Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1892-04-21
THE TRAVELLER IN GALICIA
In a Strange Land and Among
a Strange People.
POLES UNDER AUSTRIAN RULE
The Great Artery of GaIician
Life and Commerce.
A Might Thoroughfare Fully 700 Miles
in Length Crowded with Travel and
1raffic--The Stalwart shepherds and
Goatherds of tho Tatra Range.



CRAcow, AUSTRIA, March 3l.-There are
two European Gaicias. Each of these in
their peasant life possesses great interest to
the traveller. Spanish Galicia comprising
the northwestern provinces of Pontenedra,
Lugo, Coruna and Orense, will ever hold
for me the most tender recollections. Its
Galegan folk are the bravest, most patient
and loyal in all the world. They love their
rugged mountain land with so passionate
devotion that they will suffer untold priva-
ton and even death before they win give
il up. They become the "Gallegan dog"
servants of all Spain, Portugal and Italy
for half their lives, bearing inconceivable
contumely, sacrifice and suffering that
they may finally come back TO their
dreary crags and wild and almost sterile
glens to the ownership Of a little cabin, a
tiny patch OF land, and the tothem blessed
right to lay their bones in the same graves
ms those who have labored sacrificed an6
died, in precisely the same way, for ages
before them. They are dumb folk, but not
even Spanish monarch, has ever daref
attempt their enslavement.
The other Galicia is less tender end Win
some i'll any of its aspects. II is indeed
immeasurably more sombre and tragic.
Ii Is Austrian Poland.
Every one remembers the history of
ancient Poland; its line Of warrior kings:
its splendid and nnrewarded victories for
Christianity over the Turks; its great uni
versities even its wonderful medieval
literature its kingly cummoners ard its
peasant kings and the final treachery of
Russa's Catherine, which led to repeated
dismemberment and partition of old
Poland by Russia, Germany and Austria;
with the horrors of hundred years of in
surrection, murder, slavery and dcspotism
that followed.
It is all too horrible to dwell upon. Aus
tria''s portion out OF the Polish murder and
rapine, Galicia, comprises an area of over
10000 square miles, bounded north and
east by Russia on the south by Hungary
and Bukovina, and on the west by Prussia
and Austrian Siesla. Fully six million
souls occupy this area.
OF these about two and quarter mill
lions are Rusniaks-interchange called
Russncn, Ruthenens and Ruthenians.
whom l shall call Ruthenians in these
papers, and who are of Russian stock and
tongue. A million and half are Jews.
lhe remainder are about equally divided
between Austrian and Russian Germans.
Almost the entire nobility are Of polish
extraction and are country loving and
living people. The peasantry are ali Poles
and Rnthenians. 1t will therefore be
readily seen that nearly the entire inhahi-
tants OF Galician towns and cities are
Polish Jews and Germans. the former
greatly predominating. 10 illustrate, this
ancient city, whose population does not
uANcel Ju,uuU sOuls, cOutAinS -S,UJU jews.
Lemberg commercially the leading city OF
Galicia, has 6000O Jews among its l0U,OO0
people. And have the word Of "a friend,
Canadian resident of kolomea. that
among the 5000 inhabitants of the latter
city more than q 900 are Jews.
Practically then, Austrian Galicia pre-
sents for study four classes-the Polish
and Ruthenian peasantry who, while
theoretically free men, are more slayish
than slaves; the ancient Polish nobility
who are either rich and great enough to
live almost rcgally in Berlin, London or
Paris, or homeloving enough to live
upon their own estates something after
the simple and patriarchal manner 0s
Count Tolstoi, not very far to the north Of
them; the Jews who financially own both
peasant and master body and soul, rs well
as all business affairs of every name and
nature; and the military who relentlessly
control them all.
Austrian rule over its share of fallen
Poland, which for the iirst three quarters
of u century after its seizure was quite us
cruel as that of the Russian punderers to
the north. has had the virtue of not having
retained its more barbarous iniquities. 1t
is still impossible to escape the clang of
the sabre, the jingle of the spur, the chal-
lcnye OF the sentry and the almost intol-
cradle insolence of the omnpresent SOL
diery.
These uniformed tyrants are in every
railway carriage OF station. They accom-
paiiy every coach. They dog the stranger
from hotel 10 countryside and back again.
with imperturbablc eifrOntery. They enter
the home ~ will and by their goddess pres
ente sully every sanctuary and polute
every shrine; while spies are SO thick
swarming among all classes in the guisc of
oiiicials,s merchants artisans, laborcrs,
peasantsand comprising in one form or
other more than one twentieth of the cn-
bR ir To- eofI
LISTEN in Galicia,
Despite all this the Austrian Poles of
Galicia live I'm Paradise in contrast with
their brethren, 10 miles north of the city,
in Russian Poland. The electoral reform
law of 1878 gave the Galician Poles direct
elections the Vienna assembly by districts
thus breaking down the old clanrish ma
tional Polish interest. The government
has wisely encouraged agricultural reforms
and awakened an cumulative spirit between
native Poles and Huthenians aud many
small but thriving German agricultural
colonies. And among other sensible things
it has done the one thing should be first
and best done in every farming COM
munity In the world-bullt roads that will
vie in their enduring qualities with the
finest to be found in England or New
England.
Indeed in wandering through Galicia, I
am not certain, but that | would count
these grand Galician roads us the greatest
OF all blessings of all time to the peasant
Poles. Their general direction has been
governed by the course of the great chain
OF Carpathian mountains which forms the
Hungarian boundary on the south.
Away down in the southeast corner OF
Bukovna, over against wild and un-
tsaversed Bessarabia and wilder Moldavia
this great artery of Galician life and COM
mcrce begins. Thence to the northeast it
passes through kolomea, which has re-
Gently come into prominence from being
the base of operations in the new Galician
petroleum fields. Thence, through the
valley Of the Pruth into the valley of the
Dniester it touches ancient Stanislavov,
whence il bears north to Lemberg, the
central and greatest city of Galicia. From
lemberg, IL winds like the Unrpathians
around To the west and passes through this
ancient Polish capital, and thence on to
Moravia and Vienna.
On this mighty thoroughfare, fully 700
English miles i'll length are all the great
market towns of Gallcia; and despite her
newer railways which for the most part
run parallel with il, pass to and fro to this
day most OF She goods and products which
the ''circles OF Galicia exchange with each
other, the rude products of MOidavia and
Bessarabia, the cattle from the great
steppes which reach the German and
Austrian abbattoirs the willow carts of
fancy wares from Austria to, Russia, and
all the innumerable and unnamable goods
and wares which are smuggled into Russia,
Many highways equally well built run
parallel with this main artery for shorter
distances. Three great roads intel sect it
from north 10 south. One in the east runs