HISTORIC ROANOKE ISLAND. Site ol the First English Set tlement in America, and Birthplace of Vir ginia Dare. A Choice Spot Where Sportsmen ana Fishermen are Welcomed and Where the Supply of Game Never Fails. Roanoke Island, N.C., May 1.? i On landing at the little wharf of this small island in Albemarle Sound a stranger can hardly realize that an island so remote and insignificant can fill so great a space in American history. "From New Yawk, Sah?" one of the contented natives asked me before I bad plodded far through the sand: " then of co'se you know all about Virginia Dare?" But can t he average New Yorker be expected to know all about Virginia Dare, or anything at all about Koanoke Island? Only; ten hours from New York as the island is, or twelve at most, it is to the majority of ns an unknown 4and; aland poor in everything but fisheries, wild ducks, and his torical associations. The New Yorker who comes here generally has a gun upon his shoulder and a dog at his heels, and is what the natives call a "gentleman sportsman," which means, as far as I have seen, that the ducks and ijuails are nowhere as safe as within the range of his gun; for the gentleman sports man, who comes here in Winter is usually a good fellow, but a poor marksman. Coupled with its romantic his tory and the deep mystery that lianas over Itoanoke Island, the small cheap houses of its fisher men and the very small town are disappointments to the visitor, for the past completely over-1 shadows the present. There are' no industries here but hunting mid fishing and "guiding" visit ing sportsmen, and the keeping of one hotel, which is not on a! large enough scale to make the island known to the world as a "sportsman's paradise." There is some warrant here for smoking a cigar while exploring, for it was Itoanoke Island that first gave tobacco to the civilized world. The brand originally in use here was doubt less l>et ter than the kind now sold in the little shops of the town, or the early English settlers must have been easily pleased. Quiet fie this spot is, it is almost within rifleshot of the roughest part of our coast, and ship wrecked people have often been 1 thankful to reach it. Cape Hat-] terns is only a few miles away, ] and a mile or two across the little Roanoke Sound are "the banks," meaning the low sand bunksthat parallel the Northern Carolina coast, and shortly below here Sroject eastward to form the readed cape. The first settlers who came here, and the earliest English settlers in America, came from England in their own ships and landed as readily on the white beach as the steamboat's passengers now land at the wharf. l uc iicm iiiai oivuu uric vucu Lave not grown into giant nines and oaks, but have l?een cut down for lumber or firewood, and their places are taken by a growth of scrub. The Indian wigwams have E'ven place to scattered cabins, ss romantic and scarcely more comfortable. THE HEROINE OE THE ISLAND. Hare is so great a name here that 1 began almost immediately to inquire for some person who bears it. but ineffectually. This is in Dare County, and here was born Virginia Dare, the first child of Knglish parentage born in America, if the histories tell us truly. The Dare family, like many other of the early families of Vir ginia, have retired into oblivion. This island was in Virginia when Virginia Dare was born here, in 1587, but it has since been trans ferred to North Carolina; audit is as much out of the world and the paths of commerce now as it was then. It is to Sir Walter Raleigh that we owe the historical associa tions of this land, and the only relic of Raleigh to be found here now is the ruin of old Fort Ral eigh, surrounded still by a ditch or moat. Though this fort was built about 1585, its outlines may still be traced, and the com-! ers are marked with blocks of granite. "Reckon you've heard tell about the Roanoke Island set tlers, Mister?'' the native who jKiinted out the old fort ueked. " That there mound you're a set tin' on was made long enough afore Jamestown or Plymouth or any of them old places was heard on or thought on, for Roanoke beats 'em all." The old fort is inclosed by a substantial rail fence, and in the centre of the inclosure has been placed a massive monument of North Carolina and Virginia granite, built by the Roanoke Colony Memorial Association, "commemorative of thetwocolo nies associated with the aj>ot and its history." This association, which is in corporated, is composed of many prominent people of North Caro lina and Virginia and a few of New York and Philadelphia and other cities, and its President is Major Graham l)aves of New Is-rne, N. C. Rut neither this association nor the Virginia Pare Society of Raleigh can do more than guess at the fate of Virginia Pare, the great heroine of the island. She disappeared ages ago, but how and why is a mystery, and we c an only know of her that if we might see her now she would be J a tottering crone of .'114 years, instead of the laughing maiden the