Norwich bulletin., 1919-08-30
BERMUDA AIDED START. c@-
 r~ss LAFAYETTEe HELPED FINISH

l ."The Bermuda Islands suggest the adventures of Robinsons. Crusoe ir
 their colonizatiopi and present in then
 later chronology d curious parallel tc to United States sh1storsF''s with -the l events consistently pre- dated by 2 number of years"
 With this statement the National
 Geographic Society prefaces a bulle-
 group. of the British West h Indies which some Englis1lfnen suggest should be ceded to the United States in part payment of the American war
 loans to Great Britain.
 "The Robinson Crusoe comparison obtrudes because the island was dis
 covered and later. settled, as the df-
 rect result of. shipwrecks; and the set
 tiers had to build themselves a bark
 to set sail again" the bulletin con
 tinues.
 As for the anticipation of American
 history, on a miniature. scale, it may
 be noted that the colonization took
 place seven years before the. Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Mass, that
 witches were burned. Quakers were
 persecuted, and miscreants were
 ducked, before similar occlfrrcnes
 are recorded in New. England; and
 that. slavery was abolisheda fin 1884.
 The. Bermudians long before IT'S
 protested against the Mother Coun-
 try's rule, until the island prisons
 were over full. but relief came, in their
 case, not through declaration of
 freedom, but by the accession of
 Cromwell er s-,'t ----
 '..Bbt tbe essential point of contact
 of the American with the Befhudian arises from the all but forgotten fact
 that while the immortal Lafayette gallantly helped the colonies conclude their war. of independence; the Ser
 mudians supplied the ammunition to begin it.
 aFSo acute was the need fer powder in 1775 that George Washington wrote to the governor of Rhode 7sland that no quantity, however small, Is be- meath notice: Learning that 2. there islanders were Anxious 7s t6 have the em mbargo lifted upon sh iPfnent fof food supplies from the colonies, Washing ton addressed a letter to the people of the island who had shown themselves sympathetic with the American rev. olutionists, promising them ample sup ply of provisions and every other mark of affection and friendship which the grateful citizens of a free country can bestow on it's brethren and ben efactors' if they would make this ann munftion available for the Continental army.
 "IIt so happened that the powder had been procured before the letter was delivered and with it the Con tinenta1 army compelled the British to evacuate Boston. 1c Sf~
 7 Not only the sale of the powder but the fact that Bermuda allowed the colonies to have salt, So incensed the governor of Bermuda that he up- braided the citizens for treason and feeling ran so high that be was re- moved. His successor was native of Salem, Mass.,f whose loyalty to the Mother Country was such that he gave ip large estates fnf the colonies rath- er than join the revolutionists. He was hU SnA Iauy -iage. with the Winthrop family. Un- fer his ruIe' the islands full a1Iegi- lnce to England was restored.
 Browne was succeeded By Henry Hamilton, during whose adninistra- Ind named fors him. This town today s the seat of the island government. | t has a population of less than B. 00e. | t did not become the capital of tile | islands until the time of Sir : James | cockburn; lord chief Justice of Eng l and and before that oneTofi its most | amouss- lawyers, Cockburn, nearly hree- quartersvof a century ago, made he plea of insanity which saved the | ifes Of Daniel aMNaughten. who shot | Sir, Robert Pefrs- secretary. He also gurcd in the famous 6asera year be- ore the gaining act was passed in 1s44, n which 1t was charged. that a Derby winner, Running Rein, really was. a year old. though she had been en- cred asr 3 year old ''s''.. 't,'4> F.--" Fl amilton is on Main Island. or 'ermuda: while Ht George, the, form r capital, ifs on the island of the anne name:r There are more than 300 mall islands in the Berfnudas group f which only scores Are inhabitec he total population of the islands in sI6 ssaist little over 20. oo5, of whom bout=onS1thi ird wefe white Bermuda lffereds during tic war. abystfie ces- alton of the American tourist. patron fe. which had doubled the entire is- md patronages in preceding seasons. scAuse Of theiE mild s.cliuiate. which new no frosts, and bys. their scenic sauty. The evergreen islands are ustered with exotic plants of num-i