Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1937-09-04


and the atmosphere very conviyial. tn
crowd now joins arms and dance
slowly in a circle while they chant tn
'Kolo," which details the heroic deed
OF those high in the history Of tn
Balkan nation. Most Of the dancer
carry a bottle of wine under their arm
and frequently pause TO sip 1t while
the dance goes on.
United States are also praised anc
finally the "poraitza" cake is cut ano
the ritual brought to a close, though
the dancing continues until early II
the morning.
Christmas Jan. z
More than 700 Serbian, Bulgarian
! Albanian, Montenegro, Ukrainian, Rus
sian, and Jugo Slavian residents OF
Butte celebrate their Christmas on Jan.
| z. The date is taken from the old Julian
calendar which was superseded in most
of the western world by the Gregorian
calendar in 1882.
The celebration begins on the even
ing of Jan. g. with the preparation Of
the "Badnyak" or Christmas fire made
of three logs. Masses are said in the
Serbian Orthodox church on Idaho and
Porphyry streets beginning at midnight
The first person to visit family after
the mass is known as the 'polaznik. !"
He brings a gloVefm Of wheat which
he Sprinkles on the family saying,
Truly He is Born" and sprinkles the
"polaznik" likewise with wheat. Then
the "polaznik" remains with the fam
lily the rest of the day; otherwise he
leaves after short visit.
All day, open house is held by MEM
bers of the colony. In the afternoon the
dinner is served with sucking pig as
the main course instead Of the usual
turkey. Hay forms the table cloth and
the floor of the dining room is Uttered
with straw, symbolic of the manger in
which Christ was born. A single large
candle, symbolic of the Star of Bethle
hem, is the centerpiece. The head of
the family asks blessing for the men,
bers of his family and then serves por- /
lions of IL especially prepared dishes /
symbolic Of the II disciples. The feast /
ing is followed by songs and the distri- |
button of gifts
On Christmas day any member Of
the colony may go to any other member
and ask forgiveness for any injury that |
be may have done him with the aSsur-
ance that it will be given; he may also
kiss any member of the colony If he
wishes.
There were enough Germans in Butte
IN 1881 for the formation of ''Lieder-
kranz" or singing society, and notices
Of meetings were printed in the local
newspapers. The Liederkranz had go
members that year, and gave a public
concert under the direction Of Samuel
4. Speck. A. German "Turnverein" was
June 6, 1886 by Richard
rhierman. This athletic society had 1855
members in 1888.
An accurate picture Of Butte's poly
Hot population is given by the United
states census report for 1880. The
English now lead with the largest num-
,er of foreign born, Ireland IS second,
Tugoslavia third, Finland fourth, and
o on down the list of countries. Ru-
mania, with only 81 persons, is at the
cot of the list. Thirty years ago Ireland
all other groups but the
reat influx of Cornish miners has put {
hem in second place today. The peak I
Cornish immigration was in 1881. '
)uring the fall of that year long '
rticle in the Butte Miner told of how I
be tin mines of Cornwall were being '
vacuated by hundreds Of workers who G
Tere emigrating to Montana. On Oct
the paper stated: "a party Of Eng
Shmen, consisting OF five able-bodied '
Oung men arrived in Butte yesterday, b
1ming directly from the east via the
MON Pacific, and Utah and Northern v
)ads Anyone familiar with the miners =
7 Butte has noticed a comparatively q
rye proportion Of Cornishmen among s
lem"
Many Frenchmen
The Firms, the fourth largest group p
Butte, are mostly to be found on the $
asst side That they have kept their
alive custom alive this far from their
alive land is apparent from the num- a
II of Finnish baths to be found on Q
asst Broadway street.
There were many Frenchmen among I
lie early settlers, too, as Is shown by {
le names of business and professional a
en- mentioned in the newspapers Of =
lie 1905. Such names as Walton, y
'Acheul, DusSaud, Dusseau, Henault, I
adeau and Gagnon were common.
Butte'S Irish settlement is known as +
ublin gulch and is located in the
)rtheaSt section of the city near the a.
ines. An Irish newspaper published u
! article about Butte recently in which u
lie author stated that more Gaelic was
'oken in Butte than in the whole Of II
ublin. p
The Italian colony of Meaderville is p
I'll known. Thousands of visitors go Il
ERE every year for a sample Of Italian "
,oking. The genuine article is not to 3
found in the large restaurants and A
ght clubs but If one can manage an II
to a private home, he will II
It a meal that will begin with "anti- IS
iSto" and work through successive II
'urSes Of "suppa minestrono," "riSotto
ilaneSo," "galina fritata," "enciugles
olio di OLIVIA" with perhaps a little
,rgonzolo cheese on the side. Accom-