﻿MECHANICAL 
  TRANSPORT 
  MITMAN 
  521 
  

  

  had 
  to 
  be 
  paid, 
  the 
  distance 
  covered 
  in 
  a 
  day 
  was 
  small, 
  and 
  the 
  

   amount 
  of 
  cargo 
  carried 
  was 
  hardly 
  noticeable. 
  

  

  Rumsey 
  knew 
  all 
  this, 
  for 
  the 
  Potomac 
  River, 
  on 
  which 
  he 
  lived, 
  

   served 
  as 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  main 
  waterways 
  west. 
  He 
  knew 
  also 
  that 
  General 
  

   Washington 
  was 
  greatly 
  interested, 
  because 
  of 
  his 
  large 
  holdings 
  in 
  

   the 
  Ohio 
  Company 
  organized 
  by 
  his 
  half 
  brothers 
  Lawrence 
  and 
  Augus- 
  

   tine, 
  to 
  which 
  he 
  had 
  fallen 
  heir. 
  This 
  company 
  owned 
  large 
  land 
  

   areas 
  in 
  the 
  Northwest 
  Territory 
  and 
  engaged 
  in 
  the 
  fur 
  trade. 
  

   Sometime 
  in 
  the 
  early 
  summer 
  of 
  1784, 
  therefore, 
  Rumsey 
  wrote 
  

   Washington 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  perfected 
  an 
  idea 
  for 
  mechanically 
  propel- 
  

   ling 
  boats 
  upstream, 
  and 
  invited 
  him 
  to 
  stop 
  over 
  at 
  Bath 
  the 
  next 
  

   time 
  he 
  came 
  that 
  way 
  to 
  witness 
  a 
  demonstration 
  of 
  a 
  working 
  model 
  

   of 
  the 
  scheme. 
  Washington 
  accepted 
  the 
  invitation 
  and 
  on 
  Septem- 
  

   ber 
  5, 
  1784, 
  Rumsey 
  showed 
  him 
  his 
  model, 
  but 
  only 
  after 
  the 
  General 
  

   had 
  promised 
  not 
  to 
  divulge 
  the 
  principle 
  involved. 
  In 
  his 
  diary, 
  on 
  

   September 
  6, 
  1784, 
  Washington 
  wrote, 
  "The 
  model 
  and 
  its 
  operation 
  

   upon 
  the 
  water, 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  made 
  to 
  run 
  pretty 
  swift, 
  not 
  only 
  

   convinced 
  me 
  of 
  what 
  I 
  had 
  before 
  thought 
  next 
  to, 
  if 
  not 
  quite 
  

   impracticable, 
  but 
  that 
  it 
  might 
  be 
  the 
  greatest 
  possible 
  utility 
  in 
  

   inland 
  navigation; 
  and 
  in 
  rapid 
  currents. 
  What 
  adds 
  vastly 
  to 
  the 
  

   value 
  of 
  the 
  disco 
  ver.y, 
  is 
  the 
  simplicity 
  of 
  its 
  works; 
  as 
  they 
  may 
  be 
  

   made 
  by 
  a 
  common 
  boat 
  builder 
  or 
  carpenter, 
  and 
  kept 
  in 
  order 
  as 
  

   easy 
  as 
  a 
  plow 
  or 
  any 
  common 
  implement 
  of 
  husbandry 
  on 
  a 
  farm." 
  

   This 
  was 
  Rumsey 
  's 
  first 
  boat. 
  It 
  was 
  pushed 
  by 
  mechanicall}" 
  

   operated 
  poles, 
  but 
  the 
  power 
  used 
  was 
  not 
  steam. 
  

  

  Encouraged 
  by 
  Washington 
  's 
  evident 
  enthusiasm, 
  Rumsey 
  worked 
  

   on 
  his 
  model 
  for 
  several 
  months 
  more 
  and 
  then 
  abandoned 
  it 
  when 
  

   another 
  idea, 
  that 
  of 
  using 
  the 
  force 
  of 
  steam, 
  came 
  to 
  him. 
  He 
  

   again 
  wrote 
  to 
  Washington 
  on 
  March 
  10, 
  1785, 
  "I 
  have 
  taken 
  the 
  

   greatest 
  pains 
  to 
  perfect 
  another 
  kind 
  of 
  boat, 
  upon 
  the 
  principles 
  I 
  

   mentioned 
  to 
  you 
  at 
  Richmond 
  in 
  November 
  last 
  * 
  * 
  *." 
  He 
  

   refrained 
  from 
  telling 
  what 
  the 
  principle 
  was, 
  for 
  fear 
  of 
  having 
  it 
  

   stolen, 
  but 
  it 
  involved 
  pumping 
  a 
  stream 
  of 
  water, 
  under 
  pressure, 
  

   out 
  through 
  the 
  stern 
  of 
  a 
  boat 
  below 
  the 
  water 
  line, 
  the 
  reactive 
  force 
  

   resulting 
  causing 
  the 
  boat 
  to 
  move 
  forward. 
  It 
  was 
  a 
  boat 
  thus 
  

   propelled 
  that 
  Rumsey 
  used 
  in 
  his 
  first 
  public 
  trial 
  in 
  1787, 
  mentioned 
  

   earlier. 
  

  

  Alone 
  and 
  behind 
  locked 
  doors, 
  Rumsey 
  experimented 
  with 
  his 
  new 
  

   scheme 
  oft 
  and 
  on, 
  throughout 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  1785. 
  He 
  could 
  not 
  

   spend 
  all 
  of 
  his 
  time 
  on 
  it, 
  however, 
  for 
  he 
  was 
  in 
  charge 
  of 
  operations 
  

   for 
  a 
  company 
  that 
  had 
  just 
  been 
  formed 
  by 
  Washington 
  to 
  improve 
  

   the 
  navigation 
  of 
  the 
  Potomac. 
  About 
  May 
  the 
  news 
  came 
  to 
  him 
  that 
  

   Fitch 
  had 
  started 
  experimenting 
  with 
  steamboats 
  and 
  he 
  knew 
  then 
  

   for 
  the 
  first 
  time 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  a 
  rival 
  and 
  that 
  he 
  would 
  have 
  to 
  hurry. 
  

   He 
  decided 
  to 
  build 
  a 
  full-sized 
  boat 
  and 
  hired 
  a 
  local 
  mechanic, 
  

  

  