The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-12-07


 by rail in twenty-four hours in com
 fortable sleeping cars and good dining cars. in which table de hote meals are served at city prices, but the fares are very high.
 The Orient Express, which is the great railway train of Europe, and runs from Calais and Ostend through Ger
 many and France to Constantinople three times a week. is pretentious
 humbug when judged by American
 standards. The distance between V!en-
 ma and Sofia is about the same as be-
 tween Philadelphia and Pittsburg, but
 it takes twice as long to make the jour-
 ney, and the fare is about four times
 as much The extra fare, or supple
 ment, as they calls it, demanded for the
 privilege of riding upon this famous
 train is A francs between those two
 cities, or $S.40, which is about full fare
 between Philadelphia and Pittsburg and
 instead of getting a wide berth in a
 Pullman sleeper for $2 you have to pay $3.S0 for a nights lodging in stuffy little closet. The beds are comfortable, but the space is so narrow that it is scarcely safe to roll over, and the only way to ventilate the compartment is to open window directly over your head.
 The ordinary trains are only two
 hours slower than the Orient Express, they are equally well equipped, run
 every day and the charge is only about
 one-half as much.
 Sofia, the capital and commercial center is situated in the southwestern | corner of Bulgaria on an elevated plain
 at the base of Mount Vitosch, beau-
 tiful peak 7,S00 feet high. Its head is
 usually clothed in the clouds, and per-
 petual snow lies in the wrinkles upon
 its face. The cloud movements and
 other atmospheric effects add greatly to its picturesqueness, and just now the ] forests which cover it's breast are livid with scarlet and yellow foliage, which reaches to the snow line and affords a striking and lovely contrast. 1 The base of the mountain is only a few miles from the city, and excursions , to it are one of the few amusements in which foreigners can indulge in warm
 weather. They have very little diver sion. There are no theaters-only one little variety show--no concerts, ex- cept occasionally by military band attached to the palace, and only lim- tied amount of social entertainment. The foreign colony must therefore find in driving, riding, picnicking and play ing tennis. Golf has not been intro duced, for the natives take little inter- est in such sports The foreign colony is small and limited almost entirely to the diplomatic representatives of the European countries. A few Austrians and Germans are engaged in business affairs, several Belgian engineers run the electric light and street car lines, and there are one Englishman and two or three Americans, mostly missionary teachers.
 The city covers a considerable area, and looks as if a building boom had been suddenly checked, which is true. Prince Alexander was great promoter. Under his administration Bulgaria made extraordinary progress, and Sofia started upon promising career. i Stambuloff took up the work where Alexander left 1t at his abdication. and carried out many of his schemes, but since "the Bulgarian Bismarck was re- lieved as prime minister little has been done in the way of public or private improvement The stagnntion is said to be due in a measure to a lack of confidence in the stab lity of the present and to the fact that Prince Ferdinand is interested in other things. One must infer that he takes little pride in the appearance of his capital and does not encourage the expenditure of money upon public works.
 Shortly before he retired Stambulof purchased an netire block of ground opposite the palace, upon which he ir- tended to erect magnificent building for the offices of the government. The plans were drawn by an Austrian arch fleet, excavations were made for the foundation and cellars. and a large quantity of cut stone was delivered by the contractors. A few days after Stambuloff's retirement work was sus- pended and has never been resumed. Several train loads of granite lie scat tered over the ground; the cellar Is half filled with water during the wet season and overgrown with weeds dur ing the dry months. Every stranger who comes to Sofia instinctively asks an explanation, but Prince Ferdinand, who always has this reproachful pano- rama before him, seems to be entirely indifferent to it. The palace is fine building in Frenchy style, surrounded by pleasant grounds, and facing pub lie park that is well laid out with foli- age plants and fountains and is pleas lre ground for the people.
 The old city, or "the Turkish quarter" as it is called, resembles patch of Constantinople. and has the low adobe walls, the heavy tiled rofs, the deep windows and the narrow streets of all oriental cities, with long blocks of ,azars kept by Turks and Jews, who lave most of their wares displayed lpon the sidewalk This is by far the most interesting section of the town to trangers. The shops are open, so that he visitor is enabled to watch the ar- isans at their work. The trades seem O be grounded together-the shoemak- ITS in one bunch, bakers, brassworkers, and other people in the same - rade occupying adjoining houses.
 Most of the natives year unshorn { heekskin clothing, with the wool next o the body; the leather side being