1922.
LY. across: 21.;
Spanish Mahogany
By BLANCHE ”CHANUS.
l -l. can furnish a house here with
old Spanish mahogany a. thin-
ly as at a bargain sale.” This
I wrote Adelaide in an expansive moment.
Adelaide was ohe who muted Tum:
to interfere with her flair as a colgctcrofi
household furnishings.
By means of n any horsepower latest_
creation, top xeagutcurtng car. with brake!
on all four wheels—and wlfleh'svere needed *
-she came from Part- sumtbward me-
the Spanish frontier tom say (Insular;
capital of Barcelona to look many-dorm
meant for me to look up the Spanish mo.-
hcgany. which meant looking ~up Josegr
which meant—but you will There'
was a. husband. of course. but he took only
a paying part in the drama of the “House
That Jack Furnished."
“
gee!
“‘lth difficulty I persdfided Adelaide to
hide lit-r automobile in one of the art nou-
Vt'lll garages. put her Paris clothes back
in the "inllvstrartlble" and her pearls in a
vault and wear a. dress at least a.
This as a preliminary strategic
old
bani;
month (lid.
mow in :1 ramhle after bargains in
criminal, or Spanish mahogany, with a strain
in l'~.~ :lnin which looks like melted gold.
th »: Ixhnlvs the romance of daring days—-
a- ;‘ 2m ::< .lllul pieces of eight. that reflects
i". .l 4 blill‘lilL’ surface the mystery of gone-
by (ins in nwdicval homes of stately dons
nnll autocratic grandeos, «lays long since
bnl’. 'c it was tilriwd over to the second
)lullll dinkt'tf‘ and became merely trastos
.er -,.- \‘ll'lufl.
linlwlnna lulu beautiful boulevards.
"rzlml-las." they call them, which explains
why we had to rumble. an incident you will
find :lvr‘vllllltr‘d ful‘ quite clearly later on.
'I‘lll‘nllzh the lll‘lllillnf. “Rumbla of the
I’llm-vls.” the grown flocked "liambla. of the
filming llirlls," the "llamhla of the Beau-‘
llflll Shade" and half a dozen other plane
free and palm tree shaded rambles. along
whose lvngths all Barcelona surges gayly,
(unselcssly, day and night. paying toll to
“in blind musicians of the tlnkllng guitars.
nudging {locks of odomus (but otherwise
bleanly) brown goats, purveyors of the
flty's pure milk supply from door to door,
N" finally arrive in the busy quarter where
#216 streets. or cullrs. themselves are the
"bpen air shops and the sidewalks the
pounters.
i More in these al fresco lumber rooms——
)uartos do drmhogo—we waded through all
manner of plunder. old and new. pushing
”tween bulky Spanish Women veiled in
black mantillas, turbaned ninerJ, gipsys in
bright fringed. silken shawls, swarthy men
in calms. little panier laden burros. white
hooded. high wheeled tartmlus, swarms of
'polite beggars—not a few of them locos
from the madlmusc; picturesque porters in
blue blouses and red caps. with ropes and
straps ox'cr shoulders, waiting: without im-
pallv-ncu the inevitable momma when they
will take your purchase of dcspojos, odds
and Mills. home for you.
I led Adelaide warily into the “Street of
the Old Furniture Dealers." where in
curious stone. tile roofed shacks are
housed the old furniture treasures.- as
largo a quantity in the undress—ruby
Jumbo and golden endna—as may be found
h any like area in all Europe.
"llut these are stablesl" gasped Ade-
laide. fresh from the magnificently staged
antique shops of the chic spas and mon-
dzlino resorts of Europe. "No." I assured
her, "just the aboriginal antique shop be-
fore it is dressed up for the tourist.
i‘wsllgb they don't even call them antique
r: vs: indeed, one may not even hint that
r, r commerce suggests the hoary tradi-
tions of nnthusrlanism in any way.”
Now to find Jose, the head of the con-
cortlum which controls most of the traffic
of the "Street. of Old Furniture Dealers.”
" an: the shops are all closed!" ex-
claimed Adelaide, in chagrin. But Ade.
laldo was new to shopping for antiques in
Spain. I banged on a few doors and shook
othvrs. awakening nothing but echoes.
Everything that is any trouble in Spain
is done by proxy. so I gave two copper:
to a small boy who had been following us.
expecting this very thing. to look up Jose.
The muchacllo, after half an hour’s
search. led us through a labyrinth to
where Jose was seated in his little patio
What I Learned About ,
South
By JAMES NORMAN HALL. Author of "KITCHENER‘S HOB.”
