The Progress of Marine-engineering: From the Time of Watt Until the Present Day. With Sixty ...

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Chapter I. 1-20

James Watt's patents, Dr. Roebuck, 3 ; M. Boulton, 4 ; Stneaton's improvements, 5 ; Pickard patent for the crank, 6 ; Watt's furnace patent, 8 ; Homblowers patent, 9; James Rumsey's boat, 11; John Fitch's boat, ir* Millar, Taylor, and Symington's boat, 11; Symington's steamboat ** Charlotte Dundas," 12; Trevethick & Vivian's high-pressure engine and steam carriage; 15; Woolf's double cylinder engine, 13; Earle's tandem engine, 13; The **Clermont," 14; The **Phenix," 15; The ** Comet," 16; David Napier, 16; First steam vessels in the British Navy, 17; Robert Napier, ij; Seguine's tubular boiler, 18; Locomotive Rocket, 19; Napier's Scotch boiler, 19.

Chapter II. 20-36

The ** Chancellor Livingston," 20; Woolf engines by J. P. Allaire, 21 ; First war steamboat ** Fulton" for the U. S. Navy, 22; **Gen. Pike," first steamboat built on the Ohio River, 22; The ** Savannah," first steamer to cross the Atlantic, 23; R. L. Stevens' steam ferry from N. Y. to Hoboken, 24; **New Orleans," first steamboat to descend the Mississippi, 24; Steamer ** Portland," the first that used anthracite coal and blow-

X CONTENTS.

ers, 25 ; Adam Hairs application of expansion, 26 ; Steam chimneys by J. P. Allaire, 27 ; Stevens', Sickels*, Allen & Wells', and Winters* cut-off's, 28; Steamboats '*New World," '*Bay State," ** Empire State," and *' Isaac Newton, " 29 ; * * Buckeye State " with compound annular engine by E. W. Smith, 30; ** Georgia" and '*Ohio," 30; Collins Steamers, 30; "America" on the Lakes, 31 ; "Golden Gate" and *' Illinois," with oscillating engines, 32 ; Inclined engines for the Union ferry, 32 ; ** Princeton," U. S. N., 32; ** Massachusetts," ** Susquehanna," and ** Mississippi," 33; **Saranac," '* Michigan ** Water Witch," and **Powhattan," U. S. N., 34; **San Jacinto," 35.

Chapter III. 36-101

Ernest Wolff's compound or triple-expansion engine, 36; Hinrick Zander's compound three-cylinder and three-crank engines, 37 ; The "Cricket" Woolf engine, 38; W. McNaught's compound engine, 39; Bodmer's compensating balanced engines, 39 ; Meyer, and

Bourne's expansion valves, 40 ; Cornish engines, 41 ; Fairbank's report on combustion, 42 ; Cornish system of inspection, 44; theCunard steamer * 'Britannia" commences to run, 46; S. S. '*Arabia,"48; S. S. ''Scotia, " 50 ; Inman Line ships, 51 ; S. S. **Cityof Rome, "and '*Normandie," 52; S. S. ** Great Britain, "53; John Elder, 55; Pac. Steam Navigation Co's. steamers, 56; S. S. '* Great Eastern," 57; British Association report on steamship perform-

CONTENTS. Xi

ance, 58; H. M. S: ** Constance" with compound engines, and the **Octavia" and **Arethusa,** competitors, 60; H. M. ships '*Tenedos" and '* Briton," 61 ; S. S. **Sin Nanzing," 6;^; Superheaters, 65; Surface condensers, 66; S. S. **Oceanic" and White Star steamers, 66; S. S. **Propontis," 69; S. S. ** Aberdeen," 71; S. Fox's corrugated furnace, 72; Guion Line steamers ^'Arizona," &c, 73; Cunard steamers *'Campaina", &c, 75; Bremen steamers, 77; S. S. **Paris," 78; S. S. ** Majestic," 81; Hamburg steamers, 82; S. S. Scott, 83; S. S. **Ophir," 87; S. S. ''Buenos Aires," 89; The French steamship **Australien," 93; S. S. **Inversnaid,"95; Yacht *' Myrtle," 97; S. S. **County of York," 97.

