146 
INTRODUCTION. 
we may safely claim, that for suitableness to our social state, and for all that can 
minister to domestic convenience and comfort, the edifices of our citizens are not 
surpassed in any other community.* Our naval architecture may perhaps justly 
be regarded as a peculiar triumph of American genius. Our packet ships en¬ 
gaged in foreign trade, and especially the steam palaces which float upon the 
Hudson river, Long Island Sound and the lakes, combine the elements of strength 
and beauty with great speed and perfection of internal arrangements. While 
the civilized world is in the full enjoyment of the advantages of steam naviga¬ 
tion, the people of New-York, at least, need not to be reminded of their obliga¬ 
tions to her own eminent citizens, Robert Fulton, John Stevens and Robert R. 
Livingston. Experiments on steam navigation were commenced in 1791, by 
John Stevens, of Hoboken. He invented the first tubular boiler. His first 
attempts were made with a rotary engine, for which, however, he speedily sub¬ 
stituted one of Watts’. With various forms of vessels, and different modifica¬ 
tions of propelling apparatus, he impelled boats. In 1797, chancellor Livingston 
built a steamboat on the Hudson, and the legislature granted an exclusive privi¬ 
lege of steam navigation, on condition that he should, within a year, produce a 
vessel impelled by steam at the rate of three miles per hour. Being unable to 
perform this condition, the privilege failed. Livingston and Stevens united their 
efforts with Nicholas Roosevelt in 1800, but without success. Chancellor Living¬ 
ston pursued his favorite object in Paris, where he engaged the efforts of Fulton. 
Fulton, after a trial of various other apparatus for propulsion, decided that the 
paddle wheels possessed the greatest advantage. He then planned a mode of 
attaching wheels to Watts’ engine, and finding the experiment successful in a trial 
on the Seine, it was determined by him and Livingston to build a large boat 
upon the Hudson. He then proceeded to England, and personally superintended 
the construction of a new engine by Watts and Bolton. This engine was re¬ 
ceived in New-York in 1806, and the vessel prepared for it was set in motion in 
* Notes on Civil Engineering and Architecture were received from Prof. Mahan, of the United States Military Academy 
of West-Point, 
