Evening star., 1920-04-04

months that summer and that then
something happened, the record of
which the Rambler has not found,
The original model Of the engine that
ran this boat is at the Archaeological
building in Philadelphia. On Monday,
February %. 1915, Representative
Lonergan of Connecticut made a
speech in the House of Representa-
tives on Fitch and his steamboat Tie
Star of Tuesday, February 90. con-
tanned this: THE claim by the state
of Connecticut that John Fitch of
Windsor in that state was the first
man to place a successful steamboat
in the water was presented on the
floor of the House late yesterday by
Representative Lonergan of Connec-
ticut. The data TO support the claim,
lie said, had been collected by the
Admiral Bunce section of the Navy
League of the United States, at Hart
ford. Mr.. Lonergan said that Fitch
was operating a steamboat in 1886
and that his invention dates back to
1885, which antedates the Clermont
sentative Lonergan said in part:
In 1856, upon the petition of Fitch. New
Jersey granted him sole and exclusive rights
in her navigable waters for period of four.
teen years for his steamboat invention The
original petition Of Fitch, which was lost for
many years, has been found recently-l914--
oy AdJt. Gen. Wilbur F. Sadler of New Jersey
ana Photographic copy Of same forwarded to
Connecticut,
In l7s7 four other states. viz, Delaware
pennsylvania Virginia and New York. granted
rtch similar rights in their navigable waters
1or period of fourteen years for his steam.
boat invention. These grants to Fitch were
maze twenty years before Robert Fulton
launched his first steamboat, the Clermout. or
the Hudson river in 1907,
The Rambler has much more concern.
ing Fitch and the Delaware river steam
boat and he has yet much to tell of Rum
sey and his Potomac river Steamboat
but all this will be brought out in what
the Rambler considers proper order a..
these steamboat narratives progress
Here the Rambler wants to put in a
lew facts about the very early nav;pa.
tors OF the Potomac and who, of course
passed along by means Of oars and sails
The first Europeans to come up the riv.r
so far as known. were Capt. John Smith
and his party in the summer of 1908
smith mado two trips Of exploration I'm
the Potomac. On the first of these trims
he was accompanied by Walter Russell,
Ralph Marston. Thomas Momford vii.
liam Cantrill, Richard Featherstone
James Burne and Mitchell Sicklemore
gentlemen and Jonas Profit. Anas
Todkill, Robert Small, James Watkins
John Powell. James Reade and Richa rd
keale. On the second trip the names
OF Walter Russell, Ralph Marston, Will
liam Cantrill. Robert Small and John
Powell are omitted and these names
added: Nathaniel Powell and Anthonv
Bagnell, gentlemen, and Edward Pisinp
and William Ward, soldiers. Every ono
OK these names was attached to some
point OF land. creek. bay or island met
with in the progress Of the party up the
Potomac and many OF these names are to
this day preserved.
The next party OF Europeans to
come this way seem to have been a
party OF twenty-six men commanded
by Capt. Fleet. The names of the men
are not of record, SO far as the Ram
bier can learn. This party in the year
1921, aboard pinnace called the
Tiger, set out from the jamestown n
colony and ascended the Potomac to
the Eastern branch, 1t was on the