The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-05-27
Montenegro: David to the Turkish
fEs J Goliath

before the World War, has been
thought dead, her Independent ex-
istence merged in the Kingdom OF
ne Serbs. Greats and Slovenes. BuI
the ghost of the tiny never-con-
ouered country refuses to be la1a,
and has been walking" at emo
! lately. adding to the troubles OF
| Europe.s diplomats. The country
is the subject of the following bull
letin from the Washington, ~ y,
headquarters of the National e
graphic Society.
They Did Not Pass
Montenegro, then smaller than
| Delaware, and sometimes with no
more than S,bGe fighting men with
in its borders, is the n patch OF
land in the broad expanse OF n
! Balkan peninsula that kept itself
free from Turkish conquest during
the five and. a. half centuries since
the Turks crossed the Hellespont-
The regions that are Bulgaria,
! Greece; Serbia and Albania, n
after another fell before the excel
lent Turkish fighting organiza-
tons, and settled down for hum
dreds of years under a condition
little better than slavery to Mos
lem masters: Montenegro remained
practically. a Christian island in
sea Of Mohammedanism. Only
on its western border. was it IN
contact during this long period
with other Christian territory, q
narrow. strip of the Adriatic coast
controlled by. Venice.
and because, in spite Of its
seeming insignifcance, it was the
one region to defy the Turks. it
early became. the cherished dream
of all Turkish leaders to bring the
'upstart Montenegrins' under their
yoke to ~annihilate them. The re-
sulting series, of well authenticated
facts that makes up Montenegro
historSrwould not make good hc-
ton; it seems too improbable. Time
and time, again the Turks fitted
out tremendous armies that might
almost t:be compared to the yast
horde that xerxes threw against
Greece, and marched them against
the little handful Of Montenegrins
lin theiri mountains. And each. time
sometimes. quickly and some
times after painful retreats1the
mountaiaeers sent them Keeling
back with almost unbelievable
losses-.4J In enc period of twelve
years between 1924 and 1885 the
records tshow4 that So battles were
fought resulting in So victories oy-
er the Turks,
Fought From Rocks.
Usually the larger Turkish
armies. penetrated some distance.
into Montenegro. But without
having learned from former ex-
perienees they usually found them
selves sooner or later in some
rock-hemmed valley Of the end
less Montenegro hills. Then every
rock gave up its straight-shooting
moureaineer. who fired until has
am. unition gave out and sthen,
with his comrades, fell on the re-
main 1g1s Turks and slaughtered
the. with his saber. In a number
OF sach. battles the toll of life was
1--we ntS Turks for every Mentene-
grin. Three! times Cetinje, the cap
Hal, was pverrun by Turkish
orces;s but the Montenegrins re-
cirsd too the higher mountains.
az!aited9a their opportunity. and
d owe the invaders out. Such an
a mirer. Of the indomitabIe Monte
n ,rins was Gladstone when he
s,died the history Of their un-
c ,ual struggle that ne declared:
The traditions of Montenegro ex-
coed in glory those Of Marathon
and Thssmopolae and ali the war
traditions of the world
"Montenegro means black r1oun-
tain IF it were gray mountain
1.-THE nahse would be exactly descrip-
tive, for the country is a sea of
gray ridges of rock, and much OF
the area4is without growth of any
kind or even soil. Terraces of
stone have been constructed on
many of the hiiisides to hold care
fully collected soil that it may be
cultivated. There are a few val
leys that are cultivated, but these
were for the most part accessible
to the Turks and often had to be
abandoned. Montenegro was with
out a seaport until 1877 when the
late King Nicholas, then Prince,
captured Antivaria and Dulcigno
from. the Turks. The excellent har-
Dor Of Cattaro. which the Monte
negrins have always felt to be their,
natural. gateway to the was
controlled first by Venice and was
later taken by powerful Austria.
SUGGESTIONS From Uncle to Nephew
"Montenegro's rulers; have con-
stituted a unique phase. of the
country,s life. In 1916 the prince
abdicated, gave his Office to the
ranking bishop of the Greek
church in the country and sailed
away. The ruler, whose title was
Nladika, was. at once prince, bish-
op, Judge, legislator and com
mander-in-chief. The Office was
hereditary, but. since the bishop
could not marry, the inheritance
was from uncle to nephew. This
odd arrangement continued until
the middle of the nineteenth cen
tury With a long line of what
Americans might be tempted to call
fighting parsons as rulers. The
inevitable romance broke it up.
YounglDanilo, who fell heir to the
complex Office. OF Eladika, was in