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The Story of Robert Fulton and the Steamboat

3/5 ( ratings)

Originally published in 1910 as a section of the author’s larger “Side Lights on American History,” this Kindle edition, equivalent in length to a physical book of approximately 16 pages, tells the story of the man who built the first successful steamboat.

Sample passage:
The boat was described as “a monster moving on the waters, defying wind and tide, breathing flames and smoke.” The fuel used was dry pine, and the flames rose above the smoke-pipe. It was said that in some of the vessels met by the Clermont, “the crews shrank beneath the decks from the terrific sight and let their vessels run ashore; while others prostrated themselves and besought Providence to protect them from the horrible monster which was marching on the tides, and lighting its path by the fires which it vomited.”

The great question was now settled; navigation by steam was an assured fact. A New York paper made the statement that there would soon be steamboats on the Mississippi, and it was believed that they would make two miles an hour against its strong current. What would the editor have thought had he foreseen that long before the century’s close the sea would be covered with steamships, some of twelve thousand tons burden, “ocean greyhounds,” that would cross the Atlantic in less than six days, averaging more than twenty miles an hour!

About the Author:
Henry William Elson was a professor of history at Ohio State University. Other works include “History of the United States of America” and “Four Great American Presidents.”

Language: English

Pages: 7

Format: Kindle Edition

Publisher: A. J. Cornell Publications

Release: May 20, 2011

The Story of Robert Fulton and the Steamboat

3/5 ( ratings)

Originally published in 1910 as a section of the author’s larger “Side Lights on American History,” this Kindle edition, equivalent in length to a physical book of approximately 16 pages, tells the story of the man who built the first successful steamboat.

Sample passage:
The boat was described as “a monster moving on the waters, defying wind and tide, breathing flames and smoke.” The fuel used was dry pine, and the flames rose above the smoke-pipe. It was said that in some of the vessels met by the Clermont, “the crews shrank beneath the decks from the terrific sight and let their vessels run ashore; while others prostrated themselves and besought Providence to protect them from the horrible monster which was marching on the tides, and lighting its path by the fires which it vomited.”

The great question was now settled; navigation by steam was an assured fact. A New York paper made the statement that there would soon be steamboats on the Mississippi, and it was believed that they would make two miles an hour against its strong current. What would the editor have thought had he foreseen that long before the century’s close the sea would be covered with steamships, some of twelve thousand tons burden, “ocean greyhounds,” that would cross the Atlantic in less than six days, averaging more than twenty miles an hour!

About the Author:
Henry William Elson was a professor of history at Ohio State University. Other works include “History of the United States of America” and “Four Great American Presidents.”

Language: English

Pages: 7

Format: Kindle Edition

Publisher: A. J. Cornell Publications

Release: May 20, 2011

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