﻿MECHANICAL 
  TRANSPORT 
  MITMAN 
  527 
  

  

  The 
  performance 
  of 
  the 
  Phoenix 
  ought 
  certainly 
  to 
  have 
  brought 
  

   to 
  Colonel 
  Stevens 
  the 
  greatest 
  acclaim 
  of 
  his 
  career, 
  but, 
  unfortu- 
  

   nately, 
  the 
  feat 
  was 
  undertaken 
  too 
  late. 
  As 
  has 
  often 
  been 
  the 
  case 
  

   before 
  and 
  since 
  his 
  time, 
  public 
  fancy 
  rested 
  at 
  the 
  moment 
  on 
  another 
  

   (Robert 
  Fulton) 
  and 
  so 
  the 
  accomplishments 
  of 
  the 
  Phoenix 
  passed 
  

   almost 
  unnoticed. 
  One 
  can 
  not 
  help 
  but 
  believe, 
  considering 
  Stevens's 
  

   knowledge, 
  ability, 
  and 
  wealth, 
  that 
  had 
  he 
  so 
  wished 
  he 
  could 
  have 
  

   established 
  at 
  an 
  early 
  date 
  a 
  practical 
  and 
  commercially 
  successful 
  

   steamboat 
  service, 
  but 
  his 
  ambition 
  was 
  to 
  make 
  it 
  a 
  purely 
  American 
  

   colonial 
  undertaking 
  and 
  he 
  refused 
  to 
  purchase 
  any 
  foreign 
  engines 
  or 
  

   other 
  equipment. 
  

  

  Discouragement 
  does 
  not 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  had 
  a 
  place 
  in 
  Stevens's 
  

   makeup. 
  He 
  continued 
  with 
  his 
  experiments 
  although 
  hampered 
  

   somewhat 
  by 
  Fulton's 
  monopoly. 
  His 
  years 
  prevented 
  him 
  from 
  

   taking 
  as 
  active 
  a 
  part 
  as 
  formerly, 
  but 
  he 
  had 
  in 
  his 
  son 
  Robert 
  an 
  

   admirable 
  successor. 
  Robert 
  Stevens 
  soon 
  became 
  the 
  foremost 
  

   marine 
  and 
  railroad 
  engineer 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  Within 
  three 
  

   years, 
  in 
  1811, 
  father 
  and 
  son 
  had 
  built 
  a 
  steam 
  ferryboat 
  and 
  laid 
  the 
  

   foundation 
  for 
  the 
  present 
  extensive 
  ferry 
  system 
  between 
  New 
  York 
  

   and 
  New 
  Jersey, 
  Thereafter 
  and 
  until 
  his 
  death 
  at 
  the 
  age 
  of 
  89 
  

   Colonel 
  Stevens 
  devoted 
  the 
  major 
  part 
  of 
  his 
  time 
  and 
  energy 
  in 
  

   fighting 
  for 
  the 
  establishment 
  of 
  railways 
  against 
  canals, 
  in 
  the 
  

   attainment 
  of 
  which 
  his 
  influence 
  ranked 
  high. 
  

  

  ROBERT 
  FULTON 
  

  

  When 
  Chancellor 
  Livingston 
  sailed 
  for 
  France 
  to 
  take 
  up 
  his 
  duties 
  

   as 
  United 
  States 
  minister, 
  he 
  no 
  doubt 
  believed 
  that 
  he 
  was 
  leaving 
  

   his 
  interest 
  in 
  steamboats 
  behind 
  him. 
  As 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  fact 
  his 
  new 
  

   post 
  was 
  to 
  see 
  that 
  interest 
  greatly 
  increased, 
  for 
  shoitly 
  after 
  his 
  

   arrival 
  in 
  France 
  he 
  met 
  Robert 
  Fulton. 
  From 
  that 
  meeting 
  great 
  

   results 
  flowed. 
  

  

  Fulton 
  was 
  born 
  in 
  Little 
  Britain, 
  Lancaster 
  County, 
  Pa., 
  in 
  1765. 
  

   He 
  displayed 
  no 
  more 
  than 
  the 
  normal 
  boy's 
  interest 
  in 
  mechanics 
  

   while 
  in 
  school 
  but 
  showed 
  a 
  marked 
  aptitude 
  in 
  drawing. 
  By 
  the 
  

   time 
  he 
  was 
  21 
  he 
  had 
  made 
  quite 
  a 
  name 
  for 
  himself 
  as 
  a 
  portrait 
  

   painter. 
  On 
  the 
  advice 
  of 
  a 
  group 
  of 
  interested 
  Philadelphians, 
  in 
  

   whose 
  city 
  he 
  had 
  lived 
  and 
  worked 
  for 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  years, 
  he 
  went 
  to 
  

   England 
  in 
  1786 
  to 
  study 
  under 
  the 
  patronage 
  of 
  Benjamin 
  West, 
  a 
  

   noted 
  Philadelphia 
  artist 
  then 
  living 
  in 
  London. 
  Through 
  West, 
  

   Fulton 
  met 
  many 
  prominent 
  people 
  amongst 
  whom 
  were 
  the 
  Duke 
  of 
  

   Bridgewater 
  and 
  the 
  Earl 
  of 
  Stanhope. 
  Their 
  interest 
  in 
  and 
  dis- 
  

   cussions 
  of 
  engineering 
  problems 
  of 
  the 
  day 
  so 
  influenced 
  Fulton 
  that 
  

   before 
  long 
  he, 
  too, 
  began 
  thinking, 
  studying, 
  and 
  talking 
  of 
  inland 
  

   navigation 
  and 
  canal 
  systems 
  and 
  forgot 
  about 
  his 
  portrait 
  work. 
  

  

  