,fund-,publication1 ,no4 #e4 ,a ,,lost ,,chapter ,,in ,,the ,history of the ,steamboat4 ,,the ,,maryland ,,historical ,,society #ahdd ,,by ,j4 ,h4 ,b4 ,,latrobe4 ,baltimore1 ,march1 #ahga4 ,printed by ,john ,murphy1 ,printer to the ,maryland ,historical ,society1 ,baltimore1 ,march1 #ahga4 ,a ,,lost ,,chapter ,,in ,,the ,,history ,,of ,,the ,,steamboat4 ,in the spring of #ahbh1 my law office was in the ,athenum building1 so called1 afterwards destroyed by fire4 ,my business was scant1 for ,i had but recently been admitted to the bar4 ,i was ruminating1 no doubt1 upon my prospects1 when the door was opened1 and a handsome1 elderly man1 of distinguished presence1 entered and asked me1 in rich unctuous tones1 and with a strong ,irish accent1 if my name was ,latrobe1 and if ,i recollected him4 ,his face was familiar1 and so was his voice2 but ,i could not place him4 ,seeing that ,i hesitated1 he said1 8and it would be strange if you did1 for you were but a bit of a child when you last saw me in your father's house4 ,i am ,john ,devereux ,delacy10 and he rolled out his sounding name as though he was proud of it4 ,i recollected him then4 ,fourteen or fifteen years back it had been his fancy to pet me as a child4 ,it was this that had impressed him on my memory4 8,ah1 you know me now10 he said3 8you remember when ,i used to be so much with ,fulton and ,roosevelt and ,chancellor ,livingston and ,dr4 ,mitchell1 at the ,navy ,yard house40 ,this was the name given to my father's residence in ,washington1 not far from the ,navy ,yard4 ,after recalling well remembered incidents and indulging in general remarks for a while1 ,mr4 ,delacy took a survey of my scantily furnished office1 and said1 8not overwhelmed with business1 my young friend3 so much the better for me3 you will have the more time to attend to something ,i want you to undertake4 ,if you succeed1 it will be the making of both our fortunes4 ,i want suit brought against every steamboat owner in the ,united ,states2 and you must begin with old ,billy ,mc,donald1 here in ,baltimore4 ,see this20 and1 suiting the action to the word1 my visitor drew from his breast pocket the original parchment letters patent1 now before me1 signed by ,james ,madison1 ,president1 ,james ,monroe1 ,secretary of ,state1 and ,richard ,rush1 ,attorney ,general1 granting to ,nicholas ,j4 ,roosevelt the exclusive right to his #8new and useful improvement in propelling boats by steam4' ,dated ,december #ast1 #ahad4 ,the patent had still some months to run4 ,the specification contained the following description of the improvement3 8,in a boat or vessel of any form1 but of sufficient capacity to contain the machinery1 ,i place a steam engine of a power proportioned to the resistance to be overcome in propelling a boat or vessel a given distance in a given time4 ,this steam engine is supplied by a boiler of the usual form1 or made cylindric1 one or more at pleasure1 so as to be of sufficient capacity to feed the engine4 ,i next place two wheels over the sides1 on the axles of which ,i put fliers1 dispense with them1 or otherwise1 contrive them at pleasure1 either to regulate motion1 or to give additional velocity2 or1 they may be connected with the valve shaft and steam engine by wheels1 so as to give any number of revolutions that may be desired4 ,the arms of the water wheels ,i would make of wood1 to which ,i attach floats or paddles of cast iron or thick boiler plate sheet iron1 though they may be made of wood4 ,these floats ,i make move up and down on the arms by means of screws and holes1 so as to make them deeper or shallower in the water1 in taking a hold on the water1 agreeably to the depth of the water the boat may draw1 or the lading there may be on board1 or agreeably to other circumstances4 ,the supporters of the outer ends of the water wheel shaft to be made of iron with braces1 though they may be made of wood1 if required4 ,nicholas ,j4 ,roosevelt4 ,witnesses3 ,jeremiah ,ballard1 ,john ,dev'x ,delacy40 ,delacy watched me closely as ,i read the letters patent2 and1 ,i remember1 placed his gloved finger on his own name at the bottom4 ,i had not been carried away by his promise of a case4 ,he was remarkably well preserved2 but his habiliments approached what might have been called seediness2 although his air and carriage would have borne up against even longer used apparel4 ,it was easy to be seen that a contingent fee was all that could be expected3 but the parchment1 the accuracy of the description1 its perfect correspondence with the steamboats in use1 and its date1 made the case look better than ,i had at first thought it would4 ,taking the letters patent from me1 ,mr4 ,delacy placed in my hands a carefully prepared assignment from ,roosevelt to ,william ,griffith1 an eminent lawyer of ,new ,jersey1 conveying them in trust for the benefit of ,roosevelt1 for one-third interest1 of ,delacy1 for one-third1 and of ,griffith and ,aaron ,ogden1 of a well known and distinguished family1 for the remaining third4 ,the assignment gave ,griffith the power to sell rights and sue infringers2 and excepted from its operation the ,shrewsbury and ,jersey ,stage ,company and ,ogden1 who were already licensees of ,roosevelt1 the latter running a boat between ,elizabethtown and ,new ,york4 ,nor was this all4 ,delacy1 who evidently was pleased with the impression he saw he was making1 next handed me an opinion on a case stated1 given by ,mr4 ,wirt1 in #ahbf1 of which the following is an extract3 ,,case4 ,in the year #ahji1 ,robert ,smith1 ,esquire1 then being ,secretary of ,state1 an application was made to him by the late ,robert ,fulton1 ,esq41 for a patent for the using of vertical wheels with steam engines or other power to propel boats through the water2 but though he filed such his application1 c41 he neither subscribed nor swore thereto in the manner prescribed1 or required1 by law2 for the name1 ,robert ,fulton1 is in the handwriting of another man4 ,in #ahad1 7under view of the circumstances17 a patent was granted to ,nicholas ,j4 ,roosevelt1 for the using vertical wheels with steam engines1 or other acting power1 to propel boats1 c41 through water1 the patent or papers issued to ,fulton being considered void1 and but as so much blank paper4 ,public notice was given of the patent having been granted to ,roosevelt1 and ,fulton never urged his claim1 but from that moment abandoned it2 and ,roosevelt's patent1 though well and publicly known to exist1 and to be in existence for twelve years1 has been neither impeached nor impugned2 neither does any other person lay claim to the invention of the application of vertical wheels4 ,it is asked1 if1 under the within stated circumstances1 the patent to ,roosevelt is not valid2 and at this distance of time from being issued1 is not now unimpeachable8 ,other questions were asked in connection with the assignment4 ,mr4 ,wirt's answer to the above is alone important however at this time4 ,it is as follows3 ,baltimore1 ,july #aath1 #ahbf4 ,on the above statement ,i am of opinion1 that the patent to ,roosevelt is valid4 ,it is still subject to impeachment1 however1 on the ground that he was not the first discoverer of the improvement which he has patented4 ,the distance of time since the date of the patent is sufficient to bar a proceeding to set it aside by scire facias under the third section of the ,act of #agic2 but any defendant1 against whom an action may be brought under the patent1 may impeach it at any distance of time1 under the sixth section of the ,act of #agic4 ,satisfied from this showing that ,mr4 ,delacy's case was not a bad one1 ,i agreed to undertake it1 and wrote to ,mr4 ,roosevelt1 in the ,state of ,new ,york1 upon the subject4 ,he corroborated all that ,i had heard1 sent me copies of important correspondence1 and referred me to ,richard ,s4 ,coxe1 ,esq41 of ,washington1 who was the executor of ,mr4 ,griffith1 the assignee for the original papers4 ,mr4 ,griffith had then been for many years dead4 ,among my clients1 at this time1 was the late ,mr4 ,john ,s4 ,stiles1 who1 hearing what had taken place with ,delacy1 agreed1 in consideration of participating in my fee1 to visit ,washington1 call on ,mr4 ,coxe1 obtain the ,griffith papers1 and afterward go to ,clermont1 the residence of the late ,chancellor ,livingston1 who1 ,i learned from ,mr4 ,roosevelt1 was connected with the investigation ,i was about to make4 ,on the return of ,mr4 ,stiles to ,baltimore1 and after