The "ruin" at the south end of the island is
barely visible from the steamer, hidden as it is by foliage, but it is
distinctly seen by _New York Central_ travelers in the winter season.
Colonel Cruger has spared no expense in the adornment of his grounds,
and a beautiful drive is afforded the visitor. The island is connected
by a roadway across a tongue of land which separates the North from
the South Bay. Above this island east of the steamer's channel across
the railway of the _New York Central_, we see a historic bit of water
known as--
=The North Bay.= It was here that Robert Fulton developed his
steamboat invention, receiving pecuniary aid from Chancellor
Livingston, and it is fitting to give at this place a concise account
of
=Steam Navigation=, which after many attempts and failures on both
sides of the Atlantic was at last crowned with success on the Hudson.
=John Fitch= first entertained his idea of a steamboat in 1785, and
sent to the general assembly of the State of Pennsylvania a model in
1786. New Jersey and Delaware in 1787, gave him exclusive right to
navigate their waters for fourteen years, which, however, was never
undertaken.
Pages:
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271