"From the poetic perspective I have definitely finished polishing my book of poems entitled, Poems To Read Concerning My Death, which will soon go to the printers."

"In this year that ends, did you have more satisfactions than disappointments?"

"I only tally the satisfactions in my life. The disappointments I foresee, they are inherent to living, so I don't consider them important."

"Will this year be more fruitful than last's?"

"Of course. Self-improvement is the only reason for living."

"Is self-improvement easy?"

"No. It requires a substantial amount of work, a lot of drive and to not be discouraged by apparent failures that come from without. Failure, the true failure, issues from within. He who goes to his defeat carries that defeat in his heart before the struggle starts."

Alexandre (sic) Uninsky. Russian pianist. He comes to El Ferrol when his fame is universal. He is a piano virtuoso. The dexterity of the fingers is beyond comprehension...His recitals arouse profound amazement...He earns first prize in 1924 at the Paris Conservatory...He wins the Chopin Award in 1932 in Poland...Uninsky has officially studied at the Kiev Conservatory; these are his first steps and his first triumphs. Triumphs with the highest credentials. This is the pianist whom Ferrolians will be lucky enough to hear...El Ferrol must don gala attire and fill the theater to capacity to hear such an admirable and admired artist.

Java also happened to be a primary school teacher who remembers Lorente as a "very intelligent" child skilled in Accounting and Mathematics. The columnist then summarizes Lorente's curriculum vitae,

At age fourteen he qualified for an administrative assistant position in Bazan... At age 22 he earns first prize in 1949 at the Magic Congress of Barcelona... In 1955 the duo L'Orc y Juli tours Madrid, France, Portugal, Switzerland and the Middle East... King Hussein and the royal court applaud him... He hops from one country to the next and, someone says, Lorente uses a Damascus carpet for vehicle... They return home every year. They are here with us already. We hope to see them perform.

The sociologists and educators of such countries have sown the seed of the most despicable type of literature and of the most stupid cinema that the seventh art has produced since the epoch of Francesca Bertini. The evil is that here—with the ambition of keeping up to date—that mawkish drivel gets translated and our movie screens project from time to time the story of the "misunderstood" juvenile delinquent living in a perfectly bourgeois and respectable home.

Of course the problem does exist and of course society is in large measure guilty of it. But the desire to view it with an excessive breadth, with a generous understanding and chiefly with a pious naivete, magnifies it and gives it astonishing proportions.

I suppose that the case of our younglings, solved by our Police some time back, is something that will not, fortunately for us, be repeated.

At midmorning on Friday (February 1) some snowflakes fell mixed with rain; not many, perhaps twenty or thirty. I took a hand out of the pocket and exposed it to the air, palm up, while I walked on Canalejas Street. Five minutes on, I gathered three snowflakes: two relatively bulky, the third one not worth much really. But I hastened to a doorway and observed them earnestly. They were very pretty. I could then apprehend the sentiments of dreamy souls even though the snowflake crop was not plentiful. Some time later it snowed shyly again. But during the overnight from Friday to Saturday the matter became frankly important and come morning the city dawned covered with the typical wintry kerchief.

I chanced upon a dreamy soul. He was very glad. He stepped on the spots where the snow lay deepest and he rubbed his hands with glee.

"What do you think? This is wonderful. I wouldn't trade this spectacle for all the gold in the world."

Everybody knows that dreamy souls exaggerate a lot and that in fact, notwithstanding their spirituality, any one of them would trade all the snow of Siberia for 60 or 70 thousand Pesetas. However the snow was so white, the urban vistas had acquired so beautiful a sheen, that I nodded, hypocritically intimating that I too would reject the barter if proposed to me.

But, leaving commercial transactions aside, snow is very beautiful and charms even us not born with too dreamy a soul.

And after all the future is still to arrive. "Year of snows, year of plenty."

Let's see if it's true.

(Marius. El Correo Gallego. Sunday February 3, 1963, page 6)

A lengthy article on page 5 of El Correo Gallego, Ferrol edition, furnished many technical details about the Forcadas Reservoir project.

The gravity dam will be 18 meters high, 180 meters wide and its toe 15 meters thick. It will impound more than 7,000,000 cubic meters of water from the Arcadas River in the municipality of Valdoviño. The spillway channel water will be piped through underground tunnels (photograph on the left) to a treatment plant located eight kilometers away in Catabois.

The treatment plant will have four storage tanks with 40,000 metric tons total capacity. A flocculation tank will add aluminum sulfate to the water to trigger the coagulation of microscopic impurities. Those coagulants plus other solid particles will next settle to the bottom of a sedimentation tank. Dirt-free liquid near the surface will go to a filtration tank where chlorination and other chemicals sterilize the water. "The water treatment plant uses the most modern technology; the filters it requires can be cleaned frequently and easily."

The Forcadas project guarantees a daily supply of 350 litres per person for an overall consumer base of more than 200,000 people.

Other News. Radio Ferrol will soon be broadcasting a musical scripted by the president of "Toxos E Froles" entitled, "Figueiral Figueirido," which verses on the late eighth-century legend of five brothers who rescued their sisters from Moorish kidnappers in the parish of Figueroa.

Paris of El Correo Gallego interviewed on page 4 a Ferrolian emigrant to Switzerland who happened to be in town, Pedro Arnosi Díaz. In March 1962 Díaz solicited a job in Switzerland through the auspices of the Spanish Delegación de Emigración in Corunna and two months later he went to work in a Swiss farm. Two hundred other Spanish emigrants to Switzerland boarded his train during the journey from Ferrol to Barcelona. All had a farm hand contract. The destination of Díaz and four other Spaniards was Sion. There he worked ten hours daily in a vineyard.

