The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1907-03-09
Grand Hotel, Madrid, Sevilla.
Feb. 20 1907.

Dear Mirror:-If you could
know the whirl of excitement the
" Cruisers" are in from day to
day you would not wonder that
letters are few and far between.
Talk about going to sea for a
rest! No invalid could stand
Clark Cruise! When we are on
shore, of course it is one grand
round of new and novel sights.
When we come back to ship, 1t is
one constant buzz; an interchange
of experiences, not to mention
meetings of all sorts. The Travel
er's club, the Masons, the ID. A.
RS. 1--WE celebrated Washington q
birthday Friday)mus:cales, lectures
card clubs state fraternities ana
SO on galore The Ohio people
had their first meeting last Tues
day. fifty-five being present.
To go back little, we arrived
at Madeira in due time and as l
expected, our people went wild
with delight over that Paradise in
the Atlantic. If there is a fa:rer
spot on earth than the city of
Funchal, / have not yet heard
of it. 1t is Portuguese with a
sprinkling of English and Span
lsh and contains about fifty thous-
and people. All semi-Mopical
fruits and flowers grow here, and
the island is the mecca of inval-
ids. They say that a sick man
will live longer here than any
where else. and 1f perfectly well
man comes here, he will never die |
at all, or at least, only by acci-
dent.
But it is the very novel and in
teresting way OF doing things
that surprise and delight strangers
from the busy world outside. The
four queer methods of transpcr-
tation are first, the bullock sleds
Ia comfortable little vehicle on
runners with canopy top, seating
two people and drawn by pair
Of blocks); next the Funicular
which takes us up to the
top Of the mountain, 20O0 feet
above the city for a splendid view;
third, the toboggan slide, another
vehicle on runners seating two
and which slides down the noun
tain in few movements and
astly the hammock, in which one
can recline at ease being carried
around on the shoulders Of two
natives. al
Every hour of our stay in Fun
,hel was delightful beyond words.
A ball was given IN the Casino
n our honor and we all put on
,ur best clothes and went ashore II
N the tender at $3.50 p. m. When
We landed on the pier, line of II
vehicles stood waiting to take
Is to the Casino and Marion would
surely have smiled to see her con-
.;hgent going to the ball In bullock
,leds.
The Casino is magnificent H
building, quite as fine as the one
1t Monte Carlo, only smaller. The
ball room was superb hall and
IN either side, were rooms where
rambling is constantly carried on.
The tables were crowded with
men and women who had their
nerves under such good control, II
hat they seemed to win or lose
with equal nonchalence. The aris-
,ocracy of Funchal graced the
affair by their presence. but we
If the Arabic were proud of our
own crowd. None were better
yowned. or danced better, or
showed better breeding.
The next afternoon we bade
ldieu to lovely Funchal, and the
Arabic turned her PROV toward
Spain. Of which more later. II
OF course the shopping microbe
has entered the blood of the
Arabs" and we are already II
accumulating the inter-
,sting variety Of things that will
worry us from now until we get
past those vultures at the New
Ork CuStOm mouse.
We are naturally the objects of
attacks of all vender of any and
every conceivable thing from pos
tal cards to Madeira wine, for
the foreigners consider every
American who travels abroad to be
a Rockefeller. Speaking of postal
cards reminds me of the dire threat
made by the dignified attorney of
the Marion contingent yesterday.
Paraphrasing whittier, he said,
''The next can that offers me
postal card, dies like dog. March
on" +"
But not another instant re-
mains. l must now go in several
different directions at once. There
is too much going on, to miss any
bling. Addio.
ATI.EIrRO