Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-04-08

on the 7th Of December, 1850. =
And pulseless and cold, with q Der
ringer by his side and q bullet In hi
heart, though still calm as In life, be
meath the snow lay he who was a
once the strongest and yet the weakes
of the outcasts Of Poker Flat.
scuTARI THE IMPREGNAHLE. u
A Glimpse Of the Town Which He,
Defied Siege for Five Months.
From the heights around Cettinj,
the road drops down toward the soutf
by steep gorges to the plain whert
lies the silver lake of Skodra or Sou,
tari, backed by the blue Albanian
mountains. jf'i
It was along this road that Kine
Nicholas, Gospodar of the Black Noun.
tains, led his hardy mountaineeri
down to the banks Of the Rieka, which
makes its way in summer through
beds of water lilies to the lake-past
Podgoritza, or Foot Of the Noun.
tains"-once q Turkish stronghold bu,
now part of the kingdom Of Montene.
gro-and on to Plavnitze on the lake
whence until the war began there
used to be steamboat communication
with Scutari beyond and with Antiya.
ri on the coast by way Of Yirbazar.
The great lake stretches out in the
distance. thirty miles long, and the
boats move up and down 1t propelled
hy long, shoyel-like oars. but no sal
Is ever raised, however excellent the
breeze, as the hardy fisherman out FOL
his catch Of scorzane has learned tc
fear the mountain gales and the bora
that may burst upon him in an in
stant.
Away to the left is the famous Duga
Pass, through which the Turks 60
many times advanced to attack the
Black Mountain, and over yonder or
the lake Is Zabliak, a fortress now
but once the home Of the hillmen. az
was Scutari before it, till they were
driven out In 14S4 in the days Of Ivan
the Black. The spirit of Ivan has been
with his descendants throughout the
centuries as day by day they gazed
across the gold-brown plain and the
silver waters Of the lake to the slim
minarets Of Scutari shimmering white
on sky and mountain.
When Sultan Mahomet made his
entry into Constantinorle he is said
to have repeated the Persian distich:
1.-The spider hath woven ner web In
the palaces Of emperors
And the owl hath sung her watch
song in the towers Of Efrasiyab,'
and the princes Of Montenegro have
sworn that the owl would also sing
her watch song in the minarets OF
Scutari.
The red-topped kappa or turban OF
the Montenegrin, with its black border
is the symbol Of nations hopes and
memories-red for the blood shed al
Kossovo; black for the bondage OF
their brethren in the valley below.
Beyond the lake on q spit Of land
stands Scutari between the Bojana and
Kiri rivers-wincer torrents that run
dry in summer. Here begins Albania
and the west meets the east.
The Albanians or Arnauts are the
sole surviving condotter of Europe; "a
vagrant tribe of shepherds and rob-
bers," Gibbon called them, but they
call themselves skipetars-men Of the
rocks-an iron race hard as the rocks
they inhabit; mixture Of races hav-
ing neither political nor religious uni
ty nor social cohesion.
The scenery Is wild as Scotch
moorland, all bumped and covered
with bracken, and the wall Of Alban-
ian music in the hills Is like the skirl
of the bagpipes in the Highlands
Farmsteads are dotted here and there
but no village, for the Albanian dis.
trusts his neighbor. and day by day ne
tends his flock of goats and sheep, OF
drives his buffalo to the field to plough
but he takes his gun along, for he
never knows who may be coming. Fol
the most part he Is Moslem, but
there are no Turks to be seen. A
Turks life would not be worth med
jedeh in the hills. Independent, def
ant, aggressive, their clans are In
state Of perpetual conflict, and Albani-
ans generally die from difference OF
opinion. Even in the towns 1t Is moi
interfere, and the head Of the clar
inflicts punishment on him who Of
fends against the common good OF the
tribe.
In Scutari the population is a hotch.
potch. The shifty eye tells the Ar.
menian, the swagger proclaims the
Greek, the quiet alertness the Jew, but
above all there Is the Albanian with
quilted white petticoat, black fez and
silver braided coat. His kilt is spot
lessly clean, his shoes Of red leather
have a puff ball on each toe, and q
couple of revoIvers in his belt balance
couple Of evil-looking daggers there
The women, closely cloaked In black
glide about with downcast eyes, anc
any attempt at filtration Is risky
There are no windows to the shops ir
the bazaar, but the proprietor sits
within, arranging his silks, his brasses
or his rare objects inlaid with wonder.
full silver filigree work. There Is
little trade, and there Is no common
religion. From the minaret the voice
of the muezzin proclaims La allah. ils
allah, and the Scutari Moslem joins
in the prayer, but he drinks wine wher
he can get 1t and swears by the Virgin
like his Christian brother.
Religious rivalry Is bitter and po.
litical. Austria is official protector Of
all Christians in Albania, and her pro.
paganda in Scutari is active through
the Franciscan schools. Not to be out.
done Italy has opened schools there
also, and the flag of the Italian feet Is
we'll known in the Bay Of st. John oi
Medua, close at hand. But Antivar
is the natural port for the lake region
and thus Montenegro holds the trade
of Scutari in its hands. Nationalisn
plays no part in the life Of the town
When the citadel falls under the siege
guns of the Servian allies, will the in.
terests of trade and commerce give
way to the Albanian's race hatred Of
the Slav? VIII the powers pluck the
fruit of victory from the hands Of Mon.
tenegro? Can the friendship Of Italy
and Russia balance the envy Of Aus.
tria in the councils of the next con.
ference? Allah knows.-New York
Sun.
Acted on the Adviee.-A well-to-d dc
business man Of Arkansas City tells 9