110 New Yoek at the "Woeld's Columbian Exposition. 



proposed. The banquet was informal and one of the most enjoyable 



of the season. 



New Yoek Day. 



September third was selected early in the spring for New York day, 

 because of the historical significance bestowed upon it by Henry Hud- 

 son when, on the same date in the year 1609, he first dropped anchor 

 in the sheltered waters of New York bay. The energetic Englishman 

 in command of his Dutch vessel was an accidental navigator of the 

 beautiful stream named in his honor, and as his restless sail urged his 

 vessel onward the baauty of the Palisades and the romantic grandeur 

 of the Highlands caught but a passing exclamation of surprise, for his 

 heart beat only for one purpose, his eyes sought only for one vision, 

 the inland sea whose waves should bear him to the shores of coveted 

 India. But from the failures of one often come the victories of the 

 many. When at the head of navigation he disappointedly turned his 

 vessel's prow to the southward, no one could foresee that the first step 

 had been taken in the development of a highway of commerce which, 

 including New York's vast area, should extend to the great lakes, to 

 Chicago, to the upper waters of the Mississippi and the great wheat 

 fields of the Northwest, laying under tribute a country ten-fold richer 

 than the India for which he sighed. 



The more the history of the voyages undertaken to discover a short 

 northern route to Asia is studied the more we are compelled to agree 

 with Dr. Asher, one of the biographers of Hudson, that these ventures, 

 in spite of their fruitlessness, belong to the most important events that 

 history records. To them England owes her American discoveries and 

 colonies, her sway of the ocean, her fisheries of cod and whale, her 

 transatlantic and northern trade ; in short, that progress by which from 

 a kingdom of very limited power she has risen to the first place among 

 the empires of ancient and modern times. It is to the consequences 

 of these same apparently fruitless undertakings that the United States 

 owe their existence, the Dutch their freedom and glory, the Russians 

 their connection with the west of Europe. When we consider what 

 the fate of Europe would have been without the victory of England 

 and the Netherlands over Spain we may almost be justified in placing 

 the importance of the early northern voyages even above that of 

 Columbus' magnificent discovery. 



It was, therefore, an event of international significance, as well as the 

 glory and honor of the Empire State, that was celebrated by New 



