The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-11-17

ltulNCu 40 IL 10, Slilk NOllldiilo OOiliN
Of the best land In Europe. Vienna,
its industry stopped, can do little to
earn the food it needs. During the
summer of 1920 al. traffic between the
two capitals was stopped by mutual
bOycotts, anu although steamers piled
the Danube from Linz to Budapest,
no through passengers or freight were
received.
To the casual observer Budapest Is
the same proud city as of old. The
fine parliament building and the i'm
posing palace on the heights across
the river, where Admiral Horthy now
rules, seem as attractive as before the
war. The upper river Is still crowd
ed with bathers and with canoes and
rOwbOats In which charming women
and stalwart men do their best to at
tain q spacious coat OF tan. Along
Franz Josef quai the promenade adds
a lively touch Of color to the drab
scenes to which the beautiful blue
Danube has become accustomed.
At Belgrade and Below.
From Zemun, once the last Hunga-
rian port on the Danube, q short trip
between low banks brings one to Bel
grade, the capital Of the new kingdom
Of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes,
where the steamer rounds the base Of
the ancient fortress which dates back
to the time Of the Ceits, the Romans
and the Franks, and comes to It's dock
a little way up the Save, which here
enters the Danube from the south.
About four hours sail below Bel
grade the wide plains give way to
hilly country where the Transylvanian
Alps curve down toward the tumble
of mountains which extends to Monte
negro and Greece. 1t Is in this region
that the main Instructions Of the river
occur. But the most famous obstruc-
lions and the finest scenery come at
the Kazan defile and the "Iron Gates"
where the river has collected q grue-
some toll.
At Rustchuk the railway traveller
from Rumania ferries across a broad
and sluggish stream to continue his
journey to Sofia and COnstantinople;
and here the banks Of the Danube are
lined with huge barges. Below Stills
tria the river urv to the north and
passes through Rumanian territory
throughout the rest Of It's length. At
Cerna Voda 1t Is crossed by one Of the
longest railway bridges In the world,
the last Of the many bridges which
cross the stream, some Of which are
now destroyed.
This is one Of the most remarkable
examples Of It's kind Of engineering
and was built at q cost of 100000.
1t has SO spans, one Of which, over the
main stream, is a cantilever r1ore than
600 feet long. The bridge has a height
Of 120 feet above low water, and the
piers go down to bed rock 100 feet be-
low the water surface, making them
nearly one-half as high as the Wash.
ington monument.
BraiIa and the Delta.
Braila, 125 miles from the three
main mouths of the Danube, is q port
for the grain and produce of a rich
agricultural region. In prewhr days
its wharves teemed with life and it's
huge grain elevators bulged with the
rich products Of Wallachia and Do
brudja, which has seen great develop
ment since the Russians gave 1t TO
Rumania instead Of the more valuable
and fertile tracts of Bessarabia. From
Galatz to the sea the Danube was long
under the control Of an international
commission whose duty 1t was to tame
the river and the many nationalities
to whom the river Is highway or bar
rier according to the tides of human
passion and national life.
Sixty miles from the sea begins the
delta Of the Danube. The Kilia, the
most northern of the branches into
which the river divides. carries more
than two-thirds of the volume Of It's
water to the sea, but Is not deep
enough for the more important traffic,
which moves by the more direct
branch through the middle Of the delta
to Sulina. Here a natural channel Of
even to eleven feet has been In
creased to twenty, and long bikes
stretch out to sea and carry of TIA
silt. Although 1t discharges less than
Z per cent Of the Danube's waters, the
Sulina channel carries a shipping
which multiplied tenfold between 1861
and 1902. 1t was steadily increasing
with a promise f future prosperity
when the World war interfered.