Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1889-12-19
MoNTENEoRo's CAPITAL

l j
Something About One of the Most EXIT
| ordinary Towns OF Europe.
| cett;nia is the most extraordinary
| canital in Europe. Tt consists q one
long street. with four smaller ones
crossing it. and ending vaguely IN 1ne
fields. The whole town covers perhaps
thirty or forty acres. The prlncipal
| building is the hotel, which wortni!y
blocks the end Of the main street. IL IS
| a bare and ricketty-looking structure,
| Init represents the acme of luxury at
Cettinie. The other public places are
tba nr;son. the church and the school.
| The first of these lies on the rignt-nano
side, and in front of the gates' On
lawn, the prisoners amuse themselves
by playing various rude games-Dowis'
with pieces of rock for balls, leap-1rog
and so on. A few of them are engageo
in odd building jobs about Cettln]e. anu
| other hew wood in the mountain. Iney
are not chained, but appear seldom TO
dream of running away. When
case of evasion happens, one or
two fellow-convicts are dls-
patched to catch the runaway
and bring him back. The theory OF set
ting a thief to catch thief is here prac-
ticed most literally and method1cally.
The only distinction between a con-
demned convict and free citizen IS tnat
the former is deprived of his arms. inns
is an equal degradation to the usuak
dress or brand elsewhere. Close to -
hotel is the royal palace, a whiteW|
house with green Venetian -
which is popularity suppose3
cost a million of francs owin
penses of transporting they
Over against it is a long, low re-
ing, known as the ''Bigliardo." 1t re-
ceiyed this nickname from an English
billiard table having been set up there.
The carrying of this piece of furniture
BY fifty men over the mountain was con-
sidered-and undoubtedly was-a great
feat. While the porters struggled man
fully under the slate pilot stood astrlde
on high, and shouted his directions as
to how to get round awkward corners.
The '.Bigliardo" is now used as Offices
for the different Ministries and Parl1a-
ment house. The church is very small,
capable of holding, perhaps, one
hundred and fifty people. On either side
of the entrance are the tombs of Prince
Danilo and his brother, Mirko Petro-
witch, and in the chancel sort OF
sarcophagus, which is opened on solemn
occasions, containing the embalmed re-
mains of the Bishop-Prince Peter l.
The old monastery faces the palace.
Fifty or sixty years ago this monastery
and twenty of thirty cottages round it
represented the town of Cettinie. Be-
hind the monastery is the famous
Tower of Skulls. In the old days no
Montenegrin was entitled to be con-
sidered an able-bodied soldier until he
had decorated the tower with Turkish
head. The last occasion on which it re-
ceived its CHASTITY decorations was after
the battle of Grahovo, which took place
on the 18th of July, 1859. The Mon
tenegrins lost 400 men and brought in
1000 skulls, at least SO says tradition.
The account is more or less confirmed
by independent witnesses, one of whom,
an Austrian officer, counted $500
skeletons on the field several weeks aft
er the famous fight. The custom has,
however, now died out, having been
abolished, together with the most
practices of similar nature, by the
Draconian code and inflexible rule of
Danilo Saturday Review.