Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-02-17

by windows high. up on each ssde of
the wall, like those of stable. and
the bright sun of this part Of the
world, added to tho white wallis
makes everything as bright as out.
doors. There are galleries under the
roof at each end Of the chamber, and
1t was in the diplomatic gallery. dis
tinguished from the others by great
Serbian rug thrown over the railing,
that I sat and looked down at the
statesmen at work.
X X x *
TT was a polyglot crowd. There
were perhaps 200 members pres
ent, dressed in all sorts of costumes.
Many Of them wore the PEASANTS
homespun, a rich brown, with short
Jackets. full trousers. fitting the legs
tight below the knee and ending in
some cases with the homemade foot
gear, consisting Of leather straps
running over the foot and the ankle.
Others wore business clothes and
looked not unlike our congressman in
Washington. There were perhaps a
dozen Greek Orthodox priests, who
had black, gown-like' coats reaching
from their necks to their feet, with
wide sashes of"red sir wrapped
round their waists. The Mohammedan
members had red fez caps on their
heads, and they looked just like
Turks. I saw one with a green tur-
ban, showing he had. been Ito Mecca:
The tall Montenegrins wore blue
jackets and baggy trousers. The
speaker sat high above the members,
with a portrait of the king behind
him. and an oriental rug over his
desk, while below at the right and
left sat the cabinet ministers.
was especially interested in the
voting. which Is taken by secret bail
lot on every bill, the clerk calling the
roll. This consumed a long time, and
afterward the ballot boxes. with the
paper ballots inside them, were car
ried to the clerks desk, where they
were taken out and counted. One
representative of each Of the politi-
cal parties, making altogether some
thing less than q dozen In all, came
up and watched the tellers to see that
no cheating was done. When the
vote was declared there was. great
clapping. The speeches I heard were
in. the NSerhian tlangtage,' and the
speakers shouted and tore the. air
just as they do in democratic assem-
blies all the. world over 80. : = =. .
One Of. the bills before paF3iament
related to the building OF a new rail.
way. and l. heard the word "Ameri
kansky" again and. again In the dis
CUSTOM. One OF the. great needs of
tho country is for railways, and plans
have been made to connect Belgrade.
the capital. with the Adriatic port OF
Cattaro. Tho length Of. the trunk
line, all told. is about $50 miles, but
with 1t which will make all together
more than 1900 miles and will take
some years to complete. A conces-
sion for these roads. has been given
an American syndicate, which has en-:
gagged TO loan the new kingdom The
sum of $100,000.000 for these ant
other improvements. OF the first par,
Of the loan 100000 Of the bond.
have been sold and the, government,
here has gotten the proceeds. The
balance OF the first instailment
100000 or $1o,ooo.o0o, has yet to be
paid, and there is q halt In the work
/! owing to financial conditions and; the
difficulty Of selling the bonds at 9
fair merchantable rate in the Ameri.
can market. The road IL to be built
| under tho direction Of William. Bah.
| cock Poland, a well known American
! engineer, who Is here now. assisted
by John Hart Porter. - =.
The new railway is important to
| the country politically and economi.
cally. At present Jugoslayia has nc
! outlet by rail TO- the sea withoui
crossing some other territory. and ithf
trunk lines have all been built with
view to benefit Austria and HuhEirJ