A History of the Growth of the Steam-Engine Part 18

Rumsey's experiments began in 1774, and in 1786 he succeeded in driving a boat at the rate of four miles an hour against the current of the Potomac at Shepherdstown, W. Va., in presence of General Washington. His method of propulsion has often been reinvented since, and its adoption urged with that enthusiasm and persistence which is a peculiar characteristic of inventors.

Rumsey employed his engine to drive a great pump which forced a stream of water aft, thus propelling the boat forward, as proposed earlier by Bernouilli. This same method has been recently tried again by the British Admiralty, in a gunboat of moderate size, using a centrifugal pump to set in motion the propelling stream, and with some other modifications which are decided improvements upon Rumsey's rude arrangements, but which have not done much more than his toward the introduction of "Hydraulic or Jet Propulsion," as it is now called.

In 1787 he obtained a patent from the State of Virginia for steam-navigation. He wrote a treatise "On the Application of Steam,"

which was printed at Philadelphia, where a Rumsey society was organized for the encouragement of attempts at steam-navigation.

Rumsey died of apoplexy, while explaining some of his schemes before a London society a short time later, December 23, 1793, at the age of fifty years. A boat, then in process of construction from his plans, was afterward tried on the Thames, in 1793, and steamed at the rate of four miles an hour. The State of Kentucky, in 1839, presented his son with a gold medal, commemorative of his father's services "in giving to the world the benefit of the steamboat."

JOHN FITCH was an unfortunate and eccentric, but very ingenious, Connecticut mechanic. After roaming about until forty years of age, he finally settled on the banks of the Delaware, where he built his first steamboat.

In April, 1785, as Fitch himself states, at Neshamony, Bucks County, Pa., he suddenly conceived the idea that a carriage might be driven by steam. After considering the subject a few days, his attention was led to the plan of using steam to propel vessels, and from that time to the day of his death he was a persistent advocate of the introduction of the steamboat. At this time, Fitch says, "I did not know that there was a steam-engine on the earth;" and he was somewhat disappointed when his friend, the Rev. Mr. Irwin, of Neshamony, showed him a sketch of one in "Martin's Philosophy."

Fitch's first model was at once built, and was soon after tried on a small stream near Davisville. The machinery was made of bra.s.s, and the boat was impelled by paddle-wheels. A rough model of his steamboat was shown to Dr. John Ewing, Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, who, August 20, 1785, addressed a commendatory letter to an ex-Member of Congress, William C. Houston, asking him to a.s.sist Fitch in securing the aid of the General Government. The latter referred the inventor, by a letter of recommendation, to a delegate from New Jersey, Mr. Lambert Cadwalader. With this, and other letters, Fitch proceeded to New York, where Congress then met, and made his application in proper form. He was unsuccessful, and equally so in attempting to secure aid from the Spanish minister, who desired that the profits should be secured, by a monopoly of the invention, to the King of Spain. Fitch declined further negotiation, determined that, if successful at all, the benefit should accrue to his own countrymen.

In September, 1785, Fitch presented to the American Philosophical Society, at Philadelphia, a model in which he had subst.i.tuted an endless chain and floats for the paddle-wheels, with drawings and a descriptive account of his scheme. This model is shown in the accompanying figure.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 67.--Fitch's Model, 1785.]

In March, 1786, Fitch was granted a patent by the State of New Jersey, for the exclusive right to the navigation of the waters of the State by steam, for 14 years. A month later, he was in Philadelphia, seeking a similar patent from the State of Pennsylvania. He did not at once succeed, but in a few days he had formed a company, raised $300, and set about finding a place in which to construct his engine. Henry Voight, a Dutch watchmaker, a good mechanic, and a very ingenious man, took an interest in the company, and with him Fitch set about his work with great enthusiasm. After making a little model, having a steam-cylinder but one inch in diameter, they built a model boat and engine, the latter having a diameter of cylinder of three inches. They tried the endless chain, and other methods of propulsion, without success, and finally succeeded with a set of oars worked by the engine. In August, 1786, it was determined by the company to authorize the construction of a larger vessel; but the money was not readily obtained. Meantime, Fitch continued his efforts to secure a patent from the State, and was finally, March 28, 1787, successful. He also obtained a similar grant from the State of Delaware, in February of the same year, and from New York, March 19.

