The life of Robert Fulton : and a history of steam navigation

Front matter

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Preface

similar nature. The illustrations referring especially to Robert Fulton, are mainly reproduced from Mr. Reigart's biography ; they were made originally from drawings by Fulton and now in the possession of his descendants. The other illustrations are from sources which are a guaranty for their accuracy.

Hoping for a favorable reception by press and public the author submits the result of his efforts for their examination.

T. W K.

New York, iSS6.

Chapter I

The Fulton Family — Robert's bitth and birthplace — Incidents of his boyhood — Making a paddle-boat — Choice ot an occupation — Buys a home for his mother 1-14

Chapter II

Fulton goes to England— West's patronage and friendship — Duke of Bridgewaler and Earl Stanhope — West and his works — Fulton on canal navigation — His engineering work in England — His inventions—The Erie Canal 15-34

CHAPTER HI.

Fnlton in Paris — Joel Barlow — Experiments with torpedoes — Diving-boats — Proposals to the Freneli Government^The reply — Official report of experiments — Holland and England — Blowing up the Dorothea 35-55

Chapter IV

Fulton returns to America — Plans for torpedo warfare — An amusing incident at a lecture — Blowing up a brig at anchor — Attack upon the sloop-of-war Argus — -Submarine guns and their execution — Development of torpedo warfare from Fulton's time to the present 56-71

Chapter V

Fulton's experiments with steam navigation —Correspondence with the Earl of Stanhope — Attempts of inventors previous to Fulton's time — Chancellor Livingston — Association of Livingston and Fulton— Experiment on the Seine in i8o3^Engine of the Clermont ordered 7*-99

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Chapter VI. Pagb

Financial troubles of Fulton and Livingston — Launch and trial trip of the Clermont — Fulton's account of the first voyage to Albany — Consternation along the river — Dr. Perry's narrative — Improvements in the boat — Hostility of river men — Opposition and expensive litigation — ** Pendulum boats" .... 100-126

CHAPTER VIL

The successors of the Clermont — Increase of speed — East River ferry-boats— The "horse-ferry" — Boat on Long Island Sound — Boats on the Mississippi — Plans for a war steamer — The first war steamer in the world — Her description, performance, and fate — The death of Fulton 127-154

Chapter VIII

Fulton's plan for a submarine boat — Description of "The Mute" — Fulton's last illness ; his death and funeral — Fulton's family and estate — The ingratitude of republics — Tardy and ni^jardly action of Congress — Fulton and the "perpetual-motion " machine — Fulton's personal appearance and peculiarities — His grave in Trinity churchyard 155-169

Chapter IX

First ocean voyage of a steamer — The Stevens family and their work in steam navigation — The Stevens Battery — Commodore Vanderbilt — His opposition boats and his steamship enterprises — The Chancellor Livingston — Modern steamboats on the Hudson — Incidents and anecdotes of steamboating — The fastest boats 170-189

Chapter X

The first steamboat on Western waters — Oliver Evans and his boat — Exploration of the Ohio and the Mississippi by Nicholas J. Roosevelt— Building the first steamboat at Pittsburgh — The pioneer voyage — Exciting adventures — Passing the falls of the Ohio — The Comet and earthquakes of 181 1 — Indians — Arrival at New Orleans— ^A wedding at the end of the voyage .... 190-212

Chapter XI

Eariy navigation of the Mississippi — Keel-boats, flat-boats, and rafts— Their peculiarities — Reminiscences of the keel-boatmen — Mike

CONTENTS, Vll

PAGB

Fink and his tragic death — The New Orleans and her successors — First steamboat from New Orleans to Pittsburgh — Racing on the Mississippi — The last great race — Snags, sawyers, 'and the Red River raft — First ascent of the Mississippi by steam — What the first steam-whistle did 213-234

Chapter XII

Introduction of steamboats on the great lakes — The ' ' Walk-in-the- Water " — Growth of the northern lake fleet — First steamers on the Pacific — Early steamers to and in California — The Senator and the Golden Age — Steam lines across the Pacific — Chinese steamer at San Francisco — First steamships around the world . . 235-255

Chapter XIII

Early navigation of Long Island Sound — Prohibitory laws against Fulton and Livingston — First steamboat to Providence and Newport— Description of early boats — Contrast with those of to-day — The old sailing packets — Steamboats at Boston and along the coast of Maine 256-274

Chapter XIV

Early steamboats on the Clyde, Thames, Humber, and in other British waters — The Comet and Enterprise — First steamboat at London — Opposition of the watermen — Oldest steamboat in existence — Steamboats in Canada and Java in 1809 and 1810 . . . 275-289

Chapter XV

Further history of steam navigation in foreign waters — Steamers in Russia, France, and other countries — First steamer in Lake Baikal, Siberia — Inauguration of steam-towing — Description of a steam-collier — Steam navigation to Belfast, Dublin, and Havre — New steamers between Holyhead and Dublin — David Napier — Present steam fleet of Great Britain 290-308

Chapter XVI

First steamboat in India — An eventful career of sixty years — Steamers in Chinese waters — The **Fo-Shune" — The mails to India — Steam navigation in Japan and China — Early steamers on the Atlantic— The log-book of the Savannah — The Sirius, Great Western, vill CONTENTS,

PAGB

and British Queen — Prospectus of the British and American Steam Navigation Company 309-336

Chapter XVII

How the Great Western Steamship Company was organized — Samuel Cunard and his enterprises — The Cunard Company — Cutting out the Britannia — Iron taking the place of wood for ship-building — Adoption of the screw — Growth of steamers — Umbria and Etruria compared with Britannia — Steamers never heard from — American steamship lines 337-365

Chapter XVIII

History of the Collins line — Loss of the Pacific and Arctic — Fate of the other Collins steamers — Other American steam lines — Cause of their present inactivity — The United States and Brazil line — English and French aid to steamers — American coasting lines, 369-383

Chapter XIX

How the Inman line was founded — First steamers for carrying emigrants— Steady increase in the size of ships — The City of Rome — Hamburg and Bremen lines and their origin — The Anchor line and its latest steamship — The "French Mail" — Notes on the compound marine engine and the lengthening of ships . . 384-414

Chapter XX

The Guion Steamship line — The Greyhound of the Atlantic — The White and Red Star lines — The Monarch line and its largest passenger — Other Transatlantic lines — Origin of the "P. and O." Company — Its growth and extent of its service — The Messageries Maritimes — German line to Asia and Australia — Other great lines — The ocean tramp — Ocean steam-tonnage of the world 415-433

Chapter XXI

The Great Eastern : her history, achievements, and failures — A ghost-story — The cable steamers Faraday, Hooper, and Minia — The Anthracite and her peculiarities — Winans* * ' cigar-ship " — Captain Lundborg's invention — The Castalia, Calais-Douvres, and Bessemer — A steamer ** nearly all wheel " — The doomed steamer Meteor — The Stiletto 434-457

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