Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-29
ERUPTION ORIGIN
OF MADEIRA ISLE
Scene of Recent Landslide
Quiet Place of Perpetual
Summer.

Madeira, recently stirred by land
slide which killed number of natives,
owes its existence to violent volcanic
eruptions in the past. but the present
generation is unaccustomed to catas-
trophies" says a bulletin from the Ma
tional Geographic Society.
The quiet, peaceful atmosphere of
the island attracts health seekers. while
the perpetual balmy climate and pic
tureSQue scenery draw thousands OF
tourists from America and Europe. Even
in the towns there is no clatter Of steel
shod hoofs, rumble of cart wheels or
rafting and backfiring of automobiles,
Slide Through Madeira Towns.
Every boat which enters the harbor
at Funchal, capital and largest town on
the island is met by native boys who
anuse passengers BY diving for coins in
shark infested waters" continues the
bulletin.
But the thrill of short visit to
Madeira comes when the traveller
mounts a Madeira taxi on runners. II
time is short, two stalwart native boys
can show the sights of the capital in
a few hours, but the easy-going life OF
the inhabitants soon gets under the
skin of the visitor and the slow-moving,
bullock drawn sled, upholstered in red
green and yellow striped cloth, affords
a better opportunity to get acquainted
with the town.
up and down hills the animal plods
through narrow cobbled streets, Solidly
walled with spotleSsly white houses
Now and then the front of a building
is adorned with exhibits of Madeira
embroidery work. and through the door
~. IL III. - OF
terms. Before some of these girls have
reached their teens their needlework
has graced the tables and beds of some
of the finest homes in six continents,
for they begin embroidering as soon as
they are old enough to handle needle.
Shops Advertise in English.
"The Madeira milkman, bearing
pole across his shoulders with 5-gal-
lon can az each end, stops long enough
to watch group of tourists bump over
the cobbles. Dirty-faced boys. standing
among tall bags of fuel brush. smile
under small knitted caps with ear flaps
turned up toward fuzzy pompon.
Woman flower vendors, with a portion
of their merchandise bedecking their
thick, unbobbed hair, accost every pass
erby. Meanwhile f1at-topped sleds. piled
with furniture, brushwood, groceries,
wine casks and other movables, come
and CO.
Madeira belongs to Portugal and Por-
tuguese is the native language on the
island, but British and American money
is so attractive that signs in English
are frequently seen on shop fronts. One
reads "A cordial invitation is extended
to all Madeira visitors to shop here
Another invites visitors to Write your
cards here Most prominent of all is
a large sign extending over a portion
Of the street, which reads Please come
up (meaning up one of Funchal's hill
side streets for your real handmade
embroideries, American and British Gig
arettes and Madeira wine
Wine and Wicker Chairs.
most of the $4,000 inhabitants of
Madeira live In towns occupying mar
row lodges along the seashore. Behind
some of them sheer cliffs rise more than
1000 feet. Funchal, with 25 900 inhabi-
tants, occupies ledge at the head of
broad bay. but the hills In the back
ground, though steep, also are dotted
with white houses set amid flowers and
vegetable gardens, fruit trees and vine
yards.
Every tillable acre is cultivated in
farmers have terraced steep rocky hills
to increase crop production.
1.-THE roads through the mountains
are mere trails In many places the
hammock, borne by two bearers, is the
only transport that can be used Along
the trails men and women carry hides
filed with wine, sacks of potatoes and
wicker chairs to town. Frequently
man carries as many as 10 wicker
chairs clustered about his head.
"Stone-walled thatched-roofed huts
dot the Madeiran countryside. APP
preaching one hut, the groan and
squeak of the primitive, all wood, wine
press is heard as it brushes luscious
Madeira grapes. The barefoot occu-
pants of another hut deity weave
wicker into chairs which might ulti-
mately adorn American porches 1t
was in Madeira that the wicker chair
industry began on a large scale"