The Coolidge examiner., 1937-05-20


along the streets. Roumania is one
of the few countries now left ir
Europe whose peasants usually
dress in native costume.
The Roumanian peasant is lovable
Always gracious, courteous, ano
goodnatu he is Industrious, YET
somewhat inefficient. He works
hard in his fields and forests. but
always in a primitive manner, us
ing the crude tools of his forefath.
erS.
Spend summer in small cot
tage in Predeal, at the top of the
Carpathian Pass, on the boundary
line between the "Old Kingdom
and Pennsylvania. During your holi-
days you have many opportunities
to observe the ancient methods OF
work followed by the peasants.
How Peasants Wash Clothes.
You will be particularly i'm
pressed with the native manner OF
washing clothes. The laundress
builds fire in the yard beneath a
large iron pot, in which she puts
the clothes to boil. Then, in a large
wooden trough hewn from a log,
she rubs and washes the garments
with her hands, without even the
aid of a washboard. Next, she
wrings out the heavy linen with
her own hands. Backbreaking work
it is, but the clothes emerge spot
lessly white.
With an old-fashioned iron, kept
hot by a small charcoal fire in
side, she presses them. She. no
doubt, would scorn the electric
washing machines and irons so es-
sential to American housewives.
Politically, Roumania travelled to-
ward the left after the war, as have
in a degree most of the countries of
the Near East. The large landhold-
ings were appropriated and the
acres sold to the peasants on easy
terms, the result of which was to
place the pea SAINT in a more ad-
vanced position than he had ever
known.
The land was appraised on a
basis of reasonable value, and the
gentry given Roumanian bonds in
compensation for the land. When
subsequently the nation went off
the gold standard and her money
deprecated, these bonds became al
most worthless. Since 1926, however,
her currency las been among the
most stable.
In the Danube Delta country, dur
ing the spring and summer, many
camps of gypsies are found. They
carve out of wood huge water
troughs, all variety and manner of
cooking utensils, washing equip
ment, etc. With their wild animal
eyes, scraggly black locks, wretch
edly dirty, and clad in rags, gypsies
are a proof of the disillusionment
of reality.
In the Danube Delta Country.
The delta country covers a tre-
mendous area spreading between
the three branches of the Danube.
Most important of Danube chan
nels is the Sulina, which carries
most of the river traffic coming
down from far-off Germany, Aus
tria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and
CZechoslovakia.
The European Commission of the
Danube, which assures free naviga-
ton of the river, struggles constant
ly to keep the silt, washed down
from half of Europe, from clogging
up this artery to the Black sea.
On the Danube's banks are two
important ports, Galiti and Braila,
which receive vessels of ocean
draft. Principal exports are wheat,
barley, corn, lumber, and some oil.
The bird life of the delta is Won
drous beyond description. Many
rare and beautiful birds are here
for the looking. Hire at fifty cents
for the day, a black, flat-bottom row.
boat, and slip silently through the
reeds and narrow channels of he
delta. Suddenly you surprise per-
haps 200 pelicans, which, webfotted
and gross, make their getaway
quickly. You may happen on a
flock of wild swans sailing about
in quiet dignity. Among the rarer
varieties of duck is a snow-white
bird with an emerald-green head
and bill. Egrets, famingos, cormor-
ants, wild geese, many kinds of
ducks, herons, and cranes are listed
among the commoner varieties of
bird life.
Constanta, RGumania's most i'm
portant port, still bears traces of the
Turkish occupation of Dobruja prov
ince, which is reflected in its shabby
mosque and the red fezzeS of many
of its boatmen.