﻿524 
  ANIiJ-UAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  19 
  2 
  9 
  

  

  the 
  succeeding 
  fifty-odd 
  years 
  Stevens 
  lived 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  and 
  on 
  his 
  

   estate 
  across 
  the 
  Hudson 
  in 
  Hoboken. 
  At 
  the 
  latter 
  place 
  he 
  carried 
  

   on 
  all 
  his 
  experimental 
  work 
  with 
  steam. 
  

  

  It 
  will 
  be 
  recalled 
  that 
  in 
  1786 
  New 
  Jersey 
  had 
  given 
  Fitch 
  a 
  14- 
  

   year 
  exclusive 
  privilege 
  to 
  make 
  and 
  operate 
  steamboats 
  in 
  the 
  State. 
  

   Stevens 
  first 
  petitioned 
  the 
  State 
  legislature 
  in 
  1788 
  for 
  permission 
  

   to 
  place 
  a 
  steam 
  engine 
  on 
  board 
  a 
  boat 
  for 
  experimental 
  purposes. 
  

   He 
  then 
  undertook 
  an 
  intensive 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  whole 
  subject 
  of 
  steam, 
  

   devoting 
  upwards 
  of 
  two 
  years 
  to 
  it 
  until 
  he 
  had 
  thoroughly 
  familiar- 
  

   ized 
  himself 
  with 
  both 
  its 
  history 
  and 
  its 
  practical 
  applications. 
  

   Stevens 
  took 
  out 
  his 
  first 
  steamboat 
  patents 
  in 
  1792. 
  They 
  called 
  for 
  

   the 
  propelling 
  of 
  vessels 
  by 
  a 
  steam 
  engine 
  modified 
  from 
  the 
  original 
  

   steam 
  pumps 
  of 
  Captain 
  Savery, 
  of 
  England. 
  During 
  the 
  succeeding 
  

   six 
  years 
  he 
  made 
  many 
  experiments 
  on 
  different 
  modes 
  of 
  propulsion 
  

   by 
  steam, 
  but, 
  like 
  Fitch 
  and 
  Rumsey, 
  he 
  was 
  hampered 
  by 
  lack 
  of 
  

   facilities, 
  both 
  in 
  men 
  of 
  mechanical 
  ability 
  and 
  in 
  tools. 
  

  

  In 
  this 
  connection 
  Nicholas 
  Roosevelt, 
  another 
  New 
  Yorker, 
  seems 
  

   to 
  have 
  been 
  the 
  first 
  man 
  to 
  engage 
  in 
  machine 
  work 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  

   States. 
  In 
  1794 
  he, 
  with 
  two 
  partners, 
  purchased 
  6 
  acres 
  of 
  land 
  at 
  

   Belleville, 
  N. 
  J., 
  from 
  Josiah 
  Hornblower 
  and 
  erected 
  a 
  foundry 
  and 
  

   machine 
  shop 
  there. 
  But 
  the 
  work 
  they 
  were 
  able 
  to 
  do 
  seems 
  pitiful 
  

   to 
  us 
  now. 
  For 
  instance, 
  the 
  city 
  authorities 
  of 
  Philadelphia 
  in 
  1800 
  

   sent 
  them 
  a 
  steam 
  cylinder 
  in 
  two 
  sections, 
  each 
  38K 
  inches 
  in 
  diameter 
  

   and 
  3K 
  feet 
  long 
  to 
  be 
  bored. 
  This 
  was 
  for 
  use 
  in 
  the 
  Boulton 
  & 
  

   Watt 
  steam 
  pumping 
  engine, 
  which 
  Philadelphia 
  had 
  imported 
  from 
  

   England 
  several 
  years 
  before 
  for 
  the 
  city 
  water 
  pumping 
  plant. 
  

   Roosevelt 
  started 
  work 
  with 
  his 
  boring 
  machine 
  operated 
  by 
  water 
  

   power 
  on 
  April 
  9. 
  Two 
  men 
  were 
  in 
  attendance 
  day 
  and 
  night, 
  

   "one 
  almost 
  living 
  in 
  the 
  cylinder," 
  and 
  the 
  job 
  was 
  completed 
  four 
  

   and 
  one-half 
  months 
  later. 
  Had 
  they 
  had 
  the 
  handling 
  and 
  machine- 
  

   tool 
  equipment 
  of 
  1929 
  the 
  cylinder 
  could 
  have 
  been 
  bored 
  in 
  24 
  

   hours. 
  

  

  Stevens' 
  absorption 
  in 
  steam 
  experiments 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  

   rather 
  contagious, 
  infecting 
  particularly 
  his 
  brother-in-law, 
  Robert 
  

   R. 
  Livingston, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  richest 
  men 
  of 
  his 
  time 
  and 
  chancellor 
  of 
  

   New 
  York 
  State. 
  He 
  apparently 
  fought 
  it 
  off 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  he 
  could 
  but 
  

   finally 
  succumbed 
  in 
  1798, 
  when 
  he 
  acquired 
  Fitch's 
  New 
  York 
  State 
  

   rights 
  to 
  steam 
  navigation. 
  He 
  wanted 
  to 
  build 
  a 
  steamboat 
  immedi- 
  

   ately, 
  and 
  had 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  made 
  up 
  his 
  mind 
  to 
  order 
  a 
  steam 
  engine 
  

   from 
  James 
  Watt 
  in 
  England, 
  but 
  Stevens 
  and 
  Roosevelt 
  who 
  were 
  asso- 
  

   ciated 
  \vith 
  him, 
  dissuaded 
  him 
  from 
  doing 
  that, 
  and 
  instead 
  prevailed 
  

   upon 
  him 
  to 
  let 
  Roosevelt 
  build 
  the 
  engine 
  at 
  his 
  shop 
  in 
  Belleville, 
  

   Roosevelt 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  had 
  in 
  his 
  employ 
  two 
  Englishmen, 
  John 
  Small- 
  

   wood 
  and 
  John 
  Hewitt, 
  the 
  former 
  a 
  machinist 
  and 
  the 
  latter 
  a 
  drafts- 
  

   man 
  and 
  patternmaker, 
  who 
  had 
  been 
  sent 
  to 
  Philadelphia 
  by 
  Boulton 
  

  

  