Page:EB1911 - Volume 19.djvu/521

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
500
NEWHAVEN—NEW HEBRIDES
  

Among those in the Peters’s list which are wholly or substantially true are the following: “The judges shall determine controversies without a jury”; “Married persons must live together or be imprisoned”; “A wife shall be good evidence against her husband”; “No minister shall keep school”; “The selectmen, on finding children ignorant, may take them away from their parents and put them into better hands, at the expense of their parents.” Among those in the same list which are wholly or in part spurious are: “No woman shall kiss her child on the Sabbath or fasting day,” and “No one shall travel, cook victuals, make beds, sweep house, cut hair or shave on the Sabbath day.”

One of the most important events in the history of New Haven was the removal hither in October 1716 from Saybrook of the Collegiate School of Connecticut, which developed into Yale University. The period of greatest material prosperity of New Haven in the colonial period began about 1750, when a thriving commerce with other American ports and the West Indies developed. As a port it was notorious for its smuggling and illicit trade. New Haven also had extensive shipbuilding interests. All attempts to enforce the British commercial regulations were ineffectual. On the 22nd of February 1763 a town meeting resolved to encourage colonial manufactures and to refrain from importing from England hats, clothing, leather, gold and silver lace, buttons, cheese, liquors, &c. Two years later Jared Ingersoll (1722–1781), who had been sent to England to protest against the Stamp Act, but had accepted the office of Stamp Distributor on the advice of Benjamin Franklin, was forced to resign his office. In 1770 most of the merchants agreed not to import goods from England and transferred their trade with New York City, where Loyalist influence was strong, to Boston and Philadelphia. When news of the embargo of the port at Boston arrived at New Haven, a Committee of Correspondence was at once formed; and in the War of Independence the people enthusiastically supported the American cause. On the 5th of July 1779 the place was invaded by a British force under General William Tryon, who intended to burn the town, but met so strong a resistance that he withdrew before the next day. New Haven's commerce suffered severely during the war, but by the close of the first decade of the 19th century it had regained its former importance. When the War of 1812 opened there were fully 600 seamen in the city, practically all of whom were engaged in privateering or in the regular naval service of the United States. Among them was Captain Isaac Hull. In 1815 the Fulton, the first steamboat on Long Island Sound, made its first trip from New York to New Haven. The second quarter of the 19th century was the period of development of railways and manufactures. The period since the Civil War has been marked by a diversification of industries. To that conflict New Haven contributed approximately $30,000,000, and 3000 men, 500 of whom were killed. From 1701 until 1873 New Haven was the joint capital (with Hartford) of Connecticut. New Haven was incorporated as a city in 1784; new charters were secured from the General Assembly of the state in 1869, 1881 and 1899. Fair Haven was annexed to New Haven in 1897.

See Leonard Bacon, Thirteen Historical Discourses (New Haven, 1839); J. W. Barber, History and Antiquities of New Haven (3rd ed., New Haven, 1870); C. H. Levermore, Town and City Government of New Haven, and The Republic of New Haven (Baltimore, 1886); E. S. Bartlett, Historical Sketches of New Haven (New Haven, 1897); Edward E. Atwater, History of the Colony of New Haven to its Absorption into Connecticut (New Haven, 1881); H. T. Blake, Chronicles of New Haven Green (New Haven, 1898); Records of the Colony of New Haven 1638–1665 (2 vols., Hartford, 1857–1858), edited by C. H. Hoadly; and the Papers and other publications (1865 sqq.) of New Haven Colony Historical Society.