Chapter IV. 101-126

British Naval steamers, 102; H. M. S. ** Terrible,' 104; F. P. Smith's propeller experiments, 104; *'Ar- •chimedes," 106; ** Rattler," the first screw vessel for the British Navy, 107 ; John Ericsson's experiments, 109; H. M. S. **Amphion," no; Napier's geared engines, 113; Penn's trunk engines, 114; Twin screw iron-clad ships, 115; The ** Inflexible, " 116; Russian frigate **Gen. Admiral," 116; Russian iron-clad ** Sinope," 117; H. M. S. **Thetis," 118; H. M. S. **Edgar," 119; H. M. S. *' Blake," 123; Tubulous boilers, 124; Cruiser "Nuevo De Julio," 124.

Xll CONTENTS.

Steamers ** Washington" and ** Hermann," 126- ** Franklin" and "Humboldt," 127; S. S. ** Fulton'^ and **Arago," 127; S. S. **Vanderbilt" and the Havre Line, 128; Long Island Sound steamboats, 129; Liberian steamer **Seth Grosvenor," 130; U. S. coasting steamers, 130; Towboat ** T. Freeborn," 131; N. Y. ferryboats, 132; China steamboat **Hu Quang," 133; Long Island Sound freight boats, 134; Pac. Mail S. S. Co's. side- wheel steamships, 135; Screw steamboats **Electra" and ** Galatea," 136; S. S. ** Rising Star,'^ 136; Steamboats ''Bristol" and ** Providence," 137; Steamships ** Pennsylvania," ** Ohio," &c, American Line, 138; Pacific Mail S. S. Co's. screw ships, 139; S. S. "City of Peking," 145; Morgan Line ships, 148; S. S. **E1 Sol," 149; S. S. "Venezuela," 149; The N. Y. and Brazil Mail steamers ** Segur^.nca, " "Vigilancia,"^ &c, 151; S. S. "San Benito," 161; Steamboats '* Puritan," &c, 163; Steamboat "Maine," 164; Steel steam yacht "Neaira," 165; "Restless," 173; Twin screw steamships on the Lakes, 173; Twin screw steamboats, 174; White Star freight steamers, 175; New White Star triple screw steamship, 176.

CHAPTER VL 177-223.

United States frigate "Merrimac" and class, 177;

CONTENTS. XIU

Corvette * 'Lancaster" and class, i8o; Steam sloop **Iroquois" and class, 182; ** General Admiral," Russian war ship, 188; Gunboat ** Winona" and class, U. S. N., 189; Sloop **Kearsarge*' and class, 190; Screw sloops ** Lackawanna*' and class, 191; Double-ended gunboat **Octorara" and class, 192; Double-ended gunboat "Winooski" and class, 193; ** Wampanoag" and class, 195; ** Java" and class, 199; Lake Erie experiments on expansion of steam on the steamer ** Michigan," 200; Italian armour plated frigates, 206; The ** Monitor,'' 207; The ** Dictator" and ** Puritan," U. S. iron-clads, 208; The steam ram **Dunderberg," 209; the U. S. sloops "Alert," * 'Ranger" and class, 214; the '*Trenton", U. S. N.,215; Cruisers **Chicago," **Boston," **Atlanta" and * 'Dolphin, " 215 ; the * 'Newark" and class, 217 ; the U. S. ship "Yorktown" andclass, 217 ; armouredship "Maine" and class, 218; Twin screw armoured cruiser "New York," 219; Cruiser No. 12, "The Pirate," 219.

CHAPTER VII. 223-248.

