The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-12-30

propellers, made Fultons steamboat a
success. James Rumsey, who expert
mented on the Potomac in Washington s
presence in 1884, and John Fitch of Phil
adelphia, who designed a steam craft In
1855, are worthy of mention, though
nothing came of their endeavors; and the
same applies to Nathan Read, another
American. who in 1889, in a boat equipped
with paddles moved by steam, achieved
some success at Danvers, Mass. Never
theless Fulton claimed-and now receives
the credit of inventing the steamboat
for the simple reason that his was the
first useful and profitable vessel of its
kind.
Where Clermont Got Name.
The Clermont took her name from the
country seat of Chancellor Livingston,
Fulton's partner in the enterprise. She
was 1870 feet long, 16 and half feet wide,
and of 100 tons displacement; and she
drew four feet of water. The engine used
in her was built by the famous inventor
Watt of Birmingham, England, accord
ing to designs made by Fulton. The
Clermont was launched in August, 1907,
and on Monday, August II, started on
her historic trip to Albany and return,
which was accomplished in four days.
Her speed, allowing for stops, was five
miles an hour They used white pine for
at night with sparks sky-rocketing out
of her smokestack, she made an appear
ance that terrified the sailors on many
q river craft. Later this terror turned to
envy, and several attempts were made to
destroy the revolutionary packet. The
fare to Albany from New York was st.
A 81 fare was the cheapest, no matter
how short the distance. In less than two
years there was a regular packet service
up and down the river. The Clermont
and her immediate successors cost be-
tween forty and sixty thousand dollars
each.
Fulton's fame Is so intimately connected
with the C1ermont that it is not generally
known that he built many other steam
boats. He constructed the first steam
erryboats-double-e lenders or twin boats"
which were used on the Hudson and
later on the East river and the Delaware.
He designed the first steam warship ever
put in commission, the DemalogoS, or
Fulton the First, which was launched in
1914 but which, because of the early end
ing of the war of 1872. was never used
except as a training ship. That same
year 1914, the first steamboat built for
use on the Mississippi-the Vesuvius-was
designed by him and launched at Pitts
burg; and he also built the first of the
Sound steamers the Fulton, which piled
between New York and New Haven.
In these days Wnen the use Oh Supiha
rine vessels in warfare receives so much
attention, it is worthy of note that more
than a century ago Fulton built and OPP
Grated a submarine war, vessel, the Maui
thus with which he experimental at
Brest France. in 1901. and which, 10 the
surprise of the commission appointed by
Napoleon to watch the affair, maneuVered
below the surface of the harbor for sew
eral hours 1t was while engaged In
planning submarine warfare that Fulton
gave the name torpedo TO the form Of
explosive which had previously been
called submarine bomb.
Yet Fulton met the fate of most inyen-
tors, for at his death. February "a. 1915,
he was virtually penniless. The ex-
penses attending his many ventures, to-
gether with the litigation over patents.
had ruined him. The government owed
him 100000 according to his claim, in
connection with the use of the Vesuvius
as a transport during the war with Eng
land; and in 1915 thirty-one years after
his death. the claim was settled by the
payment of s76,SO0 to his heirs.