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Show 100 Years Ago the Sav-f Sav-f annah, a Tiny Steamer of 380 Tons Began tts His- 1 tork Trip Across the At- S lantic Today We Have the Mighty Leviathan of 116'))) Tons. Brr.prrlglit. 1910. The Internatlnnnl Syndicate. HgT is a remarkable coincidence that I just one hundred years-after the , 'first steamship crossed the Atlantic HI a flying machine should undertake the same voyage. The people of that H(jiy no doubt were far more skeptical Ef the ability of a vessel propelled by Hiieaai to make Its way to Europe than VrP we ot" the present tlmo thai ad jirpUir.r- v.!i perform the same feat The progress In locomotive inventions during the last generation has been Rjiitlc short of marvelous, and as man's Hsentus has provided many wonderful Mpioan? of transportation on land far Beyond the Imagination of those of a fe -- ico it Is not surprising that Ke same genius, courage and perse-Berance perse-Berance will overcome all the obstacles B the way of transportation over the Ecean through the air. The occasion Kfor the experiment Is most approprl-Bfte. approprl-Bfte. and no better time could have Keen selected for the Initial voyage of an airplane to Europe than the cen-Senary cen-Senary anniversary of the first succcss-Kul succcss-Kul trip of a steamer. It Is doubtful B the perils of the air to a flying ma-Hnlne ma-Hnlne on such r are regarded Eda' a more dangerous than were be perils of the ocean to the steamer century ago. I Trip Started May 22. 1819 The annlvc r.-ary of the first successful success-ful crossing of the Atlantic ocean one Hundred years ago will bo conimem-Krated conimem-Krated on May 22nd. tho date Bhen the "Savannah" sailed from Philadelphia for Liverpool, and It is Hkcly that tlie Quaker City will have great celebration of the event. The Koat was built in New York and was Mjunchcd on August 22nd. She Bas mastered by tho two Rogers Bxaptaln M - l: - t -. i ii i 'omman-Ker. 'omman-Ker. and C pta n St phen Rogers, the Billing Mate. Tho vessel was three. Hundred and eighty terns burden. Evolution f steam As .Motive Pernor W Steam as a motive power on the wa-Ber wa-Ber had been tried on rivers and lakes Bjany years before, for as far back as 648 it Is said that Blasco do Garray, native of Biscay, had tried a vessel Br two hundred and nine tons called I the "Trinity" with more or less suc-Bfcss suc-Bfcss at Barcelona. Spain the motive power of this vessel being a caldron of boiling water and a movable wheel suspended on e-ach side of the vessel. An account of this Is recorded in some old letters which are preserved in Spain. One of tho letters declares that j men had to assist with tho puddle-' wheels, while tho other merely mentions men-tions the caldrons of steaming water. In 1600 Denis Papln, a French engineer, engi-neer, by reason of some political troubles trou-bles left his country, became a refugee in Hesse and was a professor In the University there for several years. He published In that year a methodical and clear description of the fire engine now known as the Atmospherical en-, gino, and suggested the practicability of applying tho power of steam to the navigation of rivers. Some scientists think that Papln's Idea of steam navigation nav-igation was never carried out, but was merely a theory, while still others contend con-tend that he actually constructed a steamboat which he navigated upon the River Fulda In 1707. Again in 1759 a Swiss clergyman named Gcnevols published a book In which he declared that boa's might be propelled by the atmospheric steam engine. Any number of experiments were made by scientists of various Jands, but the most prominent was that of an Englishman who took out a patent on a boat propelled by steam In 1783. The drawing of this Is still j 'preserveel In the English patent ofllce 1 It represents a steamboat one hundred , and forty feet long with paddle-wheels1 on a shaft turned by a single horl- ! zontal steam cylinder and piston with , a double rack work and pauls on tnc ! piston rod. It Is not known whether a boat of I this actual size was tried out but It is j known that a coal barge went up the Thames River propelled by an 'engine such as was patented with one man a: ; the wheel. Rumacj Ami Pulton In 1785 a certain James Rumse gave a public exhibition on the Potomac Poto-mac River above Shepherds' own. W ' Virginia, of his discovery that a boat could be propelled by .steam up stream against the current Tho boiler and machinery for Rumsey's boat were i mado at Catoctln Iron Furnace in Frederick county. Maryland. After the experiment had proved a success ( he destroyed his first model and sailed for England hoping that In an older and richer country his work would win for him fame and fortune, but he died of apoplexy there before his Invention was complete. Tho citizens of Shephcrdstown have recently erected a monument to his memory. It is said that Robert Ful ton, who nineteen years later gave the world a successful steamboat, had been a sympathetic and Intelligent listener lis-tener to Rumsey's talks on the matter. Any number of Americans tried out various Inventions of boats with more or less success, but It was not until Fulton sent his boat up the Hudson that a vessel propelled by steam was really regarded as a success. This was In 1807, the centenary of which was celebrated In several cities. But like the airplane experiment made by the Wright brothers at Kitty-Hawk, Kitty-Hawk, North Carolina. In 1903. the most optimistic person had no Idea that a steamboat would ever attempt to cross tho ocean, yet twolvo years later this was accomplished, while the airplane has been in existence sixteen years Had it not been for the war, however, this flying machine crossing of the ocean might have come much sooner After Fulton's success steamboat were built and traveled on regular schedules on rlycrs and lakes, and theso worked so well that It was determined de-termined to make a trial trip across the ocean. The newspapers at thai time were full of news In reference to the trip and there were a number of unfavorable comments as many believed be-lieved that It would he a failure and I 67T?s?s; tt&f tt?