The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-11-17

the Janissaries of the Turkish army wn.
were largely recruited from the Bnlgsss
ians, every fifth one of their male chit
dren being forced into service of tha
sultan.
According to the best accounts, tho Rui-
garians appear to be divided aln,ost
equally between the dweilers of tho
plains, whose peaceable virtues ana In
dustrious. persevering and temperate
manners have not debased ,nem, ana The
inhabitants of the mountain ranges.
Their honesty is such.' says one, that
bulgarian may be trusted with large
sums OF money with perfect security"
AS a race they are far less cxcitable
than their Slav fcllow-llinsmen; their re.
hslon is not fanaticai their minds are
mainly taken up with tiliage of the
farm, and their great desire is to be let
alone to look after their own affairs.
lake 1t altogether, the lot of Bulgarian
peasantry is happy one. They live very
roughly, ana one might say very sordd-
sly, but they have sufficient to eat. ana on
joy generally certain amount of rnde
comfort. Poverty ia Our sense of the
word does not exist. There is no need
to make any public provisions for the he
lief of the poor; strikes and trades unions
are alike unkncwn
Making allowance for difference OF
site, one Bulgarian village is the very
counterpart of every other One has
only to drive in any direction from Sofia
to find village after village. generally
buried in the valleys at the foot of the
hills. which are so Ike each other that
no one but a native would find it EASY
to distinguish them
or hn Lot, ..
the villagers lead. They are ND at dav-
break and work in the fields until afto.
sunset, and the peasants are content 10
live upon bread and garlic.
They cultivate tobacco. produce wine
of good quality, and their fruit is eele-
brated. But the greatest attention is
given to the care of bees as honey pro-
ducers, and silk worms, which are raised
in almost every house. The cocoons are
collected by middlemen similarly 10 the
custom in America OF gathering eggs
from our farmers. The most noted pro
duct of the thrifty peasant Villagers Is
the valuable and rare altar of rose, ana
millions of rose plants furnishing the
delightful perfume of song and story are
cultivated.
There lives arc too hard to allow them
to pay much attention TO spiritual mat
ters. and the whole tone of their mind
seems to prove under any conditions to
be emlnently uhfayorable to the devel-
opment of religious fervor The desire
Tor education, however, amounts almost
to passion. but they attach little i'm.
portance to the education of girls
The case is different with the popula-
ton among the mountain ranges, for
there the haidoukS, or brigands as they
are called, We're able TO secure for them
selves sort of independence. Bulgaria.
although country of yer three and u
half millions of inhabitants, can boast
of only about 1900 factories or works OF
any kind deserving record.
This commonwealth of peasant propri-
tors is one of tho last countries in Ell
rope in which socialstic theories are like
ly to influence the course of public leg
islation. All minerals by law belong 30
the state, and two or three coal mines
are now worked by the government I'm
order to secure their being always 4
sufficient supply available for the public
service.
The capital city, Sofia, is a bright town,
with most of the appliances of civifiza-
ton. The shop windows display all the
articles, and nothing but the articles,
that one is familiar with in Western
cities. The only strangeness is the in
scriptions, names of the streets and pIa-
cards on the walls. which convey no
meaning to the ordinary Western mind.
Philippopolis is said TO be the brightest
and most cheerful of Bulgarian cities:
still this brightness Is negative rather
than positive. Here, as elsewhere, there
is hardly any amusement provided for
the people. There is no display of either
wealth or luxury. There are no places IF
entertainment, and by 9 o'clock at night
everything is quiet, the streets deserted
and the cafes empty. An Occidental
country town is 4 scene of wild dissipa-
ton compared with the large cities OF
Bulgaria.