The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-03-17
LIFE IN OLD SEVILLE.
THE .SERENO NUTSINCE-ODD
 STREET SCENES.
La Casa De Pilatns--Thc Story of Mar.
shal Primm's hssassinntton. Especial Correspondence of the Journal
 and Courier.

or the Seren0S, as SpanlSh nlght Watcn-
 men are called, patrolling the silent
 streets and calling the hours to the
 sleeping city is very pretty idea; but
 when you come to live with them it's
 romance suffers considerably. Several
 Serenos perambulate every street, from
 sunset until sunrise. Each is armed
 with long, clumsy spear, and carries
 lantern, however brilliant the moon-
 light. His function is fold-frst,
 to preserve order, second, to open doors,
 and third to sing out the hours as they
 pass and an exact account of the state
 of the weather As in other parts of
 Spain, and, indeed, many European
 cities, persons living in apartment
 houses carry no street t-door keys, but
 depend upon the watchman for admis-
 sion at night. Naturally, in country
 where people sleep through half the day,
 late hours are the rule. At intervals
 all night long, until dawn Is fairly is
 fairly in the heavens, your sleep is con-
 stantly disturbed by belated jewellers,
 going noisily homeward and shouting,
 IS SerenoH at the top of their voices,
 until that worthy appears with his big
 bunch of keys and unlocks their doors. And then the song of that bird of night!
 Every half-hour, at every street corner,
 he sings fortissimo-"La hora eS doce,
 Cor whatever the hour may bel. La
 noche esta claro y sereno. Ave Maria Pur.ssima!'
 Yesterday morning, after particular ly unsatisfactory night, so far as sleep is concerned--owing to unusual gaieties
 md inn ar b1a rpual- lers demanding the services of the Se- renos-I turned out early, to seek con- solaton in the satisfying panorama
 of the streets. Turning the first cor ner of the narrow street found myself in the midst of a strange procession
 The central figure of it was COW, gaily bedecked with garlands of flowers.
 She was led by barefooted girl; and Immediately behind followed a blind man and boy, the former blowing flageolet, the latter beating a drum. What in the world it meant I could form no idea, until I aeked woman in the crowd, who politely endeavored to conceal her surprise at the dense 1gno- rance of those Americans. It seems that similar processionS are of very common occurrence, though this is the first have happened to encounter. The animal might be a goat, donkey, or any other creature as well as COW; but it is always flower -bedecked and adver- tised by music, to be rallied for, any, body who will by paying trifle and taking his. chances. It is a favorite way of raising the wind' as they say in America for the people are born gambl- CTS and even a ratf1e appeals to them strongly.
 A little farther on I met an entirely different procession. First came doz- en boys, carrying long candles, then a coffin, borne by four men, whose heads were buried under the sweeping black uall so that only their feet were visible, ahd it looked as if the coffin were actu- ally walking off itself Several priests in strange black habits striped with red, whose like I have never seen before; and the rear was brought up by a band consisting of two bassoons and an oboe, which made a most weird and accompaniment to the sol- | emn chant of the priests. The process | sion was on it's way to the cemetery, | Every now and then it halted in front of a house--presumably that of some friend of the deceased-the coffin was set upon the ground and the face of the dead uncovered. People come out of the | house to take a "last look," while the | crowd gathered curiously near; and af- l ter few minutes the music and march | were resumed.
 little farther on I came upon i group of peasants engaged in the pie turesque industry of spinning the green | rope so much used by Spanish farmers. | It is manufactured from the coarse | pampas grass of the Guadalquivir | plains. The operation is very leisurey | and social one, requiring rude wooden | wheel and three persons. One man, | or child feeds the wheel; an- other turns it, and a third receives the | twisted rope. An indispensable article | of the peasants costume, male or fe- | an absence from home of | even an hour or two be contemplated !! is the alforja. It is not unlike the donk- sy pannier-a long, stout strip of wool sn cloth, with a bag at either end. The | alforja is ornamented with close tufts of | blue scarlet and yellow wool It is | worn over the left shoulder, and the
  skin, the other a pot of garlic, or a green pudding.
 My destfna tion was the Casa de Pila- as "House of Pilate," which stands ] near the Carmona gate amid a laby- ,inth of the narrowest and dirtiest | street of Seville. It is supposed to be m exact counterpart of Pilates house. n Jerusalem; but as it was planned by | m Arab architect, in the year 1500 and finished by Spanish workmen nearly laIf century later, the similarity is Its history is this: In the year 14g9, Senor Don Pedro Enriquez, in our language his name would be 3lain MT. Peter Henry) made pilgrim lge to the Holy Land, and on his re- urn conceived the brilliant idea of re- in Seville the house of the Roman praetor. He died not long af- erwards, and his Son, Don Fabrque 1nriuuez de Ribera, first Marquis of rarifa, (who has not been in Jerusalem) i ,arried on the good work. A genera ion or two later it was finished by Alan le Ribera the first Duke of Alcala and 1
 viceroy of Naples--all related by blood IT marriage, and ancestors of the pIGS- mt proprietor, the Duke of Medina -Celi. The latter is old and feeble, but delights 0 personally conduct foreigners over the tructure and explain its manifold The largest court is surround d by statues of pagan gods and bustS |