Southwest-sentinel. [volume] (Silver City, N.M.) 1883-189?, 1894-07-03

rhcir Interesting Capital Wor'is az 0s
ola hastcrs-Npai.iah Women.
Madrid "a a city with avenues even.
on a wider scale than our washing.
ton. Il is n barren country in the
vicinity, and the people generally ap-
pear to live on the government. The
elevation makes it a very cold city.
II Is an interesting n to the stran.
ger chiefly from its gallery Of paint
ings. This Is said to be the finest in
Europe, and in some respects it prob
ablyhs. / can give you no descrip-
ton Of them. They are my first ex-
perience on an extended scale Of the
old masters. Twas prepared to be
disappointed in them, but am happi-
ly not at ali so.
The old masters, as l see them here,
are to the world Of art what the Yo-
semitic valley is to the world of ma
ture. There is no e~xaggerating their
beauty and effectiveness, and no one
with an appreciation Of the ideal need
fear disappointment in beholding
them. IN comparison with modern
works, am almost led to advance
the inquiry if painting in its highest
achievement has become a lost arti
One might spend months in the study
of the astonishing masterpieces in
this Madrid gallery.
The Spanish people are to a great
extent poor, as the degree to which
beggary exists among them seems to
prove. The land everywhere is thor-
oughly cultivated. It is apparently
fertile in the south, but less so as n
approaches the interior. There N
almost no trees except trees that bear
fruit, principally the olive and the
orange. In the vicinity of Barcelona
n is amazed to see the extent to
which cultivation is carried. In the
most barren and rocky ground q
grapevine is sure to be planted.
Soldiers are everywhere seen. They
are not formidable In appearance. l
have seen the army on drill in the
kings palace yard, and poorer drill
ing / never saw in the rawest re-
cruits Of a volunteer company with
US. Perhaps it is the lack of atten-
ton to this that makes them so little
soldierly in appearance. The dignity
of a Boston policeman would put the
best Of them in the shade. They are
almost universally understood men
md seem to DO but a ~burlesque as
successors Of the celebrated Spanish
infantry of Charles V and Philip II.
There is absolutely nothing of our
standard military bearing about
them.
The Spanish women are much what
one is led to expect from description
we have had Of them. Their style
of beauty is hardly that of our coun.
try, and if one may judge from the
photographs th~atappear to represent
its ideal the Spanish taste is not ours
in this respect. A white skin secpaa
TO be the standard among the WON
en-, and there is a plentiful use of
powder TO procure it. Most of the
women wear no hats, but in the cit
les it is becoming more common to
cover the head in this way, and the
mantilla and veil threaten to pass
away in time.
The women pay more attention to
their hair than to any other part of
their persons. 1t is always neatly
dressed and glossy, and they have
rare taste in its arrangements. There
is an almost total absence of gray
hair except among those advanced in
age, and even with them gray hair Is
by no means the rule. The popula-
ton is nearly all native. Madrid diff
fers from vi large cities in not being
at all cosmopolitan. One sees only
Spanish types of face here. BARGE
Iona, being a seaport and much de.
pendent upon its commerce, might
be supposed to have more people oil
other nations in its streets, but I saw
very few of them there. The alb
sence of Jews throughout the coun.
try is remarkable. l doubt if there
are 500 Jews in all Spain.-Bostor
Herald.