Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1913-01-10

STOunu, Lne news tnat MOI
tenegro had declared war
against Turkey inevitably aroused
certain modified merriment. Sub
sequent proceedings have reduced the
element Of comedy materially, but
when the little mountain kingdom first
stood forward against the Porte. the
two antagonists offered sufficient
contrast for smiles at least. Consider
Ing the size and resources of the two
antagonists, 1t is very much as If New
Rochelle declared war on New York in
the hope Of capturing and annexing
Yonkers, the last-named city being re-
presented by Scutari d'Albanie, a
place about ten times as large as the
Montenegrin capital, and one which
the Montenegrin monarch has always
coveted
Contrary to current impression,
Montenegro Is not at all difficult of
access. Excellent steamships take
one from Trieste down the picturesque
Dalmatian coast and disembark one
at the town Of Cattaro, which lies at
the head Of the lovely bay of that
name. A mile or two back from the
bay rises steep, stony mountain
wall, with a smooth, white military
road zigzagging laboriously up 1t, and
over that mountain range is Monte
negro.
The drive from Cattaro up to Get
TIME Is one Of the most beautiful in
the world. From the mountain-top,
west over Cattaro and the smiling
bay and the sparkling blue waters Of
the sunny Adriatic. and east across the
great, gloomy, desolate gray noun
tains, the views are remarkable. In
my opinion, this drive Is far finer than
the much-lauded Upper Corniche, be-
tween Nice and Monte Carla. Until
quite recently the drive by carriage
took seven hours. but now one can go
by motor car.
Some Royal Financing.
Motoring in Montenegro has, how
ever, its limitations, as there is prob
ably not road In the country, except
the one previously mentioned, over
which an automobile could pass
Even the CattaroC Cettinje road Is haz-
ardous enough at that, because on it
there are no less than one hundred
and thirty. turns so acute that car
with long wheel base finds difficulty
in negotiating them at all, and most Of
these turns are on a considerable
grade.
Once over the mountain and across
the Montenegrin frontier, the first
impression is that of the absolute
desolation Of the country. Nothing
but bleak. gray, stony mountain
ranges, one after the other. as far as
the eye can reach into the misty dis
tance. Not habitation, not tree of
any size, not a sign of life The out
look suggests an imaginative litho-
graph Of the beginning of the world.
Only one evidence of humane exis.
tence is seen. Along the roadside are
numerous fat-bottomed pockets Of
land. where little cultivable soil has
washed down the rocky slopes, and in
each Of these pockets a few potato
plants have been carefully set out
Often the pocket Is 80 small as to
contain only dozen plants, but in q
land 80 sterile and stony every square
foot Of soil is thriftily utilized. No
houses are visible. and people must
come miles to cultivate these strugg-
ling patches.
A HomeIy Mountain Village.
Cettin1e lies In the middle Of a small,
fertile plain which was once the bed
Of an ancient lake. surrounded by
grim hills. It is town of about
thirty-nve hundred inhabitants-hard-
ly more than a village-and yet It IL
tho capital Of nation that has for
generations nreserved its Identity