Putnam patriot., 1912-10-11
1. From Woodstock Academy GieanerI
 TOLEDO

trN 10 get AOOul lOttU0 without guide. but during our travels in the other countries We had been ~guid- ed quite enough, and we were weary of being shown "all there was to see" and of being told about plac- es according to presented rules and indifferent to the amount of time We had to spend in place. So when one of our party guaranteed to find at least the most noteworthy places We eheerfully agreed to follow him. feeling confident We should see all the important sights and best of all could roam or loiter at will without being hurried on because there was -still as much to be seen. The Baed; ker gentleman might not have been satisfied with our method but when at 5:20 our day was over and We. re- turning to Madrid, secured our list of places in Toledo that should be seen" we decided that our progres sive third party had done well by us and little time had been lost by its absence Of more official but possi- bly less efficient guide than our fel low traveller proved.
 To find ones way about the streets was indeed a problem, for no two by any chance seemed to run in the same direction Many of them were steep all were narrow. roughly paved and irregular, though oriental in character and often reminding one Of the streets of Algiers and Jerusa- lem They differ widely in one de lishtful nartieular-they are clean Quaint are the houses with their iron balconies. heavy doors studded with enormous nails and a portiere or eur tain hung before them. The day We spent there being mild the doors were all open and many of the curtains drawn so we caught glimpses of the little patees or courts inside the living rooms of the people in pleasant weather comfortable enough they looked too In some parts of the city the houses have practically no win dews on the street side-this Is for protection against winter winds and summer heat Dreary enough the sheetless streets must look with door and curtains closed and drawn; but in another section of the city We found houses with window boxes filled with brilliant flowers that made fascinating vistas as We wandered down the torturous, uncomfortable streets. One reads that the city is lit tie changed in appearance since the time of the Moors@eNcept that where once was life and gaiety all is now silence and discretion. Toledo thriYed and nourished till Philip the Seconds time. He found the arrogance of the clergy who had been in the ascend ants so long that they feared neither Pope nor King-so intolerable that he removed the court to Madrid. Since then it has been city of pal aces without nobles. churches with out congregations and walks without people"
 The Cathedral. the chief point of interest to strangers, rises in the center of the city It is of Gothic Renaissance arehitecture-bu un- fortunately is so crowded in among numerous other churches and con vents. most of which are deserted that no satisfactory view can be had of it's exterior. The large tower con tains set of bells hung in tiers and groups-One group of eleven holds one bell weighing two tons, which can be heard as far as Madrid, 47 miles. The Cathedral has two large rose windows and many fine stained glass ones. We returned to the Ca thedral in the afternoon and then saw them in their splendor with the sunlight streaming through them, and pouring a wealth of radient col or down upon us.
 Of the many chapels, three are GU. fs1 int Mayor containing the town of the ancient Kings, and that of the high born prelate." Cardinal Mendoza. The CapIla Ildefonso interesting because of pillar to the left of the entrance in which is piece of marble rom the column of the Virgin. On this column which we saw when in Sara gossa, the Virgin appeared t2) to St James, when on his missionary jour ney through Spain. In both cities the relic is unusually surrounded by worshippers. In the Mozarabic chap el. service is held daily; at S.3O a. m, in summer and 930 in winter accord ing to the MoZarabic ritual This r1t- ual was the oldest m Chrlstendom and the Christians were allowed to follow it under the rule Of the Moors for 400 years Under Alphonso VI and Christian dominance however, the Pope's legate decreed that the Gregorian ritual should be used. This caused general dissatisfaction and II was decided to settle the matter by combat. The champion of the Mo Zarabic cause was successful but this not suiting the King and Queen they ordered a trial by fire. The copy of the ritual that remained unsearehed was to be Heavens choice" Pray CTS were offered. altars were raised and crowds assembled to await the result. The Mozarabic copy with stood fire and flame but curiousiy enough, after all this controversy, the service soon fell in to disnse and was not revised again until the 18th Century.
 At the church of San Juan de Los Reyes we spent but little time our interest there being mostly in the curiously decorated exterior, which is orange color and hung with chains taken from Christian captives liberat- ed at the Conquest of Granada, and also in the beautiful cloisters of the convent with their windows and arch es filled with exquisite tracery of rare delicacy.