"I believe we had a bit of luck, other Spaniards work as much as sixteen hours a day, holidays included. That depends on who your boss is."

"What was your salary?"

"We were paid 250 Swiss francs in hand per month. The lodgings and board allowances, the accident and illness insurance, amounting to an additional 150 Swiss francs a month, were payable by the employer; the community and cantonal taxes, amounting to 16 Swiss francs, were payable by the employee."

"Do you continue to work on a farm?"

"No. I was able to switch over to construction work, the contracts here are six or seven months long. I went to a little town named Flanthey, about 10 kilometers from Sion. My lot improved substantially, for I am paid 750 Swiss francs per month, which enabled me to buy a scooter and a photographic camera."

"Is life in Switzerland boring for a Spaniard?"

"I'll speak for myself. I work from 7:00 AM to 12:00 noon and from 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM. I work Saturday mornings and once in a while afternoons. Initially life is boring. Now I attend an academy to learn French, for both Sion and Flanthey are located in the area of that language. I am literate enough to have Swiss friends who, by the way, treat me marvelously."

Tonight's concert program is: Bach: Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major. Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 6 in D major. Brahms: Scherzo from F.A.E. Sonata. César Franck: Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major. Stravinsky: Ballad and Russian Song.

The depth of the rainwater pond was so remarkable that FOTO ARJO took a photograph of the spectacle (below, right) and inadvertently took a picture of the flat where we dwelled (yellow arrow). My parents' bedroom faced the street and had three hung windows clearly visible on the photograph. The flat had an attic as well; my Dad set up a makeshift drafting table there. The ground floor was occupied by a tiny shoe store. Note: My oldest brother has corrected and added to my initial description (End of Note)

The ground floor of the house to our left in the photograph was a bar named "El Ariete" (I could be mistaken) which attracted many flies particularly during warm weather. Then they spilled over into our flat. Housefly sticky catcher tape was our response. The bar's owner was also our landlord. He and his sister lived in the house immediately to the right from the photograph's perspective; they had a big hunting dog, white, shaggy, advanced in years, named "Bren."

In the next house down the street there lived a family whose patriarch had been repressed after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.

At the top of our street loomed an old Army sappers' garrison, clearly visible, which sometimes doubled as a prison.

A field of orchards spread out behind the row of houses lining the street; there were family vegetable gardens, an apple tree, a pear tree and a lemon tree. I remember a tall tree directly behind our house; its upper foliage is visible on the photograph.

Out of the flooded construction site eventually emerged this building, but I was not around when that happened.

The commander of the division is Rear-Admiral Sir Hubert "Damp" (sic). Correction: Sir Hubert Brand, left portrait (End of Correction).

The vessel captains are "Drovers" (sic) "Campbell" (sic) "Smuhct" (sic) "Ernert" (sic) and "Groven" (sic). Note: The names given are unreliable. According to the officer list provided on page 2 of issue 17338 of the New Zealander newspaper, "Star," dated May 1, 1924, the captain of H.M.S. Delhi was James M. Pipon and the captain of H.M.S. Dragon was Bernard W. M. Fairbairn (End of Note).

Several fêtes are being prepared to honour the crews. The warships will depart on Wednesday March 28, 1923.

The initial round ended as follows.

Alonso (C.F.) # Pita (Navy)

Segura (Bazán) # Lago (C.M.)

Hermida (Navy) # Amador (C.F.)

The match between Rodrigo (C.F.A.) and Mera (C.M.) was postponed.

Rey Alonso (C.F.A.) # Balbino (C.F.A.)

Speculation: "Orro" is a very odd surname; it occurs in a fringe area of Galicia and in the Balearic Islands. It is non-existent in the rest of mainland Spain. According to this webpage, accessed on Wednesday March 8, 2023, only 208 Galicians living on or near the northern stretch of the Coast of Death carry it. My proposition is that "Orro" is a Spanish transliteration of the Scottish/Irish surname, "Orr," and that it originated sometime in the past with a Scottish/Irish sailor who landed or was rescued along that seashore (End of Speculation).

"Were you born in Ferrol?" "Yes." "How long ago?" "Nineteen years ago."

"Have you ever been in love?" "I haven't had the time yet." "What have you done until now?" "Study." "Do you like to cook?" "I love it."

"Do you consider yourself Ferrol's prettiest girl?" "Not at all." "Yet they selected you." "The jury has been very gallant. Ferrol has very pretty girls."

"You are no flimflam for sure. Are you heading to Orense with high hopes?" "Of course. It's only natural for youth to have high hopes."

"Do you believe they will crown you 'Miss Galicia'?" "That's harder to say." "Are you afraid of the other contestants?" "They are all very pretty." "Are you spooked?" "Just a little nervous. This experience is so unusual for me."

"Do your friends look at you with 'envy'?" "I don't think so."

"What do men say to you?" "What men usually do." "That's not strange. Do you ponder getting married?" "Naturally." "Now that you have become the officially pretty one, do you have more suitors?" "Don't you believe it." "Some men are foolish..."

"Besides studying and cooking, what other hobbies do you have?" "I read a lot; I go to the movies frequently; I like dancing..." "Do you practise any sport?" "Swimming." "Are you a soccer fan?" "No."