Money was now subscribed more freely, and the work on the boat continued uninterruptedly until May, 1787, when a trial was made, which revealed many defects in the machinery. The cylinder-heads were of wood, and leaked badly; the piston leaked; the condenser was imperfect; the valves were not tight. All these defects were remedied, and a condenser invented by Voight--the "pipe-condenser"--was subst.i.tuted for that defective detail as previously made.

The steamboat was finally placed in working order, and was found capable, on trial, of making three or four miles an hour. But now the boiler proved to be too small to furnish steam steadily in sufficient quant.i.ty to sustain the higher speed. After some delay, and much distress on the part of the sanguine inventor, who feared that he might be at last defeated when on the very verge of success, the necessary changes were finally made, and a trial took place at Philadelphia, in presence of the members of the Convention--then in session at Philadelphia framing the Federal Const.i.tution--August 22, 1787. Many of the distinguished spectators gave letters to Fitch certifying his success. Fitch now went to Virginia, where he succeeded in obtaining a patent, November 7, 1787, and then returned to ask a patent of the General Government.

A controversy with Rumsey now followed, in which Fitch a.s.serted his claims to the invention of the steamboat, and denied that Rumsey had done more than to revive the scheme which Bernouilli, Franklin, Henry, Paine, and others, had previously proposed, and that Rumsey's _steamboat_ was not made until 1786.

The boiler adopted in Fitch's boat of 1787 was a "pipe-boiler," which he had described in a communication to the Philosophical Society, in September, 1785. It consisted (Fig. 68) of a small water-pipe, winding backward and forward in the furnace, and terminating at one end at the point at which the feed-water was introduced, and at the other uniting with the steam-pipe leading to the engine. Voight's condenser was similarly constructed. Rumsey claimed that this boiler was copied from his designs. Fitch brought evidence to prove that Rumsey had not built such a boiler until after his own.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 68.--Fitch and Voight's Boiler, 1787.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 69.--Fitch's First Boat, 1787.]

Fitch's first boat-engine had a steam-cylinder 12 inches in diameter.

A second engine was now built (1788) with a cylinder 18 inches in diameter, and a new boat. The first vessel was 45 feet long and 12 feet wide; the new boat was 60 feet long and of but 8 feet breadth of beam. The first boat (Fig. 69) had paddles worked at the sides, with the motion given the Indian paddle in propelling a canoe; in the second boat (Fig. 70) they were similarly worked, but were placed at the stern. There were three of these paddles. The boat was finally finished in July, 1788, and made a trip to Burlington, 20 miles from Philadelphia. When just reaching their destination, their boiler gave out, and they made their return-trip to Philadelphia floating with the tide. Subsequently, the boat made a number of excursions on the Delaware River, making three or four miles an hour.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 70.--John Fitch, 1788.]

Another of Fitch's boats, in April, 1790, made seven miles an hour.

Fitch, writing of this boat, says that "on the 16th of April we got our work completed, and tried our boat again; and, although the wind blew very fresh at the east, we reigned lord high admirals of the Delaware, and no boat on the river could hold way with us." In June of that year it was placed as a pa.s.senger-boat on a line from Philadelphia to Burlington, Bristol, Bordentown, and Trenton, occasionally leaving that route to take excursions to Wilmington and Chester. During this period, the boat probably ran between 2,000 and 3,000 miles,[67] and with no serious accident. During the winter of 1790-'91, Fitch commenced another steamboat, the "Perseverance," and gave considerable time to the prosecution of his claim for a patent from the United States. The boat was never completed, although he received his patent, after a long and spirited contest with other claimants, on the 26th of August, 1791, and Fitch lost all hope of success. He went to France in 1793, hoping to obtain the privilege of building steam-vessels there, but was again disappointed, and worked his pa.s.sage home in the following year.

[67] "Life of John Fitch," Westcott.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 71.--John Fitch, 1796.]

