The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-06-24
Cabot Discovers
 America, June 24, 1497

It is one of the ironies of fate that
 the New World should bear the name
 of America, thus perpetuating fthe
 name of an adventurer, Americus
 Vespucious, whose claim to being the
 first discoverer' of the western con-
 tinent was based on a falsely dated
 letter. Justice and convenience would
 both have been better served if the
 true pioneers had been given their
 dues, and the name of Columbia had
 been given to the southern continent,
 and that of Cabotonia to the north ern.
 St Johns Day, the twenty-fourth
 of June, is a historic date for Ameri- ca, for it was on that festival in the year 1497 that John Cabot set foot
 on the soil of North America It was then that he set up the banner Of
 England, and from that hour the for tunes of this continent were destined to be swayed by the Anglo-Saxon race His discovery laid the founda- ton for the future supremaGy of Eng land in North America, and, although
 this claim was long disputed by the
 French, the Spaniards and the Dutch, the conquering Anglo-SaXon eventual 1y triumphed over all opposition Great Britain and the United States, the great nation founded by England's s
  continent, thanks to no small extent to the daring and hardihood of John Cabot and his sons.
 Just where Cabot first planted the standard of England, and by its side the Venetian banner of St. Mark-the one in loyalty to his master, Henry VII, the other in affection for Venice will never be known. Whether he touched the shores of the continent oJi of oh hva 1 O ! on the wild coasts of Nova Scotia or
 New FoundIand. will never be de- initely known. That Newfoundland was his first stopping place is held by a number of historians, and the capi-
 tai city of St. Johns perpetuates the name of the saint on whose festival the landing was effected. The Labra- dor theory has much to support it, but the consensus of modern opinion seems to favor Cape Breton. which forms a part of what is now the province of Nova Scotia.
 In some respects Cabot deserves greater praise than Columbus, and | certainly his achievements were in fnitely greater in their importance to Northern Americans than those of 1 Americus Vespucius. Columbus had ! succeeded only in attaining the island | fringe of the continent before Cabot i set foot on the ma1nlant. CaDOt Sa1l- | ed over waters far stormier and more | difficult than any encountered by Co., l lunbus, and his equipment and re- sources were vastly less, for he had | but a single tiny vessel, the Matthew l-the first vessel to touch our Ameri- ] can shores. His discovery of the ! North American continent preceded | by more than year the third voyage | of Columbus, when he came in sight | of the mainland of South America. | Like Columbus and Vespucius | Cabot was a native of Italy. and il l is believed that he was born in Genoa | the native city of Columbus. Venice | has also claimed the honor of being | his birthplace, but this is disproved | by official documents. He settled in , the English city of Bristol, and it was l from there that he sailed on his mem 1 orable voyage of discovery, having re- ! ceived a, patent from Henry VII, au- | thorizing him and his three sons to 1 search for islands, provinces, or reg 1 ions in the eastern, western, or north ern seas