The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1909-05-27


Ancient - The National Sport
Evidence of National Decay.
Madrid, Spain, May 20, 1909.
Correspondence OF The Caucasian
Enterprise.
/ am now In Spain. Four or five
years ergo hit mite hev bin a bit
dangerous fer an American ter strike
camp in this country. But hit IL diff
ferent now. Then We wuZ at war
with Spain. But we gave her the
best in the shop. destroyed her navy,
drove her out ov Cuba an the Philip
pines, an then, in order ter. keep her
out, We bought Cuba an the Philip
pine Islands an now Spain IL reason
ably friendly with US, SO far az
know Ii she liz not, an | find hit
out, I'll finish up the job an take
Spain back with me when I return
ter the United States
Hit IL curious the way things turn
out. Erway back in 1892 Christie
pher Columbus, a citizen ov Spain,
got hit into hiZ head that they wuz
great country ov some sort across
the water. The more he thought er-
| bout hit the stronger he believed hit
Finally, after worryin' the rulers ov
| Spain purity nigh ter death, they told
Columbus ter fit out number Ov
| ships an sail in search ov the land
He did, an he found hit rite close
ter the spot he had sed hit wuz at.
| The new land wuz America, or IL
called that now.
Columbus found only Indians in
the new country. Had he cared to
he could hev bought up the whole
American continent fer a few Spanish
pennies or few toys. But he went
back ter Spain an reported In those
days a new country Or two wuz not
desirable. For many years the In
dians and buffaloes an other live
stock continued ter run pollyticks in
America. Finally another citizen, Sir
Walter Raleigh, went over an estab-
lished a colony. But 1t wuz a fail
ure. But, after many efforts, the
English an the French got a start
In America. The Spanish later took
an interest again, but never got
much ov a fcothold in the new coun-
try an finally lost what they had.
Later on they took hold ov Cuba an
the PHILIPPINE Islands an held them
fer many years az colonial territory,
badly governed. Finally the Ameri-
can-Spanish War came an Cuba an
the Philippines air now American
soil, though Cuba hez her independ-
ence. provided she will be guide.
Spain, relieved ov her burdens, fer
they wuz nothin' less, bein' so badly
managed, heZ settled down ter live
without hope ov more territory, fer
she iz too small ter hope ter whip
any ov the big countries an regain
what they hez lost. sold an given er-
way. Nations, like individuals, can
lose strength, power an prestige,
which air practically the same thing,
very easily.
Spain IL small country, thickly
populated. 1t IL really a peninsula
runnin' out into the ocean. But not
awl ov this peninsula liz owned by
Spain, fer Portugal occupies a small
part ov hit. Strange that Spain hez
not annexed Portugal before now.
But the Spanish air curious people.
Like the French they air smart. But
| they attach more Importance to "a
guide time" than to anything else.
The present King ov Spain IL a
young man an he married an Eng
| lish woman. Somehow I hev an idea
that Spain may yet be a part ov Eng
land az time rolls on, though her ter
ritory IL more convenient to France
than to England, the peninsula jut-
ting out from French territory.
Spain hez a mild climate an IL a
crate fruit-growing country. The
vineyards, especially, air very fine.
world. Lots ov wine IL made.
| Az ter farmin', the Spanish air az
far behind some other civilized coun-
tries az they air in other lines. Most
ov the farmin' IL now done here az
hit wuZ five hundred years ergo.
They don't even use threshin' ma
sheens in most ov the country. The
wheat IL threshed on the larger farms
by hitchin' a pair ov mules ter a
consarn that looks like a small disc
harrow an draggin' hit over the
wheat On the threshin' floor. Hit
tears the straw an gets out most ov
the wheat. The wheat IL then clean
cd of chaff hv nol1rin' hit when the
wind IL blowin' pretty hard, the
breeze takin' out most ov the chaff
On the smaller farms they "beat"
the sheaves ov wheat over the edge
ov a barrell an get it out ov the
straw an then clean hit by pourin'
when the breezes air guide, which IL
nearly awl the time on any peninsu-
larlike land.
The agricultural backwardness ov
the Spanish, az above-stated, illus
trates the general lack ov progress
siveness noticed in Spain. The peo-
: pie air Intelligent, that il, many ov
them air. But many ov them air
without any education at awl.
In Spain the CRATE national sport
: IL bull-flghtin' Every town an city
hez a great circular pit containin
seats, each row risin' a little higher
than the one in front. At stated
: times bull-fghts air pulled off an the
; Spanish lay aside everythin' an at
tend, dressed in their best clothes
The f1ghtin' IL done by men mounted
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