The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1923-08-22

the Bulgars. 1t Is q solid, business
like, modern, thrifty capital, with little
Of the picturesque and artistic In its
composition, and nothing Of romance
or sentiment. 1t is matter-of- fact
Western city, paved with smooth
squared blocks of asphalt and its
streets are lined with stone and brick
and stucco buildings, of solid, simple
architecture. AS in most American
cities, these buildings were constructed
for the display of wares to the best
advantage, for obtaining the greatest
possible office floor space or the larg-
est number of living apartments rather
than for beauty or original effect. For
the complexities of luxury, the Bull
garians have no time, nor have they
learned to feel need of them.
Their capital is a comparatively new
city. Travellers who visited there be-
fore 1880 described it as a miserably
poor place, "a concourse of red-tiled
huts and of novels Of wood and plas-
ter, of narrow, crooked streets, and Of
general filth and depression" This
was the product Of Turkish misadmin
istration, which has nearly disap-
peared, the modern Sofia rising out OF
the Ottoman ruins. Sofia has $4,000
population and has been growing
steadily. 1t Is a commanding point
upon the shortest trade route between
Europe and Asia. Europe's railway
freight for the Near East and the
goods of Asia Minor, Persia and Meso-
potamia for the West pass through its
valley. The city early became mpor-
tant as trade center, and, probably,
would have developed into one of the
great cities of Europe, had not period
ical destruction, almost continual dam
gers of war, and centuries of misrule
held it back.
The city lies in the midst of a broad
plain, between the Vitosha mountains
and the main Balkan chain At the md
of almost every vista in the city one
sees these distant hill Masses and this
fringlng of mountains is the only
thing that keeps modern Sofia from
seeming entirely commonplace. Bel
grade lies 206 miles northwest Of
Sofia, while Constantinople lies 300 |
miles southeast. The valley at Sofia is
an upland plateau, LOO feet above sea
level, and near the heart of the PENN
sula, which determines the climate as
a sharply continental one. In August,
the mercury goes up to 100 degrees
Fahrenheit, and, In winter, 1t falls to
four and five degrees below zero. The
changes in the weather are often very
sudden, though the climate is healthy.
Has Many Fine Buildings.
The rebuilding of Sofia began around
,ublic buildings, electric light, an
electric street railway, and good sew
,rage and water systems. 1t possesses
he largest theater in southeastern
europe. The Bulgarian National the
tier, with competent corps of actors
md singers, and seasonal offering of
he best In opera and drama, is rev.
.lation Of the strides that have been
made In the Balkans since the Turks
we're driven back a brief generation
go. The theater Is a handsome mod
IN structure, planned with greater
Ixury of detail than most buildings In
ofia, and it cost 100000. Further
lore, Sofia has a public bath house
yhich Is one of the finest buildings Of
. kind in the world. 1t was built
yer hot mineral spring; famed since
he days of the Romans. This build.
lg, in Byzantine style, Including in its
lterior appointments all Of the most
lodern luxuries, cost the Bulgarians
100000.
Their capital city Is one of the
ocular prides Of the Woodworking,
persistent Bulgarians.
typifies to them the promise of
.eat Bulgarian future, and they. also.
ok upon it as an earnest of their
ght to a respected place among the ,
yilized nations Of the West.
The few touches that bind Sofia 10
e past come when through vista of 8
odern business Ibuildings-perhaps =
ver the tops of changing electric tram 4
Lrs-one catches glimpse of q r
ender minaret Of some mosque that
u survived the religious cataclysm I
at turned Moslem "Rumelia" INTO :
tristan Bulgaria