The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-12-05
FULTON'S CLAIMS DISPUTED.
Is the Honor Awarded 10 Him Due Rather
10 Fitch and Livingston?


To THE EDITOR or THR SuN-Sir: In view
Of the monument to Fulton to be unveiled
on Thursday In Trinity Church yard and AZ
the risk OF being considered an iconoclas,.
! would say that. probably no person ha,
received 80 much praise. and deserved il s.,
little. as Robert Fulton 4 man Of no pra,.
teal ingenuity, OF no power Of conceivinr.
much less OF executing. an original mcdaniel
idea, his friend Golden has succeeded i'm
persuading the public that - him alone J.,
due the successful navigation OF our rive
by steam. The facts, however. a. | gathered
them from the late Bishop Potter of Penn
sylyania. who In turn received them from
Chancellor Livingston himself, are a. follow
Thirteen years before Fitch experimental
with his steamboat upon the Collect in New
York. he had. rs il well known. run q li't'a
steamer with great success on the Dclawarr,
between Philadelphia and BOrdeutoVI.
During that period he had experimental
with various kinds of propelling ~poweT-tha
screw. the side wheel. and sweeps or long
oars. The most primitive thing about his
vessel was tine boiler. which consisted simply
OF two potash kettles, riveted together
MIR Livingston. who was greatly Interested
in the success OF Fitch's experiments. se l"i
the opportunity. when Minister to France.
to visit the workshops of Watt and Bolton,
in England, where for the first time, he saw
a properly constructed steam boiler Rut
how was he TO introduce IT into the United
States. unless (which was then impossible
he went there himself? At this crisis he
thought of Robert Fulton, who. originally
an artist in Philadelphia. was then exhibiting
a panorama in Paris. His panorama, how
ever, failing to pay, was attached, and ba
himself arrested for debt and thrown into
prison. Livingston also. ut this time. had
in his possession the plans. models and draw
ings OF what was afterward the successful
steamboat. which he had obtained from
the American Consul. then residing at Havre.
who. in turn. had purchased them Of Fitch,
when the latter, completely discouraged.
and a stranger in France, utterly destitute,
had given up in despair.
Livingston, falling into the error, so common
to many. Of believing that, because an artist
can dr %cleverly. he must necessarily succeed
equally well in mechanical conception and
execution, paid OH Fulton's debts. and sent
him over to New York with one of James
Watts boilers. Fulton. however. thoroughly
incompeterl and Enthusiastically, failed to rise
to the occasion: and when Livin gston returned
a year after, he found his pet project precisely
where he had left II several years before. He.
therefore. at once took hold OF 1t himself.
and by his energy and perseverance finally
brought his idea to a successful issue, Fulton
whom he could not entirely shake OF, acting
as a kind OF general superintendent
These facts. moreover. are confirmed not
only by the late President William A. Duer,
In his New Yorker" deter VII ). but by the
late Mr.. Ransom Cook OF Saratoga Springs.
n. Y. Mr. Cook Informed me that, in the sum
mer OF 1887, he WAS in the city Of New York.
engaged upon his e~leCtro-magnetic machinery.
Among his workmcn were two who had been
employed by Livingston and Fulton. while
those gentlemen were periecting their steam
boat. They surprised him greatly by stating
that Fulton was a capital draughtsnIan. and
that was all. They added that he was so
deficient in a knowledge Of the laws Of me-
chanics as TO furnish daily mirth for the
workmen, and that it was a long time before
Livin gston could convince him that the
starting bar Of an engine should be made
larger at the fulcrum end than at the handle
on the 9TH Of August. 1907. the first steam
boat, the Clermont. constructed and finished
under the nominal superintendent Of Robert
Fulton. encouraged by Chancellor Livingston.
stood in the stream opposite Jersey city.
ready at a signal to start on her way to Albany
Thousands OF citizens lined both banks Of
the river. and filed every kind Of available
water craft, withthe expectation Of witnessing
the utter failure of -Fulton's Folly" as they
had tauntlngly christened the new boat and
of having the satisfaction Of saying. Il told
you SO" But that sentence was never 10
uttered. for. at the word from the alleged
the wheels began TO %revolve, Slowly
at first. then faster and faster. until "Fult"' =
Folly" vanished up the river. leaving 60"
scoIers staring after IL With blank Vsages
and open mouths
The triumph was con plete yet 70 Fitch.
not Fulton. belongs the horror
WILLIAM / STONE
Mt yTRNON. Dec