Large steamers, 223; Surface condensers, 224; Expansion of steam, 225; J. P. Joule's equivalent, 226; Rankine, and Clark on heat and mechanical energy or force, 226 ; Lightfoot on mechanical work and heat, 227 ; Cylinder condensation during expansion of steam, 228; Steam jackets as a remedy by Clark, Sutcliffe, Cowper

XIV CONTENTS.

and A. M. in engineering, 229; Prof. Kennedy oncost of heating air or steam, 230; Regnault's experiments on generation of steam, 232 ; Boiler tests in the United States and England, 233 ; Type of boilers to carry high pressures, 235 ; Mariotte's law of the expansion of gases, 236; Regnault*s experiments show increased volume of air when heated, or diminished .volume when cooled, 236; Balanced compensating engines, 237 ; Siemens on combustion and the theoretical duty of coal, 238; Prideaux on artificial draught for furnaces, 239 ; C. W. Williams on the admission of air to furnaces, 240 ; Houldsworth on the temperature of furnaces and the effect of air admission, 240; Williams on careful firing, 241; Juke's moving grate bars, 241; Prideaux on firing and air admission, 242; Watt's method of firing, 242 ; Feeding and shaking grate bars, 243 ; Heating the air supplied to the furnaces, or hot-blast, 243 ; Neilson, Siemens, Blanchard, Gorman, Howden, and Wylie's methods, 243; T. Main's system of hot-blast, 244; Necessity of careful firing, 247 ; More economy of fuel still attainable, 248 ; History of the Cornish engines an object lesson to steamship men, in their efforts to attain economy of fuel, 248.

List of Illustrations.

PAGE.

1 Steamship ** Paris," Frontispiece

2 James Watt, portrait ... 4

3 M. Boulton, ** .4

4 The ** Clermont" .... 14

6 Steamer ** Savannah" . . . 23

7 S. S. ** Britannia" . . .47

8 ** ''Arabia" engines ... 49

9 John Elder, portrait . . . -55

10 S. S. '*^Sin Nanzing's " engines . . 64

13 A.'C. kirk, portrait . . . 70

14 S. S. * 'Aberdeen " engines . . 71

XVI ILLUSTRATIONS.

i6 S. S. '* Paris" engines ... 78

17 '* '' ** . . 79

21 *« ** ** ... 85

23 *' ** Buenos Aires " engines . 89

24 '' ** ***'.. 90

25 ** ** Australien," ship . .92

26 ** *' cross-section . 93

28 ** '^ Inversnaid " engines . . 95

29 *' ** ** . . 96

30 Yacht ** Myrtle" engines ... 98

31 " '* *' . . . . 99

32 *' Archimedes" ship 106

33 ** Amphion" engines . .111

34 Cruiser ** Edgar " ship , 120

36 Commodore Vanderbilt portrait 128

39 *^ - '*.... 142

40 " **City of Peking "ship . 144

ILLUSTRATIONS.

XVli

42 S. S. *' City of Peking " engines

43 '•* ** El Sol "ship

44 C. P. Huntington portrait .

45 S. S. **Seguranac" hot-blast

46 '* ** furnace fronts

47 *' ** steam fan blower .

48 Steamboat ** Puritan "

50 Steam Yacht " Neaira " engines

51 * * * * " indicator cards

52 ** " ** boilers

53 Yacht engines . . . .

54 Balanced quadruple tandem engines

55 Admiral Farragut portrait

56 Sloop of War ** Iroquois" engines .

i( it ii u

(i ti

59 Steam Ram *'Dunderberg" ship

60 ** ** ** **

62 '* ** ** **

63 Cruiser '*New York" ship .

66 Volz's Condenser and Feed Heater

67 Belleville Boilers machinery engines

146 149

152 153

154 163

183 184

185 210

FROM THE TIME OF WATT UNTIL

THE PRESENT DAY.

