Even among scientific men the project was considered impracticable. A
society in Rotterdam had, several years before Fulton's return home,
applied to the American Philosophical Society to be informed whether any
and what improvements had been made in the construction of steam-engines
in America. A reply to this inquiry was prepared, at the request of the
Society, by Mr. Benjamin H. Latrobe, a distinguished engineer. The
following extracts from this paper will show the reader how Fulton's
scheme was regarded by one who was confessedly one of the most brilliant
engineers of his day, and who has since accomplished so much for the
improvement of steam travel:
During the general lassitude of mechanical exertion which succeeded
the American Revolution, We utility of steam-engines appears to
have been forgotten; but the subject afterward started into very
general notice in a form in which it could not possibly be attended
with success. A sort of mania began to prevail, which, indeed, has
not yet entirely subsided, for impelling boats by steam-engines.
Dr. Franklin proposed to force forward the boat by the immediate
application of the steam upon the water.
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