The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1913-10-31
POLICE Of SPAIN
h Andalusia They Are Seen h
{ All Their Shabby Glory.
ARsENALs ON MOVING LEGS.

aE WIZ wv SuVOSOON osvo
Leck You In . Cell With Infinite
courtssy-Minss Of Misinformation.
He IL polite, il the Spanish police
man. There Is q live and let live air
about him. He possesses neither the
easy and kindly dignity Of the police
man Of London nor the turbulence OF
the policeman Of New York, but he is
very. very human. And he has the
blessed gift that no other brand OF
policeman seems to possess Of appear
ing to be more than an ordinary person.
True. he is armed. He is an arsenal
moving on legs. But something tells
you that he wouldn't really hurt q dy.
like him.
And here I must say that he is not
70 be COMPOUNDED with the guardia
evil. The guardia civil Ia quite an
ether person altogether. He Is stern
and austere. and he patrols country
districts and lonesome mountainous
places. He was used to put down the
bandeleros. those adopts in the art Of
swift. forceful borrowing. whose pres
ence did so much to heighten the 70
nance of old sunny Spain. The guardia
civil killed of these gay financial art
1Sts. but now. ever after his job has
been finished, he still wears q cold.
austere air. He is indeed not to be
confounded with my friend the police
man.
The first time l met the Spanish p0-
liceman was one night in a certain
town in Andalusia. Truth compels me
10 state that l met him In a profess
sional way. l was INDUCING with
others In a row when he appeared-in
force. was gathered in by five Of
him. But how polite he was! He put
his pistol to my head. or. rather, the
Eve of them put their pistols to my
head. and made me feel that l would
De doing him the greatest of favors by
coming with him to the police station.
The whole affair was courtlincss It.
cell. To be arrested in such a manner
was to have a privilege conferred upon
enc. At the police station l was again
treated with politeness and in the end
with q locked door.
The Spanish policeman is not too
well paid. he sports not an ambas-
sadOrial salary. All he gets is 2 pc
setas a day. He is therefore anne
nable to the friendly and considerate
tip. This. / must hasten to say, how.
ever, makes him none the less q
worthy and effective guardian Of law
and order.
He is shabby OF uniform. But that
b not his fault. It is the fault Of q
frugal government. In appearance he
looks something like an English post
man and an impoverished Spanish
oficer. But there is artistry about his
s~habbiness. He fits into the picture.
Very often. especially in Andalusia,
he is old and rather infirm. One IL
often sorry for him as he humps along
with his sword trundling behind him.
But he has the wisdom that goes with
age. II he sees a row he looks at 1t
with his blind eye and allows 1t to
simmer down-a very good thing with
rows.
II you ask a Spanish policeman q
question he is pOliteness itself. But
his answer will be wrong. He is q
mine Of misleading information. He
doesn't know. Indeed. what he doesn't
know about the names of streets and
the way to get to them and things
generally would All an encyclopedia.
II you want to know anything you
must not ask a Spanish policeman.
Respect him, for he is Of the best. but
4on't ask him questions.
In ~ nighttime he sometimes car
ries q lance. He is then called q
serene, presumably because he brings
serenity upon troubled waters. He
looks very picturesque on a clear. star
lit night and makes n think Of the
times Of old-the times one reads about
IN historical romances. But he IL al
ways harmless. always peaceful and
ready for q friendly gossip. He Is
really q serenO-a serene person. His
lance 10 merely there to round or his
artistic and romantic appearance. And
Il II not a sharp lance. l know, for
I have often felt the edge Of it-when
the serene ~courteously handed it to me
for inspection. But it looks artistic
when seen in the distance on q star
1T night
The policeman Of Catalonia Is some.
what different from the policeman Of
sAndAlusia. He is alert. pushful and
interfering. He is apt to want to know
who you are and what you are and
what your business may be. But Cata-
Iouia n not Spain. It is a place where
IT, people rush about doing all man
Der OF things. They like work, and,
what = worse, they like other people
. work. And their policemen taxi
ofbor them.
No. the Catalonian policeman cannot
teuly b called q Spanish policeman.
j ron want TO zee the true spanish
policeman you must 50 down TO Anda-
11gGGa.
Ard y0n will like him. You will feel
- him the frisndiiest regard. Y0u
V1n - him ambling casually alona
WITH stOoped shoulders ana trundlins
aansAA AuA G~rnlSS.~~~NhS 1850 ~ $3.50