The daily Alaskan., 1913-12-15
POLICE OF SPAIN
In AndaIusia They Are Seen In
 All Their Shabby Glory.
ARSENALS ON MOVING LEGS.

They Will Put a Pistol to Your Hoac With the Greatest PoIiteness anc
 Lock You In a Cell With Infinite ! Courtesy-Mines of MisinfOrmation.
 He is polite, is the Spanish police man. There is a live and let live ah about him. He possesses neither the easy and kindly dignity of the police man of London nor the truculence o1 the policeman of New York, but he is very. very human. And he has the blessed gift that no other brand oi policeman seems to possess of appear ! ing to be more than an ordinary person True be k armed. He is an arsenal moving on legs. But something tells you that he wouldn't really hurt a fly, ] like him.
 Aud here I must say that he is not 10 be couruunded with the guardia civil. The gunrdia civil is quite an. other person altogether. He is stern and uuStere. and he patrols country districts and lonesome mountainous places He was used to put down the OandplcroS. those udepts in the art of swift rorcpful borrowing. whose pres pnre did so much to heighten the TO- nance of old sunny Spain. The guardia civil killed off these gay financial art, ists. but now. even after his job has been finished. he still wears a cold, austere air He is indeed not to be conrOuuded with my friend the police man.
 The first time met the Spanish po- !ircman wu$ one night in a certain town in AndaluSia. Truth compels me tu state that met him in a prOfes- sinnui way. l was indulging with others in 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 five Of them put their pistols to my head. and made me feel that I would be doing him the greatest of favors by coming with him to the police station.
 The whole affair was cOurtliness It. self. To he arrested in such a manner was to have a privilege conferred upon one At the police station was again treated with politeness and in the end with a locked door.
 The Spanish policeman is not too well paid. He sports not an ambas- sadorml salary. All he gets is 2 pe- sptas a day. He is therefore anne nabp to the friendly and cOnsiderate tip. This. 1 must hasten to say, how ever. makes him none the less worthy and effective guardian of law and order
 He is shabby of uniform. But that Is not his fault It is the fault of a frugal government In appearance he looks something like an English post man and an impoverished Spanish officer But there is artistry about his shabhinesS. He fits into the picture,
 Very often. especially in Andalusia, he is old and rather lnfrm. One is often sorry for him as he humps along with his sword trundIing behind him. But he has the wisdom that goes with age. If he sees a row he looks at 1t with his blind eye and allows it to simmer dowu-a very good thing with rows.
 lf you ask a Spanish policeman question he is pUliteness itself. But bis answer will be wrong. He Is 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 fll an encyclopedia. If yau want to know anything you must not ask Spanish policeman. Respect him. for he is of the best, but don't ask him questions.
 In the nighttime he sometimes car rips a lance He is then called a serene. presumably because he brings serenity upon troubled waters. He looks very picturesque on a clear, star lit night and makes one think of the times of old-the times one reads about in historical rOmanCes. But he is al- ways harmless. always peaceful and ready for d friendly gossip. He is really a screno--u serene person. His lance Is merely there to round off his artistic and romantic appearance. And it is not a sharp lance 1 know, for have often felt the edge of t-when the serenU cOurteously handed it to me for inspection. But it looks artistic when seen in the distance on a star lit night.
 The policeman of Catalonia Is some what different from the policeman of Andalusia 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- lonia is not Spain. It is a place where tbe people rush about doing all man. ner of things. They like work, and, what is worse. they like other people 10 work. And their policemen take after them.
 No, the CatalOnian policeman cannot truly be called a Spanish policeman. If you want to see the true Spanish policeman you must go down to Anda- iusia.
 And you will like him. You will feel for bim the friendliest regard. You will see him umbling casually along
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