an examination of papers he had obtained1 the case looked so strong1 that ,i called on ,mr4 ,wirt1 reminded him of his opinion1 shewed him my documents1 and asked him if he would come into the case on a contingent fee4 ,i called also on ,mr4 ,taney4 ,both gentlemen thought the prospect of success was fair2 and both agreed to participate in the trial1 which was to take place in the ,circuit ,court of the ,united ,states1 in ,baltimore4 ,it was thought best1 on consultation1 to begin the litigation by suing the company owning the steamboats running from ,baltimore to ,frenchtown1 at the head of which was the late ,general ,william ,mc,donald2 and ,i addressed myself1 at once1 to as thorough a preparation as ,i was capable of making1 prior to issuing a writ4 ,difficulties now presented themselves which ,i had not appreciated when ,mr4 ,delacy called on me1 or while gathering the documentary evidence4 ,i am reminded of the first that occurred by ,mr4 ,roosevelt's reply to my letter already mentioned4 ,it was necessary that we should have a meeting2 but to bring this about required an hundred dollars1 which neither of us had to spare4 ,then1 commissions were necessary to collect the testimony of parties at a distance4 ,in a word1 it was apparent that more means were needed than ,i1 a young lawyer1 just beginning the world1 could command2 and ,mr4 ,stiles had spent all he could afford in his visits to ,washington and ,clermont4 ,i was in trouble1 too1 about ,delacy4 ,he had procured1 on credit1 from ,patterson1 the then fashionable tailor in ,south street1 a complete outfit2 and not having the money to pay for it1 ,patterson1 who was unwilling to wait until our success at law made my client's fortune1 put him in jail1 in spite of his sounding name and lofty bearing4 ,i had to become security for him1 and ultimately to pay the debt4 ,by this time1 ,i had found out that he had an aptitude for this sort of thing2 and that it would be for my own advantage1 and the credit of the great case1 to get him out of town as soon as possible4 ,always buoyant in his feelings1 gushing in his manner1 and intending to be honest1 he was one of those men who are always in trouble4 ,as already intimated1 therefore1 ,i was not as hopeful at the end of some months as ,i had been2 and1 when ,mr4 ,taney asked me1 one day1 how my preparation was getting on1 ,i told him1 candidly1 all my troubles1 present and prospective4 ,his advice was kind and prompt4 ,the case he still thought was a fair one1 and if it went on he would go into it with earnest zeal2 but1 he advised me not to hamper myself in the commencement of my professional career4 ,one thing was certain4 ,i would have against me every steamboat owner in the ,united ,states4 ,now-a-days1 combinations often carry on these great cases4 ,it was not so then2 and1 after discussing the matter with ,mr4 ,stiles1 ,i tied up my papers1 and abandoning the idea of suing ,general ,mc,donald1 placed them in the pigeon-hole1 where1 with a single exception1 they have remained undisturbed for upwards of forty years1 and now see the light1 only that this ,lost ,chapter may be written4 ,the exception was this4 ,in #ahee or #ahef1 ,i lent the package to ,dr4 ,hamel1 a ,russian savant1 who was about preparing a history of steam navigation1 and who visited ,america to obtain information on this and other subjects4 ,the papers remained in his hands for some months4 ,they were returned when he was on the eve of departure for ,europe4 ,he has been dead for many years2 and ,i am not aware that he made any use of what he got from me4 ,it is probable1 therefore1 that what ,i am about to tell will be told for the first time1 now4 ,it seems proper that it should not be wholly lost1 and hence ,i tell it4 ,to us1 of to-day1 it appears strange that the first suggestion of steam1 as a motive power for the propulsion of vessels was not accompanied by a plan for using vertical wheels over the sides to which to apply it4 ,and yet1 this was very far from being the case4 ,fitch1 in #aghc1 propelled a boat upon the ,delaware by a steam mechanism that moved paddles1 as an ,indian works the paddle in a canoe4 ,rumsey had a vertical pump1 operated by steam1 in the middle of his boat1 that drew in water at the stem and expelled it at the stern1 through an horizontal trunk in the bottom4 ,dr4 ,franklin's plan was to make a current of steam propel the vessel as it issued from the stern4 ,then steam was applied to oars1 and for a season a boat was rowed by steam between ,philadelphia and ,bordentown4 ,dr4 ,kensey built a steam engine that was to operate upon oars1 paddles and flutter wheels4 ,fulton himself1 as stated by his biographer1 ,colden1 after subjecting ,rumsey's mode to the test of calculation1 8thought of paddles and duck's feet1 abandoning which1 he took up the idea of using endless chains with resisting boards upon them as propellers4 ,his calculations10 still using ,colden's language1 8giving him a favorable opinion of the mode2 at least1 he was persuaded it was greatly preferable to any other method that had been previously tried40 ,the above were notions1 mere notions1 all of them--all of them were utter failures2 and the enumeration of them1 now1 excites our astonishment that any one of them should have been tried4 ,long before the day of ,fulton1 long before the earliest period to which ,fulton1 at any time1 ever attempted to carry back the plan of steam navigation1 it was1 as ,i have shewn1 entertained and practically experimented on1 here in ,america1 by ,fitch1 ,rumsey1 ,kensey and others1 all of whom failed to succeed4 ,what made it a success at last8 ,the use of vertical wheels over the sides of the vessel4 ,why had it not succeeded previously8 ,because vertical wheels were not combined with steam power in the production of the desired result--a successful steamboat1 as now understood4 ,the merit lies with him1 therefore1 who first suggested the combination that produced success1--describing it in such a practical shape that the task of invention was completed1 leaving nothing to be done but the mechanical execution4 ,was this the merit of ,robert ,fulton8 ,unquestionably it was not2 and the object of this writing is to demonstrate the fact4 ,i have before me the original 8petition of ,nicholas ,j4 ,roosevelt to the ,honorable the ,governor1 the ,councils and the ,representatives1 of the ,state of ,new ,jersey1 in ,legislative assembly convened10--dated ,january #acth1 #ahae1 in which he 8asserts 7,i quote his words7 with the modest and manly firmness of honesty that he is the true and original inventor and discoverer of steamboats with vertical wheels now in use40 ,and he prays from the ,legislature1 8as the constitutional guardians of the rights of their fellow-citizens and of the interests of the ,state10 such privileges1 as on examination and hearing he may be thought entitled to4 ,at this time1 there were vague notions of the powers of the ,states over their navigable waters1 which the decision of the ,supreme ,court1 in connection with the steamboat controversy1 dissipated at a later day4 ,belonging to an old ,new ,york family1 whose worth had been illustrated then1 as it has been since1 by the honorable positions that its members have held in that great ,state1 ,mr4 ,roosevelt was a gentleman of character and education1 of an active enterprising temper1 and addicted all his life to matters connected with civil engineering and mechanics4 ,appreciated by all who knew him as a person of unblemished honor1 his word was independent of his oath2 but1 attached to the petition just referred to is an affidavit1 not without interest1 of which the following is an extract3 8,in or about the year #agha or #aghb1 this deponent resided with a certain ,joseph ,oosterhaudt1 about four miles above ,esopus on the ,north1 or ,hudson river1 in the ,state of ,new ,york4 ,that he did at that time make very many actual experiments1 as well upon mill machinery as upon the motion and buoyancy of bodies in and through water2 and did then and there make1 rig and put in operation1 on a small brook near the house of the aforesaid ,oosterhaudt1 a small wooden boat or model of a boat with vertical wheels over the sides1 each wheel having four arms or paddles1 or floats1 made of pieces of shingle attached to the periphery of the wheels whereby to take a purchase on the water2 and that these wheels being acted upon by hickory and whalebone springs propelled the