From the statement given by Oliver Evans, p. 427, it is certain that he proposed to drive wagons by steam, in the year 1786, and his experiment with the scow, p. 429, shows that it is possible to do so. The writer, and a thousand others now alive, witnessed this gratifying spectacle. From the com mencement of his speculations on the subject of steam, he looked forward to applying it as a moving power to carriages for the transportation of passen gers and merchandize; and he never lost sight of this great object. He only wanted the assistance of a wealthy friend to enable him to succeed; but it was his lot not to find any one, who, while he had the means, had so much confidence in the ultimate success of the project, as to risk his capital in making the experi ment. Had such a bold spirit been found, the state of Pennsylvania would have had the immortal honor of seeing the first trial with steam carriages, and of anticipating the example set to the world by the Brit ish engineers, and which has conferred such high and lasting honor upon them for their success.
In the Steam Engineer's Guide, p. 54, may be seen the proposition to the Philadelphia and Lancaster turnpike company, in Sept. 1804, which is referred to by Evans in p. 429, " to build a steam wagon, which should transport 100 barrels of flour 50 miles in 24 hours;" and gives the calculations and items of ex pense attending its first cost and maintenance, and those of common wagons, five of which, with five horses each, are required to perform the same work. He makes it clear, that the profits of the steam wagon on the journey, would be S or S 52 per day, while that of the wagon is S 3 66 per day; or 318 33 for the whole route; and adds the important considera tion, that the steam wagon would roll and mend the roads, while the horse wagons cut them up. He concludes by observing, " I have no doubt, but that my engines will propel boats against the current of the Mississippi, and wagons on turnpike roads with great profit, and now call upon those whose interest it is, to carry the invention into effect." This call' was unattended to.
From a publication in the Philadelphia Aurora of December 10, 1813, it appears that Mr. Evans made' another proposition on the 8th of the preceding Oc tober (which cannot be found) to " establish a line between Philadelphia and New York, for the trans portation of heavy produce, merchandize, and passen gers, on carriages to be drawn by steam engines, on rail ways, or smooth roads." In this last paper he gives partially the details of the scheme, and concludes thus: " I renew my proposition, viz: as soon as either of these plans shall be adopted, after having made the necessary experiments to prove the principles, and hav ing obtained the necessary legislative protection and patronage, I am willing to take of the stock five hun dred dollars per mile, to the distance of fifty or sixty miles, payable in steam carriages, or steam engines invented by me for the purpose forty years ago; and will warrant them to answer the purpose, to the satis faction of the stockholders: and even to make steam stages to run twelve or fifteen miles per hour, or take back the engines at my own expense, if re quired." This second offer met with the same fate that had attended the first. It is somewhat singular,
and much to be regretted, that at this very time (1813), when such immense sums were expended in• manufacturing, and often by persons totally ignorant of the business, and S1500 were given readily for a pair of merino sheep, that none could be induced to engage with him in prosecuting the business he pro posed, even after he had evinced the probability of success by his first attempt with the scow (see p. 429), through the streets of Philadelphia to the Schuylkill —a success, which, from the British experiments, we have well-grounded reason to believe would cer-• tainly have taken place. Had his valuable life been. prolonged to the present day, when the whole coun- ' try is engaged with rail-road projects, capital in abundance would have been at his offer, and he might have seen several of his predictions verified, to the fullest extent.* In the Franklin Journal, Vol. I, p. 187, is a list of the numerous patents granted in England for steam carriages, all of which were taken out subsequently to the first proposition of Oliver Evans.
The following statements show in part, how well founded the predictions of the ingenious and enthusias tic inventor were. From what has been clone at Bal timore, and Manchester in England, on rail roads, there can be no doubt of the possibility of accom plishing every thing predicted by him.
From the Baltimore ilmerican,of March 21, 1831.
The experiment of the transportation of two hun dred barrels ofjlour, with a single horse, was made on the rail-road on Saturday with the most triumphant success. The flour was deposited in a train of eight cars, and made, together with the cars and the pas sengers who rode on them, an entire load of 30 tons; viz : The train was drawn by one horse from Ellicot's Mills to the relay-house, six and a half miles, in for ty-six minutes. The horse was then changed, and the train having set out, reached the depot on Pratt Street, is sixty-nine minutes—thus accomplishing the thirteen miles in one hour and fifty-five minutes, or at the rate of 6 and three fourths of a mile an hour. The road between the relay-house and the depot is a perfect level, except at the three deep excavations, where an elevation of seventeen to twenty feet per mile, has been resorted to, for the purpose of drainage. The horse, except at the points just alluded to, brought the train along at a moderate trot, and ap parently without any extraordinary labour ; he is not remarkable, and was not selected, for any peculiar powers of draft, and had performed a regular trip outwards on the morning of Saturday. It is, we be lieve, only about a week ago that we noticed the fact of the transportation of seventy-five barrels of flour, by one horse, as a circumstance worthy of remark in comparison with the number of horses required for the conveyance of a load of a few barrels over a turn pike road. The experiment detailed above shows, that on Saturday a single horse drew three times as large a load ; and there is no doubt that horses could be found, who could with the same ease transport a load of three hundred barrels.
The following statement was furnished by a gentle man who kept the time.%