Evening star., 1895-09-13
A TRANSPORTATION EXHIBIT
Collections Sent to Atlanta by the Smith
sonian Institution.
Primitive Boats and Means of Com
municatiOn-ImprOv in
Electrical Appliances.

Among the many features or the eSnlplt
sent to Atlanta by the Smithsonian Institu-
ton in this city none is more interesting
than that devoted to objects designed to
show the more important stages of inn
provement through which the appliances
now in use for the easy conveyance Of
men and goods from place to place have
passed.
In this collection objects have been Sc
lected with the special purpose of illustrat-
ing the important influence exercised by
the South Atlantic states upon the early
history of internal improvement in America
and the Inauguration of transatlantic COM
merce by steam.
Primitive boats such as the catamaran
and dugout canoe, are placed at the begin
ming of the series which contains among
the craft propelled by poles oars the
Ohio river flatboat and keelboat. by the in
strumentality of which the settlement OF
the southern and western states pro-
NOTED during colonial and revolutionary
times. Among the saiishps are to be found
the sally Constant" from which the first
English settlers in the United States landed
Mayaower, which brought the Puritans to
Plymouth Rock eleven years later
The American Steamboat.
The fine rivers of America stimulated the
eXertionS of several ingenious men living on
the Atlantic seaboard to adapt the steam
engine to navigation. Prominent among
theSe pioneers, whose labors make good
Americas claim to the birthplace of the
steamboat. was James Rumsey, some of
whose experiments upon the Potomac river
were witnessed by Gen. Washington as
elrly as 1877. A model of Rumsey's steam
boat of 11SS and one of that made by Fitch
about the same time are shown, together
with the model of the first screw propelled
,.Nt yitrDt hh atnp- of
country. built by John Stevens in 1904
Fultons ''Clermont' of 1891 and Stevens
Phoenix of 1903 are also in the series
which contains model Of the steamship
Savannah bu 1t in 1918 by Georgia cap
itaitsts, which has the distinction OF being
the first steamship to cross the ocean, sail
ing from savannah Ga, for Liverpool on
her initial voyage Saturday, May - 1919
The original log book containing the ac-
count of this historic voyage is deposited
in the National Museum.
AS the South Atlantic states We're fore
most in the Introduction of transatlantic
steam navigation. We're they early in the
field of railroad construction The first
railway line, one hundred miles long,
built and operated in the world the
railroad. one hundred and thirty nine miles
long, built by the South Carolina Railroad
Company from Augusta, Ga to Charleston,
S. c.. and the first steam locomotive built
upon the western continent for actual SER
vice was the Best Friend built for that
road in 1890, which Went into service dur
ing the following year.
The South Carolina railway was built
upon plans which would now entite it to
be called an elevated railway. \ model
showing the method of track construction
is exhibited, upon which is placed the first
steam train that ran in the South Atlantic
states December Il, 1890 Near it are placed
models of sleeping car appliances built for
railways terminating at Richmond and
Petersburg. Va. the earliest forms of sleep
ing barths used in American cars
'Ipon which is placed the first steam train
that ran in the South Atlantic states De-
center Il, 1890 Near it are placed models
of sleeping car appliances built fer rail-
ways terminating at Richmond and Peters
burg, Va, the earliest forms of sleeping
berths Csed in American ears.
Eirctric.i Apparatus.
In no other department of science have
American investigators, from the very be-
ginning, been so successful, not only in the
discovery of fundamental truths but also
in the prompt application of the principles
deducei therefrom to usefal purposes in
the domain of elec tricity.
The success of Franklins experiments in
the year lIsl in the construction of what
he calls the electrical wheel is Illus
trated, for the first time, in these collec-
tions in the models of the two devices in
so!ving the. most important principles utti-
lied in the modern motor as described by
Franklin in his letter 10 Peter CoilinSton,
London. dated that !ear, and published on
pa ge 252 of his autobiography. Strangely
enough, no prominence has been given to
these ancient electrical machines in subse-
qTent scientific writings relating 10 the
history of electricity.
In the models and photographs OF the ap-
paratus desisned by Joseph Henry. 1879,
the first secretary of the Smithsonian In
stitution. are found the Instruments by
which the electro-magnet was for the first
time utilized to convey a signal to dis
tsnce; in it is embodied the principle upon
which the modern electrical telegraph Is
based The first instrument to make per-
manent record of words transmitted over
wire by the agency of electro magnet was
designed and constructed by Samuel F. B.
Morse in 1887.
The original telegraphic instrument by
which the historic message. What hath
God wrought" was received at Baltimore
Nav "a, 1914, and constructed under the
direction of Vail. is shown. 1t Is one OF the
valuable treasures deposited in the United
States National Museum, the removal OF
which being prohibited on the ground OF
safety. it Is illustrated through a model OF