The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1893-02-02

leave the train at one station, take GOOD DISK
walk to the next, and rejoin the train. The
stops are always of considerable length, so that
the officials viii have time to discuss the
weather kindred subjects. The passengers
all obligingly submit, for there is no need oil
harry in this climate.
The vast plains over which the railway passes
are the paradise of the proud Spaniards. Here
has been nUrsed for centuries all that is chlv-
Rlrous. romantic, and attractive In the Spanish
nsture. Yet this paradise does not bloom like
a rose, nor could it be called modern Eden IN
accordance with our ideas of that once favored
spot.
Rather ride through those parts is like be-
ing TRANSPORT ed back to the time of the Romans.
or even fatther-to the ancient Egyptians. The
farming implements almost identical.
Awk ward looking, spokeiess wheeled carts, OF
which Won read in the Old Testament. are the
common conveyance in some parts Wooden
plows guided by one hand, of equal antiquity,
are used all over the country. With these.
few inches of the rich soil is scraped up by the
patient slow moving OK.
The farmers put in long hours. They get to
work early. but do not work hard. A passing
train causes everything to cease, and oxen as
well as driver stare as though at some strange,
pnaccustomed sight If at work, they move
along slowly as though time was no object TO
them. Agriculture has always been the favor
lite occupation with these people. 1t was the
gentlemanly pursuit TO till the soil and tend
Tie numerous focks of sheep or goats. As the
different parts Of the country were continually
ST war focks were valuable, as they could be
easily moved from one place TO another Thus
the system remains to-day. All the land is un-
Enclosed and the focks tended by shepherd
are everywhere IN sight
The couatry looks anything but fertile, as
much OF it is stony and rough Yet it is very
fertile, and yields abundant crops for the de-
sultory labor bestowed upon it by the farmers.
Fertilizers and the succession of crops are little
in vogue. We're the soil not extremely pro-
6uctive there would be great suffering at times.
These plains might be made the graDary OF
Europe. The same kind Of grains flourish
here as in the great Mississippi Valley. For
the first time since leaving America l saw In
dian corn, but through lack of cultivation il
was not equal to the American growth.
At one time these plains were covered with
the oak. chestnut ETC. Now scarcely tree is
to be seen. Vast improvement would be made
in the climate if groves were planted. The
peasants seem to have an enmity against what
would prove friend in cold CASTLE. The
little scrubbly olive is about the only tree to
be seen in many places. As a shade or orna-
ment they possess few attractions. The
Spaniard. however, finds many uses for the
olive. 1t is used for burning, answers for but
ter and serves as food. No traveller here can
long remain ignorant of at least part Of its
nses.
The cities of northern and central Spain are
about as deserted specimens as one could well
find. Take almost any of them. for example.
They used TO be thriving places of from 10000
90 100000 Now they are reduced to third-rate
provincial boroughs. i suppose the inhabitants
have emigrated to the various American States.
The trouble is the people have not yet learned
to manufacture their raw materials at home.
These are shipped away to be made useful by
,fara Nzfin inf
the towns is very decayed. Some once-magnifi-
cent buildings now the abode of beggars,
whose real Indebtedness is exceeded only by
their flthiness or they are stables for horses
that seem Of almost equal intelligence. In fact,
IN travelling through Spain one seems TO be fol-
lowing mighty funeral-train. 1t is the past
only that Is seen.
Spain is made up of several very different
peoples They differ not only in language and
custom, but likewise in appearance and COM
plexion. Ii would not be much more difficult
to distinguish a northern from a southern
Spaniard than Dutchman and a Frenchman.
There are really different races composing
the population. There are Basoues, Galatians,
Castilians and Andalusians. The two last are
the most interesting because they are, respect
lively. the pure Spanish race and the Moorish
Spsniards Yet the only progressive people in
al Spain are the Galatians. They are the
Yankees Of the country, aud their city of Bar
ceona is busy aud busting center. The dis
trict about bristles with smokestacks, and the
hum of machinery is heard on all sides. These
people always restless and uneasy. They
take the French as their example, and are Re-
pubicans to the core. Political revolutions in
Spain have nearly always had their origin
among these people. prognosticationsd do not
always fail. monarchy will hang as d trophy in
Barcelona some of these fac days.
. 4
greater honor than TO be King. Apparently
that statement. with the proper modification,
has been applied by the Castilisn to himself.
Ihey a very pleasant race, and possess the