Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-05-07
Principality Of Montenegro is an ms
teresting Country.
REMAINS An INDEPENDENT STAql
National Costume is Both Pictux
esque and Elaborate.
GOVERNMENT


a land fun of interest, and destined i'm tho
near future, TO play no small a part in
| the history of eastern Europe. Modern
Montenegro, the smallest independent state
| In Europe. after Monaco. Andorra and San
| Marine. dates from ISL The government
| OF the principality is an absolute monarchy
| hereditary in the princely family of Petro-
Wiz Niegoche, by order of masculine pr-im-
ogeniture. Notwithstanding the oft-repeat-
ed pretensions of the Sublime Porte Mon
| tenegro has always refused every kind of
/ suzerainty on the part of Turkey. and has
remained to this day an independent state.
In the hands of this autocratic prince.
| Nichoia |, are concentrated all the poIiti-
CAL administrative, judiciary and military
| powers of the principality
Prlnee Nicholas l. 80 often proclaimed
py the late car, Alexander Ill his only
friend. is a man of fifty-seven. Personally
| Prince Nicholas | has been described bv
| all those who have come in contact with
MN, as an extraordinarily handsome man.
| very tall, well built and looking much
| older than he really is. His forehead is
VIDE and open, his hair and eyes nearly
| Dlack, and the naturally soft somewh hat
sau expression of his oriental face is ami
mated Dy a very sweet and frequent smile
| On rising in the morning. the prince after
| breakfast, goes at once To the senate" as
me court house of Cettinje, the capitaf Of
| montenegro, is termed, and there presides
| over the deliberations of the Judges i'm
| true patriarchal style He often Joins in
| the arg umelts of his Judges, questions the
| accused prisoners and their witnesses alike:
ana at times, speaks FOR the prisoner at
| the BAR After this, the prince generally
accompanied by a body guard, takes a
| stroll through the streets of his dfn,inu-
| 1--WE capital, lending an easy ear to the
| prayers and supple atoms of his subjects
whom he meets on the way. In the after
noon, the prince. as rule, goes out rid
| ing with some member of his family or
| OF the court In the evening, after din
her, ne retires to his private apartment,
| anu there receives any of his warriors who
| wish to consult him on military matters
| In this manner the prince keeps fully
| posted concerning the military state of the
| principality.
| The National Costume
| Whereas, i'm all other countries of Europe
| even in Switzerland. Hungary and Russia.
the former national costumes have fallen
| Into disuse to such an extent that they now
| only exist as curiosities, the mountaineers
| OF Montenegro have, so far disdafned thu
hundred and one inventions of modern
1asnlon, and faithful to immernorial tradf-
ton preserve intact the picturesque dress
| or Their forefathers. Nothing is more
characteristic of the Montenegrin than Ills
costume The dazzling and variegated coll
ors, the abundance OF ernbroideries and
| Jewels, betray the old aristocratic tastes
| OF this most aristocratic people. The i'm
portancc OF a mans dress ia Montenegro
cannot be overestimated. Ii is sufficient
10 state that a Montenegrin's outfit. in
Guiding his weapons is worth on an aver
| age $500, which, for poor country. is SIM
| ply enormous. At the beginning of his
! reign, Prince Nicholas. fully aware of the
| ruinous consequences Tor his country, of
| such luxury, so entirely I'm opposition to
| the poverty OF the country, attempted to
| put an end to this extravaganza by only
| allowing certain state officials and court
dignitaries &c wear gold embroideries on
| their dress. But after a few years the
| force of habit got the better of these edicts
! and so far as dress is concerned. the Mon
tenegrinS are toSay in exactly the same
condition as were their forefathers In the
| middle ages. the principal part of the
| masculine attire in Montenegro is the
| gougne, kind of loose tunic with sleeves)
going below the knees. This tunic is open
| in front SO as to display IN a large man
ner. the embroideries of the fancy waist
coat underneath. The gougne is very
| similar to the old-fashioned Hungarian
| tGnic and Is supposed to date FROM The
| time of the ancient Servian monarchy. In
| Montenegro the tunic is invariably white,
whereas 1t is black in Hungary. Among
| the Weather Montenegrins the gougne is
generally made Of very fire and expensive
| linen from Vienna: among the people it is
made Of coarse, linen or of cotton. An ex-
penslve goUgne is worth from SO to $50,
| but its price and value is enhanced 10 or
1 20 fold by the addition of golden embrold-
cries. Some of these embroidered gougnes
worn by wealthy Montenegrins are them
selves worth $500. Under the tunic is worn
a djamadan, a kind of loose waistcoat
double breasted, which is generally embel-
lished with embroiderles Of various de-
scription. This waistcoat is worth on an
average 800.
Fond of Firearms.
AS the Montenegrn never, by any
chance, puts down his weapons. and 4
couple of notwithstanding pistols always
hang by his side. these pistols are nearly
always inlaid with silver. Besides his fire.
arms the Montenegrin always carries
long dagger by his side. The dress of the
Montenegro women veiy much resembles
that of the men, excepting that the 'rk-
ish trousers ale replaced by a silk skirt,
richly embroidered. I he women never
wear corsets, and, as a rule, lose their
figures at an early age, owing to the hard
labor to which they are subjected by their
lords and masters.
The language exclusively spoken by the
Montenegrins is a Slav dialect. The Mon
tenesrins were the first among the Slav
races to print books. The honor of having
published the first Slav work belongs to
Georges Tsernoivitji, who. in 1880. built in
his castle of Obod the first-known Slav
printing press, from whence came those
precious editions of hymn and prayer
books still to be found in Russia. Public
education has made gigantic strides in
Montenegro during the Present reign, and
today there is not boy or girl of ten in
the principality who cannot both read and
write.
Montencgrins Soldiers.
The Montenegrin army is wonderfully
strong for so small a nation, and consists
of "a 600 men, divided into two division Of
II 900 men each. Each of these divisions
includes two brigades. Every Montene-
grin brigade is formed of five battalions.
splendidiy armed with Mimic and Thomas
Sedert rifles. The reigning prince is the
commander-in-chief of the army: under
him is a chief Of the staff, with two gem
erals of division and four brigadier gen.
erals. The army consists alr,ost entirely
of infantry. with a small contingent of ar
tillery. To their great physical strength.
marvellous agility and keen eyesight, the
Montenegrin joins a remarkable knowledge
of everything pertaining to the science Of
warfare. But what in particular charac-
terizes the Montenegrin a warrior and
what makes him superior to any European
soldier is his strong sense of individuality,
his pride of independence. which enables
him to perform the most wonderful acts of
courage. Though small the Montenegro
army. owing to the special characteristics
of it's soldiers, is a force that will play n
leading Part in the next confagration in
eastern Europe.