igii] The Story of the Steamship. 107 



THE STORY OF THE STEAMSHIP. 



By Sir Sandford Fleming, LL.D., K.C.M.G. 



{Read nth February, 1911.) 



In January of the present year I read in the "Evening Star" pub- 

 Hshed in Dunedin, New Zealand, an interesting article on the history of 

 Steam navigation. The article is illustrated by a plate of the "British 

 Queen" which is set forth as the first steamship tovoyageacross the Atlantic. 



The subject was brought to the consideration of the Canadian 

 Institute many years ago and I felt warranted in advising the editor of 

 the "Evening Star" of Dunedin, and in setting right the readers of that 

 publication in the Dominion of New Zealand. I alluded to the facts 

 stated in the Transactions of the Canadian Institute for 1891-92 when 

 they offer a note on Ocean Steam Navigation (page 165) and on early 

 steamboats (page 174). I further communicated with the highest 

 authority known to us viz, Mr. James Croil, author of Steam Navi- 

 gation. Mr. Croil confirmed all the facts submitted and enabled me to 

 mention to our fellow citizens in New Zealand that a Canadian built 

 ship, "Royal William" was six years ahead of the British Queen and 

 that it is quite a mistake to award to Fulton of New York the credit of 

 having in 1803 solved the problem of propulsion by steam on lake or sea. 



Among the early efforts to propel vessels by steam, the most suc- 

 cessful were those of Patrick Miller, on Dalswinton Loch in Scotland, in 

 1788 and of Symington on the Forth and Clyde Canal, in the years fol- 

 lowing. In 1 801 an experiment in steam navigation was made on the 

 Thames, and in 1802 under Symington's supervision the "Charlotte 

 Dundas" was put in operation on the Forth and Clyde Canal; in the 

 latter case it happened that Robert Fulton of New York and Henry 

 Bell of Glasgow were both present. The latter afterwards made suc- 

 cessful efforts in establishing steam navigation on the Clyde, as also did 

 Fulton on the Hudson at New York. Mr. Bell's memory is perpetuated 

 in an obelisk erected by the city of Glasgow on a picturesque promontory 

 on the Banks of the Clyde. Fulton constructed in 1807 at New York 

 the "Clermont"; the following winter she was enlarged, renamed the 

 "North-River" and for a number of years plied on the Hudson as a 

 passenger boat. In 1809 the first steamboat appeared on the St. Law- 

 rence. The "Accommodation" was built by the Hon. John Molson, the 



