The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1916-10-26

THE IRON GATES

- 'NN 49,
Washington, D. C.-The Iron Gates.
the last great defile of the Danube in
its course to the Black Sea and the
first point at which the Austrians
launched an offensive against their
new enemies, the Run1anians. is de-
scr1bed in the following war geography
bulletin which the National Geographic
society issued today:
Contrary to h general belief Of
readers to whom the term Iron Gates
of the Danube is familiar, this famous
defile of the chief waterway of Hun
gary, Rumania, Bulgaria and Serbia
does nos derive it's name from precipi-
tous walls Of rock through which the
waters dash in a narrow channel, as
at the Kazan Defile. but from the dan
gerous boulders that fairly litter the
river bed for a distance of nearly two
miles, beginning at the once strongly
fortified island of Ada Kaleh which
was captured by Hungary in 1878 and
is still inhabited by a picturesque col
ony of 500 Turks. Opposite this island,
on the left bank of the Danube and at
the mouth of the. inconsequential
Bachna River, which here forms the
Observation-Disclosures boundary, is the
attractive little Rumanian customs vii
lage of Veriorva on the Budapest
Bucharest railway, 237 miles west Of
the latter city.
1T was not until 1890 that work was
begun in a definite and comprehensive
manner to rid the iron gates of some
OF Its graVeSt dangers to navigation. In
that year a Hungarian engineering
company undertook the task of re-
moving nearly 100000 cubic yards Of
stone from the watercourse. Eight
years after the enterprise was inaugur-
ated the canal which had been hewn
from the solid rock on the Serbian side
of the rSvas Jyac rnn6y fN he fhr.nuyp
open to the steamers which ply the
Danube from Budapest to the Black
Sea. The canal was designed to provide
a year round channel ~ feet deep,
whereas the original course of the
river was not navigable for more tina
nine months out OF every ~.
The opening of the waterway was
the occasion for a great celebration in
which three monarchs participated
Emperor Francis Joseph Of Austria
Hungary, King Alexander of Serbia.
and King Carol (Charles y of Ru-
mania The festivities of the day were
somewhat marred by the discovery that
the current through the canal was SO
swift that while steamers could rush
through it in their downward journey
they could not make the trip upward,
SO that the Did river course had to be
used for westward bound traffic.
When the water is high the rocks
of the iron gates are completely sub
merged, but they are only a few feet
beneath the surface and the boiling,
churning waves present a terrifying
sight to the tinlid passenger as his
steamer fights it's way to the calmer
reaches in the vicinity of Orsova (pro-
nounced Orshova), the first town in
Hungarian territory, five miles above
the rapids and a 1O-hour journey by
boat below Belgrade. the peace times
capital of Serbia.
Instead of the gloomy gorge which
most travellers expect to find, the banks
on each side Of the iron gates present
a beautiful picture Of gently slipping
nils, beautifully wooded. In the early
summer these woods are a fairyland Of
flowers and the winds are fairly
Weighted with the fragrance Of wild
blossoms in countless variety, while a
short distance from the river he
huntsman finds deer, wild boar. pear
and other games in abundance. En-
HANGING the charm of the scene are he
songs of myriad birds which make their
home in the forests.
AS the river progresses eastward
into Rumania the wooded hills disap-
pear and are succeeded by barren sand
ridges"