The suburban citizen., 1901-12-28
WAYS OF THE BRTGAND
HIS MANNERS HAVE NOT CHANGED
MUCH IN A CENTURY.

for the Washington Evening Star by
William Elliot Grifls, LID: A new
Macedonian cry-"come over and help
us"-rings in our ears. This time 1t is
a woman's. At the opening Of the
twentieth century the same situation
eOnfrOnts US as that in 1901. Then
collections were taken in the churches
to ransom American captives held In
the prisons of Tripoli In Mohamme-
dan countries the name Of the young
United States was the synonym for
poverty and impotence. To-day in the
same region the United States means
wealth and weakness.
On the Sd of September, in the
Turkish province of Macedonia, on a
road frequently Travelled, our country
woman, Miss Ellen NJ. Stone, and a
party Of eleven other persons were
surrounded In a mountain defle by
thirty or forty Bulgarian brigands,
who spoke broken Turkish, wore Turk
ish clothes and had their faces masked
or blackened. The Bulgarian brigands
Tor were they TurksO were politely
careful to dismiss the English clergy
man, his wife and his wlfe's father,
but, In hope Of large ransom ($110-
900 they kept the American lady.
The brigand is a preancient charac-
ter. Long before the days Of Barab-
bas he was in old Greece and Rome.
Indeed, without him much Of their fas-
cinating mythology would lose point
Every land has known him, and after
he has been properly hanged, broken
on the wheel, or boiled in oil, his eX-
ploits form the staple of nursery lore
ever after The folk lore Of China,
Japan and India is as full Of him as is
the England Of Robin Hood, Jack
Shepard or Dick Turpin. In a Japan
ese inn one bathes in a tub named af-
ter knight of the road, who was duly
cooked according to law. Burma has
1t Dacolts; Syria knew its patriot
spoilers Of the Roman, whom Herod
rooted out of their lairs only by lower
ing down the face of the cliffs great
boxes filled with warriors. Even yet
the way to Jericho offers work for
good Samaritans. To travel from
Athens to Marathon the student must
go armed to the teeth. Italy Is the
classic home of the brigands, with
Spain as a near rival Who does not
remember the brilliant picture Of Hor-
ace Vernet, in which the French dra-
gon in Calabria pistols the patriotic
and picturesque robber? Along the
Rhine Schinderhannes is tenderly cher
ished. The Spanish Jose Maria, the
French Cartouche, the italian Pezza
are still the fascinating theme Of fire.
side story.
/ Indeed, what would art, fiction and
the operate stage do without the bri-
gand, with his peaked and befeathered
hat, his chrOmatlc Jacket and famboy-
ant sash, and whole latticework of
black ribbons on his leggins? Who
does not remember the ditty, "On yon-
der rocks recliningT" Is not that gen.
tleman ever on the decline, none other
than Brother Devil, or Fra Diavolo?
1t is the brlgand's business to recline
on the rocks and wait for his prey.
He lives with the sportive goats. The
high hills are a refuge for him, as well
as for the coney. Indeed, so much is
this chronic loftiness affected by the
brlgand that popular etymologists liv-
ing in England, who remember Roder-
lex Dhu and the general tendency Of
the Highlander to lift cattle, would de-
gslvy kfNn hWf Iirrh
lander and this from brig, hilltop.
But, no! Our friend, ever personally
rich in decorative elements, inhabits
more genial climes to the southwark.
His name, in it's true derivation, ex-
plains why he is often SO popular, con
sidered a patriot, the alleged cham
plon of the poor and the terror of the
unjust rich. Down at the root the
italian word means to be ambitious
to be busy and strive, to achieve grand
things. Only as the gentleman on the
hilltop interprets these terms to the
disadvantage Of the travelling public
does his name have a bad sense, and
mean robber or pirate. Next to cap
ture, his business is ransom. Indeed,
brlgands in the Middle Ages were ba-
rons, and the later feudal system was
q sort of licensed brigandage In the
days when soldiers had to get their
pay in the best way they could-whlch
is largely the situation of the Turkish
army officers and soldiers to-day
ransom was a regular business. To.
day it may seem a terribly large sum
to pay (S110,000) for an unmarried
American lady in middle life. We ask,
where are the knights errant? Yet
think Of the fat hauls which were
made in the past by kidnapers or alb.
ductors of some sort-of Richard l.
released on payment Qn values Of to.
day. Of $2,000,000, or of King John of
France, ransomed for $4,000, 1000
paid in installments.
Do we associate the brigand with
vulgar thieves and pickpockets? How
do we injure innocence! Our COM
mercial Ideas vary from those of the
kidnapers themselves, or of those who
look back tenderly upon them. Usu-
ally the brigand is a gentleman of
property, as he certainly is Of standing
in the local community He evfste |