The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-01-03
form various maternal Offices for their

form various maternal offices for their
half-naked offspring.
Looking at the heavy masonry Of
Saragossa's remarkably solid old man
sions, you understand how the city was
enabled to defy the French during two
memorable sieges. Most elegant of the
whole is the zaporte palace. built in the
year 1850 by a wealthy Italian mer-
chant 1t is in the richest cinquecente
style, with magnificent staircases and
groups of musicians sculphured in it's
roof. The patio pillars are beautifully
carved from base to capital, and the
| gallery is adorned with medallion por-
| traits and bas-reliefs representing the
labors of Hercules
Then there is the Tore Nuevo, a
wonderful leaning tower, which rivals
the famous Campanile at Pisa, Italy.
| Doubtless this was intended to be
straight, and got out of plumb through
some fault Of the builder; but Of course
| local tradition ascribes its slant to a
miracle, in which the tutelar deity of
the city was mysteriously concerned.
1t was erected In the very beginning of
the sixteenth century, octagonal in
shape, the face of the walls curiousy
panelled in bricl1-work There Is a
clock twe-thirds of the way up, a bell
on top and chime in the belfry. On
one side great pile of masonry has
been added, to prevent the tower from
slanting any more. It's summit Is al
ready some twelve feet out of perpen
dicular--quite enough to give the adj
venturous climber "a turn when he
looks down into the square below.
You should by all means take a cab
and jolting ride Of half q mile beyond
the city walls over the toughest cob
bls-stones you ever encountered-out to
La Aljaferia, the ancient palace of the
Moorish shelShs, and afterwards Of the
kings Of Aragon. AT one time 1t be-
came the seat of the inquisition, when
that fearful tribunal ruled in Europe;
and the castle which surrounds 1t is
now one of the most important arsenals
of the Spanish government, accommo-
dating a numerous garrison and fur
nished with arms for fifty thousand
men. Like other Saracen edif1ces in
Spain, this has been so frequently 'inl-
proved" C) with paint and whitewash
that little Of its original character re-
mains. Only the Mosque of the Sui
tans, with its delicate alabaster col
umns and horseshoe arches, has es-
capped the vandal brush. Some finely
carved and bilded ceilings are tracea-
bic to the thirteenth century, and one
great room is said to have been over
laid with the first gold which Columbus
brought from America. The Hall Of
the Throne" completed by Ferdinand
and Isabella, is surmounted by a wood
en- dome, carved by the most skillful
Arab artists Of the time Somewhere
within the gloomy walls of Aljaferia
castle is the verltable dungeon in which
the unhappy lover of Leonora, the hero
inc Of II Travatore, laneuished III con-
finement.
or the seventy odd converts that
flourished In SaragoSsa, in the DAYS
when one-ffth Of SPANS population
were monks and friars only two remain
that are worth visiting, Santo Domingo
an immense old pile now abandoned
and fast falling to decays interesting
as being the first religious ediffce built
with funds acquired from the discovery
of the new world. Santa Engracia con-
vent was built by Charles V. about four
hundred years ago. Its special show
place is curious subterranean chapel,
filled to the brim with bones and sa
cred relics Rows of marble sarcopha-
81, covered with grotesque carvings,
line the crypt, and in them are pre-
served the ashes of Christian martyrs
who Were put to death by Diocetian
The guide gravely informed us that on
certain fiesta days these holy ashes
bleed profusely Saragcssa has many
interesting churches, some of them with
multitude of slender spires, like nina
rets; others covered with barbaric tiles,
like Russian sanctuaries; and others
so unlike anything else in Europe that
they might pass for palaces of worship
on the lonely steppes of Tartary. The
church of Santiago est. James,, da ting
back to 1859, occupies the site of the
house IN which tho apostle, James, ie
said to have lodged when he preached
here, soon after the crucifixion.
A Wearisome, all-nisht ride brought
us within sight and sound of the Medi-
terranean just as the day was breaking.
In the uncertain light, the old town of
Atafulla--now a railway junction--with
it's three picturesque castles, one Of
them clinging like a birds nest to the
seward edge of the cliff, looked ghostly
enough. Presently we crossed a fine
suspension bridge over the Gaya river
and were turned out at Taragona sta
ton, long way below the city proper,
which is perched on top of a limestone
rock, nearly eight hundred feet above
the Mediterranean OF all old old
towns. Taragona is the cap-sheaf; and
for moldering Notifications and early