The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-02-04

tcrcsiinE scenes in the seaport.
CADIZ. Spain. Jan. Acknowledging
that this oldest city of Southern Europe
is half as old as the world itself, accord
ing TO the Hebrew tradition-that Her
cules dwelt here, and that the ancient phi
losophers, believing it TO be the very end
of the earth. came here TO study the Curl
Gus phenomenon OF the tides-one is more
and more astonished at its look OF new
ness. So far as appearances so, its foun-
dations might have been laid last year.
instead OF more than three thousand years
ago. and. search as you may, hardly trace
of antiquity can be found. Even the ia
miliar earmarks of the Moors are effaced,
though their 800 years supremacy torml-
mated at a comparatively recent period.
The explanation lies about equally be-
! tween whitewasn, religious fanaticisn and
British conquest. After the bombardment
of CadiZ by Lord Essex, in i396-whieh be-
gan SPANS bankruptcy, with the sacking
OF her richest city and the capture of thir-
teen men-ot- war and forty huge galleons
! laden 10 the gunwales with treasures from
| her Western possessions-the city had to
be almost entirely rebuilt; and it was done
according to English ideas, with wider
streets and tail, commonplace houses.
| What the English left TO antiquity, Romish
zeal carefully obliterated, in the effort to
| efface every trace of heather occupation.
Hence Moorish courtyards disappeared
,af
softly shaded Oriental hues.
Today Cadlz is the only place in Spain,
or any of her possessions, in which the
patio does not exist. Instead OF low walls
rambling around central courtyards, after
the picturesque Moorish fashion, the free
stone houses are three or four stories in
height; most of them with miradores, or
open observatorios on top, in which fami-
lies spend their idle days, gazing into the
streets or enjoying the fine breeze and sea
views. The Moorish custom of hiding the
women-folli from public view by pe:!ning
them in the patio has given place TO the
modern Spanish idea of female libersy-al-
lowing them In see and be seen of men,
but jealousy guarding them from speech
and touch in the little glass cage, Or mi
radone. on the housetop.
All In binding white
The worst Of reconstructed Cadiz is that
everything is so glaringly, painfully,
dreadfully white. No wonder there are
thousands OF beggGrs in the streets, and
nearly everyone you meet has some dis
ease Of the eyes. The law compels house
owners to add at least one coat of white
wash every year. The everlasting, nc
notonous white, combined with the vivid
blue OF the sea and sky, brilliant sunshine
and lack of shade trees, gives the foreign
er a constant headache, and necessities
smoked glass goggles, as for mountain
climbing. amid eternal SHOWS.
One longs to paint the town red"--to
paint it blue, or green, or any other co'or
than this relentless, dazzling slght-de-
stroying white. The name. by the way, is
pronounced as if spelled kah-deeth. The
foWery Spanish historian. Caballero. call |
ed ii IAN ivory model, set in emerald, but |
nowadays the natives delight to speak OF II |
as Una taxa de Plata silver dish"--so |
clean and shining it is, compared to any
thing else In Spain. Its population is |
probably about 10000, but as the census |
is never taken and the race is notoriously |
given to crowding into close quarters, Il |
is difficult to arrive at correct estimate. /
Situated on its long and narrow Iro- |
montory, with the Atlantic on one side |
and a deep-sea inlet on the other, Cadlz |
has been unpoetically likened TO a ham in |
contour. The city proper forms nearly a |
perfect square, about two miles on each |
side. It's straight, well-paved, well-lighted |
streets all begin and end at the waters /
edge-or rather at the ramparts which |
surround the town from fort 10 fort.
This high seawall is one of Cadizs chief |
attractions. 1t is topped with little gar
dens, full Of bright scarlet gernsniums and |
fragrant hellotrope; and here and thee a |
larger space. such as the Alemada, and the |
Marine Promenade where bands play every |
evening and all the local world comes out |
TO enjoy the music and the sunset view |
across the Western Ocean. All day long |
Andalus.an nurse-maids loiter about the |
ramparts, singing TO their charges and |
flirting with the soldiers. and fishermen |
dispute with .flocks OF screaming sea- birds |
for the salmonete or delicious red mullet |
There are so many of the latter with their |
long angling-canes forever dangling over |
the water, that their patience has passed |
into a proverb-"la pacienca de I'm pesca- |
dor de cana
An EfiGy OF Hercules.
The Alameda is a charming walk, pro-
yided with trees, benches. fountains. and |
a ridiculous statue OF Hercules. the foun-
- nh III