate OF pioneers to SOW
for others to reap, and John Fitch, the
inventor Of tho steamboat, so far as this
continent is concerned, adds another to
the list.
.The day will come," he said, sadly,
''when some more powerful man will
get fame and riches from my invention. =
Confident in the result Of his work. he
struggled bravcly against adverse cir
cumstances until, in l79s, he filled q
namcless grave in Kentucky.
BY this time the seed which the un-
fortunate and unappreciatcd inventor
had sown had begun to germinate, and
the work OF experimenting was carried
on by Morey. Rumsey, Rooseveldt,
Stevens and Fulton, q boat built by
Stevens coming from IIoboken to Now
York in 1904. Robert Fulton's expert
ments in the carly part OF his career
seem to have fallen far below what had
been already achieved, and OF this he
seems to have been fully aware, when,
after his failures in France, he was
taken at the ratio Of eight miles an hour
by William Huntington in his steam
yacht on the Firth OF Forth (which
dragged two vessels, each over seventy
tons, OH the canal in 1902.
That Fulton, whose name was after.
wards to be associated with the success.
full introduction Of steamboats,, profitcd
immensely by the work OF others, can
not be questioned; indeed, he was bit
tcrly assailed by Captain Morcy fol
adopting his ideas. Unlike Fitch, he
was SO fortunate as to find the financial
support necessary to the carrying out o
his plans, and In 1907 no launched tho
Clcrmont, which stands tho twelfth or
the list Of American steamboats,, but tho
first to navigate tho Hudson. Tho en-
gines were OF English manufacture and
were held for some time by tho agen
for non-payment OF freight, from which
1t may be assumed that tho capital o.
the firm was limited.
Tho progress of the boat was viewed
with wonder and alarm; the bold stood