The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 7, 1904, Page 14

B> ELIZASBETH SY LY HAT a time he must have had of it—that unlucky wight who happened to fall in love in those unenlight- ened days wher e malady was really cobsidered for ble! The man was k s a serious plight, who was s s even here in our before the senors and valierly this how speedily stained and a per- To the lover of t was an affair of mo- o himself a bride. In- so much “time ‘and enterprise that it was furnished the founda- yth concerning the seri- matrimony generally. How- may be, he presents an awful which the up-to-date ¥ look without shudder- vE iving. Such a view is. ionally wholesome for wing how much worse his own night have been. After gazing upon it he will forever discount his own trials and wear a cheerful coun- tenance even when ordering the chaperon’s supper! It is uit for us to realize that even such a short time ago as during the the settlements of Alta Cali- fornia pted to reflect, like so many and rrors, the life of Madrid, st as the Californians ) their plows because “it one by our fathers in Spain,” y married and gave in marriage f odification of the Spanish mode. In those days the city plaza often formed the stage setting for the first act « affair. Little by little the candles and lanterns had begun to glimmer forth around the square, where the aguardiente seller and the monte player were bringing their tables out in front of their booths. Among the trees the violins and guitars were tun- ing up, and the little fountain in the center of the square braced up for the occas d its level best to make the 'k like a square in old T Madrid. With the growing dusk the pleasure-seekers strolled into the plaza, and soon the air was filled with laugh- ter, chatter and song. Had we been in San Diego, for instance, on such a night we would have noticed among the aristocrats one particular maiden with blacker eyes, redder lips and more im- posing flounces than her sisters, and would have been told that that was Senorita Inez del Herrera, the daughter of the hidalgo whose broad wacres stretched from the sea almost to the fcothills. Gossip would not have re- frained probably from bringing in the name of the young Don Martinez at the same time, but to that we, of ccurse, would have turned a deaf ear. The gayeties really began when the l ¥ @ THE BOAT AND THE BODY ¥ ¢ Watch a noble boat glide into the water. It is as strong as can possibly be built from wood and iron, after the most perfect pattern. It must be strong, that for years it may be able to hold together. until the last harbor is reached. Unless it is strong there can be no voyage. Whether driven by wind or by steam is of secondary importance. So it is ith the human body. To suc- cessfully sail over life’s rough sea it must be strong and rugged. The amount of canvas, the power of the engines. and other factors will deter- mine the rapidity of the boat's pro- gress. The energy, the enthusiasm, the persistency of the individual will deter- mine what rate he will advance. But without the sound body neither the voyage of the boat nor that of the child can be successful It may be that no one can say what vitality is. Some say that it is nerve force; others that it is a force fed by air and assimilation, and that it acts through the nerves. Be this as it may, all must agree that it is the measure of capacity for success. No child can have his share of success unless he is perfectly healthy. It is the glory of a child who is well. As the child's success depends upon vitality, so does his vitality depend upon a strong body. If these things are so is it not of vast importance that parents see to it that every provision is made for the developing of strong bodies? The mind is that in wus which knows, feels and wills. Therefore the training of the child’s mind means not only the furnishing of the mind with knowledge, but it also means the culture of the feelings and the devel- opment of the will. From earliest childhood the mind drinks in knowl- edge through the senses of smell, touch, taste, sight and hearing. By means of the senses the child per- celves that there is a world outside of itself. To a limited extent the child quite early remembers. Later the faculties of memory, imagination, conception, judgment and reasoning becomes active. Primarily the child gains all its in- formation through the senses. If but one sense is defective the child is se- riously handicapped for life. Fortu- nate the child that has all the senses unimpaired. How difficult the educa- tion of the child that is deaf or blind! How nearly impossible the proper training of one who is both deaf and blina! The senses of smell, taste and touch are those especially provided for. the sole purpose of defending, protecting and preserving the body. They are, therefore, sometimes called the ani- mal senses. The senses of hearing and sight are more complex, and the sensations arising from them are comparatively slight, and are subordi- nate to the knowledge which the mind of the young child gains of the objects seen and heard. By means of the sensations which a child gets through the senses he gains knowledge of things about him. He becomes conscious not only of him- self, but of objects around him. Since it'is so it is well that in the first few years the child should be assisted in every way, FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. 14 ITHE— SAg AT . usiclans struck up the national air, announcing the arrival of the Alcalde. -In his party was Don Martinez Estu- dillo Arguello Echeandia, an attache of the Alcalde, a scion of a house whose sons had sat upon the throne of Spain, In whose veins ran the blood of Ferdinand—in fact he possessed the usual titular equipment of a Spanish gentleman.’ Just why he ‘was in .