The Oakes times. [volume] (Oakes, N.D.) 1906-current, 1909-04-29

not consider ourselves judges now,
however, as we have eaten so much
garlic that our palates are picked with
it and we cannot tell pork from mutton,
peas from beans, olive oil from cottolene,
or either one from strong butter.
Railroad fare is around A cents per
mile and in most respects service infer
ior to ours. Passenger coaches very
short, divided into compartments. The
first class are very comfortable, but
generally lack conveniences.
Freight cars are mere toys and the
trains are mostly mixed passenger and
freight. have not seen single
freight train.
During our tour in Spain we were
scarcely out Of sight Of beautiful noun
tain scenery-much of it said to rival
the Alps in beauty. At Granada, 2260
feet atove sea level, we were on as
beautiful q plain as the eye could wish
to see, overhung by the Sierra Nevada
mountain peaks, capped with snow in
plain sight. Under the Moorish reign,
Granada had half million people, now
65, 900. Here is the famous Alhambra,
the ancient palace Of Moorish kings.
Its wonderful carvings in marble and
stone, its frescos, mosaics and colorings,
speak for the talents and tastes of its
builders and are beyond the power Of
man to reproduce in our time.
Cordova was once the rival of Bagdad
and Damascus. Once it had 200, 600
houses and million people, and man
could walk ten miles in a straight line
by the light Of its street lamps. Seven
hundred years after that there was not
one public light in London. Centuries
after Cordovas streets were solidly
paved the people Of Paris walked in
the mud. Here is the Meziquita, orig
inally Mahommeden mosque. It is
supported by one thousand marble
pillars of various sizes and colors and
varied architecture brought from Car
thage, Constantinople, Alexandria and
other cities whose great structures
were looted for the purpose.
At Seville they say the sun shines
every day of the year. It is on the
banks of the Guadalquiver river, a
navigable stream. From here Colum-
bus sailed to discover America; Magellan
to circumnavigate the earth and Cortez
and Pizzaro to conquer Mexico and
Peru. Magellan was born here and SO
were Murello and Velasquez, the great
masters. Of Murello's paintings we
saw many which are worth fortunes.
Here too is grand cathedral agreed
by many to equal any in the world.
The colored glass windows are beauti-
full beyond description and their makers
must have been inspired. They are
the finest in Europe.
We were loathe to leave Ronda.
Here is huge chasm cut through solid
mountain of rock, three hundred feet
deep, and scarcely three hundred feet
wide through which pours a roaring
torrent. We were in the midst of en-
trancing mountain scenery, and rich
green valleys we're spread before US as
far as our eyes could reach. all under
clear skies, glorious sunshine and noun
tain air.
The railroads have built an excellent
hotel here and we enjoyed once more
the conveniences and comforts of mod
ern civilization, in the miost Of q
strange mixture of Moorish, Roman
and Spanish architecture of which we
have had our fill.
The air in the cathedrals, castles,
mosques and even the hotels smell of
the dust and must of ages. And when
they tell US they were built FIVE hundred
years ago, we say amen.
Volumes might be written about this
country and wonderful peoples who
have lived here, but if you want more
go to your encyclopaedia or history.
Thomas F. Marshall.