The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-09-20


Washinstpa, D. C.. SepG 1s.-ln]
the natioaal mnseam here q small
crude moael Of q Steamboat, which
IL little noEicsd BY slghtssers. few
Of whom stop 10 rod The sign that
tells what Il 10. Yet the boat Of
which this u . model. and not Full
tons famous Cl0FM0nt, 10 the true
parent Of the vast best Of steamers
that carry the commerce ct the
world.
Every schoolboy in the country
has heard Of Robert Fulton. but In
memory Of James Rumssy, who
really invented the steamboat. md
whose Invention vas indorssd BY
George Washington. there 10 moth
ing save this crazy little model and
Q few scant notices In books.
The immediate reaSons for Rum
.sey's failure to attract attention
were many, but probably the funda-
mental reason was only one. He
was ahead, Of his times. The peo-
pie. engaged in the crudest tasks OF
pioneering, were not yet ready for
q steamboat. Rumsey illustrates
the fact that, however great his
ability, q man Is effective only inso-
far as he is in tune with his time
and environment
OF his life little Is known. He
was born in Cecil county. Mary
land, in 17l3. Then somehow, he
managed to slip ont Of sight until
after the revolution. At the close
of the war, he settled in what was
then Shsperdstown. Va. He went
into business. but made . failure.
for the record shows that like most
of genius he was careless ~ to
money. Business did not mean
much to James Rumsey, for his
mind was filled with an idea. A
millwright by trade, he had studied
the subject Of mechanics insofar as
it was known In his day, and sud
denly there flashed into his mind
boat that would go. without sails
or oars. So he started to work. The
task was hard; without money.
without proper facilities for max
ing the various parts necessary to
complete the model, he struggled on
until 1887. For four years he tried
to get the people interested in his
project. He showed q small model
of the boat to Washington in l7S5
and won praise from the Father of
his Country. But that did not put
money in his pocket.
Then he wrote q book. "A Treat
Use on the Use Of Steam" to try to
interest the public in his work. This
book, however, had just the op-
posite effect, for it brought down
upon his head the hostile criticism
of some of the most learned savants
of his day. One man in particular
took umbrage 1t his presumption in
claiming to be the originator of the
principle Of steam navigation and
wrote a book. called 1.-THE Projec-
tor Detected" This person, whose
name was Cruise, claimed that the
inventor had insulted him in his
Treatise" According to Cruise.
Rumsey was nothing better than q
presumptuous ignoramus. a. z
But the inventor had no time to
reply to such foolish attacks. For
some reason or other every at
tempt he made to start his machine
going ended in failure. Between
1888 and 1887, he tried four times
to prove his theory only to have
each attempt end in disaster. But
he kept on. His first. trials were
made at night, with only his broth
er-in-law and himself ON board.
Rumors began to circulate about
this "crazy notion" as the people
termed it, and the inventor came in
for his full share of ridicule. In
the book above referred to, the writ
er asks him why II is that, II he
actually succeeded in perfecttng
this marvel. he withhold it from
the world. But Rumssy was work
ing. And finally, on Dec. 3, 1887,
his dream became q reality. With
. cargo of more than two tons on
board and a number OF passengers,
among~Whom was General Horatio
Gates, the boat moved under its
own steam, ct Q speed OF somewhat
over three miles an hour.
The event had been we'll adver-
tised. and thousands of people
crowded the high bluffs that over
look the Potomac at Shepherds
town To watch the start The en-
CINE was Of the crudest; for boil
er he had simply large copper
kettle of the type that was used in
those days In every household. The
rest Of the engine was equally