286 SCIENCE OF HOME AND COMMUNITY 



speed of three or four miles an hour was attained. . Both 

 of these were interesting experiments, but neither was a 

 success commercially. 



Robert Fulton's " Clermont." The first really successful 

 steamboat was built by Robert Fulton. In 1807 his 

 steamboat, the Clermont, made a trip on the Hudson 

 from New York to Albany a distance of 150 miles 

 and return in 62 hours. This trip was regularly made by 

 sailing packets in about four days. The Clermont was pro- 

 pelled by means of paddle wheels, which were fifteen feet in 

 diameter, one on each side of the boat, and turned by a 



lie. 112. Fulton's Clermont, the first steamboat. 



steam engine. The boat was 130 feet long. The Clermont 

 continued to make regular trips between these cities and to 

 take passengers. 



Trans-Atlantic steamboats. Other steamboats were soon 

 built in other sections of the country, and twelve years later 

 the steamship Savannah, using both steam and sails, crossed 

 the Atlantic Ocean in 26 days. The first steamboat to cross 

 the Atlantic using steam all the way was the Royal Williams, 

 which crossed from Nova Scotia to the Isle of Wight in 

 17 days. 



The next great improvement in the steamboat was the 

 invention by John Ericsson of the screw propeller. This 

 is a wheel entirely immersed in water and fastened at the 



