The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-06-07

silver and copper workmen and the
statesmen Of yashmaks and feredjas. the
Romany of the gypsy horse traders. the
two dialects of the Ghegs and Tosks
from Albania and the two Slavic da-
lccts, one Scrvian and the other a varia-
ton of Bulgarian, spoken by the peas
ants of the surrounding country. Is II
any wonder that sometimes there was
trouble in the rskub bazaar?
1t Is almost impossible to describe the
mixture Of costumes that such n crowd
produces. You see the white shirts and
black Jackets Of the southern Albanian
and the tight fitting white trousers and
jackets embroidered in black of the
men from the hills. the long fur
trimmed gabardines of the Jews and
the dark jacket and trousers Of the
Scrvian peasants. home woven from the
wool of their own black sheep. There
are the long white Jackets Of the
peasant women. those from the hill
country trimmed in green and black
and those of the plain I'm red: the heavy
black cloaks and peculiar helmet like
white headdress of the Mohammedan
women and the garish. medieval cos
tunes of the Jewesses.
Not only does every race have its
different dress. but every locality has
some distinguishing mark. AS an illus
tration of this n story is told of a search
for man who had committed crime.
The project of n neighborng town
watching for the fugitive saw a peasant
approaching.
''iou are from Stimlia?" he said
"No. from Kievo." was the reply.
"iou lie; I can tell from the way that
you tie your shoes you are from
Stimlia." And the project had his man.
Since its foundation Skoplje has
always been a point of commercial i'm
portance. The Romans made 1t the
capital OF Dardania and trading post
on their great highway. the Via Egnatia.
from DuraZZo to Constantinople. The
last Of the great Servian emperors,
stephan Dushan. made it his capital
and established here a great market.
The Ragusans, those enterprislng
traders of the Adriatic. maintained here
in medieval times one of their most
important trading posts of the Balkans.
The fine old caravansary where they
displayed their merchandise is still
standing. 1t had been converted by the
Turks into a prison for political Offend
ers and during my stay q priest was
that had held him chained in his cell
for five years.
with peace and quiet restored the
Servlans think that the sphere of
Skoplje's market will be enlarged and
they are preparing for the expected in
crease In business. They are widening
many OF the streets and spreading out
the area of the market places. They are
int, Inn thA ;ptt, Ill.
ties and will build another road that
will connect 1t with Przrend and which
they expect eventually to extend
through Montenegro to the Adriatc
coast.
The old fortress browning a rocky hill
top above the town Is an evidence Of
the strategic importance of Skoplje. It
had been used by Romans, Serbs and
Turks to control the upper Nardar val
ley. 1t commands too the Katchanik
pass leading to the plains of Kassava
on the north and the passes through the
mountains from old Serva and part Of
western Bulgaria on the east.
1t was their faith in the impregna-
bility of Skoplje that made the Turks
80 sure of victory when they marched
out to meet the Servlans at Kumanovo.
"On the table whore you are writing"
said the landlord Of the hotel, 1.-THE
Turkish officers on the morning they
left Skoplje laid out their maps. There
was great fumbllng in pockets for the
different sections. No one seemed to
want anything of this immediate local
ity, but of Nlsh and of northern Servia.
one commanding officer, Pasha. pointed
to spot on the Danube and said that