Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-11-16
BULG ARIA.
A Trip Through a Strange country
PeasantrY,s Dress.

Peasantry's Dress.
! From Slivnitza to Sophia Is thirty kilo-
meters, with good roads all the way,
writes a correspondent Of the London
| Times. The cathedral and parliament
house, with the white villas OF the new
European quarter. which stands on high
| ground, are visible an hour before the
capital is reached. There is scarcely any
| traffic on the road. Once In ten miles we
may meet a droschky drawn by four
horses, harness"d abreast, and with
jingling bells, and twice as often ricEety
| carriage that looks like a palan-
quin on wheels, and contains four
passengers, who have to sit with their
heads bent, because their hats would
otherwise touch the ceiling. No dwell
ing above the rank OF cottage is to be
seen in any direction, for the land laws
make 1t impossible that a squirearchy
sh uld grow up, and the country has not
yet any rich merchants who can build
rustic summer residences with parks and
ga dens. Yet in this land, so unlike
England, except in its green beauty, in
cungruous "reminiscences OF Henley
regatta and Lords ground are brought
up every moment by the holiday dress oil
the peasantry, which at a short distance
looks like that of our cricketers and oars
men. The men wear trousers of white
chalak or wooden homespun, red
ssshes, oxford blue jackets and
scarlet skull caps. A group ofthem on a
grass plat makes one look around for the
familiar tent, the picKets and the rival
eleven fielding out. The women have a
graceful head drapery of Turkish lawn,
and their dresses are profuseIy embrod-
cred with that beautiful crewel work of
silk or wool which the Turkish women
used to make, but which is made no
longer since they left the land. These en-
broideries are still to be bought fairly
cheap, but In a few years the railways
will nave carried them all of to the
West. Already Bulgarian women are be-
ginning to understand their value and
are putting them away for sale, along
with the Turkey carpets, mats and
rich bed cOunterpanes which make
the interior OF so many Bulgarian cot
tages contrast marvelously with the out
side. 1t 10 quite a common thing to find
in these novels, grImy with smoke and in
tested with vermin, hangings and dr. ssses
which could be sold for guinea the square
foot in Regent street, and the color OF this
stun is so fine, the material so pure, and
the work so good and firm that a little
cleaning will make 50-year-old embroid-
cry look like new. Alas, some apostle OF
civilization In the form of German bag
| men have latterly taught the Bulgarian
women that they can mix little cotton
with their wool and use cheaper materials
with their dyes, so that even the comfort
able white and blue chalaks, which were
warm in winter and light IN summer. " hich
kept out rain and rheumatism, which
| could be darned and redarned and worn
| down to the thread, are now yielding to
| textures which for trade purposes bear
| the same name, but of which the proper
ties have nothing in common with the
original. 1t is the German bagman, too,
hrnnUbf hn 70 IF
sbOddy that shrink at the touch of water,
the printed cotton stutfs of which the COL
ors are warranted fast-that Is, fast TO
disappear; the watches guaranteed for a
| twelve-month, and which 90 for just that
| length OF ume-Do more. and the GIN
crack furniture which limps. turns scaly,
| will not lock and msbehaves itself in h
dozen other ways in the new houses of
the European quarters.
| Dashing through the Turkish streets of
| the CITY as hard as the coachman can
| drive-for no isvotschik ever ct entered
| the Oriental town without acting as if he
| meant to run over the inhabitants-one
| finds the modern part of Sophia looking
| like anew watering place that is Just be-
coming fashionable. The princes palace
might wei pass ior the customary casino.
| In front OF IT Is large public garden where
| military bands play; hard by is the prin-
| cipal hotel, with seaside prices, a couple
| OF large cafes, with French and Ger
man newspapers, billiards and beer; a
| row OF good shops, cae stand, and q
hundred yards OF pavement, which is the
fdvOrite lounge OF well-dressed officers
and IN stirring times OF politicians and
newspaper correspondents. In the adj
| ] Ining streets there are many gaps of
waste land; but the whole assemble OF
| new government and consular buildings
| aud private villas of one or two slor es is
clean and pretty. TIL British agency oc-
cupies a substantial block; the Russian
consulate is palace of somewhat pre-
entiOus style; The residence OF the Aus
trO-Hungarian agent, with its turret and
| long glass veranda, suggests some such
name as Bellevue or BelVidere mansion.
| Teen there is the well-situated and capl-
tally-managed Union CLUB, winch is a
great boon to the diplomatic body and to
strangers. Altogether Sofia has q much
more promising appearance than Bel
grade. and the whole atmosphere of the
town is that OF place where the inhabi-
| tants are accustomed to act tor them
selves, and are not afraid to SPEAK out
their minds.