Evening star., 1915-05-18
STRENGTH OF BULGARIA
DUE TO|TS WOMANHOOD
Miss II. D. Jenkins Contrasts Its
Girls With Others Of the
Balkans. }.


the last forty years OF troubled exist
ence has compelled the admiration of
unlocking nations. is owing to this ma
,tion's sturdy womanhood. 10 explained
for the National Geographic Society by
Hester Donaldson jenkins, an American
educator in tho Balkans. in a monograph
upon Bulgaria and Its Women" Con-
trasting the Bulgarian girls with tho
other girls OF the Balkans. Miss Jen-
kins says:
Among tho oriental girls with whom
I lived in my nine years residence in
the near east. mono interested me more
than the Bulgarians. They are perhaps
the least oriental of the eight or more
nationalities to be found in the Con-
stantinople College. of which I was q
professor. They are fairer and bright
er in coloring than the Armenians.
Greeks or Persians. rather tailed and
larger on an average. and have far
more energy and less lsnguor than the
Turk"
Have an Outdoor Quality.
The Bulgarian girls, the writer con-
tinues, distinguished themselves from
the others by a certain wholesome. out
of-door quality. a sanity which marked
them sharply from the fanciful. SEN
timental and weaker-nerved girls of
some OF the other nationalities. Their
greater sturdiness was sometimes ex-
pressed boisterously. and Miss jenkins
found the Bulgarian hoyden was much
more common than the Turkish hoy
den. OF the Bulgar girls physical love-
Illness, she says:
Bulgarian girls incline to roundness
n
having round. full faces. ripe, rosy
mouths and dimples. This effect Is
heightened by the fashion OF wearing
the hair in braids wound about the
head. One sees plenty OF dark hair In
Bulgaria, but one also looks with pleas
ure on warm brown tints. chestnut
tresses and occasionally auburn heads
One Of the most beautiful girls ever
saw was a Bulgarian. with q glorious
mass of copper-colored waves, q clear
pale skin. handsomely set gray eyes. .
delicate mouth and small white teeth,
and the height and carriage OF q prin.
cess
Bright Cheeks Pleasant Change
THE bright cheeks that SO many of
the Bulgarians have are a pleasant
change from the dark or pale skins Of
the Armenians and Greeks. Their eyes
are generally less large and languor-
Gus than oriental eyes. looking you
sauarely in the face. with more frank
ness and less seduction"
Bulgarian girls are bright dressers.
The village holidays bring out q wonder
full array Of gaudy costumes. straight and
awkward in line, but brilliant In color and
decoration, the writer tells The women's
big waists are usually emphasized by
huge silver buckles. When. however. q
girl is young and pretty. her abundant
AL 1x,l<w w1,A
threads or ribbons. with often a flower
in her ear. her bright color. heightened
by the gay embroideries. and her slender
figure, which the straightness OF her dreas
cannot spoil. make her an attractive
vision The pleasures Of the girls Miss
Jenkins describes:
Not Without Amusements.
"A girl in a Bulgarian village is not
without her amusements As in the Bible
times, all tho water for a village must be
drawn from one or two wells or springs,
and these watering places or fountains
are the scene OF much sociability. Hither
come all the youths and maidens of the
village to loiter. There Is coquetting and
courting about the fountain and home
gatherings in the evenings. Marriages
spring from mutual attraction and choice.
rather than the arrangement Of families.
as do the Armenian and Turkish alliances.
There are husking bees and quilting
bees where the young people meet. but
the most popular form of social enter
tainment is the sedanka. Here assemble
the young men and women of the village
and adjoining farms, grouped about an
open fire, singing solos and choruses. The
Bulgarian folk dances are danced in a
row or circle, the leader generally wav-
ing bright handkerchief and turning
and twisting about his line of followers.
like a mild game Of snap the whip II
suggests health and abounding spirits
and good fellowship, without the sensu-
ality that SO often marks the oriental
dance.
Occasionally the sedanka ends in a
dramatic fashion. Some brawny fellow
who has been counting his Darka
siduously will seize her in his arms and
carry her to his home. The next day
this marriage by capture is given legal
and religious sanction by the blessing OF
the orthodox priest. 1 once asked Zara-
fnka what would happen If two men
wanted the same girl. She replied simply:
Tho stronger would get her."