The Nome daily nugget., 1936-05-30

uc liners stop at the AZOrlan cap
 ltal. Ponta Delgada and Horta
 with their adequate artificial break
 waters, are havens for ships In neet
 Of fuel, provisions, or repairs
 Cruising ships crossing the Norti
 Atlantic now and then include tht
 Azores on their itinerary.
 To the quarter of a million Azor
 lans their temperate, agrlculturally
 productive archipelago is com.
 pete little world In itself. For
 their food supply these islanders
 are practically independent of lands
 beyond. They produce their own
 cereals, vegetables, fruits, meat.
 milk, butter, cheese, and eggs. They
 make sugar from the beet, spirits
 from the sweet potato, press their
 own grapes into wine, roll their
 Own' tobacco, "curl their own" tea.
 Their seas abound in fish.
 Their buildings are constructed
 from the volcanic basalt of the is-
 lands. Furniture Is made from na-
 tive woods. They manufacture linen
 from home grown flax and woolen garments from sheep's wool. Lux uries are imported, chiefly from the Portuguese mainland; but should every ship sailing these seas I fail to call at the "Western is- lands' the Azorlans could survive. Ponta Delgada's religious festival In honor of Santo Cristo dos Mill agres (Our Lord of the Miracle), Is one of the Azores most striking feasts to tourists. The devout wor- ship an image called locally "Sant' Crist'." This image, revered for nearly 400 years, is remarkable for the number of precious stones with which 1t Is adorned. When a na- tive of Sac Miguel prospers In the New world, a portion of his first savings is usually sent to his be- loved Sant Chris.
 The festival Beginx' vp Thurs day with tho arrival in town of farmers bringing 5d nesu v4 aat. tie to be slaughtered as meat for the poor. Banners wave; rockets shoot skyward in broad daylight; a band plays.
 Worship With skyrockets.
 On the following day the meat, with bread, is blessed and distrib- uted. On Saturday the sacred im- age is conveyed with ceremony from its home In an old convent to the Church of Esperanca (hope), next door. That night thousands kneel before 1t. Not only from the rural district of Sac Miguel, but from the neighboring island of Santa Maria, worshipers flock to the capital.
 The facade of the church glows with electric lights, adjacent build ings on the public square are H. luminated. and line of flaming arches stretches across the streets. There Is a band concert, with fire works and rockets, the latter be-. ing closely associated with religious ceremonies in all Portuguese lands.
 On Sunday afternoon comes the procession, when the image, accom- panied by the clergy and hundreds of laymen, is conveyed through the city and back to the convent. Men and women of distinction, of the middle class, of the peasantry, all Embroidered hangings drape balconies. The streets are strewn with incense (Plttosporum) leaves, aromatic fennel, and fresh blossoms. All kneel as the Image, under It's canopy of native-made feather flowers, Is borne past.
 One Is disappointed that so few old native costumes are to be seen on the streets during those festival days, but glad that one, at least, still survives. It is the capote @ capello. distinctly Azorlan. the wom- ans long, dark-blue cloth cape, cir cular in shape. with large hood of the same material, resembling a coal scuttle. It Is amusing to sea two capotes stopping for q friend ly gossip. The scuttlers meet and only gesticulating hands are visible.
 The shrOuding of the woman's head and shoulders Is relic of cen turies of Moorish rule on the Ibe- rian peninsula. This particular gar ment may be of Flemish origin. brought by early colonists from Flanders. Some Azorians believe 1t owes Its being to the period when these islands were ruled by Spain.
 The hood is not always the same. heinz larger on the islands of Santa Maria and Sac Jorge. more stlffen- ing with buckram and whalebone fin Fayal. The young moderns scorn 1t: but, conservative. convenient. protective, and long-lived, 1t Is still worn by some of the older women. especially for early mass. If the wearer happens to see somebody on the street whom she wishes to avoid, presto! the hood Is pulled .--."~- 'n-ward and she Is within