290 MR. J. C. DYER ON STEAM NAVIGATION. 



that of the boat decreased. Then every other float was 

 removed, and at a new start better speed was obtained, 

 but could not be kept above three miles the hour. Then 

 all the floats were removed, and the chain only dragged 

 through the water ; this carried the boat a trifle faster than 

 the floats had done. 



In 1795 Lord Stanhope made experiments with a steam- 

 boat with the " duck's-foot paddles/^ which did not suc- 

 ceed. The defects of this form of propelling arise from the 

 loss of time in withdrawing the paddle between each propul- 

 sion, and in the waste of power in this retrograde motion. 



In 1785, James Uumsay, of Virginia, constructed a 

 steam-boat, which was tried on the Potomac in 1787, and 

 which sailed by means of steam four miles an hour, as 

 stated in Dr. Rush's letter to Dr. Letsome; but the boat 

 was not continued on the Potomac, and Rumsay after- 

 wards tried his plan in London without success. About 

 the same time, Mr. Fitch of Philadelphia made experiments 

 on the Delaware River for propelling boats by paddle- 

 wheels ; but, owing to his miscalculation of the propelling- 

 wheels, and of the steam-power as applied to the resist- 

 ances 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 steam-boat 25 feet long and 5 feet wide ; 

 engine cylinder 4^ inches diameter, with 9 -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 steam-boat to sea.^' (dy. Did he take this boat to sea 

 on board of another vessel ?) 



In 1788 and 1789, William Symington, in conjunction 



