The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-05-23

IOther practice In IViZa tends to still further disseminate disease. When a death occurs, no matter from what cause, it is customary for all the friends of the family to assemble in the house Of mourning to give farewell kisses to
 the face of the dead; and then they
 wonder why new cases of smallpox, Idiphtheriaq or what not, appear in other
 neighborhoods The proverbial, until dlness of Iviza women is the more un- accountable because in all the other is lands cleanliness and healthfulness go hand in hand. In Majorca and Minorca only few miles away, the housewives
 out-do the Dutch in their perpetual
 scrubbng. In Palma 1t Is funny { housewife busy at the same task. With a bucket of lime water and a long, handled brush, each goes forth before !, the lark is stirring. Standing in the middle of the narrow streets, they go all over the outside of their houses with the brush dipped In the solution of lime, washing even the roofs and chim- neys, and finally the sidewalks; keeping up meanwhile such Babal of conversa- tion that to sleep anywhere is impossi- ble, and one might as we'll come forth and enjoy the fun. Thus no villages in the world are more delightfully."- clean. Seen from afar, their white walls against a dark background of chestnut or olive green, they look like fairy abodes of purest marble; and they are not like the "whited sepulchres' of old, being treated merely on the outside, but
 the interiors are equally immaculate. | Speaking of the women's> chatter, the language of the Balearics is linguistic
 Mosaic resembling no other on the
 globe. While the scant 'upper class"
 speaks toleraby pure Castilian, the
 common dialect is marvel to philolo- giss, composed of words from the Goth ic, Greek, Arabic, Latin, Phoenician,
 with modern French, Spanish and ltal-
 ian sandwlched in. perhaps all in the same sentence together with idioms
 whose origin no phiologist has yet been able to determine. This is not so much
 wonder, remembering what a mongrel
 population 1t is, the islands having been
 conquered and settled at various peri
 ods by all the nations of the earth, each of which left descendants to mix the is- land race still more.
 Especially in Iviza, the inhabitants
 cling to the old-time native costumes,
 and are in character almost a counter | part of their near neighbors, the Arabs t-jealous and turbulent among them- selves, given to eternal feuds, like the Corsicans, but governed by Arab laws
 of hospitality as laid down in the Ko- ran: Whose bread I have eaten, he Is Ia NY a c
 my salt Is sacred; neither nor my household shall attack him. Bring corn,
 wine and fruit for the passing stran- ger. Give the one who departs from
 thy tents the fastest horse. Let him
 who would go from thee take the fleet
 dromedary; reserve the lame one for 1 myself"
 Therefore being the favored "stran- ger,' you may journey unattended throughout the length and breadth of the islands, in perfect safety, so far as the people are concerned; whereas, if to the manor born, you might often be in deadly peril of the robbers sling or the l murderous vendetta Even little 1viza has its good roads for mule back travel. There are few wheeled vehicles but delightful long days jaunt in the saddle may be made from the port, at the 1 southern end of the island, to San An tonic, at its northern extremity; re- turning next day via San Juan Bautis- ia. Though up hill and down dale by steepest grades, over bridgeless torrents and in places sklrting the shoreward cliffs by beaches so narrow that they would be overwhelmed by the tide of the Mediterranean every yard of the way is stated by magnificent oak, olive or chestnut trees; and the wild flowers that blossom, the birds that sing, the simple, kindly people constantly met make you believe that this is the true Acadia. The hilly parts of 1viza are densely wooded, and in the tiny. pocket like valleys hemp, flax, corn and grapes are grown in wonderful luxuriance, though the lazy natives have hardly ad- vanced a step beyond the methods of cultivation employed by the ancient Ro- mans. In places along the shore are numerous salt-pans, formerly worked by the Spanish government, but now in the hands of an English company. There are even some exports, such as charcoal, oil, wine, lead, almonds ca rib beans and stockings of native knit ting On hill near the town of 1viza, called Campsey, is placed one of the stations of the celebrated are of the meridian.
 One might write volume about the curious customs of the islanders, some ofof them probably of historic ori- gin. Courting, for instance, Is not done in couples, but as publicly as pos sible. Like the grande danes of Wash ington, a Balearic belle has her regular evenings at home, when all her suit ors are expected to present themselves en masse, and at no other time. As the bele-ship of the girl Is gauged by the number on hand, her relatives make point of corralling as many "eligibles" as possible. The parents sit in the room, pretending to pay no heed to the doings of the young folk, but in reality giving the closest attention to all that goes on The girl sits on a sofa at one side of the room, and in row of chairs ranged along the opposite wall, the suitors dispose themselves, as uncom- fortably as may be imagined. Each has
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