The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1916-01-14
Story Told BY Vladimir Midzor,
Once of Frisco, Back to
Native Land
w. G. SHEPHERD, UNITED PRESS
CORRESPONDENT.

MOnaSClr,E SerVia December 20
! by Maill When. No. % Polk street
ratified down in t;.7 san Francisco
earthquake, the newspaper plant OF
Sloboda' was destroyed and Vladimir
Midzor, the editor, was penniless. Sc
after eleven years in California he
came lack to Serv;a and-here he Is
in Monastir
There's only one interesting thing
about Vladimir Midzor and that will
come later. His talk, which have
heard this evening in little cafe
is full OF information of an, out of the
way sort.
I'm a school teacher now" he
said,, in a little country school.
get $40 month and have to pay my
own board. But school hasn't been
going anywhere in Servia fors more
than year The money was needed
for war. | had fifty-five pupils and
/ used to. teach them reading, writing,
arithmetic and sServian history.
What did you teach the girls?' ;
There Were No Girls.
There weren't any girls. Servian
country folks think girls will go
wrong if they are taught too much,
so they keep them home. Our school
hours were different from those in
San Francisco. We began school at
nine in the morning and closed at
noon. We opened it again at three
and closed at five. We had sessions
six days a week, but the children
were free on Saturday afternoons
Isn't this war terrible? | remember
how the children used to come across
the fields and down the roads with
their school books and dinner baskets,
but in all Seryia today there aren't
any children with school hooks and
the schools are sleeping places for
soldiers. $50
There must be many orphans in
Serv.a. h.
God only knows how many. Ser
via has been fighting for the last four
years, off and on. She started with
100000 men. It's safe to say that
10000 o.. them have been killed in
battle. If every man represents a
family of five persons that means
100000 orphans and 100000 widows.
The population Of cid Servia was
only 100000. That is only about
half the population of New York, but
you kill 100000 young men in New
York in the next four years and see
the hole it makes in your home and
business life.
Wasn't it a Serb who started this
war by shooting the crown prince of
Austrian"
Started World War;
eyes. it was; Gabrielle lPrinzip was
a bright young student!U He didn't
know that the shot he fired that
day would start world war.
He was too young to be exc
cuted and he's in an austrian Jail
somewhere, Pllys bets though, he
doesn't know what trouble his shot
caused. The Austrians would keep
it away from him. My nephew went
to school with Gabrielle and knew
him WE'LL He was fine, intelligent
young fellow andshe knew, as all the
intelligent young Serbs knew, that the
crown prince ofBAustria intended to
invade Servia as soon as he came into
power. Gabrielle had a good time at
Semlin, across the river from Bel
grade, for month before the assas-
sination at Sarajevo. He gave par
ties and it, came out at the trial that
he divided four thousand dollars With
pals who were to help him. He knew
what he was expected to do. The
crown prince of Au4tria didn't have a
single chance for his life that Sunday
in Sarajevo. He was a dead man as
soon as he entered the town. If one
of the conspirat?rs missed him an
otherswas bound to get him. 1t just
happened that the royal automobile
came Gabrielle's way
But Servia is invaded anyhow, is
mt it?" l asked.
Not Entirely Discouraged.
Eyes" sadly, "but not, by the crown
prince of Austria. Besides, we have
England, France and Russia on our
side" Midzor used tosbe secretary
OF one of those Slavic lodges which,
from time to time, march through the
streets OF almost every American city
carrying lettered banners no one can
read and celebrating holidays few
Americans understand. Every year
he used to go to Chicago to the con-
vention of the Slavic lodges. He was
always part of the convention pa
rade OF Slays, CZecks and other queer
Balkan people who spend most of
their time in the mines of the United
States and who mystify Americans
whenever they come to the surface
and dress UP in their Sunday clothes.
The interesting thing about Midzor
is that, little es Americans know of
Slavs, Midzor and many of his breth-
ern know a greats deal about Amer
leans.
Every Fourth CT July Midzor used
to print his paper, Sloboda, in red !.
And his Fourth CT July edition al
ways carried translation of the
American Declaration of Indepen 4
ence, in full.
In Servian, Sloboda means liberty.
M Minneapolis, Mimi, January 6.-The
rock cliff from which Mrs. Mary Frid-
ley Price is alleged to have been
thrown to her death, was today per-
sonally inspected by the, Jury. a full
panel having been secured. for the
trial of her husband, Frederick T.
Price, on the charge Of numbering
her.
III