7 HO the steamboat? Ask ten Americans that question and the chances are that nine out of the ten, remein- bering a few outstand- ing names in their school histories, will answer “Robert Fulton,” thereby prov- ing once more what a strange jumble of fact and fiction is the average American's conception of the history of his country. For the question of who deserves credit for “inventing” the steamboat has recently started an- other of those controversies over his torical matters, which sometimes re. sults in clearing up certain disputed points in annals of our nation. More often it does not, principally be cause the partisans never seem able to agree upon a strict definition of terms, without which it is virtually Impossible to settle such disputes con- clusively, In this particular case the word “inventor” is the crux of the situation. While popular opinion accords that distinction to Robert Fulton, and’ in 1900 he was elected to the Hall of Fame at New York university as “the Inventor of the steamboat,” being the first Inventor and the ninth American chosen to membership among “Amer fea’s Immortals,” his right to that title has been challenged on behalf of no less than eight other Americans. Out- standing among these claims is that in behalf of Lieut. John Fitch, who, it Is asserted, made a successful trip on the Delaware river In a steamboat which he had designed more than 20 years before Fulton's historic voyage up the Hudson in the Clermont. Fitch's right to the title of “inven tor” is supported by his descendants who are members of the Fitch Family association. They have nominated his name for inclusion in the Hall of Fame at New York university with the de mand that either the name and bust of Fulton be removed or that those of Fitch be added. They are planning a nation-wide celebration in 1935 to mark the one hundredth and fiftieth anniversary of “the invention of the steamboat by Fitch in 1785,” and they ask that this celebration be given ree. ognition by the government and that public agencies and national patriotic societies co-operate in it as they did in the Hudson-Fulton celebration of 1907, They base thelr contention that Fitch rather than Fulton was the “in. ventor” of the steamboat upon certain official acts of the government, the chief one being that both houses of congress by a unanimous vote, ap proved on February 12, 1020, an ap- propriation of $15,000 for a suitable monument to Fitch as “the first In the world’s history to successfully ap. ply steam propulsion of vessels through water.” This memorial was unveiled May 27, 1927, in the publie square In Bardstown, Ky. where Fitch died July 2, 1798, in poverty and detflair of proving to an unbelieving world the practical value of a steam boat. They point out, too, that the labels on the models of steamboats in the Smithgonian Institution bears out their contention that he was the “inventor.” These labels read as follows: JOHN FITCH'S STEAMBOAT “Designed by John Fitch, built in Phils adelphia In 1786, and first tested on the Delaware river July 27 of that year, when a successful public trial was made. Equipped with a steam engine which, connected by geared ma- “lovented” the erated six oars placed verticall frame on each side of the boat. *In 1788 Fitch his first commercial hoat for carrying passen- gers, and it was driven In a manner. This boat was 60 feet long and 8 feet wide. She made a trip from Philadelphia to Burlington, about 20 miles, in July, 1788, the long- est ever made by any steamboat up to that date. October 12, 1788. the boat took 30 passengers from Philadelphia to Burlington in 8 hours and 10 min- utes, a speed of over six an hour. In 1790 Fitch bullt another boat which attained a speed of eight miles an hour and continued to run on the Delaware river, carrying passen- gers and freight, for three or four months" RUMSEY'S STEAMBOAT — “Pro- pelled by Jets of water forced out through the stern. Tested on the Po. tomag¢ river at Shepherdstown, Va. 1787." STEAMBOAT CLERMONT, 1807— “Designed by Robert Fulton, built in the city of New York, and made its first trip from that city to Albany In Angust, 1807." Of these labels, the one on Fitch's model is the only one which uses words “successful public trial” If, then, a “successful public trial” is proof of “invention,” it would seem that there is no doubt as to the right of Fitch to be given the