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which was given a monopoly of all the waters of New York
State； equipped with an engine built by Boulton and Watt of
Birmingham in England； began a regular service between New
York and Albany in the year 1807。
As for poor John Fitch； the man who long before any one
else had used the ‘‘steam…boat'' for commercial purposes； he
came to a sad death。 Broken in health and empty of purse； he
had come to the end of his resources when his fifth boat； which
was propelled by means of a screw…propeller； had been destroyed。
His neighbours jeered at him as they were to laugh a
hundred years later when Professor Langley constructed his
funny flying machines。 Fitch had hoped to give his country
an easy access to the broad rivers of the west and his countrymen
preferred to travel in flat…boats or go on foot。 In the year
1798； in utter despair and misery； Fitch killed himself by taking
poison。
But twenty years later； the ‘‘Savannah；'' a steamer of 1850
tons and making six knots an hour； （the Mauretania goes just
four times as fast；） crossed the ocean from Savannah to Liverpool
in the record time of twenty…five days。 Then there was
an end to the derision of the multitude and in their enthusiasm
the people gave the credit for the invention to the wrong man。
Six years later； George Stephenson； a Scotchman； who had
been building locomotives for the purpose of hauling coal from
the mine…pit to smelting ovens and cotton factories； built his
famous ‘‘travelling engine'' which reduced the price of coal by
almost seventy per cent and which made it possible to establish
the first regular passenger service between Manchester and
Liverpool； when people were whisked from city to city at the
unheard…of speed of fifteen miles per hour。 A dozen years
later； this speed had been increased to twenty miles per hour。
At the present time； any well…behaved flivver （the direct descendant
of the puny little motor…driven machines of Daimler
and Levassor of the eighties of the last century） can do better
than these early ‘‘Puffing Billies。''
But while these practically…minded engineers were improving
upon their rattling ‘‘heat engines；'' a group of ‘‘pure''
scientists （men who devote fourteen hours of each day to the
study of those ‘‘theoretical'' scientific phenomena without which
no mechanical progress would be possible） were following a
new scent which promised to lead them into the most secret and
hidden domains of Nature。
Two thousand years ago； a number of Greek and Roman
philosophers （notably Thales of Miletus and Pliny who was
killed while trying to study the eruption of Vesuvius of the
year 79 when Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried beneath
the ashes） had noticed the strange antics of bits of straw and of
feather which were held near a piece of amber which was being
rubbed with a bit of wool。 The schoolmen of the Middle Ages
had not been interested in this mysterious ‘‘electric'' power。
But immediately after the Renaissance； William Gilbert； the
private physician of Queen Elizabeth； wrote his famous treatise
on the character and behaviour of Magnets。 During the
Thirty Years War Otto von Guericke； the burgomaster of
Magdeburg and the inventor of the air…pump； constructed the
first electrical machine。 During the next century a large number
of scientists devoted themselves to the study of electricity。
Not less than three professors invented the famous Leyden
Jar in the year 1795。 At the same time； Benjamin Franklin；
the most universal genius of America next to Benjamin Thomson
（who after his flight from New Hampshire on account of
his pro…British sympathies became known as Count Rumford）
was devoting his attention to this subject。 He discovered that
lightning and the electric spark were manifestations of the same
electric power and continued his electric studies until the end of
his busy and useful life。 Then came Volta with his famous
‘‘electric pile'' and Galvani and Day and the Danish professor
Hans Christian Oersted and Ampere and Arago and Faraday；
all of them diligent searchers after the true nature of the electric
forces。
They freely gave their discoveries to the world and Samuel
Morse （who like Fulton began his career as an artist） thought
that he could use this new electric current to transmit messages
from one city to another。 He intended to use copper
wire and a little machine which he had invented。 People
laughed at him。 Morse therefore was obliged to finance his
own experiments and soon he had spent all his money and
then he was very poor and people laughed even louder。 He
then asked Congress to help him and a special Committee on
Commerce promised him their support。 But the members of
Congress were not at all interested and Morse had to wait
twelve years before he was given a small congressional appropriation。
He then built a ‘‘telegraph'' between Baltimore and
Washington。 In the year 1887 he had shown his first successful
‘‘telegraph'' in one of the lecture halls of New York
University。 Finally； on the 24th of May of the year 1844 the
first long…distance message was sent from Washington to
Baltimore and to…day the whole world is covered with telegraph
wires and we can send news from Europe to Asia in a few
seconds。 Twenty…three years later Alexander Graham Bell used
the electric current for his telephone。 And half a century
afterwards Marconi improved upon these ideas by inventing a
system of sending messages which did away entirely with the old…
fashioned wires。
While Morse； the New Englander； was working on his
‘‘telegraph；'' Michael Faraday； the Yorkshire…man； had constructed
the first ‘‘dynamo。'' This tiny little machine was completed
in the year 1881 when Europe was still trembling as a
result of the great July revolutions which had so severely upset
the plans of the Congress of Vienna。 The first dynamo grew
and grew and grew and to…day it provides us with heat and
with light （you know the little incandescent bulbs which Edison；
building upon French and English experiments of the forties
and fifties； first made in 1878） and with power for all sorts
of machines。 If I am not mistaken the electric…engine will
soon entirely drive out the ‘‘heat engine'' just as in the olden
days the more highly…organised prehistoric animals drove out
their less efficient neighbours。
Personally （but I know nothing about machinery） this will
make me very happy。 For the electric engine which can be run
by waterpower is a clean and companionable servant of mankind
but the ‘‘heat…engine；'' the marvel of the eighteenth century；
is a noisy and dirty creature for ever filling the world with
ridiculous smoke…stacks and with dust and soot and asking
that it be fed with coal which has to be dug out of mines at
great inconvenience and risk to thousands of people。
And if I were a novelist and not a historian； who must stick
to facts and may not use his imagination； I would describe the
happy day w