New-York tribune., 1909-09-25
CLER M0NT'S FIRST RUN
FULTON IT THE HELM.
From Nr,c YORK. To .nbony in -
Hours. While People UmvfiIcd.


It required no special announcement rs The
American Citlen" ia its ISSUE ot August II.
1907 To- let the good folks of Sew York know
that AIr Robert Fultons and wonderful
steamboat 10 try the strength of it's en-
gine against tie tide Of the Huds"n River for
the first time that day ON tlv PREVIOUS day.
which was sunday. thousands oi persons "'d
Iounged and stared tor hours ou Tire banks ~
tie Nortu River under the wallis 81 tar stats
prison. watching the uncouth outlines of the
Cleruloat as she lay at her do,E wondering at
Ler psidt. wheels aEd shoutiuE more or less
lronicai ENCOURAGEMENT to- Fulton MS Hc ~up"rin-
tended t... yorSmru vlp acr. ,all, ring 5i'put
the mac inner,
Fulton anal lis boat Ful,,u'- Folly" ia
scoCer- called iJ--E1d n."u q moot t'ri. .n TIA
city for months. mu.. 80 tha' t.e u1tteF
lad bc-u r--srI-d a- san. ..entls Important IN
q news SENSE to justify tile editor Of TN" Amer
lean citizen" in referring 10 tie clJt's drSt
voyage on t.at Monday follows
"Mr Fljpn.s iuseuius Steam Boat. .a,"ni"i
win - View to tn" Navigation of I..r Nissis-
sippi River from Nc,y orleans upwards Salts
to-day from tu, Norti River near The state
Prison jo Albany. Tie Velosity al IT." steam
Boat is calculated at 4 miles hour. il is
said t..ol it Niu make progress of t"o against
the Current of tae Mississippi aud il 50 it will
certainly bc a very valuable acquisition . the
Commerce of the Western States.
s,'urFERS N PLENTY
From earl. morning steady stream of car
riaecs aud persons ON foot passed up the roads
! leading from the downtown portion Of the city
| To- Greenwich Village for like New York OF the
present the New York of the past dearly loved
! a free show. and the "freaker the better Re
fore noon every vantage point the river
/ nd .iud
! barred windows of the prison ieId It's specta-
| tors Tie river was dotted with small boats.
which kept well out of reach of the Clermonts
paddles
| Clouds of black smoke arose from the f,Gnnel
of the Clcrruout while the kissing and popping
OF steam came from the boiler. Fulton VAS
constantly in action inspecting every part ot
the machinery before venturing l" give the
word To east on.
Noon came ard tie crowd grew urIticut
All the Cl,rmont mad 81 far done was To smoke
and sputter The pcssimists predicted that sho
would blow up and advised every t. get
back out Of range Of the dying Fragments
Hoots and cat-caUs smote Futon's ears. To-
gethcr with such jocosc comments IA God
help YOU bobby ~ fool and his money
soon p.rtcd"' Bring as back chip ot ths
| North Pole ana the like Fulton paid M at
| tenton.
in readiness lie ordered the haWscr east OF
| The flremen heapcd wood into the furnace. aud
the stack beIched blackcr smoke than ever
The throttle was opened. and the cannon
| like exhaust of the steam rent the air ths
crowd surged backward in a half panic Tha
| paddle wheels moved trifie trcmbed. haltcS
| for a second and then began To reyolye slowly
| and regularly
| HEADED Up THE RIVER.
| Fulton was at the helm. lie turned the Cier-
| mont's bow out into the river. The watr'
| kicked up by the paddles sent big waves dash-
| ing back to the shore. The leaky connections
| Of the engine and boilers enveloped the bOas
| in clouds of steam. while the machinery
| thumped and Clattered.
| But the boat went steadily onward. Success
| ALWAYS wins the plaudtS Of the crowd. and a
| mighty roar assembled hats were tossed on high
and the name of Fulton was cheered again and
| again In the stern of the boat a pale faced
figure. with hand gripped about the tilIeT
! tightly that the knOckles showed white. lifted
! his hat and cast a half disdainful look at tho
/ crowd with a satirical smile his face Ful.
| ton knew that had the CIermont failed tho
| throng would have been even more ready to
| groan and laugh than it was TO cheer
| Northward the ClermOnt steadily forged pass
| ing the Palisades, the rocky cliffs of which
| hurled back in deafening volume the clank OF
| .ba and the roar OF the eSca ming sfpauS