New Britain herald., 1925-04-24
NAPOLEON'S SUITS
 WORN BY SOLDIERS
Uniform of His Bodyguard Seen
 q in Belgrade

Washington, D. c. April 24.-The oft-told story of a conservative city which mistook letter carriers in their new gray uniforms for Con- federate soldiers was outdone in Belgrade recently when a coterie of Crotians marched into Belgrade wearing the uniforms of Napoleon's bodyguard. ..,
 "The visitors were the town guard of varasd, a community 62 miles northeast of Agram," says bulletin from the Washington, D. C., head quarters of the National Geographic society. "The town has been proud of It's guard of Burghers for many centuries. Napoleon, when he passed through Varasd, was 50 struck by their appearance that he bestowed upon them the privilege of wearing the uniforms of the officers of his personal escort.
 Delegation Visits King
 Even the Austrians. the delega- ton explained, had not interfered with this privilege but now some efficiency bureau of the new Yugo- slav government objected to such a small town having its own guard and had ordered the guard, uniforms and all, abolished. So the Burghers put on their resplendent regalia and went up to see King Alexander about it.
 Dispatches tell of the happy ending-how the King restored their rights and presented to each man a silver cigarette case.
 And the grateful Burghers went home to region where customs, and homes, and traces of history far back of Napoleon's time, survive.
 "The Croatian landscape, to be located on an up-to-date map as northwest Yugoslavia, still discloses watch towers with their wooden clappers and beacon lghts-the frontier radio alarm of the days when the Turks were always con- ing. One still sees in rural regions ruins of the great communal apartments of the Middle Ages houses where the state bedroom was set aside for House Father elected each year, and where ramb- ling tiers of rooms were added as children grew up and married. "These house communities are remnants of the military frontier civilization--a civilization that grew out of the area, nearly as extensive as that of Massachusetts, which was set aside in the sixteenth cenaury, reorganized by Maria Theresa, and survived. in a modified form. until 1873. .....-... ..-..
 Where Uslxoks Came From "The military frontier may have originated with the Uskoks, who figure both in Serbian and Croatian history. The Uskoks. or refugees were driven by the Turks from Bos- mia and Herzegovina and, after vari- ous movements, established them selves at Zengg, along the coast of Croatia. Emperor Ferdinand offered them 8 recompense to stay there and aid in holding back the Moslems.
 "Various communities of this kind were subsidized by the government on condition that every man be- tween IS years and 60 should be on call at any time for military duties. As in early American communities which feared Indian raids each of the groups built sturdy stockades. Their lands were held and cultivated in common, and their production was distributed equally among all families. Many of the large com munal houses had common kitchen, serving several hundred persons. It was outside these houses that torches were placed on < high poles so that the news of