The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-01
For the Children:
VIM. Hahn Co.'s Cor Cor s sss nth an, p .s'>
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| fully effective in the landscape, with their
| lights and shadows and dim blue line
! blending with the horizon. are too far off
| to benefit the city by their breezes. 1t is
said to be an actual fact that the favorite
! way of cooking an omelet in Seville is to
! expose il a few minutes to the monday
/ rays of the summer sun. But. then, the
/ houses are built on purpose for this kind
| of weather. and one suffers no inconven-
! fence from the heat, if he takes life easily,
| as the natives do. The old Moors were
! wise in their generation and prepared for
/ hot weathe-, and, though it is more than
! six hundred years since Seville was taken
! from them, their style Of architecture is
| still faithfully copied. OF all the sights of
| the town, the Moorish patios are most in
! teresting. You find imperfect specimens
/ of them farther north-at Grenada, To-
/ ledo, and even Madrid-but Seville is pre-
eminently the place where the patio is
at its best Ever the ordinary houses are
Oriental in plan and admirably fitted TO
resist the scorching heats of summer.
There are patios of all sizes and degrees
of splendor, from the several marble paved
courtyards OF the newest hotel TO the
meanest and dirtiest in the old Jewish
quarter. Each shows something of the
individual taste of its owner and one new
er tires of peeping into them when walk
though the tall gates opening from the
zaguan-or short paved hall leading from
the sidewalk to the pato-is always Cos
ed and locked. for the lacework of its ele-
gantly wrought and gilded iron is not much
hindrance TO the view.
In the oldest houses the Kitchens are sit
usted close to the front doors Just off the
zaguan. giving passers-by the full benefit
of garlic grease. and saffron odors, but
preventing the diffusion Of the same
through the patios and sleeping rooms
The finest courts are foored with marble
usually OF various eolors and laid in pat
ters the walls are inlaid with elegant mo-
sale and marble columns on every side
support the inner projections Of the upper
story. In the centre is fountain sur
rounded by aowerbeds; blossoming vines
Irvine around the columns. scores of bright
winged birds sing in wicker cages. ham
mocks swing lazily in the shade. and the
murmur of the fountain mingles all day
with the family talk and the tinkle of gull
tars; for in these patios the people spend
most of their waking hours. The court
yard is always open TO the sky at night;
but In the day time, when the sun is hot,
an awning is stretched over and frequently
sprinkled with water to temper the burn
ing atmosphere. The sleeping apartments.
in the upper story, have many windows
looking into the patio. but the street walls
are as blank rs the face of man born
blind. At night. the fragrance OF oew-
sprinkled flowers In the patio ascends so
rich and overpoworing that one is fan to
close his windows and sleep like sala-
mander, or wrap himself in a sheet and re-
treat TO the roof, as the Seyillians have a
funny habi: OF doing. So enormously high
are The sleeping-rooms that looking up
from ones bed. one feels as II down in the
bottom Of a well. The floors are usually of
white marble. and walls ornameuted with
brilliant azdleios: but the partitions 20
only a little way above ones head and the
ceiling is of canvass or painted boards.
The unintroduced stranger must content
himself with only passing glmpses of these
luxurious dwellings for the proud grandee
guards his home with true Oriental jea!-