Chapter I

From the days of Hero of Alexandria, about 120 years B. C, who constructed a rotary steam engine, until the time of Watt, A. D., 1769, many experiments had been tried by Somerset, Papin, Savery, Newcomen, Leupold and others, but very little progress was made. In this year James Watt took out his first patent, dated January 5th, 1769. It was for a method of lessening the consumption of steam and fuel in fire engines. The specification states: —

** First: — That the steam vessel or cylinder must, during the whole time the engine is working, be kept as hot as the. steam that enters it; (ist) by enclosing it in a case of wood or any other materials that transmit heat slowly; (2nd) by surrounding it with a steam jacket, or other heated bodies, and (3rd) by suffering neither water, or any other substance colder than the steam, to enter or touch it during that time.

Secondly : — In engines that are to be worked wholly or partially by condensation of steam, the steam is to be condensed in vessels distinct from the steam vessels or cylinders, although occasionally communicating with them. These vessels are called condensers, and whilst the engines are working, these condensers ought, at least, to be kept as cold as the air in the neighborhood of the engines, by the application of cold water or other cold bodies.

Thirdly : — Whatever air or other elastic vapor is not condensed by the cold of the condenser, and may impede the working of the engine, is to be drawn out of the steam vessels or condensers by means of pumps, wrought by the engines themselves, or otherwise.

Fourthly : — I intend, in many cases, to employ the expansive force of steam to press on the pistons, in the same manner as the pressure of the atmosphere is now employed in common fire (atmospheric) engines. In cases where cold water cannot be had in plenty, the engines may be wrought by this force of steam only, by discharging the steam into the open air, after it has done its office.

Lastly : — Instead of using water to render the piston or other parts of the engine air or steam tight, he afterwards employed a packed piston working in a bored cylinder/'

The great and valuable improvement, described in this specification, is that of condensing in a separate vessel, and it necessarily involved a method of clearing the condenser of air and water. The application of the principle could only be rendered perfect by keeping the cylinder as hot as the steam, and the condenser as cold as it could be done with economy.

The discoveries embraced in Watt's first patent were made when he was a mathematical instrument maker in Glasgow University, A. D. 1765. But it was not until 1769, when Dr. Roebuck of the Carron Iron Works joined him in partnership, for the construction of such engines and a patent was taken out, that an experimental engine was constructed.

In the first trial this machine more than fulfilled Watt's anticipation; its success was complete. In the practical details of its construction, however, some difficulties were still encountered, the greatest of which consisted in packing the piston so as to be steam tight.

While Watt was endeavoring to overcome the difficulties, his partner. Dr. Roebuck, became embarrased, and he was unable to supply the means of proseciiting the projected manufacture of the new engines. The important results of Watt's labors, however, having become more publicly known, Mr. M. Boulton, of Soho, near Birmingham, proposed to purchase Dr. Roebuck's interest in the patent. This arrangement was effected in 1773, and in the following year, 1774, Watt removed to Soho, and then the famous career of Boulton & Watt commenced.

Watt obtained also an act of Parliament, A. D., 1775, for prolonging, for the period of twenty-five years, the exclusive term vested in James Watt by the patent of 1769. About the year 1776, Watt invented a tubular condenser, with the view of condensing the steam drawn off from the cylinder without the process of injection. These tubes were surrounded by water, and the steam from the cylinder passing through them was condensed by their cold surfaces, and so no atmospheric air could be introduced into the condenser to injure the vacuum.

Thus protected and supported, Watt now directed his mind to perfect the practical details of his invention, and the result was, the construction on a large scale of the engines which have been called his Single Acting Steam Engines. At this time the steam engine had never been employed for any other purpose save that of raising water by working pumps.