- " BBBUBE23 -t e &r-&csrsi2 TG&p- j that both men and vessel would be lost. However. It was determined to make a coastwise voyage as a trial The "Savannah" The Rogers brothers were enthusiastic enthusi-astic over the idea of the trip to Liverpool Liver-pool and induced a number of capitalists cap-italists to purchase the ship Just launched, and so well adapted for the purpose. Accordingly, she was named "Savannah." They allowed the rigging and other appurtenances for soiling to remain and supplied her with s'eam-machlncry s'eam-machlncry and paddle-wheels the latter lat-ter constructed to fold up like a. fan and to be laid upon deck when not In use. her shaft having also a Joint for th.it purpose. The wheel-house was made of canvas extended on an Iron rim. She made her trial voyage from Now York to Savannah in April, 1819, in 1 1 von days after a tempestuous pas-liS pas-liS during which she had to take In her wheels several times and rely upon her sails. President Monroe was at Charleston. South Carolina, and Mr. Scarborough, one of the financial back, ers of the future ocean trip, directed that she go In there and give the President Pres-ident an Invitation to come on shipboard. ship-board. Owing to other business the President was compelled to decline, but said he would come to Savannah to meet the steamer and a few days later, accompanied by his suite, several sev-eral naval oflleers and civilians the President came aboard and Inspected the ship and was taken on a little trip down the river, the vessel using Its steam on the Journey. Later tho President Pres-ident dined on board and expressed himself as delighted with the project. On the trip across tho ocean tho steamship started from New York, bu: . stopped at Philadelphia, which Is the I reason for that city claiming to be the acta! starting point which she left on May 22nd, 1319, w it h Liverpool as her bjcllye point. All went well until lune 17th when the vessel was stopped by tho British cutter "Kite." whose commander thought the vessel was on .ire. and stopped her to assist In fighting fight-ing the flames. She was also stopped i outside Liverpool by an English sloop of-war whose commander asked the American vessel to display the British e-olors abovo Its own. Captain Rogers refused and threatened the British officer of-ficer with boiling water If he did not leave the ship at once. Ho left immediately. im-mediately. Tho Savannah reached Liverpool on June 20th. after a voyage t" w :;r v-r.ln. days and eleven hour. The engines were used during eighteen days of the trip. It is stated that on tho "Savannah's" approach to Liverpool Liver-pool with sails furled and tho American Ameri-can colors flying the piers were thronged by thousands who greeted her arrival with boisterous cheers, j and before she anchored her decks j were so crowded with curiosity seck-j seck-j ers that It was with the greatest dlffl-j culty that tho crew could movo about) in the performance of their duty. After a stay in Liverpool where the steamship was regarded as one of tho wonders of 'he world, the vessel proceeded to Stockholm, and later to j Petrograd then St. Petersburg, where she was Inspected by the nobility no-bility and foreign ministers. She left I that port on September 28th, 1819. i and arrived In Savannah November 3 n h . after an absence of ono hundred hun-dred and ninety-two days. An interesting log. too long to be reproduced here was kept by tho masters. The valuable relic Is made up of ninety-six pages of coarse, wide paper and is in the handwriting of Stephen Rogers, the Sailing Master, who died in New London. Connecticut, In 186S. aged seventy-four years. The log is owned by his descendants. The Savannah mado only one trip across the Atlantic. After this trip the engines were removed and she was used as a sailing vessel between New ij York and Savannah. She was wrecked In 1821. J Largest Steamship Of Today After this crossing, steamship building build-ing began in earnest and companies were formed who vied wi'h each other in the- swiftness and beauty of their BJ vessels. As years went by they grew BBfl in size as well as in tho luxury of BH their furnishings. The war stopped the beautiful passenger type of ship. and In 1914 the largest steamship on the ocean was known as the "Vater- BBj land," which belonged to a German BBB steamship company She happened to be at Hobokcn v.hn the war broke out and was interned. When America joined the Allies she was taken over to carry our troopi to the other side and her named changed to "Lcvla-'han." "Lcvla-'han." Only a short time ago she brought nearly thirteen thousand of our boys home from their duty "over Bj She Is an evolution from the three hundred and eighty ton "Savannah." BBfl which had few comforts, to a magnlfl- BBI cent steamship of sixty-five thousand tons a veritable floating palace, and B represents the world's progress In a century of steamship building. How BJ l will the Atlantic be crossed one hun-I hun-I dred years hence" BJ |