mind pictures her. The county still bears her father's name, though her grand father, who was the first whitej Governor of this island, is almost; forgotten, lie was John White by nume, and white by nature. Pare County, of which this island is a part, adjoins Hyde County on the mainland, and, like Hyde, has no railroad. It is intersected by Croatan Sound, the narrow strip of water which connects Albemarle with Pamlico Sound, and makes this eastern end of the county an island. Manteo, the county seat, is on the land, and here the Sheriff lives and keeps watchful eye upon the almost deserted county jail. A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY. Queen Elizabeth had a hand in making this page of American history, for it was under her pat ronage that Sir Walter Raleigh founded the Roanoke Colony in 1584. That was long enough before Jamestown or Plymouth became familiar American names. The first colonists became dis satisfied and returned, but they gave glowing accounts of the beauty of the island and the salubrity of its climate, so re cruits were easily obtained for the next venture, which was made in 1587. In that year 150 Eng lish colonists were sent over by Raleigh to cultivate Roanoke Island,and John White wastheir Captain and the fiist Governor of the island. White's daughter was married to a man named Dare, and after that man the present county is named. On this island of verdure and fertility those venturesome Eng lishmen found subsistence too hard, though the waters are full of fish and the air is alive with wild birds, and they soon ran short of supplies. The previous colonists had found an encampment of Indians here; Indians who raised and smoked tobacco and ra'sed and ate potatoes, and the returning colonists had carried home sam ples of both, and through Ral-1 eigh's example the men of Eng-j land had learned to smoke and snuff tobacco. Rut the later ? colonists, under White, found that they must dig; and plant before they could reap, and when supplies tailed and they grew hungry, White went back to Eng land after more provisions. He fore he started, his daughter pre sented him with a grandchild, to whom the name of Virginia was given, and she was the Virginia Dare we all know by name, and the first child of English parent age ever born on this continent. Courts were hard to move in those days, as they still are, and White found no more shillings rolling uphill in London than he had seen oil Roanoke Island; so thr?"e years passed, and w hen lie returned to his adopted home at the end of that time he was no longer a Uovernor, for he had no colony to govern. His colony was gone, so completely wiped out that not one person was left;1 and Virginia Dare was gone, too. It has long been believed that these earlv colonists starved to death, although there were hos tile Indians all about them; but to come here and see the ground, and the waters about theground, is enough to convince any modern American that starvation here was impossible. Even now, after three centuries of shooting and fishing here, any New Yorker would scoff at the idea of starva tion, where wild birds are ready to hand, oysters are on the bars, the waters are alive with fish, and the soil is ready to multiplv whatever is planted in it. (live any city man a gun and a fish hook, and hecould not starve on Roanoke Island if he tried. > Scores of city men do come here every Winter, and many of them live on the produce of their guns and fishing lines, because they prefer to live in that way. The accommodations of civilization are to be had, but for a real out ing there is more spirit in build ing a shanty or renting one of the shanties already built, and living on wild ducks and fresh fish. " We have no real estate agent here," the people tell me; "but there is plenty of land for sale, and prices are not high." To buy land would be pure extrava gance for the visitor, where every unoccupied spot is open to his use, except town lots in Manteo, or the 2f?(i acres of land belong ing to the Memorial Association. Ifut all the remainder of the island is open to the visitor, who can pitch his tent where he likes, and oe sure of seclusion; and if the one island is notenough,here are small islands all about, to the north and t he south, theeast, and the west, and all open to ti e visitor. Home of the small* r islands belong to sporting clubs, but the field of sport is so vast that the clubs do not resent in trusion. To employ a guide, as most visiting sportsmen do, is to secure a welcome to any of the outlying islands. Then there are "the banks," almost within a stone-throw, which still further enlarge the field. The banks are many miles long, mere ridges of sand thrown up by the stormy waves, from ten to twenty feet above the sea level, but likely to change their height and form under every severe gale. The few people who live upon the banks are locally called "bankers," and like the Roanoke Island people, they enjoy life in their own way, and know little