Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-25

ia elB9Wnero on tno Mhsbdcuu-
setts coast are sometimes sur
W@ prised to learn that many OF
their Portuguese neighboIs
never saw the mainland Of Portugal.
but are Azoreans of island ancestry
sometimes centuries old, F. N. Vallan-
digham writes in the Boston Evening
Transcript. When the Portuguese re-
public was set up Its enemies were
not slow to annoy the new govern
ment by stirring dissatisfaction in the
Azores. and some Azoreans here fall
that the time had arrived for the
United States to annex the Islands
Nobody treated the suggestion very
seriously; perhaps 1t was hardly ex-
pected that anybody would, and after
q few mild demonstrations of discon-
tent, the Azoreans seem to have aca
copied the Portuguese republic with
resignation IL not with satisfaction.
AS a matter of fact the Azores will
celebrate this spring the seventeenth
anniversary of their attainment OF lo-
cal seIfgovernment. In the winter OF
1S94-5, Portugal, while-still maintain
ing the islands as province of the
kingdom, yielded to an oft repeated
demand for larger local autonomy, and
granted permission for the official dis
play of an Azorean flag in honor of
the concession.
In designing that flag the islanders
took a Lesson from us, but the Azor-
can banner, even more than the stars
and stripes, symbolizes the history
and political relations of the land. 1t
Ia a blue flag bearing white hawk
and nine stars, an emblem that pro-
claims the group to b, OF nine chief
islands lying in the main blue ocean.
and bearing a name derived from the
Portuguese word for hawk, "acor.
with the soft &C." which in English be-
comes e." AS matter of fact the
Azores are our nearest neighbor~ on
! the east between this coast and Eu,
rope. Corvo, the nearest of the ISL
ands. is about two-thirds the distance
from Boston to Lisbon. The summer
isotherm of 10. which cuts Boston.
runs only a few miles north OF the
Azores, though the islands are about
In the latitude of Baltimore. The win
ter isotherm of go almost touches the
most southerly of the group. Gagged
between these two isotherms. the
Azores have an equable climate. Ly
ing In the track of vessels bound for
the Mediterranean, these islands are
visited by many liners bound for the
Italian ports, and thousands OF Ameri
can tourists have touched at Fayal
but hardly one In a thousand of such
tourists knows any others Of the
group.
Islands Acquired by Portugal.
During some centuries all knowl
edge Of the Azore- was lost wen tc
Europe. An Arabian geographer ol
the twelfth century described them as
densely peopled. and hazarded. the
guess that they had been known Il
the Carthaginians. Upon mai
mad. in 1851 the three groups con
stituting the archipelago appear as s-the
Goat islands, the Dove islands ant
Brazil island Ono Of the puzzles o
geography is found in the legends o.
| Brazil island, which was variously 10
Gated. and which finally gave name. Il
the vast American empire OF Portugal
IT Is said that Dutch merchant ad
yenturer, driven out OF his course
chanced upon the islands In 1899. ant
reported them upon touching at Lis
bon. with the result that a Portu
guese expedition was sent out to TAX,
possession of them in the name of tn,
crown. Another story is that Don
Henry OF Portugal. surnamed the
Navigator, mousing over the map
that he loved SO well. found the isl
ands laid down. and dispatched an ex
ploring expedition to and them.
At any rate, one Cabral, a Portu
Ruese navigator, did reach the Azores
| In 1432, and some time later SaI
Miguel, the island that he visited. wa
officiaily proclaimed Portuguese terri
tory. Soon after the middle of tn,
century all nine OF the islands ha,
been rediscovered. but nobody guess
cd that they were one-third the wa.
to a vast unknown continent BY tn,
| time Columbus made his first voyag
| to America the Portuguese had mad,
| a fair start ut colonizing the Azores
In the nearly 500 years since ath'
Portuguese began rediscovering tn,