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Show ' (ME liswr Bay of St. Anns. Cane Breton. Bill (Frtpand by th National Oeosrsphlo So cltty. WMhlng ton. D. C ) Close to home, yet less known to Americans thnn mnny parts of Europe, Capo Breton Island, n pnrt of Nova Scotia, Is far from being tho "few acres of snow" thnt Voltnlro contemptuously dubbed It In tho dnys when Franco nnd Englnnd were nt ench other's throats over It. It Is bnrely nn Island, and for til practical purposes may bo considered consid-ered the easternmost point of Canada's mainland. Terhnps many who hnve not seen this land think of It ns Voltaire did, but It has Its fruitful apple orchards and a thriving general ngrtculturc, nnd growth Is remnrknbly ntpld, onco vegetation vege-tation Is started. It has, too, all the Ingredients for Industrial success In this "Steel Ago" Iron ore, conl nnd limestone. And, unlike those of tho competing Iron-producing regions of North America, Cape Breton's materials materi-als are at the water's edge, wherp tho finished product can bo hnndled most cheaply. Tho ports of Cape Breton nro closer to Europe and Afrlcn by hundreds of miles thnn nny others on tho North American continent; nnd, surprisingly to thoso who hnve not closely studied their mops, the dlstnnce from Cope Breton to Itlo dc Janeiro Is less thnn thnt from New Orleans to llio. A less mntcrlnl but Important nsjet of Capo Breton Is Its scenery nnd climate. cli-mate. Relatively few American tourists tour-ists hnvo "discovered" tho Island yet, but thoso who hnvo swear by Its cbnrm. Its summers nro plensnntly cool nnd Us winters, thanks to tho proximity of the Gulf stream, relntlvo-ly relntlvo-ly mild. A principal pleasure fenturo and beauty spot Is tho Islnnd's Inland sen, the beautiful Bras d'Or lukes, a paradise for yachtsmen. Capo Breton's history Is old nnd full. Undoubtedly her coasts were frequented frequent-ed by Norweglun rovers ns early ns the Tenth century, nnd wo even hnve it on the outhorlty of the Flemish geographers geogra-phers thnt the lslnnd wns discovered nnd named by Basque llshermen, who crossed the Atlnntlc In pursuit of wholes n hundred yenrs beforo the voy-ages voy-ages of Columbus. John Cabot's Landfall. It Is from the voynges of tho Cnbots, however, thnt Cupo Breton dates her history. .Tho highland to tho north of tho Island Is now generally agreed to hnvo been the landfall of John Cnbot the first sighting of North America of which we hnvo record. Peter Mnr-tyr's Mnr-tyr's uccount of tho voynge of tho younger Cnbot In 1493, when tho lslnnd ls-lnnd wns clnlmed In tho nnmo of "Kyng Henry," shows thnt n landing wns made on these northern shores at lenst a year before Columbus touched upon tho mitlnlnnd or tho continent. Standing far out In tho Atlantic, the most eusterly extremity of the Dominion Domin-ion of Canada, Cupe Breton owes much of her colorful history to her geogrnph-leni geogrnph-leni position. She reaches out Into tho ocenn trade lunes, tho landfall of west-bound shipping today ns In tho time or the Cabots. Two centuries ugo her commanding position with referenco to the trade of the St. Lawrence and the West Indies made Capo Breton nn Issue In world politics, uu issue sometimes disturbing the penco of Europe and upsetting tho treaties Of the powers. The fortunes of tho llttlo Island, now under tho red cross of. St. Georgo, now under tho gold Hires of France, nre a pnrt of tho continent's history the grenter pnrt of It n wnr history. Tho story of Loulsburg, n fortress 25 years In the building, at a cost of six millions of dollars moro thnn four times thnt sum In the vuluo of our money-Its two Bleges, nnd its flnnl demolition, Is tho best-known chapter of Cape Breton's history. Tho rortress became not only tho base of French navnl power In America, Amer-ica, but, with