The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-05-03
WAR NOTES.
THE SEAT OF WAR.
a curious Confusion of Natienaiities.
N. Y. Timee.1

Next in political Importance to the
Turks are the Greeks, but these are
neither numerous nor Influential in the
North. South of the HRmus, although
In feeble proportion to other races, a
colony of them can be found in every
village, where their cleverness. to call
it by O. mild name, and indefatigable
activity have given them the lead in
trade and finance. They have large
popolis and Basardjik. and In the valley
of the Rhodope possess q city, Stein
macho, Of fifteen thousand inhabitants,
where neither Turk nor Bulgarian has
ever been allowed to settle. The ruins
of ancient ediflces, the dialect of it's in
Misunderstanding about two hun
dred words of Hellenic origin. unknown,
however, to modern Romaic--and few
half effaced mural Inscriptions have
proved to the satisfaction of arch@ol-
ogists that Steinmaoho was built two
thousand years ago by q colony from
Eubna. North Of the Balkans the pre-
ponderating element is Wallachian.
The superior intelligence and enterprise
Of this people have gradually driven out
| the original natives, and the whole
right bank of the Danube from Teher-
navoda to the sea has become 80 COM
pletely "Roumanized" thatin the course
of another generation 1t will have en-
tirely changed its customs and its
| language.
This confusion of nationalities be-
comes even greater in the district Of
Dobrutscha, where tribe Of Nogal Tar
| tars, banished from the Orimea for their
sympathy with the allies during the
war, lead semi-nomadic existence un-
der hereditary khan, subject to the au.
thority of the Sultan. Toward the end
of 1861 about four hundred thousand
Caucasians sought an asylum among
their Turkish coreligionists, and were
installed in Western Bulgaria, with the
vain hope of thus breaking the clinical
cohesion between the Bulgarians and
the Serbs. The peasants were obliged
to cede their lands and their stock, and
to build villages for the new comers.
But these, true to the predatory habits
OF their race, declined to work, and
planting their swords in the ground,
simply took possession Of such sp3ts
as pleased them, informing the inhabi-
tants that they were the masters Of the
soil, and must be supported. Famine,
epidemics, and the climate-so different
from that of their native noun
tains soon made frightful raw
end Of the first year nearly
one fourth Of their number had sue
cumbed. Perhaps from want, more
probably from ancient custom, the
traffic In human flesh soon commenced,
and such were the profits accruing to
the local funetionaries that it is more
than likely that this wretched people
was designedly starved. The harems
Of Constantinople were glutted with
Circassian girls and boys, sold at one
eighth of their ordinary price, until the
traders were obliged to send over their
surplus stock to be disposed Of in the
slave markets Of Egypt and Syria.
Within the last three or four years,
! however, these gentle savages" have
become acclimated, and are in the same
hygienic condition as the natives, with
whom they are represented as living in
much concord and harmony. How far
justified may be judged from their
: eccentric conduct during the last sum-
mer's atrocities in Bulgaria.
Still another colony, and, in this in
. stance, prosperous one, inhabits the
extreme northeastern corner Of the
, Dobrutscha, where some Rutheman
Tartars, Of the sect known as "Old Be-
lievers,' settled at the close of the last
century, Driven from Russia by the
, pie were kindly received by the more
tolerant Snltan, and their descendants,
although preserving their national cos
tune, their language, and their religion,
, have always manifested their gratitude
to their adopted country by q staunch
defense Of It's frontiers during it's wars
with Russia. AS a matter Of course,
they are in special abomination in the
, eyes of their "orthodox" neighbors
| beyond the Pruth. A Polish colony, a
few German villages along the south
ern branch of the Danube group of
, some thousands Of Arabs, several wan,
] dering tribe Of Ziganes or gypsies, and
, finally the individual representatives o1
+ every people Of Europe and Asia who
from a spirit Of speculation or in search
/ of occupation, have fiocked to the port
q of Sulina, complete this species OF eth
\ biological congress established IN the
! Dobrutscha. But the difference is very
= marked between the nationalties living
isolated in the interior and this cosmo
politan population which swarms in the
avenues OF commercial centres, where
the characteristics Of distinctive races
are gradually blending into the com
. mon type of the Levantine.
& Sooner or later, however, the mixture
@ of Greeks and Franks, English and Ar
0 menians, Maltese and Russians, Wal
9 lachs and Bulgarians, which forms sc
;. remarkable feature Of the delta, mus
Il De ISpEOuuC6u III bu6 lub0LlOE vi bIlt
- peninsula, for in no other country are
;. the main International lines Of commu
9 nication more distinctly traced by ma
ture.
: Americans Offering their services tt
]. Turkey.
: EN-. Y. News
q Mr.. Edward Sherer, the Turkish Con
. sui in this city, said yesterday that IL
u the Iaat faw davs there had been a lively
= :; rush to his office in Front street Of per
= sons who wanted to volunteer in tht
> Turkish army, either as soldiers or off
= GERS. He was astonished to find that {
y large number of callers were Polish resi-
! dents who were driven from their homes
= in 1919 by the Russian conquest, ant
u who still retain strong hatred for thu
conquerors of their country.
y Several Of them offered to pay thei
Q passage to Europe and equip themselve
Q at their own expense il they could be as
G n