"Would you accept a proposition to go work in the movie business or in television?" "I would have to give it a lot of thought." "Does the prospect not entice you?" "I would rather be a model." "That would not be too difficult for you" (End of Interview).

8:00 AM. A flurry of skyrocketing gunpowder shells, followed by several street rounds of giants and waterheads accompanied by a bagpipe quintet.

12:00 noon. The first ever official walkathon of Canido.

3:00 PM. Basketball game at Canido's city gate (photograph on the left).

5:00 PM. Pole climbing and children's games in the stone-cross square.

6:30 PM. A great party for children at the same location.

10:30 PM. Dancing party in the city gate with an "infinity" of fireworks.

Java of El Correo Gallego dedicates a long article to Canido, the neighbourhood of his birth. The district has "progressed a lot." Now it has an orphanage, a kindergarden and a shelter for abandoned babies; these three centers are run by nuns. It has the Seniors Retirement Home, an institution "coddled" by Ferrolians, where "peace and relaxation reign; it is a place of rest for a life of hard work without the hope of weal"; this institution is also run by nuns. Next Java loiters by the old Canido cemetery, shut down eighteen years prior but still standing, and he writes,

"A tear for the dead evaporates." "A flower on their tomb withers." "A prayer for their soul is entertained by God." Three phrases engraved on the wall of the doomed Cemetery. Your tardy agony fills us with distress. We see you in ruins. You have completed your holy mission. Now Time labours for your total transformation. Perhaps a Children's Park, a factory or a residence will be born on your lot. Soon eighteen years will have passed since your shutdown. More still pend and you will see yourself more desolate, more tumbledown. With my respect to the ones resting here, relatives and dear friends, to everyone, Canido's Cemetery must disappear at the earliest possible date. It's a ruin. It's unkempt with half-open coffin-niches destroyed and forgotten. Now you represent an obstacle to the district's growth. Your ashes, lovingly gathered, could have for destination the new, cheerful, sunny and tended-to one. Well I know the Law prescribes a delay. But it's a lifeless law. Putting some heart into it, you could go rest in Catabois. The soul no longer dwells inside you.

I have wandered over the two sections of the graveyard: Roman Catholics in one, separated brethren in the other. Here lies that wise and categorically honest Ferrolian gentleman named Santiago de la Iglesia. Tombs and coffin niches—the serene reality that we are nothing. Nothing. We only serve to give life to others with our demise. It is the chain or Law of Life: nothing is lost, everything is transformed.

(Java. El Correo Gallego. Sunday May 5, 1963, page 7)

Footnote: The cemetery was demolished later in the sixties and a private school was built on its lot. Today it is the site of Canido High School.

"Your name?" "Agustín Guillén Ramos."

"Where are you from?" "From Salvatierra de los Barros in Badajoz (Province)."

"How is business?" "I don't know what's happening, the business is faltering and getting tougher every time."

"How much do the clay water jugs sell for?" "From 20 to 25 Pesetas." "Properties?" "Keeps the water fresh. It's a traditional product very much appreciated in other places. And it's aseptic." "Is it true that a small pony shot of firewater or anisette should be poured in before using?" "Those customs haven't harmed anyone to date, but the best precaution is to wash it beforehand."

"Are you married?" "Yes, three months ago." "Is your wife with you?" "Not feasible, if only I could! But one has to earn dough." "Have you interrupted your honeymoon then?" "Couldn't be helped! I left in April and won't return until the last days of August."

"How long do you stay in Ferrol?" "Usually between ten and twenty days."

"Does the donkey have a name?" "Sevillano." "Its daily fare?" "Three kilograms of barley." "In Pesetas?" "Twenty-five."

"Do you plan on having many children?" "Eighteen at least. Of course you will realize that such a question..." (End of Interview).

And Java appends:

I stood there looking at him, he was right answering as he did. "What questions you ask indeed, friend!," I told myself.

1. "Semblances of Rosalía and emotional exegesis of her works," by José María Pérez Parallé.

2. "Plastic Impressions," by Aurora Marín and María Elena Leonardo.

3. "Rosalian Recital," by Andrés Picallo Maceiras.

4. Galician Music Interlude, by the chorale Estrelecer.

5. "Tribute of the Song," by Ramón García Rey.

Philharmonia Hungarica's official program will be Béla Bartók's Hungarian Sketches, Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor and Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, "Eroica".

On page 9 Marius of El Correo Gallego interviews the director of Teatro Estudio, a troupe of High School alumni that engages in amateur theater. Last Saturday the 11th they put on Morris West's play, The Devil's Advocate, in the school's auditorium.

"Satisfied with your The Devil's Advocate?" "Broadly speaking, I am satisfied with how the play came out. Personally speaking, it's a different matter."

"You are not a novice in these pickles..." "No. Prior to this I directed The Living Room and aforetime I collaborated with Juan Antonio Blanco in directing The Glass Menagerie."

"Give me the name of an actor or actress whom you are proudest of as a director." "I could give you many names. The truth is that everyone without exception worked stupendously. Everyone."

"Experienced amateurs?" "Not at all. Except for two or three everybody else stepped on a stage for the first time last Saturday."

"Amazing. Did The Devil's Advocate cause you a lot of headaches?" "It's a difficult play, especially regarding its management. You probably observed the string of technical difficulties that cropped up irreparably and which we overcame despite the reduced amount of room on stage. Nevertheless the effort was worthwhile because the play is an exceptional comedy."

