The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-03-01
BJLGARIAs CUSTOMS.
Mrs. Bond Explains Them TO the So
cfaf Union of the UnfversaIists.

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~g cIaI Union of the Un~fversaIists.
The$Sociaf Union of the First Universalist
Church4helda meeting yesterday afternoon
at the residence of the Misses Fuller, No. 1926
York street. The intersstcentered in an in
formal talk by Mrs, Fanny g. Bond, for
uwenty-s& years a missionary to Bulgaria,
who sketched in a most entertaining manner
the manners and customss of that country.
They are nominal Christians, she said, but
their Christianity is of q Find To us, scarcely
recognizable. Beliefs have degenerated into
a mass Of superstitions: prayers almost into
lamentations, The Bible is read in the
churches, but ~inanother language and with
out explanatory
OF their, curious customs, some of the
most interesting are connected with the dead:
The body is stretched upon pallet, around
which all the neighbofs assemble and unite
in loud man~ifestations%of grief. After this
has continued for some time, the procession
starts for the cemetery. In the train are
several horses laden with wine n provis
ions. The body is lowered into the grave
with a number of prayers, and the earth re-
placed; then the horses are unladen;
and in the cemetery, almost over
the grave, the mourners enjoy a
high feast and Publication. Three years
after the burial, or on the third Easter after
interment, the grave is opened and the body
exhumed. If it is thoroughly ~decomposed,
the soul is safe in Heaven; if not, it is a sign
that the Almighty has condemned it to ever
lasting punishment. A more pleasing Easter
custom is that of greeting the passer-by with
He is risen'' to which the reply is "He is
risen indeed"
The marriage service is Oriental in cha
racter, and, as in Eastern countries, the
groom then sees his bride for the first time.
The festivities last for days, and they are
wearing for the bride, who must stand from
early morning until late at night. The
bride works for months before the ceremony
making quantities of clothing, especially UNI
derwear and stockings, of which it is no un-
common thing to knit eighty pairs; yet these
can scarcely be reckoned in her trousseau,
since no matter how large her husbands
family may be, one must supply them all!
They are a most uncieanly people, their
houses and the persons overrun with vernin.
Among the peasants the whole family sleep
in one room, until that becomes SO bad that
even they can stand it no longer. Then they
migrate to another room, and so on until
they have used up the house. Then they
camp in the yard. But they are very thrifty,
always at work, never wasting a mo-
to market carry their distaffs and
spin as they walk. The costume of
the women, which Mrs. Bond showed by a
dressed doll, is striking and peculiar. Its
most characteristic feature Is a curious belt,
into which they wind themselves as a West
Point cadet does with his sash.
Mrs. Bond was to talk for an hour, but
what with questions and replies it was
nearly twice that time before anyone
thought of being satisfied. Miss Jessie Mar
vim added much to the interest of The after
noon by playing No. 4 of Schawenka's Won
V~ergangenen Tagen" and Nevin's Mar
cissis." At the conclusion of the pro-
gra1nme Miss Lille Fuller and Miss Ada
Fuller poured chocolate, assisted by Mrs.
Frank Pearson and Miss Martin.