title of “in- ventor of the steamboat.” However, there are those whose definition of “invention” is a vastly different one and they assert that no one person can claim the credit for the invention of the steamboat, Of the other “inventors” of the steamboat, the volume “The March of Commerce” by Mulcom Keir In the Yale University Press, “Pageant of America,” has this to say: “Samuel Morey of New Hampshire, who began experimenting with a steamboat In 1790, bulit a paddle-wheel steamer which in 1704 ran from Hart. ford to New York at a speed of about 15 miles an hour. This boat had the paddle wheel at the stern. A later bout of Morey's, built at Bordentown on the Delaware, was operated with two side paddle wheels. Others who were seized with the ‘steam mania,’ as it was derisively called at the time, were Willlam Longstreet of New Jer. sey, whose boat made five miles an hour against the current of the Sa- vannah river In 1700, and Elijah Orms- bee of Connecticut; who made paddies to imitate ducks’ feet and operated them by steam In a boat that he nav- completed similar miles igated from Cranston to Providence ! and Pawtucket and return, Evans, who Invented the high-pressure steam engine and tubu- lar boller, applied it to moving boats a8 well as highway wagons and mills, Steam dredges built by him, such as Amphiholos, operated In the water under their Robert RR. Livingston, associated with Fulton, built a steamboat and ran it the Hudson. John Evans of Hoboken, N. J. experiinented with a half-dozen different steamboats after 1701, and eventually hit upon the Idea of the | screw propeller in place of the more nual setting poles, paddies, oars, or paddle wheels, Stevens himself, how. ever, soon discarded the screw pro- peller in favor of paddle wheels, and it was not until years Iater—in 1830 that the screw propeller received fare ther attention. “Benjamin Franklin, who had a fin. ger in nearly every ple that was cook. ing during his lifetime, was a mem- | ber of an association headed by James | Rumsey, a native of Maryland, that | proposed to try Franklin's idea of pro- | pelling a boat by sucking In water at | the bow and ejecting It at the stern. | A boat was huilt and run on this prin. ciple by Rumsey In 1787, a steam | pump being the means of ejecting the water. Rumsey had In 1784 exhibited a steamboat before General Washing. ton at Bath, Va. In this earlier boat the power had been steam applied by cranks to a series of setting poles. Fitch, who had applied for state mo- nopolies over steamboats, contested Rumsey's invention, so Rumsey took his ideas to London but died there in 1792, before they became practical.” In mentioning the men who contrib uted to the success of the steamboat there is one name which cannot justly be omitted. Fitch, Fulton and the oth- ers had built steamboats which would operate on gentiy-flowing bodies of wa- ter in the East, but it remained for another man to tame the swift waters of the West. Fulton and Livingston tried it and falled. But Henry M, Shreve, whose name Is perpetuated in the city of Shreveport, La., succeeded. Shreve called his boat the Wash. ington and in it he made two round trips between Louisville, Ky., and New Orleans, making the return trip In the then unbelievably fast time of 25 days or less than a fourth of the time it took the bargemen and keelboat pole men to make the same distance. From that time on steamboats went every. where, no matter how swift the cur rent they had to buck. “Oliver the Oruktor 1804 through own power. afterward on | (® bv Western Newspaper Union.) LOOKED QUEER The Pride (indignantly)—1 wus so embarrassed In my life! The Groom—Why, whassa mutter, denrie? The Bride—Aii through the wedding ceremony you had your eyes glued on the side door marked “Exit,” and the best man actually started two or three grab you as If he thought never AN ACCIDENT 1 a 1 He—-"Did that girl who wag so de termined to marry George get him?” She~"No, she did not.” He—"Did he die of accident or disease?” From a Rear Seat twinkle, little star, vaudeville singe af w Ader how youd With glasses up, Twinkle, On the vk if were sill Carry On | Pat, who was moving, had asked | if his friends to carry his One or two « chicken-house round for him They very Job, but About halfway they set the coop down to have a rest found this a strenuous siruggied on, when one of them suddenly exclaimed ; “Why, where's Pat ¥° “I'm inside all right,” came a volee from | the house, “I'm carrying the | perches.” —Ex Godspeed! $10 will “lot my wallet at home.” “Sorry, but | can’t the way of getting | “Thanks, How?" “Here's a me take for home and ge! your wallet” dime carfar Education Something Fierce “Why did you leave your lust place?’ the home of the prospective negro mald “Dey was too highbrow fer me,” she answered, “Dey was ghtin an’ an it she’ runnin’ from de keyhole ary, so Ah got mad an’ quit.” asked mistress niways A Kept mo to de fussin', busy diction Nerve “What's this extra demanded the motorist, “That's for upholstery,” man, charge for the garage we lefi the the oil on explained HiS OWN GAME FIRST She—"Do you ever give any consid. eration to our foreign relations?” He—~"Can't say 1 do. My poor rela tions get all | have to give” Economics The old experience comes again To all the conscientious lands, With many striving to explain What no one clearly understands. Even Split Angry Mistress—"In the time it takes me to tell you to do the work, | could do it myself.” Housemaid—"Yes'm, and in the time it takes me to listen to you, #0 could L” Foolish Chance to Take “George was killed going to pay a debt.” “There! That is what comes of wanting to pay one's debts"—Stray Stories, Education's Costs “Since you gave your son a car has he kept his promise to do more study- ing at college?” “I'm certaln of it, because he writes home much oftener now for money for books” Trained Caddy The Coille—Loafing us usual? The Terrier--Nope. I gotta job, 1 get 8 pork chop Just for retrieving that little ball and dropping It sore. where near the hole. i Italy Unable to Check Movement From Villages Italy's efforts to check the flow of population to the cities appurently have not been successful. This Is ex pecially true in the Alpine districts, The rapid depopulation there in re cent years has been eausing anxlety to the Italian government, which two Years ago authorized the expenditure | of $100,000 upon the construction of highways, the sanitation of mountain Af. forestation laws, des igned to create new opportunities for in | the Alps were passed, The attractions of the cities of the plains have continued, however, to prove too strong for many of the old mountaineering stock, and the fall in the population of Alpine towns and villages has not appreciably checked, Some villages have lost ffom half to two-thirds of their popu- lation in less than half a century, areas and other improvements, woodmen Hiensg, flgo been Wax-Work Show Mystery Among the wax figures ut Mme. Tussaud's in London, there are many of prominent politicians of today, and in one of these an old-fa pin was discovered the head, It day two « shioned hat embedded up to 1, but next thers were d overed WAR remove the same position, J those wished to destroy anye #f wax fizure in} pins into it. This have fect of ia concerned fall 11, and ihc e thing happened to break the iliness ild have 1 wo pation, . — Static Forecasts Favored Statie should be forecast long with weather reports for the benefit of the gE one ium {or French Babies Gull Made Gift y Vester was § sound of Fish 's : off Marvvilie, frisked gree Record for Motherhood? ra Leoneclo Chavarria of Tux. wosed to mother. In one hus. Ss and 14 » 1S pairs of Matter of Gender der wha I we tap London Especially the Blues Clarence—Doctor Fixus Suys paw. paws will cure dys; epsin, will cure anything if they have money enough Jack—Paw-paws most Isn't the world rich enough to have napking that it can throw away instead of paper ones? cotion re COLDS Almost everybody knows how Jayer Aspirin breaks up a cold— but why not prevent it? Take a tablet or two when you first feel the cold coming on. Spare yourself the discomfort of a summer cold, Read the proven directions in every package for headaches, pain, etc. Wanted—Men and women for distribut gf and rental rights f« 3 the simple, psfe and od rns clief from Gnsti entire pr snore? 7 Rest irouchy ? Investigate; r fre Nleep-Rite Mfg, Co, "nr t Ps Do You AGENTS WANTED. Great Christos forse $285 reward fo any ¢ ¥ ‘ 36-55 ds price 35c; particulars { Reliable Specially Corp. taffalo, N Odor-Not, 1 a 1t ng and €¢ 1864. Pox of 12 trestmen NATIONAL SERVICE 225 Dollar Bank Bldg. 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Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers