The Washington herald., 1912-11-23
EUROPEAN GOSSIP ON EFFECT
OF WAR IN THE BALKANS

servia, one of the Balkan allies, may
be very small in area, but she Is none
theless very bold. Belgrade. its capital.
during the past several weeks, has worn
a holiday aspect. and many shops were
closed because the men had TO go to the
war. So are theaters and the concert
halls There is little or no business. Only
the "Corso'' is lively. for there the people
promenade discussing with animation the
latest news from the battlefields.
This is not the Servia. not the Bel
grade which Western Europe knows. No
sign OF the Iassitude one expects to hnd.
There is a something which robs New
Servia's aspirations" OF what one might
be apt to call its colossal effrontery. A
new spirit dominates the Servia OF to-
day, and Belgrade is startlingly plain
evidence OF the existence of that awak-
ened spirit Of which Western Europe Is
unaware.
Servia's historian, Dragaschewitch,
called Belgrade the bloodiest stone upon
the battlefields of Europe, and l do not
believe that Europe has another such
war-racked city. Austria, Turkey, Hun
gary, and the Serbs themselves, battled
for it during the rolling centuries. II
is not quite fifty years that the Half
Moon OF the Moslem armies left Bel
grade for the last time. Forty years ago
that city had the unsavory aspect of a
Turkish town with its narrow, twisted.
dirty streets, and its low, squatty houses
bare Of all that is picturesque.
But forty years and the new spirit OF
the Servian people. who have awakened
to the fact that their ancestors boasted
OF a powerful empire, have wrought
marvellous change. In short. Belgrade of
to-day is a surprise. The very last traces
OF former Ottoman occupations are fast
disappearing. The city has been trans
formed and rebuilt almost entirely. The
principal streets have been widened and
the rough cobblestone paving is being re-
placed by wooden blocks. New build
ings OF pleasing architecture are appear
ing everywhere. Ugly clusters of Turk
ish dwellings, crouching behind towering
fortificatiOns, have given way to fine pub
lie buildings, palaces, hotels, arcades,
restaurants, and splendid shops, trans
forming the bloodiest Eastern city into
a veritable little Paris.
In King Milan Street stands the royal
palace. a goOd-lOoking building painted
yellow. Beside 1t is the royal garden,
both being entered directly from the
street. Ii was into this garden that the
bodies Of King Alexander and Queen
Draga were thrown after their murder.
The palace. like SO much that is old in
Belgrade. has had its day. and a beau
tiful royal abode. in white stone, is near
ing completion at the opposite end of the
garden. The new palace will add i'm
meRseIy to the statclinCss of an already
noble street.
The peoples representatives. too. are
not being neglected. A fine new Chamber
is being erected for them. At present
they are housed in a slight. barn-like
building The house makes no pretense at
elegance: there is no regaIia. Above the
table at which the President sits is a
fine picture of King Peter. On the Presi-
dents right sit the ministers, and on the
left the various officials. The members
Of whom there are lI2-sit at desks ar
ranged in semi-CirCular form. There is
no oratory. The members are paid about
l2s a day. To see them at work is TO
be reminded of a WOrkinGmen's political
meeting Without cheering, which one
might have expected on the occasion. the
house decided, in quick, business
like fashion. to send kilograms of con-
graduation to the Parliaments OF Ser
Was allies on the occasion Of the dec
laration of war.
In one interesting particular. at least,
Servia's Parliament (the SkuptchinaD is
unique. Its press gallery boasts OF
woman reporter, and this in a country
where femininiSm has not made its first
appearance In public. and where woman
suffrage 10 no more than a joke. The
Skuptchina Convrncs annually. Its MEM
hers are elected by direct vote Of citi-
Zens more than twenty-one years OF age,
who have to pay a poll tax of Is francs.
The sessions are quaint and the deputies
are quaint, some OF them wearing the ma
tive costume. consisting of Jacket of
brown, trimmed with black braid The
trousers are of the same material and
are tucked inside the socks. That simple
Garh, however. does not please every
ones color sense. often the Jacket is of
brighter hue. and is embroidered in gau-
diest fashion: the socks outbid the rain