Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-04-16
So in Advance
Whole Number 1919

I oeGh haives of the Capital. The Es-
Cernazy collection of pictures, for
merly IN Vienna, and transferred
here, is the best. The PubIic Tibra-
| ry contains 10000 yoInmee. h,,t
most of the books and manuscr;nts
are in the Magyar langua0e of
which less is known than Ersbic
The Museum contains an extensive
collection of fossil remains, coins
and medals of antiquity, and is par.
ticularly rich in mineral specimens.
One object of interest is the
CORONATION HILL,
in the large square, near the sus-
pension bridge. It is a mound of
earth, surmounted at the summit by
a stone balustrade. It is formed Of
earth brought from the various parts
of Hungary. On the coronation
day, the King. on horse back, in
vested with the crown and cloak of
st. Stephen, and bearing st. Ste
phen's sword, each more than l 900
years old, rides to the top of this
mound, and makes sabre-cuts to-
wards the four quarters of the COM
pass. This form is said to be en-
blematical of his determination to
defend the integrity of Hungary
against whatever quarter it may be
attacked. The horse rode by the
King wears silver shoes, and after
the ceremony they are taken of and
placed in the archives as holy relics.
The present Emperor had to 90
through all this ceremony, besides
swearing many strange oaths to
support the Hungarian Constit ution,
and preserve the privileges and mo.
nopolies of the Magyar nobility be-
fore the latter would submit or be-
come reconeiled to his authority.
The street-scenes convey to the
mind of the visitor mixed impress
sion of
BARBARIsM AND CIVILIZATION,
of poverty and splendor, of Oriental
and European, middle-age and mod
ern times. Farmers and herdsmen.
dressed in sheepskin coats and calf
skin breeehes, wool and hair sides
out, and wearing on their heads a
sort of Turkish cap, rove about the
streets, jostled, or, perhaps, nearly
run over, by dashing equipage,
with Gveried fiunkeys in huzzar uni
form, galloping behind. The latter
represents the Magyar magnets; the
former the Slavic serfs.
In the plain, a short distance be-
yond the city limits, is the
"F1ELD OF RAKos,"
where the great National Assembly
of the Magyars was anciently held
in the open air. On these occasions,
the Deputies, each with a tetinue of
vassals, repaired to the Rakos Field
to legislate on the affairs of the
Kingdom. 1t is said there would Of
ten be 100000 retainers and specula-
tors who dwelt in tents while the
deliberations lasted. And, while the
Parliament or Diet sat, the crowd
raced their horses, over the plains;
for every man brought his horse
with him-just as Indians come on
ponies to their grand councils and
war-dances. The HRakos Field" is
still used for horse racing and is pat
ronized by English turtles, as they
patrenize every other race-eourse in
Europe.
Pest is often subject to terrific
NUNDAIoNs
from the Danube. The river is usu-
ally blocked with ice for 8 months
of the winter. The breaking up In
the spring is time of great anxiety
to the people of Pest. When the
snow melts gradually, and the river
rises steadily, but not suddenly, the
ice slips off without doing mischief.
But, if the thaW be sudden, which
is frequently the case, the water
comes down in q torrent and bursts
through the blocked-up iee-gorge
with explosions resembling peals Of
thunder, and tosses vast masses of il
into the streets and against the
houses, crushing everything before
il, Then the inhabitants fly for their
lives, while their habitstions are be-
ing gEoand to powder and swept of
as debris by the surging flood. Pre-
cautionsry measures are now taken
by means of high embankments
along the margin of the river, and
the use of artillery posted on the
heights overlooking the stream above
the town. When the telegraph and
watchmen give the signal that the
flood is coming, the park of artillery
discharges numerous rounds Of can
non balls into the solid ice, and thus
by smashing it up, opens an outlet
for the dangerous food. Torpedoes
are also employed to good advan-
tage in blowing up the mass of ice,
a4d so shattering it that 1t passes
easily sway.
The hills around Buda are covered
with yineEaEds, predicting the well-
known
HUNGARdAN WINE.
The bottling and export of wine
are carried on very extensively in
Buda-Pest. The other chief branches
of trade are wheat, corn, hops and
cattle. Lumber is RATED down the
river from the Alps in great quanti-
ties, and sawed up into all requisite
shapes for the use of the city, and
the open plain country for hundreds
of miles around, Just as it is distrib-
uted IN Chicago to the prairies.
Immediately below Pest the hills
disappear or Geese, and for the next
400 miles, down 10 Belgrade, in
Turkey, and below il, the Danube
rolls through vast, open, pnWooded
plain. which extends from the Carpa-
THAN Mountains on the north, to the
mountains of Seryia and SlaTonia on
the south. This plain is larger than
the whole State of Illinois, and naars
ly as treeless. 1t is equally IS fertile
and productive-mRch better foT
wheat, and nearly as good for corn,
of which immense quantities are
grown, and hogs and cattle fattened
thereon, The climate, and Prodne-
tiOns and general appearance OF the
Hungarian plaipS bear striking re-
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