Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-05-17
(To be Continued),
MONTENEGRO.
Story of the Little Mountain Kingdom
In the Adriatc.

MONTENEGRO.
Story of the Little Mountain Kingdom
In tho Adriatie.
Montenegro is so small a European
state that one has to look twice to find
1t. It Is about two thirds as large as
Connecticut, and is all mountains. The
villages themselves are merely at
tached to these mountains. The name
Of it means black mountains and 1t
sustains these names in four Ian
gauges-Sclavc, Turkish, Albanian and
French. The Turks call 1t Karadagh
and the Albanians Nal Zeze. The map
makers use the French name.
Montenegro Is situated on the east
ern coast Of the Adriatlc sea-a mere
patch on that coast, Its population
numbers 225.000-a little more than
twice the population Of Hartford. In
religion nearly 100000 of these people
are Orthodox Sclavs, the remainder
being Mohammedans and Roman
Catholics. The language used Is a
very pure dialect of the Illyrico-Ser
Wan branch Of the Sclavic. At one
time Montenegro was part Of Illyri-
cum; in the fourteenth century 1t
formed a part Of Servia, which then
stretched from the Black Sea to the
Adriatic. The language perpetuates
the memory Of those old relations.
The only manufactures reported in
Montenegro are coarse woollens. The
main business is agriculture and 1t is
strenuous agriculture all the while, on
the lower slopes Of the mountains and
In the narrow little valleys. the lowest
of which are some five or six thousand
feet above the level Of the sea. The
printing press reached Montenegro
about 1S41, but the first political
newspaper was not issued until 1871.
Cettinje, the capital. had population
of 4.30O in 1905. not counting the regu-
lar garrison Of 600 men. The i'm
ports that year amounted to $970,000;
the exports to $355.00O; the public rev.
enue was 100000, and the public debt
$350,000. These figures measure this
little principality better than words.
Montenegro founded herself, politically,
in 1852. Before that date she had had
a good deal Of history of the des-.
ultory kind. For one thing, there was
very generally a question Of some sort
on hand as to whether she owned her
self or was owned by another. AS to
the government. however, this was
conducted by the church. The head
of the church was called the prince
bishop, and he cared for both the spir-
itual and secular needs of the people.
This system Of prince bishop began in
1916 and continued until 1852, or for
more than three hundred years. Then
the ruling prince bishop woke up and
discovered things. He discovered that
during the preceding $50 years the
prince bishop had always been Of his
family, the family Of Petrovitch: and
It occurred to him that a house that
had maintained its ruling position for
that length of time might as we'll gu
1t alone, without the cover Of the
church. So, in 1852. he dropped the
bishop from his title, and made HIM
self a plain secular prince as Danilo
l. He had a fearful time with the
Turks about this change, but the stur-
dy mountaineers generally gave the
Turks rather more than a stomachful.
Finally in August. 1860, Danilo was
Iassassinated, and his nephew, Nikolo
Petrovitch- Niegosh, succeeded him
This Is the Prince Nicholas who is the
ruler of Montenegro today. He is
now sixty-six years old, and he has
held his job for nearly forty-seven
years. He had a dangerous time of 1t
for some eighteen years; but in 1878
the independence Of Montenegro was
recognized in the treaty Of Berlin, and
since then he has led a fairly peaceful
life under the shadow of the Con-
cert of Europe. The biggest thing that
he has done during his entire reign
was 70 marry one of his daughters
Princess Helene. into the royal house
of Italy. AS the father-in-law Of King
Victor Emmanuel he has reason to be-
lieve that the external relations Of his
little principality are on a secure ba-
| sis.
1t has been reported by telegraph
this week that the internal relations
Of Montenegro were somewhat unset
tied. The conservatives and the radi-
Gals Of the rugged little land were said
to be almost at swords point with each
other, and ministerial changes were
expected. The story as told Is very
much like a common council row In
an American city of 100000 inhabi-
tants. The liveliest sort OF political
commotion in Montenegro would not
make a ripple of disturbance outside
that country. and. unless guns were
unshouldered, would not do apprecia-
BILE harm in It, Prince Nicholas's long
experience will doubtless enable him tc
adjust these current political rivalries
Hartford Currant.
fT In Moorish days the town Of Cor
doba had over 1000 mosques and 900
public baths.