El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-08-09
BUDAPEST RIOTS.
SUPPLANT FETE.
Scenes Present Pathetic
Contrast With Celebra-
tons Before the War.


pest scene Of anarchy and carnage in
connection with the reported ousting
Of Bella Kun and his communistic gov
ernment. presents a pathetic contrast
to the care free days Of such fetes as
that Of St Stephens before the war.
That historic celebration. when men
wore slit skirts and the women donned
20 petticoats, is described in the fol-
lowing bulletin from the National
Geographic society. based on a COM
munication from Dewitt Clinton Falls:
For who Saint Stephen was and
who he was thus honored we must go
back some 900 and odd years in Hun
garian history. from which we gather
the following information; Walk
came to the throne Of the Magyar
duchy in the year ss7. he applied for
and received the title OF apostolic king
from pope Sylvester II. and was
crowned in Budapest in the year 1000.
under the Christian name of Stephen
he did much for his countrymen 10
bring them into the established
church and founded throughout his
Kingdom churches. schools. and con-
vents His administration was a wise
one, and so firmly did be deal with the
attempted uprising Of the old Magyar
Religion party that when his death
occurred, in 1895, he left his country
entirely converted to Christianity. So
much had he done for the advance
ment OF the Christian faith among the
wild hordes OF eastern Europe, and
added to the civilization Of his sub
5ects, that he was canonized and glad
" proclaimed by the Hungarians as
their patron saint
Szfutss Hand Ampufafed.
When the saint was away. in 1885.
one Of his hands was amputated and
embalmed, and this sacred relic re-
poses in the court chapel of the royal
palace III old Buda- Adorned with
many handsome rings, II Is kept in a
crystal casket. set in a beautiful gold
en- relQuary ornaments with many
precious stones IN special shrine
behind the high altar, It remains for
so days IN every year, where II can
only be seen by the royal household
and those having special permission
On the 865th day, the one set apart 70
do honor to Saint Stephen, il IS taken
from its resting place, and with great
pomp and a most brilliant escort is
carried in a procession to the old Nat
thias church for q special memorial ]
service This Is the only time that the !
relquary is visible to the peasants ]
and the people OF the humber classes, |
and they come from all over Hungary I
on that day to do homage 10 the sa- /
cred relic, as it is carried through |
the streets
Fancy our famous traffic squad /
shutting off 55rd street, that the VOL /
dorf-Astoria might accommodate its /
extra patrons at overflow tables /
placed outside on the asphalt But IN |
Budapest this was peoples festival; |
so buses. cabs. and wagons willingly /
took another street, that the city's 1
guests might be accommodated and /
made comfortable and happy
The Peasants kTrayed.
The first thing that attracted our
attention. as we drove by the walking
crowds, was the change Of costume Of
Then all were in their working
clothes, but today they were arrayed
in all their glory. The men had re-
tanned their fiat hats, but had gener-
ally. adorned them with flying rib
hons Of the national colors-red, white
and green. The white divided-skirt-
like trousers were now ornamented
on the bottoms OF the legs with fringe.
or coarse lace, and the dark working
coats had heen laid aside. In their
place were gala ones. always colored
soft browns, reds and greenland
deliberately braided with different COL
ored cords.
The women retained the colored
head handkerchief, but they were
newer and brighter than those worn
on Saturday Their waists were gen.
orally of white or light cotton ma
teriaL sometimes gaily ornamented
with coarse coIored embroidery. II
was the skirts that were the unique
things about the costumes OF the
brightest colors, they were accordion
Plated. and stood out in the most re-
markable manner. How they accom-
plished this was a mystery to the
women Of our party, until our trusty !
guide and Interpreter had been inter-
viewed. From him il was learned that
no Nun garian peasant woman consid-
ers herself properly dressed for a gala
OCCASION unless she has On at least
20 petticoats."