Norwich bulletin., 1921-07-04
ODD INCIDENTS iN AMERICAS
 HISTORY
THE BEGINNING OF STEAM NAvI.
 GATlON

CATION.
 It was to two Pennsylvanians that the world owes the introduction of steam navigation. They were Robert Fulton and John Fitch. Fitch was the first to build d steamboat and navi- gate American waters; but through lack of assistance it never became commercial product and the honor of being the father of steam navigation in America fell to the lot of Fulton.
 For long time the American peo- pie turned a dull ear to the enterprise of these two inventors, and their work came very near being put to an ac- complishment in Europe. Then en- zine for the Fulton boat was built at Birmingham. England, but at the di- rection ot Fulton, who brought it to America. All other parts of the boat were American made.
 While the work of building the Full ton steamboat was progressing, all sorts of fun were poked at the invent or, and his experiment of water flavi- gation by steam came to be popular joke. Few people expected success and nearly every man felt himself competent to ridicule the entire pro- jeet.
 The Fulton boat was built at Charles Browns shipyard, on the East River, and the vessel, as completed was 130 ! feet long, sixteen and one-half feet wide, four feet deep and of 1eO tons | burden.
 When the boat was finished, a pre- | liminary trip from the shipyard to the ] Jersey shore satisfied the inventor that he was going to be successful. It was made early in the morning, few days before the regular trial trip, to tht great surprise of those on board thu
 ships anchored in the harbor, wht l were the only witnesses.
 On Monday, August Il, 1807 the yes. sel, which had been named the "Cler
 mont, made it's trial trip. Fultoni chief packer in the enterprise wa Chancellor Livingston, and the boa
 was christened with the name of hi
 famous country seat.
 The wharf from which the star
 was made was crowded with specta
 tors, many of whom made sarcasti remarks, and the majority expected
 fiasco. Fulton, writing about the oc
 casion to his friend Barlow, said tha
 there were perhaps not more tha
 thirty persons in the city who believe
 that the boat would move more tha
 a mile an hour, or be of the least util ) ity. , But when the hawser of the "CIer mont" was cast off at 1 o'clock tn vessel started and at-once, under per : feet control, started up the rive l against wind and current, and with : out any other power than that ( 3 steam, and at 1 o'clock on Tuesday ar r rived at Clerfnont, one hundred and te t miles in twenty -four hours.
 The next day Fulton left the chan . cellor's home at in the morning, maB ing the trip of forty miles to Alban : in eight hours. On the return tri l the "Clermont" left Albany at o'cloc : on Thursday morning, arriving at u l chancellof's dock at 6 o'clock, leavin r there an hour later and req ching Ne 1 York the next afternoon at o'cloc
 thus making the return trip of oi
 hundred and fifty miles in thirt n hours running time, for five miles a Il hour.
 $ In this trial trip Fulton discovere . several alterations and repairs thu < were necessary for the greater protet f tion of the "Clerfnont," which great increased the speed, changes whic ', made the boat more convenient fl # travellers, and all through the rest
 the autumn the steamer made quit
 and regular passages as a packet. ' An amusing result of the success r the 'Clermont' was that the owne o Ol SdlllnS vessels cOmDlneQ ana SUI 2 out an injunction to restrain Fultt ie from running the "Clermont," on t n ground that the right of navigati i'd of the river was theirs by prescriptio r as from the first the navigation of t
 river had belonged to them. ,d It seemed strange now that such .d ridiculous claim should have reach in trial but it did, and Daniel Webst as won the case for Fulton and Livin r ston. The jealousy and enmity of ot :" CTS in the river transportation bu
 ness led to several attempts to destr
 the "Clermont,' by running afoul
 her, and in other ways, and spec be laws, making such action crimin c- were passed.
 Numerous patent suits had to be A tended and prosecuted to sustain VV monopoly granted to Fulton and l. es ingston, but it was upheld until IS
 when it was set aside by the supre ny court of the United States. Anotl cd and very valuable part of the ste or navigation interest was introduced
 Fulton in 1872, in the construction he two ferry boats for the North rive as (Tof1orrow-"The Empress of Ge an gia.")
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