FULTON AND THE CLERMONT Mo ORE than a century ago, an English poet, Erasmus Darwin, Soon shall thy arm, unconquered steam, afar It was generally thought that this verse was the product of a disordered imagination, but its predictions have all been fulfilled. In 1807 Robert Fulton solved the problem of steam navigation; in 1827 Robert Stevenson built the first steam locomotive; and in 1909 the Wright brothers and others with their aeroplanes are subduing the air. There have been innumerable inventions, and a vast multitude of inventors: but the great inventors, they who have revolutionized scientific processes or made new application of the forces of nature to the progress of mankind, have been very few. Of these Robert Fulton was eminently one. He was a mechanical genius of the highest order, as he was also a rarely gifted man in various lines of achievement. His enduring fame, however, rests upon his ascent of the Hudson with the Clermont in the fall of 1807. This was both a scientific and an economic success-the forerunner of the keels which have cut the rivers and the fleets which have whitened the oceans for over 100 years. For this his name will be remembered through the ages. He was born in Little Britain township (now Fulton) near Lancaster, Pa., November 14, 1765. His father, Robert, was a farmer in moderate circumstances, who died when his son was but 3 years old. His early schooling was in Lancaster under a Quaker by the name of Johnson, who thought him a dull scholar and not infrequently reproved him for his idleness. But he was busy outside, if not inside, the schoolHe frequented the shops, in which he was a favorite, and showed decided skill both in drawing and mechanics. Many stories are told of his youthful inventions and of the projects, some visionary and some practical, of which his head was full. He resolved to be an artist and at the age of 17 went to Philadelphia to study his profession, in which he at once showed talent, and was faithful and industrious in its pursuit. He painted a number room. of portraits and landscapes of more than ordinary merit, and made many friends during the next four years, among them Benjamin Franklin, who encouraged him in his work and doubtless talked with him about his own discoveries and inventions, possibly giving him a bent toward the vocation he afterward adopted. Another serviceable friend was Benjamin West, then at the hight of his reputation as an artist, with whom he frequently corresponded and upon whose advice he went to England in 1786. He was engaged in his profession in London for over 10 years, producing many excellent pictures, being well paid therefor, and receiving the constant counsel and good offices of West. During his residence in England, however, he became well acquainted with men of high scientific attainments, Sir John Sinclair, president of the Board of Agriculture, and the Duke of Bridgewater, the founder of the canal system of Great Britain, being among them. It is said that the latter named nobleman induced Fulton to abandon art and take to the study of mechanical science. He certainly was very active along the new line during the latter portion of his stay in England. He published a treatise on canal navigation, included in which were suggested improvements in bridges and aqueducts, and he built on the Shrewsbury canal at Long and across the river Dee in Scotland aqueducts upon his plan. So early as 1793 he conceived the idea of propelling vessels by steam. In 1794 he obtained a patent for a double-inclined plane for raising and lowering boats in canal locks, and also patents for several minor devices. About this time he sent copies of his work on canals to Governor George Clinton and Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury, accompanied by earnest arguments for the construction of canals in the United States; and it is claimed that in 1807 he made the first public appeal in behalf of a canal from Lake Erie to the Hudson. He was afterward one of the commission appointed to superintend the construction of the Erie canal. Late in 1797 Fulton went to Paris, which was his principal place of residence until his return to his own country in 1806. There he became intimate with Joel Barlow, afterward the United States Minister to France and the well known author of "Hasty Pudding," the Columbiad" dedicated to Fulton, and other patriotic poems. They were mutually interested in poetry, painting and mechanics. There also he was brought into close relations with Robert R. Livingston, who, while chancellor of the New York Court of Chancery, administered the oath of office to President Washington, and was Minister to France from 1801 till 1804. Livingston was a student in mechanics and science and was deeply interested in steam navigation. Many consultations between the two resulted in the building of an experimental boat, at their joint expense, in 1803, which was successfully launched upon the Seine. She was 66 feet long and 8 feet wide and moved by wheels, but did not meet expectations as to speed. But Fulton and Livingston then and there determined to build a larger and more powerful vessel for the Hudson, and Livingston had already secured from the Legislature of New York exclusive privileges for the navigation by steam of the waters of the State. During his stay in France Fulton devoted much attention to experiments in submarine gun explosives and diving boats, his blowing up of the Dorothea in Walmar Roads near Deal, in 1805 in the presence of William Pitt, the English prime minister, being his most notable exhibition in this regard. He continued his experiments with torpedoes and his efforts to obtain governmental sanction for their use, and in 1813 took out a United States patent “for several improvements in the art of maritime warfare and means of injuring and destroying ships and vessels by igniting gunpowder under water"; but he does not seem materially to have profited by his inventions in submarine warfare. Its development was reserved until a later day than his. Fulton returned to America in October 1806 to build his steamboat, and made his home thereafter in New York city. It would be pertinent to describe a few of the efforts made by others prior to Fulton's supreme success, but only a passing allusion may be indulged in. Some who tried came very near to winning the laurels which he bore away, but they just missed inventing the special devices or commanding the resources that brought him honor. The idea of steam navigation was in the air for many years and the list of those who sought to give it expression is a long one. As early as 1690 a German by the name of Papin published a work in which he proposed steam as a universal motive power, but the thought died with its utterance. In 1763 William Henry is said to have put a model steamboat on the Canastoga in Chester county, Pennsylvania. There follow the experiments of James Rumsey on the Potomac in 1784 and on the Thames in 1792; those of John Fitch on the Delaware in 1787 and on Collect pond, New York, in 1796. His boats were propelled by oars or paddles at the sides, and he is conceded to have come nearer to attaining success than any one . FROM PAINTING BY BENJAMIN WEST IN POSSESSION OF FULTON'S GRANDSON, MR ROBERT FULTON LUDLOW OF CLAVERACK, N. Y. Robert Fulton else before Fulton. Other attempts are those of Nathan Read at Danvers, Mass. in 1789; of Elijah Ormsbee at Providence in 1792; of Samuel Morey on the Connecticut between 1790 and 1794; and of Colonel John Stevens of Hoboken on the Hudson in 1804. It would require too many technical terms and occupy too much space to detail the points of these and other inventions, and in the comparison it is sufficient in defining the superiority of Fulton to quote the following from his biography by Reigart: "In none of those who have attempted this great object were united those qualities and acquirements to which Mr Fulton owed his success: that is to say, a genius for invention, mathematical and philosophical science, mechanical knowledge, and, what is rare in combination with these, considerable practice." |