Arizona republican., 1904-10-23
PHoEND. ARIz~ OCTOBER 2s, 1904
Don ouIxOte Smith and Ills Battles.

Don QuIxote Smith and His Battles.
 It is three hundred years since Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra passed away, but his matchless volume of sat ire. Don Quixote." is immortal So mercilessly cid he ridicule the idiotic institution Of knight errantry, that knighthood throughout Europe receiv- ed its deathblow from his pen. He was the very genius of common sense. But because he lampooned the franties and pretensions of mankind. he wrote for all time. The average reader has access to nothing but the abridged and faulty translations. but Cervantes' hero, Don ouixote, is an abiding figure in our Ht- erature. nevertheless.
 And it must have occurred already to hundreds Of our Arizona. readers that when Cervantes wrote his charming chapter dealing with Qdixote's battle with the giants" he must have writ ten with the spirit of prophecy upon him. Indeed. is it not possible that the great Spanish writer had a heeting wis ion of Arizona under the regime of Mark smith2 Such mystical reveal ings are beyond our ken. but some souls are gifted. as We know.
 Certainly, Don Quixote has his pro- totype in Mark Smith. We don't take much stock in reincarnItion. but we are not prepared to assert that in a formeH life Mark smith was not the original Don Quixote. Has not Smith from time immemorial been riding forth every two years. with lance poised against the Statehood giant2 and has he not assured his Sancho Panza followers each time that he would return from Washington with the wreath Of victory on his brow? Just read a few lines from Cervantes' account Of the windmill battle:
 At this moment they discovered thirty or forty windmiIls on the plain, and as soon as he say them Don Quixote said to his sword-bearer: Luck Is with us today. better than had hoped. Look. sancho Panza. There are thirty or forty frightful giants. making ready to fight with us but shall take the lives of all of them and we shall enrich ourselves with their possessions They are giants, and if you are afraid. you stay here and pray. while I encounter them in open and unequal battle And with this he gave spurs to his steed, Rosin- ante. paying no heed to Sancho Panza's warning cries that without doubt the objects were windmills. and not giants. He neither listened. nor stopped to look until he drew near the windmills, when he called out in a loud voice: Cow ards and vile creatures, a lone warrior comes to combat with thee At this moment the wind sprang up and the great arms Of the windmills began rap idly to revolve. Seeing which, Don Quixote said. Although you may brandish more arms than the giant BiareO. you have met your conqueror. Saying this. and commenting his heart to his sweetheart Dulcinea, and pray ing that in the event of misfortune she might come to succor him, he raised his lance and put Roslnante to the gal Top.
 He closed with the windmill which was nearest him, and drove his lance against its revolving arms. So rapidly was the mill whirling. that it caught the lance, broke it into flinders. raised the horse and rider and dashed them against the ground. SanchO came run ming breathless. to aid his master. The horse was mouonless. Great Lord" said Sancho. Didn't I tell you they were nothing but windmillsT silence, friend Sancho, feebly replied the faI- len warrior Don't you know that the things Of war. more than anything else. are subject to continual change? Who knows better than that my en- emy. Preston. has changed these giants into windmnls. in order to rob me of the glory or vAnquishing them? Such is the enmity that he bears mei"
 So far. Quixote Smith having served through only twelve sessions of con gress. has had but twelve battles at Washington. But all he asks is time, and he will do fully as we'll as did the old Don. He is even more ready of excuse than was the original. Every time he gets tangled up with the state hood question and Is slammed against