The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-11-27
STEAM AND STEAM NAVIGATION.


 In no strictly human achievement has there been greater progress in one century than In that of steam naviga- tion. It has not been quite cehtury since the possibility of driving a ves- sel through the water by steam power alone was made plain, When, in 1907. Robert Fulton was building, the little Clermont.l and predicting that he would sail, or Nsteam, up the Hudson River. he was roundly ridiculed and laughed at. Sailors and scientists alike jeered at what seemed 70 them an absurdity. The idea that a ship or boat could be driven against wind and current with out oars or sails was preposterous, as people then looked at it.
 But Fulton had confidence and dog ged perseverance that neither ridicule nor opposition could discourage. He persevered. and in 1907 the Clermont was launched and made the trip from New York to Albany. distance of 1l0 miles. in twenty-four hours. This was not swift travelling, but it proved his theory. Thousandsl of spectators, we are told. lined the banks of the noble river and gazed with astonisLment at the spectacle. They saw vessel pro- ceeding against both wind and current, and it was driven by the steam power which they had ridicuied and laughed at.. If it was not magic it was some- thing near akin to it, and they went away convinced that they had witness ed wonderful event.
 Thus did the enterprising and per- severing American mechanic prove his theory and justify his claims. It was tion. and to Robert Fulton is due the credit. True, experiments had been made in France, and in England and Scotland. but they had been without practical results. Fulton succeeded. and to him must be awarded the credit of establishing the practical utility of steam as a motive power for boats. He may properly be called the father of steam navigation.
 It Is an evidence of the lack of enter prise and the slow progress of inven- tion that more than thirty years elapsed before steam vessel would venture across the ocean. Tn Great Britain coasting and river trips had been made, and in ISIS vessel steamed from New York to New Orleans, but the bold navigators were not yet ready to cut themselves entirely loose from land. It was on April 1. 1888. that the steamer Sirius started from Cork on a voyage to New York, where it safely arrived after a voyage of nineteen days. and thus a new record was es- tablished. Fulton. with his Clermont. showed that a boat could be driven by steam alone, and the Sirius proved that the same power could carry vessel acrosst the ocean. 'i
 When we come to look at 1t rightly. this was really a serious venture and chinery was yet crude and imperfect. and 1t was taking no little risk to start across the Atlantic in steRnEes. And yet, in this day of hurry and ad1 venture. we can but wonder that the mechanics and engineers of that day should have been familiar in a way with steam power and should wait thirty years before venturing on an ocean voyage It shows the conserva- tism of the period. and the indisposi- tion of the people of two continents to adventure on a great enterprise.
 When we compare the time of the Sirius with the speed made by some of the modern ocean flyers. we can form a good estimate of the advance in ocean travel. The first vessel was nearly nineteen days steaming from Cork to New York, while in modern times the trip from New York to Queenstown has been made in a little less than six days. The advarices in speed. in size and style of vessels and in motive power. have been wonderful, but they do not detract from the fame of Fulton or from the credit due the Sirius. -t'
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