outlying posts nt St. Peters, Ingonlsh, nnd St. Anns, the resort of privateers thnt Infested the Jew England coast nnd the lmvon to which fhey conveyed tlleh- upolls. Upon tho outbreak of war between France and Englnnd, In 1741. to tho colonists or 5lasnrhusotts and New Hnmpkhlro tho reduction or this stronghold wns n highly attractive; jnjroject. Capture of Loulsbura. The (list siege and capture of Loulsburg Louls-burg by Ho little band of Now Eng-aiiil Eng-aiiil mll.t'.iiuen under Pepperell, with tho Bitt'sh West India fleet under War- rcn, probably foreshadowed ttuju-Br' lenn Involution. ""toM,!: With the closing of thts tihntW'" Atlnntlc prlvutcers, "marine Imam-H" on Anglo-Amerlcnn vessel, fell uBsr' onco from 80 to 12 per centP SiIBbT scqucntly the lslnnd wns restored u H!? France, and agnln the fortune of i0 Bf mndo It permanently a British M ft session. BlUi Tho giant fortress of Loulsburr m Bjf demolished In fuvor of the neslj f Hj titled bnso nt Halifax a mlllUrj B" ccsslty that Is deplored by thatlsltoc "' of today. Bv And yet In nit Its desolation. '' thrills to tho glory of Its past. Hei tt' oro tho remains of the Dauphin's p:(; Uff, yonder can bo traced tho bomb-prooi H, casements of tho king's Bastion, i:i V ' on ono of these grassy mounds stool Bf tho citadel, where fair ladles anil pi- B lant gentlemen of Franco graced tti B!L grand ball on that fateful ere ot B PcppcroH's arrival In Gabaras Bay. B Not until 1784, when the Island b WJ enmo temporarily n separate colooj, Bj with Its own governor, were granu ot BJi land to settlers pcnnltted. To It Is B? tho Into ypars of the Eighteenth tad Wr, tho opening of tho Nineteenth eta- HV! tury came a great number of MrJj H? Scottish settlers. In this way theU-Br land became "ns Gaelic ns the most Br Gnellc part of Scotland." ThwikBj? thero are considerable French Acsdlw BL i settlements, a more or less cosmopol- W Itnn population In the vicinity of the " mining districts, and many descend-B nnts of tho old United Empire Lcjil- 1st stock, tho F. F. V.'s of the prm- lnccs, Cape Breton Is still predoal-U" nnntly Highland Scottish la Its W Br ulntlon. B Tho finest scenery In the Msrltloi Br provinces Is to bo found In northers Br" Capo Breton nnd through the 1ot!j Bras d'Or Lake region of the Interior. Bras d'Or Lakes. H Most striking of the Island's physical features Is this Inland sea, known la Bf Its two sections ns the Great od Dt- V tlo Bras d'Or Lakes. Widening onl'BB from Its two Atlantic entrances, It Bh extends In Its 450 square miles of area through tho henrt of the Islsnd- Bfa nearly a thousand miles of Interior BJ coast-lino bordering nil four counties flf I nnd forming In enchanting succe Wide harbors. Island-dotted bays, tnl BF deep fjord-llko channels. A ship ? at historic St. Pctors, across the w BP Indian portago of Nicholas DenTJ time, connects tho luko waters win BM tho Strait of Canso. I, Tills Inland wntorwny wns of F BP strategic value to the French, as tt s v later period tt was a valuable tneJJ p of transportation Indeed, the W m means of transportation nt flrt- tho Hlghlund Scottish settlers, w BT duy It affords ensy nccess mw markets of tho Sydney for the rn pr ers of tho Interior, no less thin r natural playground for tho pW( BL the Industrial centers. K Tho drive nloug the north Hon r of Cape Breton Is surpassingly ""' BL Landward there are ever the "' h nenr nnd remote, tho green tn" Bf of rarmlnnds uboundlng In mil B, Celtic hospitality; seaward the a . lontlc, nnd In the distance, slic BL of tho ocenn, towers "Smoky. flT, Onco seen, th'o view looking w pr ward from Smoky Is never forgo wj v Headland nfter headland in ou' ML reaching out to tho eastward, P' JL cliffs duxzllng whlto against tne h, tnnt blue, nnd, 1,200 feet below, BC long roll pf tho Atlantic. K |