Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1915-06-24
MIXTURE OF RACES
Bulletin Describes DweIIers Along
the Adriatic Sea.
"JumbIe Of Almost Every Racial Gle
ment Under the sun"-strange
superstltions That Prevail
Among Them.

"A much-mixed, backward and
strangely superstitious people are
those who dwell along the western
shores of the Adriatic sea-" accord
ing to bulletin issued by the Nation
al Geographic society, which sketches
the latest folk to be brought upon the
battle frontier in their pleasant hill
and-valley homes, stretching from
Trieste to the southern tip OF Dalma-
tia. Continuing. the bulletin says:
Greek colonies and Roman NUM-
cipia; Byzantine officials and sick
Franks abandoned on the rocks of
cara by Crusaders; Italians exiled
during the centuries of strife among
their petty states or brought thither
by trade ventures; the flood of Sla-
vonian and, later, of Ottoman inva-
sion; all these are the elements of
the people living along Austria-Hun-
gary's seacoast. Franks, Bysantines,
Croats. Bosniaks, Turks, Hungarians,
Genoese, Neapolitans, Germans and,
of first Importance, Venetians have
ruled various parts of this coast at
| tone of this shore people is Slovenian,
but there is besides a tumble of al
| most every other racial element I'm
der the sun.
From Trieste, downward. the Sla-
vonians predominant. Latin writer's
noted that these Slovenian tribes
knew no form of monarchial govern
ment, but that all matters of the tribe
were dealt with by a common ma
tional council And today the indi
vidual Daimatian and Istrian is one
of the sturdiest independence. These
| Slavonians worshiped god of thun-
der, sacred groves, nymphs and genii,
! specialpowered beings of all descrip-
tons; and they still do many odd
fetish services, though more Christian
/ peoples, of more simple and abun-
dant faith, are not to be found
Vampires, diabolical ghosts,
witches. Wien and vengeful spirits
are held in great respect throughout
this country, aB1 the folklore is rich
in their doings and in the common
mortals philosophy of self-preserva-
ton in a world filled with such dis
couraging things. The Alp or night
mare is a bitter old maid, recognize
able by her garb, who sits on the
back or breast of the sleeper and tor
ments him, mayhap fatally. She can
not, for some reason or other, sit upon
the sleeper's side. and so the true
Dalmatian never thinks of sleeping
in any other way than on his side.
'The vampire pursues his peculiar
Dalmatian orgies in the guise of q
man or woman, lately dead and Of
faulty existence, and is said to be
merely a human skin filed with blood
and covered with a shroud This
creature waits at night along byways
and graveyards for his victims and
also, at times rattles the window
shutters or throws down tiles from
the roof A thorn-stick for thrust
ing the vampire through is a means
of protection found adequate through
experience, 1t is, moreover, unusual
ly dangerous to call TO a vampire.
Witches are bad weather erea
lures; their evil is unfettered only
with the storm and mist. To kill
them, one throws three grains of corn
and wax candle at the lightning be
fore the thunder sounds. Thus, they
are best killed while the storm is yet
a great way off. Wien are maids
with horses hoofs. Mostly these
Wien or wood creatures are good
and tolerant of human happiness. but
they have a fatal tendency for steal
ing handsome, newborn children. The