Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-03-24
Geographic News
Bulletins by the
National Geographic Society
PICTURE CITY OF PORTUGAL

the WaSniis ton, ~ -, heoudu"
of the National Geographic Society. !
The bulletin says:
.oThis port of Portugal, which has
very aptly been called the kernel OF
the country, saw the commercial
pride of the Phoenicians and heard
the fervent prayers of Vasco da
CANA before he set out on his peril
Gus voyage in search of India, the
land which had lured n~avigators for
centuries.
'Lisbon's ancient name was Ulisi-
| DO which caused many Greek schol-
ars to try to connec it with the
wanderings of Ulysses, but the name
| probably originated from W Phoe-
| nician words meaning Pleasant Bay,
| which is made doubly plausible be-
| cause the mouth of the Tagus just
| beyond the city. widens into one of
! the best harbors in the whole OF
Europe.
A Mosaic of Conquests
1.-THE Romans knew Lisbon as
| Felicitas Julia, and it grew to be the
| second city in Lusitania, that fam
GUS district Of Hispania in the time
| of the Caesars. It's temple n the
atre ruins attest its occupation. Sue
cessively it has been seized by the
| Alans. the Visigoths, the Moors, ana
the Crusaders. The fact that the
inhabitants of Lisbon were tolerant
of the dark Moorish invaders is evil
denced in the coloring of the crowds
in the Lisbon streets today. The
kindly influence of the English CRU
saders who mingled with the Portu-
guese masses left it's mark too, and
has shown itself in the friendly re-
lations that have, practically ever
since, existed between the w ma
lions.
Men Of letters have sought out
the city for it's individuality and
beauty. which caused the ecstatic
Byron upon first beholding from the
bay it's terraced even hills to ex-
claim,
What beauties doth Lisboa first I'M
fold!
Her image floating on that noble
tide
Which poets vainly pave with sands
of gold
commercially the city has natur.
al advantages in it's harbor, which
can accommodate the largest vessels
and an advantageous position on the
Atlantic. At present it's trade IL
confined chiefly to exporting cork
wine, olive oil and tropical fruits t.
and importing coal, wood, corn, rice
and manufactured articles I from
England, Brazil and its own African
colonies.
A Medley Scene
"Along the Tagus vegetables
fruits and flowers are piled in higi
heaps to tempt the eager marketers
boats of every description from thu
dingy little fishing smack to thu
ladylike Atlantic liner are loading
and unloading their cargoes. and tn
fish peddlers who are to be seer
everywhere in the Lisbon streets ar
~raucously bargaining for their stool
in trade with the fishermen alonl
the wharves.
! .Then house above house in ever
ascending terraces the city prope
rises above the waterfront, it's whit
buildings cleaning in the sunlight
In the hills near the city there is
limestone as white and soft as chall
. which becomes hard upon exposur
building material. Many Of N
t buildings are faced with colore'
tiles, and others are washed pink o
blue, but there is a softnesS in tn
1 general impression nevertheless
: which is very pleasing. The old tile
: roofs which are warped and curvine
! with their grass-grown burrows ar
, delightful.
+, "The houses and streets in tn
6 greater part Of the city present
! spick and span appearance, blu
some Of the older portions of tn
city are not only rustic in appear
ance, but are dirty. Morning an
evening the milkman drives hi
l 49,, x,1,,r %ho cfeaaf- nn1 Cntfc
fies the housewives mind that hi
: wares are fresh by milking her pa!
full while she waits. One ardeI
civic improvement enthusiast as lat
8 as 1885 put up a plea that the inhat
s itants be forbidden to lbreak thel
/" horses, to kill or SINCE their pigs
+? the streets or to tie them to thei
doorknobs, as such things rattle
$ annoyed the inhabitants.
King Dimes as City Riots
1.-THE government houses are ]
the Praca do Commerce. aroun
Black Horse Square, nicknamed frol
an equestrian statue of King JOSEPH
l. which opens out toward the waite
Rolling Motion Square, so calle
from the wavy mosaic of its pave
IS ment, is the business district. We'
d from the center of the city stand
the Palace of. the Necessidade
where on a night in October, 191'
King Manoel III entertained a ga
party of Brazilians at his last me;
in his realm. While the dinner ws
at it's height word was brought
I, him that revolution had broken GU
=; He went calmly on with the Dime
40 scribbling on a menu card hat tt
courses of the meal were to
served as expeditiously as possibl
and not until the shells struck II
palace walls did he rise from IL
table.
Lisbon has one possession
~ which any city could be proud.
u is the monastery of San Jeronyn
which, lin the beauty Of its marble
porphyry, Jasper, jade, lapis lazu
its mosaics, and its inlays, is said
be unoxcelled except by the Sistil
p Chapel in Rome. On the site the
DIS originally stood a hospice and chap
IS built by Henry the Navigator f
o. sailors. Here on the night of July
m 1897, Vasco da Cana retired to pr,
ry earnestly for the success of the vo
of age on which he would embark
IL the next day. Here, too, the xii
ss made a vow that if he were success
ed full a~noble temple should be bui
and when the famous adventurer r
is turned the first stone of the prese
- h,tI1ir,or u,oS laid