model of the boat through the water by the agency of a tight cord passed between the wheels and being re-acted on by the springs40 ,soon after the evacuation of the city by the ,british1 ,mr4 ,roosevelt returned to ,new ,york2 and following the bent of his inclinations1 we find him1 some years afterward1 becoming interested in the ,schuyler ,copper mines in ,new ,jersey1 on the ,passaic1 then called ,second river4 ,here he found some parts of an old atmospheric engine1 which he used in completing a perfect machine of that description2 and meeting with an engineer from the establishment of ,bolton ,watt1 whom he employed to make improvements1 he built engines for various parties1 and constructed for the water works in ,philadelphia1 the ponderous machines1 which1 for many years1 supplied that city with water1 by pumping from the ,schuylkill into the distributing reservoir at ,centre ,square4 ,during all this time1 the subject of steam navigation seems never to have been lost sight of4 ,he wanted to substitute for the hickory and whalebone of his ,esopus experiment the mighty agent with whose multitudinous uses the world was then beginning to be familiar4 ,among other persons who had heard of ,mr4 ,roosevelt's views in this direction1 was the late ,robert ,r4 ,livingston1 better known as ,chancellor ,livingston1 who1 on the #hth of ,december1 #agig1 wrote to him 7,i quote from the original letter now before me7 as follows3 8,mr4 ,stevens mentioned to me your desire to apply the steam machine to a boat4 ,every attempt of this kind having failed1 ,i have constructed a boat on perfectly new principles which1 both in the model and on a large scale has exceeded my expectations4 ,i was about writing to ,england for a steam machine1 but hearing of your wish1 ,i was willing to treat with you on terms which ,i believe you will find advantageous for the use of my invention40 ,the ,chancellor was an inventor1 but unlike most inventors was a man of large wealth2 and the result of the correspondence1 thus commenced1 all of which is before me1 was an agreement between the ,chancellor1 ,roosevelt1 and ,john ,stevens of ,hoboken1 to build a boat on joint account1 for which the engines were to be constructed at ,second river by ,roosevelt1 while the propelling agency employed was to be on the plan of the ,chancellor4 ,i have not been able to make out1 from the very voluminous correspondence1 the precise character of the ,chancellor's contrivance2 but ,i infer that it consisted of wheels with vertical axes1 submerged at the stern1 that forced a stream of water outward from between them1 and so propelled the vessel4 ,the inventor's own idea of it must have been vague in the first instance2 for there is scarcely a letter to ,roosevelt from the time the work was commenced1 until it was abandoned1 that does not suggest changes and alterations4 ,steam appears to have been applied to the machinery about the middle of the year #agih1 unsuccessfully2 and the ,chancellor1 charging the failure to want of power in the engine1 proposes to throw the cost of it upon the builder4 ,this is of course resisted4 ,further improvements in the propellers are made4 ,the engine is then alleged to be too powerful3 and so matters go on1 until the #bast of ,october1 #agih1 when ,roosevelt writes to the ,chancellor1 giving him an account of a trial trip1 on which the speed attained was equivalent to about three miles in still water2 though1 with wind and tide1 the ,spanish ,minister1 who was on board and highly elated1 estimated the actual speed at double that amount4 ,in the meanwhile however1 on the #fth of ,september1 #agih1 ,roosevelt wrote to the ,chancellor an important letter in this connection1 in which1 after referring to a change in the plan1 he says3 8,i would recommend that we throw two wheels of wood over the sides1 fastened to the axes of the flys 7fly wheels7 with eight arms or paddles2 that part which enters the water of sheet iron to shift according to the power they require either deeper in the water1 or otherwise1 and that we navigate the vessel with these until we can procure an engine of the proper size1 which1 ,i think1 ought not to be less than #bd inch cylinder40 ,no better description of a side wheel steamboat has ever been given than is contained in this letter of the #fth of ,september1 #agih1 the original draft of which1 with all its interlineations1 is now before me2 and this is the first practical suggestion of the combination which made steam navigation a commercial success1 that there is a record of in ,america2 and this also1 when1 as late as #ahjb1 four years later1 ,fulton1 as we are informed by his biographer1 had become assured1 that endless chains and floats were alone to be relied on6 ,receiving no reply to the suggestion1 thus made1 ,roosevelt writes to the ,chancellor on the #afth of ,september1 #agih1 saying3 8,i hope to hear your opinion of throwing wheels over the sides20 when the ,chancellor answers3 8,i say nothing on the subject of wheels over the sides1 as ,i am perfectly convinced from a variety of experiments of the superiority of those we have adopted40 ,again1 on the #bast ,october1 in the letter giving an account of the trial trip with the ,spanish ,minister on board1 ,roosevelt says1 8he would wish the ,chancellor's wheels to be tried1 contrasted with paddles on ,mr4 ,stevens' plan1 or with wheels over the sides1 so as to ascertain the difference in the application of the power40 ,to which the ,chancellor answers on the #bhth ,october1 #agih1 referring to the ,stevens' paddles1 8they are too inconvenient and liable to accidents to be used--,,and1 ,,as ,,for ,,vertical ,,wheels1 ,,they ,,are ,,out ,,of ,,the ,,question60 ,roosevelt was at this time so strongly impressed with the plan that the ,chancellor thus peremptorily put aside1 that in a letter of the #bast to the same ,john ,stevens already mentioned1 who1 as we have seen1 was one of the partners in the adventure1 he says1 8,i am firmly of opinion that a vessel may be propelled at the rate of eight miles an hour40 ,not even the praise of the ,spanish ,minister seems to have been sufficient to vitalize the ,chancellor's boat2 and we are led to suppose that it was recognized by all as a failure2 for ,stevens1 who seems to have had more influence than ,roosevelt1 persuaded the ,chancellor to adapt the engine to his contrivance of a set of paddles in the stern1 pushing the boat forward as they were made by a crank motion to rise and fall4 ,a rough sketch of this contrivance in a letter from ,stevens1 dated ,july #aeth1 #agii1 is before me4 ,the experiment so racked the ,chancellor's boat as to make it unfit for use altogether4 ,we wonder now that such things could have been thought of even4 ,in ,mr4 ,stevens' letter there is a passage that indicates the reliance that was placed on ,roosevelt by this1 the most practical of his associates1 and shews him to have been the party on whose skill the others depended4 ,he says3 8,in the meantime1 ,i would wish to determine on our plan for placing the paddles in the stern of the boat and provide immediately to put it in execution4 ,you and ,stoudinger 7a young man brought up by ,roosevelt1 and who subsequently became ,fulton's right hand man1 and one of the first practical engineers in ,america17 and ,smallman 7another of ,roosevelt's employees7 must lay your heads together on this subject2 and1 as soon as you have fixed upon the plan you conceive will be most eligible1 ,i wish you would take a ride down and communicate it to me2 and1 at the same time1 ,i can give you the result of my cogitations40 ,the ,stevens' paddles1 until they shook the boat to pieces1 were far more successful than any one of the ,chancellor's inventions2 and ,i remember1 distinctly1 seeing a boat propelled by paddles in the harbor of ,new ,york1 as ,i crossed the ,hudson on my way to ,west ,point1 in the fall of the year #ahah4 ,the paddles ,i refer to1 however1 were on the sides1 and not at the stern1 and were literally paddles1 being square floats attached to upright shafts1 which a crank motion caused to rise and fall4 ,it is not difficult to understand why the ,chancellor told ,roosevelt that his vertical wheels were not to be thought of1 and why ,stevens1 confessedly a man of ability and mechanical ingenuity1 preferred his own suggestion4 ,they doubtless believed that the percussion of the floats of the vertical wheel as they strike and then enter the water1 