The Raymer enterprise., 1921-11-24

tions on the great estates, farming for
the absentee landlords.
An interesting class the Rumanian
peasants form, with their peculiar Gus.
toms. their striking superstitions, their
primitive ways Of looking at things In
general.
No Race Suicide Hsrs.
The evil Of race suicide has never
invaded rural Rumania. It ID regarded
as worthy Of honor to be the head Of
a numerous family. As In all lands
where many Of the people are more or
less illiterate, there is q high death
rate, though the fact that the bottle.
fed baby Is almost unknown In peasant
Rumanla tends to overcome the high
infant mortality that would otherwise
result.
MANY hands make light work" Il 4
proverb Of the Rumanian peasant, Of.
ten put into practice. Almost. every
night there ID nelghborhood gather.
Ing like the old-fashioned apple-cuttins
or apple-butter boiling In early Amer.
lean rural history. r
One-third Of the area Of the country
toward the north and west IL inhabited
by seml-civilized shepherds. Up In the
Carpathians In summer and down In
the sheltered valleys In winter they
lead their Aocks, sleeping In the open
with them and despisins any other
shelter than that which primitive ma.
ture and the starry sky afford. They
seldom speak; indeed, their solitary
lives leave them little opportunity for
conversation.
But II there Is primitive simplicity
In Rumanian peasant life, there Is ul-
tra forrnality In the polite circles Of
Bucharest, the national capital. "rhe
Paris Of the East" its Inhabitants
proudly call their city, and In the char
acter Of Its architecture, the ways Of
Its people, the prices In force at its
hotels, 1t justly deserves the title 1t
has vauntingly assumed.
Bucharest 4 Lively City.
This near.eastern metropolis IL
about equal In size to our own na-
tional capital, and yet 1t has twenty
times as many restaurants and cafes,
ten times as many streets lights and
twice as many theaters. It Is re-
garded as the most expensive place In
the world for the well-to-do and the
cheapest for the poor. Prices at the
Hotel du Boulevard are higher than In
New York or London, and travellers
who have visited Monte Carlos lead.
ing hotels and then journeyed to
Bucharest have found Its rates from
ID per cent to 25 per cent higher than
those obtaining In the hostelries Of
Monaco.
But II their prices are high, their
service and their food leaves nothing
to be desired. The cuisine Of the lead
ing hotels and private homes II French,
and money Is no consideration -qual.
ity Ii paramount. Some Of the finest
restaurants east Of Paris are In Bucha-
rest. and the night life, with Its pas
sionate. pulsating gypsy music, Ito
sparkling wine, its beautiful women,
its scintillating jewels, Its handsome
men. Is as gay and alluring a. any.
thing the world has to offer.
As to clothes, everybody who pre-
tends to dress at all dresses In the
mode Of Paris and the gowns Of the
elite are as up-to-the-minute as those
to be seen on the Champs Elysees.
Gambling flourishes openly and high
stakes are the rule rather than the
exception. Many Of the players own
farms as big as an American county
and their incomes are proportionately
large.
Surrounded on every side by the
Slavic sea-the deep ocean of Russia,
the bay Of Serbia and the gulf Of Bul.
garia--wh0 can say whether In future
centuries the attriti0n Of the Slavic
tide will wear away the Rumanian
shore, or whether the great war viii
have fixed political boundaries thst
will be as firm as the geographic
boundaries themselvesf