Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-08

YI1d interests OF
"a France, England and Amer
wv lea now bent over a game
called Atlantic Ocean-hav-
ing been specially invited
thereto by our Post ONCE Department
which has asked for bids for an air
mail service to Europe, to begin in
June-the general public is inclined to
do its map gazing at two groups OF
fixed pawns, called Bermudas and
Azores. the problem of European base
being regarded as mere incidental. j.,
II a dot named Lisbon is thought OF
at all it is in connection with the Yep
pelin, which passed over without stop
ping. and the DO-X, which got its wing
singed there and was obliged to change
its objective. People are apt to forget
that the original crossing Of the At
lantic, achieved by the Nays flying
boat NC-4, back in 1919, was to the
Portuguese capital.
Lisbon is the nearest harbor, the near
est city of Europe. situated just inside
the Continents western Lands End.
That 1t happens to be on the same lati-
tude with Washington (one-tenth OF
degree actual difference) is mere curl
Gus item of geography: but the fact
that the Portuguese capital, lying only
$50 miles due east of the Azores, is
their capital as well. makes Lisbon
route. The metropolis on the Tagus
seems destined to be factor in our
picture from now on.
Lisbon the City.
Which in itself seems strange. For,
10 the average American. Lisboa-as
the Portuguese call it, with the accent
on the boa" which means beautiful"
is the least known capital this side Of
the Balkans. And Lisbon happens to
be one of the sights of the world. her
aided scenically. as you approach that
western Lands End, by an upburst of
purple peaks; the Sierra de Sintra-
"Cintra's Glorious Eden" as Byron
terms them in his long rhapsody on
the subject in the opening canto of
"Childe Harold"
Under the southern lee, Of these
cragged yet luxuriantly fertile heights
of fancy, the Portuguese Riviera SER
pentines along, right into the mouth
Of the Tagus. Then presently, on the
north bank, commanding a section
where the blue river broadens out into
a great inland lake rise sensational
hills Of houses. Mansions, apartment
buildings, palaces, churches, converts
Granite and marble; stucco tinted in
all shades of the pastel-box, with here
and there the CLINT of glazed tiles. And
n
chrome metropolis scrambling fantasia
cally uphill and down dale over ter
rain which looks as though 1t had been
laid out BY roller-coaster designer
Out in the blue river-and the writer
has never seen one quite as blue-naval
vessels and a training frigate are
anchored. Brown-sailed fishing boats
with painted hulls float by lazily, color
fully: some of them bound for Lisbon's
Gel fyzf~ vww~f1n I~.
full and, in some instances, strikingly
pretty women known as Ovarinas. in
picturesque costumes, load them into
scoop-shaped head baskets for peddling
through the town.
Earthquake Of 1555.
Liners go no farther than the Alcan-
tara water front, with its new docks
and ship basins, where, despite other
modernities, coaling Is still done with
hand baskets because Of the cheapness
of labor To see the main show Of
Lisbon one must take a ferry, prefer
ably the railroad one which makes the
25-minute voyage" across the lake to
Barriero, where trains await for points
south and east, with a castle crowned
hill as the stations scenic backdrop
From this boat Lisbon. rising from
the water, has the aspect almost of a
dream city or perhaps Laputa out of
CULVER. In the immediate foreground
a vast square, 200 yards broad, with
handsome arcaded buildings on three
sides and an equestrian statue in the
center, backed by a large triumphal
arch-this grandioSe Praca do CONNER
clio constitutes as fine formal entrance
TO the city as the eye could desire. And
It has every right to look proud; for 1t
Is the symbol of Lisbon's resurrection
after the earthquake, which, in TITS,
destroyed nearly the entire city-at that
time one Of the richest of the world
Forty thousand people lost their lives
IN the space Of few minutes-20 times
rs many as at Pompeii; the shocking re-
ports OF the disaster creating a profound
effect all over the world. It was out Of
this wrack and ruin that the city, which
was thought to be done for forever. un
oertook an ambitious program along
modern (for those days. city planning
lines; the energetic Marquis de Pombsl,
using his coach as tent and field Office
created the new layout and spurred on
the work. The result was this square
and new gridiron Of straight, unprere-
dentedly broad thoroughfares laid nut
IN the C1dade BaiZa or Low Town"
q. e., downtown" in every sense of the
word, which here cuts through Lisbon's
parade Of hills with a long division
winch extends clear out into the coJIn-
try-the course which todays sururbia
has taken.
But Black Horse Square" as British
sailors christenfd 1t for all time
Though horse and rider have turned a