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Show Island of Madeira Place of Wonder Won-der and Enchantment. No Motor Cars to Worry One, No Noisy Street Cars, No Clattering Horses, But All Is Quiet and Peaceful in Beautiful Place. New York. Down in the Atlantic ocean about a week by steamer from New York there is one of the real garden gar-den spots of the world. There are no motor cars there with their accompanying accom-panying cutout fiends, no noisy street cars, no clattering horses all is quiet and restful. Flowers and fruit grow in abundance and everywhere one sees the beautiful tropical vegetation. There are no extremes of heat and cold, the temperature varying from 63 to 75 degrees de-grees the year around. On the map this place is labeled Madeira, but to the visitors from the liners that call there the little island is a place of wonder and enchantment. There is an attractive little story in connection with the discovery of Madeira. Ma-deira. Robert Machim, a nobleman without means, and Anna d'Arfet, a woman of noble birth, and also very wealthy, were sweethearts. Anna's parents bitterly opposed the union, for they had arranged a match between Anna and a wealthy and handsome young nobleman she detested. Just before the wedding was to take place the two sweethearts, assisted by some friends, left Bristol, their home, in a small vessel, intending to flee to France. But instead of reaching the French coast they were tossed about by a violent storm and after 14 days came in sight of a beautiful island. The little vessel was beached near where the village of Machio now is, and there Robert made his young bride as comfortable as possible. Before they could get all their belongings and stores to the shore the ship was wrenched from its anchorage and driv en away in the storm, leaving several of the crew with the unfortunate sweethearts. In this most rare climate, surrounded surround-ed by vegetation of all kinds, the little company began what they believed would be a happy life. But slowly the girl's health failed, and at last she died. Robert was prostrated with grief and in a few days he also died, leaving a request that a church should be founded in this place. The followers constructed a rude boat and put to sea, being driven by the wind to the Bar-bary Bar-bary coast, where they were taken prisoners. They told of the beautiful island they had found, and a fellow slave, Juan Morales, a skillful Spanish Span-ish seaman, being ransomed by his The French Type. Descendants of the original settlers of Maderia cling to the picturesque costume which becones them so well. sovereign, started to Madrid to carry the good news. But he was captured off the coast of Spain by a Portuguese navigator and carried to Lisbon, where the story of the island was told to Prince Henry. Immediately an expedition, was fitted out and the navigator was placed at its head. He landed at Madeira in 1419 and took the island in the name of Portugal. After performing sacred services at the graves of the sweethearts sweet-hearts he returned and later was appointed ap-pointed governor of the island and advanced ad-vanced to the rank of nobility. Madeira Ma-deira has been called "The Pearl in the Portuguese Crown," but as Portugal has no crown now, it probably being in some Parision pawnshop, the name no longer fits. |