SERVIA'S CAPITAL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 413, 23 January 1909, Page 12

SERVIA'S CAPITAL.

, SOME NOTES FROM. BELGRADE.'/''-'rV'' Under date November 18 a correspondent'!"-. writes from the Servian- capital to :. the '•',• "Daily Mail":—,/ '.-.'■■.'...''. Most Englishmen are familiar with the old jingle—a tour de force in its way—which, beginning:— ■-■'.■■'.

"An Austrian Army Awfully Arrayed ■: Boldly By Battery Besieged Belgrade," ■■ " works'its way resolutely through all'tho letters of the alphabet to grapple hi dubious: : strife Vith the difficulties' of A, Y,and Z. ./.,.: Belgrade, which is still not without grave apprehension of such an event as the jmgle -... describes, lies along a whalfr-backed peninsula ■' washed on one side by the Sava, on the other by the Danube. The extreme point \>f-laud : : * is occupied' by the ancient' fortress' which: frowns across the meeting of the'waters at Hungarian Semlin on the further shore." Bel- • grade, or "Bedgrad" as the inhabitants call • , it, means "Tho White City," and it is n« .' 'misnomer, for.in the hot sunlight the white"'',:, washed houses throw back a pitiless glare. The genuine Servian house consists of-but-, one story, and the '/town is largely composed " of such_ buildings, although Western influence " is'causing an increasing- number: to push higher. And-it is Western innovation mingling and clashing with- tho manners and cus- '.'■ toms of the immemorial East that gives the - city its'distinctive; note; its '• wonderful fas-v i cinationof incongruity and contrast. , ■'••' ( The electric car dashes past the prehistorio,-bullock-cart; / frock-coat rubs shoulders with sheepskin; silk hat and fez and astrakhan ", have an-equal share of the sun; women in barbaric splendour, women in the latest from , Paris or Vienna, officers the smartest of the .smart, bearded priests pass and repass in-a criss-cross of colour that 1 converts the streets ■ 'into a kaleidoscopic phantasmagoria. • This absence of half-tones, of > transition ; . stages, is-apparent everywhere..- Itextends'.. to the very seasons; Winter sets in with : little warning about November,.-and reignf : r for four bitter months. . Then one day-the "-■ sun grows suddenly hot, the rivers boil irresistibly upwards, the roof of ice. is:, Tent/ and shattered, -and the lower town become! a miniature Venice with boats plying in th« streets.. ;■ -■'■■ ;:y,,.'/,:. '.■■■-/.'•'•': Servian Children. ■"". :'-;-•; An analogous quick-change stakes'place Uthe case of childrenj; there seems to :be no /;' real ..boy and_ girl stage, :or;,at all events"..'.■ it is very brief, and • those whom you regarded almost'.as 'infants' yesterday have be- ,'- come assured little men and women to-day;.;' Perhaps the lack of/a ': and the entire absence of games/may/be:'■; responsible for this-to a certain .extent. Any-/ how, it is -certain, that neglect of/the play-.-' ; instinct compels the ,young Belgradian to/ take'to politics as- a .recreation,- and causes . him to look upon all forms of sport as child-;, ish and unworthy the dignity of-man. Tennis/ ; languishes through the summer months, and • would die outright were-it not for the.praise-.V' worthy persistence of the Diplomatic ..Corps. On the rivers one would expect, to/find plenty / of boating; the fact is, nothing of the sorb exists;, /The .Crown Prince, indeed, has.his >' motor-launch, and one solitary citizen owns a launch also. That is,the Alpha and Omega ,-''■ of the matter., . '-.'

