of the
Clermont, so named after Livingston's estate on the Hudson. The building
was done on the East River. The boat excited the jeers of passersby, who
called it "Fulton's Folly." On Monday, August 17, 1807, the memorable
first voyage was begun. Carrying a party of invited guests, the Clermont
steamed off at one o'clock. Past the towns and villages along the
Hudson, the boat moved steadily, black smoke rolling from her stack.
Pine wood was the fuel. During the night, the sparks pouring from her
funnel, the clanking of her machinery, and the splashing of the paddles
frightened the animals in the woods and the occupants of the scattered
houses along the banks. At one o'clock Tuesday the boat arrived at
Clermont, 110 miles from New York. After spending the night at Clermont,
the voyage was resumed on Wednesday. Albany, forty miles away, was
reached in eight hours, making a record of 150 miles in thirty-two
hours. Returning to New York, the distance was covered in thirty hours.
The steamboat was a success.

The boat was then laid up for two weeks while the cabins were boarded
in, a roof built over the engine, and coverings placed over the
paddle-wheels to catch the spray--all under Fulton's eye. Then the
Clermont began regular trips to Albany, carrying sometimes a hundred
passengers, making the round trip every four days, and continued until
floating ice marked the end of navigation for the winter.

Why had Fulton succeeded where others had failed? There was nothing
new in his boat. Every essential feature of the Clermont had been
anticipated by one or other of the numerous experimenters before him.
The answer seems to be that he was a better engineer than any of them.
He had calculated proportions, and his hull and his engine were in
relation. Then too, he had one of Watt's engines, undoubtedly the best
at the time, and the unwavering support of Robert Livingston.

Fulton's restless mind was never still, but he did not turn capriciously
from one idea to another. Though never satisfied, his new ideas were
tested scientifically and the results carefully written down. Some
of his notebooks read almost like geometrical demonstrations; and his
drawings and plans were beautifully executed. Before his death in 1815
he had constructed or planned sixteen or seventeen boats, including
boats for the Hudson, Potomac, and Mississippi rivers, for the Neva in
Russia, and a steam vessel of war for the United States. He was a member
of