In the year 1796, Fitch was again in New York City, experimenting with a little _screw_ steamboat on the "Collect" Pond, which then covered that part of the city now occupied by the "Tombs," the city prison.

This little boat was a ship's yawl fitted with a screw, like that adopted later by Woodcroft, and driven by a rudely-made engine.

Fitch, while in the city of Philadelphia at about this time, met Oliver Evans, and discussed with him the probable future of steam-navigation, and proposed to form a company in the West, to promote the introduction of steam on the great rivers of that part of the country. He settled at last in Kentucky, on his land-grant, and there amused himself with a model steamboat, which he placed in a small stream near Bardstown. His death occurred there in July, 1798, and his body still lies in the village cemetery, with only a rough stone to mark the spot.

Both Rumsey and Fitch endeavored to introduce their methods in Great Britain; and Fitch, while urging the importance and the advantages of his plan, confidently stated his belief that the ocean would soon be crossed by steam-vessels, and that the navigation of the Mississippi would also become exclusively a steam-navigation. His reiterated a.s.sertion, "The day will come when some more powerful man will get fame and riches from my invention; but no one will believe that poor John Fitch can do anything worthy of attention," now almost sounds like a prophecy.

During this period, an interest which had never diminished in Great Britain had led to the introduction of experimental steamboats in that country. PATRICK MILLER, of Dalswinton, had commenced experimenting, in 1786-'87, with boats having double or triple hulls, and propelled by paddle-wheels placed between the parts of the compound vessel.

James Taylor, a young man who had been engaged as tutor for Mr.

Miller's sons, suggested, in 1787, the subst.i.tution of steam for the manual power which had been, up to that time, relied upon in their propulsion. Mr. Miller, in 1787, printed a description of his plan of propelling apparatus, and in it stated that he had "reason to believe that the power of the Steam-Engine may be applied to work the wheels."

In the winter of 1787-'88, William Symmington, who had planned a new form of steam-engine, and made a successful working-model, was employed by Mr. Miller to construct an engine for a new boat. This was built; the little engine, having two cylinders of but four inches in diameter, was placed on board, and a trial was made October 14, 1788.

The vessel (Fig. 72) was 25 feet long, of 7 feet beam, and made 5 miles an hour.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 72.--Miller, Taylor, and Symmington, 1788.]

In the year 1789, a large vessel was built, with an engine having a steam-cylinder 18 inches in diameter, and this vessel was ready for trial in November of that year. On the first trial, the paddle-wheels proved too slight, and broke down; they were replaced by stronger wheels, and, in December, the boat, on trial, made seven miles an hour.

Miller, like many other inventors, seems to have lost his interest in the matter as soon as success seemed a.s.sured, and dropped it to take up other incomplete plans. More than a quarter of a century later, the British Government gave Taylor a pension of 50 per annum, and, in 1837, his four daughters were each given a similar annuity. Mr.

Miller received no reward, although he is said to have expended over 30,000. The engine of Symmington was condemned by Miller as "the most improper of all steam-engines for giving motion to a vessel." Nothing more was done in Great Britain until early in the succeeding century.

In the United States, several mechanics were now at work besides Fitch. Samuel Morey and Nathan Read were among these. Nicholas Roosevelt was another. It had just been found that American mechanics were able to do the required shop-work. The first experimental steam-engine built in America is stated to have been made in 1773 by Christopher Colles, a lecturer before the American Philosophical Society at Philadelphia. The first steam-cylinder of any considerable size is said[68] to have been made by Sharpe & Curtenius, of New York City.

[68] _Rivington's Gazette_, February 16, 1775.

SAMUEL MOREY was the son of one of the first settlers of Orford, N. H.

