The Grand Haven news. [volume] (Grand Haven, Mich.) 1858-18??, 1861-03-06

and storage, while the remainder is de-
voted to the legitimate uses of dwelling
Il speak now of first class houses.
Many of the houses Of the poorer classes
are built with the same ground plan, but
of one story, the front for the dwelling
and rear for stables, and very many of the
poorest class live in holes dug in tho
earth. l do not recollect that / have
seen frame or wooden house in Spain.
Timber and lumber is brought from
Russia, about the Black Sea, from Swee-
den and Norway, and, of course, on &C
count of its expense, is little used in even
seaport towns, and none at all in the in
terror, since Spain has no rivers, aud it
can not easily be carried on the backs of
mules. In the best as well as in the
poorer houses the floors and halls are of
brick, or porcelain, or marble. The doors
and sash, and rafters, only are of wood.
You can form some idea of the price of
lumber when l tell you that ship mas
ter, who had put in here with his fore
mast gone, paid $500 for a new one fifty
eight feet long. A saw mill would be a
fortune to man here, provided he could
get logs TO SAVIOR such complete dearth
of timber and wood / never could have
believed possible, except l had seen my
self. Not one tree, except those under
cultivation, can be found on plain, valley,
hill or mountain.
For purposes Of cooking coal is used.
Fires for comfort, in the interior, are made
of charcoal, made of the residue of oil
ives, after pressing out the oil. This
charcoal is lighted in Jrasero," copper
vessel of about the size of an ordinary
milk pan, which is again placed in nice
standard and can be carried from room to
room, where wanted.
You would have been amused could
you have seen the management for saw
ing the woody stalk of the prickly pear
(Which here grows to an enormous
height,) for fuel for such invalids as re-
quire a fire. The scene was before our
hotel: Two men at either end of a
common wood saw, without a handle,
sitting on the ground, holding the stick
with their feet, pulling the plate backward
and forward as you would cross cut.
Spain is very rich in minerals. Gold
is found in many of her mountains. l
have specimens that l obtained myself in
the Sierre Nevadas. Silver, lead, copper,
iron and coal, all abound; but there is
no enterprise to work them, no capital or
means for transportation, hence, while she
possesses an abundance she brings every
tun of coal she uses from England.
BY far the largest portion of business
done here is by English capital. Rail
roads also are being made between some
of the principal cities, but they progress
very slowly and are not profitable.
Spain is bound to her idol, Rome-for
while she does not send her troops, she
does send her money in immense sums.
The Spaniards are an easy, happy people.
What their fathers did they do, and no
more. Their priests are their lawgivers,
and are usually implicitly obcyed. Isa-
bella, the Queen, is their tool, and right
well do they manage her,
The climate is the great inducement to
residence here. There are no amuse-
ments, no paintings, these seem to be re-
served for Granada, Seville, and Madrid
There are many resident English, and
ofcoursc, quite number of English inval-
ids, some also from the United States
All enjoy the climate, but the food and
the manner of cooking it are not apprecia
ted, as the Spanish would have them.
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