The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-12-13
PICTURESQUE SPOTSIN SPAIN
SAN SEBASTIAN AND S1HTdN-
DER.
Two Characteristic Cities of Northern
Spain.
Especial Correspondence of the Journal
and Courier.)

Spain.
Especial Correspondence of the Journal
and Courier)
Nov 20.-One of the most picturesque
and interesting spots in Spain is San
Sebastian, standing boldly out in Bis
cay Bay, it's rugged cone of rock, sur
rounded by a citadel, rising FIVE hun
bred feet above the ever restless waves.
This northern Gibraltar is only few
hours ride from Biboa, and about
four hundred miles from Madrid, by the
great North of Spain" railway. The
city itself, which is also the capital Of
Basque province of Guipuscoa is built
on a long, sandy peninsula, close to the
foot of the rockaforesaid, known as
Monte Orgullo, surrounded by ramparts
and now ruined Notifications Though
it's glory as a military post has long
since departed, it has of late years
sprung into even greater prominence
as fashionable sea-bathing resort. A
narrow isthmus joins rock and city to
the mainland, and on the west side of
this hyphen of land the river Uremea,
emptying into the bay from delight
full bathing harbor, celebrated all over
Europe as La Perla del Oceana-"The
Pearl of the Ocean" Here is the new
Summer Palace, in which the Queen
Regent and her children reside every
year from June to October. The firm,
smooth sand and gentle surf form an
ideal bathing beach, and during the
fo1I,
from thirty to forty thousand pleasure
seekers are somehow accommodated In
the little city, and in temporary tent
like huts that swarm around the circuit
Of the harbor. San Sebastian was the
favorite abiding place Of the late
Queen Isabella during her happier
days. 1t was no drawback to her royal
pleasure that in taking her additions
she was exposed to the curious gaze of
her more or less faithful subjects. To
tell the truth, the least of Isabella's
troubles was 1.-THE dazzling light of pub
lefty" and she was always more than
ready to exhibit herself at all times and
places. An old Spanish lady who often
saw her here has told me of the public
manner in which the late queen chose
to take her baths Every morning at
certain hour she rode in state to the
shore, where vast crowd was always
assembled to see her. She was very
corpulent, tipping the beam at consid-
erably more than two hundred and
when her attendants had squeezed her
into a bathing suit she looked decided
ly more like colossal skin-stuffed sau-
ho
Undismayed by her ludicrous appear
ance, she tripped as bllthely into the
surf as surplus averdupois would al
low; her physician-Who happened to
be an unusually small man, trotting
beside her, to feel her pulse be-
quent intervals throughout the perfor-
fore she took the first dip and at fire.
ouent intervals throughout the perfor-
nance. Meanwhile the throng of many
thousands stood respectfully aside, 1T
not being consistent with court ETH
quette for hoi palloi to pollute the
same water in which royalty was dis
porting. Isabella was a good swimmer
and probably her enormous size enabled
her to float more easily. AT any rate,
the antics she was wont to perform for |
half an hour, Topping about like a |
mammoth mermaid would certainly |
have called forth hilarious cheers, if |
not a shower Of votive vegetables, from |
the jolly crowds that frequent our Co. |
ney Island Beyond doubt these exhi- |
billions delighted the gentle exhibitor
as much as they did the spectators. A
queen-at least such a queen-must |
chr IN tIa
ter and out of it; and Isabella would |
have been much chagrined had she been
to take her daily bath in pri- |
vate. After all she was only bringing |
down to modern times what was con- |
sidered quite the proper thing only two |
centuries ago, when Louis XIV, at Yer |
sales, not only ate his breakfast, but |
took his pills in public, in the presence |
Of his wondering if not always admir- |
ing people Poor Isabella! I think it |
was in 1858 that San Sebastian, in the |
course of its checkered military history, |
was the end of a revolution while the |
queen was taking her usual pleasure at |
his gay resort. Coming out of the
surf one morning, with the dapper ply
sician trotting alongside, she was met |
)y a messenger from Madrid, who bore
he tidings that she must not return to
he capital, being no longer the nominal |
'uler of Spain. Even the far from pur-
tanical court was scandalized by her
life, and justly incensed be-
,ause she habitually abandoned the
ems of government to the worst of !
ministers. Isabellas last night in
spain was spent in the great house that
low does duty as the principal hotel Of
SAN Sebastian; and next morning,
weeping bitterly at the sad fate that
lad so Unexpectedly overtaken her, she
vas politely escorted down the main
streets to the railway station and
hipped like a bale of damaged goods,
nut of her kingdom. 1t is only two or |
hree hours ride to the frontier; and
here the once naughty queen was de-
ivered over to the well-known hospital
ty of the French authorities.
Since the almost total destruction of
San Sebastian during the Peninsula
var, the town has been rebuilt in more
modern fashion, on what may be called
N irregular rectangular plan. The
treets are necessarily narrow, so cir
being the space between
ocS and shore; but they are bordered
" handsome houses, three and four
tories high, having curtained balco-
lies in front. The ancient ramparts