Evening star., 1937-10-01
CROWDS CHEERFUL
IN MADR|D'S SIEGE
Front Around Capital Quiet,
With Main Fighting
in Aragon.
BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY.

MADRID, October l (N.A.NA).-
They say you never hear the one that
hits you. That's true Of bullets, be-
cause. If you hear them, they are
already past. But your correspondent
heard the last shell that hit this hotel.
He heard 1t start from the battery.
then come with whistling incoming
roar like subway train to crash
against the cornice and shower the
room with broken glass and plaster.
And while the glass still tinkled down
and you listened for the next one to
start you realized that now finally
you were back in Madrid.
Madrid is quiet now. Aragon is the
active front. There's little fighting
around Madrid except mining, counter
mining, trench raiding, trench mortar
straflng and sniping. in a stalemate
OF constant siege warfare going on in
Carabanchel, Usera and University
City. The cities are shelled very
little. Some days there is no shelling
and the weather is beautiful and the
streets are crowded The shops are
full OF clothing, jewelry stores. camera
shops, picture dealers and antiquarians
are all open and the bars are crowded.
Imitation Liquors Sold.
Beer is scarce and whisky is almost
unobtainable. Store windows are full
OF Spanish limitations of all cordials.
whiskies and vermouths. These are
not recommended for internal use, al
though I am employing something
called Milords Ecosses whisky on my
face after shaving 1t smarts a little.
but I feel very hygienic. I believe it
would be possible to cure athletes
foot with it. but one must be very
careful not to spill it on ones clothes
because it eats wool
The crowds are cheerful and the
sandbag-fronted cinemas are crowded
every afternoon. The nearer one gets
to the front, the more cheerful and
optimistic the people are. At the
front itself optomism reaches such a
point that your correspondent, very
much against his good judgment, was
induced to go swimming in a small
Cuenca front several days ago.
The river was fast-f1owing stream,
very chilly and completely dominated
BY Fascist positions, which made me
even chillier. I became so chilly at
the idea of swimming in the river at
all under the circumstances that,
when l actually entered the water, it
felt rather pleasant. But it felt even
pleasanter when got out Of the water
and behind tree.
Shoots Unfortunately.
At that moment a government Of
hcer who was member of the opti-
mistic swimming party shot a water
snake with his pistol, hitting it on
the third shot. This brought a
reprir1and from another, not so COM
pletely optimistic officer member who
asked what he wanted to do with
that shooting-get machine guns
turned on us?
At this moment, a shell has lust
anghted on . house top up the street
from the hotel where I am typing
this. A little boy is crying in the
street. A militiaman has picked him
up and Is comforting him. There
was no one killed on our street and the
people who started to run slow down
and grin nervously. The one who
never started to run at all looks at
the others In q very superior way.
and the town We are living in now is
called Madrid.
Copyright. 1887. by the North American
Newspaper Alliance, Inc.)