New Britain herald., 1914-07-15
AUSTRIA LAND OF 
 STRANGE CONTRAST
Empire is a Constitutional MoR-
 1Chy Formed Of Three Kingdoms.

Washington, D. C., July 15.-Aus- tria Hungary, toward which the eyes of the world are now turned because of the recent assassination of Arch
 duke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the dual monarchy, and his consort, the Duchess of Hohenberg, is a land of strange contrast, according to a statement issued by the National Geograp phic society, at Washington, D. c.
 'In spite of it's important position, both geographically and politically. but few people realize exactly what they mean when they speak of Aus tria-Hungary, and to many the words Austria and Hungary seem inter- changeable terms for the same coun- try" reads the statement. What then, is Austria, what is Hungary. and why are they always bracketed to- gether?
 Constitutional Monarchy. "The Austrian empire is constitu- tional monarchy, formed of three l kingdoms, Bohemia, Galicia and Dal- matia, two archduchies, Upper and Lower Austria, and a collection of duchies, cOuntships, and margraves of princely rank; all of them united in the person of the Emperor Francis Joseph. The adjacent and entirely in- dependent Kingdom of Hungary, in addition to Hungary proper, includes Croatia, Slavonia and Pennsylvania, countries formerly independent, but now, through intermarriage, conquest end inheritance, all possessions of the apostolic king of Hungary, who hap pens by 8 purely historic chance to I Austria. The possession of a unifying link in the person of their common l ruler has led to the Ausgieich, or compromise, whereby the two coun- l tries for mutual convenience, have agreed to join forces in maintaining 1 joint diplomatic and naval and mill 1 itary services. Beyond this the two l countries are entirely independent, each having it's own constitution, leg islature and administration.
 Many Diverse Tongues. "No country in Europe except l only Hungary, contains within its borders so many diverse nations and l tongues as the Austrian empire.
 Each of the three great ethnic stocks 1 of Europe is represented-the Latin. the German and the Slav, with the l latter predominating, as to it belong l 15 out of the 26 million people in- 1 habiting the empire. The Hungarian 1 or more properly. the Magyar, is per- haps the keenest patriot in Europe,
 and he manifests his enthusiasm by
 seeking to impose his language and
 customs upon his Slavonic fellow
 citizens with a persistence that
 neither opposition nor passive re- 1 sistance can diminish
 l Variety of Religion.
 1 "In these lands, so mixed in na-
 tionality and language, there is no
 less variety of religion: Roman 1 Catholics preponderate, but Greek
 Orth odox, Uniat Greeks, Lutherans, | Calvinists, Jews and even Armenian 1 Gregorians are found within their
 borders. The customs union between
 Austria and Hungary has rendered
 these countries commercial unit;
 but, roughly speaking, Hungary is
 the agricultural and pastoral coun- 1 try, while Austria is industrial Hungary is also the richest country
 in Europe in mineral deposits, the l Austria is, after Switzerland, the
 most mountainous region in Europe,
 more than four-f1fths of her vast 1 territory being over 500 feet above
 sea level. Mountain climbing is the great national game. like baseball l in the United States. Old, young middle-aged. all take a keen interest
 in it. Even Emperor Francis Joseph
 is an enthusiastic mountaineer at
 more than eighty years of. age. In his