﻿MECHAlsriCAL 
  TRANSPORT 
  MITMAlsT 
  529 
  

  

  Fulton's 
  skill 
  in 
  selecting 
  and 
  combining 
  the 
  best 
  mechanical 
  equip- 
  

   ment 
  developed 
  from 
  the 
  ideas 
  of 
  the 
  foremost 
  inventors 
  of 
  England, 
  

   France, 
  and 
  America 
  gave 
  to 
  the 
  world 
  the 
  first 
  practical 
  and 
  com- 
  

   mercially 
  successful 
  steamboat. 
  The 
  Clermont's 
  trip 
  to 
  Albany 
  and 
  

   return 
  completely 
  changed 
  public 
  opinion 
  of 
  the 
  possibilities 
  of 
  steam 
  

   navigation, 
  and 
  those 
  who 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  before 
  clamored 
  for 
  the 
  main- 
  

   tenance 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  order 
  of 
  things 
  were 
  wondering 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  after 
  

   how 
  in 
  the 
  world 
  one 
  got 
  along 
  without 
  steamboats. 
  Fulton 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  

   honored 
  for 
  this 
  achievement 
  but 
  not 
  for 
  the 
  invention 
  of 
  the 
  steam- 
  

   boat, 
  a 
  claim 
  he 
  personally 
  never 
  made. 
  

  

  IV. 
  LOCOMOTIVE 
  AND 
  RAILWAY 
  EQUIPMENT 
  PIONEERS 
  

  

  Advocating 
  steam 
  railroads 
  for 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  was 
  a 
  most 
  heart- 
  

   breaking 
  experience 
  for 
  their 
  first 
  champions, 
  Oliver 
  Evans 
  and 
  John 
  

   Stevens. 
  Beginning 
  in 
  1786 
  and 
  for 
  thirty-odd 
  years 
  thereafter, 
  

   Evans 
  hammered 
  away 
  in 
  support 
  of 
  railroads 
  on 
  everyone 
  from 
  the 
  

   members 
  of 
  the 
  Federal 
  Government 
  on 
  down, 
  without 
  having 
  any 
  

   apparent 
  effect 
  on 
  anyone. 
  He 
  lost 
  patience 
  toward 
  the 
  end, 
  espe- 
  

   cially 
  when 
  he 
  saw 
  that 
  public 
  sentiment 
  tended 
  toward 
  the 
  develop- 
  

   ment 
  of 
  canals 
  to 
  augment 
  highways, 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  public 
  statement 
  

   sarcastically 
  wrote: 
  "When 
  we 
  reflect 
  upon 
  the 
  obstinate 
  opposition 
  

   that 
  has 
  been 
  made 
  by 
  a 
  great 
  majority 
  to 
  every 
  step 
  toward 
  improve- 
  

   ment; 
  from 
  bad 
  roads 
  to 
  turnpikes, 
  from 
  turnpike 
  to 
  canal, 
  from 
  canal 
  

   to 
  railways 
  for 
  horse 
  carriages, 
  it 
  is 
  too 
  much 
  to 
  expect 
  the 
  monstrous 
  

   leap 
  from 
  bad 
  roads 
  to 
  railways 
  for 
  steam 
  carriages 
  at 
  once. 
  One 
  step 
  

   in 
  a 
  generation 
  is 
  all 
  we 
  can 
  hope 
  for. 
  If 
  the 
  present 
  shall 
  adopt 
  

   canals, 
  the 
  next 
  may 
  try 
  the 
  railwaj^s 
  with 
  horses, 
  and 
  the 
  third 
  

   generation 
  use 
  the 
  steam 
  carriage." 
  Unfortunately 
  he 
  died 
  without 
  the 
  

   satisfaction 
  of 
  knowing 
  that 
  the 
  seed 
  he 
  planted 
  and 
  helped 
  to 
  cultivate 
  

   grew 
  and 
  bore 
  fruit. 
  

  

  OLIVER 
  EVANS 
  

  

  Just 
  prior 
  to 
  the 
  time 
  that 
  Stevens 
  took 
  up 
  the 
  problem 
  of 
  steam 
  

   navigation 
  ; 
  in 
  fact, 
  about 
  the 
  time 
  that 
  Fitch 
  was 
  drawing 
  fascinated 
  

   groups 
  to 
  the 
  banks 
  of 
  the 
  Delaware 
  as 
  his 
  boat 
  steamed 
  by, 
  a 
  fourth, 
  

   and 
  the 
  youngest 
  of 
  the 
  pioneer 
  inventors 
  in 
  steam, 
  began 
  to 
  attract 
  

   real 
  attention 
  in 
  Philadelphia. 
  Unhke 
  his 
  three 
  contemporaries 
  who 
  

   "lived 
  and 
  talked 
  steamboats," 
  Evans 
  talked 
  steam 
  carriages. 
  He 
  

   never 
  had 
  the 
  money 
  to 
  build 
  one, 
  but 
  he 
  did 
  become 
  America's 
  

   first 
  manufacturer 
  of 
  practical 
  steam 
  engines, 
  introducing 
  high- 
  

   pressure 
  types 
  which 
  by 
  their 
  lightness 
  and 
  cheapness 
  were 
  ideally 
  

   suited 
  to 
  the 
  needs 
  of 
  the 
  simple 
  colonial 
  industries. 
  

  

  Evans 
  was 
  born 
  in 
  1755 
  near 
  Newport, 
  Del., 
  where 
  liis 
  father 
  

   was 
  a 
  farmer 
  of 
  moderate 
  means 
  and 
  of 
  respectable 
  standing. 
  He 
  

  

  