Evening star., 1938-09-13

A great American novelist, du-
thor "Sister Carrie" AN An1eri-
can Tragedy" and other books, ,oent
to Spain to see for himself the hor-
rors OF ciuil Dar. In series of
three articles. OF Which this is the
second, he records Dipidly his OBJ
serpations and experiences.
BY THEODORE DRESSER.
Barcelona, war or no war, is still
worth talking about. AS late as 1905
or 1900 it had about 100000 people.
At the opening of this latest ruckus
it had over a million. And as I see
it, and for once, built as successful
manufacturing city should be built,
it is beautiful. (Chicago, Detroit,
Cleveland, Pittsburgh, please noteD
There are no neglected discouraging
slums There are no crowded, un-
painted alleys, where people wait
painfully for an end to their fate.
There are little streets lined with
little houses. but one can see that
they were well built The bombed
areas make that perfectly plain
There are great streets with great
houses and great and beautiful apart
ments.
My personal conviction was, before I
got there, that there couldn't be any
up-to-date Spain, 1t was all too old.
But looking at Barcelona, built since
1900, 1~quickly decided that they have
more taste, more street planning, wis
dom, more honesty in the mater OF
building materials, and better plumb
ing, lighting, elevator service, as well
as excelling architects. than you are
likely to find in London or Paris at
this hour. In that sense it is an amaz-
ing city, with its very wide thor
oughfares-provided with wide walks
in the middle and on either side
plenty Of trees and howers-bisecting
the city in various directions.
Most Of Shops Closed.
Even now, torn as it is with bomb
ing. and with extreme necessity dog
ging the heels OF its residents, it is
impressive to look at. It has theaters,
parks, athletic fields, a great bull ring
(but no bulls, since they can not get
them any more-they are all over in
Frances territory. smart, look
ing shops. even if now most of them
are closed-nothing to sell.
1t has great hospitals, one the
finest I ever saw In my life, built
right, spaced right. beautiful to look
at. A wonderful old city hall. Sew
eral ducal palaces such as distinguish
Florence and Rome. A gallery Of
paintings, and so forth. In its best
days 1t must have been extremely
attractive, for it is on the sea, the
blue Mediterranean, and there is q
wide, white beach open to every one.
There were great docks. now most
ly wrecked by bombs, handsome
depot, a great municipal power plant,
also wrecked, taxis, automobiles-in
short, all of the things that q great
and rich city should have. If it were
municipality well-planned and con-
Quoted. When 1 think of Baltimore,
Philadelphia and Boston, I would
like to knock the heads of the local
authorities together-ask them what
in Gods name has become of all
the wealth that has been earned
there but has not been used to beau
tify their domains.
Little to Do With.
Now, however, and Just because of
all this bombing. 1t is really sadden-
1ng-the five or six hundred thou
sand people still there, maybe more,
but with so little to do with. Armies
on three or four fronts and airplanes
coming in fives or twenties have mod
lf1ed all that was. They city cannot
be lighted by night or by day. except
in very limited way. because of
Its great wrecked power plant. All
the cars that used to hurry here or
there, transferring people to work or
entertainment, are gone or nearly SO.
The army, the officials, the various
institutions for the care Of the sick,
require them. Flowers that used to
be a feature OF Barcelona are almost
non-extant.
There are great hotels, to be sure,
but they have to be strictly regulated
as to use, for the government needs
them. There are the handsome
apartment houses-but who can pay
the rents? Over three million ref
ugees in Loyalist Spain, among
them 100000 refugee children who
cannot pay anything yet, and Loyalist
armies to be maintained at the front!
And Rebel airplanes to be guarded
against at home! Five appeared Of
the harbor the first Sunday I wns
there; they were looking for food
ships, but, not finding any, went
away. And so little food in the great
city that quite everything has to be
doled-so much milk, II any; so much
bread; so many pounds Of vegetables,
If any. But almost no meat. That
has to be saved for the soldiers.
At night, wherever you 60, you 60 in
the dark. BY day, unless your business
is professional or Of such importance Is
to warrant q government permit, you
walk or take . street car, for which
you will wait long time. III the
hotels are oficials, international visi-
tors, and such brigade Of news-
papermen as have never encountered
anywhere else Ia the world. They