The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1907-05-08
THE LONG AGO.
Some Reflections On the First
Settlement at Jamestown.
THE NATION GROWS.

THE NATION GROWS.
The Greatest Exposition and the Les
sons 1t Will Teach and the Lessons
It should Have Taught Instead.
Our People Should Be Taught
The Arts Of Peace and Not OF
War.
Three hundred years ago, says the
American Farmer, counting from
the 18th of this month Of May, sew,
eral boatloads Of Englishmen rowed
up the James river, landed at spot
some thirty miles above the present
city Of Norfolk, Va, and established
what proved to be a pei .nanent col
ony. That was the beginning OF the
United States. While men had pre-
viously visited parts of the coast ana
tsrried awhile. but until the httle
party stopped at jamestown W. Mas ;
there g settlement that aoloe'1: 1ne
outlook was dreary and the naro- :
shins GREAT for many years after the
landing. King Powhatan, with MS
n,erl;te indians, controlled all that
section of the country, and resented
The intrusion of the Pale Faces.
Wars and massacres were numerous.
The little colony was often on the
brink of starvation. and would sure
lyhave been exterminated but for the
occasional arrival Of recruits from
Europe. Hunger forced them to
utilize as food certain plants and
fruits which they found growing
wild, but with whose properties they
were hitherto unacqualnted. Ihey
learned from the Indians that a tu-
Der which produced a purple flower
after running its roots in the ground,
was Of an edible nature, and though
q rather poor and scrawny affair,
was better than nothing to allay the
pangs Of hunger. They dug it up,
planted it in their gardens and IN
time greatly improved its quality.
This was the first cultivation Of the
potato in North America. Another
important discovery was made des-
tined to exercise q potential influence
in the agricultural world and con.
tribute enormously to the wealth Of
nations. An aromatic shrub, grow
ing wild in the savannahs and
swamps aronnd the Chickahominy,
was plucked by the Indians, dried IN
the sun and used to make smoke IN
pipes. The settlers observing this,
gathered, replanted and cultivated
what in time became the celebrated
tobacco Of commerce.
Thus it will be seen that American
agriculture had it's beginning here,
an infant industry, indeed, but one
which in course of years was to re-
suit in something tc amaze the civil
lied world. Four years after the
first arrivals stepped ashore a ship
load of cattle was sent over from
England, and this was the germ Of
live srock industry Of the United
States. They were not the fine cat
tie we see now, only the common
scrub cattle Of Europe, which were
the best the world then afforded,
but poor and scrawny as they were
they proved a blessing to the infant
settlement on the James. By degrees
the Indians were conquered or beat
en- back, and the colonists were able
to spread out their farms as far
back as the falls Of the great river,
but fully century elapsed before
white men were able to cross the Al
leghanies and find lodgment on
streams that flowed to the west.
Much history has been enacted since
the fateful arrival Of the three boat
loads of men. Revolutions, wars,
rebellions, the making and overthrow
Of governments. in fact the most
marvellous achievements Of the hu-
man race occurred between the da-
tes Of May 13, 1907, and May l3,
1907. when this number Of the Amer
lean Farmer goes out to tell about
it. Three centuries is not a long
time in the life Of a world, merely a
span when measured with eternity,
but no similar space Of time has been
fraught with events of such lmpor-
tance to the human race,
And now a great exposition IS IN
progress to emphasize and celebrate
what has occurred during this mem
orable interval. One would think
that it would be devoted to showing
what had been done for the educa-
ton and uplifting of man, what for
his comfort and happiness, what ad-
vance had been made in the arts of
peace, and especially the growth and
development Of agriculture. On the
contrary, we learn that the "enti,-
ing splendors of war; have been
placed to the fore, magnifed beyond
all measure. The original appropri-
alton Of 100000 for the whole show
has been almost equaled by the out
lay upon the military part Of the ex-
position alone. Even the memories
Of the civil war, something better to
be forgotten, are to be freshened
by q spectacle Of one Of its most
tragical battles simply to attract and
and anuse a crowd Of careless spec
tators. Guns and gunboats are CIV
en- primacy as the exponents in
these three hundred years. What
would the founders Of the Republic
say to this amazing program? Do
we not know well, have we not their
solemn word, that it is treason to all