Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-15

ments and memorials. They are to martyrs
of the Turkish wars, murdered statesmen
and assassinated patriots. ~,
Nearly every paving stone is pregnant
with a bloody story that reaches almost
from the time the first stone was laid to
the beginning Of the present generation.
The last Turkish garrison did not move
out of Belgrade until 1867. and until then
the entire eastern portion Of the town was
populated by Turks. The, Turks hand Is
still to be seen everywhere-7in minarets
and other architecture, in costumes and in
manners.
On Friday, when the weekly market is
held in the city, the streets are full Of red
fezzes. The Ssrvian peasants still wear
the Turkish trousers gathered at the ankles.
Often he wraps a towel-like mass of linen
around his high fez. Often he wears a
high ~sheepskin cap.
Every peasant wears a long, sharply
pointed and keenly ground knife on his
right side in a wooden scabbard.
From Beig rade the train roars through
a land which only a few years ago was a
land of brigands, whole villages being held
as openly by them as IL their occupation
were the most commonplace. One ~particu-
larly famous and strong home Of the brig
ohNo Woo wv sol VI DOAANopSNSh NNAS
brook of pigsJ.
Now the most unuFual occupation of most
OF those villages is to boil down plums in
great caldrons in the open air in the sea-
son. .~t-
II a man wishes to see all the tribes of
the Balkans, he need merely continue on
the train to the town of Nische.
Nische will be the great object OF man
uvers IL ever there is a Balkan war.
Its strong fortress commands the key to
the road into Bulgaria and Macedonia.
Christian churches and Turkish mosques
stand there almost. side by side. The cry
of the imam from the minaret mingles
with the bells that call the Catholic wor-
shippers.
Armed Ike arsenals, with long pistols,
long rifles, long knives, Macedonians, Al
banians and Arnaus shuttle along with the
walk of the mounta'nPer. Servlan peasant
women in gaudily striped frocks, Bulgarian
women dressed in black and looking like
priests, mountaineers from Montenegro in
fustanellas with long-beaked yellow and red
shoes and brilliant scarlet cloaks, grave
Hodschas in silken caftans and green tur-
bans, mingle on the streets with Spanish
Jewesses with brillint gold and silver
headdresses, and Montenegro women in
white skirts and slice Seless waists, and lit
tie red caps with a rising sun embroid'
cred on their fronts in gold.
Near Nische is a square tower. Tell its
story and you tell the story Of the Balkans.
The tower is known as the Tschelekula,
meaning skull tower" In 1903 the Turks
advanced toward Nische. The Servian
Woiwode, Stefan Sindjelitsch. intrenched
himself with 5000 S~ervians in the village
OF Kamenitza. They we're overcome. When
the Janissaries rushed among them, Sind
jelitsch fired the powder magazine and
blew his own men and the Turks into
pieces.
The Turkish army ravened like a band
OF wolves and killed all S~ervians VIVA were
left alive by any chance. After they had
killed and burned till there was nothing
left to kill and burn, they chopped the
heads OF the dead Seryian patriots. Then
they began the erection OF a great square
tower. After 1t had risen to some height
taey began to alternate the rows Of stones
with rows of SerVian heads. Altogether