There have been launched two Iron Vessels in my service since Sept. 1st: one is a canal boat for this [i.e., Birmingham] navigation, the other a barge of 40 tons for the River Severn. The last was floated on Monday and is, I expect, at Stourport with a loading of bar iron. My clerk at Broseley advises me that she swims remarkably light and exceeds my expectations.[16] [16] _Ibid._, 3. Band. S. 227. In 1788 William Symington built and ran a steam-operated boat on Dalswinton Loch in Scotland, which was a small, light craft with two hulls, made of tinned sheet-iron plates.[17] It has been erroneously claimed that this was the first iron boat. It was at best the second. Although of no commercial importance, it is of very great historical interest as it antedated Fulton’s “Clermont” by many years. [17] Autobiography of James Nasmyth, p. 30. London, 1883. Twenty-three years later, in 1810, Onions & Son of Broseley built the next iron boats, also for use upon the Severn. Five years later Mr. Jervons of Liverpool built a small iron boat for use on the Mersey. In 1821 an iron vessel was built at the Horsley works in Staffordshire, which sailed from London to Havre and went up the Seine to Paris.[18] Iron vessels were built from time to time after that, but it was fully twenty-five years before they came into general use. [18] Smiles: “Men of Invention and Industry,” pp. 51-52. New York, 1885. [Illustration: FIGURE 6. JOHN WILKINSON] [Illustration: FIGURE 7. WILKINSON’S BORING MACHINE USED FOR MACHINING THE CYLINDERS OF WATT ENGINES] With Abraham Darby, 3d, Wilkinson has the honor of having built, in 1779, the first iron bridge, which spanned the Severn at Broseley. This bridge had a span of 100 feet 6 inches, and a clear height of 48 feet, and is standing today as good as ever.[19] He invented also the method of making continuous lead pipe. [19] Smiles: “Industrial Biography,” p. 119. Boston, 1864. Also, _Beiträge_, etc., 3. Band. S. 226. He was a man of great ability, strong and masterful. Boulton wrote of him to Watt: I can’t say but that I admire John Wilkinson for his decisive, clear, and distinct character, which is, I think, a first-rate one of its kind.[20] [20] Smiles: “Boulton & Watt,” p. 438. London, 1904. There is a note of qualification in the last clause. With all his admirable qualities Wilkinson was not always amiable and he was in constant feud with the other members of his family. He became very wealthy, but his large estate was dissipated in a famous lawsuit between his heirs.