Among the relics of Robert Fulton in possession of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers at their house in New York City is a manuscript (hitherto unpublished, it is believed), in which in 1859 the only surviving associate of the inventor recorded his recollections. These simple and obviously honest reminiscences from the hand of a plain man become of interest, however deficient in literary art. He was J. B. Calhoun of Brooklyn, and told his story thus: “In 1807 Mr. Fulton’s first boat, the _North River_, of Clermont, commenced running on the Hudson River to Albany. Between 1809 and 1811, he had two more, the _Car of Neptune_ and the _Paragon_. Each steamer had two masts—on the foremast was a square sail, two topsails, and a jib. On the mainmast was a spanker and topsail. The foremast had at the heel trunnions by which the mast could be lowered when the wind was ahead. When the wind was fair, all hands, passengers too, were called to raise the mast and set sail. These steamers had high or poop decks some four feet above the main deck; the entrance to the cabin was by the old-fashioned ship companionway—not a house on deck. These steamers, being on the bottom as flat as a house floor, each had two heavy side lee boards, to prevent making leeway when sail was set. In those days neither the pilot nor engineer had an assistant, nor the captain any clerk. In leaving New York at five, the pilot would take the wheel until supper; after supper he would again take the wheel and keep it till next morning; he had no fine pilot-house, not even an awning to protect him from the hot sun nor the most severe weather. When coming to landings, instead of a bell to ring, the pilot blew a tin horn some five feet long; the bell was used only for meal times.... Mr. Fulton had at North Point, Jersey City, four large shops, and a dry-dock some 200 feet long, 36 feet wide, and 16 feet deep to repair his boats in; the first dry-dock in this country. In those days such a thing as a cut-off, a throttle-valve, or an eccentric was not known by the engineer. To make the trip to Albany took from twenty-six to thirty hours, burning in that time about thirty cords of firewood. None of Mr. Fulton’s steamers made the trip in less than twenty-five hours. In 1813 Mr. Louis Rhoda, Mr. Fulton’s chief engineer, was killed on the trial trip of the ferry-steamboat on the East River, the _Nassau_, by being caught in the engine when in motion. He had his entire right shoulder taken from his body by the crank. Mr. Rhoda was the first engineer killed in this country.” Then follows a paragraph descriptive of Fulton’s personal appearance and manners. The sketch adds: