New Britain herald., 1927-07-29
TARbES A BASQUE
Shrine OF FRENCH
Resort Of Thousands at Foot Of
Lofty Pyrenees

washington, u. c., July %
Tarbes, recently the center Of a de-
vastattng storm that took heavy toll
of property and crops, is the capital
OF Haute Pyrenees upper Pyrenees)
province of southern France, and
birthplace Of Marshal Foch, says
bulletin from the Washington, D.
c. headquarters of the National
Geographic Society.
"Tarbes Is a city of scarcely more
than $500 inhabitants but bids fair
to become popular shrine. The
modest home in which Marshal
Foch was born is the object of nu-
merous pilgrinlages and few of thu
thousands who annually visit tn,
Lourdes Grotto, short distance +
the southwest. fail to stop in III
capital.
The Venice of Southern France.
''Tarbes has often been likened I,
Venice. Small channels that branch
off from the Adour river pass
through the town. Their never ceas-
ing murmur as they flow through
beautiful parks and gardens, makes
the city beauty spot. Every citizen
seems to take pride in Tarbes' at
Effectiveness. Everyone who has
few feet of ground about his home
plants 1t in fruit trees or flowers.
THE Jardin Massey, thirty-five
acre park in the northern part of
Tarbes was a gift of another illus
trious son, long before city planning
made parks municipal necessity.
Massey, after whom the park is
named left Tarbes for Holland as an
humble gardener. He eventually be-
came manager of the Dutch royal
gardens and was later called by the
French king to Versailles. After
making fortune at his profession,
he returned to Tarbes and establish
ed the park which bears his name.
Still another native son of Tarbes is
recalled as one visits the museum
and cloister in the park where a
bust of Theophile Gautier is mount
ed
The climate OF Tarbes is Well
adapted for landscaping, and the
rarest of exotic trees grow to large
proportions there. Sesquioas and
Himalaylan ccdars vie with one an
other.
A Haven For Horse Lovers.
THE plain about the Tarbes Is
fertile and verdant. Those inhabi
tans who are not employed in
the tanneries, mills, tile works and
large government arsenal located
there farm, raise cattle and tend
their vineyards. The snow-clad
peaks of the Pyrenees give the
plains a spectacular background.
Pic du Midi de Bigorre, whose bare,
rrecipitou5 and rugged heights stand
out boldly against the lesser peaks,
is plainly visible.
"Throughout the country. young
colts prance about the fields. for
Tarbes Is a haven for horses and
horse lovers. Here the French
propagate their cavalry mounts
which are kept In immaculate airy
quarters and groomed with greatest
care. The Haras, as the breeding
establishment is called, was estab-
lished by Napolean In 1906, when
he. fearing his fighting horses were
deteriorating in breed, introduced
English and Arabian blood. The
mares and colts are boarded on the
various farms. which accounts for
the wide distribution of the young
equine 'aristocrats.'
"Tarbes' fairs are noted. Its mar
ket days present memorable pic
ture. Women from the countryside
set up their booths, shaded by gaudy
umbrellas. in the Place Maubourget.
A busting swarm of humanity
surges back and forth, some buying,
some just looking. In the morning
the place is bare. Not even let
tuce leaf can be found as remind
err of the day before. Nearby, sheep
mules and donkeys vie for price.
Land of the Basques.
"Mlany of Tarbes' inhabitants are
Basques. people whose orogin and
languages have been a puzzle to
scholars. Nor are the Basques them
selves able to help in the solution.
Romans, Cloths, Franks, Moors
Spanish and French have, at one
time or another tried to subject
them, but they remain unto them
selves an Independent race, al
though subjects of the various ma
tons In which they live. Nobody has
been able to break their spirits
Frenchmen, to the Basques in the
French Pyrerees are foreigners, rs
are Spanards to those Basques who
live on the Spanish side OF the
range.
According to DR.. Edwin A.
Grosvenor's The Races of Europe
Marshal Foch is typical Basque
and 1gnatius Loyola, founder of
the Jesuit order, was Basque.
'Turba. which was near the pres
ent -day Tarbes, was the capital of a
Roman state. Tarbes is mentioned
as a bishopric as early as the fifth
century. Later in history it appears
as a sufferer from the religious wars
OF the sixteenth century, and as the |
scene OF victory by Wellington
over the French in 1914"
Vance of Toronto Named