﻿526 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  19 
  2 
  9 
  

  

  Dr. 
  James 
  Ren 
  wick, 
  who 
  was 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  professorVof 
  natural 
  

   philosophy 
  at 
  Columbia 
  University, 
  in 
  telling 
  of 
  the 
  time 
  he 
  saw 
  the 
  

   boat, 
  wrote: 
  "We 
  went 
  to 
  walk 
  in 
  the 
  Battery. 
  As 
  we 
  entered 
  the 
  

   gate 
  from 
  Broadway 
  we 
  saw 
  what 
  we 
  in 
  those 
  days 
  considered 
  a 
  crowd 
  

   running 
  toward 
  the 
  river. 
  On 
  inquiring 
  the 
  cause 
  we 
  were 
  informed 
  

   that 
  Jack 
  Stevens 
  was 
  going 
  over 
  to 
  Hoboken 
  in 
  a 
  queer 
  sort 
  of 
  boat. 
  

   On 
  reaching 
  the 
  bulkhead 
  we 
  saw 
  lying 
  against 
  it 
  a 
  vessel 
  about 
  the 
  

   size 
  of 
  a 
  Whitehall 
  rowboat 
  in 
  which 
  was 
  a 
  small 
  engine, 
  but 
  there 
  was 
  

   no 
  visible 
  means 
  of 
  propulsion. 
  The 
  vessel 
  was 
  speedily 
  under 
  way, 
  

   my 
  late 
  much-valued 
  friend. 
  Commodore 
  Stevens, 
  acting 
  as 
  cock- 
  

   swain; 
  and 
  I 
  presume 
  the 
  smutty-looking 
  personage 
  who 
  fulfilled 
  the 
  

   duties 
  of 
  engineer, 
  fireman, 
  and 
  crew, 
  was 
  his 
  more 
  practical 
  brother, 
  

   Robert 
  L. 
  Stevens." 
  The 
  engine, 
  boiler, 
  and 
  propellers 
  of 
  this 
  

   historic 
  steamboat 
  still 
  exist. 
  Stevens 
  Institute 
  at 
  Hoboken, 
  founded 
  

   by 
  Colonel 
  Stevens' 
  son 
  Edwin, 
  took 
  care 
  of 
  them 
  until 
  1893, 
  when 
  

   they 
  were 
  presented 
  to 
  the 
  National 
  Museum, 
  where 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  

   carefully 
  maintained 
  and 
  exhibited 
  ever 
  since. 
  

  

  Stevens 
  had 
  now 
  designed 
  and 
  built 
  four 
  types 
  of 
  steam 
  engines 
  — 
  

   the 
  steam 
  pump 
  after 
  Savery, 
  the 
  Watt 
  type 
  with 
  separate 
  condenser, 
  

   a 
  rotary, 
  and 
  a 
  high-pressure, 
  noncondensing 
  type. 
  With 
  all 
  of 
  them 
  

   he 
  had 
  tried 
  to 
  propel 
  boats. 
  All 
  were 
  crude 
  affairs 
  and 
  none 
  could 
  

   be 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  given 
  convincing 
  proof 
  of 
  the 
  feasibility 
  of 
  steam 
  

   navigation. 
  He 
  knew 
  his 
  engines 
  were 
  crude 
  and 
  he 
  had 
  the 
  money 
  to 
  

   pay 
  for 
  the 
  best, 
  but 
  steam-engine 
  building 
  did 
  not 
  exist 
  in 
  America 
  

   as 
  a 
  trade 
  until 
  after 
  1800 
  and 
  did 
  not 
  amount 
  to 
  much 
  for 
  some 
  years 
  

   thereafter. 
  Stevens, 
  however, 
  decided 
  to 
  try 
  once 
  more 
  and 
  in 
  1806 
  

   began 
  the 
  construction 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  boat, 
  103 
  feet 
  long, 
  rigged 
  with 
  two 
  

   masts 
  and 
  sails. 
  It 
  was 
  equipped 
  with 
  a 
  crosshead 
  steam 
  engine, 
  

   with 
  two 
  condensing 
  cylinders 
  16 
  inches 
  in 
  diameter 
  and 
  with 
  3-foot 
  

   stroke. 
  The 
  boiler, 
  set 
  in 
  brickwork 
  in 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  boat, 
  con- 
  

   sisted 
  of 
  a 
  cylindrical 
  shell 
  with 
  one 
  return 
  flue. 
  The 
  engine, 
  in 
  turn, 
  

   operated 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  side 
  paddle 
  wheels. 
  Colonel 
  Stevens 
  had 
  the 
  

   Phoenix, 
  as 
  the 
  boat 
  was 
  called, 
  ready 
  for 
  trial 
  in 
  1807, 
  but 
  no 
  sooner 
  

   was 
  it 
  afloat 
  than 
  it 
  was 
  debarred 
  because 
  of 
  the 
  monopoly 
  granted 
  by 
  

   the 
  State 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  to 
  Livingston 
  and 
  Fulton 
  for 
  steamboat 
  service 
  

   on 
  the 
  waters 
  of 
  New 
  York. 
  Stevens 
  decided 
  to 
  send 
  the 
  Phoenix 
  to 
  

   Philadelphia. 
  In 
  June, 
  1808, 
  with 
  his 
  son 
  Robert 
  in 
  command, 
  the 
  

   Phoenix 
  made 
  the 
  trip 
  by 
  way 
  of 
  Sandy 
  Hook 
  and 
  Cape 
  May, 
  the 
  

   first 
  sea 
  voyage 
  ever 
  made 
  by 
  a 
  steam 
  vessel. 
  On 
  her 
  passage 
  she 
  

   encountered 
  a 
  storm 
  which 
  damaged 
  her 
  somewhat 
  and 
  compelled 
  her 
  

   to 
  seek 
  shelter 
  in 
  Barnegat 
  Bay. 
  After 
  reaching 
  Philadelphia, 
  how- 
  

   ever, 
  the 
  boat 
  ran 
  as 
  a 
  packet 
  for 
  six 
  years 
  on 
  the 
  Delaware 
  River 
  

   between 
  Philadelphia 
  and 
  Trenton, 
  and 
  was 
  finally 
  wrecked 
  at 
  

   Trenton. 
  

  

  