and before they exert their greatest power2 which is when they are at right angles with the surface1 was objectionable and would be fatal to their usefulness4 ,they feared also1 most probably1 the further loss of power consequent upon the lifting of the water as the floats emerged from it2 and1 wedded to their own schemes1 they refused to subject the matter to the test of experiment4 ,the paddles of ,stevens1 and the floats on the endless chains1 to which ,fulton gave the preference1 entered the water perpendicularly1 or nearly so1 and were free from what was regarded1 it is to be supposed1 as the objection to ,roosevelt's vertical wheels over the sides4 ,that both ,stevens and ,fulton were wrong1 and that ,roosevelt was right1 time has conclusively established4 ,unwilling to abandon the idea of steam navigation1 even after so complete a failure1 the ,chancellor devised still another plan1 which was executed under ,roosevelt's direction at the works on the ,passaic1 of the details of which ,i have no account4 ,in this ,roosevelt had no interest4 ,it proved a failure4 ,from all that ,i can gather1 from the documents in my possession1 the efforts here described were made in #agih1 #agii and #ahjj1 almost uninterruptedly1 and were controlled by the ,chancellor1 who was1 evidently1 the moneyed man of the concern1 and whose dictum1 as we have said1 was regarded as conclusive by his associates4 ,so promising did the matter seem after ,roosevelt had commenced the engine for the boat1 that1 in ,march1 #agih1 the ,legislature of ,new ,york1 granted the ,chancellor1 8the exclusive right of navigating all boats that might be propelled by steam on all the waters within the territory1 or jurisdiction1 of the ,state for the term of twenty years1 provided he should1 within a twelvemonth1 build such a boat1 the mean of whose progress should not be less than four miles an hour40 ,the month of ,march1 #agii1 elapsed1 however1 without the condition of the grant having been complied with4 ,at a later date1 a similar grant was made to ,livingston and ,fulton4 ,in the latter part of the year #ahjj1 ,mr4 ,jefferson appointed the ,chancellor minister to ,france1 where he remained until #ahjd1 having in the meanwhile negotiated the treaty which ceded ,louisiana to the ,united ,states1 and where he made the acquaintance of ,robert ,fulton4 ,in #ahjd1 the ,chancellor made the tour of ,europe1 and returned the following year to the ,united ,states4 ,in ,colden's ,life of ,fulton1 there is an account1 in the ,chancellor's own words1 of the commencement of his acquaintance with ,fulton4 ,i quote3 8,robert ,r4 ,livingston1 ,esquire1 when minister in ,france1 met with ,mr4 ,fulton1 and they formed that friendship and connection with each other to which a similarity of pursuits generally gives birth4 ,he communicated to ,mr4 ,fulton the importance of steamboats to their own country2 informed him of what had been attempted in ,america1 and of his resolution to resume the pursuit on his return1 and advised him to turn his attention to the subject40 ,we have already seen that ,mr4 ,fulton's plan1 after making calculations as to the efficiency of paddles and ducks' feet1 was to use endless chains with resisting boards upon them as propellors4 ,with these he made a course of experiments on a little rivulet that runs through the village of ,plombires1 in ,france1 in #ahjb2 and 8addressed several letters to ,mr4 ,livingston and ,mr4 ,barlow1 giving them a minute account of his experiments and assurances of the certainty of success which they afforded him40 ,that the ,chancellor had informed ,fulton of what had been attempted in ,america1 is admitted by ,colden2 and this1 too1 prior doubtless1 to the experiments at ,plombires4 ,that ,roosevelt's pertinacity in regard to wheels over the sides was communicated with other information is not to be doubted2 that the ,chancellor should have told him1 as he told ,roosevelt1 in the letter of ,october #bhth1 #agih1 8that they were not to be thought of10 it is most reasonable to suppose2 and that ,fulton agreed with the ,chancellor is proved by the 8assurance of certain success0 which he entertained1 of endless chains and floats1 or resisting boards4 ,between the spring of #ahjb and the fall of that year1 ,mr4 ,fulton changed his mind2 for he and ,livingston were building a boat1 propelled by ,roosevelt's vertical wheels1 in ,january1 #ahjc4 ,the ,chancellor1 by this time1 had become convinced that vertical wheels were things 8to be thought of40 ,that it was ,roosevelt's plan that was adopted after all their own plans had failed--the plan derived1 with the details of its execution1 from ,roosevelt himself1--does not seem to admit of any reasonable doubt4 ,biography is too often eulogy4 ,the name of ,fulton is irrevocably1 and justly1 the representative name in connection with steam navigation throughout all lands4 ,for a while1 and in the memory of the writer1 the name of ,livingston was connected with it in men's mouths4 ,but ,livingston's connection with the subject is fast being forgotten4 ,fulton's never will be forgotten1 not because he was the inventor of the steamboat however1 not because he first suggested the combination that made success certain2 but because1 in his hands1 it became a commercial success4 ,he was the first who demonstrated its practical utility1 when1 in #ahjg1 he made the first voyage in the ,clermont from ,new ,york to ,albany and back4 ,still he was indebted to others1 in the first instance1 for the elements of his success4 ,i have said that biography is too often eulogy4 ,the biographer becomes jealous of the reputation of his hero4 ,colden was not exempt from the weakness common to his class2 and instead of giving to ,roosevelt the credit of having first put the idea of vertical wheels over the sides into a practical shape1 by his detailed description of their mechanism1 he says that the want of success of a ,french inventor1 who had horizontal screws on either side of a boat1 8it is probable10 induced ,mr4 ,fulton again to resort to the wheels1 which1 in the original paper that he communicated to ,lord ,stanhope1 in #agic1 he proposed to use as propellors4 ,even had this been so1 without any question having arisen as to the facts1 ,roosevelt's model of a boat at ,esopus1 with its hickory and whalebone springs1 would have been ten years ahead of the ,frenchman4 ,but there are some matters connected with the letter to ,lord ,stanhope1 which are not without interest in this connection4 ,we have seen that ,roosevelt1 in ,january1 #ahae1 applied to the ,legislature of ,new ,jersey1 for protection as an inventor of the vertical wheels over the sides1 for which he had obtained letters patent from the ,united ,states in the preceding month of ,december1 #ahad1 being the original document shewn to me by ,delacy4 ,somewhere about this time1 ,mr4 ,fulton appeared as a witness before the ,legislature in connection with this same subject of steam navigation2 and ,colden's life contains a letter from ,mr4 ,emmet1 the celebrated lawyer1 in which he states1 that1 in order to shew ,mr4 ,fulton's prior claim to invention1 in the application of 8water wheels to steamboats10 he examined him to prove a copy of the letter in question4 ,nothing was said1 it would seem1 of its being a copy1 when this was first presented3 but ,governor ,ogden noticed that the letter was written on ,american paper2 and1 subsequently1 ,mr4 ,fulton explained that the first copy having been considerably worn out and obscured1 he had copied it over again and attached it to the old drawings4 ,this was made the subject of uncomfortable criticism by the opposite counsel2 and ,mr4 ,emmet1 in his letter1 expresses great indignation at what he states was a malicious attempt to injure the honor of the dead1 and regrets that he omitted to notice1 in his reply1 the insinuations which ,mr41 afterwards ,judge1 ,hopkinson permitted himself to make4 ,the occurrence was unquestionably an unfortunate one1 whatever the real facts may have been2 and respect for the memory of ,mr4 ,fulton leads me to hope that ,mr4 ,emmet was correct in his version of the transaction4 ,his letter1 however1 is important in another aspect3 it shews that the merit of the invention1 at the time1 was considered to be the application of vertical wheels over the sides1 and that this was claimed for ,fulton on the strength of the letter to ,lord ,stanhope and the accompanying drawings of #agic1 notwithstanding the endless chains and floats already referred to as illustrating the convictions of #agic4 ,i have never seen the drawings or read the letter of ,mr4 ,fulton2 but it is difficult for me to believe that he had invented in #agic1 what was unquestionably the solution of the difficulty1 and yet1 in #ahjb1 have dwelt in his letters to ,livingston and ,barlow upon his assurances of the certainty of success with endless chains and resisting boards4 ,it is with no want of charity1 that it is suggested1 that ,mr4 ,colden1 in writing a biography1 overlooked the possibility of its logic being criticized when compared with its facts4 ,there is some light1 however1 to be obtained from ,lord ,stanhope's reply to ,mr4 ,fulton's letter4 ,it is as follows3 8,holdsworthy ,devon1 ,october #gth1 #agic4 8,sir3 ,i have received yours of the #cjth ,september1 in which you propose to communicate to me the principles of an invention which you say you have discovered respecting the moving of ships by the means of steam4 ,it is a subject on which ,i have made important discoveries4 ,i shall be glad to receive the communication which you intend1 as ,i have made the principles of mechanics my particular study1 c40 7,there are no words italicised in the original4 ,l47 ,certainly1 it is only necessary to read this letter to be satisfied1 that the one to which it is a reply1 and it is not suggested that ,mr4 ,fulton ever wrote another1 could not have described the combination which made the steamboat the thing that it now is3 or that it could have been accompanied by drawings shewing the plan finally adopted1--the ,roosevelt plan1 going back as far as #aghb1 and described in practical detail in the letter of #bast ,october1 #agih4 ,it is true that ,mr4 ,fulton obtained letters patent of the ,united ,states for his steamboat in #ahji--;in reference to which ,mr4 ,colden says1 as though to corroborate ,fulton's claim as inventor1 8,they 7the ,chancellor and ,mr4 ,fulton7 entered into a contract1 by which it was1 among other things1 agreed that a patent should be taken out in the ,united ,states in ,mr4 ,fulton's name1 which ,mr4 ,livingston well knew could not be done without ,mr4 ,fulton taking an oath that the improvement was solely his40 ,and a patent was in fact taken out1 in those days when patents were had for the asking1 and when none of that examination1 which now protects the public1 was required by law4 ,we have already seen1 in the case stated for ,mr4 ,wirt's opinion1 the allegation that ,fulton neither subscribed nor swore to the specification2 and that the name ,robert ,fulton was in the handwriting of another man4 ,unless this had been the fact1 it would hardly have been alleged in a paper1 prepared for the opinion of eminent counsel4 ,but ,i have before me an original letter dated ,trenton1 ,january1 #ahae1 addressed to ,mr4 ,roosevelt by ,delacy1 in which the latter gives an account of the proceedings before the ,legislature1 and in which is this sentence3 8,fulton has the effrontery to avow his having got ,fletcher to sign his name and makes light of it1 as if he was entitled to violate the laws1 as well as private rights1 at pleasure40 ,it is true1 this is the letter of a partizan in a struggle before the ,legislature4 ,still1 the matter of fact would not be misstated in a private correspondence1 where there was no conceivable motive to mislead4 ,the committee of the ,legislature finally reported1 and very wisely1 that it was inexpedient to make any special provision in connection with the matter in controversy before that body4 ,it was in ,march1 #ahae1 on the heel of the ,legislative proceedings1 that the deed of trust to ,mr4 ,william ,griffith was made1 and the fact of his accepting the trust1 and that ,aaron ,ogden of ,new ,jersey1 was a party to the transaction1 shews that the cause of ,roosevelt as the inventor of vertical wheels over the sides under the patent of #ahad1 was deemed good as against the patent granted to ,fulton four or five years previously4 ,had the letter to ,lord ,stanhope or the reply thereto1 been regarded by the outside world1 or by those interested in the subject1 as sufficient to establish ,fulton's prior right to the invention of vertical wheels over the sides of steamboats1 counsel of the standing of ,mr4 ,griffith would not have become mixed up in the business1 licenses to use ,roosevelt's patent would not have been granted1 nor would ,i have made the acquaintance of ,john ,devereux ,delacy2 for ,roosevelt's pretensions would have been nipped in the bud4 ,my tale is nearly ended4 ,the object has been to shew that the merit of the practical suggestion of the employment of vertical wheels over the sides of steamboats was due to one who has been lost sight of in this connection1 and wholly ignored in the biography of ,fulton1 who availing himself of the suggestion of another1 in all its details1 made it a great commercial success1 and in so doing built upon it a lasting fame4 ,that the papers ,i have referred to1 now collated for the first time1 shew this to be the fact1 ,i think there can be no question4 ,it may be interesting to state something in regard to the subsequent career of ,roosevelt4 ,he was once asked why1 with the secret of success in his possession1 he allowed it to slumber4 ,why did not he anticipate the ,clermont in the first five years of the present century4 ,i give the answer in his own words from a manuscript before me4 8,first3 ,at the time ,chancellor ,livingston's horizontal wheel experiment failed1 ,i was under a contract with the corporation for supplying the city of ,philadelphia with water1 by means of two steam engines2 and1 besides1 ,i was under a contract with the ,united ,states to erect rolling works and supply government with copper1 rolled and drawn1 for six #gd gun ships1 that were then to be built4 ,the engines for the supplying of ,philadelphia with water ,i completed1 though with heavy loss4 ,the rolling works ,i also brought into operation upon a very extensive scale1 and a considerable quantity of copper was delivered4 ,but the encouragement from government by which ,i had been led into this heavy expense was cut off by a change of men in the administration4 ,the #gds were laid aside1 and no appropriations were made1 and embarrassment to me was the natural consequence40 ,this embarrassment1 in the then condition of the law1 was imprisonment for debts contracted in getting ready to fulfil his contract4 ,in truth1 he was a broken man4 ,in the meanwhile1 on the return of ,livingston and ,fulton to ,america1 the workmen that ,roosevelt had brought from ,germany and made what they were1 entered into ,fulton's service1 and to their skill was he indebted for the mechanical success of his earlier boats4 ,in #ahjg1 ,roosevelt was introduced to him2 and in a letter from the ,chancellor1 now before me1 references to old times are pleasantly made2 and1 a year or two afterwards1 we find ,roosevelt associated with ,fulton in the introduction of steamboats on the ,western waters4 ,here1 he built the ,new ,orleans1 the pioneer boat that descended the river in #ahaa--the year of the comet and the earthquake4 ,the voyage of the ,new ,orleans is1 in itself1 a romance2 but time does not permit it to be told at present4#a ,with all his merit1 ,fulton was not an easy man to get along with2 and ,roosevelt had his faults of temper too1 no doubt2 and after the successful voyage of the ,new ,orleans1 the two men parted1 and ,roosevelt disappeared from public life1 and was lost in the quiet of the domestic circle of a numerous and happy family4 ,he died at a very advanced age1 not many years ago1 forgotten by the world as he was forgotten by the biographer of ,fulton4 ,he appears again before me1 as ,i write1 as ,i remember to have seen him in my childhood1 and in after years--a finished gentleman1 energetic and sanguine1 warm and generous in his temper1 a devoted husband and father1 and now made the hero of a lost chapter in the history of the steamboat4 ,,appendix4 ,n4 ,j4 ,,roosevelt ,,to ,r4 ,r4 ,,livingston4 ,proposes ,vertical ,wheels with the ,size of ,cylinder and presses for ,money ,arrangements4 ,second ,river1 ,sept4 #fth1 #agih4 ,dr ,sir1 ,i have your two letters of the #cast and #ast inst4 before me4 ,since writing you the #bgth1 ,i made an experiment in order to ascertain as nearly as ,i could the power of the engine1 and put on your wheels4 ,this was done by laying the