MADRID 



3588 



MAELSTROM 



undisputed possession. By the end of the nine- 

 teenth century revolts among the native tribes 

 had been completely suppressed. The inhabit- 

 ants of the province, numbering about 41,500,- 

 000, are under a governor, who is in turn under 

 control of the British Viceroy of India. They 

 live in small villages, each of a few hundred 

 inhabitants, and have eight or ten languages, 

 besides numerous dialects. Although a great 



MADRAS 



-Central Provinces 



-Berar 



-Hyderabad 



-Mysore 



-Bengal 



-East Bengal and 



Assam 

 -Burma 



a Kashmir 



b Punjab 



c North West Fron- 

 tier Province 



d Rajputana 



e Bombay 



/ Central India Agency 



g United Province of 

 Agra and Oudh 



proportion of the population is wholly unedu- 

 cated, schools are beginning to gain a foothold. 

 In 1911 and 1912 there were 5,752 males and but 

 forty-nine females in the colleges, although there 

 was not such a comparative difference in the 

 numbers attending elementary schools. Madras 

 University, a body of examiners, is at the head 

 of educational institutions in the province and 

 grants degrees in engineering, law, medicine and 

 arts. 



MADRID , ma, drid ' , a city situated on a high 

 plateau, 2,150 feet above the sea, swept during 

 the winter months by icy winds from the snow- 

 capped mountains on the north and in summer 

 exposed to a burning sun. It can lay its only 

 claim to the honor of being the capital, of Spain 

 to its fortunate location in the central part of 

 the peninsula. It is almost equidistant from 

 the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the Bay of 

 Biscay, and in a direct line it is about 860 miles 

 west of Rome and about 660 miles southwest 

 of Paris. By way of Lisbon, Portugal, it is 

 3,350 miles from New York. Madrid is a very 

 modern city, with but few landmarks of its 

 medieval days. Its general aspect is clean, and 



an air of gayety pervades the city. Some one 

 has said that the inhabitants include two 

 classes those who go to bed after 3 A. M., and 

 those who get up before four. The streets are 

 never quiet. 



As compared with other capitals, Madrid has 

 very few structures of much interest architec- 

 turally or otherwise. Of the secular buildings, 

 the most magnificent is the royal palace, in 

 Tuscan style, forming a square of 489 feet and 

 enclosing a court of 140 feet. In conjunction 

 with the palace is the royal armory, containing 

 the finest military collection in the world, a re- 

 minder of the former glories of Spain, and the 

 royal stables and coach houses, remarkable for 

 their extent. Chief among the many squares, 

 which form an attractive feature of the city, 

 is the Prado, embellished with fountains and 

 many fine groups of statuary. The royal pic- 

 ture gallery, built in 1785 by Charles III and 

 situated in the Prado, is one of the finest in 

 Europe. It contains over 2,000 paintings, in- 

 cluding masterpieces by Velasquez, Murillo, 

 Raphael, Rubens and Van Dyck. Another fine 

 square is the Plaza Mayor, formerly the scene 

 of bullfights. The present bull ring, in the east- 

 ern part of the city, dates from 1874 and has 

 a capacity of 12,000 spectators. The opera 

 house is one of the most beautiful in Europe. 

 The National Library, founded by Philip V, 

 contains over 600,000 volumes. Madrid has 

 many schools and churches. The University of 

 Alcala, founded in 1508, is very modern in ex- 

 tent and scope. 



Madrid is a consuming rather than a produc- 

 ing center. Its manufactures, excepting to- 

 bacco, are of little consequence; almost every 

 article of food and clothing is imported. The 

 publishing trade is important. The old tapes- 

 try factory still does beautiful work, and the 

 potteries at Moncola are producing clever imi- 

 tations of the earthenware for which Spain once 

 was renowned. 



Chroniclers trace the existence of Madrid as 

 far back as the tenth century, when it was a 

 fortified post on the frontier of the Moorish 

 kingdom of Toledo. It began to be a place of 

 significance under Charles V. When, in 1561, 

 Philip II made it the capital of Spain, it had a 

 population of 30,000. Population in 1910, 571,- 

 539. R.D.M. 



Consult Calvert's Madrid: An Historical De- 

 scription and Handbook of the Spanish Capital. 



MAELSTROM, male 1 strom, a swift and 

 dangerous tidal current, famed in medieval and 

 modern legends, which flows between two islands 



