Mr. William Roper lived in Scranton, a bustling and prosperous city in the Wyoming Valley of northeast Pennsylvania.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scranton,_Pennsylvania
Large numbers of immigrant workers for the mining, manufacturing, and railroad industries swelled the Catholic population of Scranton.
It seems that Mr. Roper was a member, perhaps a tenant, of the Catholic Club in Scranton.
(There are dozens of Catholic organizations for youth, recreation, music, spiritual formation, etc. that endure in Scranton; I have not found documentation of the “Catholic Club”.
In October of 1913, William received a postcard from “D. J. C. “
DJC seems to be enjoying a long ocean voyage.
The postcard was mailed from Madeira, an archipelago in the North Atlantic, -about 250 miles north of the Canary Islands.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeira
These islands were uninhabited until settled by the Portuguese in 1419, and Madeira remains an autonomous region of Portugal.
Today, the islands are a magnet for vacationers from Portugal, Spain, and Great Britain.
Interestingly, the postcard (written on September 26) was forwarded to England, and mailed to the US with an English stamp (on October 3).
The postal marker, “Paquebot”, indicates that the mail was transported to another port for mailing.
The face of the postcard is a beautifully-colored view of Funchal, the capital and largest city in Madeira.
The name, “Funchal” was given to this lush, forested valley because of the abundance of wild fennel that grew there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funchal
The lovely postcard image is copyrighted, but it is not clear who published the postcard.
On the reverse, the sender reports, “First land seen in eleven days”.
The traveler makes no comment about Madeira, but announces, “six days to Naples.”
It may be that Naples. and the Italian resorts on the Mediterranean, are the ultimate destination.
Mr. Roper preserved the postcard in very good condition throughout his life.
One hopes that DJC had a splendid trip, that he had occasion to share travel stories with Mr. Roper, and that the correspondents remained friends for many years.
