Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-03

I'm I'm line by companies with their officers
at their tanks, and all standing at atten-
ton The sergeant major, -FOUR sergeantS
and two corporals, with saners ara a,Sa a tha
altar like statues, while gentle, SOFT.
voiced, gray haired old priest, who looked
as II he hadn't strength to lift musket,
went through the celebration. Just outside
the chancel railing stood twelve trumpeters,
behind them the colonel OF the regiment
with drawn sword, and behind him IN line
the several field officers Of the regiment, all
standing with their heels together. as rigid
az IL they were made Of stone, and scat
tered around on the fringe Of this military
formation were few women on their
knees. At the elevation of the host the
trumpeters blew tremendous blast, which
"a military salute to the body and blood of
the Prince Of Peace.
The Carbineros.
There are three military forces In Spain.
The best of them are the carbineros
splendid body OF men, who are under the
orders of the minister of the government,
or the minister Of the interior, as he would
be called in other countries. and do political
and general duty. They seldom make an
arrest, but call upon ordinary policemen to
execute their orders. They are usually
found about the railway stations, travel
on all the trains, investigate charges of
smuggling and corruption in office. They
serve as inspectors IN sanitary matters, IN
the construction Of public works. over the
behavior Of ordinary municipal officers, and
exercise general supervision over the
community. 1t Is difficult to discover just
where their duties begin or end. or how
far their Jurisdiction extends, but they are
seen everywhere, wear a distinctive UNI
form and always go In couples
The corps Is composed Of picked men,
usually from the army, and appoint
distinguished themselves In battle or for
good conduct. No man can become q
carbinero II he or any Of his ancestors has
defendant in a court-martial. When you
see two of them together you will always
notice that one Is considerably older than
his companion. That is the rule. Veter-
ans and new recruits are paired off to-
gether, because the former can act as a
teacher to the younger, and his dignity.
Judgment ands efficiency are on trial when
he knows thatfhe is an example to be imi-
tated.
Connie Opera Figures.
They still have the old-fashioned ..se-
reno" in Seville, a sort of night Waterman
whom you may have seen in comic opera
whose plots were laid in Spain 200 years
ago. They wear. big black hats with broad
brims, cocked up on one side with silver
rosette, and black cloaks which reach to
their ankles They carry an old-fashioned
tallow candle lantern and long spear.
They come ons duty at sunset and remain
until daylight, and are supposed to pro-
tect the inhabitants against burglars fire
and all other disturbances. They wander
about the streets, peeking into the windows
and the pati0s, and when they reach a
corner they hang the iron handle of their
spear upon the sidewalk three sharp blows,
which are answered by other serenos on
neighboring beats Sometimes they crawl
into a sheltered doorway and go to sleep,
but before doing so they place their Ian
terms in the middle Of the roadway as a
warning to burglars not to disturb their
slumbers. But they always awaken In time
to hear the clock in the cathedral tower
strike the hours. and then. rapping three
times upon the pavement, they cry In q
melancholy voice, like the wall of a sin
stricken soul:
"Serenoi serene! doce Ell bora! serenol
sereno!' and then they can go off for an
other nap. This means that 1t is IL o'clock
and that all Is serene. Hence they are
Familiarity called 'serenos."
They are very useful, these serenos, for
besides acting as watchmen for the resi-
dents on their beats, they are always will
ing to perform other services. They will
awaken people in the morning when they
want to make an early train; they will
awaken servants to get breakfast, or call a
carriage, or summon the doctor, or take a
| telegram. or go to the drug store with a
prescription, and they have even been