The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1874-11-17
THE CARLISr wAp

ITS AT REsENT-THE coMRATANrs
OF MILD DISPOSITION n NOT BLOOD
R
A correspondent of the New York Herald
writes OF the present conduct of the Carlist
war: Everything considered. the war is
carried on with more humanity thsn would
be expected under the circumstances Tho
ordinary occupations of the people
are little interlered with by either
of the belligerents. The people of the
country go and come and pass back and
forth from the Carlist to the republican
lines without apparently the slightest let or
hlndrance. For instance, the villages of
Hermann and Urnietra are little more than
a mile apart the former is held by the Ser
ranolsts, the latter by the Carlists, and vet
the inhabitants pass between the two VII
lagos and &c and come almost as in times of
peace. Tn business of q spy must be a very
every one here. As far as / can see there is
nothing TO prevent a Carlist soldier from
throwing OFF his uniform, putting on his or
binary clothes, and going through the re-
publican lines with impunity. Indeed both
parties seem to have the greatest indiffer-
ence to spies, and present in this respect. a
morbid contrast to the French, who took it
into tnelr heads during the late war that it
was spies who did them all the harm. / nave
now been in the Carlist country two months.
travelling in every direction, and have only
been asked for my passport three times. In
France, under the same circumstances. I
would have been asked tor it at least iftv.
here, as well as around Pampeluna. IruD,
st. Sebastian and other places. the two mar
ties have a kind of tacit understandings That
non-combatants are to be disturbed as little
as possible, and except during actual fight
ing, they seem to move about as freely as in
peace times. Apart from this one can not
help being astonished at the very slight
interruption the civil administration of the
country has suffered. Public works are go-
ing on, roads being repaired, bridges built,
and everywhere the regular routine work
OF the civil government is progressing as in
times OF peace. Don Carlos has by no means
seized the whole revenues of the country
for military purposes, as might naturally be
opposed under the circumstances he would
do, but has ordered that wherever NOT pre-
vented byactual military operations
THE CIVIL ADMINISTRATION
should continue to operate as in ordinary
times. This shows that he knows more
about governing a country than he is usual
ly given credit for. There are other things
that strike us here as being curious. There
seems to be little personal auimosity or bit
terness between the soldiers of the two ar
mics, in spite of stories told of cold-blooded
cruelty to each other. They often meet in
disputed territory in frontier vii
lagos without coming to blows,
and / have heard a number oil
stories which show that, whatever may be
their political opinion, they have no very
great feeling of animosity toward each other,
and that reconciliation could be very easily
effected between the soldiers once their re-
spective chiefs were of a mind. Opposing
s%entinels near each other often strike up a
conversation, and having come to a satisfac-
understanding lay down their arms,
meet each other half way, exchange cigar
cites for wine, or wine for bread, or bread !,
for meat, as the case may be, treating each
other TO a variety OF approbrious names and
the while the Spanish soldier, un-
like the Russian, always insults his enemy.
and then resume their respective positions.
In every war it often happens that troops on
the skirmish line during a cessation of hos
tilities arrange a kind of armistice between
themselves, but it is unheard of
for sentinels to do so. The follow
ing story, / am assured, is true in
3very particular. A dozen republican sol :
Tiers having got lost in the mountains one T,
old, rainy night, knocked at a house for !
shelter which happened to be already occu-
bed by a dozen Carlists. Alter a little pre- :
iminary negotiations an agreement was
ome to; the republicans were allowed
o enter and the Carlists shared their 4,
atoms with them in the most hospitable
amer. They all slept together in the {
anne house, shook hands next morning, and {
och party went peaceably on it's way. :