﻿518 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  192 
  9 
  

  

  The 
  Federal 
  Constitutional 
  Convention, 
  then 
  in 
  session 
  at 
  Philadel- 
  

   phia, 
  had 
  adjourned 
  on 
  this 
  memorable 
  afternoon 
  so 
  that 
  its 
  members 
  

   might 
  witness 
  the 
  experiment. 
  They 
  lined 
  the 
  water 
  front 
  cheering 
  

   Fitch 
  as 
  he 
  steamed 
  past. 
  Some 
  even 
  got 
  a 
  ride 
  in 
  the 
  boat, 
  

   amongst 
  them 
  Chief 
  Justice 
  Ellsworth 
  of 
  Connecticut. 
  

  

  Proud 
  and 
  happy 
  as 
  he 
  was 
  for 
  having 
  accomplished 
  what 
  every- 
  

   one 
  believed 
  impossible 
  and 
  for 
  being 
  the 
  first 
  person 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  

   States 
  to 
  build 
  and 
  successfully 
  operate 
  a 
  man-carrying 
  steamboat, 
  

   Fitch 
  was 
  disappointed 
  with 
  the 
  boat's 
  speed 
  and 
  immediately 
  went 
  

   to 
  work 
  on 
  another 
  one. 
  He 
  continued 
  also 
  to 
  petition 
  neighboring 
  

   States 
  for 
  exclusive 
  privileges 
  such 
  as 
  New 
  Jersey 
  had 
  granted 
  him, 
  

   and 
  before 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  1787, 
  Pennsylvania, 
  New 
  York, 
  Delaware, 
  and 
  

   Virginia 
  had 
  acceded 
  to 
  his 
  request. 
  How 
  he 
  managed 
  to 
  keep 
  body 
  

   and 
  soul 
  alive 
  no 
  one 
  knows. 
  He 
  prevailed 
  upon 
  each 
  member 
  of 
  his 
  

   company 
  to 
  agree 
  to 
  a 
  30 
  dollar 
  assessment 
  to 
  permit 
  him 
  to 
  go 
  on 
  

   with 
  the 
  new 
  boat 
  which 
  he 
  completed 
  in 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1788. 
  This 
  

   boat 
  measured 
  60 
  feet 
  and 
  was 
  propelled 
  by 
  a 
  paddle 
  wheel 
  at 
  the 
  

   stern 
  turned 
  by 
  a 
  small 
  steam 
  engine 
  having 
  a 
  12-inch 
  cylinder. 
  The 
  

   trial 
  trip 
  of 
  this 
  boat, 
  made 
  in 
  July 
  of 
  that 
  year, 
  was 
  from 
  Philadelphia 
  

   to 
  Burlington, 
  N. 
  J., 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  20 
  miles 
  upstream, 
  the 
  greatest 
  

   distance 
  ever 
  made 
  by 
  a 
  steamboat 
  up 
  to 
  that 
  time. 
  Fitch 
  made 
  many 
  

   round 
  trips 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  next 
  few 
  months. 
  On 
  one 
  of 
  these, 
  his 
  

   boat 
  carried 
  30 
  passengers. 
  Even 
  with 
  this 
  load 
  it 
  made 
  the 
  trip 
  up 
  

   to 
  Burlington 
  in 
  three 
  hours 
  and 
  ten 
  minutes. 
  

  

  While 
  it 
  is 
  quite 
  easy 
  to 
  imagine 
  that 
  the 
  people 
  who 
  sav/ 
  Fitch's 
  

   boats 
  might 
  have 
  looked 
  upon 
  his 
  first 
  one 
  as 
  a 
  mere 
  accident 
  and 
  his 
  

   second 
  but 
  a 
  little 
  more 
  than 
  that, 
  it 
  is 
  hard 
  to 
  understand 
  their 
  con- 
  

   tinued 
  indifference 
  after 
  his 
  third 
  boat, 
  larger 
  than 
  the 
  others, 
  was 
  

   put 
  into 
  regular 
  service 
  on 
  the 
  Delaware 
  River 
  in 
  1790, 
  and 
  its 
  schedule 
  

   of 
  sailings 
  advertised 
  in 
  the 
  Philadelphia 
  daily 
  newspapers. 
  The 
  Fed- 
  

   eral 
  Congress 
  at 
  least 
  had 
  a 
  change 
  of 
  heart, 
  granting 
  him 
  a 
  patent 
  on 
  

   August 
  26, 
  1791, 
  for 
  a 
  term 
  of 
  14 
  years, 
  the 
  original 
  document 
  having 
  

   been 
  signed 
  by 
  George 
  Washington 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  commissioners 
  Thomas 
  

   Jefferson, 
  Henry 
  Knox, 
  and 
  John 
  Randolph. 
  Later 
  on 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  

   year, 
  the 
  French 
  Government 
  likewise 
  granted 
  him 
  a 
  patent 
  protect- 
  

   ing 
  his 
  invention 
  for 
  15 
  years. 
  For 
  many 
  years 
  the 
  original 
  of 
  this 
  

   French 
  patent 
  has 
  been 
  on 
  public 
  exhibition 
  in 
  the 
  National 
  Museum. 
  

  

  Fitch's 
  desire 
  for 
  improvement 
  in 
  his 
  steamboats 
  was 
  insatiable 
  and 
  

   given 
  the 
  opportunity, 
  he 
  would 
  no 
  doubt 
  have 
  made 
  better 
  boats. 
  

   Unfortunately, 
  neither 
  the 
  general 
  public 
  nor 
  the 
  Government 
  could 
  

   see 
  the 
  future 
  of 
  steam 
  navigation 
  even 
  in 
  the 
  face 
  of 
  Fitch's 
  accom- 
  

   plishments. 
  He 
  had 
  the 
  vision, 
  but 
  like 
  many 
  inventors 
  before 
  and 
  

   since, 
  he 
  stood 
  alone. 
  The 
  more 
  he 
  talked 
  about 
  the 
  wonderful 
  

   opportunities 
  of 
  this 
  new 
  mode 
  of 
  travel 
  the 
  more 
  firmly 
  convinced 
  

   everyone 
  became 
  that 
  he 
  was 
  really 
  crazy. 
  

  

  