- the New World instead of occupying the proud halls of his fathers was a ques- tion never asked by polite society. To- night, certainly, his apparel admitted no disputation of his dignity. -Here is a description by an eye wit- ness: Under his sombrero he wore “a black silk handkerchief, the four cor- ners of which hung down upon his neck behind. ‘He had on an embroid- ered shirt-a blue damask vest, short clothes of crimson - velvet, a bright green cloth jacket with large silver buttons and shoes of embroidered buckskin.” Over this fell the serape covered. with “as much velvet trim- ming and embroidery - as it could carry.” What maiden heart could re- st such enchantments as a blue vest, o green jacket and short clothes of crimson? No wonder that she of the dark eyes, with all her demurensss, found opportunity to send many a swift glance’ toward this paragon of elegance! Presently the promenaders began to separate into groups, the girls form- ingz a marching circle in the middle of the squdre, while the young men made & ring cutside of these, marching in Ipposite direction. thus keeping the two circles always face to face. Here was the opportunity for the enterpris- ing. “Of course there was the roboso, fan ang mantilla to screen the inner circle from the too interested scrutiny of the outer, but what hero with a name like Martinez Estudillo Arguelio Echeandia would be baffled by a piece of black lace? At one of these prome- nades, then, the lordly eye of Echeandia fell upon Senorita Inez, and imme- diately he burmed with a consuming passion, as was customary. When the senorita was returning home under the escort of a battalion of sisters, cousins and aunts, Echeandia followed at a respectful distance and discovered the abode of his Inamorata. After that he lit a cigarrito and strolled back to the square, pondering what he could stake on monte, for ready money he must have if he intended falling In love, and his vpresent resources were—well, it would have been extremely ungenteel for a gentleman of his rank to be pos- sessed of anything but debts, and Echeandia was in the height of the fashion. On the monte table, then, he staked his gold mounted poinard (we will assume it was paid for), spent his last real in aguardiente and sat down to decide his fate. Had he lost his love story would have come to an ubrupt termination, but fortune, ,with the old weak spot in her heart for a lover, sat by his side. At any rate, the next day Echeandia was preparing to attack the fortifica- tions that surrounded the senoriia, namely, Senor Herrera and all the brothers and uncles. This might re- quire months of strategy, ‘and even after the breastworks were won, even after the garrison had capitulated, the lady for whom he had fought the good fight he saw but seldom, and then only in the presence of her relatives assem- bled. History does not. precisely record the emotions of the senorita, as they were matters of quite secondary importance, but if she was a true Cas- tilian maiden it is safe td assume that before now she had implored the saints for a husband, addressing her suppli- cations to St. Anthony after the unique Spanish fashion by throwing a little image of that revered celibate into the well, saying: “Lie there, St. Anthony, and drink water till thou has found me a husband!” Perhaps at this stage of the proceedings she fished up the saint as a reward of merit. If Echeandla adopted the approved method of courtship imported from Mexico he now ‘began to ‘“play the bear,” that is, he took up his stand out- side the Herrera dwelling and waited hour after hour with the hope 3t seeing his Jullet pass on the balcony that ran across the upper part of the house. Up and down he would pace and perhaps receive one signal in a long afternoon! Can Fifth avenue display a devotion like unto this? Then, too, he might meet her in the market place with her duenna, when she would wave to him by fluttering her hand back and forth before her eyes “with an enticing ges- ture,” as an old observer called it. These views of his charmer were sup- posed to satisfy him, unless fc again befriended him and inve or del Herrera into taking his fam- to a rodeo at the rancho of some ily relative, whither so gallant a lover as Echeandia thought nothing of riding a hundred miles to “tread but one meas- through the On his ar- ure” with the senorita mazes of the contradanza. rival his host probably fell on his and kissed both cheeks, saying, u are welcome, Don Martinez; my hous is at your command, my horses are yours, my wine is yours, my relatives are your relatives; you are at hom But woe to the suitor if, thus en- couraged, he for one moment: treatod the senorita as if she were his cous.n four times removed. As it was, the three days’ merrymaking probably ended for him in a dueilo, not ne sarily, that there was anythiog pa ticular to fight about, but it was a social duty that young men of pre- tensions could mot afford to omit. But if he was thus pinked for her sake, let us hove that he was rewarded by the cenorita s laying aside her dignity for the occasion and joining in the general celebration of the fandango, even in the dancing, when Echeandia would be re to have a hand in showering ier with silver dollars at the close of her performance; or maybe he placed his hat upon her head, meaning he would redeem it with a present. Perhaps at this time, too, Senor Herrera sometimes turned his back and the duenna we It would be depressing other- su to sleep. n w to think of all the good California moonlight that was wasted in those days. After the rodeo eertainly Eche- andia’s place was firmly established in the family, and it was probably as they journeyed home that the semorita’s fate was sealed by Herrera's word. Let us, like the rest of the world. as- sume that she approved of the paternal taste and was happy when her father mentic 1 the day. The wedding took place at the mis- sion church at the fashionable hour— just before daybreak, and was fdllowed by a wedding breakfast of—imagine— beef, tortillas and frijoles! On account of his great wealth Se Herrera added to this chocolate and sugar from Mexico. After this what was lacking to lift the bride to the pin- spread nacle of human happiness? There were no rice showers, bu:t their place was taken by egg shells filled with cologne, which greeted the bridal pair from un- expected quarters with “sweet drench- ings.” For the next three days Her- rera's tables were spread and respread for the friends. relatives and all the uninvited but countryside for three nights rera’s house was bright with wax tapers and the violins sed. After this ard guitars neveryce the father withdrew his hand from the rudder of the matrimonial bark. Eche- andia and Inez w married. and it was thought they might now befin to make each other’s acquaintance. weELCOME »