vessel on shore stern foremost so as to leave the wheels entirely out of the water4 ,the ,engine was then put to work at the rate of from #dj to #de strokes and wheels turned from #afj to #ahj revolutions per minute4 ,when the water first entered them it was thrown out with great violence2 but before it got any considerable depth in them the motion of the engine was impeded and in a short time entirely stopped4 ,by this experiment ,i was fully convinced that the wheels would require a power far greater than this engine possesses and that any attempts to proceed with the power we have and the present wheels would be fruitless4 ,i was also farther convinced 7by getting men whose strength was ascertained to turn the wheels by hand before the operation of the engine7 tho' she has her full power and indeed considerably more than as first mentioned1 ,i expected we would have4 ,now1 ,sir1 to proceed with the experiment you recommended of closing the openings with doors will be doing nothing more than what we have already done by the last trial4 ,i would therefore recommend that we throw two wheels of wood over the sides fastened to the axes of the flys with #h arms or paddles1 that part which enters the water of sheet iron to shift according to the power they require either deeper in the water or otherwise and that we navigate the vessel with those until we can procure an ,engine of proper size which ,i think ought not to be less than #bd inches cylinder4 ,the ,barometer to ascertain the exact power of the engine has not as you observe been left to depend entirely on ,mr4 ,van ,ness1 although ,i looked upon him as your ,representative according to the tenor of your own letter2 but ,mr4 ,mark and ,mr4 ,speyer have both been on the search for one and have not yet succeeded4 ,the copper pipe for it is made and we will ,i believe be obliged to wait for the glass until we can get it from the glass house above ,albany4 ,i have requested ,mr4 ,speyer1 who has gone up to the ,oneida country1 to call on ,mr4 ,dezang for that purpose4 ,if you know of any to be had in ,new ,york please to inform me and ,i will immediately get it4 ,as to your charge of my want of candor and my possessing too much distrust1 those ,sir are charges which have never before been laid to me and which ,i feel perfectly free from and ,i will recommend to the ,chancellor to meet me in future upon equally candid and fair ground4 ,i can assure him he shall never have reason to complain of me on that score again4#b ,we have as you observe put our hands to the oars and ought not to look back until we reach port4 ,this ,i am for1 ,sir1 with all my heart1 and firmly believe that with this determination we have nothing to fear1 as ,i think1 with the wheels ,i have recommended1 that the ,state patent may be secured4 ,we will then have time to prepare for your wheels1 and if they should not have the effect you promise us1 we can then adopt such other plans as we may together think best4 ,no bad consequences need be apprehended from what ,i communicated out of your letter to ,smallman and ,stoudinger as they are as anxious for the success of the business and your good opinion as ,i am4 ,as to altering any of the wheels in the way you propose ,i cannot approve1 as the alteration will be attended with considerable expense1 and as ,i believe any alteration we can make with our present small ,engine will be inadequate to driving the wheels to any advantage4 ,in this the ,chancellor will agree with me when he considers that when the ,engine making #cj strokes per minute the horizontal wheels make #abj revolutions by which #c_/d is taken from the power to afford this4 ,i sincerely hope that ,mrs4 ,livingston may soon recover from her accident so that you may not be detained long from thoroughly investigating everything appertaining to our present concern4 ,i am1 dear ,sir1 c41 c4 ,n4 ,j4 ,,roosevelt4 ,n4 ,b4 ,i have not1 upon overlooking what ,i have above written1 been so particular in my objections to your proposed alterations as may be agreeable and will ask for a little of your patience4 ,see how the alteration of the wheels on the connecting rod by being smaller will operate4 ,they will most certainly shorten the stroke of the engine4 ,this therefore cannot take place unless we alter the wheels round which they move accordingly1 which may be done4 ,at the same time in doing it we shall be obliged to lengthen the spindle of the horizontal wheels and disturb the wooden work the whole of which will be attended with considerable expense and require a second alteration when we come to operate with power equal to what those wheels will require1 and indeed1 why should we go to any expense in alterations which can do us no service2 as ,i clearly saw from actual experiment that about #adjj pounds will be necessary to be applied directly to the wheels independent of friction1 which is equal to an engine of #bd inches ,cylinder4 ,an ,engine of this size ,i find has #edbd pounds power independent of the friction of the machine and ,i think power enough for the air pumps 7perhaps something more47 ,this ,i cannot however ascertain until ,i get a barometer and try our present engine1 which ,i believe perfect4 ,i was about trying the power by weights but found difficulties which ,i have not yet been able to get over1 as her power is equal both ways1 and to bring the weight only to the connecting rod would tear everything to pieces4 ,yours1 c4 ,n4 ,j4 ,,roosevelt4 ,a plan of my substitute which may not be quite correct1 as ,i do not understand anything of drawing4 ,n4 ,j4 ,r4#c ,n4 ,j4 ,,roosevelt ,,to ,r4 ,r4 ,,livingston4 ,second ,river1 ,sept4 #ajth1 #agih4 ,dear ,sir1 ,i acknowledge receipt of yours of the #c;d ,inst4 ,by this time you have doubtless recd4 mine of the #fth ,inst4 which gave you all the information on the subject of the boat ,i was then capable of doing2 since which ,i have thought of trying another experiment upon the present plan and concluded to morrow to set about it4 ,it will take us three days with two hands which will cost very trifling and enable us to calculate with more certainty what power will be required for your wheels4 ,the plan is this4 ,sun and planet wheels we will take off and form a double crank with the coupling links1 which at one end will be fastened to the shaft of the fly wheels by taking out the brasses and drilling holes for pins to enter4 ,this change will give us only half the motion of your wheels we first contemplated and consequently double the power we now have4 ,i will try this in the same way we did the last time by leaving the vessel's stern on shore1 and in the meanwhile ,i hope to hear your opinion of throwing wheels over the sides4 ,i will also be glad to know if it is more agreeable to you to give a note for the balance of your proportion of the expense attending this business or whether you will make me a remittance in cash4 ,could ,i at present raise money through the house of ,j4 ,mark for all the ends ,i have in this quarter ,i would not solicit more money until you come down4 ,this however it is not for them to do4 ,i hope the ,chancellor will consider my situation in the midst of many workmen as an apology and pardon me for my impatience4 ,yours1 c4 ,n4 ,j4 ,,roosevelt4 ,r4 ,r4 ,livingston4 ,r4 ,r4 ,,livingston ,,to ,n4 ,j4 ,,roosevelt4 ,acknowledges ,wheels over the ,sides to have been ,proposed by ,roosevelt and rejects them4 ,clermont1 #ahth ,sept41 #agih4 ,dear ,sir1 ,mr4 ,mouchette is just returned4 ,i sincerely congratulate you upon the success of the engine of which he gives the most favourable report fully justifies yr4 confidence in your engines4 ,i am sufficiently sanguine to hope that all difficulties are now vanished4 ,knowing our power nothing remains but adapt the vessel to it4 ,in attempting this hitherto we have deceived ourselves by wandering into the field of conjecture rather than adhereing to plain calculations we shall still do so if we expect that the present engine will turn the wheels we now have #hj times in a minute1 as will appear from this calculation4 ,our wells contain exactly #fj cubic feet of water4 ,the whole of this is set in motion at every revolution of the wheels with a rapidity equal to the main motion of the arms1 that is if the wheels make #hj revolutions in a minute at the rate of #h miles an hour4 ,now as the boat will not remove more than #bj feet of water if she goes #h miles an hour1 if it was possible