Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1893-09-09

road, and riding through 1t found my
self on the principal street. rode along
slowly, looking at the houses and the peo-
pie in not great hurry, and soon came to
the plaza. Here l inquired for hotel
and was directed to q posada at the other
erd of the tewn. So | kept on
along the main street and at
it's farther end found a similar
archway to the one through which
had entered. Not far from this
gateway l found the posada
and hero left my horse in the
stables. Returning toward the plaza l
met the man who had told me of the
hotel coming out of large three-story
stone house, well-dressed and very
obliging gentleman, and asked for cafe
where could got some coffee and bite
of cold meat; he said he would go to the
place with me. Tho cafe was closed, but
there was side door for Sunday use
there always is a side door it seems what
ever the country-and we were soon seat
cd with some food and some native wine
before us. Some men at another table
Joined our table, and the landlord, too,
when they learned | was from Chicago,
and so we all smoked and they asked
questions about the Worlds fair, and
spoke with much pride of Columbus and
what he had accomplished.
After while my acquaintance and
strolled out into the plaza and he said the
church which fronted the square ought to
be of special
INTEREST TO AN AMERICAN,
For it was from this very church Column
bus started out to make his discoveries,
journeying direct to Palos and there 60
ing aboard his ship. At the beginning [
had resolved TO see Spain without, if pos
sible, going to look at any pictures or en-
tering single church, having had years
enough of foreign travel to get educated
and developed up to this point, and a
charming, happy, delightful visit I had of
it, too, going about the pretty towns and
curious old cities, principally on horse
back instead of in cabs, and adhering to
my rule about the pictures and churches,
but to please my acquaintance who was
SO polite about it and SO proud of his
town and Of the incident about Colum-
bus, accompanied him into his church
the only one l saw in Spain except the
grand old mosque in Cordova La Mes
quita, built by the Moors, with its bal
conied towers and courtyard of orange
trees and it's interior, with 920 columns,
forest of stone. There WAS piece
of heavy mating hanging from above
across the wide doorway of the Santa Fe
church, and pushing one end OF this aside
we entered. The interior was dark and
there were kneeling groups and incense,
as mass was celebrated. We made our
way TO small side altar not far from the
door, and this altar had something to do
with the start of Columbus, which did
not understand. Then we went to hear
some Spanish music at the house of three
daughters living with their mother. The
front room of their small house was a
school room with children's small desks
fastened in rows to the floor, and beyond
was sitting room with a piano, and here
ono of the daughters gave us music, the
real article by natural musician, waltzes,
polkas, operutic selections and their
natural dance, music without end (La
danza, La iota and others) spirited,
dashing, frey, full of the sunshine and
sparkle of Spain, and in great variety,
anything and everything one could call
for.
The town itself is not large, the popula-
tion being about 1000, l should think.
The houses / saw were substantial and
chic fly one and two stories high. A few
were three stories. There was not much
of hotel accommodation and the ways of
the people were village ways. The coun-
try about IS agricultural, very fertile ard
we'll titled. There was much to remind
the stranger of
THE CAPITOL OF NEW MEXICO,
the plaza with its irrigatlng streams, the
style of architecture, the burros, the dark
visaged people, and the musical Spanish
tongue. The explorers in New Mexico
named their new town after this old one
on the plains of Granada just as they did
Albuquerque after its name sake too, in
old Spain, and just as the pilgrims gave
us Boston, Plymouth and Northamp-
ton in fond remembrance of the towns of
Old England.
The architecture of southern Spain is
adapted to the climate. The settlement
of the southwestern part of the United
States has been an arduous struggle, and
those who have borne part in it up to
this day are entitled to our kindest
sympathy and praise. Still cannot help
thinking a change in the present manner
of house building, SO as to have homes
specially adapted to the climatic condi-
tions, could be made to good advantage.
It is obvious that the residence evolved
through many years of living among the
hills of New England cannot be equally
we'll suited to hot and arid region. So
far the new corners to our south west
have been building, substantially, the
same style of house as they had lived in
when in the eastern states. The southern
portions of New Mexico for example, are
very warm in summer, and through that