The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1879-05-03
KRAKON.
rhe Jewi N Population of she Old Polish
Capital.
aquack.
Cornhili Magazine.

rhe Jewi N Population of sire Old Polish
Capital.
Cornhin Magazine.
There are not many sights il Krakow
and if there were / should not attempt
to describe them, since nothing is duller
than the guide-bookslike enumeration Of
details into which one slides in trying to
be exhaustive. Still, the Jewish town
ought to be mentioned, for the Jews are
the most striking feature in the popula-
ton of the city. They were, as old
writers cay, brought hither by King Cas-
imir the Great in the fourteenth century,
and settled in the suburb which they
still inhabit, and which is called from
him the Casimir city. II Is sltegether
unlike the inner city, with streets wider,
houses com paratiyely low and mean, and
an Undesirable air of dirt and squalor
pervading every thing. There is an i'm
mense hustle OF buying and selling
going on--a sort OF perpetual rag fair
chiefly in wearing apparel, but also in all
sorts of articles of domestic utility, fur
niture, pots and pans, shovels and grid
irons, pottery (all cheap and ugly, and
small groceries. The dealers are mostly
outside ttsir doors, where, indeed, the
greater part of their wares are displayed,
and solicit the passer by in Polish, He
brew, or, more rarely, German.
There are altogether in Krakow, whose
total population amounts to 10000, over
$4,000 Jews. The great majority are
Orthodox or Rabhinieal, and are dis
tinguished by their long straight coats OF
cloth, or alpaca, coming almost to the
ankles, tall and nsrrow-brimmed bats,
and little wispy eurls On either sids OF
the face Such hideous dress creates
prejudice against them, which is in large
measure unjust, for they are valuable
element in the population OF Poland. and
get on better with the christians than Is
the ease further east. even tn Germany.
A few have begun to drop the peculiar
dress, with the strict observance OF the
law, and may before long be absorbed ia
the body of the people. Though che
race would seem to have kept pretty
much to itself all these centuries, there
8 great diversity Of complexion among
hose Polish Jews. Many are fair In
face; some have sandy hair; but the
Characteristic features are seldom absent.
In Poland, IS elsewhere, they are towns
folk, never settling down to till the soili
and their busting activity makes them
seem even more numerous la KRAKOW
than they really are, 10 that stranger
might fancy it Jewish city. 1t b by
no means stsgnant or decaying; for the
eonyerging railways and its position ina
fertile country make it place OF con-
siderable trade. But this hardly quail
ties the air o. melancholy that brood
over it.
The Poles are by nature, like their
nearest relations, the Bohemians, .
bright and yiyacious people. Those who
know the slavonic race best generally
agree in holding them to DO its most
highly gifted branch. And here in GA
licia they do not seem to have much
Disgoyefnment TO complain VI, nor per-
haps anything more than the pedsntry,
folmalisra and bsckwardness which char
aeterizs Austrian rule everywhere. The
Polish tongue reigns, and Poles are
freely admitted to the best posts under
government which industry and talent
can win. Nevertheless, the sense OF the
past, OF the downfall Of their monarchy,
and the apparently destined extinction
CT their nationality, seems to lie like q
lead upon their souls. Krakow, with its
grand old houses, its picturesque crowds,
its pleasant gardens engirdiing its houses,
it's bells, Ginning ceaselessiy in the
clear summer air, 10 withal place Of
sadness.
An Indifferent actor waS playing IN