THE HIGHWAY OF THE WATERS 



more boats of its type were constructed. Had they 

 been really practical steamboats it is a fair presump- 

 tion that others would have been constructed and put 

 into operation, regardless of patents. Nevertheless, in 

 France to-day, the Marquis de Jouffroy is often re- 

 ferred to as the father of steam navigation. 



The idea of propelling a boat by means of a jet of 

 water pumped out at the stem by steam pumps was 

 given a practical test in 1784, by James Rumsey. His 

 boat made a trial trip on the Potomac River in Septem- 

 ber of that year. General Washington and other army 

 officers being present on this occasion. The boat was 

 able to make fairly good progress through the water, 

 and seemed so promising that a company was formed 

 by capitalists known as the Rumsey Society, for pro- 

 moting the idea and building more boats. Rumsey was 

 sent to England where he undertook the construction 

 of another boat, meanwhile taking out patents in Great 

 Britain, France, and Holland. Before his boat was 

 completed, however, he died suddenly, and the Rumsey 

 Society passed out of existence shortly afterwards. 



An even closer approach to practical success was 

 made in Scotland by James Symington, who in 1788, 

 in association with two other Scotchmen, Miller and 

 Taylor, constructed a boat consisting of two hulls, with 

 a paddle-wheel between them worked by a steam- 

 engine. This boat worked so well that in 1801, Lord 

 Dundas engaged Symington to build a smaller boat to 

 be used for towing on the Caledonian Canal. This 

 boat, called the Charlotte Dundas ^ completed in 1802, 

 is said to have been capable of towing a vessel of one 



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