Huntsville gazette., 1886-02-06
BULGARIA
4 Foreigners Impressions OF Its Capital
and People.

and People.
At the Hotel Concordia, in Sofia, in
lieu of plates, the meat is served on
round, flat blocks of wood, about the
circumference of saucer, and two re-
spectacle citizens seated opposite me
are supping off black bread and sliced
cucumber, both fishing slices Of the
cucumber out of a wooden bowl with
their fingers. Life at the Bulgarian
capital evidently bears in legitimate
relative comparison to the life of the
country 1T represents One of Prince
Alexanders's body guard, pointed out
to me in the bazar, looks quite the
semi-barbarian that he is, arrayed in a
highly ornamented national costume,
with immense Oriental pistols in waist
band, gold braided turban cooked on
one side of his head and a fierce NOUS
tache. The soldiers here-poor fell
lows-even the comparatively rich
ones, standing guard at the entrance to
the Princes palace, look as though
they haven't had a new uniform for
years and had long since despaired of
ever getting one. A war, and an
alliance with some wealthy nation
which would rig them out in respect
able uniforms, would probably not be-
an unwelcome event to many of them.
While wandering about the bazar, after
supper, l observed that the streets, the
palace grounds and in fact every place
that is lit up at all, save the minarets
of the mosque, which are always illu-
minated with vegetable oil, are lighted
with American petroleum, gas and
coal being unknown in the
Bulgarian capital. There is an evil
dent want of system in everything the
people do. From my own observations
| am inclined to think they pay no heed
whatever to generally accepted divi-
sions of time, but govern their actions
entirely by light and darkness. There
is no eight hour nor ten hour system OF
labor here; and verify believe the in
dustrial classes work the whole time,
save when they pause to MUNICH black
bread, and to take three or four hours
sleep in the middle of the night; for as
trundle my way through the streets
at five o'clock next morning the same
people | observed at various occupa-
tions in the bazars are there now, as
busily engaged as though they had
been keeping it up all night; as also
are workmen building house; they
were pegging away at nine o'clock
yesterday evening, by the tlickering
light of small petroleum lamps, and at
FIVE this morning they scarcely look
like men who are just commencing for
the day. The Oriental, with his prim-
tive methods and tenacious adherence
to the ways of his forefathers, probably
enough, has to work these extra long
hours in order to make any sort of
progress However this may be, have
throughout the Orient been struck by
the industriousness of the real working
classes, but in practicability and in
ventiveness the Oriental is sadly de-
fcient.
On the way out I pause at the bazar
to drink hot milk and eat roll OF
white bread, the former being quite ac-
ceptable; for the morning is rather
raw and chilly; the wind is still blow
ing gale; and company of cavalry
out for exercise, are encased in their
heavy gray overcoats, as though it
were midwinter instead of the twenty
lulIu VI ltueiCly Oittu POnDoheo
are encountered on the road carrying
large cans of milk into Sofia from
neighboring ranches. / stop several Of
them with view of sampling the quail
ity of their milk, but invariably find it
unstrained, and the vessels looking as
though they had been strangers to
scalding for some time. Others are
carrying gunny sacks of smearkase on
their shoulders, the whey from which
is not unfrequently streaming down
their backs. Cleanliness is no doubt
next to godliness; but the Bulgarians
seem to be several degrees removed
from either. They need the civilizing
influence of soap quite as much as any
thing else, and if the missionaries can
not educate them up to Christianity or
civilization it might not be a bad
scheme to try the experiment OF start
ing native soap factory or two in the
country outing.