The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1885-12-09
The Servian Capital.


Belgrade is a strongly fortified city, occu-
plying a commanding hill overlooking the
Danube; it is a rare old town, battle-scarred
and rugged; having been frontier position
of Importance in country that has been de-
batable ground between Turk and Christian
for centuries, it has been a coveted prize to
be won and lost on the diplomatic chess
board, or, worse still, the football of con-
tending armies and wrangling monarchs.
Long before the Ottoman Turks first ap-
peared like a small, dark cloud no bigger
than mans hand, upon the southeastern
horizon Of Europe, to extend and oyerwhelm
the budding flower of Christianity and civili-
cation in these fairest portions of the CONT
nent, Belgrade was an important Roman for
tress, and to-day its national museum and
antiquarian stores are particularly rich in
the treasure-trove of Byzantine antiquities
unearthed from time to time in the fortress
itself and the region round about that came
under its protection. So plentiful, indeed,
are old coins and relics of all sorts at Bel
grade that, as I am standing looking at the
collection in a window Of an antiquary shop,
the proprietor steps out and presents me a
small handful of copper coins of ByZantium
as a sort of bait that might perchance temp
one to enter and make closer examination
of his stock. By the famous treaty of Berlin
the Servians gained their complete indepen-
dence, and their country, from prlnclpalIty
paying tribute to the sultan, changed to an
independent kingdom with Serylan on the
throne, owing allegiance to nobody, and the
people have not yet ceased to show in a
thousand little ways their thorough appre-
citation of the change; besides filling the pic
ture galleries of their museums with por-
traits of Servian heroes, battle-hags and 9TH
er gentle Renders of their past history. they
have, among other practical methods of
manifestiug how they feel about the depar-
ture of the dominating crescent from among
them, turned the leading Turkish mosque
into a gas-house. One OF the most interest
ing relics in the Servian capital is an old RO-
man well, dug from the brow of the fortress
hill to below the level of the Danube for fur
niShing water to the city when cut off from
the river bya besieging army. 1t is an enor-
nous affair, a tubular brick wall about 40 feet
in circumference and $50 feet dee =, outside of
which stone stairway, winding round and
round the shaft, leads from top to bottom.
Openings through the wall, six feet high and
three wide, occur at regular intervals all the
way down, and as we followed our ragged
guide down, down, into the damp and dark
ness by the feeble light of talloW candle in
broken lantern, cannot help thinking
that these oer-handy openings leading into
the dark, watery depths have, in the tragic
history of Belgrade, doubtless been response
BILE for the mysterious disappearance of more
than one Objectionable person, and it is not
without certain involuntary misgivingS that
| take the lantern from the guide-whose
general appearance is, by the way, hardly
calculated to be reassuring,-and, standing
in one of the openings, peer down into the
darksome depths, with him hanging on to
my coat as an act of precaution.
The view from the ramparts of the Bel
grade fortress is a magnificent panorama, ex-
tending over the broad valley Of the Danube
which here winds about as though trying
to bestow its favorS with impartialty upon
Hungary, Servia, and Slavonia-and of the
Save. The Servian soldiers are camped in
small tents in various parts of the fortress
grounds and its environments, or lolling UNI
der the shade of few scantily yerdured
trees, for the sun is to day broiling hot With
population not exceeding one and a half
millions am told that Servia supports a
standing army of 100000; and, when re-
quired, every man in Seryia becomes a sol
der. | am inclined to regard the above es-
however: since, although the cost of their
maintenance is doubtless as little as men
can possibly be supported for, | don't see
how small, poor nation like the SeryianS
can possibly afford to support that number,
even if they really had any use for them. AS
one lands from the ferry boat and looks
about him he needs no interpreter to inform
him that he has left the Occident on the 9TH
er side of the Save, and to the obserYant
stranger the streets of Belgrade furnish
many novel and interesting sight in the
way of fanciful costumes and phases of ORR
entail life here encountered for the first time.
In the afternoon we visited the national mu-
scum Of old coins, arms, and Roman and Ser
Wan antiquities.