The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-11-22
CITY OF THE STARS
Madrid Transacts Much Bust
ness in the Nighttime.
MANY THINGS TO BE SEEN
William {. Curtis Writes of
the Capital of Spain.

V
the greatest folks you ever saw for sit
ting up nights. Business is usually sus-
pended for two or three hours in the mid
die of the day for siesta, which is the
practice throughout all the Latin coun-
tries In the oldfashioned cities and
towns all the shops are closed at noon;
the tram cars stop running. and the
streets are entirely deserted between Il
ana o'clock, and you would as soon
think Of calling upon a man at i o'clock
in the morning as between those hours
Madrid however, is an up-to-date city.
1t has all the modern Improvements, the
latest fashions from Paris, and all of the
fads, and the people in a great measure
have departed from the customs of their
Castillian ancestors. You can usually
catch a street car and find a cab at noon
day, and the big shops keep open, but the
streets are more lively and noisy between
u and o'clock in the night than they
are during those hours In the day. All
night long, almost until daybreak, we
who live in the downtown hotels can hear
the rattle of wheels over the stone pave
ments, the shuttle of feet upon the side
walks, the chatter and laughter of people
passing, the cries of the peddlers and the
newsboys and the men, women and chill
dren who sell lottery tickets. The hand
organs were playing upon the street at )
o clock this morning; an old blind man
who blows flute al the corner below the
hotel keeps it up until o'clock, and two
orchestras of blind men who stray about
from place to place and perform melan-
choly music under the windows of the
residences and before the entrances of the
shops do not give up their game until
almost daylight. The beggars stay till the
last, and they are as numerous here as
in Constantnople, writes William E. Cur
tbs. in the Chicago Record Herald.
According to the census statistics of 1896
there are 91,227 professional beggars in
Spain, of whom 5l,94S are women. In
some of the cities beggars are licensed to
carry on their trade. Seeking aims is
recognized as a legitimate business, and
the municipality demands Il percentage
upon the collections. ] believe that Sc
vile is the only city in the kingdom which
forbids begging upon the streets. In some
of the other towns begars are allowed to
come out and run full blast one day in
the week, perhaps Friday or Sunday,
when the streets swarm with them as
they go from house to house, sometimes
on horseback, and / have heard people
declare that they went in carriages also
In Madrid there is no restriction and no
license, and the streets are lined with
them. Some are pitiable cases of de-
formity but others are apparently fakes
and the natives will tell you that impos-
tors resort to very ingenius methods to
deceive the public and excite sympathy.
\ little girl with beautiful eyes, but
deathly pallor, hollow cheeks, and every
evidence of consumption, sits in the door
way opposite our windows in the hotel,
and it seems as if she never slept. She
is seldom absent. We can see her crouch
ing there early in the morning with her
shrunken hand. with fingers like the
claws of an animal, stretched out to ev
eryone who passes Her shrill voice awak-
ems us at all hours of the night. Beside
her is an old woman who sells lottery
tickets. Her voice is stronger, but not so
shri1 as the ohild's. They seem 10 have
an understanding, alternating with each
other in their cries. and>I think perhaps
they may be mother ana daughter. They
are not unusual You can see such pitiable
creatures in any city of Spain or Italy.
and he strange part of it is that they
appear to he at their posts all the time.
When they sleep or eat is a mystery.
They were there yesterday morning at
o'clock when l awoke. and went over to
close the blinds. and three or four hours
later I saw them again
But it is popularity of this city that
people seem never to so TO bed. You
cannot look ont upon the great square
called Puerto del Sol. the rendezvous Of
the busybodies and the loafers of Madrid
at any hour of the night without seeing
50 COR 50 people standing idly around,
smoking cigarettes. talking politics and
gossiping with each other, and evil
IDENTIFY without the slightest intention Of
going to bed; while the peddlers. as q
matter OF course. remain also and are
moving around among them. Human
streams continue TO pour into the
square from the side streets until day
light and disappear in other directions
Coming home from the theater at or 2
in the morning the sidewalks are over
crowded You can meet women carry
ing children in their arms. or leading
them by the hand. as If they We're re
turning home from some pleasure trip
or from paving a visit The cafes are
open All night. and the theatres have
plays beginning as late as 1890 in The
morning.
The theaues Of Madrid are conducted
upon a peculiar plan. which is called the
"tandat genera chico o. small play,
never. more than TWO cents. and usually
comedy or broad farce based upon the
everyday lie of the people. is given Tor
an admission of uesata--5 cents in our
money The performance is divided into
foUr parts each part being oompiete and
distinct. and tickets may be- bought Tor
seats or boxes FOR single acts or "fuEc-
ioues pcr bora. the plays OF one hour
This arrangement. which prevails ~ ali
60 TIE cheaper and popular theatres. Is IL
compliance with the popular demand
Their patrons al the working class cannot
afford 90 pay rrore taan = cents fo- RI
evening entertainment and thsater man
ayers cannot afford to give them mere
THAN an hours TCn fos that amount II
money. 20 u1igre CUSTOM has grown
up IKE alr eoutiaucus performance NJ
nome sad anybody Who can raise = cents
can have the privilege of seeing the ciev-
erest actors ard singers ~ Suan for 81
.easr para 81 The eveni-E- Thiie. If they
cam afford TO pay 81 ccuts au1 stay az The
theatre az nishs. and really al might IL IS,
far t'e curtain se',lom fails upoa ihe las,
piay earlier than or 80 ocieek IN the
oaorulnE. Far % single act. ~ q io-;rth
u ga evening. son can n-rc toN seat-
ing four reooie go~ a dollar. ard FOR SIX