The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1916-11-10


TonERNANS HOUSE ON
TWlCE have the Russians threat
enpd invasion Of that vast eX-
panSc Of golden command, the
~ great hungarian plain, y
again il was impcriled by the R"r
mauians. Drbrcc2en, Arad, TemeSIN..
Szrgrdin-the important CenterS of the
pIuin-all lie in the path of the armies
that might sweep down upon Buda-
pest from the CurputhiAns and from
the ROumanian frontier. writes j. NJ.
Dodington in Country Life. Debrec-
zen, that most Oriental-lOoking OF
towns, with its tlat-roofed houses in
closing Il large, open square across
which the Women stroll, veiled in east
ern fashion. DebrecZen, which has
known battles and SiegeS innumerable,
which was famous rs the seat of HOS
suth's Short-llved parliament; Arad, a
rather c~uinm0uplace town on the
banks of the River MaroS, celebrated
throughout Hungary for its delicious
fish of varied species; T~enesvar, the
capital of the BanAt, essentially mod
ern, noisy with electric cars and bril-
liant with electric lights; SZegedin,
even more stirring and up-to-date than
TpmeSvur, with manufactures of car
pets and f~ricZeS, Of ropes and sail
cloth, which render it prosperous ex-
ceedingly.
But all, ancient or modern, are cen
terS Of the enormous grain trade which
was growing greater every day, as far
spreading stretches of plain We're be-
ing cleared Of scrub, vast Swamps
drained and turned into ripping corn
fields. Roads were being made. rail.
ways projected, in every direction.
There is an end to such ACTIVITIES
now. One begins to hope that the Hor-
tobagy plain, the happy huntins-ground
Of sportsmen, native and foreign, Will
be left in all its Wild charm, safe for
many years to come, from civilizations
prosaic hand.
Where Vast Herds Roam.
The great Hortobagy plain lies west
Of DebrecZen and extends to the Tisza
river. It is q vast, unCultiyated prai-
RE land over which roam countless
herds of cattle, horses, sheep, swine,
watched over by brown-skinned guard
ianS whose rank varies according to
their 0vocati0nS and is most tenacious
~ kept. Thus that most exalted of
RriSt0cratS, the cSikoS, guardian of
that noblest of animals, the horse, dis
tainS all intercourse with him who
stands upon the next rung of the so.
cial ladder, the gulyas or cattleman,
In his turn the gulyas regards with the
utmost contempt the shepherd-juhasz
while the juhasz turns with scorn
from that member of the lowest OF
castles, the kondas or SWineherd.
The work of all consists in day anG
night watching over their animals, but
more especially in the case of the
g~Ulyas-the watering of the herds is
their hardest task. The drawing W
of bucketfuls Of water from deep-sunk
wells for thousands of heads of cattle
is no light job. 1t would be an impos
Hible one during the scorching heat OF
GUNNER, were it not for the small
lakes and ponds which dot the
plain, and also for the Hortobagy riv
er, which flows through it from north
to south and whose waters never fail
There is another fairly big river, thu
Arkos, but it dries up during the no
season. In its waters there are, natur
ally, found none Of the fish which arr
so abundant in the Hortobagy.
The csikos of the great plain ar
very fine horsemen. In the War of In
dependence, 1S4S-49, they Joined tn,
bands Of the dreaded Alexander Roz
50 and pursued the fleeing Austrians
throwing their lassoes from @ grea
distance and tearing the foe from hi
saddle, TO lie at their mercy on tn
ground.
Paradise for sportsmen.
The reedy margins of the Hortobag
river abound with snipe and mallar(
but it is among the creeks and lake
lets of the northern part of the grea
plain, when the autumn rains caus
them to overflow and unite in shallo,
seas, that the sportsman finds his ma,
adise. There, during October and NJ
vember, the wild geese are found in mi
lions. The sodden meadows are co,
cred by their innumerable flocks. q
II by s%nowdrifts. When they rise the
obscure the sunlight, and the nois
OF their wings is like the rush of
mighty whirlwind. In bitches, in oil
aug by the rivers brink, defiant {
rheumatic pangs, the gunner hide
ana tremendous is the toll he takes.