The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1908-04-15
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When the traveller visits Spain some
Of the very first Of it's inhabitants his
eye will be attracted to at the frontier
station will be a couple Of members
of the Civil guard And throughout
his wanderings in that infinitely de-
.lightful land he will ever be haunted
by representatives of that force,
which he will come to look upon as
the chief guardians of life and proper
ty and liberty In this strange, half
Oriental country.
From the very start the Spanish
corps has had enormous difficulties to
srapple with. The country was abso-
lutely lawless when first the Civil
guard came into being: They were
handicapped by extremes of climate.
by huge stretches of roadless and al
most trackless country, by the feroc-
ity. ignorance. almost savagery of
many of the Inhabitants.
For a member of the Civil guard to
fail in the supremely high standard Of
duty set before him is considered by
his comrades and his rulers as almost
impossible" Everything is expected
from him. Everything with the rarest
exceptions may be expected from
him. And his government carries this
to its logical conclusion by giving him
an absolutely free hand, without which
he could not possibly WELD the influ-
ence essential to the carrying out Of
his duties.
A couple of Civil guards-they are
always in cOuples-often find them
selves few amongst many, and then 1t
is that there must be no wavering or
hesitation II their enemies show fight.
Some of their duties In the mining
districts of Spain, and In those parts
of the country infested by gypsies.
are amongst the most onerous. Espe-
cially are they in danger when con-
Quoting prisoners across country. A
friend of mine who, many years ago,
held a post in connection with a mine
in a desolate and mountainous part Of
Spain, told me how couple of Civil
guards nipped in the bud very I'M
pleasant state Of affairs in the village
close by. 1t seemed that a miner, ex-
asperated by some reprOof, had drawn
his knife on his employer. who had
luckily managed to evade him, but
had retorted with all the energy a
powerful Briton is able to put into
sudden act of :self-defense when it
merges into retributfon. The other
miners resented the thrashing their
comrade had received. The man him
self was handed over to the authorf-
ties, and a couple of Civil guards were
to conduct him to the nearest town.
The way led over the mountains by 4
wild and lonely track. and the night
had to be spent at a rough inn. The
innkeeper, by an unlucky chance. was
the brother of the prisoner. and when
the little company arrived he at once
realized the state Of affairs and began
to plot a. rescue. Together with his
son, he determined to try and contrive
that the prisoner should slip out into
the forest by back door late In the
evening, while the conspirators dis
tracted the attention of whichever Of
the guards was taking the night
watch. They protested the greatest
hospitality to their uniformed guests.
and of course pretended that the pris-
oner was q total stranger to them.
. Their plans were well laid. and with
the auickness of their race were car
ried. out with considerable smartness.
Nor were the opponents only two to
two. A hanger-on. none too we'll dis
posed to the guardians of law and Or