Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-08
EXASPERATING BUSINESS WAYS
IN THE BANKS.
Journey Through One Of the Loveliest
Parts Of Spain-Santa Fee, Scene
Of Stirring Exploits.
BY WILLIAM e. CURTIS.

minutes. Inc distance from CiranaQd TO
Algecitas is ia miles, and they rush the
trains through in thirteen hours and fifty
minutes. On both these journeys travellers
may expect to be late. We were about fifty
minutes behind time, although we travelled
at the rate of eight or ten miles an hour
and stopped from ten to fifteen minutes at
every station. There was no particular
reason for waiting SO long but it is ell cos
tunnbre de la pair tthe custom of the coun-
try, which is to take plenty of time for
everything.
You cannot hustle a spaniard. II he
wants to buy something he calls on the
seller. drinks cup of coffee or glass of
wine, smokes few cigarettes and talks
about everything except the purchase. His
first call is simply to cultivate good will.
few days later he will go again, discover
the article he is after and begin a negotia-
ness man insane Neither party wants a
prompt sale, for that would deprive them of
an opportunity to show their skill at bar
gain. OF which they are very proud It's
worth losing few days to crafty this
pride. although they don't get the article
any cheaper.
Methods at the Banks.
And that is the way they do business at
the banks, which Is often exasperating.
If you want to make a draft against your
letter OF credit you may expect to devote
the most of a morning to it. You are usually
shown into a comfortable little sitting room
at the bank, which is arranged like a wait
ing room at a doctors office, with a lot of
antiquaed magazines and illustrated news
papers on the table. At one side there Is
hole in the wall, through which you express
your wishes to gentleman who takes your
letter of credit and disappears. Sometimes
he gives you brass check, bearing a num-
Der for Identification At the bank in San
Sebastian l was No. &c. and 1 have been as
high as 40. After half an hour or 80 thu
gentleman returns with draft for you to
sign, usually made1o ut In duplicate, so that
If one is lost they can hold you by another.
After he gets your signature he disappears
again, and you read several more articles
in last years magazines and look at the
pictures Of Queen Victorias jubilee process
sion, which never seems to wear out You
can find them in every bank in Europe. The
pictures of King Edwards coronation are
holding on very well also.
You get tired of literature and art after a
while and become impatient. You walk
back and forth several time until you notice
that the other people in the room arewatch-
ing you suspiciously. They wonder why you
are nervous. and you stink back into your
seat again. 1t seems a very long wait, but
it finally ends, and another gentleman.
whom you have not seen before, appears
and calls your name or your number. When
you respond he hands you back your letter
of credit and lot of money upon tray.
All this delay Is not entirely due to natural
and ordinary Spanish procrastination. but 1t
is customary in the banks oyer here for the
bookkeepers to keep up with every TRANSACT
ton before 1t Is completed, and your money
is not handed you until every record of the
affair has been made.
Running the Railway Trains.
These are old-fashioned methods. They
have been in vogue for centuries. and are
still good enough for Spain. And they run
their railroad trains in the same way.
They usually start them very early in the
morning. Four o'clock Is the favorite hour,
or at least that Is the.hour advertised, and
the hotel man gets you down to the station
at least forty minutes in advance. 30 as to
have plenty of time to weigh and register
your baggage. buy your ticket and get a
good seat in the car. 1t takes a good while
to transact all this business. II you happen
to be late. Of course. the train will start
promptly. II you are down an extra long
time in advance. 1t Is certain to be held for
some mysterious reason. However. there
are exceptions to this rule. An American
gentleman happened to be late at the sta
ton the other day, and rushed to the ticket
Office. where he begged to be waited upon
The ticket seller answered
coolfy:
You needn't be in such a laundering
hurry; the train will not start until give
the word" and he pulled leisurely at his
cigarette.
A few moments before train time the sta
ton master tolls a big bell hanging to the
wall of the building as formal notice; a
few minutes later porter in a blue cotton
Jumper goes up and down the platform ring
ing a hand bell, which is a warning for
people to kiss their friends goodbye again
and to get aboard. The conductor Of the
train blows a horn, which is notice to the
engineer and brakemen. Then somebody
blows a shrill whistle at one end of the train,
which is answered by similar whistle at
he H., o. -
UP and down the platform in great excite
ment slamming the doors of the cars which
open on the sides and not at the ends as
ours do. Then the engineer rings his bell
and blows his whistle and Off we go.
Departure From Seville.
We left Seville very early In the morning,
and OF course had to hurry-you always do.
1t was a comfortable train, with neatly
kept cars, and noticed by the brass plate
on the side that the engine was built in
Belgium in 1864. 1t pulled and snorted a
good deal, but discharged little smoke. for
the fuel Ia briQuettes. composition of
coal, sawdust and glue, which gives no
cinders. We crept along at the rate OF
about ten miles an hour, and after travel
Ing twelve miles stopped an hour and If
teen minutes for breakfast. If they had
given us that time in Seville we might have
had comfortable breakfast before start
ing, but We had to hurry. and Of course
ate too much to leave an appetite for an
other meal so soon after and too little to
keep off hunger until noon.
We passed through one of the loveliest
and most fertile parts OF Spain, vast wheat
and corn fields. WHICH are now tawny
brown, because the harvests are all In.
Some enterprising farmers were already
blowing under the stubble with great white
oxen. Half the land seems to be given up
to olive orchards which stretch in every
direction as far as the eye can see. and
haanttfn1 thew 90 <ba
olive tree have tint of their own
that is shared by no others One side OF
the leaf is lustrous and the other side is
gray, so that breeze makes an olive
orchard look very pretty.
new industry has been introduced into
Spain-the manufacture of sugar beets. II
began with the late revolution of 1894 in
Cuba, which destroyed SO many plantations
that sugar became scarce and high, and 1t
has proved to be wise investment, for
every one who went into 1t has made
money. Sugar mills have sprung up all
around southern Spain. and the soil In the
valleys between Seville and Granada has