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Show AN HISTORIC ESTATE. The impending salo of the estate of Dalswinton, Dumf rieshire, Scotland, causes memory to flash back to largely forgotten history volumes where is to be found some interesting information concerning that place. For one thing, Palswinton w-as once held by "The Red Coinyn," a competitor of Bruce for tho throno of Scotland, but it is Dalswinton's influence upon one phase of America 's progress that demands chief attention. In a reuse, Dalswinton w7as directly responsible for America's first steamboat, steam-boat, for it was from a crude craft upon tho waters of a lake upon the estate that Robert Fulton got some of the ideas that led to the memorable event of the Hudson. The Kansas City Star has consulted the records and finds that Patrick Miller, who invented the first steamboat that sailed any water wa-ter in Scotland, once owned Dalswinton. Dalswin-ton. To the north of tho mansion is an ornamental lake, and there it was, in 17SS, that. Miller constructed a double-hull boat twenty-five feet long and seven feet broad, to which an engine was fitted by William Symington, a native of Leadhills,' Lanarkshire. This boat succeeded so well that its fame went far and wide over Scotland. Robert Burns, immortal poet, owned tho neighboring property to Dalswinton, Dalswin-ton, and he and Nasmith, the painter, and Henry Brougham, who subsequently subsequent-ly became lord chancellor of England, were a jolly party that sailed this lake together as passengers on Miller and Symington's boat. In 17S9 Miller built a larger boat which Symington fitted out with steam engines, and the vessel was' propelled at a speed of six miles an hour on the Forth and Clyde canal. The boat and the engine were so ill proportioned to each other that the wheels were continually con-tinually breaking and the vessel was laid aside. Symington's stern-wheeler, named Charlotte Dundas, built at Grangemouth Grange-mouth in 1S01, made an experimental trip to Glasgow, and was intended for towing sloops on the Forth and Clyde canal, but was withdrawn owing to the damage caused to the banks by the wash of the paddles. I On one of these boats, Fulton, who !had gone to England to study painting under the famous historical painter, Benjamin West, also an American, . made a trip and became acquainted with Symington. He studied the details de-tails of the vessel closely. Fulton was extremely poor, but he met. Robert R. Livingston, a rich New Y'orker, who was then United States minister to France and who had also been experimenting experi-menting with models for steamboats. Livingston's associates in this work were John Stevens, another wealthy man. and Nicholas J. Roosevelt. This trio had acquired the exclusive rights for steam navigation of the rivers of the state of New Y'ork from the legislature. legis-lature. Livingston backed Fulton, who was given parnvrship in the navigation franchise, and before leaving France for America, in lSOo, Fulton had parts of a steam engine built to his order by the firm of Bouiten Watt, Birmingham, Birming-ham, England Watt being the charmed name of the man who had invented in-vented the steam engine. Fulton returned to New York with his steam engine in ISOd, and it is said that the mechanism incorporated sev-. sev-. era! important ideas which had been i bo: n of 1.1 i i i ' i' v a " i o u s at Oel-v.in-M.. In 1- ' aa 1 I; 7 Fulton hud the i urk aa 1 the engtr.j was llfel en board. The enr't w.-i ISO fee', by l'i j f.-et a;t i 7 l'c-t d"-p. The engine, having hav-ing a bell crank motion, had a cvbn-d cvbn-d r of -i ineh'-s cia:rt.-r and a f"Ur-f'.ot f"Ur-f'.ot sttroke. The boat was named the North Liver r'ea'ab.ait of Cicrmoti". It rnadi' its t.-ia! trio from New York to Ai''.ny en the Hudson river on |