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 CHAPTER XVIII

MANUFACTURED SUPPLIES: DOMESTIC&#8212;continued

was in glass-making that the first step was taken in Virginia to promote manufactures in the wider sense of the word. The explanation of this fact lay in the necessity of providing a large quantity of beads for the use of the settlers in their trade with the Indian natives. There was doubtless a subordinate expectation that Virginia might be able to export raw glass for the English market. One of the most serious obstructions in England to all forms of manufacture involving the consumption of much fuel, was the growing scarcity of wood in consequence of the heavy inroads on the forests. This was felt most severely in the manufacture of iron, but it was also felt in glass-making. The abundance of trees in Virginia was thought to be a notable element of success in the manufacture of this latter commodity in the Colony. When Newport arrived in Virginia in the fall of 1608, he was accompanied by a number of Dutch and Poles, who formed a part of the Second Supply, the object for which they had been sent out being, among other things, to make a trial of glass. A glass-house was accordingly erected about a mile from Jamestown. The first material of this kind was made during the absence of Newport on his excursion into the country of the Monocans, and it was made under the supervision of Smith; when