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  ANNUAL 
  EEPORi? 
  SMITfiSONlAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  19 
  2d 
  

  

  Fourteen 
  years 
  passed 
  during 
  which 
  he 
  was 
  engrossed 
  in 
  experiments 
  

   on 
  submarine 
  and 
  torpedo 
  inventions, 
  in 
  the 
  hope 
  of 
  improving 
  on 
  the 
  

   work 
  begun 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  during 
  the 
  Revolution 
  by 
  David 
  

   Bushnell, 
  Most 
  of 
  these 
  14 
  years 
  were 
  spent 
  in 
  Paris 
  where 
  Fulton 
  

   lived 
  with 
  another 
  American, 
  Joel 
  Barlow. 
  It 
  was 
  there 
  he 
  met 
  

   Robert 
  Livingston, 
  the 
  new 
  American 
  minister. 
  One 
  can 
  well 
  imag- 
  

   ine 
  that 
  before 
  long 
  the 
  two 
  were 
  comparing 
  notes 
  on 
  their 
  several 
  

   experiences 
  with 
  inland 
  navigation 
  problems, 
  from 
  which 
  presum- 
  

   ably 
  came 
  a 
  revival 
  of 
  interest 
  in 
  steamboats. 
  They 
  became 
  close 
  

   friends 
  and 
  Fulton 
  later 
  on 
  married 
  Livingston's 
  niece. 
  

  

  At 
  all 
  events, 
  from 
  his 
  own 
  personal 
  knowledge 
  of 
  what 
  English 
  and 
  

   French 
  engineers 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  Rumsey 
  had 
  attempted 
  in 
  steam 
  naviga- 
  

   tion, 
  and 
  after 
  studying 
  the 
  drawings 
  of 
  Fitch's 
  French 
  patent, 
  which 
  

   he 
  borrowed 
  from 
  Alfred 
  Vail, 
  the 
  American 
  consul, 
  Fulton, 
  with 
  the 
  

   help 
  of 
  Joel 
  Barlow, 
  who 
  designed 
  the 
  boiler, 
  built 
  a 
  steamboat 
  in 
  the 
  

   spring 
  of 
  1803. 
  When 
  he 
  tried 
  it 
  out 
  on 
  the 
  Seine, 
  the 
  hull 
  unfor- 
  

   tunately 
  could 
  not 
  stand 
  the 
  weight 
  of 
  the 
  machinery 
  and 
  it 
  broke 
  in 
  

   two. 
  Undaunted, 
  Fulton 
  immediately 
  undertook 
  the 
  building 
  of 
  

   another 
  boat, 
  this 
  time 
  66 
  feet 
  long, 
  and 
  had 
  it 
  ready 
  for 
  trial 
  in 
  August 
  

   of 
  1803, 
  but 
  it 
  moved 
  so 
  slowly 
  as 
  to 
  be 
  altogether 
  a 
  failure. 
  Having 
  

   heard 
  of 
  William 
  Symington's 
  successful 
  steamboat, 
  Charlotte 
  Dundas, 
  

   which 
  was 
  put 
  in 
  operation 
  in 
  1802 
  on 
  the 
  Forth 
  and 
  Clyde 
  Canal, 
  

   Fulton 
  went 
  to 
  England 
  in 
  1804, 
  and 
  obtained 
  permission 
  to 
  make 
  

   drawings 
  of 
  all 
  of 
  Symington's 
  machinery. 
  He 
  proposed 
  to' 
  go 
  back 
  to 
  

   the 
  United 
  States 
  to 
  build 
  a 
  steamboat 
  there 
  and 
  he 
  wanted 
  to 
  have 
  all 
  

   possible 
  data 
  to 
  take 
  with 
  him. 
  In 
  addition 
  he 
  began 
  the 
  movement 
  

   to 
  raise 
  the 
  ban 
  then 
  in 
  force 
  prohibiting 
  the 
  export 
  of 
  Boulton 
  & 
  

   Watt 
  steam 
  engines, 
  for 
  from 
  his 
  experiments 
  he 
  realized 
  that 
  his 
  

   chances 
  for 
  success 
  rested 
  a 
  great 
  deal 
  on 
  the 
  engine 
  he 
  should 
  use, 
  and 
  

   Watt 
  engines 
  were 
  then 
  the 
  best 
  made. 
  With 
  the 
  help 
  of 
  his 
  in- 
  

   fluential 
  friends, 
  he 
  succeeded 
  in 
  having 
  the 
  embargo 
  raised. 
  In 
  

   1806 
  he 
  returned 
  to 
  New 
  York 
  with 
  an 
  engine 
  and 
  late 
  in 
  that 
  year 
  

   began 
  the 
  construction 
  of 
  the 
  Clermont. 
  Under 
  his 
  supervision 
  the 
  

   hull 
  was 
  built 
  by 
  Charles 
  Brown, 
  a 
  shipbuilder 
  of 
  New 
  York, 
  the 
  

   Boulton 
  & 
  Watt 
  engine 
  was 
  put 
  in 
  place, 
  and 
  the 
  whole 
  made 
  ready 
  

   for 
  its 
  trial 
  trip 
  on 
  August 
  7, 
  1807. 
  

  

  Fulton, 
  a 
  few 
  friends, 
  and 
  mechanics, 
  and 
  six 
  passengers 
  were 
  on 
  

   board. 
  An 
  incredulous 
  and 
  jeering 
  crowd 
  gathered 
  on 
  shore 
  as 
  the 
  

   boat 
  cast 
  loose 
  at 
  1 
  o'clock 
  in 
  the 
  afternoon. 
  "Bring 
  us 
  back 
  a 
  chip 
  

   of 
  the 
  North 
  Pole" 
  and 
  similar 
  facetious 
  remarks 
  could 
  be 
  heard 
  by 
  

   those 
  on 
  board 
  as 
  the 
  nose 
  of 
  the 
  Clermont 
  was 
  pointed 
  north 
  and 
  up 
  

   the 
  Hudson. 
  But, 
  as 
  the 
  boat 
  kept 
  right 
  on 
  her 
  way 
  the 
  attitude 
  of 
  

   those 
  on 
  shore 
  gradually 
  changed 
  and 
  great 
  was 
  the 
  scramble 
  for 
  hats 
  

   thrown 
  high 
  in 
  the 
  air 
  by 
  the 
  cheering 
  and 
  no 
  longer 
  jeering 
  mass. 
  

  

  