The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1918-02-12
HUDSON BAY.

Christian Science Monitor: There is
2 ring of UNCONSCIOUS irony in the ques
.ion now being formulated between the
nationse interested: Is Hudson Bay on
inland sea. or am ocean open free as
The day to all? For centuries the bravest
IF brave mariners sought to penetrate
the bergs and floes which jealousy
guard the portals of these mighty Ca
madam waters only to be beaten back
without securing a glimpse of their
silent wastes.
The romance of this cold and for.
bidding spot ON the threshold of the
Arctic regions antedates, by many dec.
1des, the coming Of the governors
and adventures Of England" who have
filled the annals Of the north with
Iliads of heroic story under the more
modern appelaton Of the Hudson Bay
Company. On Ruysch's quaint map in
the "Ptolemy," of 1908, there is recorded
I legend which shows that men had
already penetrated the strait at the
northeast entrance. Here the surging
sea commences says the curious
chronicle. here ships compasses lose
their properties" Ruysch had evident
y sailed with John Cabot on his second
voyage, in 1898, and penetrated what
is now termed Hudson Strait. Thereby
hands a tale which has never alto
gether had its reliable teller. That
doughty sea rover, John Cabot, set sail
i'm 1898 with five ships and with every
thing needed for the complete eXploi
tation of a new country. But he had
not been gone many days before one
Of his ships returned to England with
| the report that the fleet had beer
| forced, by n severe storm. to make for
| land somewhere off ireland. From this
| point begins the decided difference Of
| opinion among the contemporary re
corders. BY some it is claimed that
| Cabot and his entire crews were lost
and that the discoveries must be at
| tributed to his son, Sebastian. But the
evidence appears to be conclusive that
| John returned to England in the autumn
of the same year, that he had SAILED
direct to Greenland, and. that, after ey
ploring the east and west shores. he haC
headed south along the American coast
1t is often claimed that Cabot actually
discovered the bay in 1917, but tn,
! honor must 20 to Henry Hudson in liel
Of more definite information.
| However. the maps published ahou
| $40 began to show, in an indelint,
way an ocean north of the known land
Michael Loli's map in Hakluyt!
Divers oyages' of 1882, was ever
more explicit 1t showed a long inlanC
reach Of sea extending to the south
west, but the world had to wait many
: years ere the heroic Hudson, in 1910
/ boldly worked his way into the bay anC
ended the era Of conjecture once anC
for all. He sailed his ship as far a
the southernmost opening, known a
James Bay, where, on Nov. 10, his Vesse
was frozen in, and where he was com
PEELED to winter. In the following Jun,
he set sail for home, but a mutn,
broke out among his men, who not onl,
took command but put him and tw,
others, together with five incapacitate,
men, adrft in a boat and abandonet
them. SO closed the career Of the navI
gator Of the great bay which bear
his name, a name, indeed, written large
on the map Of the North American
continent than from any other
The curtain Of discovery does not ris
again on the bay until more than hal
a century later, and it is to the Ney
France Of Quebec and the overland rout
that one must now turn. Enterprisinl
men in Champlain's colony on the 81
Lawrence began to reach out west ant
north in their trading expeditions. Tn
priest so often preceded the trader
that it is not surprising to find that
certain Father Albanel was selected t
go overland to the bay in the yea
1872. Two years before, the Engls
king had granted the memorable chai
ter of the Hudson's Bay Company, an
it was the report, brought by Indian: