The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-11-13
The Capital of Montenegro.

Cettinje is the most extraordinary
capital in Europe. It consists of one
long street, with four smaller ones
crossing it, and ending vaguely in the
fields. The whole town covers perhaps
thirty or forty acres. The principal
building is the hotel, which worthily
blocks the end of the main street. It
is bare and ricketty-looking structure,
but represents the acme of luxury at Get.
TIME. The other public places are the
prison, the church and the school. The
first of these lies on the right-hand side,
and in front of the gates, on lawn, the
prisoners amuse themselves by playing
various rude games-bowls, with pieces
of rock for balls, leap-frog, and so on.
A few of them are engaged in odd build
ing jobs about Ccttinje, and others hew
wood in the mountain. They are not
chained, but appear seldom to dream of
running away. when case of evasion
happens, one or two fellowAcohvjcts, arc
dispatched to catch the runaway and
bring him back. The theory of setting
thief to catch thief is here practiced
most literally and methodically. The
only distinction between q condemned
convict and free citizen IS that the
former is deprived Of his arms. This is
an equal degradation to the usual dress
or brand elsewhere. Close to the hotel
is the royal palace, whitewashed house
with green Venetian blinds, which is
popularly supposed to have cost million
of francs, owing to the expenses of trans
portating the materials. Over against it
is long, low, red building, known as
the "Bigliardo." It received this. nick
name from an English billiard table hav-
ing been set up there. The carrying of
this piece of furniture by fifty men over
the mountain was considered-and un-
doubtedly was-a great feat. While the
porters struggled manfully under the
slate pilot stood astride on high, and
shouted his directions as to how to get
round awkward corners. The "Big-
liardo" is now used as Offices for the
different Ministries and Parliament
house. The church is very small, capa-
BILE of holding, perhaps, $50 people.
On either side of the entrance are the
tombs of Prince Danilo and his brother,
Mirko Petrovitch, and in the chancel 4
sort of sarcophagus, which is opened on
solemn occasions, containing the en-
balmed remains of the Bishop-Prince
Peter I. The old monastery faces the
palace. Fifty or sixty years ago this
monastery and twenty or thirty cottages
round it represented the town of Get
TIME. Behind the monastery is the
famous Tower of Skulls. In the old
days no Montenegrin was entitled to be
considered an able-bodied soldier until
had decorated the tower with Turkish
dead. The last occasion on which it
received its CHASTITY decorations was after
the battle of Grahovo, which took place
on the 18th of July, 1859. The Monte
negrins 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 23O0 skeletons
on the field several weeks after the IA
nous fight. The custom has, however,
now died out, having been abolished,
together with most practices of SINH
lar nature, by the Draconian code and
inflexible rule of Danilo 1.-The Satur'
QGy HeCleD. s,. :sY Il.