New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1926-08-28
VALENCIA REALLY
CITY OF DREAMS
Words Of Popular Song Not
Misleading

Washington. D. c., Aug. IS
Valencia, in my dreams it always
seems
I hear you softly call to me.
Valencia. where orange trees for
ever
tempt the hreez beside the seas"
Commerce reports add a third line
to the now popular song which pro-
claims theSpanish city a paradise of
/ love and ron ance. The third line be-
! ing:
i"Nalencai, two new bridges. sewer
/ system. city hall and central
| market
! For Valencia has embarked on an
ambitious program of public i'm
provements, according to a. bulletin
from the Washington, D. c., head
quarters of the National Geographic
society.
Songs Music Like City
THE mus of the song is like the
city" the bulletin continues The
AtLlilu ~ 1ollfO llItO Tie OpElllHS
measures with every brass and every
drum, then levels down to o thin
little melody before it RECEIVERS
courage. The city of Valencia greets
the visitors with a blare of pros
perity.
But the music changes and one
catches as an interlude and under
ILL., To- i 1...-
Moorish life, 10 which gardens were
more important than cigarette fac
tories. has survived moro strongly in
this third city of Spain, it is said,
than any other in the Peninsula.
Darker eyes and deeper complexions
are met with on Valencia's streets
than in Barcelona, to the north. lr-
rigated orchards that are more like
gardens than groves still mark Val
encia's countryside away from the
busy hubhub of the port. The scent
bottle of Andalus' the Moors called
it. Spaniards know their city of
256,000 people as Valencia del Cid
Thus do they surrender the city
once more to the Cid, a Robin Hood
bandit. who is quite lovable at a
distance of nine centuries.
Open Air Court
"A practice in harmony with the
old Valencia can be witnessed every
Thursday morning at 10 o'clock be-
fore the Door of the Apostles, main
entrance to the 5o0-year old cathe-
dral Here meets the Tribunal de las
Aguas. the Court of the Waters.
THE Tribunals court room is the
pavement, open to the blue sky. and
has been for five centuries. The |
judges bench is sofa, upholstered |
in green. 1t appears from some |
hiding place. Following |
the judges sofa comes the bar of |
Justice, a portable iron railing. And /
in due course seven judges. But |
how can these men Judge? They !
have no long black cloaks. They |
have no wigs like the English judges. |
They have not professionally serious |
faces. They are dressed like peas
ants. in Sunday black with black |
felt hats Indeed. they are ordinary
peasants elected by the peasant
water users of the Huerta or gardens
IF Valencia's countryside.
Every American who has had any
contact with the furious contentious
which have marked the history of
irrigation in the United States, Will
,e interested In the procedure and
he remarkable history of the
de las Aguas of Valencia.
No Place for Lawyers
"'Sobri ell tribunal announces
official of the court. The court Is
The plaintiff. peasant in
person, makes his statement to the
curt. Any in erru ption brings fine.
Then the defendant, also a peasant
tates his side of the case. One judge
the verdict of the court
here is no appeal from the deci-
ion. Neither the governm ents of
pain nor of Valencia have any part
n the court, yet they honor its acts.
Jone of its decisions is ever record
d. No lawyers are permitted to ap- .
year before the judges of the Wat
rs.They are men who know whereof |
SkIPPY