Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 February 1894 — SPANISH MATCH BOYS. [ARTICLE]

SPANISH MATCH BOYS.

The Typical Street Urchins of Madrid. Madrid’s typical street urchin is the match vender. I can best illustrate some of his qualities by the following little anecdote from real life. After Queen Isabella had beenexpelled from Spain, in the latter part of the the throne of that country was offered to Amedeus,the second son of the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel, and accepted by him. At the head of the Liberal party stood Marshal Prim, the conqueror of Morocco, and as he had practically headed the revolution against the Queen, a number of adherents of the latter decided to remove him. One day Prim was driving in a crowdfed Madrid street, when two men in a close carriage came up alongside oi him and emptied their pistols into his body. Then in the ensuing confusion they drove off unnoticed by the crowd. One person had witnessed the whole performance,a match-vender by the name of Ramon Guispert. With the agility of a monkey he jumped up on the crossbar at the rear of the vehicle and was carried way to the hidingplace of the assassins. When he had assured himself of its location he jumped off and betook himself with the information to the chief of police. However, as was afterwards proved al a special inquiry, a police clerk in the pay of the conspirators warned the latter of their impending arrest, and when a force of constables reached their lair the fugitives had fled. Guispert nevertheless was rewarded with a position in the police department, and distinguished himself by the capture of many dangerous criminals. He died five years ago, after exposing the methods of the terribl* Black Hand Society' in Andalusia. As a rule, Madrid’s little matchvender is ragged, dirty, übiquitous—a perfect little black-eyed imp wb« will not accept a refusal, and whose appealing glances and insinuating whine only the hardest can withstand. In Madrid every grown-up person smokes cigars or cigarettes eighteen' hours out of twenty-Tour; hence th« demand for matches is .constant, and the chico de las cerillas is bound tc make a living if he remains alert. His favorite resort is the Puerta del Sol, the centre of the capital’s whirl, where above the noise of vehicles and* the hum of the passing throng is heard his shrill cry of “Cerillas, Senor* cerillas 1” He carries his wares in a little square box suspended in front of his chest by a strap passed back ol his neck. His stock consists of various kinds of matches, including those of wax in gay'ly, ornamented paper boxes, and the large odoriferous Vesuvians of English importation. His most costly' brand he retails foi about three cents, the cheapest foi one penny. These match-boys are a troublesome set at times, as they are fond of forming into cliques with fierce rivalries, leading often to personal encounters. On such occasions the Spanish boy is unfortunately not satisfied to depend on the weapons nature has given him, but will seize a knife or stone to attack his adversary. His redeeming trait, however, is his intense love for his parents, to whose necessities he will devote his last penny.—[Harper’s Young People.