"Tell me, Osset. Would you like to retain a large troupe without substitutes due to force majeure?" "Here in Ferrol that's almost impossible. It'd be ideal, of course. This city enjoys one advantage: willy-nilly appear always boys and girls with positive theatrical talent. In this, as in many other things, Ferrol is surprising. Anyway yes, I would like to rely on a stable troupe. It's the only way to do positive theatrical work." "Can it be done here?" "Naturally. I am sure of it."

"What are the future plans of Teatro Estudio?" "To do theater. To continue doing theater for as long as we can. We try to chart a yearly work schedule. To date these things were handled somewhat helter-skelter. And we are also going to need the help of all Ferrolians in this undertaking. Especially of those who feel a firm bent for the theatrical adventure."

"Will you then leave the tight space of the Institute's auditorium behind?" "Depends. If we accomplish what we pretend, why not?"

"What is your next play?" "We don't know yet. I'd really like to stage Camus' Caligula, but usually we discuss beforehand the possibilities. We shall see."

"Do you have confidence in the future of Teatro Estudio?" "Yes I do."

Marius does not begrudge the almost exclusive focus of "the commemorative acts being celebrated today throughout the country's cities" on the figure of Rosalía de Castro because, he writes, she was "a great poetess whose verses have not relinquished their relevance nor will they ever do so," but future Galician Letters Day celebrations, he contends, must exalt the broader literature of the "Galician region" and not be just one more reason to remember the "extraordinary poetess alone."

Galician Literature is fortunately for Galicians not Rosalía de Castro alone. In saying this we do not pretend to affirm that the birth of as outstanding a figure as the authoress of Follas Novas has not been a blessing. To deny her importance, not just in the region's literature but in Spain's or in the world's, would be ridiculous. Nevertheless Rosalía de Castro, though signifying a lot, is not everything. And there is an excessive zeal to circumscribe Galician poetry, and even what is not poetry, to the extraordinary figure of that woman.

(Marius. El Correo Gallego. Friday May 17, 1963, page 9)

Marius goes on to reel off a list of Galicians who, he maintains, ought to be extolled in future Galician Letters dates: Mendiño, Martín Codax, Juan Rodríguez del Padrón, Benito Jerónimo Feijoo, Countess of Pardo Bazán, Manuel Curros Enríquez, Eduardo Pondal, Ramón María del Valle-Inclán, Julio Camba, Álvaro Cunqueiro, Vicente Risco, Aquilino Iglesia Alvariño.

Marius ends his column thus, "With Rosalía, of course. She holds an important place in the country's literature. But she is not—fortunately, we repeat—the sole name with exclusive merits to be remembered on a date dedicated to Galician Letters."

Note: Here is the list of people honoured on Galician Letters Day from 1963 to date (End of Note).

El Correo Gallego carries on its back page an article written by Xan de Enfesta exclusively in the Galician language. The article entitled, "Ledicia, Memoria E Anceio," (Joy, Remembrance And Hope) informs that the Royal Galician Academy initiated the celebration of Galician Letters Day with the backing of the Ministry of Information and Tourism. The date chosen, May 17, "could not be more fitting historically and emotively," for it is the centenary of the publication of Rosalía de Castro's first book of poems,

The acts of remembrance will start here in Santiago de Compostela, where her mortal remains repose in the Pantheon of Illustrious Galicians, and they will be noted especially for their emotion and significance because a large number of "generous" Galician university students will don the proceedings of this Day with sentimental and active content, a Day enthusiastically endorsed and espoused by the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters.

(Xan de Enfesta. El Correo Gallego. Friday May 17, 1963, page 10)

Xan de Enfesta writes two remarkable paragraphs in memory of Ánxel Carral the great publisher of Galician literature and non-fiction written before the Spanish Civil War. Ánxel Carral was elected mayor of Santiago de Compostela in February 1936. He was executed by Spanish Nationalists that same year,

A great day too, glad and sad, for the soul of Ánxel Carral who walks among us smiling and lamenting, glad because his singular and daring effort was not futile—his prodigious editorial production crams the foremost shelves of our cherished Galician bookstores—sad because doubtlessly he would long to observe with physical eyes, so sharp and down-to-earth, the progress of the Galician book in recent years; a progress that started off with his personal initiative of the Nós Printing House and which was followed some time later by Galaxia in the shape of a modern editorial business with bigger and accredited resources.

(Ibid.)

Xan de Enfesta expresses the hope in the third last paragraph that the Provincial Inspections Bureau of Primary and Secondary Education will follow the example of the Ministry of Education, which introduced the study of the Galician language and literature at college level, and set a day apart for children and adolescents to familiarize themselves with Galician books at school.

Thereafter it would remain for the clergy, abiding by the inspirations of the latest encyclical, Pacem In Terris, to reach the heart of their flock in their homilies for this Day by using their household language, unpretentiously and lovingly, the sweet language of Rosalía.

Thereupon this Day's celebration would turn into a no-holds-barred fest.

(Ibid.)

Other News. A French destroyer is expected today at 7:00 AM to retrieve a torpedo hauled out of the sea by Spanish fishermen. The destroyer will moor at the naval base of A Graña. Note: The French vessel turned out to be the escort F-725 Victor Schoelcher; it entered port at 8:30 AM and departed with the salvaged torpedo three hours later (End of Note).

