Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-08-12
OF THE NORTH"
History, People and characteristics of Block
Island.
Visited by a Dutch Navigator Six
Years Before the Pilgrims Landed
on Plymouth Rock.
special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

muda of the north" but aside from the
fact that both are islands they are as I'M
like as possible. The roads of Bermuda are
level and hard; those on Block Island are
rude and ankle deep in dust. 1t would be
hard to find anywhere else within the same
area as many hills as break up the surface
of Block Island Where a space big enough
for tennis court or croquet ground is
found it will be learned on inquiry that it
was leveled by human hand. Even the
base ball matches that are played by mines
representing the various hotels have to be
played in a valley, with first and third
bases on opposite hills 1t is a convenient
arrangement for the spectators, but is not
conducive to accuracy on the ball field.
The innocent visitors at first ask why the
field is not made level. He has not learned
that on the island improvement waits on
necessity.
Discovery of the Island.
Apparently nothing is done until it has
to be done. Perhaps the spirit of old Adrian
Biloxi, who discovered the island in 1914,
has descended upon the islanders. Biloxi or
Block, as he was called by the English,
was a Dutch navigator who visited Man
haitian in his vessel, the Tiger, which was
accidentally burned while he was at the
Dutch trading settlement. Thereupon he
built a siXteen-ton yacht and called 1t the
Unrest. In this he sailed along the Connect
icut coast, going up the river as far as
Hartford, and thence along the Massachu-
sets coast as far as Nahant Biloxi on this
trip sailed to the island which afterward
bore his name. However, it had been pre-
viously visited by white men. Verrazzano,
the navigator, wrote in 1924 to King Fran
els | in regard to the island, which he de-
scribed as full of hills and peopled," and
named it Claudia, after the mother of the
king.
All, well. the many hills remain, but the
people have passed away. The Mohegans
and the cruel Manisses struggled for posses
sion of the land. The latter triumphed and
drove the Mohegans over the south cliffs
into the sea. And that was the last of the
Mohegans on Clock Island. They live in
the name given to the bluffs on which the
government light house has been built-a
lava-cOlored cliff descending 200 feet into
the sea.
But the Mansses were conquered in their
turn. Their very cruelty proved their ruin
The murder of Capt. John Oldham, who Wis
tied the island in his vessel in 1886. brought
on such a castgation of the Indians that
the war of the Pequots followed. The Man
Uses as a powerful tribe disappeared Their
towns were burned and their farms harried
and the white man settled on the Island of
Adrian Block.
Incorporated as a Town.
By 1864 the settlers had become numerous
enough to apply for admission into the
colony of Rhode Island, and a temporary
government was authorized. Eight years
later November g. 1879 Block Island was
incorporated as township under the name
of New Shoreham, being the fifth town in
the colony. 1t bears the same name now,
and is part of Newport county. The pop
ulation of the island in 1890 was 1920 The
inhabitants live on fishing, farming and the
summer visitors. There is fishing all the
year, but the winter months are very lean
ones sometimes. winter may pass before
the fisherman of the house has made $40
But he hopes to make three or four hun
dred dollars during the season, which lasts
only during July and August. Living is
cheap, and though the work is hard and the
receipts small, there is never any actual
suffering.
No Poor and No Police.
Poverty is unknown. There is no such
thing as poor house or Jail, and public
opinion is the only policeman. Although
there are saloons, disorder is rare. The
shippers of the fishing vessels will not keep
a man who becomes intoxicated and the
sentence of dismissal is more to be feared
than the courts $50 or ten days" The
people are thrifty and staid. Look over the
town records, and you will find the same
FAMILY names going back for many genera
TONS. The blue blood of the island is to be
found in the Balls. the Dodges. the Roses
the Motifs and the LittlefieIds. Were titles
III use they would be the peers of the realm
Description of the Island,
BLOCK Island is about eight miles long
and from two to five miles wide. 1t is
placed in the sea ten miles southwest of
the Rhode Island shore, watched with ewes
OF hawk by Point Judith, while leagues
south by beacon flames Montauk." The
deScendS n nd
on the north shore while on the south are
precipitous cliffs, giving glorious view of
the sea. 1t is here that the hotels should
be located, considering only the view buf
they would be too far from the steamboat
landings and the bathing beaches to be
generally acceptable. However, some lovers
OF nature have located on the south shore
and are rewarded by a prospect to be sur
passed nowhere on the coast 1t was of
these shores the poet wrote:
beside thy foam-washed shores could forever sit
Ana watch the shadows DER thy surface fit
What SPOT more beautiful than this sea -girt isle
To renew orr strength our cares beguile?
In rGcky shores and picturesque view
BLOCK Island, unsurpassed stands mid the ocean
blue ~
Attractions for Visitors.
The hotels and shops are located on the
north shore, which is in the form of a huge
crescent. About a mile from the leading
hotels is the bathing beach. 1t is rather
desolate spot, but is made gay every morn
ing by hundreds of bathers The surf is
rather mild and the water noticeably clear
ana inviting. There seem to be no sand
bars IN the bay, and when the surf is high
the rollers break near the shore The blue
shores of Rhode Island can be seen in the
distant north, the intervening water being
dotted with sails of yachts.
Blue is the sky and cloudless. The sun is
sometimes scorching at midday, but in the
shade will always be found a breeze The
pleasures of the visitors few and SIM
pie. One can battle, fish, sail, hunt gar
nets by day and stroll along the shore or
dance at night. The hotels all have their
own orchestras. One can go on the little
mail steamer Danielson to Newport, re-
turning the same day; or, take the steamer
Mount Hope, one can go over to Newport,
Narragansett Pier and Providence, or take
half day and drive about the island.
Sundays the little Danielson makes the
circuit of the island. But the chief charm
of the island is in its allurements, to the
sweet do nothing" the contemplative con-
tentment of old Adrian Blocks race.