Show washington Wai hington inspected impeded steamboat on september 7 1784 george washington la in a certificate stating that he had inspected james Rum steamboat model wrote in part 1 I do give it as my opinion that the discovery Is 0 of vast importance may be of greatest usefulness in our inland waters Kum Rum ides idea of propelling his bis craft by forcibly ejecting a stream of water from its stern never proved practical fulton and others were to bring optimistic prediction to fulfillment the incident demonstrates however that as early as years ago a few farsighted far sighted men like washington clearly saw the importance of taking advantage of all possible means of improving communication muni cation between the widely separated sections of the new Amer american losa republic |