﻿MECHANICAL, 
  TRANSPORT 
  MITMAN 
  517 
  

  

  ments 
  presumably 
  with 
  no 
  information 
  as 
  to 
  what 
  had 
  already 
  been 
  

   done 
  with 
  steam. 
  

  

  Between 
  April 
  and 
  August 
  of 
  that 
  year 
  Fitch 
  tried 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  

   schemes 
  for 
  propelling 
  boats 
  — 
  endless 
  chain, 
  side 
  and 
  stem 
  paddle 
  

   wheels 
  and 
  screw 
  propeller. 
  He 
  buUt 
  four 
  models 
  equipped 
  with 
  a 
  

   steam 
  engine 
  and 
  one 
  or 
  another 
  of 
  the 
  propelling 
  devices 
  and 
  operated 
  

   them 
  successfully 
  on 
  a 
  little 
  stream 
  near 
  Davisville, 
  Pa. 
  The 
  boiler 
  

   was 
  an 
  iron 
  kettle, 
  the 
  propelling 
  machinery 
  was 
  made 
  of 
  brass 
  and 
  

   the 
  paddle 
  wheels 
  of 
  wood. 
  By 
  autumn 
  he 
  had 
  spent 
  all 
  of 
  his 
  

   money. 
  He 
  determined 
  to 
  ask 
  the 
  assistance 
  of 
  the 
  Continental 
  

   Congress, 
  then 
  in 
  session 
  in 
  New 
  York. 
  He 
  presented 
  his 
  petition 
  

   backed 
  with 
  commendatory 
  letters 
  from 
  such 
  men 
  as 
  Doctor 
  Ewing, 
  

   provost 
  of 
  the 
  University 
  of 
  Pennsylvania, 
  and 
  Doctor 
  Smith, 
  provost 
  

   of 
  Princeton, 
  but 
  no 
  action 
  was 
  taken. 
  Quite 
  discouraged 
  he 
  went 
  

   back 
  to 
  Philadelphia 
  and 
  presented 
  one 
  of 
  his 
  models 
  and 
  a 
  description 
  

   of 
  his 
  invention 
  to 
  the 
  American 
  Philosophical 
  Society. 
  This 
  time 
  

   he 
  received 
  moral 
  support 
  but 
  still 
  no 
  money. 
  He 
  then 
  undertook 
  

   to 
  raise 
  money 
  through 
  the 
  sale 
  of 
  maps 
  which 
  he 
  had 
  drawn 
  and 
  

   engraved 
  of 
  the 
  "northwest 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States," 
  posting 
  a 
  

   bond 
  with 
  Patrick 
  Henry 
  as 
  an 
  earnest 
  of 
  his 
  good 
  intentions. 
  By 
  

   setting 
  aside 
  one-half 
  of 
  the 
  subscription 
  price, 
  a 
  French 
  crown, 
  

   a 
  little 
  money 
  was 
  secured 
  but 
  hardly 
  enough 
  to 
  build 
  a 
  full-sized 
  

   boat 
  such 
  as 
  he 
  hoped 
  to 
  construct. 
  He 
  next 
  turned 
  to 
  State 
  legis- 
  

   latures 
  for 
  help 
  and 
  special 
  privileges. 
  The 
  first 
  approached, 
  that 
  of 
  

   New 
  Jersey, 
  on 
  March 
  18, 
  1786, 
  granted 
  him 
  the 
  exclusive 
  right 
  for 
  

   14 
  years 
  to 
  build 
  and 
  operate 
  steamboats 
  on 
  all 
  the 
  waters 
  of 
  the 
  

   State. 
  Armed 
  with 
  this 
  talking 
  point. 
  Fitch 
  succeeded 
  then 
  in 
  

   organizing 
  a 
  steamboat 
  company 
  composed 
  of 
  prominent 
  Philadel- 
  

   phians, 
  and 
  with 
  the 
  money 
  advanced 
  by 
  the 
  stockholders 
  plus 
  what 
  

   he 
  had 
  derived 
  from 
  the 
  sale 
  of 
  his 
  maps, 
  he 
  began 
  work 
  in 
  Phila- 
  

   delphia. 
  A 
  steam 
  skiff 
  was 
  tried 
  out 
  eJuly 
  27, 
  17S6, 
  and 
  a 
  45-foot 
  

   boat 
  begun 
  shortly 
  after. 
  With 
  the 
  help 
  of 
  his 
  friend, 
  Harry 
  Voight, 
  

   who 
  designed 
  the 
  steam 
  boiler, 
  he 
  worked 
  steadily 
  on 
  it 
  for 
  over 
  a 
  

   year, 
  receiving 
  his 
  reward 
  when 
  a 
  successful 
  trial 
  trip 
  with 
  the 
  two 
  

   aboard 
  was 
  made 
  on 
  August 
  22, 
  1787, 
  on 
  the 
  Delaware 
  River. 
  

  

  Twelve 
  large 
  wooden 
  paddles, 
  six 
  in 
  tandem 
  fashion 
  along 
  each 
  side 
  

   of 
  the 
  boat, 
  alternately 
  dipping 
  into 
  and 
  drawing 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  water 
  

   much 
  as 
  the 
  Indian 
  paddled 
  his 
  canoe, 
  propelled 
  the 
  boat 
  at 
  a 
  speed 
  

   of 
  3 
  miles 
  an 
  hour 
  up 
  and 
  down 
  the 
  river. 
  The 
  up 
  and 
  down 
  motion 
  

   of 
  the 
  engine 
  piston 
  was 
  converted 
  into 
  the 
  peculiar 
  motion 
  of 
  the 
  

   paddles 
  through 
  sprockets, 
  chains, 
  and 
  cranks. 
  The 
  engine 
  operated 
  

   on 
  the 
  Newcomen 
  principle, 
  including 
  the 
  injection 
  of 
  cold 
  water 
  

   into 
  the 
  cylinder 
  to 
  obtain 
  the 
  vacuum, 
  but 
  the 
  cylinder 
  and 
  boiler 
  

   were 
  placed 
  side 
  by 
  side 
  in 
  the 
  boat 
  rather 
  than 
  one 
  on 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  

   other, 
  as 
  Newcomen 
  arranged 
  his 
  engines. 
  

  

  