Goldsboro weekly argus., 1909-03-11
A Letter That All the Argus
Readers Will Enjoy.
MIR. Henry We'll On the High Seas
Writes Most EntertaiDiDgly and
InstruCtiVely OF His Voyage
and the Passing of the
American Fleet on
the high Seas.
On Board S. S. Grosser Kurfurst,

-
Saturday, Feb. 19, 1909.
My Dear sJoe Argus:
It had not occurred to me to write
YOU letter for publication. Yet after
spending such a pleasant and instruc-
tive day at F'unchall yesterday it
would seem too selfish not to let our
friends share in the pleasure Of our
trip.
So far we have had a delightful trip
After the second day out from New
York the weather was SO mild that we
did not require any wraps on deck,
and with the exception Of a north
wind for a few days, which caused our
ship to have a rolling side motion
which, however, is very soothing. We
may say that our steamer behaved
remarkably we'll; none Of our party
were seasick: in fact, very few Of the
passengers were.
The North German Llyod Steamship
Company had prepared for 45O per-
sons for the excursion, but the pas
senger list disclosed some less than
and excellent service on board.
Most of our travelling companions
are very sociable, and this enhances
the pleasure of our trip. But for the
social life on board, it would have
been rather monotonous, since we
saw but one vessel-not far from New
York-excepting our battleship feet
homeward-bound, which we met about
midway between New York and Gil
braltar, and indeed it was quite an
event. We were in communication
with it the day before. Our captain
changed our course nearly 100 miles
south, as all on board our steamer
were anxious to see it. And it was
indeed, a sight worth seeing. They
passed US in a double column of eight
in a perfect line, and each ship equi-
distant from the other. They seemed
to have the proper ballast to ride the
waves perfectly steady. We were
probabl7 1900 yards from the neares
column, therefore we could not have
had better reviewing stand.
Had it not been for the Maroon
wireless we surely would have missed
this never to be forgotten spectacle
We wished them a safe journey home
and Admiral Spnrry thanked US fo1
our greeting in the name of his off
GERS anu crows.
Yesterday morning at 10:30 We
landed at Funchall, the principal tow1
of the largest of the Madeira Islands
On approaching it took it for a darl
cloud rising distantly from the water
though as we drew nearer we recog
nized the rocks, rising almost per
pendicular to a great height, proba
bly, 1900 feet. AS you draw closel
to the island you can see great dea
of verdure, which mingled with the
Oring in the sunlight.
AS you approach Funchall, which
lies on d semi-circular bay, the pano
rama disclosed is wonderful and man,
travellers consider it a perfect para
disc. The town is nestled around tht
The houses on the mountain slopes
are surrounded by luxuriant growth'
of verdure and are terraced for full.
two miles on the steep grade.
The principal products of the sol
seem to be sugarcane, olives, banana
and other tropical fruits, but princi
pally grapes, from which the cele
brated Madeira wine is made. In tn
way of manufacture you find nothin,
made by machinery, as this is a typi
cal old Portuguese town several hun
dred years behind the times. The in
dustries consist of the manufacture o
willow chairs, baskets and skindre,
4 articles made of reed, lace making b,
hand also hand embroidery seems t.
be largely done by the women.
We anchored about one-half mil
from the quay and landed on steam
tenders in groups of about 25.
One of the most novel experience
was our ride through the town AM
up to the mountain road station Il
bullock sledges. Each s1edge i
drawn by pair of bullocks and tn,
capacity of each is four passengers