to move the wheels as they are now constructed #hj rounds in a minute we should throw away one half of our power1 for the boat could not move faster than the water in the wheels the power would be uselessly expended in throwing out water unnecessarily4 ,but it will be found on experiment that however perfect our engine is1 it cannot turn the present wheels #hj times in a minute4 ,the wheels then must necessarily be altered or the motion rendered still slower4 ,to make the motion slower is to diminish our chance of moving the boat fast because she will at no rate move faster than the water in the wheels though she may be made to move as fast as ,i have found on actual experiment4 ,the wheels then must be altered1 not by making the arms shorter for this would diminish their motion1 besides that it would require an alteration in the boat--but by diminishing their depth4 ,they are now if ,i recollect #ah ,inches deep1 let them be reduced to nine ,inches4 ,let the motion of the wheels by no means exceed #hj nor be lower than #gj turns in a minute and ,i will answer for the success of the experiment1 upon the whole it will turn out a fortunate discovery since we shall find that our wells need not be above half the size we have made them of course much room and much weight of water be saved in future4 ,that we have erred hitherto should not discourage us4 ,it is the fate of all new undertakings and it is happy when the error can be so easily discovered detected4 ,another circumstance of considerable moment must be attended to4 ,if the diminution of the motion is brought about by changing the sun and planet wheels1 one half the motion of the flys will be lost they rendered almost useless from this circumstance4 ,if they are made heavier they will overload the boat4 ,i would propose as the best mode of altering the motion of the wheels to alter the cog wheels to leave the sun and planet wheels as they were--this will give the proper motion to the fly diminish the friction4 ,let the cog wheels be made smaller and have no more cogs than the trunnel rounds1 or only so many more as will serve to give the motion we require4 ,nor will this alteration be attended with more trouble than the one at first proposed2 but even if it is1 it is so essential to give the flys a rapid motion that we must1 now we have gone so far1 submit to this trouble and expense to have this experiment properly made4 ,i say nothing on the subject of ,,wheels ,,over ,,the ,,sides as ,i am perfectly convinced from a variety of experiments of the superiority of those we have adopted4 ,i expect to be down the last of this month when ,i shall see you make such money arrangements as we may find necessary4 ,in the meantime ,i hope to hear how you go on4 ,i flatter myself no delay will be incurred which can possibly be avoided1 every moment being precious4 ,mr4 ,mark will ,i hope forward this to you the moment it arrives1 so that the necessary alterations may be made before you proceed far on any difficult plan4 ,i am very much hurt that you should construe any part of my former letters into a reflection on your candour4 ,i am sure that nothing of this kind was ever intended ,i flatter myself that if you attend a little more to the expressions 7tho3 ,i cannot now recollect them7 that they will not bear this harsh construction4#d ,i am dear ,sir1 with esteem1 your most ob3 hum3 servt3 ,,rob4 ,r4 ,,livingston4 ,n4 ,j4 ,,roosevelt ,,to ,r4 ,r4 ,,livingston4 ,experiment made ,opinion of the ,spanish ,minister--,again ,coaxes to have ,vertical ,wheels tried4 ,second ,river1 ,oct4 #bast1 #agih4 ,dear ,sir1 ,i dropped you a line in haste on ,friday last1 since which ,i received your favour of the #ajth3 the person to whom you gave it in charge did not put it in the post office until yesterday4 ,your instructions therefore came too late for the rims1 as they had by your former request been left off and no bad consequence has resulted4 ,i have not yet seen ,mr4 ,stevens1 but have been expecting him every day1 as he requested me by letter to inform him what time we would be ready1 which ,i did4 ,had ,i received your letter sooner ,i would also have sent to see if ,mr4 ,mouchet was still at ,n4 ,ark requested him to come up4 ,there was no occasion to try the wheels from #e ,inches upwards1 as ,i found the ,engine overloaded at #e4 ,i think at present the most advisable mode of proceeding for us will be to change the wheels on shaft and spindle so as to give the ,engine her full speed with #ej revolutions of the lower wheels1 and if she will carry more1 then increase the width of the paddles4 ,i have ordered a pattern made for two wheels accordingly and will cast them the first casting we make after it is finished4 ,please to write me if you agree in this respect4 ,the ,spanish ,minister was on board the day we made the last experiment and was perfectly well pleased with the operation of the ,engine and will give us an order for one of #cf ,inches4 ,this will cost him upwards of #ac1jjj ,dolls3 ,our small one is not equal to the purposes for which he wants his4 ,during our sail he1 at the time the tide and wind favoured us1 supposed we went at the rate of #f miles an hour2 but ,i think the delight he felt expressed at the novelty of the ,voyage was the cause of his mistake4 ,my report to you was three miles1 still water1 which ,i have reason to believe was accurate4 ,i have at present a better opinion of your plan than ever1 and could wish them to be contrasted with paddles upon ,mr4 ,stevens' plan1 ,,or ,,wheels ,,over ,,the ,,sides1 so as fairly to ascertain the difference of the application of the power4 ,we have by the last experiment a striking proof in favor of your plan which is demonstrated by the diminution in width and slow motion of the wheels4 ,at our last experiment the effect was certainly greater than we could have promised ourselves4 ,i hope to hear from you soon1 and in the meanwhile will do what strikes me as reasonable upon our present plan so that no time is lost4 ,mrs4 ,mark requests me to thank you for your polite invitation of visiting ,mrs4 ,livingston1 but does not think it will be in her power this fall1 as ,mr4 ,mark is at present too much occupied with business to leave home4 ,yours respectfully1 ,n4 ,j4 ,,roosevelt4 ,this letter is complim'y to ,livingston--about his plan of wheel--but still ,roosevelt mentions that it would be prudent to try in contrast ,stevens' paddles--7 his own plan7 wheels over the sides4 7,note by ,judge ,griffith47 ,r4 ,r4 ,,livingston ,,to ,n4 ,j4 ,,roosevelt4 ,liv'n ,acknowledges the ,boat to ,answer ,refuses to use ,vertical ,wheels4 ,clermont1 #bh ,octr41 #agih4 ,dear ,sir1 ,after sending mine of yesterday ,i received your favor of the #bast1 in which you enter more particularly into the experiments you have made1 but not so fully as ,i would wish1 as you will find by the queries ,i have troubled you with4 ,if you are right as to the motion through the water1 the ,spanish ,minister could not err much in his calculation1 for it appears to me that the tide in your river is not short of #b miles ,i have found in my models that the velocity of the boat with the tide is greater in proportion than the mere difference between that and still water4 ,this is one of the experiments ,i wished you to ascertain accurately by running one hour with the tide determining the distance and running back the same distance against the tide4 ,be it as it will1 we now know what we can do with a sufficient power1 and tho' paddles should even do more they are too inconvenient and too liable to accidents to be used--,,as ,,for ,,vertical ,,wheels ,,they ,,are ,,out ,,of ,,the ,,question4 ,what ,i principally write now for is to ask you whether it would not be better instantly to fit the boat for passengers by putting a deck over so much as you make cabbin of4 ,this should be the whole1 only leaving room for wood near the engine4 ,this deck should be of inch pine boards rounded so as to carry off the water and made as tight as possible4 ,it should be raised about ten ,inches so as to admit of glasses that shove past each other all round ,the inside only wants to be papered with any cheap common paper and to have two rows of benches the one behind the other4 ,the rear bench so low as to admit the knees under the front one4 ,a narrow table of one board should run through the middle4 ,the back cabbin should be fitted for the ship's company and have windows and shutters