The sun., 1908-01-19

tons pfhp0aal tt enlallt,its boats nropslled
~ steam ZOE boats propelled by sails or
oarsg There Il no doubt about the proposal
having heen made In July. 1903 steam
boat constructed hy Fulton made a sue
cessful trip on the Seine and. attained the
speed OF little over two miles an hour.
The First Consul lost no time in showing
his appreciation Of this achievement and
appointed a commission to go into the
question Il have just read.' he wrote
To his Minister Of Marine. "tle project OF
Citizen Fulton, engineer, which you have
sent rue much too late. since Il is one which
may change the face OF the world. BE
that m IL may desire that you Immediately
c0'fida its examination to commission OF
members chosen by you among the diifer
ent classes Of the Institute. There It is
that learned Europe would seek for judges
20 solve the question under consideration.
A great truth, a physical. palpabls truth
Is before my eyes. Il will be for these gen.
tlcmen to try 10 seize IL aud see IL. As
soon as their report Ia made IL will be sent
to you and you will forward Il to me. Try
and let the whole matter be determined
within eight days. as am impatient"
The members OF the Institute may or may
not have reported formally TO Napoleon.
but no mention Of the fact Is 20 be found
In the archives. although the letter is reg
istersd az having been received on August
=, 1909. There Il no other reference TO
Fulton's steamboat.
Pasquier, in his "MemoirE," calls Napo-
leon severely to task for not having re-
ceived Fulton and his steamboat with en-
thusiasm. Its value was not recognized"
he AYERS, and 1t was disdainRuIly cast aslde,'
but later he does Napoleon justice, after
stating that never was he more badly
served by his instinct" than in doubling
Whether the almost insurmountable diff
flCulties OF manufacture could have been
overcome at the time OF his greatest at
tempt at invasion" The authors of this
work insist that Napoleon was not blame
worthy, because the great force Of the
near future had not then been sufficiently
developed to be Of any known practical
use for the purpose OF prOpelling craft
on the sea. Fulton's first practicable
steamboat, the ClaremOnt. was not in run
ming order until the year 1907, and al
though the Emperor was then thinking
OF making yet another attempt at invad-
ing England. It would have taken far too
long TO build q sufficient number Of such
vessels to serve his purpose. even if he had
been able to come TO a working arrange
msnt with the inventor.
Some writers have also commented on
Napoleon's apparent disregard OF Fulton's
other inventions. his diving ship
and submarine torpedo. That the First
Consul took some interest in Fulton's ex-
periments is proved by the fact that he
not only advanced ten thousand francs
to aid the ingenious American but author
ized the Minister Of Marine to give him
certain sums by way OF recompense. Our
authors deem it foolish to suggest that
the immense army at BOulogne could have
been conveyed across the Channel in div
ing boats. Fulton had only the germ Of
practicability in his contrivance. When
one remembers that only within recent
years have submarines proved their sea-
worthiness. and that in none too satisfac-
tory a manner. Bonaparte's judgment
is shown not to have been at fault.
Neither were Fulton's torpedoes perfected
at the time. although the inventor had
such faith in them that he believed Eng
land would be compelled to surrender
IL they were placed in Torbay or outside
Plymouth and Portsmouth. When they
were tried by the British Government
against the Boulogne Hotilla in October.
1904, they did little damage. although Ad-
miral Lord Keith recognized that under
different circumstances there was "A rea-
sonable prospect Of a successful result"
M.WH.