Red Lodge daily news combined with Carbon County news., 1933-04-05
Prepared by National Geographic Society
Washington. d. C.-WNU Service.

prepared Dy NatlOnAI Ge0ETApuac SoChobys
Washington. ID. C.-WNU Service.
4 (ACAO, which has long been
MI one Of the gambling centers
Of the East. now. with mod
ern improvements, Is earning the
right to the sobrlquet "the Monte
Carlo of the Orient" 1t Is the only
place In the world where fan-tan
houses, opium factories and lottery
tickets finance a colonial govern
ment.
Macao is but the tip end Of the
Island Of Heungshan (also known
as Macao island). All of the island
except the tip belongs to China.
The Portuguese area. which In
cludes two small adjacent islands,
embraces less than a dozen square
miles; but there are few places In
the Orient where a dozen square
miles contain SO much of interest.
1t Is the oldest European settle
ment In the Far East and was for
long the only haven of refuge for
distressed mariners In the China
sea. It's modest lighthouse, on Fort
Guia. was the first that ever flashed
a beacon from the coast OF the Chi
nese empire, and Its little cemetery
was for many years the only spot
where a European might find an un-
molested grave.
Many wealthy Chinese live here,
not merely because they find the
climate more salubrious than that
of Kwangtune province, but be-
cause their heads rest more securely
on their shoulders here, under the
Portuguese flag. The Praia Grande
Ia a cool and restful emu and
leads appropriately to a plaza which
IL the vestibule of the grotto and
garden of Camoens.
The plaza is to be see at its best
on Sundays and holidays, when the
band from the Portuguese garrison
plays classical selections with the
same ease and perfection that en-
dear the Constabulary band to the
Filipinos. On such occasions the
plaza Is adorned with the elite of
Macao, with Chinese and Euraslan
children of the cunning type, and
with dark-eyed Portuguese girls,
who flirt ~dlscreetly (but none the
less effectively with the young Of
fcers from the garrison.
Scenes on the Plaza.
This romantic plaza In Macao
serves the traveller like a page torn
from q school geography.
Here, stalking grandly across the
square, one sees @ swarthy oriental
noncommissloned officer with his
head draped In a striped turban
and wonders what the Hindu Is
doing here. Some one explains that
he belongs here, that he belongs
to the battalion sent here from Goa.
the tiny Portuguese colony In India.
Then another apparition catches
the eye, the silhouette of a row of
ivory-black soldiers, topped off with
red fezzes, festooned over the rail
fence In front of the barracks.
Plainly they are not Portuguese, nor
Villain fsLx~.r
Suddenly one of the dusky sol
diers lays his head back and laughs
laughs loudly and long. The
Identification Is instantaneous and
complete; there is no mlstakinR
that laugh; II Is the same that you
hear on the Ievees of the Ohio and
the Mississippi. 1t was made In AT.
RIGA, and these are native troops
from a Portuguese colony some.
where along the hot, steaming
coast of the dark continent.
To those who have sojourned
among the frontier forces of the
French In the Senegal, Of the Brit
ish In Sierra Leone, of the Libe
rians at Monrovia, or of the Su,
danese on the upper Nile, the spec
tacle brings back old memories.
Where PortuauaI and China Meet
But these details are not for the
speeding traveller. He CLEANS the es
sential facts from a guidebook Ell
route; his all-comprehending eye
sweeps the landscape while thu
Hongkong-Macao boat ~leisurely
makes Its way up to the dock. where
the ~jinrikisha coolle is waiting Il
whirl him around the circuit ant
back to the gangplank. A stroll
past the grotto of the poet, a snap
shot of the imposing facade o
ruined Sac Paulo's, a brief glance a
a fan-tan game, a two-minute de
tour at the opium factory, ten min
utes at the %irecracker works,
whlrlwind finish at the Barrie
Gate, and Macao has been seem
at least on the average touris
schedule.
The Barrier Gate, designed lik
an arch of triumph and nov
wreathed by the branches OF veneer