The Galician Letters Day set for May 17 by the Royal Galician Language Academy had a happy and brilliant exaltation in Santiago, city so linked to the region's cultural and literary movement, city that glories in the privilege of being the custodian of the mortal remains of the redoubtable poetess, Rosalía Castro (sic), on whom focused the demonstrations of fervent love and deeply felt homage.

(El Correo Gallego. Saturday May 18, 1963, page 1)

The undergraduate students of the Department of Literature, Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, organized the events. The first one was a Mass for the soul of the poetess officiated by Ramón Taboada Vázquez in Galician at the chapel of Santo Domingo Temple where the Pantheon of Illustrious Galicians is located. After the Mass, which was followed with "singular devotion" by the congregants, a simple ceremony of depositing flowers on Rosalía's tomb took place.

The second event started at 8:00 PM in the Artesonado Salon of Pazo de Fonseca. The dean and vice dean of the university, the deputy mayor, the city's military commandant, the Ministry of Information and Tourism county delegate, two professors and a member of the Galician Academy presided the literary act. After a short introduction the Academy member, "distinguished writer" Ricardo Carballo Calero, took the podium.

After welcoming the authorities and the audience Mr. Calero entered upon his dissertation, "Rosalía Castro (sic) and her book, Cantares Gallegos."

Mr. Calero submitted that the "Songstress of the Sar" picked the 17th of May to sign the dedication of her book to Fernán Caballero perhaps as a token of affection and gratitude to Manuel Murguía whose birthday fell on the picked date. She would thus acknowledge her debt to her husband where Cantares Gallegos is concerned. "We know that this book was printed thanks to Murguía's insistence which at length overcame the authoress' diffidence," the orator said.

When Rosalía meets Murguía she is a romantic poetess who writes in Castilian and shows no interest in Galician themes. Murguía, on the other hand, had for many years shown interest in the culture of his native country, and already in 1854 writes a poem in Galician at a time when the [Galician literary] resurgence was still in a primitive and dithering stage. Murguía's admiration for Antonio de Trueba was long standing and without doubt he brought the Biscayan writer's Libro de los Cantares to Rosalía's attention and suggested the idea of writing an analogous one in Galician to her. Rosalía starts working on the project in 1861, or at any rate she publishes the first of the poems that will embody her own "Cantares" that year. It is even probable that Murguía suggested the dedication page of Cantares Gallegos to Rosalía for, beside the goodwill roused in him by a regionalist authoress like Fernán Caballero, he speaks about Ms. Cecilia Böhl de Faber in the section, "Consideraciones Generales," of his Historia de Galicia in terms almost identical to the ones we read on the dedication page of Cantares Gallegos.

(Ibid., page 2)

Ricardo Carballo Calero's dissertation continued.

The structure, theme, drama and rhetoric of Cantares Gallegos imitate Trueba's "Libro de los Cantares." However what Rosalía does not borrow from Trueba is what gives her volume of poetry the rank of eminent. In Rosalía there is a social objective, an affirmation of the region, a defence of its language and an ethical thrust, absent all in Trueba's conventional and sentimental book. The notes of rugged and merry realism are the salt of Cantares Gallegos which preserve it from dissolution. Rosalía's profound psychology and the vehemence of her love for the people of her country, whom she appraises according to their reality and not in obeisance to some literaty template, craft the volume into a masterpiece of communal poetry.

(Ibid.)

Ricardo Carballo Calero finished his "admirable dissertation" saying, "When Rosalía began to be evaluated in 1952 from the viewpoint of existentialism, her social vocation was displaced to the background. Today we can value her with greater justice for her extraordinary significance."

The auditorium broke into a warm round of protracted applause.

Continuing with the evening's central theme, "exquisite reciter" Xohana Torres (1929-2017) went up to the podium and delivered several poems from Cantares Gallegos. Her recital invested the audience in the Artesonado Salon "very deeply" and she was rewarded with prolonged applause at the conclusion of each poem read out by her melodic voice.

University campus poets then ventured their own recitals dedicated to the "Songstress of the Sar." Salvador García-Bodaño (1935-2023) read his Wake of tender feelings. Carlos Casares (1941-2002) read his Words of hope for Rosalía. Arcadio López Casanova (1942-2022) read his Afternoon words for Rosalía. "These three poems...digested the love, admiration and faith in the literary and spiritual content of Rosalía Castro (sic)." The three university students garnered lengthy applause after each intervention.

The dean of the university closed the act with unrestrained words of congratulation to all the participants. "The Galician Minerva," he said, "had welcomed Galicia's commotion in favour of the centenary's celebration and the university had in the same spirit obtained from higher instances the creation of a Romance Philology Department which carried implicit the study of Rosalía de Castro's language." The academic session ended amid thunderous applause.

All those present at the session strode to the statue of Rosalía de Castro standing in Santiago's Horseshoe Promenade and made a simple offering of flowers. Several students read the dedicatory poems of Teixeira de Pascoaes, Luís Pimentel and Federico García Lorca. Next Arcadio López Casanova pronounced a few emotionally charged words on behalf of the session's organizers. Finally Hymn To Galicia was sung. Note: Not to confuse with Eduardo Pondal's anthem. Francisco Añón (1812-1878) wrote the letter of "Hymn To Galicia"; Galician Letters Day 1966 was dedicated to him (End of Note).

