Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-31
KEPTFREE BY SWORD
Montenegrans Engaged in
Struggle for Centuries.
INVADERS ALWAYS BEATEN
Name Derived From the "Black
Mountains"
SAME RACE AS RUSSIANS
Original Settlers Fled From Home
on the Fall Of the Byzantine En-
pire to Enjoy Their Own Religion.
SAME RACE AS RUSSIANS
By WILLIAM e. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence OF The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald

i BY WILLIAM e. CURTIS
| Special Correspondence Of The Star and thu
Il Chicago Record-Herald
i CETINJE, Montenegro. April q, 1910
i The little isolated state of Montenegro.
an independent principality under the
! protection Of the great powers of Europe,
and particularly the Car of Russia, lies
i back from the Adriatic sea behind a
range Of mountains towering six, eight
and even nine thousand feet above the
sea. Many Of them are covered with
| snow the entire twelve months and form
one Of the most imposing ranges in Eu-
| rope. Today Cetinje, the capital, is en-
cfrcled by snow-clad wall of sierras.
The peaks are not so high as several of
| the Alps, but they seem to be wilder and
| grander, and thus far their SUBMITS have
been inaccessible. The highest is called
| Dormitor, and is S295 feet; the second is
Kuckikom, which is S.O32 feet; the third.
| Orjen, 7.21S and the next highest is Low
cen, which Is 5,77O feet. There are other
peaks above 5000 feet-many of them
and at this time OF the year a blanket
of snow is spread over all OF them.
! There seems to be a rnisapprehension
] among people who should know better
| concerning the color of the inhabitants
| of Montenegro, and a few days before l
left Washington a member of Congress
| who knew / was coming here asked me
| how it happened that a nation of negroes
should have maintained itself all these
centuries among the Turks. The name
may be misleading, but it has reference
| to the color of the mountains rather
than that of the inhabitants, for, while
many Of them are as brown as an Ameri-
can Indian because of exposure to the
weather. I do not think there is one col
ored person in the entire principally.
Same Race as Russians.
The Montengrans are Slavs. the race
from which the Russians come, and the
10000 inhabitants of this little state
are descendants of members Of the Serv-
ian aristocracy who fled from their home
in the fifteenth century after the fall of
the Byzantine empire and the conquest of
| what is now called the Balkan peninsula
by the Turks. The Servians were con-
verted to Christianity in the ninth cen
fury, and at the time OF the division of
| the Christian church they sympathized
with the Greeks Of Constantinople. The
| and their ancestors came to this bleak
and dreary country for the same reason
| that the Pilgrim fathers went to New
| England. in order that they might wor-
lies suffered persecution from the Mo-
| hammedans for many years before they
| left their homes. and, being unable to
| endure 1t any longer, they were led over
| where they were ruled by their priests.
Church and State United.
| From 1890 to 1851 the executive author
| ity in Montenegro was exercised by vlad-
| ikas, or prince bishops as they We're
called, the same man being the head Of
| the church and the head OF the state. He
| performed the ecclesiastical functions Of
a patriarch Of the Orthodox Greek Church
as well as the civil duties Of king. At
| first the vladikas were elected by ballot,
| but about 1896 a powerful and progressive
| leader named BabyIas founded the pres
| ent dynasty, and. as the vladika was not
permitted to marry. the crown has de-
scended from uncle to nephew in the
same family ever since. Prince Nicholas,
the present ruler of Montenegro, is the
second who has not been ordained as a
priest. He simply refused to assume &C.
clesiastical authority. and the people, who
| idolized him as q young man, unani-
1nously sustained him in his violation 'of
precedent. Ecclesiastical authority is
therefore exercised by q regular bishop
| elected by the clergy.
Babylas must have been far-sighted
| man, for he established a printing press,
several volumes Of laws and regulations
| were published by him early in the eight
zenith century. but from that time until
1850 Montenegro had no newspaper and
no books, being too much occupied in de-
Tending itself against the Turks to pay
much attention to literature or theology.
Thus you will see that Montenegro is
unique among nations. Although it has
| only 10000 inhabitants, they are all
chiefs and princes, and series Of bril-
| liant marriages by the sons and daugh-
| tiers of Prince Nicholas prove that the
royal houses Of Europe consider the blood
of the royal house of Montenegro as good
as their own.
| Over Four Centuries Of Struggle.
| For four hundEed and fifty years this
little nation has maintained its independ-
ence in continuous struggle against the
Turks, the Venetians, the Saracens, the
Servians and other invaders. with a rec
ord for heroism that surpasses that of any
other people. Down to the middle of the
| nineteenth century battles and raids
against their neighbors form the entire
history OF the country and the Montene-
grams never have been defeated In battle
fought their way to the gates Of Vienna,
| the Montenegrans alone managed to re-
| sist them in their invasion of Europe
The geography of the country has, OF
Il CouisS, Decn tuclI strongest
II They have no castles and no need OF
them; they fight in the open. in the noun
II tains, which are almost impossible for
strangers. and so intricate are the valleys
that none but the inhabitants can find
their way about; and they are SO barren
that, as Gen. Sheridan once said Of anoth-
err country: "A crow has to carry it's ra-
II tions when 1t flies over the land
II On account of this topography II has
been said that "a small army can al
1 ways be defeated in Montenegro and a
II large one will always starve.''
II The local name of the country is ''Crna
II Geora,' which literally means black
| mountain. although it is a misnomer.
/ The mountains are not black: they are
| gray and are composed Of limestone.
Men Too Proud to Work.
Up to the time Of Cladika. Peter II
who reigned from 1880 to 1851, the Mon
tenegrins were a race of barbarians. liv-
ing In matched huts similar to those OF
the peasants in Connemara, on the bleak
west coast of Ireland. The women did all
the work and were literally beasts OF
burden. The men were too Identified an
too proud to labor. They were professional
warriors. like the American Indians. anc
/ 81 .-lrz, lnr> hoo,