Evening star., 1937-07-11

nees. The hotel In which We stayed.
at Toulouse was called the Regina,
and 1t might vaguely interest Miss
Helen Hayes to know that the hostelry
across the street from 1t is the Vic
toria. All the employees at the Regina
are men, which seems to be accounted
for by the fact that the women are
hard at work as captains Of the canal
boats. The trip takes us through the
ancient walled city OF CarcasSonne,
now a scene of lyric peacefulness, but
once the arena of medieval carnage
and death. Mr.. Neville, the reformed
bridge expert, who Is, among many
| things, the language man Of this ex-
pedition, seems to have a few minor
| troubles with the Provencal dialect
spoken in these parts.
As We near Cerbere, we are stopped
several times by soldiers representing
the international border control To
get into Spain legally an American
| must have his application for entry
approved by the United States consul
late in Paris, which gives him letter
to the French prefecture, recommend
ing his admission. After five days or
SO Of adventures with French red tape.
the approval Of the prefecture is
stamped on your passport. and it is
this approval, rather than the Spanish
visa, which concerns the international
guards.
Toward nightfall We arrive at Ger
bere and put up at the Hotel Belve-
dere, which overlooks the Mediterra-
mean and looks from the outside eX-
actly like the prov OF one Of those
ancient Spanish caravals that were
| always being captured by Capt. Blood.
Across the mountains lie Port-Bou and
Spain.
IUNE 22-The train for Port-Bou
Is said to leave at any time be-
tween 9 and 10 in the morning. 1t
finally leaves At 10, and you can buy
tickets only after you have had the
stamp of the prefecture approved.
The train is occupied chiefly by
| Spaniards, returning to their country
with loaves OF bread and other pro-
visions. Only tunnel separates Ger
| bere from Port-Bou, and a few days
| earlier an Italian was arrested in the
vicinity on the suspicion OF planning
| to blow it up. Now the tunnel Is
carefully watched by guards stationed
within it. Many Of them are women.
The first sight that greets you in
Spanish territory is house that has
been destroyed by an aerial bomb.
They town of Port-Bou seems quiet
and peaceful, although there are
many men about in uniform and the
| passport examination is particularly
strict. The passport authorities do
not seem to care for some Italian
transit visas that possess, but they
are pleasantly interested in my Rus
sian visa.
A few hours in Port-Bou and we
take the afternoon train for BARGE
Iona. The train takes several hours
longer to reach the Catalonian capital
than it would in peace time. but it
is a pleasant trip through rich smiling
fields that promise an excellent
harvest. Incidentally. at the book
stall in the Port-Bou station the only
American authors represented are
Mark Twain and Mae West. wonde,
how they would have liked one an
other.
We arrive in Barcelona about e:3t
in the evening The city Is almost
in darkness, with but few lights ir
the streets and In the buildings
There is no difficulty getting tax
at the station. 1t is car operated
by the c. N. T., the syndicalist'
anarchist union. and the driver vii
not accept a tip We are driven tt
the Hotel Nouvel which is operated
by its staff and is informally bu
pleasantly run None OF the staff i
in uniform, although the walters veal
the only tuxedos have seen "
Barcelona
One man takes me to my room
but the second man, who arrives Wit
my bags, says the room isn't clear
enough and moves me to much bet
ter one. Crowds Of people. few oi
them in uniform, are walking on the
broad Ramblas. At one place a mar
is attracting crowd by drawing pic
lures of American screen players. Ht
is Just drawing some one who appar'
emily is Lewis Stone. In the distance
can be heard the strains of Lime
house Nights" and Cheek to Cheek.
1t is bright. clear night, excellent
weather for an air raid.
JUNE 2s-1n the daylight, Barcelona
has much of the proletarian lool
of Moscow. The people crowding th'
: streets are obviously workers or those
, who want to look like them. In the
manner of Moscow, the buildings ar
covered with red banners proclaimini
various organizations and unions tina
are represented by initials, for BARGE
Iona Is as initial-conscious as the New
Deal. The streets are filled, too, with
propagandist posters and, in the styl'
Of Moscow, most Of them are effectiv
and exciting. suggesting that tn
a lithograph is the finest form OF revo
lutionary artistic expression.
y There is a noticeable absence Of lux
ury shops, and all the stores, theatey
and hotels have been taken over b.
= their workers. To add to the Russial
/ comparison, there are pictures on tn
V streets of Stain, Lenin, Marx, Engel
4 and Voroshilov and representations o
the hammer and sickle, although no
,, nearly so many as are to be found Il
= Moscow There are sandbags in tn
windows Of the telephone company.