Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1921-01-13
BALLOON Al|GHTED
ON HISTORIC SOIL
Country Rich in the Tradi-
lions of Hudson Bay Com
! pany and Explorer.

in coming to earth near Moose Fac
tory. at the southermost point of Hud-
son bay, pilots OF the United States
naval balloon which recently was
blown from New York city to the
frozen north in relatively q few hours
stumbled on a country rich in the
history and traditions of the pictur-
csque old Hudson Bay Company" says
a bulletin issued from the headquar-
ters Of the National Geographic So
ciety here.
Henry Extraordinarily Hudson
to his Dutch employerS-was re-
sponsible. strangely enough. for put
ting on the map both the starting and
loon trip. In 1909 he anchored his IA
NOUS Half Moon close to the present
location of New York's Goddess of
Liberty. and the following year. still
searching for the elusive northwest
passage, he sailed into Hudson bay
and followed 1t eastern shore south to
near the present Moose Factory.
End of HudScn'x Dream.
ut was there in James bay. the shall
low southern arm of Hudson bay,
that Hen v Hudson suffered the keen
ness OF disappointment that can come
His dream was to find a passage to the
South sea- and therefore a short cut
to India. When he sailed into Hud-
son bay and found that it was a great
body of water he was sure his dream
was about to be realized. But when
he reached the shallow James bay.
and. nosing across. found that there
was 4 west coast TO tho great ex-
panse of water. his dream came to An
end
1T was on the shores of James bay
that Hudson and his surly crew VIM
tered following his discovery, and
only short distance to the north
that the great explorer met his tragic
end next spring. when. bound by mu
tineers. he WAS set adrif, in Il small
boat with handful of sick men to
perish.
Right to Make War.
""The Company of Gentlemen Ad-
venturers Trading to Hudsons Bay
which carved dominion for Great
Britain across North America. estab-
lished its first post near Moose Fac
tory soon after J. ng Charles II sign
ed IT'S charter in 1870 and blithely
made its members true and absolute
lords Of three-quarte-s of a conti- |
ncnt. vested them with trading mo-
nopolies. rights to pass laws and I'M
pose punishmerts, and even gave the m
power TO make war on non-Christian
peoples During the three and a half
centuries since that time Moose rae !
tory has remained one OF the i'm
portant posts Of the Hudson Bay !
Company, gath ring a rich harvest |
VI LUIS. II Lie SCCAe VI IQsa1ly Z
raids and counter raids in the early |
Gays between the French and the
company employees. !
Hudson Bay is one of the most |
characteristic features on the map !
of North America. standing out as |,
strikingIy as the Gulf Of Mexico and /
covering almost as great an area. |
Though it falls far short of furnish |
ing a passage to the South Sea as |
the carly explorers hoped. its west |
ernmost coast is on the very center !!
line of the continent. Much of the |
surrounding territory of the bay is |
unexplored wilderness. This is es-
pecially true of the eastern coast |
toward Labrador.
Shorter Route to liverpool.
ION the west coast are Port Church !;
III. the bays best port and about |
q hundred miles to the south. Port |
Nelson. Both these ports are to be !
peg and the wheat and cattle coun-
try to the west. Sailing vessels ply |
Hudson Bay between July Is and
October /, and steamers for 4 slightly
longer period. When the railroads
increase the Importance Of the Hud-
son Bay ports it is believed that ice
crushing ships will make possible the
ahipping of .cargoes between June Is
and November l.. By the Hudson
Bay route Edmonton. Alberta. Is 1000
miles nearer Liverpool than by the
Montreal route.
Moose Factory at the southern
most reaches of Hudson Bay. though
isolated from the settled part of |
Canada by forests and swamps in
summer. and frozen wastes in Win |
York as Chicago. The distance from !
Ottawa to Moose Factory is about ]
equal to that from New York TO |
Pittsburgh"