THE GROWTH OF THE STEAM-ENGINE. 



533 



interested in the subject, experimented with a screw made of wood, 

 and fitted in a boat built with funds furnished by a Mr. Wright, a 

 London banker. He exhibited it on the Thames and on the Padding- 

 ton Canal for several months. In February, 1837, by an accident, a 

 part of the screw-blade was broken off, and the improved perform- 

 ance of the boat called attention to the advisability of determining 

 its best proportions. 



Fig. 58. The Side-Wheel Ocean-Steamer, 1850. 



In 1837 Smith exhibited bis courage and his faith in the reliabil- 

 ity of his little steamer by making a coasting-voyage in quite heaA r y 

 weather, and the performance of his vessel was such as to fully jus- 

 tify the confidence felt in it by its designer. 



The British Admiralty soon had its attention called to the per- 

 formance of this vessel, and to the very excellent results attained by 

 the Archimedes, a vessel of 237 tons burden, which was built by 

 Smith and his coadjutors in 1838, and tried in 1839, attaining a 

 speed of eight knots an hour. By the performance of the Archime- 

 des, the advantages of screw-propulsion, especially for naval pur- 

 poses, were rendered so evident that the British Government built its 

 first screw-vessel, the Rattler, and Brunei adopted the screw in the 

 iron steamer Great Britain, which had been designed originally as a 

 paddle-steamer. 



98. Simultaneously with Smith, Captain John Ericsson was en- 

 gaged in the same project. 



He patented, July, 1836, a propeller which was found at the first 

 trial to be of such good form and proportions as to give excellent 

 results. 



His first vessel was the Francis B. Ogden, named after the United 

 States consul at Liverpool, who had lent the inventor valuable aid in 

 his work. The boat was forty-five feet long, eight feet beam, and drew 