From 1750 to 1780 Smeaton applied himself with great success to the improvement of wind and water mills, and succeeded in augmenting their useful effect two-fold, with the same amount of water. He also made many improvements on Newcomen*s atmospheric engines, increasing their power and duty, and often used them as returning engines for the permanent and regular means of supplying water wheels for mills. These improvements obstructed for a time the extension of steam power to mill work, but the increase of manufactures soon created a demand for power greatly exceeding what could be supplied by such limited means. For several years after the extension of Watt*s first patent by Parliament, he was occupied in perfecting and constructing his engines for the drainage of mines, and in overcoming obstacles to their general adoption. When, however, these were overcome and the works for the manufacture of pumping engines, at Soho, had been organized and brought into active operation, he turned his attention to the adaptation of the steam engine to move machinery, and thereby to supercede animal power and the natural agents, wind and water. Having made his reciprocating engines very regular in their movements, he then considered how to produce rotary motion and thought of the application of the crank, in the manner of the common turning lathe. A model was made which answered his expectations, but having neglected to take out a patent for it, the invention was communicated by a workman employed to make the model, and a Mr. Pickard, of Birmingham, took out a patent in 1780 for the application of the crank, and this prevented Watt, for a time, from using his own invention. In these circumstances, he thought it better to accomplish the same end by other means, than to enter into litigation. Accordingly in 1 781, October 25th, he invented and took

out his second patent for several methods for producing rotative motions from reciprocating ones; amongst

which was the method of the sun and planet wheels. This contrivance was applied to many engines, and possesses the great advantage of giving a double velocity to the fly-wheel, but at the expiration of Pickard's patent, which restricted the use of the crank, the sun and planet wheel was discontinued in Watt's engine and the crank restored.

Although by these contrivances Watt succeeded in obtaining a continuous circular motion from the reciprocating motion of the steam engine, the machine was still one of intermitting, instead of continuous action. This did not satisfy the mechanical taste of Watt. He soon perceived that if he could devise means by which the piston might be impelled by steam upwards as well as downwards, he would then have continuous action. To accomplfsh this, it was only necessary to throw the lower end of the cylinder into alternate communication with the boiler, while the upper end would be put into communication with the condenser, then the piston would be driven continually, whether upwards or downwards, by the power of steam acting against a vacuum. Watt obtained his third patent for this contrivance on the 12th of March, 1782, embracing various methods of applying steam : —

First: — For an expansive steam engine, with six different contrivances for equalizing the power.

Secondly: — The double-power steam engine, in which the steam is alternately applied to press on each side of the piston, while a vacuum is formed on the other.

Thirdly : — A new compound engine, or method of coni;iecting together the cylinders and condensers of two or more distinct engines, so as to make the steam which has been employed to press on the piston of the first, act expansively on the piston of the second, etc., and thus derive an additional power to act either alternately or conjointly with that of the first cylinder. Of the modes of regulating the power of steam engines, the most effective was by letting the regulating valves open fully at first, and shutting them completely when the piston has proceeded only part of the stroke (or cutting off). This method forms the basis of Watt's Expansive Engine, which renders available more of the power of the steam than when the piston is acted upon by the whole force of the steam through the entire length of the cylinder.

There yet remained another step to complete the mechanism of the double engine, viz : a guide for the piston rod, and this was accomplished by the invention of the parallel motion. This is a combination of levers, one point of which describes a line nearly straight, and to this point the piston rod is connected. This Watt secured by a fourth patent, A. D., 1784. Another part of this patent was for a locomotive engine, by which a wheel carriage was to be propelled on a road.

Watt obtained a fifth patent, A. D., 1785, for a method of constructing furnaces, in which the best principles the philosophy of the period could furnish, are applied to elicit the heat and prevent or consume the smoke, whereby greater effects are produced from the fuel. He also applied to the steam engine the conical pendulum as a governor, the steam gauge, condenser-gauge, and an instrument for ascertaining the state of the steam in the cylinder, called an indicator. In improving the furnace. Watt proceeded nearly on the principle of Argand's lamp. The grate and dead plates were laid in a sloping direction, downwards from the fire-door, at an angle of about 25° to the horizon. The fuel when introduced is laid on the dead plates.

there it is submitted to the process of coking, by which the volatile gases which it contains are expelled, and being carried by a current of air, admitted through small openings in the fire-door, over the burning fuel on the back part of the grate, they are consumed. When the fuel in the front of the grate has been coked, it is pushed back and a fresh feed introduced in front. The coal thus pushed back soon becomes vividly ignited, and by continuing this process, the fuel spread over the grate is maintained in the most active state of combustion at the back part of the grate. This plan is very effectual, with judicious firing, and at the chimney of the boiler at Soho, where it was in use for half a century, smoke was never to be seen. The openings in the fire-door to admit the air were regulated so as to just admit the quantity which consumed the smoke, more would be prejudicial.

