His name and fame will always be dear to his
countrymen, for while we can not claim that he was (nor did he ever
assume to be) the inventor of steam navigation, or even the inventor of
the means of such navigation, we do claim for him the honor of being the
first man to cross the gulf which lies between experiment and
achievement, the man whose skill and perseverance first conquered the
difficulties which had baffled so many others, and made steam navigation
both practicable and profitable. The Committee of the London Exhibition
of 1851 gave utterance in their report to a declaration which places his
fame beyond assault, as follows:
"Many persons, in various countries, claim the honor of having first
invented small boats propelled by steam, but it is to the undaunted
perseverance and exertions of the American Fulton that is due the
everlasting honor of having produced this revolution, both in naval
architecture and navigation."
CHAPTER XIV.
CHARLES GOODYEAR.
In the year 1735, a party of astronomers, sent by the French Government
to Peru for purposes of scientific investigation, discovered a curious
tree growing in that country, the like of which no European had ever
seen before.
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