El Correo Gallego carries on page 3 an article written in the Galician language by Domingo García Sabell (1908-2003). The article entitled, "Os segredos de ROSALIA," (The Secrets of Rosalía) posits five secrets ensconced in Rosalía's soul. The first secret is slyness. She is impossible to grasp. "She published her verses with apathy, without a writer's vanity, as someone mildly astracted." Rosalía is with us and yet she is absent. The second secret, according to Sabell, is a radical and ineffable solitude born of "her being possessed by the demon of creative energy," which bestowed upon her an awareness of her superiority. The third secret is anguish, melancholy. Rosalía longed to "communicate," but her remarkable poems were merely "unconnected fabric offcuts of the great tumult raging inside her soul." Over there the robust verses; here the bones and "the unfathomable mazes of passion," writes Sabell. Between them a trail no one was ever able to walk. The fourth secret is the metaphysical pull. Tenderness, outrage, nostalgia, the force of truth, the burrowing doubt. "Devoured by wolves," shouts Curros—writes Sabell—speaking truths that he himself did not suspect. Note: I have translated Curros' poem in the introductory section entitled, "Manuel Curros Enríquez and Rosalía de Castro," found here (End of Note). The fifth and final secret is a proud silence. When, on her deathbed, she orders the torching of her private correspondence and manuscripts she "exercises the lofty, elegant prerogative of a haughty, rigorous silence in sovereign fashion."

That is why it behooves all of us to fall silent after reading Rosalía's verses, for silence is the obverse of the poet's human figure. In that emptiness perhaps one can grope for Rosalía who flees from us, turning her back, alone, anguished, rueful, enraged and metaphysical, her talking lips furiously shut.

I ask of Destiny that today's young men will traverse with resolute steps the rickety bridge that "Padrón's madwoman" wove amongst her poems and carried in the warm nest of her heart, like a mother who cuddles a child. May they be more than a desperate silence.

(D. García Sabell. El Correo Gallego. Saturday May 18, 1963, page 3)

El Correo Gallego carries on page 4 two reports about the Galician Letters Day rites in the cities of A Coruña and Lugo.

In A Coruña the plenum of the Royal Galician Academy together with Serrano Castilla the provincial delegate of the Ministry of Information and Tourism laid a laurel wreath before the grave of Manuel Murguía the husband of Rosalía de Castro. Martínez Risco (1899-1977) pronounced a brief eulogy. Next the entire party went to the home of 92-year-old Gala Murguía (1871-1964) and Mr. Castilla congratulated the only surviving daughter of Rosalía de Castro on his own behalf and the ministry's.

In Lugo City the Provincial Palace hosted a literary conference in the evening. Civilian, military and religious authorities presided it. The many interventions conferred "great brilliance" to it. Mr. Castilla wrapped up the event.

Other News. Cruiser Almirante Cervera departed on a mission to Malta escorted by two minelayers and two frigates.

Housing for Navy officers in Ferrol

The Sisters of Abandoned Seniors is a Paris-based congregation founded in 1839 by Jeanne Jugan. From Paris it spread to the whole world where it currently manages 307 retirement homes sheltering 64,000 "dear old men." It runs 50 homes in Spain lodging some 10,000 seniors.

Notes: The May 28 newspaper edition gives two cases of seniors abandoned in Ferrol. (1) A very old lady is forsaken by her mature daughter who leaves home; a few days later a stranger shows up claiming her linen; the victim, alone, without anyone or anything, kept repeating, "Me teño que tirar afogar" (I have to jump into the sea and drown). "Then here, in the Seniors Retirement Home, happy." (2) An elderly lady gives shelter to some relatives in her own house, and in exchange for their taking better care of her, transfers ownership of the property to them, whereupon the said relatives kicked her out of the house onto the street; she sought shelter and found it with the sisters of the Seniors Retirement Home.

The "authorities" who attended the special fête on the 26th were the captain general of the maritime department, the city's military governor, the acting mayor, the deputy mayor and the engineer-director of Empresa Nacional Bazán, among others. A group of "very beautiful girls" from the High School danced traditional Galician numbers accompanied by the bagpiper of Toxos E Froles; both received the loudest rounds of applause (End of Notes).

Rival school Tirso de Molina: 1963 provincial champions

"The chapel orchestra performed under the baton of señor Pérez Fanego...Many faithful filled the sumptuous temple...the act turned out very solemn."

"They say that you are a difficult painter. Is it true?" "I don't know. Sometimes I paint with relative ease." "You avoid the question, I'll make it explicit. Many people assert that you don't paint for the majority of viewers. What do you say?" "I agree with those people." "Are they right?" "Yes, they are. But so am I. And the immense minority of viewers."

"Then is Art not for everyone?" "For everyone who loves it sincerely." "Are you sincere?" "I try to be. I try to be it with all my strength."

"Are you an absolutely figurative painter?" "Look, I'm a painter. Whether I am figurative or not, I suppose that nobody would take my exhibition's collection of cocks for bicycles or for young people sewing by the light of a window." "I guess not. What role does reality play in your paintings?" "Its own. It's there and I'm here, you understand? We have known each other for a long time and I appreciate it a lot. What happens is that I am the one of the two who paints. I can not act out reality. That would be an usurpation of faculties." "Then don't you think the painter must be true to life?" "Look. The painter must be true to himself. He lives in front of reality and he must build his own expressive world. If he fails to do that, he fails without remedy."

"What is an ism, Segura my friend?" "That's a question for a critic, not a painter. Nevertheless, without any compromise, without definition as the goal, I would say that an ism is something like the shape and colour of a feminine attire. It exists as a property of the attire, but the attire is what matters."