EARLY every and. I me. his
dreamed attima ofthe islands
of the South Seas, and it would
be interesting to know what sort of a pic-
turt- the thought of those distant lands
calla upinthcminds ofthonverazeman
orwomanat home. Iwalcivenscmein-
memwoanmmmmm
1
'inisln. Wdehatnboutth-mf An
.4
otcoollhndclmidmtscfnpast
household grandeur. cub; gm“
wicked between two bite slices or brood
'which he had cooked Ion'the brafler of
charcoal before him. This he interspersed .
with vccasional jet of red wine tm
’sidllti. , from a'lonx mooted. M V
shaped Wine’ bottle into his mouth at the
‘ same time that be held a alarm in a
long holder of w t". hem his
lip-L ».
The bom- being but 19 dander this was
in uncharted mail, but in Spain accents
when hungry. not by the clock. Jon was
up in a moment. bowint with!!! trace
of a bidalgc. “Mart. Certainly: if
the senoras will come day after to-mor-
row "
It was necessary to be. firm. Jose sighed
and laid down the omelet. took from the
interior of his knotted blouse a key nearly
a. foot long and opened a. great door at the
end of another declalian labyrinth. mut-
tering beneath his breath. "Madre de
Dias": “Neustra Senora del Plinr." for he
came from Saragoza. and szrzzwe to feel
that needed protection from two Yanqul
bargaining wits. At that Jose was the
animator of this old furniture“trade, so n’e
had to bear with him.
We entered what might have been the
model of the first antique shop in the
world's history. :1 cuarto d: desahogo in
all verity. Ancient household rubbish of
every possible kind was stacked like bricks
or lumber as far as the eye could penc-
trate the dusky gloom. Spardsb antiques
have an aged air all their own. WC
squeeze-d through nar-
row passages, stirring
up the dust of agar from
the dirt floor: Adelaide
sneezed painfully. but
kept bravely in my
wake. '
Jose. lighting another
cigariuo, swung himself
up into a crazy loft bun:
with epiders' webs and
after a. long interval of
scurrying over our heads
down dropped a squat
armchair of the kind
known locally as a. pal-
trona. with .sn oval
plaque back and curious
arms, which gave out in
the middle, the whole
painted a nice black
enamel.
“But I want mahogc
any—cache, caoba. com-
prcnde noted chord”—
protestcd Adelaide.
trained in the school of
the glossy sheen of
smartly got up antiques.
The old furniture sales
iopartment of Barcelona
.5 for the expert can-
noisseur in the unwashed and undressed
period of household gods. Jose's pride was
touched. He opened a murderous looking
clasp knife. which bore a graven motto on
its blade, which read: "My wound is mor-
tal." and scraping down through the
accumulated paint and varnish of many
generations at last laid bore a. bit of perfect
caoba grain.
Yes. it would be scraped and rubbed and
put into the best condition for the scnom.
"And the price?" "Fifteen pesetas." Pun-
cho, his repairer and finisher, was there.—
none more able in the world. and he pointed
to a shadowy nook. out of which rose a
thin, weather stained little man, the tint
of old mahogany himself. his garments so
nearly dust color with friendly baa-torts
that be had escaped notice up to now. He
bowed with dignity and unswaddlcd a piece
of furniture upon which he had rea-ntly
been working which gleamed soft and silky
as rubyllke as red gold and marvellously
beautiful.
"If it will come out like that tell him
that I will take all the old mahogany he
has got." exclaimed Adelaide, enchanted.
”Three dollars for that chair! Think of it!
Please tell him that I want six chairs. two
sofas, two tables. a commode for the draw-
ing room and enough more for two bed-
rooms: if a little of itwis veneer I won't
obiect." ,
This spot order Jose received politely.
but without effusion. "If the aenorac will
return made mama . . ." ”What does
that. mean?” interrupted Adelaide. ‘Come
red wine.
Seas Women
glimpse of a pair of brown eyes peepins
shyly at hintihrmbnherrlcoffoiinzo.
'How beautiful they were!’ ”think-dur-
mgthelontatterncon.
_ “Twilight canes gradually on, lot! gun
lostindreunheretumtcthevmsce-
Thereisaslitberingofbnufeetintho
unmmmmmm
Helvfilsdo‘nhavemokthonotedtm-
mmmmm.mm
moi-ivontflenmpot‘hqucdtcboby
“accounts?
xmwthszmymmmmd
com-question, numm'
the day utter to—mcmw‘l" ‘Impossible!
Tell him we ”somerset of fireplaces
right now. we are’lenving in a few days.
I am expecting lama-lends at. 8:11.84:-
besflxn toothe'yuchtncesat the end of
the week!