in case of bad weather4 ,some arrangement should also be made for boiling in pot and kettle4 ,all this should be going on while you are fitting the machinery4 ,it will ,i believe be best to get two or three quick hands from ,new ,york to do it as your shipwright is both slow and extravagant4 ,we have yet one month to use and a pretty important one1 because the roads will soon be bad1 and tho' we should only go #c miles an hour we shall still be able to pick up something besides our expenses and acquire some experience of what further is necessary4 ,i have provided a ,captain at #e a month who understands the river4 ,you say you have a steward and fire engine hand4 ,tho' ,i think ,smallman should make the first voyage4 ,i am1 ,dr4 ,sir1 ,r4 ,r4 ,,livingston4 ,mr4 ,n4 ,j4 ,roosevelt4 ,the headings of the foregoing letters are copied from their respective indorsations which would seem to have been made by different hands and as though in the preparation of a case4 ,l4 ,,patent ,,to ,,mr4 ,,roosevelt4 ,,the ,,united ,,states ,,of ,,america1 ,to all to whom these ,,letters ,,patent shall come3 ,whereas1 ,,nicholas ,j4 ,,roosevelt1 a ,citizen of the ,united ,states1 hath alleged that he has invented a new and useful improvement ,,in ,,propelling ,,boats c4 ,,by ,,steam1 which improvement he states has not been known or used before his application2 hath made oath that he does verily believe that he is the true inventor or discoverer of the said improvement2 hath paid into the ,treasury of the ,united ,states the sum of thirty dollars1 delivered a receipt for the same1 and presented a petition to the ,secretary of ,state1 signifying a desire of obtaining an exclusive property in the said improvement1 and praying that a patent may be granted for that purpose3 ,these are therefore to grant1 according to law1 to the said ,,nicholas ,j4 ,,roosevelt1 his heirs1 administrators1 or assigns1 for the term of fourteen years1 from the first day of ,december1 one thousand eight hundred and fourteen1 the full and exclusive right and liberty of making1 constructing1 using and vending to others to be used1 the said improvement2 a description whereof is given in the words of the said ,nicholas ,j4 ,roosevelt himself1 in the schedule hereto annexed1 and is made a part of these presents4 ,in testimony whereof1 ,i have caused these ,letters to be made ,patent1 and the ,seal of the ,united ,states to be hereunto affixed4 ,,seal ,given under my hand1 at the ,city of ,washington1 this first day of ,december in the year of our ,lord one thousand eight hundred and fourteen and of the independence of the ,united ,states of ,america1 the thirty-ninth4 ,,james ,,madison4 ,by the ,president4 ,jas4 ,monroe1 ,secretary of ,state4 ,city of ,washington1 to wit3 ,i do hereby ,certify1 ,that the foregoing ,letters ,patent were delivered to me on the first day of ,december in the year of our ,lord1 one thousand eight hundred and fourteen to be examined2 that ,i have examined the same1 and find them conformable to law3 and ,i do hereby return the same to the ,secretary of ,state within fifteen days from the date aforesaid1 to wit2 on this first day of ,december in the year aforesaid4 ,richard ,rush1 ,attorney ,general of the ,united ,states4 ,to all to ,whom these ,presents shall come3 ,nicholas ,j4 ,roosevelt1 of the ,state of ,new ,jersey1 ,esqr4 sends greeting3 ,be it known1 ,that ,i1 the said ,nicholas ,j4 ,roosevelt have discovered1 invented and constructed a new useful mode improvement in the propelling of boats or vessels through water by the force agency of fire steam1 the construction of which discovery1 invention improvement is specified as follows1 as the mode to which ,i have given a preference reserving to myself the right of varying and changing the proportions and combinations of the several parts of the said discovery and invention as experience may suggest or as ,i shall think advisable or expedient1 to wit4 ,a true copy from the ,specification filed in the ,patent ,office4 ,geo4 ,lyon1 ,clk4 ,patent ,office1 #c;d ,december1 #ahad4 ,,the ,,schedule referred to in these ,letters potent and making part of the same containing a description in the words of the said ,nicholas ,j4 ,roosevelt himself of his improvement in propelling ,boats1 c4 by steam4 ,in a boat or vessel of any form1 but of sufficient capacity to contain the machinery required1 ,i place a ,steam ,engine of a power proportioned to the restance to be overcome1 in propelling a boat or vessel a given distance in a given time1 this steam ,engine is supplied by a boiler of the usual form or made ,cylindric one or more at pleasure so as to be of sufficient capacity to feed the ,engine4 ,i next place two wheels over the sides1 on the axis of which ,i put flyes1 dispence with them or otherwise combine them at pleasure1 either to regulate motion or give additional velocity1 or they may be connected with the water shaft and steam ,engine1 by wheels so as to give any number of revolutions that may be desired4 ,the arms of the water wheels ,i would make of wood1 to which ,i attach floats or paddles of cast ,iron1 or of ,boiler plate thick sheet ,iron1 though they may be made of wood4 ,these floats ,i make move up and down on the arms1 by means of screws and holes1 so as to make them enter deeper or shallower in the water1 in taking a purchase or hold on the water agreeably to the depth of water the boat may draw1 and the lading there may be on board1 or agreeably to other circumstances4 ,the supporters of the outer ends of the water wheels shaft to be made of ,iron with braces1 though if required they may be made of wood4 ,ns4 ,j4 ,,roosevelt4 ,witnesses3 ,jere'h ,ballard1 ,john ,dev'x ,de,lacy4 ,of the foregoing correspondence1 but a small portion relates to the question of wheels over the sides4 ,it is inserted at length however1--going1 as it does1 to shew the warm interest1 and the active measures that were on foot at the close of the eighteenth century to develope one of the mighty agencies of the nineteenth4 ,the crudeness of many of the suggestions and the literary carelessness of the correspondence on both sides1 is indicative of a very different condition of things from that which exists at present4 ,l4 ,,footnotes #a,somewhere about the year #ahdb1 the writer of the foregoing address was narrating the substance of it at the ,white ,sulphur ,springs of ,virginia4 ,among his hearers was ,mr4 ,samuel ,davis1 of ,philadelphia1 but formerly of ,natchez1 ,mississippi1 who supplemented the story with the following anecdote4 ,he was standing on the wharf at ,natchez1 one of a crowd1 watching the approach of the ,new ,orleans on her first voyage4 ,there was a rise in the river at the time2 and when the steamboat rounded to1 to head up stream1 she was some short distance below the landing1--and1 for a while1 the current was more than she could overcome4 ,at ,mr4 ,davis' side1 was an old negro servant1 who watched the struggle with much excitement1 slapping his thighs and gesticulating in a most outlandish way4 ,when at last1 after a more rapid revolution of the wheels started the boat ahead1 the negro threw up his hat1 exclaiming1 8,by golly1 ,sa1 old ,massesseppa got her massa2 hooraw40 ,mr4 ,davis sent a quantity of his cotton by the boat to ,new ,orleans1 against the advice of all his friends4 ,he was the first person who ventured a bale on such a risk6 #b,the reference here is to a letter of the ,chancellor 7numbered #be in the collection ,i have17 in which1 being then in a dissatisfied and complaining mood1 he says3 8,i again repeat1 ,sir1 that ,i trust in a few days to hear that experiments have been made and to be minutely acquainted with the result1 that ,i may take my measures accordingly4 ,in doing of which should wish to receive your advice4 ,from a frank and candid communication much more advantage will result to all parties than from reserve1 silence and distrust4 ,i am1 dear ,sir1 your most obt4 hum4 servt4 ,r4 ,r4 ,,livingston4 ,see letter of ,aug4 #ca1 #agih4 #c,the plan here referred to is not among the papers4 ,l4 #d,the ,chancellor had evidently forgotten the concluding paragraph of his letter of ,august #ca1 #agih4 ,transcriber's ,notes --,silently corrected a few typos1 including listed errata4 --,retained publication information from the printed edition3 this e,book is public-domain in the country of publication4 --,in the text versions only1 text in italics is delimited by underscores4