Previous to the introduction of Boulton & Watt's engine into Cornwall, Jonathan Homblower had been one of the principal builders of engines of that district. In 1 78 1 he took out a patent for working an engine with two cylinders of different sizes, by allowing the steam to flow freely from the boiler until it fills the smaller cylinder above the piston, it is then exhausted into the lower end, from there it is expanded into the upper end of the larger cylinder impelling the piston down, then lO THE PROGRESS OF MARINE ENGINEERING.

it flowed into the lower end, and finally into the condenser, leaving a vacuum in the large cylinder. Hornblower's engine met with little success, as it used steam at low pressure, it had a limited expansive power. Besides, he could not use his engine without borrowing Watt's condenser and air pump, cylinder cover and stuffing box, etc.

In the year 1785 Watt had been eleven years at Soho, and was actively engaged in building his single acting pumping engines, and double acting rotative engines with sun and planet wheels instead of a crank. The merits of these engines had become well known, and they were the original type of nearly all the engines used afterwards in steam navigation.

From this date successful efforts began to be made in propelling vessels by steam.

In 1785 James Rumsey, of Va., gave a public exhibition on the Potomac, above Shepherdstown, Virginia, of his discovery that a boat could be propelled by steam up stream against the current. In 1786 John Fitch, of Philadelphia propelled a boat by steam on the Delaware. In August of the following year (1787) Fitch propelled a new and larger boat, on the Delaware, at three or four miles an hour, but the rate of progress was too slow to satisfy the projector. A. D., 1788, on October 14th, a boat, the joint production of Patrick

Millar, James Taylor, and Wm. Symington, propelled by steam, was put in motion on the Lake of Dalswinton in the south of Scotland. A successful experiment, the vessel moved at the rate of five miles an hour. Millar suggested the use of paddle wheels, Taylor proposed the steam engine as the moving power, and Symington constructed the steam engine. The same men, in the following year, fitted up a larger boat, which was tried on the Forth and Clyde canal in December, 1789, and went at the rate of seven miles an hour. During the summer of 1790, the steamboat company which had acquired an interest in John Fitch's invention, ran a steam packet on the Delaware for three or four months, at a speed of about eight miles an hour, from Philadelphia to Burlington and Trenton, also to Chester and Wilmington, but the boat was not a success financially, and was laid up in the Autumn and was never used afterwards. During the next ten years many experiments were tried with steamboats, but nothing of value seems to have been produced.

In 1794 Pickard's patent for the crank expired, and Watt resumed the use of it on his engines. In the year 1800 the extended patent right which had been granted to Boulton & Watt for their improved engine, expired, and at this time Watt retired altogether from business, and the works at Soho were then conducted by the sons of Boulton and Watt. In 1769, soon after the earlier discoveries of Watt, but before they had come into practical application, Smeaton computed that the average duty of fifteen atmospheric engines (or the number of lbs. one bushel, of 94 lbs., coal would raise one foot high) was 5,600,000. In 1772, Smeaton commneced his improvements and raised the duty to 9,450,000. In 1776, Watt obtained a duty of 21,600,000, ft., lbs. In 1779, Watt reported a duty of 23,400,000 ft, lbs. From 1779 to 1788 Watt introduced the application of expansion, and raised the duty to 26,600,000. In 1798 an engine built by Watt gave a duty of 27,000,000. In 1802, Wm. Symington, who had been associated with Millar and Taylor in the experiment at Dalswinton, constructed a steam vessel for the purpose of superceding the use of horses in towing vessels along the Forth and Clyde canal. This vessel, the ** Charlotte Dundas," went steadily at the rate of six miles an hour, and may be considered a complete success, but was interdicted by the canal company, as they feared its motion would destroy the canal banks. The boat was fitted with a stem wheel.

