Steam Navigation, 307 



ments on the Delaware River for propelling boats by- 

 paddle-wheels ; but owing to his miscalculation of the pro- 

 pelling wheels and of the steam-power as applied to the 

 resistances to be overcome, his boats did not succeed, and 

 were given up as failures, but were revived as his invention 

 after the success of the "■ Claremont." 



'J. C. Stephens, of New York, in 1804, made experi- 

 ments with a steamboat 25 feet long and 5 feet wide ; 

 engine cylinder 4^ inches diameter, with 6-inch stroke. 

 At first she broke her steam-pipe ; but after repairs she 

 ran for a fortnight on the Hudson River, making two or 

 three miles an hour, crossing from Hoboken to New 

 York : therefore it is said by a distinguished writer, " Mr. 

 Stephens has the merit of being the first person who took 

 a steamboat to sea.'' (Qy. — Did he take this boat to sea 

 on board of another vessel T) 



'In 1788 and 1789, William Symington, in conjunction 

 with Patrick Miller and James Taylor, made several ex- 

 periments on patents they had obtained relating to steam 

 navigation, and in 1802 started a boat on the canal at 

 Glasgow, which ran at the rate of three miles an hour, 

 and it was concluded that his plan would supersede horses 

 in canal navigation. The wheel was placed at the stern 

 of the boat ; but he states that the wheel, or wheels, may 

 be at the sides if preferred. The boat, however, was dis- 

 continued, and no more was heard of Symington's boats 

 until long after those of Fulton had become widely ex- 

 tended on the American waters. 



'The first ocean steamer was the " Fulton," of ^2^ tons, 



built in 1 8 13 by A. and N. Brown at New York. The 



first steamer constructed for harbour defence, under the 



personal superintendence of Mr. Fulton, was built in 18 14, 



X 2 



