New Britain herald., 1914-08-04
SERY|AN WOMEN TO
 FIGHT FOR COUNTRY
Claims American Wife Of DcSCcnt-
 ant Of Se1V.an Kings.

900, but that figure must be doubled. for all Servian women can and will bear arms" declared Princess Lazar ovitch- -Hreb belanovich, the American wife of a descendant of the old Serv ian kings Sunday. Even now l have no doubt they are drilling as the Montenegrin women did during the Balkan campaign, and looking over their underground storehouse, for they have always had charge of the colnmissary department of the army. For every Servian soldier who falls there will be a wife or d sister to take up his gun.
 'rhey are wonderful creatures, tall and almost over-muscled from the outdoor work they have done for generations. They are often very beautiful. And always they are afire with patriotism.".
 Eyes Frightened With Pride.
 The princess drew herself up and her blue eyes frightened with pride in her adopted countrywomen. It is easy to believe that she was very kindly received when she went to them as California beauty fifteen years ago.
 'In the great wars of the past when the men have fought the Turks in front, the women have fired their guns at the Austrians in the rear. They have fought side by side with the men, worn the same uniforms, undergone the same hardships and In the end received the same honors from their country.
 No Need For Suffrage.
 Perhaps it is because these wom- en have fought and died beside the men that there is no need for suf- frage in Servia. Long before Magma Charta was thought of the queen sat in the Servian parliament With her husband, and when the king issued proclamation he began it:
 "'I, having taken counsel with my dear wife, the council of state and the national assembly, do hereby de- cree
 To-day if. woman Is considered the most able member of one of the great family groups of Zadrugas into which Servia is organized she is un- hesitatingly elected it's head. Then it Is her husband who oversees the work of the fields which belong to
 
 mon and the work of the household as we'll. The men obey her unhes- itatingly.
 Oversees Household Work.
 "When a man is head of the family his wife oversees the household work There is the great central house with it's immense never-dying fire in the middle of the central room. Oxen and sheep are often roasted whole over the oak logs and hams and pieces of sheep are smoked in the great chimney which overhangs the fire like an extinguisher above a candle.
 There is much cooking to be done for the sons and cousins and wives come in from their little cottages or voyats scattered about for evening meal. The women do the work in groups a week at time. Afterward they sit about the great fire and some one plays on the one-stringed fiddle of the country, while another sings one of the old ballads of Servian vic tory. At intervals the young people dance the wonderful spirited Servian dance. For refreshments there is a great cauldron of green corn boiling on the fire.
 Influence or the Preside.
 Tt is these songs and dances with the stories of the old days told to the children around the fire, with the good food and the free education that makes the Servians the wonder | full indomitable people they are The upright lives they lead may contrib 1 ute something to their moral fibre, for there is practically no illegitimacy in the country, while just across the , border where the Serbs are crushed l under Austrian tyranny it amounts to forty per cent of the population.
 Where every man has his own in- terest in the land of the Zadruga there is no poverty. The boy be- comes his fathers partner at birth, though he is expected to do his lit | tie share of the work Outside of that his time is his own. The land is won l derfully fertile, the soil has never needed fertilizer, and the great oak forests supply mass of acorns that makes Servia pork known the world l over
 The men are a water drinking | race:~ Now and then they take q glass of prune brandy. but not often. They take their pleasure singing and laughing among their great, happy | families. Each new baby is welcomed as an added sunbeam in the great Zadruga. That is why Servia has been able to offstand Turkey for these [ many centuries. Do you wonder that Servian women are ready to fight | to preserve such home life as theirs?"