236 THE MODERN STEAM-ENGINE.
Dr. John Ewing, Provost of the University of Pennsyl-
vania, who, August 20, 1785, addressed a commendatory
letter to an ex-Member of Congress, William C. Houston,
asking him to assist Fitch in securing the aid of the General
Government. The latter referred the inventor, by a letter
of recommendation, to a delegate from New Jersey, Mr.
Lambert Cadwalader. With this, and other letters, Fitch
proceeded to New York, where Congress then met, and
made his application in proper form. He was unsuccess-
ful, and equally so in attempting to secure aid from the
Spanish minister, who desired that the profits should be
secured, by a monopoly of the invention, to the King of
Spain. Fitch declined further negotiation, determined
that, if successful at all, the benefit should accrue to his
own countrymen.
In September, 1785, Fitch presented to the American Philosophical Society, at Philadelphia, a model in which he had substituted an endless chain and floats for the paddle- wheels, with drawings and a descriptive account of his scheme. This model is shown in the accompanying figure.
FIG. 67. Fitch's Model, 1785.
In March, 1786, Fitch was granted a patent by the State of New Jersey, for the exclusive right to the naviga- tion of the waters of the State by steam, for 14 years. A month later, he was in Philadelphia, seeking a similar patent from the State of Pennsylvania. He did not at once succeed, but in a few days he had formed a company, raised $300, and set about finding a place in which to construct his engine. Henry Voight, a Dutch watchmaker, a good mechanic, and a very ingenious man, took an interest in the