NEWHAVEN, a seaport in the Eastbourne parliamentary division of Sussex, England, 56 m. S. from London by the London, Brighton & South Coast railway, on the English Channel at the mouth of the Ouse. Pop. of urban district (1901) 6772. The church of St Michael has a Norman square embattled tower surmounted by a spire, and an apsidal chancel. The port is protected by fortifications. A harbour was first granted to Newhaven in 1713, and during the early part of the 18th century it possessed a large shipping trade. This afterwards declined, but it is now one of the principal points of communication between England and France, the railway company maintaining a daily service of fast steamers to Dieppe in connexion with the Chemin de fer de l’Ouest. The tidal harbour, which is owned by a company, is enclosed by two piers and a breakwater, the area being about 30 acres, and the quayage 1400 yds. The roadstead is one of the finest on the coast of England. With France there is a large traffic in wines, spirits, silk, fruit, vegetables and general provisions. The coasting trade consists chiefly of imports of coal and provisions, the exports being principally timber for shipbuilding and flint for the Staffordshire potteries. Some shipbuilding is carried on.

NEW HEBRIDES, a chain of islands in the western Pacific Ocean, between 166° and 171° E., and 13° and 21° S., included in Melanesia, and under the joint influence of Great Britain and France. (For map, see Pacific Ocean.) From New Caledonia to the S.W. they are separated by a deep channel; but a comparatively shallow sea indicates their physical connexion with the Santa Cruz group (q.v.) to the N. The chain lies S.E. and N.W., but the main islands are arranged somewhat in the form of the letter Y. The south-easternmost island is Aneiteum; N.W. from this the main islands are Tanna or Aipere, Eromanga, Efaté,[1] the Shepherd Islands and Api or Epi. At this point the arms of the Y divide, the western comprising the large islands of Malekula or Mallicollo and Espiritu Santo,[2] the eastern consisting of Ambrym, Arag and Maiwo or Aurora, with Aoba or Leper Island between the two arms. Espiritu Santo, the largest island, has an area of 875 sq. m. Irregularly disposed to the N. of the Y are the lesser islands composing the Banks group—Gaua, Vanua Lava, Mota, Valua, &c., and the Torres Islands.

With their rugged outline and rich vegetation, the islands as seen from the sea are very beautiful. Excepting the small Torres group, which are low-lying and perched on reefs, but without lagoons, all the islands are of volcanic, not coral, formation, the larger ones lying on both sides of the line of volcanic activity. The coasts are almost free from reefs and the shores rise abruptly from deep water. Old coral is sometimes found elevated to a considerable height. The islands are formed chiefly of basalt and recent eruptive material; earthquakes and submarine eruptions are not infrequent; and some of the islands themselves have active craters. All have considerable elevations, the loftiest being the isolated cone of Lopevi, near the junction of the arms of the Y; its height is 4714 ft. The volcanic soil is very rich. Numerous clear streams water the islands, but some debouch upon flat ground towards the sea, and form unhealthy marshes there. Copper, iron and nickel are the most important minerals known in the group, and sulphur is of some commercial importance.

The climate is generally hot and damp, but there is a season (November to April) which is specially distinguished, as such, and is somewhat unhealthy. The trees—Casuarina, candle nut (Aleurites triloba), kauri pine (or Tanna), various species of Ficus, Myrtaceae and many others—are magnificent; the coco-nut is not confined to the coast, but grows high up the valleys on the hill-sides. Sandal-wood is also found. Besides the breadfruit, sago-palm, banana, sugar, yam, taro, arrowroot and several forest fruits, the orange, pine-apple and other imported species flourish; and European vegetables are exported to Sydney. Land mammals are scarce; they include bats, rats and pigs which have run wild. There are some lizards and turtles; birds include pigeons, parrots, ducks and swallows; locusts, grasshoppers, butterflies and hornets are numerous, and the sea abounds in fish, which, however, are generally inferior as food, and in some cases poisonous.

The native population is estimated at 50,000; in 1904 the British population was 212, the French 401. The island of Efaté contains the seat of the joint government, Vila or Port Vila (formerly Franceville), and the majority of the French population. There are several British and French trading companies, and a considerable area is cleared and worked by settlers. The chief exports are copra, coffee, maize, bananas, timber, &c.

  1. Efaté, Vaté, Faté, Efat or Sandwich island.
  2. Abbreviated to Santo; native Marina.