Hallo,
Steam is all the rage in these modern times and its no different on the waters. Robert Fulton’s one of a kind steamboat, The Clermont, set (un)sail (guffaw!) for the first time two fortnights ago on a foggy Tuesday morn.
Spectators were bewildered to see the 130 foot schooner slice through water with nary a breeze. Some claimed Satan himself commanded the ship and willed it to forward with his powers of sin. But quiet down the rabble, for the true heart of the beast is the never before seen, steam powered engine that sits in the belly of the Clermont.
Despite Fulton’s claims that his engine will revolutionize the shipping industry some are not impressed. Says river man Corning Browne, “I am not impressed.” Many rivermen, loyal to the sail, claimed that if they came upon the steamboat they would hurl bobbycots and mulwats at it in hopes to sink it. “Sail is king and will always be king,” trumpeted Hillman Werchester, local sailboat magnate. Well well well. Looks like there’s a new dandy in town and the old boys club is none to happy about it.
