FIG. 17.—FULTON'S STEAMBOAT, CLERMONT.
It was to be built first where it was needed most, and that was in America. It was built by a man who kept his eyes on Rumsey and Fitch and Symington, and made the best of what he saw. As all the world knows, this was Robert Fulton. In August of 1807 Fulton's steamboat the Clermont (Fig. 17) made a trip on the Hudson River from New York to Albany, a distance of 150 miles, in thirty-two hours, and returned in thirty hours. Fulton advertised for passengers, and his boat was soon crowded. "The Clermont," says an English writer, "was the steamboat that commenced and continued to run for practical purposes, and for the remuneration of her owners." Here was the boat that was wanted—one that was financially profitable.
FIG. 18.—THE BOAT OF STEVENS.
The paddle-wheels of the Clermont were on the sides of the boat about midship. As the wheel turned, about half of it was in the water and about half was out. There were engineers, even in Fulton's day who did not believe the wheels ought to be on the sides of the boat. Look at waterfowl, they said, look at the graceful swan; its feet do not work at its sides, half under the water and half out. Every animal that swims propels itself from behind, and its propellers are entirely under the water. So, thought these engineers, the paddle-wheel of a boat should be placed behind, and should be entirely covered by the water. John Stevens, an engineer of Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1805 built a steamboat according to this notion (Fig. 18). A close inspection of the wheel of the boat would show that it is spiral- or screw-like in shape. Stevens' boat made a trial trip on the Hudson and worked well; but after Fulton's great success the little steamer with its spiral-shaped wheel in the rear was soon forgotten. The idea of a screw-propeller, however, was not lost. It was taken up by John Ericsson, a Swedish engineer, who, in 1839, built, in an English shipyard for an American captain, the first screw-propeller that crossed the Atlantic—the Robert F. Stockton. This was the last step in the development of the boat. Since 1839 there has been marvelous progress in ship-building, but the progress has consisted in improving upon the invention of Ericsson rather than in making new discoveries. With the screw-propeller in its present form we may close our story of the boat. The homely log propelled by rude paddles has become the magnificent floating palace.