But these large, fluid American ideas
when put. .intcSpgnish seemed to heroic-e.
ucecdingiy. It was alreadichlgh noon.
Busincu could not be taken up again until
4 o'clock. after the siesta. The next day
there was a fiesta. a wedding iii-the family
the next. but after that? he might possibly
have the unemployed leisure «in which he
mizht place himself-at our disposal.
Thus Jose firmly. but couvrteously.
maneuvered us out. and locked‘the door:
locked the door on Adelaide: act'msttime‘d~
to the obsequlous, ever really attentions of
those who deal: in the antiques of\con-.
vention. and just_in time to permit us to
contribute to a. party of beggars who make
the furniture shop district their stamping
ground. Three picturesque 'mozos. or
porters" who had been patiently awaiting
us. moved off without surprise or com-
ment and we rambled home. paying an-
other tribute 6n the way to the blind
\
This he interspersed with an occasional jet of
guitarists of the Ramblns who had by this
time been greatly reinforced as to num-
bers. .
For two Weeks We rambled in the direc-
tion of Jose‘s furniture emporium. Ade-
laide's friends furiously telegraphing from
San Sebastian twice a. day. The generos-
ity of Adelaide had assembled a royal
cortego of blind musicians continually
strumming guitars in our wake. The beg-
gars: gave us a daily ovation in the Street
of the Old Furniture Dealers and the
patient porters were ever in waiting to
carry home our purchases.
“'9 had become experts
“"nen me had eliminated
hour and his noon dinner hour and his
visit for political discussion at the tabcma
afterward. his siesta. from 2 till 4 and the
time for his afternoonfiup of a mixture
of cinnamon and chocolate soaked up in
ensimodas there still remained to be
reckoned with the feast days. averaging
from one to five a Week. during which
saintly days even his normal intermittent
form of business ceased.
Then. too, Joso.belng an afflcinadH
bull fight fan—it was necessary. in order
that he might. properly sustain his repu-
tation as an esportman, that. he should
attend at least two bull fights a Week in
tho Plaza Nuevo, from 4 to 7. and this in
its way prevented any} rezulsr punching
of the time clock .10).“ the few working
days that could by any stretch of the
imagination be called such. As a result
it took quite a considerable milem of
at. the game.
Jose‘s omelet
3’ 4| {mint we had' got. together two
chairsand a absinthe- other half. reuse.
scntlng theshare of another member of
the old furniture combinmwho did" not.
believe in cutting prices without a sub-
stantial commission. The third week, the
acts began to be spoken of casually. while
in the fourth week Jose“ accidentally men-
tioned that there was a table that. he:
knew of that he believed might be bad If
some future time. ,
when we could spare the time from our
efforts at keeping up with Joe's office
hours we rambled over in Pancho'a direc-
lion; he. in the same two wrecks. lint! polo
lubed as much as half of tbe back of‘onc
chair. “'2 found him, a. red sash wound
around his waist, a gaudy handkerchief
rolled around his head, braided Jacket. knee
breaches and white stooknigs, in ‘a shady
corner of his own sunny little patio, which
he Shared With a flock of brown goats. unf-
de! an nmnge tree,'with a pet tortoise be-
side him and a big green parrot smearing
’T‘ 5‘3"?!) languages over his head. "Madras
1!; Dina; las senoras Americana: dc nou-
ro.”" he screamed cynically as we entered.
.u'xth Pam-ho we were no more produc-
nve of kinetic results than with Jose. but
our visits wore more restful. for here we
Eat a for: moments‘ repose and learned how
to sit in Adelaide‘s chairs, listening as
Pancho, expert furniture renovator, 105'-
fliu)’ took the opportunity to stop alto-
:olhcr his intzrmittent labors to tell how‘
the his antique emporiums of London and
Paris hail offered him contracts for life
and fabulous sums in lonis and sovereigns
.f he would but ,come to them. "But leave
Spain, his, Manila cigars, his Cafe de Puerto
Rico and his manzanllla? Never! Besides.
two pesctas a day were enough for his
needs: what should he do with more?” he
would mk as he breathed on the old ma-
hogany, a square inch at a. time. stroking
n tenderly with his bare land until it
gleamed with the sheen of a senorita's
silken hair. ' _
The indignant San Sebastian friends he?!
now turned Parisward, we learned. Ade.
laidr, desperate. in 3 Rue de la Palx cos—
tunic berm-if, climbed up into Jose's many
attics and found the sofa on the day on
which Jose was presiding as referee at a
pelola match in the neighborhood fronto‘t.
losing his hard earned douros bettin.
the wrong: player.