■It is true that pleasure-sailing is cisel'y! encouraged, and it is ■inadvisable. to navigate' the waters, after snndown, the very ; time,'of course, when it is, most agreeable ■_' to do so. , On both banks watchful eyes "are on the look-out for smugglers, and.as bullets fly rather readily, ui these ,parts,it is;.well-.' not to infringe the sunset regulation. _'Sir George Bonham, a former British Minister, when out. on.the Sava-enjoying the..cool of the evening, was actually, fired'.upon, and; if the- sacrosanct person of a- ; Minister is":; not safe : what power can the averago •' citizen? '- ' .-'- -. : : - .'■'-,,.: : -;"':'. v.'- /:*.;" November is drawing'to a.'close, and. ; ttie grape-laden vines, -the -melons; the' figs';'; all' ha'v'eydisßj^ea¥e'd>: ; ' ; /rhe ground = is;; like'iron ; witb:'»>tne''frost, butstilltfres-from,snow,■ and •thefwhole" countryside is one weary,, dreary, brown, Ovor brown fields : the peasant.moves in garments the;exact colour .of the ■soil from which he 'sprang. -:'. -Mother Earth bears here: a: strong resemblance to ;■ her children, i". •'.-■;"■'■..' '■'..'.'-■ ■■■-■ .''•"\ ■":'.>■■■. : ' Trio! Hospitable Sorb, -v ■■!■;,•'.'#".'-.-'■.■' ■■'■:'■ ■ The traveller may. be surprised at manj, ■things in Belgrade, but he will travel far bisfore he meets: a people that;is: simpler or more;hospitable or'more charming than the; Serb. The Turk is gone from the town these forty; years, leaving behind sundry wide-■ eaved, tumbledown houses, and a .solitary;:: pathetic little' mosque and' minaret.' He has' also to ■ Servians the; secret of his; inimitable .cbffeOj and-moreover 'has left anindelible'.make ,; on-' the;--; psychology'.''of the : , people. '■'• ■•'■•' ;',';'.:' ..'■'■:.''.■' ';'.' ■'■ ■ Individually the Servian' is ■ sufficiently hot-' tetnpered and excitable,.but in the mass he;is: much rnore reserved- and ' undemonstrative; than even the Englishman. ; At concerts and at the theatre;thero is nest to no applause,: and there is ho ! sign jof people being carried 1 away by their feelings. Volcanoes may : be •: underneath, but there is; no surface indica-; tion of their -.existence.' -vi : . :.:

. The : Servian..goes -early.--to: bed. / : Atiien o'clock Belgrade is a city of the dead; and. electric globes burn blue over deserted streeta.;The people' are. exceedingly temperate, /ex-; : cept with regard to water,"of which .they!: consume enormous/quantities, aiid •with ap-'.' parent relish.-:: •'.■;..'■-■'-;."■'■ ■.■•"■ They '-are ' :, tlie:-"soul>vof > '-libSpita]ityj- -and.-'iit: the same; time' they--are-extremely simple, in. their tastes, and- there is no" "society" in ■ the Western sense.' :Seryia' must- easily,bear the'palm as-the most democraticStato in the. world. growing iritercoursa with ; the West' and theprcsence-'of a Corps Diplomatique, with its array of secretaries and attaches, of Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and other satellites, have begun the process of dis« integration, and the still existing belief, in the equality of all men must be replaced by some system,, which recognises class distino* .tionS. . ■' '.;. v 'v" : -'-''' ■"".'. ':;. '■:■'.'-'. • ' ; . ' A Court Ball.' ''■■■.-, Dancing is a great institution, and in the winter months there is enough -of it- and to; spare. The two Court balls are.shortly to be held, and when the lights sparkle on the assembled beauty, and chivalry, of Servia's capita) the palace ballroom presents l a. bril-.-liant spectacle. .:;>:. The King opens the ball in person. On the last occasion le took Princess/Helcne by the hand and led off with a "Koto," the national dance. The music is of that '-disquieting kind ' which compels movement. - Mme. Paschitch, ; wife of ■-. the then Premier,, joined in, ■ and. soon a long swaying lino was footing it merrily in. fashion reminiscent of the "Here wp go round of our childhood.'.King Peter' leads a very- simple and retiring life. At present his health is not of the best, and he has not been seen about. so much as usual.- Somewhat short, he hag fine eyes,: a ; keen, bird-like expression, and tho grey, grizzled look of the "old soldier. The Crown Prince, his son. is much mora frequently in evidence.' Tall and athletic, dark featured, and dark oyed,,with plenty of character in his face, he is a familiar/figure ' to every citizen of Belgrade. Almost any day of "the week. his. carraige niay ; be seen speeding along the streets behind a pair of thoroughbreds.. Alertness of look and rapidity of, action are'. two/ of his. 'most; obvious superficialj.cnaracteristics.- ■-~--.' /Armed men watch/armed men-across narrow frontiers with no friendly eyes; railways are heavy with guns and material; there' are"; comings and goings of horso and foot; and from the citadel the Servian sees the sun set beyond the great plain that stretches, dim and vast, to the horizon like an uiiuttered throat. -■'-.'.-, ■'' .->-', "■.■/■ ';;!:.•,'-