00:23Hello again, Peabody here.
00:26Shall I set the wayback machine, Mr. Peabody?
00:28Please do, Sherman, for the year 187.
00:30And the place?
00:31New York Harbor and the banks of the Hudson River where we'll meet Robert Fulton.
00:36In the flash of an eye, Sherman and I were transported to the end of a long pier.
00:40In front of us was Fulton's so-called folly, the steamboat Claremont.
00:44Oddly enough, she wore a for-sale sign.
00:47Either of you interested in purchasing a boat?
00:51No, thank you, Mr. Fulton.
00:53She's very yarr. Make a nice gift for the folks back home.
00:56Uh, why is the Claremont up for sail?
01:00The race!
01:01Today's the day I'm supposed to race against Robert E. Leach's clipper ship.
01:06That's her over there at the starting line.
01:08And that's Leach leering over at us.
01:12He's the meanest skipper afloat.
01:14Only way I can prove that steamboats are faster than sailing vessels is to beat him in a race.
01:20Why doesn't Mr. Leach believe in steam power?
01:22He owns a sail factory.
01:25Oh.
01:26Then race against him and beat him.
01:28You can't.
01:29Why not?
01:30On account of every time I get out on the water, I get seasick.
01:34Can't you take pills?
01:36Pills you have to swallow with water.
01:38And I get ill just looking at a glass.
01:41I'll bet Mr. Peabody could help you.
01:43What can you do, Mr. Peabody?
01:46Practically anything, Mr. Fulton.
01:48We boarded the Claremont and cast off from shore.
01:51And just in time, too, for the signal was given.
01:53And the race was on.
01:55The clipper was a speedy craft, but no match for the Claremont.
01:57And we quickly forged into the lead.
02:00Sherman and I were behind the wheel.
02:02As for Fulton, he wasn't in the least bit seasick.
02:04Mainly because I had decorated his cabin walls with a mural.
02:08The Arizona desert.
02:09A man could never get seasick out there.
02:12This sure is exciting, Mr. Peabody.
02:14By the way, how high is our steam pressure?
02:17300 pounds, Mr. Peabody.
02:19Whoops, I mean zero.
02:21What?
02:22Something must be wrong.
02:23We're slowing down.
02:24A quick investigation of the boiler room showed that our engine crew had deserted.
02:28Look out the porthole.
02:30Ah, so Mr. Leach is behind this.
02:32Ha ha ha ha.
02:34That Claremont is moving so slow, you'd think it was a hotel.
02:39Shall we give him the secret weapon, Captain?
02:41Not yet.
02:42We may need it later.
02:45How much pressure is there now, Sherman?
02:46200 pounds and she's climbing fast.
02:49Excellent.
02:50At this rate, we'll catch Leach in no time.
02:52Well, golly, without a crew, who's firing the boiler?
02:55Go and see.
02:57Sherman was amazed to find Robert Fulton visibly shoveling coal.
03:01You see, I had painted the engine room to look like the North Pole and told him he'd freeze if
03:05he didn't keep the fire going.
03:06It wasn't long before we were narrowing the gap between ourselves and the clipper.
03:12It grieves me sorely to report this, Captain, but you know that steamboat behind us?
03:16Yes.
03:17It is now in front of us.
03:19What?
03:20Quick, lighten the ship.
03:22Throw all the excess baggage overboard.
03:27We've tossed everything over the side, Captain, but we're still not making any headway.
03:30Then the ship must be made lighter.
03:33How much do you weigh, Fortescue?
03:36185, Captain.
03:37Well, give my regards to Broadway.
03:41On the looks of it, Sherman, Mr. Leach is approaching his wits' end.
03:45And we're pulling away from him every second.
03:47Think they have me beaten, eh?
03:49Ha, ha, ha.
03:50Well, I still have my secret weapon.
03:53Well, that's not fair, Mr. Peabody.
03:55Robert E. Leach must have 100 men rowing for him.
03:59Yes, and they're using the Harvard Stroke, I believe.
04:02Oh, well, Sherman, to misquote an old adage,
04:05where there's fire, there's smoke.
04:08So saying, I took a large container of black ink,
04:10poured it down the Claremont's smokestack,
04:12and moments later we were discharging a dense smoke screen.
04:15Needless to say, our adversary's vision was thoroughly impaired.
04:18So much so, they ran aground.
04:21The Claremont was an easy victor.
04:23You may stop shoveling, Mr. Fulton.
04:25The race is over.
04:27You've won.
04:28I can't stop.
04:30You know how long these winters are up here.
04:34Our job completed.
04:36Sherman and I stood on a pier
04:37as the Claremont proudly steamed her way back down the Hudson.
04:40It would have been just awful
04:41if Robert E. Leach had won the race, wouldn't it?
04:44Yes, but at least we have one thing to thank him for.
04:46What's that?
04:47The term paddle wheel.
04:50Appropriate punishment, don't you think?
04:51The End
04:54.
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