The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1909-07-04

HENRY HUDSON AND THE EALF MOON.
possible this year to combine two an
niversaries, the tercentenary of the
discovery of the Hudson and the cen
tenary of the beginning of steam navi-
CATION on the same river. 1t was in
1907 that Robert Fulton built the Cler-
mont and sent her on her momentous
voyage up the Hudson river to Alba
ny, but it was not until two years later
that steam navigation of the river
through enactments of the New York
state legislature was fully establish
ed, so it was thought to be appropri-
ate to combine the celebrations in hon
or of the two anniversaries and call
the Joint affair the Hudson-Fulton eel
ebration. In this way equal honors
are to be paid to the daring navigator
of the seventeenth century and to the
courageous and persistent inventor
whose achievements fifty usbered in
the nineteenth century, an era remark
able above all else perhaps for the
number and Importance Of its discov-
cries and improvements in the field of
science and invention.
There is, of course, abundant in
formation about Robert Fulton and
his career and achievements. But of
Hudson we know comparatively little.
His entry to and voyage up the Hud-
son were between Sept. 2 and Oct 4,
1909. and the commemoration which
has been arranged will cover the two
weeks from Sept. p to Oct. 8,
England was Hudson's native coun-
try. and his name is properly spelled
Henry, not Hendrick He was cit
izen of London and probably was born
in that city or its immediate vicinity,
but we do not know the exact year.
Neither do we know tie, exact place
and date of his death.
He appears for the first time in his
tory on April 10, 1907, in the little
church of St. Ethelburga, in London,
partaking of holy communion prior to
embarkation on his first recorded voy-
age. He disappears from view in the
Hudson bay, when his mutinous crew
set him and a few comrades adrift to
face the terrors of an unknown fate.
His career as a discoverer was begun
under the auspices of his own nation.
The voyage which resulted in the dis
covery of the Hudson was under the
AUSPICES of the Dutch, who were then
the yankees of Europe" a nation
most powerful and progressive. The
subordinate position which the Dutch
occupy today was not their position
300 years ago In 1909 the Dutch re-
public was as populous as England
and more wealthy. 1t was the manu-
featuring and commercial center of
Europe, and Amsterdam, the port from
which Hudson sailed in 1909 was the
leading port of the world.
Hudson's first, second and fourth voy
ages were under English auspices.
The third in the course of which he
made the exploration of the Hudson
| which gained him the title of its dis
eoverer, was under the auspices OF the
| Dutch East India company and was
undertaken with view to finding a
| passage around or through the Ameri-
can. continent to the East Indies. 1t
was this company which fitted out bis
ship, De Halve Maene. or the Half
Moon, and all exact reproduction Of
his vessel has been built by the peo-
pie of Holland and will be sent over
| to sail up the river in the autumn. just
as Hudson did in the original 200
years ago. The voyage Of the Cler-
mont win also be reproduced. and a
/ replica of F'ulton's steamboat has been