The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1911-11-22
QUAINT, BEAUTIFUL
LAND OF MADEIRA
Or. L. M. Coon Sends Descriptive
Letter of the >Quaintest Place
Ever Visited.
ATTENDS WEDDING OF NATIVES
He and His Party Attrack More At
ton in the Church Than the
Bride and Groom.


quite a visit in the states before en-
barking for Europe. The steamship
company has a very unique way of
keeping friends of the voyagers post
ed. After each landing the company
mails a cablegram to friends whose
addresses have been left at the New
York office. In this they tell of the
trips and show some views of the
places visited. The Review also re-
ceived a program which covers the en-
tire cruise. This shows there is to be
lectures, divine services, meetings of
camera club. dancing parties, card
parties, ETC., and means that the party
is not to have dull minute during
the entire voyage.
S. S. Cleveland
Madeira, Oct. 20, 1911.
Editor Review
To redeem my promise to write oc-
casionally for your valued paper, will
drop few lines now, so that it can
be mailed when we, reach Gibralter,
Spain. So far we have had a very
pleasant and comfortable journey. We
spent only a short time in Chicago,
stopped in Buffalo for a night and Wis
tied Niagara Falls; one night in Al
bany and stopped in a hotel near their
fine state capitol then took the fine
river steamer Robert Fulton" down
the beautiful Hudson, one hundred and
fifty miles to New York City. passing
West Point and many historic places
and many resident country places of
noted persons. We spent three days
in New York City, taking in every
thing from the Bronx to the Battery,
both above and under all the rivers,
visited Brooklyn, Hoboken, Jersey
City and all the principal places of
interest and then went on board the
good ship cleveland" which is to be
our home for the next four months.
Up to this point the journey has
been very commonplace, but from
New York City the scenes change and
one would need vivid imagination
and facile pen to portray the sensa-
ton and the delights and pleasures
of such a voyage. Here we are five
hundred people to live as neighbours
on strip around the earth. The
weather has been fairly pleasant and
few have been sea sick and only one
day have we had racks on the tables
to hold the dishes.
Yesterday morning all hands were
up early as we were to arrive at Ma
deira at TOO a. m. How, indeed, shall
l describe Madeira? To me it seems
to have been little piece Of rock and
soil broken off the great continent of
Africa and thrown out into the ocean
some five hundred. miles. In extent it
is 13x35 miles and is very rugged on
all it's surface; in fact, some OF it's
highest peaks reach six thousand feet.
Funchel, pronounced "Foon Shawl" is
it's capital and chief city, containing
$4,000 souls. 1T belongs to Portugal
and the governor general lives in a
great castle near the docks and SOL
diers guard it's walls and gates. Fun
chel is the quaintest and most inter-
esting city l have ever seen in all my
travels From the little harbor, where
there are fine docks for the shipping
the city lies back to the north and
east for miles and the houses are sur
rounded by cane and banana trees and
nestle about like SO many children's
play houses. The streets are very
narrow and are all paved with small
black pebbles set in cement and laid
in artistic designs. These rocks are
so small and rounding that it is very
painful to feet unaccustomed to so
rough and at the same time SO slip
perry surface. Palm trees and beau
tiful flowers are everywhere in pro-
fusion and the people are very friend
ly and cordial in their manner and
the wealthy class dress as we do,
while the poor go bare foot and al
most naked. The only means of rid
ing or hauling loads is by OK sleds or
with carriages with gaudy hangings
and canopied top and springs, but
with long runners in place of wheels.
The poor goat herder drives his herd
about the streets and milks his goats
as his customers require. At noon he
and his family sit on the stones and
eat coarse bread and drink the goat
milk. The shops are gay with the
handwork of the natives and women
go into ecstacies over the beautiful
hand-embroidered dresses and table
and bed linens The workers who eX,
ecute all this beautiful work receive
ten cents a day for their labor and a
beautiful white linen dress pattern
sells for one pound in English money
or $4.Sf in. United States money. Such
dress made up in America would
cost from $35 to SIS.
The water which falls and which
comes from the snow melting at high
attitudes above the city is carried to
the ocean In deep stone walled fumes
or channels which are spanned at each
street by stone viaducts built in 1887
and as yet show no signs of disin-
tegratiOn.
An English syndicate operates a
great sugar refinery here, and there
are many wine presses where the
celebrated Madeira wines are made.
This wine is very strong and small
glass will put almost any tenderfoot
to sleep for twelve hOurse with
bursting headac che at the close. IT was
the good fortune of myself and family
to get guide who spoke English and
German and he was resident Of Fun