264 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Colonel John Stevens, of Hoboken, as he is generally called, was 

 born in the city of New York, in 1749, but, throughout his business 

 life, he was a resident of New Jersey. 



He was undoubtedly the greatest engineer and naval architect 

 living at the beginning of the present century. 



John Stevens. 



Without having made any one superlatively great improvement in 

 the mechanism of the steam-engine, like that which gave "Watt his 

 fame ; without having the honor of being the first to propose navi- 

 gation by steam, or steam transportation on land, he exhibited a far 

 better knowledge of the science and of the art of engineering than 

 any man of his time, and he entertained and urged more advanced 

 opinions and more statesmanlike views, in relation to the economical 

 importance of tire improvement of the steam-engine, both on land and 

 water, than seem to have been attributable to any other leading 

 engineer of that time. 



His attention is said to have been first called to the application of 

 steam-power by seeing the experiments of John Fitch with his steam- 

 er. He entered upon the work of the introduction of steam in navi- 

 gation with characteristic energy, and with a success that will be 

 indicated when we come to the consideration of that branch of the 

 subject. 



But this far-sighted engineer and statesman saw plainly the im- 

 portance of applying the steam-engine to land transportation as well 

 as navigation ; and not only that, but he saw with equal distinctness 



