The 1878 Paris Exposition

In August of 1878 dignitaries from all over the world flocked to the Paris Exposition.Visitors numbered in the millions. On the River Seine, near the exhibition grounds, Paul Boyton entertained on his steam yacht, the Paul Boyton. Paul acquired, or possibly rented, the yacht in anticipation of a trip to India, China, and Japan. Paul was now 30, still an eligible bachelor. He took his distinguished visitors on pleasant excursions up and down the Seine.

Quiet and self-possessed, he impressed visitors with his stalwart demeanor. Paul invited the press to a champagne breakfast. Crowds converged on the shore to watch his demonstrations of the Merriman suit. In two minutes he was suited up and heading to the edge of the boat. He looked like an Arctic explorer with the two-sided paddle on his shoulder. He inflated only the head of the suit before slipping into the water. Once in the water, he completed inflating the suit using tubes to inflate the air pockets on his chest and legs.

Once in the water, he showed the crowd his little boat, from which he produced a bottle of wine and wine glass. He set off carrier pigeons and then built a raft from floating planks. He set up a table, lit a fire, caught a fish, cleaned and scaled it, cooked it and ate it. Floating half upright in the water, he served himself some wine. He then smoked a cigar, and with the tip of the cigar lit a few rockets and sent them skyward.

An important visitor to the yacht was the leader of the attempted revolution in Peru, Nicolás de Piérola, now 39 and in exile. He and Paul spent considerable time talking in private. They shared a common interest in torpedos and they sailed to isolated places on the river to engage in experimentation. Before they separated Piérola assured Paul that if he ever regained his position in Peru, he would remember their times aboard the Paul Boyton and their torpedo experiments.

Resources:
Boyton, Paul. 1892. The story of Paul Boyton: voyages on all the great rivers of the world, paddling over twenty-five thousand miles in a rubber dress. Milwaukee: Riverside. 1892 358 pp.

New York Times, 9/23/1878.