He was naturally fond of science and mechanics, and became something of an inventor. He began experimenting with the steamboat in 1790 or earlier, building a small vessel, and fitting it with paddle-wheels driven by a steam-engine of his own design, and constructed by himself.[69] He made a trial-trip one Sunday morning in the summer of 1790, a friend to accompany him, from Oxford, up the Connecticut River, to Fairlee, Vt., a distance of several miles, and returned safely. He then went to New York, and spent the summer of each year until 1793 in experimenting with his boat and modifications of his engine. In 1793 he made a trip to Hartford, returning to New York the next summer. His boat was a "stern-wheeler," and is stated to have been capable of steaming five miles an hour. He next went to Bordentown, N. J., where he built a larger boat, which is said to have been a side-wheel boat, and to have worked satisfactorily. His funds finally gave out, and he gave up his project after having, in 1797, made a trip to Philadelphia. Fulton, Livingston, and Stevens met Morey at New York, inspected his boat, and made an excursion to Greenwich with him.[70] Livingston is said[71] to have offered to a.s.sist Morey if he should succeed in attaining a speed of eight miles an hour.

[69] _Providence Journal_, May 7, 1874. Coll., N. H. Antiquar. Soc., No. 1; "Who invented the Steamboat?" William A. Mowry, 1874.

[70] Rev. Cyrus Mann, in the _Boston Recorder_, 1858.

[71] Westcott.

Morey's experiments seem to have been conducted very quietly, however, and almost nothing is known of them. The author has not been able to learn any particulars of the engines used by him, and nothing definite is known of the dimensions of either boat or machinery. Morey never, like Fitch and Rumsey, sought publicity for his plans or notoriety for himself.

NATHAN READ, who has already been mentioned, a native of Warren, Ma.s.s., where he was born in the year 1759, and a graduate of Harvard College, was a student of medicine, and subsequently a manufacturer of chain-cables and other iron-work for ships. He invented, and in 1798 patented, a nail-making machine. He was at one time (1800-1803) a Member of Congress, and, later, a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and Chief Justice in Hanc.o.c.k County, Me., after his removal to that State in 1807. He died in Belfast, Me., in 1849, at the age of ninety years.

In the year 1788 he became interested in the problem of steam-navigation, and learned something of the work of Fitch. He first attempted to design a boiler that should be strong, light, and compact, as well as safe. His first plan was that of the "Portable Furnace-Boiler," as he called it; it was patented August 26, 1791. As designed, it consisted, as seen in Figs. 73 and 74, which are reduced from his patent drawings, of a sh.e.l.l of cylindrical form, like the now common vertical tubular boiler. _A_ is the furnace-door, _B_ a heater and feed-water reservoir, _D_ a pipe leading the feed-water into the boiler,[72] _E_ the smoke-pipe, and _F_ the steam-pipe leading to the engine. _G_ is the "sh.e.l.l" of the boiler, and _H_ the fire-box. The crown-sheet, _I I_, has depending from it, in the furnace, a set of water-tubes, _b b_, closed at their lower ends, and another set, _a a_, which connect the water-s.p.a.ce above the furnace with the water-bottom, _K K_. _L_ is the furnace, and _M_ the draught-s.p.a.ce between the boiler and the ash-pit, in which the grates are set.

[72] This is substantially an arrangement that has recently become common. It has been repatented by later inventors.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 73.--Read's Boiler in Section, 1788.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 74.--Read's Multi-Tubular Boiler, 1788.]

This boiler was intended to be used in both steamboats and steam-carriages. The first drawings were made in 1788 or 1789, as were those of a peculiar form of steam-engine which also resembled very closely that afterward constructed in Great Britain by Trevithick.[73]

He built a boat in 1789, which he fitted with paddle-wheels and a crank, which was turned by hand, and, by trial, satisfied himself that the system would work satisfactorily.

[73] "Nathan Read and the Steam-Engine."

He then applied for his patent, and spent the greater part of the winter of 1789-'90 in New York, where Congress then met, endeavoring to secure it. In January, 1791, Read withdrew his pet.i.tions for patents, proposing to incorporate accounts of new devices, and renewed them a few months later. His patents were finally issued, dated August 26, 1791. John Fitch, James Rumsey, and John Stevens, also, all received patents at the same date, for various methods of applying steam to the propulsion of vessels.

Read appears to have never succeeded in even experimentally making his plans successful. He deserves credit for his early and intelligent perception of the importance of the subject, and for the ingenuity of his devices. As the inventor of the vertical multi-tubular fire-box boiler, he has also ent.i.tled himself to great distinction. This boiler is now in very general use, and is a standard form.