The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1904-04-23


KINGE "a VIA /. A, j n!
n. . I. BE- oME:s a HOTEL j: II
Fromsthe Boston Herald *;# 4 z. ] III
7. Fifteen hundred feet above the sea-"
just below the battle shei ghts of BUS
saco-grim Bussaco's: iron RIDGE as
Sir Walter Scott ermg 3.t--there ts bel
ing brought to completion one or the
most remarkable and one Of the most
beautiful hotels in. the world. / In: its
history. style and a ASSOCIATE lions It pos
sesses features Of un ilsual interest. /
Years ago. before King Carlos: wore
the crown Of Portugal, while he was F.
still only the heir. apparent, 1T was de-
eided that new: palace was necessary: +
was at once begun, to rear on the for.
est heights palace that should be al! /
that art and the best artihcers could
make it.. Large sums Of money were
voted By the Junta for the task
The estate was surveyed, and marked
off by. a boundary wall six miles IN |.
circumference. All within that wall I
was to be the royal demesne, says the /
London" Express. >, 5.z-. !
CIearings were made in the virgin |
woods, and stately building slowly,
rose. Graceful in conception, its arch1~
lecture was in the style, Of the FAMOUS
towers and church Of Belem that are |
the most striking features in the mag |
nificent approach to Lisbon by the
Tagus. -
Slowly the graceful palace took
shape, until the exterior was complete.
Then Carlos was CALLED to sovereignty,
and he had no further need for the
palace Of Bussaco:=. So the work ceased.
For years the frame work stoou ne
| elected in the woods, an unhnlsned
! poem of architecture.
At length a syndicate approached the
| government, and asked whether the
building could not be completed and
used for the purposes of hotel. Inc
| idea was we'll received: "A bill author
ling the necessary proceedings was
passed through the Junta, and once
again work went forward, under the
direction of the lessee, Mr.. Wlssman.
! Today the motel is near completion.
It is beautiful beyond all power of de-
| scription. Inside and out, the walls
are of pure white stone, on which
from morning to night cunning crafts
| men work designs, all in accord with
one scheme, without guide or traclng'
| the chisel answering the we1lders
thought
figure, wings outspread, representing
Portugal trampltng on the eagle OF
France. Around the hotel, floor above
floor, there run broad balconies, end1ng
in a battlemented tower. =
The roof of this tower is a broad
platform, from which the eye can trace
three parts Of Portugal, rising ano
falling in sun crowned sierras, right
away to the frontier towns OF Spain.
On the other side is the turquoise sea-
| 1,500 feet below.
On one side only is the view inter
rupted, and that. is where rises the
ridge Of Bussaco,: glorious with the
foliage of every tree that grows IN
forest splendor and where, in the au-
tumn of 1910, Wellington, leading the
allied armies Of Great Britain and, Por.
tuea1. defeated the French leg1ons OF
! Massena on their march to the sea.
The British army had taken up its
position on the night before the pattie'
That night Wellington slept WITHIN In;
what are now the hotel precincts. Inc
room he occupied Is shown to Vlsltors.
The coming spring will see the notel
complete: Then, royal in It's origin, II
will be given sEoXa1~ opening. King
Carlos has made it; aind erstood that ne
. will be present In. parsonz toSperform the
Il opening ceremg u. ,zss.
riea1 of pieturesqun SWISS chaaets il
(which; wlffles the great main building lt
has been pressed f t@2. u guests: have
Russaco and its,,,hotel have. still
older history than: that which brings 1t
into the royal story Of modern Portugal.
Here, amid the superbly silent hills,
centuries ago, there sprang up COM
munity Of liermits High on the tree
clad hills their herinitages rose, each
complete in ITSELF. Great ones in the
olden' times sheltered there for life
f long meditation. :.
These hermitages still remain. Out
( side, where all the. world might come
r and pray, tiny 'chapels still stand, the
sacred symbols faded and worn to dust
7 Inside, the rude kitchen, the simple
stone floor, and the little we'll show
e how simply the hermits lived.
One curious feature of these hermit
r ages is that they are all lined with
r bark stripped from the cork trees thai
grow in rich profusion all over thu
I Bussaco district: Each hermitage alst
meditation might breathe the Fragrant
g of an air that is Still redolent Of thu
k incense of the pines>*
e In the center of the hotel ground
It stands the chapel, tended of old b.
e monks. only stage. less recluse thai
d the hermits. It. was to have. been tn
n royal chapel, had the original idea o
the building been carried out.
y Pleasure grounds on a vast scale ha
Le been planned. BY the builders FOR tn
n royal tenant. These have now been pu
1t to good use for the hotel. A TENN
j court, under the shade of sub-tropica
n trees; golf course, on the BATTLEFIELD
e. itself; and swimming baths-all thes
~ will be- ready for: the coming: season.
y, On: the heights Of Bussaco BIRTHS
.r and Portuguese soldiers fought and fe
1T together, conrad s, to the. death. .
Sc chapel has been raised on that acr
* of ground just beyond the hotel pre-
~ chiefs; where, in one common gray!
&c the dead Of both nations We're burie
N after the. battle. It has been set asid
d. and rallied in as "a memorial. Night ali
II day a guard of honor keeps: ward Their
n, and never for a moment is the sentin,
ID of the dead withdrawn
Higher, on the hill there is an obelis
ne raised, not for the dead, but triun
31on mt ~ 4 vyio