New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-08-21

friend that he has in mind for best man, and
the two Of them must interview the girls
parents most solemnly as to the chances for
a wedding.
individuals exhibit striking contrasts in
their own persons. A man in clothes of the
season, wearing stylish collar and tie, may
be seen walking serenely down the street in
his bare feet; another comes along whistlng
Blowing Bubbles" and. driving pig. Inside
the shops the same thing is true. A glass case
may contain roots which were the original
medicine Of the islands, and next to them q
photograph of the Woolworth Building. In the
rear of the shop conversation in Portuguese
may be broken suddenly by the exclamation,
ooh, boyv' for seemingly the rc-idents find
American slang more expressive han any
thing which the Portuguese language can Of
fer. American names they are partial tO
also, and in their choice the proprietors are
not exactly modest. Only the signs oval
dorf-Astoria" and "Hotel Vanderbilt" sug-
gest the establishments of the same names
in New York
Nobody but oldtimer, however, could
see the potency of certain other contrasts be-
tween conditions as they are now in Ponta
Delgada, and as they were ten years ago.
When the oldtmer complains that it costs
SIS to buy good house in these times an
American is apt to be mystifed until he learns
that not great while back houses there were
selling for So and $40, and renting for so
cents a month-good houses, too.
The resident Of years standing is pleased,
on the other hand, at the disappearance of
the beggar, whereas newcomer from Amer
ica who has been unable to shake the beggar
in less than about four blocks of rapid walk
ing, is not SO sanguine, until he learns that
before the automobile came in, with speed
sufficient to outstrp him. the beggar was
accustomed to run alongside carriages literally
for miles. Able-bodied enough for this. he
and his family, nevertheless, were maintained
through generations by people who worked
for a living, but had the notion that beggary
was a virtue and to assist it was a blessing
For the growing belief in the efficacy of
work and the righteousness of industry the
influence of America again is responsible
Now the beggar gets ashamed of himself and
wants the courage to call at any particular
house for aims more than once week.
The future Of the Azores rests with the
young Orons and their playmates, who may
have the power to establish the islands still
more securely as a good halfway station in
the Atlantic, on the line between Washington
and Lisbon. Otherwise their future may be as
their past, for natural resources are lacking,
and the mountains, which look like violet
dream to the passengers on steamships at
distance, are no more than good grazing land
for cattle that too often gets tough and mus
cular from pulling carts before it is sold as
beefsteak.
Except for fantastic confusion of human
custorss the Azores remain what they were
when perchance an early Greek, driven far
out to sea, caught glimpse of their opales-
cence and in his wild tale of adventure called
them "the fortunate isles and the "limit of
lands" where a people more blessed than any
other lived at ease in magical country For
the traveller they are just a quaint group
of islands, carpeted from ocean to clouds with
trees and grasses and flowers, with water
falls tumbling down past windmills and cot
tages with red tile roofs, and swarthy fellows
coming out in boats to sell Strawberries as
large as plums and pineapples so cheap that
the hucksters of the water throw them at
one another in sport.