about the outside world. A BACK OF WILD PONIES. The bankers have a strange , race of wild ponies, that are cele brated through all this country for their hardiness. A " banks j pony" can be bought in any Eastern North Carolina town for from $10 to $15, and, as they are used to roughing it on the j sand banks, they involve little J exjtense for shoeing or feeding. The islanders tell me that when a banks pony becomes thirsty j he paws the sand till he makes a hole deep enough to give him , moderately fresh water, and then drinks; but if youtakehim home and he is in the middle of your garden when the thirst comes, he make the same preparations. The standard way of reaching j Roanoke Island from the north is by way of Norfolk, taking thence the railway to Elizabeth City, and there boarding the! steamboat, the Neuse, which, I steaming down the Pasquotank River into Albemarle Sound, touches at Roanoke Island at a little before midnight, making the actual traveling time from j New York to this secluded spot) scarcely more than eight or ten hours. Rut a much more satis- j factory and r.^ortsman-like way j is to hire a small sailboat at Elizabeth City, and use the boat afterward for visiting the main land, the banks, and the adjacent islands. Here the tired New YnrL-er pan support himself indefinitely with his gun and lines, and even in midwinter can comfortably and safely gc abroad every day. Wild birds and fish are so plenti ful that they pall upon the imagi nation, and after a time upon the appetite. lie who would not "rough it'' i and lead a real wild life while here can find ample accommodation with the natives; or he can take quurters in the hotel, where no gas or electric lights or car whistles will remind him of home, j If he would dip deeper into the j tragic history of this historic island, the Register of Dare Coun ty. whose office is in Manteo, will obligingly show him the deeds which give title to the Memorial Association's lands, and will give much other entertaining informa tion. But he cannot tell what became of poor Virginia Dare, for that to this day no man knows. By her early taking off we are spared any possibility of a "Colonial Society of Descendants of Virginia Dare," and Roanoke Island is of more interest to us of the present as a very choice fish ing and shooting spot than ash the birthplace of the first English , child in this hemisphere. William Drvsiialk, in New York Times. , Skin affections will readilv dis appear bv using DeWitt's \Vitch | Hazel Salve. Lookout for coun terfeits. If you get DeWitt's you i will get good results. It is the quick and positive cure for piles. Hare & Son, J. II. I^edbetter, i Hood Bros. i MERCILESS SLAUGHTER IN CHINA. Missionaries Remain Calm and Preach to the People Till the Ex ecutioner Strikes ? Thirty-three Protestants and Twelve Roman Catholics Are Beheaded. William E. Curtis, io Chicago Record-Herald. The last mail from China brings a thrilling account of the murder of the missionaries at Tai Yuan Fu on the 9th of last July, which was taken (town in writing bv Dr. J. A. Creasy Smith from the narrative of Young Cheng, a member of the llaptist church, who was an unwilling witness of their martyrdom, Yung Cheng is vouched for as a Christian of excellent character and absolute ly trust worthy. He says that he was taking treatment in the hospital on the Baptist Society's premises at Tai Yuan Fu, when on the 8th of July lie saw Itev. Mr. I'igott, his wife and child, John Robinson, Miss Duval and two young women named At water brought into the town. The two gentlemen were hand cuffed and escorted by a company of soldiers and followed by im mense throngg of natives. Where ever they stopped to rest Mr. Figott and Mr. Robinson preach ed to the people, who gathered around them and were very much astonished, saying "You are going to be killed for preaching, and yet you continue to do so." That night the party were placed in prison with a number of other missionaries and their wives and children, including several Cath olic priests. The next morning they were all executed. ? D Tlw. U 4-^ lw, " i nc: hi nt tu Lit? icu until, Yung Cheng says, "was Mr. Farthing, a Baptist minister. His wife clung to him, but he put her aside gently, knelt down with out saying a word and his head was struck off by one blow of the executioner's knife. He was quick ly followed by Pastors Hoddle and Beynon, and Drs. Lovitt and Wilson, all of whom were behead ed with one blow by the execu tioner. Then the governor, Yu Hsien, grew impatient and told his bodyguard, all of whom car ried big beheading knives with long handles, to help kill the ethers. Pastors Stokes, Simpson and Whitehouse were next killed, the last by one blow only, the other two by several. "When the men were finished the ladies were taken. Mrs. Farthing had hold of the hands ot her children, who clung to her, but the soldiers parted them and with one blow beheaded their mother. The executioner be headed all the children and did it