Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-07-23

ism OF their QuOnudm oNAela' Al Jul i''i
words 1 would tell the bravery OF mos
who have parted with them. what wa
the courage Of the Light Brigade IN com
parison TO those who have surlehueIc'
! these enamelIed souvenirs? What was
the glory Of the Rough Riders, HEADED
bv Teddy Roosevelt, and his good, soun'
teeth. compared to the thousands Wh'
/ left with the dentist this bushel OF con
| ceutratcd pain? o, that these lips nae
! language 10 detail the sunerings whlci
| followed in the wake of those uprooteo
| molars-those forkcd tongues of fire
| those ivory tripods!
When the "six hundred" rode into the
/ laws Of death they knew that glory OF
| The grave awaited them; that poets were
/ kept I'm soak 10 perpetuate their Names
/ that there was some remote posSlDillty
I however shght-Of escape; mat utatH
I sometimes comes without suneflng' th"t
Inc victory was worth striving for. But
not so with the tootlless heroes VINO sur
rendered TO that dentist; not so with those
in whose jaws this remorseless PIacu-
toner rode with tWeezers OF Steel i ~
tbem there was no glory; for them there
WIS no escape from suffering. Agony was
guaranteed from the start; agony was
ramDaut at the finish. None could es-
cane il: none could even hope to escape
it, Money could not lessen their sulef-
ings; ambition could not check IT. prlde
c,uId not lessen IL. Here, indeed, my
countrvmen, was bravery. Here. in sooth,
was fortitude; here, above all other places,
was heroism. Yet who, besides myself
has the sentiment TO pause before these
teeth and hand over the laurel wreath
TO those who have SO brayely won IL!
Who, 1 say again, has paused to pay
tribute to these unknown thousands? Who
has dropped q tear i'm memory OF thelr
sufferngs? o, the gross, unspeakable IN
Justice of it all. There, there, nght be-
fore these teeth the busy world goes on
rushing. crushing, pushing, grindlns'
hustling. busting, scurlying. Whiriing'
and grasping, but never a one save my
humble self has stopped to think OF the
sight before him. is there no pity. no
sympathy, no appreciation of courage, In
this ungrateful land? VIII not some ono
at least write over those teeth, Con
densed San Juan Grit" or Waterloo
Pluck" or Gettysburg Heroism,' or
Manila Nerve" or something when
gives due credit TO the hosts who have
lived and suffered and been brave?
It seems to me that historians are the
most unselGsh people i'm the world. They
dig and dclv0 and search among mJsty
books Tor facts which, when once obtain
ed. are very quickly appropriated by the
public. who utilize them without once
thinking of giving due credit 20 the men
who brought them TO light. ] have be-
fore me now "a beauufully-printed little
pamphlet entitled, Some Notes on the
First Recorded Visit OF White Men 10
the Site of the Present city OF Rich
.fY
Gently read at q meeting of the Society
for the Preservation of Virginia Antqui-
ties by Robert Lee TraylOr Esq, tho
author II is well and carefully written,
and withal so fresh and interesting and
valuable that, like the selfish folks TO
whom i have alluded, j cannot refrain /
from purlOning some OF the valuable /
facts fl contains. Long years ago, be- |
fore eXpectorating ordinances harassed /
tne citizens of this section, and in the /
days when gnats. woodland ucks, ana /
russell Indians rcigncd supreme IN this /
a party OF white men came up /
to the present site Of this municipality. !
At that time the voting population was |
and visitors We're not in- /
commOded by signs requesting them 10 /
keen off the Grass" or TO take the /
street cars only al the farther ends Of the /
street crossings. The pioneers were cap
tain Christopher Newport with i've gem
.lemen-GeOree Percy ESQ Captain
Gabriel Archer, Captain John smith, Mr..
Iohn Brooks and Or. Thomas Wotton-
our mariners Francis Nelson, John Col
son. Robert Tindall. and Mathew Fitch
md fourteen sailors-IOnas Poole, Robert
Markham, John Cr0okdeck, Oliver
Browne. Benjamin White, Rich. Geno-
way. Tho. Tumbridge, Tho Godward,
D.
skinner. Jeremy Deale, stephen, anu
Daniel They reached this locality on
saturday and Sunday, May p and -, 1914.
This party came I'm pursuance of certain
riders and directions conceived ana set
iown the tenth day Of December, 1906,
,v his NaieStips Counsel for Virginia"
md appear 10 have been Well equipped
With the wherewithal to make such
excursions agreeable. Several
members of the little band have left
behind quaint records of the trip, but
heir orthography plainly indicates that
hey never captured any prizes at The
spelling bees.
1t would entertain my readers, ! be-
eve for me 20 quote bodily from some
# the facts Mr. Traylor has so carefully
arnered, but 1 am compelled merely 10
0py the illusions TO King PoWhatan,
he father Of Pocahontas. the well-known
ociety belle Of that period. Ii is with
egret that l am constrained 10 picture
his stately forest monarch as drinking
eer Captain Archer gives an interesting
ccOunt OF the journey and of the Abort
ines who swarmed the banks of the
ames TO see the white men. When the
arty had very nearly reached what is
ow Richmond they appear 10 have en-
1untered POWhatan and his tribe. Here