Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 2.djvu/454

 The contract with Captain Norton was reconsidered at a Quarter Court convened at a later date. Attention had in the meanwhile been called to the fact that the Company was at this time in no condition to undergo the heavy charge of supplying eleven persons&#8212;the number constituting the hand of Captain Norton&#8212;with apparel, tools, victuals, and other necessaries, and of transporting them to Virginia. It appeared, moreover, that the calculation of the expense in the beginning had not been sufficiently accurate. It was decided to recommend the proposed manufacture to private subscribers, the Company, however, to advance one-fourth of the amount required to set the enterprise on a firm basis. The patent to be granted was to continue in force for a period of seven years, and was to include the right to make not only glass but also soda, as a necessary ingredient of that substance. Fifty acres were to be allowed for every person sent over by the private adventurers. A roll was drawn at the same court at which the proposition was broached, and received the signatures of the proposed investors. Having by this means secured the fund needed for the equipment of himself and his followers for the enterprise in which they were to engage, and to meet the charges for the ocean passage, Captain Norton, his family, and workingmen set sail for Virginia. There he succeeded in erecting a glass furnace. Unfortunately, Norton died, and the Treasurer, Sandys, who had been appointed to take his place in that event, came in charge of the works but soon met with disappointment, as he found it difficult to obtain the proper variety of sand. On one occasion, he sent a shallop to the Falls for a supply,