Pancho then took pity on us and discov-,
ered the secret hiding place of a table, and
on the strength of this kindly deed took a.
protracted holiday himself. The patient
mozos still standing by. made swinging
seats of their ropes and straps. which they
attacllrd to the railings and slept tranquilly
through it all.
\"x finally brought Pancho to work at
the polishing of Adelaide's mahogany in
our own patio under our own eyes. He
came all smiles. being very sociable.
bringing his parrot and his tortoise with
him, the latter “to bring him good luck.”
he said. Certainly an appropriate mascot.
The chief results of this displacement
were musical afternoons when Pancho
brought out his‘mandollna. and gave us
Spanish folk songs. trilling out “Strolling
Through Madrid" and weird, plaintive
.‘tndaluslan. Maliguenan and Castillan airs
with a curious Arab lilt to them while we
rat enthralled. with only two-thirds of one
of Adelaide's tables actually polished.
At the end of the fifth week Adelaide
and the 60 b. p. basely deserted the trail of
antiques to catch up with that of her still
importunate friends. She left me to finish
the old furniture ramble. left me to ship ‘
off six months later her four chairs. one
sofa and a table. the extent of her old
Spanish mahogany. Against this was a.
hotel bill of something like $10 a day,
55 at least to boy scouts and deputy boy
scouts sent out to look the others up. say
310 to blind musicians, as much more to
just plain beggars, though I really place
it at much more. as at last Adelaide got
reckless as her cortego of beneficiaries—
who assured her that "God would repay"—
‘increased daily.
Thus it was that Adelaide’s six piece
drawing room suite of old Spanish ma-
hogany do lujo. which oridnally cost not
more than $25, finally totaled up into hun-
dreds. nearly to a thousand. ,
Furnishing a house in old Spanish-ms.-
hozany would seem to he only row-W
uncan- ’
mm:
a patient and loving mother and a wife as
faithfulasanyinthcworld. Shalom
likelythannottcbennoftbe-emngs
provided that two condition-ore fulfilled, :
Her husband must keep his side of the
bargain and then must be children In tho
house.
murmnrflmbutthgislandwomn
novel-does. Shamanism-immuno-
dstr. in any populated lends when
everythln‘tsknown:whsngoesipruns
tram island tom withxnylteruml
.. be; will fall
vbmmwhichsheesnattud.
an. amine cm»... babhs.
‘ thislove of www.m“cm.
'drm’szsnkeglvee rise to a pecan: dim—
’ would: W Mammalian: own way.
~rsorruwfully to-her father may face her
’if she does not bring 'with ber’a small
11mg “token of her mistake. ‘In Poly-
nesia it is just the other way around. She
is certain of forgiveness and a; warm wel—‘
crime if she does bring the baby. ”When-
ever the chance arises. the iSla'nders com-
peterfor~the-Joy of adopting a child. "No-
‘babyin need, however unattractive it may
to have, the axes-of a dozen
During a two years'g-esldence among
thegwielands of'tlze eastern Pacific. I was
continually making comparisons between
Polynesian ideas of propriety’ and our
owmandlwassurprisedtofindtbhtin
many réwects theirs are more rigid.
F0!- example. it would never occur to a.
Polynesian wife that her husband‘might
be amusing himself in a harmless flirta-
tion with another woman. Harmless flirta-
tions are the rather dubious product of
the highest civilization and are inconceiv-
able to the primitive mind. Where there
is smoke. the Polynesian woman believes.
the fire is always to be found. Platonic
friendship between the sexes is equally
inconceivable. and the explanation of its
principles would meet with incredulous
laughter. As another sidelight on the sub-
ject of propriety, I must mention' the
fact that the island woman feels no par-
ticular animus toward an erring husband.
HEr anger is concentrated upon the other
woman. and the only satisfactory punish-
ment is administered with a. stick. I'Vhen
that is over. the household may settle
down to the old peaceful life. but ‘With an
added watchfulness on the distai‘f side.
The typical island woman is not the
little vamp .but the woman approaching
middle age. an industrious and loyal wife
and the mother of a healthy brood of
children.’ She is taller and stronger. I
should say. than the average woman at
war: thecoer a dilemma:
39¢me .a make m 2*
every commit“. 'Kersmlndhm
.gatberlng newsman cane in the m
Jain: iodide-t word in fine and com-
plicated weaves... A. misno author-in! In
such maft'e‘r'sffbut I will venture to say
that.” aseamstrmshe is ahead of the
average American woman. She has to b.
skillful. for there are no modistes in Poly—
nesia. She owns a. sewing-machine of tho ,
latest'mode! and with'its’lielp makes her
own clothes. frecks for the children and
her husband's Sunday garb cf ’whlte. A!
for hand-sewing it needs.sn old-fashioned
French woman to‘eqoal her.
