The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-03-04
Seville Sunday
Day Spent in One Of
SPANS Oldest Cities.

Fannie B. Ward writes from the old
city of Seville, Spain: Such a clamor
of bells as broke in upon my slunbers in
the twilight of the morning would nave
awakened old Morpheus himself. The
shadowy courtyard beneath my window
| was still in darkness-th though douo7lsss
| the sun was at that moment rising be-
hind the green hills of the Guadalquiyir.
| Was the city on fire-had foreign foe
arrived at the gates-did an earthquake
threaten? I had promised myself lCng
Sundays rest 10 make up for Yesterday 5
wearisome tramps through the winding
streets Of Seville. but amid suc1 a tusaait
sleep was out of the question. 50 ] hur-
| riedly dressed and Jared forth ID see what
was the matter No. il was not : Chica-
so condagraUion, as one might suppose.
nor an Andean earthquake, nor a Hawa-
| ian volcanic eruDtion-but just the regu-
lar, gentle way in which SeviTians usher
in their Holy Day. The worst Of the rack
ct. apparently bursting from the skies di-
rectly overhead. came from the iron
Threats of the 2 bells in the losty ,'iral-
| da, assisted by the bells of a hundred
churches and of innumeraoIe converts
and chapels-an swung au1 hammered
and ratified and pounded together, in one
| ear-torturing tintinua bula ton.
| In the days Of the Moors, when Gira'da
tower was topped with great round
globe. plated with FURNISHED gold. The
morning call TO prayer was less noisy, but
probably more effective. AS the first rays
of the rising sun illuminated the golden
! ha 1o L..
it sounded the muezzen cry, so familiar
throughout the Moslem world-'Grea5 is
| Allah. There is no God but Allan. and
| Mohammed is His prophet. Came TO
prayer. Prayer is better than sleep. Cone
| to prayer" The cry was caught up and
re-echoed from the towers OF countless
mosques throughout the city. The awak-
| ened people looked up and saw the beau
| tiful Giralda in the pure light of dawn,
| the figure of the turbaned muezzen stand
| ing aloft clear and sharp against the sky.
and high above all the gilded dome.
| shining like a new sun in the heavens,
| and men, women and children FASTENED
to their devotions.
In spite of the modern clamor. the
Faithful Of today if aroused at all. go to
sleep again, and the matin-service is COM
paratively unattended. 1 found a few
black-robed women hurrying along the
streets, each followed by her servant, car
rying the Indispensable prayer-rug. and
beggars sleepily bestirring themselves to
ply their vocation around the sanctuary
doors; but not a man of the better class
was to be seen, except here and there a
priestly form under cowI or shovel hat
Evidently the gentlemen of Seville, like
the sterner and more sinful sex else
where. expect to gain heavens clemency
through the prayers of their female reIa-
tiyes
Inside the great Cathedral. the effect Of
dimly-lighted affairs magnificent distan-
ces,' and endless perspective of clustered
columns, is like the awe and gloom of a
forest in a moonless night. Even at sun
NEST midday it is pervaded by a mys-
terious twilight, Notwithstanding its nine
ty-three enormous windows of stained
glass, wrought by the most famous Flem-
ish artists of the sixteenth century.
We know that this Seville Cathedral
is one of the largest in Christehdom, sec
ond only to ST. Peters, in Rome, that its
inner parallelogram is 4S1 feet long, 315
feet wide and III feet high from the CEN
tral dome to the checkered pavement Of
black and white marble; that it has seven
aisles. each large enough for church. in
Vulnerable pillars supporting the sixty
five arches of the vaulted roof; thirty
chapels, each a museum Of art, and
eighty-two affairs, attended by an army Of
priests; but mere figures fail to convey
any idea OF its vastness and massive
grandeur. The colossal columns alone. so
huge and high. make one marvel. as do
the Pyramids of Egypt, how human
strength could place such monstrous
stones in an upright position and in sy-
metrical rows. Everything Is on gigan-
tic scale, from the paschal candle, which
contains more than a ton 0; wax, set on
a bronze candlebrum twenty-five feet
high. to the great organ uf 200 pipes. No
wonder the ediflce was a hundred years
in building. and, after FIVE centuries Is
not yet pronounced complete. The CHAP
ter which began it, in 1401 predicted that
future ages would call them mar for
undertaking so vast a structure.
1t was the special work Of four genera
tons, and 10 or p generations haze al
ready worshiped in It and passed 10 jl,eir
reward. Compared with such lapses of
time, how little appears th- life Of ere
man, or even Of one generation. While
the service was going on I knelt IN a dim
corner and tried 10 realize the surround
ings and my own relative insignia 'ance
Today a wanderer from the far-off West
ern world sits here. full Of beaI:h end
hope: tomorrow she has gone her way
and in a little time has disappeared from
the face of the earth she has vanished
into the ocean Of eternity ana left not
the smallest ripple upon the surface. Sud
denly the great organ began 20 n axe tbe
air tremble. There are two o. them in
this cathedral. both Of size proportion
Ell to the place and Of tremeu lI9us vol
ume At first Il emitted only faint
whisperingz Of its mighty voice. gradual
IS swelling in compass until !. filed the
lofty roof with melody and the church
militant seemed 70 Join with the eh1roh
Triumphant in "Oh Lamb Of God Who
taksth away the sins OF the World, give
Us peace
Later in the day I returned - the ca
thedTal with others q The PARTY . make
a more careful study q 81. Y5u nisht
visit It a hundred times a I'd rsn5Ie for
days through its aisIes and cnz1z.s. c-u-
tfuualiy finding mex objects Il wonder
and admiration. through ave rg5dr4l
years this sanctuary has been steadily
naulatihg treasures. To many - the
pillars great iron coEers ere attached
each large as an ordinary trsrk Time
wae when the treasures % he world
were pouring into Seville. that thess were
too sinai 70 hold che heaps q doubloo1s
with which returned Adventures sought
% purchase pardon f1r thal- 7fs5ee5s.
tinse. IN these days q national poverty