Perth Amboy evening news., 1907-01-04
3 HUNDRED
YEARS AGO.

~
NORFOLK, Jan. 3:-Three hun
dred years ago, or on December 10,
1907, Captain Christopher Newport
sailed from England with a leet OF
three vessels, the Discovery" God
speed" and the Susan Constant
and with 105 ~colonists aboard. Their
objective point was the Island Of Roa-
noke, where Sir Walter Raleigh had
made a vain attempt to found a per-
manent English settlement some
twenty-odd years before. A Cape
Hatteras storm, however, drove them
northward, and the first land they
deserted was a point extending from
the coast of Virginia, and to this they
gave the name Cape Henry" and
to the opposite point the name Cape
Char.es." both m being given in
honor of the kings sons.
At Cape Henry at party of thirty
of the colonists went ashore and re-
ceived an unexpected lesson in eau
tion, in consequence of the assault
of five Indians who crept upon them
from the hills, the first OF a long
series of conflicts in the struggle for
the survival of the fittets. Two mem
hers of the party were wounded by
the arrows of the Indians, who were
driven off by the terrible mnskets.
which were new implements OF war
to the savages. t, .Fn
They dropped anchor for seyera!
days at Old Point Comfort, and thea
proceeded up the river, to which they
gave the name James" for a dis
lance of forty miles, where they
landed on a peninsula projecting from
the northern shore of the river, which
at that place is about four miles wide.
The settlement they founded there
they called Jamestown in honor
Of their fling. J.s.rm, qst
After three hundred years of sue
cess, followed by failure and neglect,
little is left of this first English set
Element in the new world but an ivy
covered church tower, a few graves
and the resurrected foundations OF
some of the old buildings. Even the
peninsula itself has been cast away.
from the mainland and become an
island, which the waters of The
mighty river are fast carrying to The
sea.
notwithstanding the ruin and desc
lation of the centuries, the idea which
jamestown represented was of such
Importance in the history of the
world and the outgrowth from this
first settlement has been SO great
that the world at last realizes the
magnitude of the event and has set
about the proper celebration of the
occurrence.
On December 10, 1906, at the Ho-
tel Savoy, in London, England, Il
grand dinner was given in commemo-
ration of the three hundredth anni-
versary of thes ailing of the little
fleet, and many distinguished citizens
Of England and America were pres
emit. The American charge d'affairs
presided, and among those present
were Lord Curzon, late viceroy of
India; Earl Roberts, Sir Hiram
Maxim, Lord High Chancellor Lore
burn, General Baden-Powen. Admiral
Rolfe, and many others. Admiral
Rolfe is a lineal descendant of .Poca-
hontas by her marriage with John
Rolfe, one of the early settlers OF
jamestown. General Baden-Powell
Is a descendant of Captain John
Smith, and the presence of the adj
miral and the general added much to
the interest of the celebration. The
English enthusiasm over the APP
preaching ter-centennial celebration
on Hampton Roads, Virginia, is sec
ond only to that of America and the
dinner at the Savoy developed the
fact that the people of England re-
gard the celebration as being one in
which they have a right to p%artici-
pate, and that they expect to- ldoSsos
The fact was also developed, as III
has been many times in the past, that
the English and Americans are very
closely related in blood as well as in
language and idea. AHat
This celebration in London but
serves as a beginning to that magnifi-
cent affair, the jamestown exposition,
which opens April 26 and continues
for seven months. The London celc-l
bration marked the beginning Of the
voyage; the jamestown exposition
marks the ending OF 1t and the 1cul-l
mination to the present time. With
in a few miles of Cape Henry. their
first landing place; of Old Point Com
fort, their first anchorage, and of Old
jamestown. their first settlements the
jamestown exposition affords most
advantageous opportunities to the
visitor, English. American, or from
wherever, to visit these and many
other historical scenes The great
industrial exhibits from all lands, the
arts and craft, the exhibits by ma
tional and state governments, the
beautiful grounds and buildings, the
War Path" the military and naval
displays will all be on a scale of per-
lection far beyond comparison in
point of excellence, and the one who
omits from his plans for next summer