John H. B. Latrobe

“ The arms of the water wheels I would make of wood, to which I attach floats or paddles of cast iron or thick boiler plate sheet iron, though they may be made of wood. These floats I make move up and down on the arms by means of screws and holes, so as to make them deeper or shallower in the water, in taking a hold on the water, agreeably to the depth of the water the boat may draw, or the lading there may be on board, or agreeably to other circumstances. The supporters of the outer 6 ends of the water wheel shaft to be made of iron with braces, though they may be made of wood, if required. ”

“ 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 extravagant. We have yet one month to use and a pretty important one, because the roads will soon be bad, and tho’ we should only go 3 miles an hour we shall still be able to pick up something besides our expenses and acquire some experience of what further is necessary. I have provided a Captain at £5 a month who understands the river. You say you have a steward and fire engine hand. Tho’ I think Smallman should make the first voyage. ”

“ The whole of this is set in motion at every revolution of the wheels with a rapidity equal to the main motion of the arms, that is if the wheels make 80 revolutions in a minute at the rate of 8 miles an hour. Now as the boat will not remove more than 20 feet of water if she goes 8 miles an hour, if it was possible to move the wheels as they are now constructed 80 rounds in a minute we should throw away one half of our power, for the boat could not move faster than the water in the wheels & the power would be uselessly expended in throwing out water unnecessarily. ”

“ On the above statement I am of opinion, that the patent to Roosevelt is valid. It is still subject to impeachment, however, on the ground that he was not the first discoverer of the improvement which he has patented. 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 1793; but any defendant, 9 against whom an action may be brought under the patent, may impeach it at any distance of time, under the sixth section of the Act of 1793. ”

“ 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 require, and indeed, why should we go to any expense in alterations which can do us no service; as I clearly saw from actual experiment that about 1400 pounds will be necessary to be applied directly to the wheels independent of friction, which is equal to an engine of 24 inches Cylinder. ”

“ Dr. Franklin’s plan was to make a current of steam propel the vessel as it issued from the stern. Then steam was applied to oars, and for a season 13 a boat was rowed by steam between Philadelphia and Bordentown. Dr. Kensey built a steam engine that was to operate upon oars, paddles and flutter wheels. Fulton himself, as stated by his biographer, Colden, after subjecting Rumsey’s mode to the test of calculation, “thought of paddles and duck’s feet, abandoning which, he took up the idea of using endless chains with resisting boards upon them as propellers. ”

“ He was the first who demonstrated its practical utility, when, in 1807, he made the first voyage in the Clermont from New York to Albany and back. Still he was indebted to others, in the first instance, for the elements of his success.
I have said that biography is too often eulogy. The biographer becomes jealous of the reputation of his hero. Colden was not exempt from the weakness common to his class ”

“ Let the motion of the wheels by no means exceed 80 nor be lower than 70 turns in a minute and I will answer for the success of the experiment, & 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 future. That we have erred hitherto should not discourage us. ”

“ Delacy’s case was not a bad one, I agreed to undertake it, and wrote to Mr. Roosevelt, in the State of New York, upon the subject. He corroborated all that I had heard, sent me copies of important correspondence, and referred me to Richard S. Coxe, Esq., of Washington, who was the executor of Mr. Griffith, the assignee for the original papers. Mr. Griffith had then been for many years dead. ”

“ 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 80 times in a minute, as will appear from this calculation. Our wells contain exactly 60 cubic feet of water. ”

“ Sun and planet wheels we will take off and form a double crank with the coupling links, 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 enter. This change will give us only half the motion of your wheels we first contemplated and 38 consequently double the power we now have. I will try this in the same way we did the last time by leaving the vessel’s stern on shore, and in the meanwhile I hope to hear your opinion of throwing wheels over the sides. ”

“ I have ordered a pattern made for two wheels accordingly and will cast them the first casting we make after it is finished. Please to write me if you agree in this respect. 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 36 Inches. This will cost him upwards of 13,000 Dolls: Our small one is not equal to the purposes for which he wants his. ”

“ If the diminution of the motion is brought about by changing the sun and planet wheels, one half the motion of the flys will be lost & they rendered almost useless from this circumstance. If they are made heavier they will overload the boat. ”

“ N. J. ROOSEVELT.
R. R. Livingston.
R. R. LIVINGSTON TO N. J. ROOSEVELT. Acknowledges Wheels over the Sides to have been Proposed by Roosevelt and rejects them.
Clermont, 18th Sept., 1798.
Dear Sir,
Mr. Mouchette is just returned. I sincerely congratulate you upon the success of the engine of which he gives the most favourable report & fully justifies yr. confidence in your engines. I am sufficiently sanguine to hope that all difficulties are now vanished. Knowing our power nothing remains but adapt the vessel to it. ”

“ That he did at that time make very many actual experiments, as well upon mill machinery as upon the motion and buoyancy of bodies in and through water; and did then and there make, rig and put in operation, on a small brook near the house of the aforesaid Oosterhaudt, a small wooden boat or model of a boat with vertical wheels over the sides, each wheel having four arms or paddles, or floats, made of pieces of shingle attached to the periphery of the wheels whereby to take a purchase on the water ”

“ I would therefore recommend that we throw two wheels of wood over the sides fastened to the axes of the flys with 8 arms or paddles, 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 24 inches cylinder. The Barometer to ascertain the exact power of the engine has not as you observe been left to depend entirely on Mr. ”

“ Always buoyant in his feelings, gushing in his manner, and intending to be honest, he was one of those men who are always in trouble. As already intimated, therefore, I was not as hopeful at the end of some months as I had been ”

“ FOOTNOTES
[1] Somewhere about the year 1842, the writer of the foregoing address was narrating the substance of it at the White Sulphur Springs of Virginia. Among his hearers was Mr. Samuel Davis, of Philadelphia, but formerly of Natchez, Mississippi, who supplemented the story with the following anecdote. He was standing on the wharf at Natchez, one of a crowd, watching the approach of the New Orleans on her first voyage. There was a rise in the river at the time ”

“ 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 50 revolutions of the lower wheels, and if she will carry more, then increase the width of the paddles. ”