"You are accused of being loury. Defend yourself." "I don't wish to." "Why?" "Because it would be granting some verity to the accusation. It'd be a different matter if somebody were to accuse me of bastardizing Art, of lack of artistic honesty, of frivolity." "Would you defend yourself then?" "Perhaps. Above all I would take the accusations into consideration for they would impinge on my artistic work."

"Do the critics treat you well or poorly?" "This is what happens to me. Either they treat me very well or they trash me mercilessly. There is no middle ground." "How do you view those who treat you bad?" "That they must have their reasons for doing so. An artist is subject to criticism. Furthermore I believe that Art would molder without authentic, rigorous criticism. What happens is that criticism is in multiple occasions simply subjective opinion." "Is subjective opinion useless?" "Not as opinion, but yes as criticism."

"To conclude: are you satisfied with the work on exhibit here?" "With some paintings, yes. With others, not as much. Do you, as a visitor, like what you see hanging here on the walls?" "That's a question for a subjective opiner, perhaps for a critic, but not for a newspaperman..." (End of Interview).

Port activity. El Correo Gallego, June 9, 1963, page 7

"Let's see, Julio. When was the New England built?" "Let's say that at the start of the century so the error will be less apparent. Or in 1895."

"Where?" "Where the Post and Telegraph Office is today, beside Cantón de Molins."

"Who were the owners?" Julio gives the names of four Spanish businessmen.

"Do you know who decorated it?" "Angel Fernández Torres, poet and electrician. He painted an image of the Firth of Ferrol on the fire curtain and he also did some backdrops" (End of Interview).

1. Torrebruno
2. Salomé
3. Los Tres Sudamericanos
4. Los T.N.T.
5. Gelu
6. Ferdy y su conjunto italiano
7. Robert Jeantal
8. Marisa Rey
9. Conchita Bautista

Housing for Bazan personnel in Ferrol

Java the reporter of the article reproduces a conversation with a neighbour of the first group of Caranza rental flats who asked to remain anonymous.

"How many homes were built in this neighbourhood?" "In round numbers I think it's three hundred flats."

"How is the interior?" "Fine. They are two and three stories high, not counting the ground floor. They lack individual gardens."

"Then you do have some reservations?" "Not at all. What I mean to say is that all the massive constructions done in Ferrol are enormous blocks of houses; done probably to maximize land development. A garden-city is needed. This doesn't mean there are no green spaces. They stick to the walls and wet them more. However this is not an annoying problem because Ferrol is a humid place for most of the year."

"What other pressing needs does the neighbourhood have?" "Before I forget I'll tell you that I would like to highlight the tidiness and cleanliness of this neighbourhood. We need telephone service, mail delivery, an avenue linking us to the city, a marketplace and a bigger church, the one Bazan built is too small" (End of Interview).

Marius of El Correo Gallego tackles the controversial dance known as the twist in his weekly column. The topic was prompted by receipt of a neighbour's letter complaining that some youngsters danced the twist at 3:00 AM without regard for others' need to sleep. Marius sympathizes with the letter's grievance but disagrees with the writer's assertion that the twist is a "dance weapon that will destroy our youth." "The evil," replies Marius in the column, "is not the twist but the era that created it...the dance that gives both you and I a headache is a symptom...not the malady destroying certain human values...Pray with me that the twist may be a benign distemper which will give way to a lengthy and invigorating convalescence."

Exhibition's opening day

Upon arrival (above, centre) and the exchange of formal greetings, the director general in charge of trade expansion together with his retinue entered the Exhibition's Events Hall. After formal speeches there by the fair's director, the deputy mayor and the visiting director general, Bishop Argaya Goicoechea blessed the fairgrounds (above, right).

The visitor from Madrid and the welcoming party then proceeded to tour all the stands of the fair. "There were very good-looking young ladies in all the stands, contributing to the splendour with their beauty and their courtesy." At the conclusion of the tour the officials were invited to a "splendid" glass of Spanish wine.

The group departed the Exhibition site and headed to the Municipal Park where a "splendid" banquet was served. Lengthy, lively conversation about the significance of the Exhibition relative to the problems faced by Ferrol accompanied the meal.

At 4:45 PM the party left the municipal park for the railway station. There the director general of the Trade Expansion Department of the Ministry of Industry was given an affectionate send-off.

Other News. The luminous fountain is back working.

This remarkable video, thirty minutes long, recaps the generous reception given by Ireland to all the national teams by way of facilities, transportation, sightseeing, entertainment, lodgings and gala dinners compassing the actual competition whose official name was, "The Twelfth International Trade Competition for Apprentices." The tournament's venue was Bolton Street College of Technology. The two hundred and forty apprentices from the thirteen participating countries, twelve European plus Japan, were billeted in Franciscan College Gormanston situated thirty-two kilometers from Dublin. Sunday July 7 was the official opening date of the contest. On Thursday July 11, in a ceremony held at Dublin Castle, Irish President De Valera presented the winners with their gold, silver or bronze medals. Japan was the tournament's top team with ten gold medals. Ireland was second with seven. Germany third with five. Great Britain fourth with four and Spain was fifth with three gold medals obtained in the trades of sheet metalwork (Arsenio Sanchez Lopez) mould-making and bricklaying.

According to Bazan, 24, November 1963, Arsenio Sánchez López had already obtained a first prize in the year 1962 at Spain's Sixteenth National Tourney of Professional Training, Industrial Training and Craftsmanship. Franco himself handed it to him (photograph). On that account Bazan canvassed Lopez presumably in early 1963. The apprentice was twenty years old when the following interview took place.

