The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1930-09-05

VIE gala day of the year IN Buda-
pest, Hungary, is August 20,
i Saint Stephens Day, when the
embalmed hand Of the cOuntrys
patron saint is carried with. much
pomp through the streets in jeweled
reliquary to the old Matthias church.
In these days of the rapid modern
iZing of the more travelled countries
of Europe, the old-fashioned festivals,
religious fetes, national costumes and
customs are fast disappearing, and
there remain no more novel and en-
pertaining sights than those surround
ing the ancient fete of Saint Stephen
of Hungary.
For who Saint Stephen was and
why he was thus honored we must go
back some nine hundred and odd years
| in Hungarian history, from which
we gather the following information:
Walk came to the throne of the Magyar
duchy in the year 997. He applied for
and received the title of Apostolic
King from Pope Sylvester II, and was
crowned in Budapest in the year 1000,
under the Christian name of Stephen.
He did much for his cOuntrymen to
! bring them into the established church,
and founded throughout his kingdom
churches, schools and converts. His
administration was a wise one, and
so firmly did he deal with the attempt
ed uprising of the 'Old Magyar re-
ligion" party that when his death oc
Cured, in 1895, he left his country
entirely converted to Christianity. SO
much had he done for the advance
ment of the Christian faith among
the wild hOrdeS of eastern Europe, and
added to the civilization of his sub
jects, that he was canOniZed, and glad
ly proclaimed by the Hungarians as
their patron saint.
Not to know Budapest is to have
missed one of the lOveliest of Euro
pean cities. 1t has its own distinctive
stateliness that reflects the cultural
Towering of a race whose kingdom has
been enthroned on the Danube for
thousand years. AS certain American
metropolitan quarters, such as Little
Italy" or Little Germany" reflect
their mother countries in miniature,
so Budapest's topography reflects on
small scale the lineaments of what,
as a result of the war, is literally
Little Hungary"
Buda and Pest.
Ancient Buda, on the Danube'S
right bank, rears aloft on rocky crests
that represent the foothills of Hun
gary's mountains, while on the other
bank modern Pest stretches away in
levels that prelude Hungary's plains.
Buda, with its splendid palace, SYM
bolizes Hungary's long succession Of
rulers, reaching from Stephen the
Saint, of 1000 A. D., down to the lat
ter-day reigns of Maria Theresa and
Franz Josef. Pests parliament houses,
memorable in their river-set majesty,
symbolic the early won liberties of a
people whose forefathers' rights were
established almost contemporaneously
with England's winning of Magma
Charta.
Above all, Budapest is a city of
beautiful vistas. Ones admiration is
divided between its stately public
buildings and the carefully appor-
toned squares, parks, and boulevards
that lend to the picture an archi-
tectural airiness, a spaciousness I'M
defaced by an industrialism whose
chimneys loom in adjacent suburbs.
Few cities over the million mark,
with as many as 1900 factory work
ers, can boast, like Budapest, of an
unindustrialized aspect, of an island
pleasance lying in midriver at its
doors, Of delightful riverside prom
enades, where one lounges or lunches
and where motor cars are strictly
taboo. And in all this one senses an
old civilization which, in the face of
postwar changes, still clings to the
graces of life.
The people of Budapest love pleas
ure and for miles along the river
there are bathing places where young
and old mass on the sands or paddle
about in graceful canoes. Across from
Pest rise rounded hills dotted with
small villages and summer villas from
which one has lovely views of the
teeming city, the wide plain and the
winding river.
Certain postwar changes reveal
with what ingenuity Hungary has met
her reconstruction problem. "How
many crowns for dollar?" you may
ask a Budapest foreign-exchange
clerk. He will reply, 'I'll give you
the rate in pengos." You may be IA
miliar with most European currencies
and have literary acquaintance with
doubloons, ducats, and moidores; but
what, in the name Of coins ancient
and modern, you ask, is pengo?
Krone Is Now Pengo.
The answer, as suggested by the
words tinkling sound, is Money that
rings like gold" When postwar Hun
gary's currency crashed, the phrase
Hungarian krone" (crown) became
synonym of worthlessness, and so,
along with her financial reconstruc-
ton under the auspices Of the League
Of Nations, national coin-naming
competition was inauSurated. AS