White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1927-11-11
WHERE FLYERS ALlGHT
AND CABLES RADlATE
The Azores Important Com
munication Center.

w
der tried to fly across the Atlantic
and dropped into the sea near the
Azores she failed in her purpose but
emphasized the increasing Importance
of the Azores as mid-Atlantic COM
munication center, says bulletin
from the Washington Cd. C) head
quarters of the National Geographic
society.
"And within the Azores group Fayal
is the most important so far as con-
tact with the outside world is con-
cerned. Sac Miguel is larger, and
Augra, the capital on Terceira, is a
better port than Horta, on Fayal.
"But Fayal is the communication
hub of the Atlantic, with spokes
reaching out to Europe, the two
Americas, and Africa. On Fayal is
land there are four cable companies,
two American, one English and one
German. There are more than $50
young news pushers,' as the dispatch
ing operators are called, and each
group has its own mess.
ARRIVING at Fayal in the daytime
one sees a ribbon of road around the
island, and the whitewashed villages
with a church for a pendant among
the ivory bits that are strung along
this 35-mile circular tour. Out near
some detached rocks near the west
end there is a lighthouse which APP
pears at first to be minaret. From
there to Horta, the town, is steep
declivity several hundred feet high so
that the road has to sweep up to avoid
washing itself to death in the glis
tening surf.
"Amid smiling seas the Azores, from
November to March, usually wear a
cloud blanket so that the fine cone Of
Pico, which sounds like Orange Pelloe
but simply means peak is hidden as
an approaching ship swings to the
north. Pico has separate island to
itself and since Pico is an active vol
cano, this is as it should be.
The "Fairy Town of Horta."
"Twilight had fallen when the writ
er's vessel finally came alongside the
fairy town of Horta, now made up of
white blotches against dark hillside
with electric lights, hiding the details
like the nuns candles during the
change of scene in THE Miracle
Horta is not really port, since it
lacks green light to complement the
red one on the end Of the single
breakwater. So passengers land in
launch which losses up and down in
the swell and gives the folks thrill
for their money.
"a Portuguese, with wide-brimmed
fuzzy hat, V-neck white sweater and
sideburns, ran the launch. He took
q liking to us and showed us around
the town which, like certain flower,
had folded itself up with the setting
of the sun.
"Horta's chief claim to fame seems
to be that Mark Twain and the cable
companies have honored it with their
attention. Mark said something about
THY fort here which would have to
be taken back up the volcanic slopes
before the Azores were the alighting
spot for transoceanic flights
'Horta greets one with mosaic
sidewalk in the Portuguese style, and
many of it's buildings are faced with
glistening tile so that as one walks
down the street at night he seems to
be threading his way along some pc
culiar bathroom in an old Mogul pal
ace or a Chicago boarding house.
"The street, as we walked down 1t,
and passed so many churches that
Horta seemed to be the Bokhara of
the Catholic world, was being used
for sentimental purposes, for Horta
has it's nightly rehearsals of the bal
cony scene from Romeo and Juliet
The balconies are narrow and long,
looking like sample bits of steel fence
hung up on display.
In Horta Movie"
"Our side-burned mentor took us to
movie theater fronted with salmon
tiles. We secured box in the lower
of three horseshoes around which the
town was arranged. If the social
strata maintained their same relative
positions at home that they do in the
theater, then the Horta palaces would
be down near the sea and the lowlier
and more grimy members of society
up near the lava line above the main
part Of the town.
fn nbnr he oJN
island of Fayal is marked out with
blue-and-white hydrangea hedges and
is one of the loveliest spots on earth,
with sometimes smoking Pico Full
yamaing' in the background.
"The Azores are certainly the re-
suit of tremendous volcanic eruptions
that have continued to change their
physical aspect ever since their dis
covery in the Fifteenth century. On
every hand are evidences of former
upheavals, from the gray lava stones
that are used In the construction of
houses and the building of roads to
the underlying streaks of ashes that
are visible in places where the sur
face soil has washed away, and the
many cup-shaped craters and beauti-
full lakes on the tops of the noun.
tains.
"Violent earthquakes have disturbed
the Azores during the centuries since
their discovery. The annals of the
island vie with those of Italy in
graphic accounts Of the ever-interest-
ing and terrible volcanic phenomena.
Cities were buried mountains dsap-
peared and sent their ashes to unbe
lievable distances; islands hundreds
of feet high suddenly appeared and as