"Where were you born, when did you join the Factory, etc.?" "I was born in El Seijo. Note: Today O Seixo; it is located across the bay from Ferrol City (End of Note). I entered the Factory in October 1957. I spent my first two years in the Outfitters Workshop, then went over to Metal Sheetwork and presently I am enrolled in first-year Machinery Drafting."

"What was your assignment at the tourney?" "My practical exercise consisted in fashioning a frame resembling a 'y' from three galvanized iron pipes."

"How many apprentices did you compete against?" "Five."

"What is your sincere opinion about the national tourneys of professional training?" "They are an excellent way of stimulating the formation of professionals and facilitate the exchange of viewpoints between the professionals."

November 10. The regular Third Division match, Arsenal vs. Ferrol, was advertised as and transformed into a charity contest whose proceeds were donated to the mutual fund run by Reverend Fanego the chaplain of Bazan-Ferrol. The box office revenue was "splendid," according to Bazan, 25, and the game's final score was Arsenal 1, Ferrol 5.

December 9. A factory for making slippers went up in flames amid "great explosions and fireballs." Municipal and Bazan firefighters put out the blaze with great effort. The losses are estimated at 2,000,000 Pesetas.

December 19. The Navy imposed the Cross of the Naval Merit (above) on Reverend Fanego (far right) on the recommendation of the previous captain general of the Maritime Department.

Reverend Fanego was the founder and director of Bazan-Ferrol's Polyphonic Chorale and the manager of the Sick Workers Mutual Fund (seal on the right).

December 21. The annual charity Christmas concert in benefit of the mutual fund managed by Reverend Fanego was performed at Teatro Jofre. Bazan's plucked-string orchestra, polyphonic chorale, chamber orchestra and the novel external collaboration of the band of the Northern Third Corps based in Ferrol all contributed to making the Christmas show "magnificent" and "a complete success in the artistic order," according to Bazan, 25, page 27.

December 27. The Ministry of the Navy ordered the urgent put out to sea from Ferrol of a cruiser and two frigates to search for missing freighter "Castillo Montjuich" (below). The freighter left Boston with a crew of thirty-seven on December 5. It is six days late arriving; it was last heard from on December 14.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE "CASTILLO MONTJUICH"

Castillo Montjuich undergoing seaworthiness tests in the sea of Ferrol on October 13, 1951. Courtesy of Xan Ramírez Gómez.

The ship's baptismal name was "War Vigour". Furness Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. built it at the Haverton Hill Shipyard of Northern England. SS War Vigour slid into the water on June 28, 1919, and was registered at the Port of London on March 6, 1920, with a gross registered tonnage of 6,548.

The ship took on these other names successively, "Andalusier", "Wolhandel", "Bois-Soleil" and "African Mariner" (reference).

The Nationalist side of the Spanish Civil War sunk the "African Mariner" on January 23, 1939, salvaged it three months later and renamed it, "Castillo Montjuich," in 1940.

Bazan-Ferrol refurbished it over the years 1950-51.

WHAT CONTEMPORARY NEWSPAPERS SAID

Telegraph room (left) and first machinist's cabin (right). Photographs taken on October 22, 1951, at Ferrol. Courtesy of Xan Ramírez Gómez.

The source for the following information is the online Digital Library of Galicia.

According to page 1 of El Pueblo Gallego, Friday December 27, 1963, "Castillo Montjuich" left Boston with a cargo of 9,000 tons of corn bound for the port of A Coruña. The arrival was scheduled for December 21. As the freighter departed Boston it informed other Elcano Shipping Company vessels nearby that its main telegraph station was having problems. The final transmission however reported normalcy aboard.

The same source stated the next day on page 4 that the last transmission from "Castillo Montjuich" had been received on December 14 when the cargo ship was situated about 200 miles "almost due north of the Azores" and some 1,200 miles from A Coruña. The rebuilt freighter was said to be in "excellent condition" with a deadweight tonnage of 10,300 and a cruising speed of 10 knots. Its captain was José María Arriandiaga, 59 years old, with an experience of 30 years at sea. Spain had solicited and received the assistance of the American and Portuguese navies in its search for the missing vessel.

On Tuesday December 31, page 1, El Pueblo Gallego cited a spokesman for the Spanish Ministry of the Navy informing the public that the hopes of finding the cargo vessel were "almost nil."

El Progreso of Wednesday January 1, 1964, related on pages 1 and 4 that "Castillo Montjuich" had left Boston on December 5 and that Roberto Berga the manager of the Elcano Shipping Company postulated at a press conference on December 31 three modes of a possible wreck: a swift sinking of the vessel by the bow, an undetected fissure swamping the cargo deck gradually through the night or a splitting of the hull.

El Pueblo Gallego of August 9, 1964, page 10, fulfilled the desire of the beneficiaries of an American cash donation to make public their heartfelt gratitude to the Cardinal Archbishop of Boston "for such a generous display of Christian love and solidarity." His donation amounted to 69,000 Pesetas or $1,150 USD back then. According to this reference the sum would be equivalent to a donation of $11,700 USD today (September 2024). The beneficiaries of the Bostonian gift were residents of the province of Pontevedra related to three casualties of the "Castillo Montjuich."

Out of the 37 crew twenty-seven were Galicians, four of them from Ferrol city and county (Ferrolterra). The rest were four Basques, two Asturians, two Andalusians, a Cartagenian and a Navarrese.