Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-28
M0STAR, QUAINT CITY
Composite Character of Capt.
tai of Herzegovina.
PORT ANCIENT, PORT NEW
Half -Mohammedan and Half-Chris-
tan Population.
MIXTURE OF MANY RACES
Curious Religious Mass-Ludicrous
Costumes of Turkish Women.
Several Monasteries.
BY WILLIAM F.. CURTIS.

Chicago Record Herald
MOSTAR, Herzegovina, April p. 1910.
Mostar. capital of herzegovina, with
$1,000 inha bitants, is a composite of two
towns, one antique, the other modern
one Turkish, the other Austrian one Mo-
hammedan. the other Christian; and a
mixture of several races, SlaVs, Turks
Jews, Germans. Greeks. Italians, Serbs
Magyars, Croatians and sons of Bosnia
Albania, Dalmatia, Montenegro and otheZ
neghboring provinces.
The inhabitants are about evenly di-
vided in religion. One-half are Christians
and the other half MOslems.
The old town remains practically un-
changed from what it was when Here
govina came under Austrian control, eX-
cept that it is cleaner and better kept
and observes ordinary sanitary laws,
which Turkish cities never do, and has
all those evidences of antiquity which
give such towns a charm that cannot be
acquired by human habitations any easier
than history.
The world was not made III a day, and
Spanish proverb says it takes long
time for a pOmegranate to ripen. 1T takes
still longer for city TO r1pen. usual
several hundred years. and Mostar, al
though hidden up here in the mountains.
and practically inaccessible to the outside
world until few years ago, Is fully ripe,
and as medieval in appearance as any
town in Europe. although il has no ruined
castles or Notifications and no crumbling
walls
Queer Banks of the Narenta.
The new town which has sprung up
since the Austrian occupation is on the
opposite side of the roaring Narenta river.
a stream of great power, with the queer
est banks you ever saw.
They are made of a sort of conglomer-
ate rock. soft and porous, into which the
water seems to have eaten Gr~toeS, large
and small In places the banks arc pittcd
as If they had the smallpox.
There are long. wide, clean. shaded
streets in the new part of Mostar, very
different from the narrow, crooked
streets of the older part of the city. The
residences of Austrian officials and the
quarters Of the army officers. the homes
of merchants and professional men who
have been attracted here, are like those
Of any conventional Austrian city.
The boulevard and promenade. with
quadruple rows OF trees shading the
drveways and the sidewalks on sunny
afternoons, is thrOnged with the Austrian
residents. Tho government buildings, the
courthouse. the military school, are new
and handsome structures. and the palace
OF the Roman Catholic bishop is the finest
residence in town.
New shops. filed with European goods.
are gradually displacing the little, dark
rooms in which native goods are sold
But We saw several Austrian women,
evidently the wives of officers. buying
oriental goods in the hazaars--gauzy
fabrics Of silk and cotton and gold and
silver embroideries.
The new cafes. with high ceilings, wide
windows, marble-top tables and neat
linen. are a great Improvement upon the
old hauntS where the men folks went to
sip their coffee and play dominoes. al
though the conservative Mohammedans
evidently prefer the dark and dirty re-
sorts to which they have hereditary at
tachment.
The cafe was invented by the Turks
In no country is it such an essential
feature of society as where a man can
not invite friend into his home
There is a good hotel on the bank of
the Narenta river. which is the dividing
line between the old and the new cities.
1t was built and guaranteed by the gov
ernment, like a dozen other similar cs-
ia blishments in these provinces. in order
that the strangers who come here may
be made comfortable and go away with
a pleasant impression of the country.
Quaint Bridge Over River.
There is little architecture or anything
else of interest in Mostar. The principal
feature and the glory OF the town is
quaint old bridge across the Narenta
river. which is attributed both to the
Romans and to the Turks, and probably
both had hand in its building 1t is a
structure, unlike anything
else of it's kind in the world. and has one
great span, with a very narrow pathway
on a steep grade, that allows only one
wagon or carriage to cross at the same
time.
On both sides are grim old prisons in an
advanced state of decay. On what might
be called the corner stone of the bridge
are inscribed the words '.Kudret KEN
eri'' in Arabic meaning "the arch Of the
Almighty
There are no mosques of Importance.
The oldest and most imposing stands on
the right bank of the river near the old
bridge, and an inscription tells us that it
was built in 1865. Thirteen minarets can
be counted from the bridge.
The Roman Catholic churches are much
larger and more imposing than the
mosques Like all of the old Balkan CAPT
tails, Mostar has several precious religious
relics, arms and legs fingers and teeth of
saints and martyrs which have long since
departed, and the remains of the apostle
st. Luke, which were once the dowry of