Steamboat Development 37 



One authority states that her engine came 

 from England from the firm of Boulton 

 and Watt and this is very probable, 

 since engine building would not be a well- 

 established industry in the New World 

 at this period. 



We will now look, for a moment, at 

 another part of America where the steam- 

 ship had commenced to run. This was 

 in Canada, on the St. Lawrence. Here 

 the Car of Commerce was launched, and 

 plied, from time to time, between Quebec 

 and Montreal. In his book on " Ocean 

 Railways " Mr. Fraser Macdonald tells a 

 little story of this steamer which illustrates 

 the awe with which these early vessels 

 were regarded. 



The engineer of the Car of Commerce 

 was, as we might expect him to have 

 been, a Scotsman. One day on the short 

 voyage he was found to be missing. Port 

 was almost reached, and without Sandy 

 the engine could not be stopped, for no 

 one dared to touch the weird machine. 