'th‘ would beQene’ath her dignity as a:
wife and mother to swarm up a coconut
palm.‘ but if. she wanted a drinking nut.
and none 'of her children ~were at hand,
you would see her scurry up a sixty foot
trunk without the least difficulty. She can
swim and, dive like a seal, handle her trail
canoe in ‘stgrmy seas. and is a past. mis-
tress at the'kind/nf‘ fishing relegated to
the women axmng her people.
7 I used to amuse myself with expedi-
tions after the giant clam. called the
tridacu the'great frilled edge ones which
grow t such a size that theshells which
the missionarics‘take home to Erance are
often used for baptismal fonts. One morn-
ing as I was getting my canoe ready to
‘ go out. an old friend dropped in—a Paumo-
tuan woman’gf sixty. as slender and viva-
cious as a; girl. rShe wanted to go along
and I consented. thinking it would amuse
her to sit in the canoe and watch. Pres—
ently we dropped anchor in fairly shallow
water. at a place where the bottom of the
lagoon was studded with clams. The old
grandmother sniffed the air, drenched with
the salt spray drifting across the reef.>
"Aue! 'te, mm e!“ she said. "Ah. the
smell of the sea! I could imagine myself
back on'the Law island where I was
born!"
The next moment she was overboard.
clothes and all. my water goggles over
her eyes, my small crowbarvin her hand.
The five o’clock bath.
‘ v ¥
It was I who sat in tile canoe and did the ‘
home, and (spay-u of rising heavy work
without fang-um. The beauty of her girl-
,hood is forever gone, but often. long after
the middle years, her dark eyes are still
full of life. her hair superb. her-teeth firm
and white. During the hours of the day
when she .in fishing or copra making. her
dress is usually no more than a. strip of
gaudy print cloth tucked under her arms
and falling to her knees. The transforma-
tion comes at 5 o'clock when every isl-
ander bathcs and changes to freshly
laundered clothing. In the evening you
will see her strolling with her husband on
the road. her hair carefully brushed and
platted. hanging in two thick braids below
her waist. About her shoulders she wears
a. light wrap of embroidered Chinese silk.
andhorwaisflessfxvck-isasfreshns
soap and water-can make it.
At. first glance you might think her only
a good bumored brown savage neatly
disused in goods purchased at a trader's
store. Nodotbtxfienamvageinmany
respectgbutevenaqshehuamfis-
insatockofmctical trim-mutton abouts)!
sorts of things. I doubt wild-ha- many
women at home know more about babies
‘nndtbelrreerinx.tortntheislnnda tbs-e
aromdoctonuponwhomshecanedl. no
‘ Joseph Crosby hueoln.’ '
8 Gown mome- unie as been
mounted with the Creoles of
Maintain. and ma: llurfree's with
watching. Ilsvas hafif her age, and yet
I rather'prided myself on my ability to.
pry ol'f Ode, of these huge clams and
bring it to the surface wltaout. taking
breath. Shel-broke loose clam after clam.
opened them. removed the meat, and in all
skewered» anhalf. dozen on the crowbar>
before coming to the surface.
When thebasket was full we paddled
home. and she told me how in her younger '
days she often 'went diving for pearl shells
with herrbllsban' d and could realm una-
der water at'a‘rdepth of one hundred feet
«for as long as' two and a. half minth I
doubted this at thefime but later at the
great annual diving season in the Low
Archipelago" I paw women who equaled
and even bettered this record. And during
this time die'ytwere at work, moving over
the floor 0,; the lagoon. gathering pearl
shell oystfiimd putting them into bas-
kets’ andkeeping a. wary lookout, on all.
sides for sharks. _;
Thewomenoftbe South Seas arevery,
much like thosevot other untries. other
nationalitiesxrvsnd while is contrary,
to popular opinion. it is none the less true
tbatawutemsn—evenabeachcomber
—msy uvw'mcng them if he wishes {A '
inpedectolflty. ;,
mat You Should Know About Ame“-
Author:
in Boston. There‘life was dismsteful. and
after monthsrhe succeeded in escap-
in: figures and accounts. Then in
tried to bean alight, and occasionally DOM
a drawing when it was accompanied by
themwnsotfiarthW-lm mandolin. Soonhofoundthat
ls
l
l
i?
l
l
15
. 3:..25‘
3,
ill
33
l.
Norwalk Chronicler