Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1905-03-23
THE DANCE m SPAIN.
II 10 aa nssentiaI Part Of the Life o
the people.

tnE DtAtN1G ttN OFfttINs
II IL aa HsseutiaI Part Of the Life OF
the People.
Dancing Is a universal instinct with
Spanish women. The great annual fsria
at Seville is largely an orgy of dancinR
A evening approaches everywhere one
begins to hear the sound Of castanets
and to see the gracious movements OF
the seguidilla, the universal Andalu-
sian dance.
But the fundamental instincts Of the
Spaniard for dancing and the serious
and profound way in which 1t express
co the temperament Of the people are
perhaps shown by nothing else 80
much as by the existence Of religious
dancing In Spain. At the time of 81.
Thomas Of villaneuva, bishop Of Va
lencia, 1t was customary to dance be-
fore the sacred elements In the church
es Of Seville, Toledo, Jerez and Valen-
cia. Religious dancing continued to be
common in Catalonia and In Roussillon
(the most Spanish Of the French prov
inces) up to the seventeenth century.
But a real and unique survival OF re-
ligious dancing is the dance Of the
seises In Seville cathedral, when the
choristers, wearing the same costume
an they were 400 years ago, perform
dance to the accompaniment Of casta>
nets in the space between the high al
tar and the choir.
Dancing Is something more than an
amusement in Spain. 1t is part OF THAI
solemn ritual which enters into the
whole life OF the people.-Twentieth
The Way They Are Raised and How
They Are Got to Market.
What would an American duck farm
er think OF swimming his mock to mar
ket7 That is the regular method en-
ployed by the poultrymen who live
along the great waterways Of China.
The Chinese are very fond Of duck.
Nearly every farmer keeps few for
his own use, but along the rivers rails
ing them for market is q profitable
business.
In American ducks raised for market
have very little water In which to
swim and play. The pouitrymen do
not think It Is good for them to have
much exercise. 1t hardens their mus
cles and makes their flesh tough and
not 80 good to eat.
So instead of swimming all day In
ponds or lakes or streams the ducks are
kept shut up In small pens, where they
have no room to waddle about and can
only stand still and eat and grow fat.
Then, when they are In prime condi-
ton. they are killed and dressed ana
shipped to market In barrels, and their
feathers make an additional source Of
income to the poultryman.
The Chinaman, however, Ia quite con-
tent to let his ducks have as much ex-
ercise as they like, and they get great
deal hunting for their food, OF which
they receive only small supplies from
the poultryman.
One result is that the Chinese duck
is a good, strong swimmer, and that IL
a fortunate circumstance for the poul-
tryman when It comes time to 90 to
market
He does not live on a railroad. II be
did, he would not be likely TO use It
for to him II is a newfangled device for
the spread Of evil. He knows. too.
more economical method than putting
his ducks in crates and paying freight
on one Of the river boats. Time does
not mean much to him, and he can at
ford to spend few days, II necessary,
in going to market.
when he picks out the ducks he
@h~ "a nr
the leg OF one to that Of another with
stout cord and continues the process
until the whole lot is bound together.
Sometimes there are hundreds thus
fastened in one hock.
1t is not easy to make such hock
swim together or follow the dirsction
desired. The farmer takes his boat
and starts to drive them, sculling BE-
hind or drifting on the current and
beating the water with long bamboo
poles to make them swim along and 60
the right way. II the farmer has
large family and two or three boats.
no that his sons can help. he can usual
ly manage to get his ducks to market
without outside aid, but II he 10 not 30
fortunate he will Join with other duck
raisers and herd the fiocks In combina-
tion.
Thus 1t not infrequently happens that
thousands Of ducks will be swimming
along down the Yangtse, apparently ID
one flock, with a dozen or more SAM
pans drifting behind them, filed with
men, women and boys, thrashing the
water with bamboos to hurry on the
ducks.
1t is hard enough to make flock Of
hungry, foolish ducks swim on about
their business when there is plenty OF
room and no interference. but that sell
dom happens on Chinese river. Usual
" these streams swarm with clumsy,
unwieldy junks, and on the Yangtse
there is a great deal Of steamer traffic
The friendly junkmen will almost al-
ways help the duck herders to keep the
fiocks clear Of the boats by heating the
water with bamboos, but steamers
have neither time nor inclination for
such bother, and 30 II sometimes hap
pens that flock In cut In two by o
steamer Then there is a great deal q
trouble and excited talk before the dock
can be reunited and got peacefully on
its way again.
Sometimes also II happens that ducks
OF one flock get mixed up with those OF
another, and then there Is dreadful
tangle and snarl. But the patient Chi
nese get them separated into the proper
flocks again ut last. and oil 90 cheer
fully together to market-fuuttfs Com
panion.