Part 19 (1/2)
In 1792, Elijah Ormsbee, a Rhode Island mechanic, a.s.sisted pecuniarily by David Wilkinson, built a small steamboat at Winsor's Cove, Narragansett Bay, and made a successful trial-trip on the Seekonk River. Ormsbee used an ”atmospheric engine” and ”duck's-foot” paddles.
His boat attained a speed of from three to four miles an hour.
In Great Britain, Lord Dundas and William Symmington, the former as the purveyor of funds and the latter as engineer, followed by Henry Bell, were the first to make the introduction of the steam-engine for the propulsion of s.h.i.+ps so completely successful that no interruption subsequently took place in the growth of the new system of water-transportation.
Thomas, Lord Dundas, of Kerse, had taken great interest in the experiments of Miller, and had hoped to be able to apply the new motor on the Forth and Clyde Ca.n.a.l, in which he held a large interest.
After the failure of the earlier experiments, he did not forget the matter; but subsequently, meeting with Symmington, who had been Miller's constructing engineer, he engaged him to continue the experiments, and furnished all required capital, about 7,000. This was ten years after Miller had abandoned his scheme.
Symmington commenced work in 1801. The first boat built for Lord Dundas, which has been claimed to have been the ”first practical steamboat,” was finished ready for trial early in 1802. The vessel was called the ”Charlotte Dundas,” in honor of a daughter of Lord Dundas, who became Lady Milton.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 75.--The ”Charlotte Dundas,” 1801.]
The vessel (Fig. 75) was driven by a Watt double-acting engine, turning a crank on the paddle-wheel shaft. The sectional sketch below exhibits the arrangement of the machinery. _A_ is the steam-cylinder, driving, by means of the connecting-rod, _B C_, a stern-wheel, _E E_.
_F_ is the boiler, and _G_ the tall smoke-pipe. An air-pump and condenser, _H_, is seen under the steam-cylinder.
In March, 1802, the boat was brought to Lock No. 20 on the Forth and Clyde Ca.n.a.l, and two vessels of 70 tons burden each taken in tow. Lord Dundas, William Symmington, and a party of invited guests, were taken on board, and the boat steamed down to Port Glasgow, a distance of about 20 miles, against a strong head-wind, in six hours.
The proprietors of the ca.n.a.l were now urged to adopt the new plan of towing; but, fearing injury to the banks of the ca.n.a.l, they declined to do so. Lord Dundas then laid the matter before the Duke of Bridgewater, who gave Symmington an order for eight boats like the Charlotte Dundas, to be used on his ca.n.a.l. The death of the Duke, however, prevented the contract from being carried into effect, and Symmington again gave up the project in despair. A quarter of a century later, Symmington received from the British Government 100, and, a little later, 50 additional, as an acknowledgment of his services. The Charlotte Dundas was laid up, and we hear nothing more of that vessel.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 76.--The ”Comet,” 1812.]
Among those who saw the Charlotte Dundas, and who appreciated the importance of the success achieved by Symmington, was HENRY BELL, who, 10 years afterward, constructed the Comet (Fig. 76), the first pa.s.senger-vessel built in Europe. This vessel was built in 1811, and completed January 18, 1812. The craft was of 30 tons burden, 40 feet in length, and 10-1/2 feet breadth of beam. There were _two_ paddle-wheels on each side, driven by engines rated at three horse-power.
Bell had, it is said, been an enthusiastic believer in the advantages to be secured by this application of steam, from about 1786. In 1800, and again in 1803, he applied to the British Admiralty for aid in securing those advantages by experimentally determining the proper form and proportions of machinery and vessel; but was not able to convince the Admiralty of ”the practicability and great utility of applying steam to the propelling of vessels against winds and tides, and every obstruction on rivers and seas where there was depth of water.” He also wrote to the United States Government, urging his views in a similar strain.
Bell's boat was, when finished, advertised as a pa.s.senger-boat, to leave Greenock, where the vessel was built, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, for Glasgow, 24 miles distant, returning Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sat.u.r.days. The fare was made ”four s.h.i.+llings for the best cabin, and three s.h.i.+llings for the second.” It was some months before the vessel became considered a trustworthy means of conveyance.
Bell, on the whole, was at first a heavy loser by his venture, although his boat proved itself a safe, stanch vessel.
Bell constructed several other boats in 1815, and with his success steam-navigation in Great Britain was fairly inaugurated. In 1814 there were five steamers, all Scotch, regularly working in British waters; in 1820 there were 34, one-half of which were in England, 14 in Scotland, and the remainder in Ireland. Twenty years later, at the close of the period to which this chapter is especially devoted, there were about 1,325 steam-vessels in that kingdom, of which 1,000 were English and 250 Scotch.
But we must return to America, to witness the first and most complete success, commercially, in the introduction of the steamboat.
The Messrs. Stevens, Livingston, Fulton, and Roosevelt were there the most successful pioneers. The latter is said to have built the ”Polacca,” a small steamboat launched on the Pa.s.saic River in 1798.
The vessel was 60 feet long, and had an engine of 20 inches diameter of cylinder and 2 feet stroke, which drove the boat 8 miles an hour, carrying a party of invited guests, which included the Spanish Minister. Livingston and John Stevens had induced Roosevelt to try their plans still earlier,[74] paying the expense of the experiments.
The former adopted the plan of Bernouilli and Rumsey, using a centrifugal pump to force a jet of water from the stern; the latter used the screw. Livingston going to France as United States Minister, Barlow carried over the plans of the ”Polacca,” and Roosevelt's friends state that a boat built by them, in conjunction with Fulton, was a ”sister-s.h.i.+p” to that vessel. In 1798, Roosevelt patented a double engine, having cranks set at right angles. As late as 1814 he received a patent for a steam-vessel, fitted with paddle-wheels having adjustable floats. His boat of 1798 is stated by some writers to have been made by him on joint account of himself, Livingston, and Stevens.
Roosevelt, some years later, was again at work, a.s.sociating himself with Fulton in the introduction of steam-navigation of the rivers of the West.[75]
[74] ”Encyclopaedia Americana.”
[75] ”A Lost Chapter in the History of the Steamboat,” J. H. B.
Latrobe, 1871.
In 1798, the Legislature of New York pa.s.sed a law giving Chancellor Livingston the exclusive right to steam-navigation in the waters of the State for a period of 20 years, _provided_ that he should succeed, within a twelve-month, in producing a boat that should steam four miles an hour.
Livingston did not succeed in complying with the terms of the act, but, in 1803, he procured the reenactment of the law in favor of himself and Robert Fulton, who was then experimenting in France, after having, in England, watched the progress of steam-navigation there, and then taken a patent in this country.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Robert Fulton.]