Evening star., 1916-04-16
iTTavelette
l4cNik|ah.
MonteyideO.


towns leave such clean-cut and pleas
ant impression with the traveller, and
that in spite of the fact that most of
Montevideo's visitors are fresh from
Buenos Aires.
There are three parts to Montevideo
as the natives speak of her-the old
town, the new town and the newest
town. The old town lies on tongue of
land thrust into the harbor. II forms a
sort of funnel for all the street car
lines that radiate out through the new
town and the newest town. The latter
parts are wide and sprawlng. and need
plenty of trolleys. and for some reason
the system is planned so that all cars
start from the old town. which is the
business and financial district. Add to
this state of affairs the fact that every
Cruguayan motorman takes a childish
or fiendish-delight in ringing his
bell steadily, whether there is any
thing In the way or not. and you see
that the old town section of Monte-
video is no place for a neurasthenic.
Careful questioning of the authorities
Will elicit the information that il IS
Illegal to run an automobile with an
open exhaust in the old town. 1t is
only by questioning that YOU would
ever find it out. open exhausts are as
common as flowers in spring. forming
A martial staccato to the threnody of
trolley bells. Here and there stands
an important traffic policeman adding
the shrill of his whistle to the general
excitement, but he seems to WELD moth
ing but moral influence. and very
little of that. The heart of Montevideo
is recommended to seekers after a
little healthy noise.
1t would be grossly misleading TO
dismiss the capital of Uruguay with
that dictum. Montevideo is one of the
most attractive of American cities Her
streets are wonder of cleanliness her
nat-foofed stone houses with their little
watch towers atop have about them
something indescribably hospitable and
homely. Her parks. her plazas her
public buildings. her theaters, all show
the national pride in doing things well
which small nation can focus on its
capital Her people are courteous and
merry; they manage to be formal and
democratic at the same time Just as
some cities seem to turn a hostile
shoulder on the casual visitor SO 9TH
ers, with the same cab fares and hotel
rates. seem to extend a friendly hand
Montevideo belongs to the latter class
Farallones.
| On clear day in San Francisco YOU
can see the ghostly tops Of the Faral-
iones etched on the western sky, too
steady and changeless for clouds, al
most too ethereal and bodiless for land.
Yet land they are and land of the SOL
idest and most uncompromising sort
There is a lighthouse on the FaraI-
lones and once in three months a gov
eminent tender pays them visit How
ever, ii is not absolutely necessary to
stay whole season. if you land on
the islands at all The big seagoinE
tugs that ply Off and on. waiting for
Ia tow. sometimes steam out to tho
10 cal lin 1op
climbs TO the highest point on the is-
land whence he sweeps the sea with
his glasses in search of an incoming
vessel. BY taking 4 passage on one
of these tugs you can land and wait
for the next one. which may come next
day or next week.
Having gotten a permit from the
lighthouse bureau. you steam across
tho bay, the harsh. rocky islands grow
ing clearer and more solid as You ap-
proach. There are three groups of the
Farallones. and two of them are still
under the undisputed sway of nature.
There is no landing place on their
iron. surf-beaten sides The sea birds,
circling and screaming, will have them
for an incontestable domain unless
somebody decides to establish an aero
plane station. The South Farallones.
where the lighthouse stands, boast a
strip of beach. There is not room for
large crowd Of surf bathers, for the
beach is only few feet long. but
there is enough of il to permit Il land
ing.
The FaralIones are inhabited by half
a dozen light keepers. 1900 ra bbits
and a million sea birds. The sea fowl
nest on the sheer cliffs that hang high
over the washing surf. Gathering their
eggs is one of the hazardous protes-
sions The men who rob the nests
make a perilous way down the face
of the cliff. surrounded by a protesting
cloud of winged folk. \ fall may mean
nothing worse than smashing a hun
dred eggs laboriously harvested. or 1t
may mean a plunge into the white
fanged breakers, with the chances
against escape.
The FaralloneS are most beautiful on
a clear summer night. There is a touch
Of blue fire in the wavelets, a dash of
salt spray in the breeze. The light
winks overhead, a huge guiding star.
The harsh fog siren. that squawks on
occa sion like a bird of i'll omen. is ST.
lent. You sit listening to the calm.
regular tick of the mechanism that
turns the light, while the keepers tell
tales of wrecks that drove ashore on
the very rocks at your feet.