102 ON THE STEAM BOATS OF 



failed, rather from the inherent defects of that instrument, in its power of general application, 

 than from any want of ingenuity or mechanical skill in the projectors themselves. 



John Stevens, of Hoboken, commenced his experiments on steam navigation in 1791? and 

 for sixteen years devoted much time, labour, and money, to this object. In this pursuit he 

 sometimes acted alone, at other times had the aid of associates. Among these may be named 

 Chancellor Livingston, and Roosevelt. This association, among other persons, called to their 

 aid Brunei, since celebrated as the engineer of the tunnel beneath the river Thames. The 

 appointment of Chancellor Livingston to the post of minister to the consular government of 

 France, dissolved this association, at a moment when hopes of at least partial success might 

 reasonably have been entertained. 



In the year 1801, a remarkable experiment was performed at Philadelphia, by Evans. This 

 engineer had been employed by the corporation of that city, to construct a dredging machine, 

 for the purpose of removing obstructions in the Delaware river. He proposed to work the 

 dredging apparatus by the high pressure engine, which he had invented some years before. 

 Constructing the vessel and engine at his shops, distant a mile and a half from the water, he 

 mounted the whole upon wheels, to which he gave motion by the engine, and thus exhibited 

 the earliest instance of locomotion. The vessel being thus transported to the water, and 

 launched, he next placed a paddle wheel at the stern, and connecting it with the engine, made 

 it the means of conveying the vessel to the place where the work of dredging was to be per- 

 formed. 



Livingston, on reaching Paris, became acquainted with Fulton, and discovered that he had 

 also studied in what way the steam engine might be applied to the purposes of navigation. 

 Struck with the soundness of his views, Livingston induced him to enter into a course of 

 experiments, for the purpose of testing them practically. These experiments were performed 

 at Plombieres, and were subsequently repeated on a larger scale, upon the Seine, near Paris. 



The results of these experiments were so satisfactory, that Livingston forthwith undertook 

 to provide the funds for building and equipping a steam boat of large size, in the United 

 States. As the workshops of that country could not, at that time, be depended upon for fur- 

 nishing an engine of good construction, it was agreed that those of Watt and Bolton should 

 be resorted to. From a variety of circumstances, delays were not to be avoided, and the 

 engine constructed by Watt and Bolton did not reach New York until 1806, nor could the 

 vessel be prepared to receive it before the summer of 1807- 



The engine which was used in this final and successful experiment, and which was con- 

 structed from the draughts made by Fulton, in France, in the year 1803, had a marked influ- 

 ence upon the forms of those subsequently constructed for this purpose, both in England and 

 the United States. The cold water cistern of Watt's engine was dispensed with, and in order 

 to supply its place the diameter of the condenser was doubled ; its capacity thus became half 

 that of the cylinder, instead of one-eighth, as had before been customary. The water of injec- 

 tion was supplied by a pipe passing through the bottom of the vessel. A parallel motion 

 seems to have been sent out as a part of the engine, but for reasons which cannot now be 

 discovered, a cross head, adapted for another purpose to the piston rod, was made to work in 

 guides. This cross head was added for the purpose of bearing two connecting rods or straps, 

 by which two working beams were, as it were, suspended. The working beams were neces- 

 sarily two in number, in order to include the cylinder between them ; and Fulton being aware 



