Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 February 1920 — Alabaster City In Spain [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Alabaster City In Spain

* CADIZ has made up its mind to be equal to the opportunities with which the after-the-war world abounds. We shall hear of Cadiz in many ways, says The Christian Science Monitor. It has taken note of the new determination, of the northern ports such as Vigo, Bilbao, and some others, and of Oporto of the Portuguese, to make a big forward movement, and, Spain generally being in an advantageous position in the matter of maritime commerce, it conceives a more brilliant future opening out for it in the new world conditions than ever it had dreamed of. Vigo, । with the connivance of the Americans, it is understood, Is about to make a strong bid for the carrying trade with North America, and as the main port of entry into Europe from the upper half of the American continent But Cadiz has had an advantage in the past with regard to the South, and hopes not only to maintain it, but to strenghten It. She has been, in effect, a great receiving and distributing center, dealing with the South American states, and spreading the goods she received over Portugal and all Spain. She has flourished, and she has done well by herself in every way. But with Cadiz as with practically every other place in ( Spain, there has in modern times been a decline and a recovery. It is believed now that the recovery will be great The New Movements. Cadiz starts the new period with a fine new equipment in the matter of her harbor. The new Reina Victoria quay will astonish the commercial men and travelers who go there after a long absence. The San Felipe breakwater has been extended, and there have been dredging and widening operations, so that capacity and accommodation are now much greater than they used to be. Big liners may now berth themselves well, and as soon as they are hitched up they will find the newest electric traveling cranes and all the most up-to-date port appliances in operation. So Cadiz bids the traders come, and with Vigo, Seville, Bilbao and Barcelona it helps Spain to make a new challenge to the wortd in maritime matters, and this certainly does. No country has such a fine seaboard and one so advantageously situated. The Spaniards have thought of the maritime possibilities of their country before now, but they are thinking of it intensely in the new condition of the world economics. Already far more ships are calling at Cadiz than before the peace—though these mere callers do not amount to much. In the old prewar days the Hamburgh American line established a regular monthly service from there to Pernambuco, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and Santos ; one or two French passenger lines were making regular use of the port, and the English boats did so regularly. The war Interfered naturally with most of these services, but now they are being resumed. Should Be Approached From Sea. While In these present days and hours economics are everything, and other things seem secondary, it is always hard to talk and write of Cadiz in the purely materialistic way. She has splendid harbor facilities, perfect opportunities for trade. -About her streets and places there is a hustling, businesslike look. Like all commercial businesslike ports she has a smart up-to-date appearance. There Is something about Cadiz which reminds one of Genoa. She is different from all other Spanish cities, even the ports,- for she is smarter than Malaga, and not so tinged with American and French as is the marvelous Bilbao. But there is something more about, Cadiz—there Is her really lovely appearance when she is approached from the sea. Just ar one should always, if possible, be in a particular mood for the complete enjoyment of certain experiences, so one should always approach

particular cities In a certain way and the poorest way of all to approach almost any city is by train. Never go to Cadiz by rail. Better far, if you are in mid-Spain and must use the roads or the tedious ferrocarll, go to Seville or over to Tangier in Africa-and make one of those little voyages that are regularly available, in order to come upon Cadiz by way of the sea. It is generally acknowledged that there is no other sea approach in the world that is so beautiful as this. - Cadiz at such times and in such circumstances is a glorious picture in white and blue. She rises up from the sea on a small platform of limestone rock which only a very narrow isthmus holds to the mainland. In a majestic silver beauty the houses with their azoteas, or flat roofs, seem to rise like a fairy city above the deep blue of the sea, their miradores or view towers surmounting them. All are heavily coated with whitewash frequently renewed. Always White and Clean. Thus the city is always white, quite smokeless, and is kept spotlessly clean. .It glistens in the sun against the blue Andalusian sky, with waters lapping it nearly all around. The poets and the descriptive writers have almost exhausted themselves in their use of fine adjectives to describe its beauty and yet they feel they have failed. Spaniards call it their “tazita de plata,” or silver dish; some of them say it is more like a “palaclo de plata” beautifully chased, and from another aspect they liken it to a great alabaster ship floating out upon the waters. No terms are too strong in which to .speak of Cadiz thus seen from the sea, for she is indeed very beautiful, veritably “a white pearl set in a crown of and emeralds.”

The interior of no city could completely match such an outside view, but yet Cadiz, within, is good and pleasant also, and is always extremely clean. But It is a very practical place, and though it has its cathedral with a spire rising over all, it has little in the way of art —one of the oldest cities of Spain though it be —to attract the visitors who need it for their lingering at any place. It is a place to wonder at, to tarry at for but a little while, and then to leave, knowing it full well to be unforgettable. But in the new days of traveling that are beginning, no person who wanders toward the south of Spain should, through neglect, miss seeing Cadiz from the water. It will live in his memory when he has forgotten many pictures. It will hold its place in his esteem evert when he comes face to face with the incomparable Bay of Naples.

A Street in Cadiz.