Part 11 (2/2)

Bob did not like to miss the fun of his Fourth of July. He went to work to make something like rockets or Roman candles. It was a very dan-ger-ous business for a boy.

”What are you doing, Bob?” some one asked him.

”The city does not want us to burn our candles on the Fourth,” he said. ”I am going to shoot mine into the air.”

[Ill.u.s.tration]

He used to go fis.h.i.+ng with a boy named Chris Gumpf. The father of Chris went with them. They fished from a flat boat. The two boys had to push the boat to the fis.h.i.+ng place with poles.

”I am tired of poling that boat,” said Robert to Chris one day when they came home.

So he set to work to think out a plan to move the boat in an easier way than by poles. He whittled out the model of a tiny paddle wheel.

Then he went to work with Chris Gumpf, and they made a larger paddle wheel. This they set up in the fis.h.i.+ng boat. The wheel was turned by the boys with a crank. They did not use the poles any more.

THE FIRST STEAMBOAT.

The first good steam-boat was built in New York. She was built by Robert Fulton. Her name was ”Clermont.” When the people saw her, they laughed. They said that such a boat would never go. For thousands of years boat-men had made their boats go by using sails and oars. People had never seen any such boat as this. It seemed foolish to believe that a boat could be pushed along by steam.

The time came for Fulton to start his boat. A crowd of people were standing on the sh.o.r.e. The black smoke was coming out of the smoke-stack. The people were laughing at the boat. They were sure that it would not go. At last the boat's wheels began to turn round. Then the boat began to move. There were no oars. There were no sails. But still the boat kept moving. Faster and faster she went. All the people now saw that she could go by steam. They did not laugh any more. They began to cheer.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Seeing the First Steam boat]

The little steam-boat ran up to Al-ba-ny. The people who lived on the river did not know what to make of it. They had never heard of a steam-boat. They could not see what made the boat go.

There were many sailing vessels on the river. Fulton's boat pa.s.sed some of these in the night. The sailors were afraid when they saw the fire and smoke. The sound of the steam seemed dreadful to them.

Some of them went down-stairs in their s.h.i.+ps for fear. Some of them went ash.o.r.e. Perhaps they thought it was a living animal that would eat them up.

But soon there were steam-boats on all the large rivers.

WAs.h.i.+NGTON IRVING AS A BOY.

The Revolution was about over. Americans were very happy. Their country was to be free.

At this time a little boy was born in New York. His family was named Ir-ving. What should this little boy be named?

His mother said, ”Was.h.i.+ngton's work is done. Let us name the baby Was.h.i.+ngton.” So he was called Was.h.i.+ngton Ir-ving.

When this baby grew to be a little boy, he was one day walking with his nurse. The nurse was a Scotch girl. She saw General Was.h.i.+ngton go into a shop. She led the little boy into the shop also.

The nurse said to General Was.h.i.+ngton, ”Please, your Honor, here is a bairn that is named for you.”

”Bairn” is a Scotch word for child. Was.h.i.+ngton put his hand on the little boy's head and gave him his blessing. When Irving became an author, he wrote a life of Was.h.i.+ngton.

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