Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-26
PONTA DELCADA AND
ITS WOUNDED NAME"
The Ocean Flight Emphasizes the
Need to Give the Isolated but
Exquisite Azores Their
Deserts


hnal n from their town are faithful
index Of civic sensitiveness Ponta Delgada,
IN the Azores, is in for an agonizing time.
No less than twelve different spelings of that
name have been current in the cables de-
scribiBg the Transatlantic flight. Pontadel
Gado Ponta belgrade and Ponta Delagada
rank among the dsrespectful prize winners.
Other errors have been subtler. When the
next batch of American newspapers arrives
the worst will be known.
Perhaps a few of the injured PontaI Del
gadanos will understand how it all hap
pcncd and be tolerant. The majority, how
ever. will doubtless be al loss to account
for the mudde. unable to appreciate how re
mote their well appointed and attractive
little city has been from the thoughts of the
ordinary dweller on this planet.
INDEED. until the other day the English
speaking world had chronic habit Of
forgetting all about the Azores. When it did
remember them il was TO laugh with Mark
Twain or to thrill with Lord Tennyson.
One of the most delicious passages in The
lnnorents Abroad" concerns the bewildering
currency tender in Portugal and her posses
SiOnS before the monarchy fell. Mark and
his fellow Pilgrim had enjoyed an excel
lent but not elaborate meal in Horta cafe.
The bill amounted {" many thousands of
'reis. Consideration ensued at the pros
poet that the memorable excursion would be
bankrupt almost at the outset.
However. investigation proved that the
coin in which the natives We're accustomed
to figuring their prices was worth precisely
one American mill and that what was appar-
emily hundred dollar glass of milk cost in
reality only dime
Following that vivaciolsly penned farce
is an admirable description of the islands as
! they appeared to the commentators keen
| eyes i'll the late sixties. But the penalty of
| humor is heavy one. Memory of the
| hilarious restaurant scene happily nbdes
| but just the same. there is a chance that
| Ponta Delgada wouldn't have been mis-
| spelled so often if many readers were not a
prey to the rcprehensible practice of roaming
! through Mark solely for the funny places
| Acquaintance with the vivid reporting Of
The lnnoccnts Abroad" would have cleared
! up many muddlc during the last exciting
| week Of transocean flying ventures.
Tcnnyson is a feeble prop. OF course, we
! all know that AT Flores in the Azores Sir
Richard Grcnvile lay" and we have thrilled
over that superb picture of the Little Re
venge' desperately battling against fifty
| three Spanish men ofwar But those pull
sating lines told us extremely little about
| the locale of the epic engagement inflicted
unauthorized accent on Flores and
made it difficult to pronounce the word
"AzorPs' correctly without wrecking the
! prosody. No. THE Revenge is not geo
graphically illuminating. Ponta Degada is
unmentioned. 1t took the air knights to
make its poor wounded name ring around
! the globe
| DOSSlBll if the war hadn't smitten cvili
zaton the charming metropolis of the
! archipelago might have been better served.
! Tourist travel TO the Mediterranean had come
| to include brief call at Ponta Delgada and
| there was in store for the traveller a series
| of agreeable surprises. He realized, often
enough for the first time. that the Azores
bore no relation to his fanced picture.
Isolated they are. 900 miles from Europe
to the east. more than 1900 from Newfound
| land. to the northwest. But their seasoning
| of civilization is just about sufficient to har
| monte with their Superlatiye natural charms
| and u climate that honestly deserves-as ours
! does not-the name of temperate. Some
| times the mercury descends to As or rises to
| S6. Luxuriant vegetation, without the occa
sona rankness of the true tropics, is the
| result
The trees bear banquet of fruits. - The
we'll titled and fertile fields supply most of
the necessities of life The Scenic investiture
is well nigh unsurpassed. The volcanic origin
of the group is responsible for mountains of
fantastic beauty. for health lgiving, hot
springs. for fascinating miniature geyserS.
Green hiIlsidcs descend clear to the waters
edge There are vistas in the archipelago
where the sea takes on the aspect of mighty
blue river contained within ma jestic banks.
COMING after an ocean voyage, the first
" view Of Ponta Delgada is positive en-
thantment. The impression is almost Nene
tian. The buildings. Kaleidoscope in their
hues seem to rise straight out of the harhnr
waters. Large steamers cannot anchor at the
shore The landing is usually made in har
bor rowboats and the traveller is carried to
| a well worn marble other stone stairway
which he mounts to the embankment, fanked
on one side by pink. blue or white ware
houses and commercial buildings, faced with
the decorative tiles that are so common in
Portugal.
The picture is very much like ones dream
of what is "foreign." North America can
show nothing like it. Its appeal is a com
bination of the Levantine and sunny lands
peopled by folk whose ancestors once spoke
Latin.
There is no need to be suspicious of the
native costumes They are not theatrical
like those of the Niagara Falls Indians. bu
authentcally worn. Among the quaintes
are the huge dark hoods of the women/
Fortunately discomfort does not go hant
in hand with picturesqueness in this in
stance There are motorcars for spin
through the lovely island of Sac Miguel-no
San Migvie, as the common msspeling has j
there are native hotels for those who enjo
y y tiled bedroom floors and eggs with tomatoc
! in the Portuguese fashion there is an abun
, dance of suave light wine; and for thos
fearful of foreign habtatiOns and harmon
izing food" there is Browns.
At least there used to be before the war
Rrown's surveyed the broad Atlantic fror
5 the crest of a high hill back of this engagin
| little city of II 900 souls, and no Devon
n shire could surpass its cotted cream nor tn
$ English cleanliness of its cool apartment
I and great downy beds.
e A brief trip in the surrounding countr