In 1802 Trevethick & Vivian patented and constructed a high -pressure or non-condensing engine, the first of this kind which was brought into extensive practical use. This idea occurred to Leupold in 1720, and to Watt, but neither of them had reduced their notions to practice. The first trial of this species of moving power for carriages took place on a railroad at Merthyr Tydvil, Wales, in 1805. It was not at that period followed up, but was later. In 1804, Arthur Woolf obtained a patent for the application of [steam, raised under a high pressure, to double-cylinder engines. The mode of condensation invented by Watt being now public property, and the term of Hornblower's patent having expired, Woolf adopted the arrangement of the latter, with the alteration of using high-pressure steam in the small cylinder, and employing the condensing apparatus of Watt. The fact that contributed to the success of Woolf 's engines, was that although the expansion was not sufficient to yield much advantage over ordinary engines, the division of the work of the steam between the two pistons diminished the differences in pressure and the loss of steam. The first Woolf engine was set up in a London brewery, afterwards Hall made a large number. In 181 5 they were introduced into France by Edwards, and they rapidly came into use there, without much change in construction.

In 1805, Willis Earle took out a patent for engines composed of a large and small cylinder superposed (or tandem) with two pistons mounted on the same rod, a device frequently repeated since that time.

In 1807, Robert Fulton, in New York, launched a steam vessel, **The Clennont," 130 ft. long by 18 ft. beam, and 6 ft. depth of hold. The boat was fitted with a Boulton & Watt engine, 24 inches diameter of cylinder and 3 ft. stroke, it was called a square engine, or table engine, and had two connecting rods and cranks. The boiler was a low-pressure, or wagon-shaped one, of the form used with Watt's engines, and set in masonr>\ The side wheels were 15 ft. in diameter and 4 ft. wide, with two ft. dip. The condenser stood in a large coldwater cistern. The weight of the masonry and the great capacity of the cistern diminished [materially the buoyancy of the vessel. The ** Clermont" started on her first trip from New York on August 7th, 1807. The speed was about five miles per hour, and several trips were made during the Summer. During the Winter of 1807-8 the ** Clermont" was almost wholly rebuilt and much improved. She commenced her trips for the season of 1808, and started regularly at the appointed hour. At the end of the season she proved too small for the crowds who thronged to take passage. The success of the '* Clermont" led Fulton & Livingston to build two other vessels, viz: **The Car of Neptune" and the ** Paragon" and add them to the line, and from that time to the present, the Hudson river has been the scene of the most remarkable series of experiments of locomo-

"CLERMONT"

tion on water which has ever been presented in the history of navigation. In 1809, February nth, Fulton took out his first patent for navigation by steam ; and February 9th, 181 1, he obtained a second patent for some improvements on his boats and machinery. In 1807, Robert L. Stevens, of Hoboken, in conjunction with his father, John C. Stevens, of Hoboken, constructed a paddle-wheel steamer, which was in motion on the Hudson only a few days later than Fulton's first successful voyage. He called her the **Phenix." Precluded, by Fulton's monopoly on the waters of New York, the **Phenix" was employed as a passage boat between New York and New Brunswick, and finally in June, 1809, she went to sea by steam, around Cape May to the Delaware, where she ran from Philadelphia to Borden town, and belonged to what was called the Swiftsure Line, between New York and Philadelphia. This vessel made the first sea voyage by steam.

Prior to the practical working of any steamboat in Europe, Charles Brown, on the East river had built for Fulton the following vessels: ** Clermont," in 1806; **Raritan," 1807; **Carof Neptune," 1807; **Paragon," 1811; **Jersey Ferry Boat," 1812, and **FireFly," 1812. In 181 2, Henry Bell placed a steamer called the ** Comet" on the Clyde to ply between Glasgow and Greenock. This vessel was built by John Wood, of