CITY OF SHINING FEET

Hokitika Guardian, 8 December 1928, Page 3

CITY OF SHINING FEET

(By 11. G. C'ARDOZO

MADRID, October 10

Tlie October .sun deals lightly with the Spanish capital, and this is perhaps one of the months when .Madrid is seen at its l>est. Court and society have returned from Santander and San Sebastian or farther afield and the streets and avenues at night are filled with gay c wings and goings.

With the Idue overhead, as yet only flocked occasionally with the silver and -rev clouds which toll of coming cold, and temperature is pqifcihle. and it is a delight to imitate Spanish rest fulness and stroll along the Alcalla. the (Iran Via, or another of the great avenr.es which with thefr towering and gleaming white buildings, arc typical of thenew Madrid. Outside the casing the Gun Club, or any other of the meeting places on which Madrid prides itself, the wicker arm-chairs still stand, inviting members and their friends to sit and rest and watch the gay-coloured, laughing crowds pass slowly to and fro.

Bright-uniformed lackeys bring the caramel sugar and water or the occasional vermouth which alone seems in demand.

Officers in uniform, their five or eight-pointed stars indicated the difference in rank from lieutenant to colonel, are to he seen everywhere as a reminder that the Spanish Army stands for Spain and its Government. it is a chattering, carefree crowd. Here and there are old women with lottery tickets for sale. The Government lotteries are an unfailing source of comment and interest, and bring in large revenues to the State. Nobody condemns them as shiftless or immoral.

In Madrid one’s feet never seen secure. The busy hoot-cleaners seize on them the moment one comes to rest on cafe or club terrace to give them an unneeded extra shine. Everybody wears gorgeous shining black or brown boots and a speck of dust or mud is a disgrace to be removed at once. At the Puerta del Sol. near the more popular quarter of the city, life is more exotic. Mules and delightful little donkeys sway slowly along their way with ample panniers full of the long green water-melons that the Spaniards love so much. They get tangled at i.nies in the files of yellow tram-cars, but the traffic police, with unusual calm, always sort of skein in a minute or so and the flow of traffic is not delayed.

Then as night! falls—and night is late in Madrid, when one dines at nine and goes to the theatre at ten or even later —come out the night watchmen, with their lamps, their sticks, and their heavy hunches of keys. For at night nobody can enter his house, hotel, or home without having the outer door Unlocked for him by these guardians of Gie peace.