In their early career the Americans were likewise much in advance, as we have seen, of Great Britain in the model and speed of their river steamers, a superiority they still maintain. Indeed, the competition on their rivers, especially on the Hudson, was then much greater than it is even now. This strong rivalry made speed of the utmost importance, as the boat which performed the trip between New York and Albany in the shortest time, if only by half an hour (the Americans not concerning themselves about the chance of an explosion), would be sure to take all the passengers. Hence every expedient ingenuity could devise was resorted to for this object, and to the skill and perseverance of Mr. Robert L. Stevens the Americans are greatly indebted for the perfection to which the models of their river boats have advanced. These boats were built on the finest models; their entrance and runs sharper than had ever been before attempted; besides this, he had several of the earlier ones sawn in two and their length increased 25 or 30 feet, at the same time carrying a false bow from 18 to 20 feet beyond the stem, and forming true lines with the planking of the boat. This experiment fully answered his expectations; their speed was surprisingly increased, and, when running at the rate of 18 miles an hour, “they hardly raised a feather in front.” But, in 1834, another American shipbuilder constructed a steamer 185 feet long and 20 feet beam, with solid ends sharper than any of the false bows, having a flat floor and a single-cylinder engine of 52-inch diameter and 10-feet stroke, which was pronounced to be “_the fastest thing afloat_:” indeed, to such perfection have these steamers been brought that they now traverse rivers once thought to be altogether unnavigable. The first attempt to reach the falls of the Ohio from New Orleans was considered so visionary that the projector was looked upon as little better than a madman, but steamers are now engaged in regular traffic wherever the bars are covered with 12 or 15 inches of water, American genius, skill, and perseverance having triumphed over almost every impediment. [Sidenote: Peculiarity of construction.]