﻿70 
  

  

  THE 
  NATIONAL 
  GEOGRAPHIC 
  MAGAZINE 
  

  

  . 
  •- 
  - 
  '!' 
  

  

  Photograph 
  by 
  Casa 
  L,nx 
  

  

  A 
  CARD 
  PARTY 
  IN 
  THE 
  DRAWING-ROOM 
  STABLE 
  OP 
  A 
  BASQUE 
  HOME 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  summer 
  time 
  the 
  peasant' 
  families 
  and 
  their 
  guests 
  spend 
  the 
  heat 
  of 
  the 
  day 
  on 
  

   the 
  cool 
  first 
  floor 
  of 
  their 
  homes 
  — 
  that 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  establishment 
  occupied 
  at 
  night 
  by 
  

   the 
  domestic 
  animals. 
  Note 
  the 
  high 
  cart 
  in 
  the 
  right 
  background. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  likened 
  the 
  Basque 
  provinces 
  to 
  

   New 
  England. 
  Now 
  there 
  must 
  arise 
  a 
  

   slight 
  inconsistency, 
  perhaps, 
  because 
  Bil- 
  

   bao 
  itself 
  is 
  certainly 
  the 
  "Pittsburgh" 
  of 
  

   Spain. 
  Along 
  the 
  Nervion, 
  between 
  the 
  

   city 
  and 
  the 
  sea, 
  are 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  world's 
  

   most 
  famous 
  iron 
  deposits. 
  They 
  were 
  

   known 
  in 
  the 
  middle 
  ages 
  — 
  so 
  much 
  so, 
  

   in 
  fact, 
  that 
  Elizabethan 
  writers 
  used 
  the 
  

   term 
  "bilbo" 
  for 
  rapier, 
  and 
  no 
  less 
  an 
  

   authority 
  than 
  Shakespeare 
  causes 
  his 
  

   Falstaff, 
  in 
  the 
  "Merry 
  Wives 
  of 
  Wind- 
  

   sor," 
  to 
  speak 
  of 
  his 
  condition 
  in 
  the 
  

   buck-basket 
  as 
  "compassed, 
  like 
  a 
  good 
  

   bilbo, 
  in 
  the 
  circumference 
  of 
  a 
  peck, 
  hilt 
  

   to 
  point, 
  heel 
  to 
  head." 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  largely 
  during 
  the 
  last 
  three 
  dec- 
  

   ades, 
  however, 
  that 
  vast 
  exploitation 
  has 
  

   taken 
  place; 
  and 
  now 
  the 
  river 
  is 
  lined 
  

  

  with 
  freighters 
  loading 
  ore 
  for 
  Newcastle 
  

   or 
  for 
  Rotterdam, 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  transhipped 
  

   into 
  Rhine 
  barges 
  and 
  carried 
  to 
  Krupps 
  

   and 
  other 
  German 
  iron 
  and 
  steel 
  makers. 
  

   But 
  not 
  all 
  of 
  this 
  Vizcayan 
  wealth 
  is 
  

   exported 
  in 
  its 
  natural 
  state. 
  Basque 
  

   energy 
  has 
  caused 
  the 
  erection 
  of 
  smelting 
  

   plants 
  along 
  the 
  river, 
  where 
  steel 
  rails 
  

   and 
  ship 
  plates 
  are 
  produced. 
  The 
  rails 
  

   explain 
  why 
  these 
  provinces 
  lead 
  in 
  the 
  

   matter 
  of 
  Spanish 
  railways, 
  and 
  the 
  steel 
  

   plates 
  why 
  Bilbao 
  has 
  become 
  Spain's 
  

   chief 
  shipbuilding 
  center. 
  

  

  NO 
  RESENTMENT 
  AGAINST 
  AMERICA 
  

  

  As 
  far 
  back 
  as 
  1897 
  the 
  Bilbao 
  yards 
  

   launched 
  a 
  Spanish 
  cruiser 
  which 
  a 
  few 
  

   months 
  later, 
  as 
  a 
  unit 
  of 
  Cervera's 
  fleet 
  

   at 
  Santiago, 
  was 
  destroyed. 
  

  

  