skillfully, needing only one blow; but the soldiers were clumsy, and some of the ladiessuffered several cuts before death. "Mrs. Lovitt was wearing her spectacles and held the hand of her little boy, even when she was killed. She spoke to the people, saying as near as I remember: 'We all came to China to bring you the good news of salvation by Jesus Christ; we have done you no harm, only good; why do you treat us so?' A soldier took off her s[>ectacles before be heading her, which needed two blows. " When the Protestants were all killed, the Roman Catholics were led forward. The bishop, an old man, with long white beard, asked the governor, Yu Hsien why he was doing this wicked deed. I did not hear the governor give him any answer, but he drew his sword and cut the bishop across the face one heavy stroke; blood poured down his white beard, and he was be headed. The priests and nuns quickly followed him in death. "Then Pastor Pigott and his party were led from the district jail, which is close by. He was still handcuffed and so was Mr. Robinson. He preached to the jieople till the very last, when he was beheaded wit h one blow. Mr. Hobinson suffered death very calmly. Mrs. PigOtt held the hand of her son, even when she was beheaded, and he was killed immediately after her. The lady and two girls were killed also, quickly. "On that day forty-five foreign people in all were beheaded, thirty-three Protestants and twelve Roman Catholics. The bodies of all were left where they Fell till next morning, as it was evening liefore the work was fin ished. Muring the night they were stripped of the clothing and other things, such as rings and watches. Next day they were removed to a place inside the creat south gate, except some of the heads, which were placed in cages on the gates of the wall." They that stand high have many blasts to shake them.? Shakespeare. TWELFTH ANNUAL COMMENCE MENT. North Carolina College ol Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, at Kaleigh. Sunday, May 2(5, 11 a. in.? Baccalaureate Sermon in Eden ton Street M. E. Church, by Rev. J. J. Laffertv, 1). I)., Richmond, if * V a. Monday, May 27, 8:30 p. m.? Alumni Oration in Agricultural Hall, by Edwin Speight Harden, B. S., Class of '05. Tuesday, May 28, 8:30 p. in.? \unual Address in the Academy of Music, bv Hon. Carroll It. Wright, U. S. Commissioner of Labor, Washington, D. C. Wednesday, May 20.11 a. m.? Commencement Exercises in the Academy of M usic. Orations by members of the Graduating Class. Annual Report. Conferring of Begrees. These exercises are public, and a cordial invitation to attend , them is hereby extended to all persons who are interested in technological and industrial edu cation. Geo. T. Winston, President. Wild Birds' Ways. A Paris Hill correspondent of j the Waterville (N. Y.) Tunes says J he has received a letter from a nature student stating that the red-headed woodpecker has been seen storing up in an old tree a; quantity of acorns, which appears like the forethought of laying j up food. While it has that ap pearance, still thenut itself is not the food which this species eats. The writer suggests it may be the bird secures and stores the acorns in order that when they decay he may feed on the worm which would naturally breed in the pro-; cess?a longheaded proceeaure certainly. It may be true, how ever. I know of an instance where a gray woodpecker in the spring opened several holes with his bill in the trunk of a inaple tree, and when the sap had trickled down the sideof the tree, attracting the flies, he reveled in the feast which they furnished him. Grantham, Austin & Co. have a nobby line of Ties. The prettiest you have st en. Cost of a London Fog;. A London fog is an expensive j visitation. A day of it, counting the day at eight hours, is estima ted to cost anything from ?50, 1000 to ?100,000 in hard cash. 1 No small proportion of this goes to the gas and electric light com panies, which have to supply I 1 about a third more power than usual. Hut there are also the railways. Fog signalling is ex pensive. At Ohampham Junc tion alone ?50 has been spent by a single railway company during a day's fog in extra pay to the layers. When the red light can not be seen at a distance of a hundred yards, the plate layers become fog signallers, and for this they are paid a shilling a day in addition to their regular wages and fourpence per hour overtime, providing the over time does not run into a second shilling.?London Chronical. y^k^ioiiiioddh^j ? V* WINE OF CARDUI .00to $18.00. WE MAKE A VARIETY. THE NEW HOME IS THE BEST.. The Feed determines the strength or weakness of Hewing Machines. The Double Feed combined with other strong points makes the Sew Home the best Hewing Machine to buy. Write lor CIRCULARS kSSs we manufacture and prices Ik ,ore purchasing THE NEW HOME SEWINC MACHINE CO. OSANOC, MASS ?Union Hca. N. Y., Chicago, 111., Atlanta, BL Ix>uIs,Mo., Dallas,Tex.,Han Krunolsoo, CsL FOR SALE BY J. 7V\. BE AT V, 8MITHFIELD, I. C.