BM 



ROULETTK 



lit H MANIA 



-nil (supposing him toliet upon a single number] 

 as the chances are 37 to 1 against him, he ought to 

 receive :<7 times his stake (besides the stake) when 

 he does win, whereas he only receives 35 times that 

 amount, a manifest advantage in favour of the bank 

 in the pn>|H>rtinn of 37 to 35. See Professor .1. S. 

 Bond, The Problem* of Roulette and Trtnte et 

 QiHtranie (New York, 1889). 



It on mania, a kingdom in the south-east of 

 Kurnpe, situated between '2*2 29' and 29 42' E. long, 

 and between 43 37' and 48 13' N. lat Its general 

 boundaries are on the east and south the riven) 

 I 'null and Danube (with the exception of the 

 Dobmdja, a province south of the latter river at 

 its embouchures), and on the west and north the 

 Car|mtliian Mountains, along whose heights the 

 Uiundary line runs. The kingdom presents the 

 form of an irregular blunted crescent, some writers 

 ' impairing it to a sausage. Its average length is 

 aUuit 358 and ite breadth about 188 miles; its 

 approximate area is 49,250 sq. in., and its popula- 

 tion (1893) was 5,417,200, indodiax 900,000 Oymiefi. 

 Of these 4i millions belong to the Greek Church 

 itlie national religion), and the remainder are 

 Protestants, Jews, &c. There are lielieved to lie 

 about 4,000,000 of Roumanians outside the Rou- 

 manian kingdom in Hungary and Transylvania, 

 linkowina, Bessarabia and adjoining Russian 

 provinces, Servia and Bulgaria. 



The general configuration of the surface of Ron- 

 mania is an irregular inclined plane, sloping down 

 from the Carpathian Mountains to the northern 

 bank of the I >aiml>e, and it is traversed by numer- 

 ous watercourses (many of which are dry in 

 summer), taking their rise in the mountains and 

 falling into the great river, which render the 

 country well adapted for every kind of agricul- 

 tural industry. Ron mania is divided, roughly 

 speaking, into the two provinces of \Vallachia and 

 Moldavia, the first bordering on the Danulie, the 

 second on the Pruth. These were formerly distinct 

 principalities, were then united as Mo'ldo-\Val- 

 lachia, and finally incorporated as an independent 

 kingdom miller Charles I. The capital of Rou- 

 raania is Bucharest in Wallachia, about 30 miles 

 from the Danulie; and the chief town of Moldavia 

 is .lassy, not far from the river Pruth. The other 

 towns of any note in Kon mania are the seaports 

 of Galatz and I brail (or Braila) at the mouth of 

 the IMnulie, Craiova (Kraiova), Botoshani, Ploiesti 

 ( I'lojeschti), PiU'sti,and the ancient capital Cnrtea 

 d'. \rdges. The last named is famous for its beauti- 

 ful cathedral, built of a grayish- white limestone 

 resembling alabaster, in the Byzantine order of 

 architecture, with a profusion of Moorish or Arab- 

 esque ornamentation. 



The most noteworthy peaks of the Carpathians 

 ri-e from 3000 to 9000 feet above the sea level, 

 the highest two being Caiaiuian and Verful, from 

 which a distant view of the Balkans, in Bulgaria, 

 is obtainable in clear went her. Near the foot of 

 .man, at the junction of three valleys, and 

 -niToiinded by lovely wooded slopes, nestles the 

 charming Mimmer-resort of the court and upper 

 la -si-.., Sinaia. Here the king and queen occupied 

 1111 old monastery until a lieautifiil palace was built 

 in the Italian style, where the court spends a con- 

 iddermMe |>ortion of the summer. Besides the palace 

 there are many handsome private residences, as well 

 as a public garden, casino (not a gaming-table), 

 and two or three good hotels. 



The principal industries of Roumania are agri- 

 Mtltart, salt-mining, and petroleum raising and 

 distillation. The principal Halt-mines are at 

 Praliova, near Campina. in tli' Wallachian Car- 

 pathians, and in Ocna in Moldavia. Thev are 

 worked by convicts, and produce a fine btafah- 

 gray rock-salt Petroleum wells are also worked 



near Campina, as well as elsewhere, and there are 

 refineries at Tirgovistca, Ploiesti, Ac, The chief 

 products of agriculture are maize and cereal-, 

 which an- largely e\|>ortcd, and amongst the fruits 

 of the country gourds, plums, ]>eachcs, walnut-, 

 apples, pears, and grapes are conspicuous and 

 plentiful. 



The sylvan scenery of the Carpathians is very 

 lovely, and either there or in the plains are to be 

 found the oak, elm, lieech, and, less frcmiently. the 

 maple, sycamore, mountain-ash, lime, bone-obi 

 nut, and acacia. The usual flora of the sub- 

 ttopical and temperate zones flourish luxuriantly, 

 and at Herestreu, near Bucharest, then- is an 

 cellent agricultural and sylviciilttiral college. The 

 manufacturing industrial of the country are still in 

 their infancy, and are greatly handicapped hv the 

 cheap productions of Germany and Austria, They 

 include flour and saw milling, match-making, anil 

 jietroleum-distillation, to which have been added 

 [through an act passed in 1887 for encouraging 

 Roumanian industries) tanning, boot and shoe 

 making, and cement manufacture. Notwithstand- 

 ing the large importation of manufactured articles 

 of various Kinds from Austria, Germany, France, 

 and Great Britain, the peasantry are mainly 

 clothed in garments made ny themselves of home 

 spun, woven, and dyed fabrics, ami they possess 

 such taste and skill in the manufacture and orna- 

 mentation of cloth, gauze, and muslin, and in the 

 trimming of costumes, that their work finds a ready 

 market in the best establishments in the capital. 



The most remarkable feature in the agricultural 

 system of Roumaniu, is its peasant proprietary, 

 which was created about the year 1864. Before 

 that year the whole of the land of the country I 

 practically held by the boyards or inferior nobles, 

 who were frequently alwentees, or by the state, for 

 the peasants merely owned small patches of land 

 contiguous to their huts or hovels, which w 

 and are still frequently semi -subterranean. The 

 peasantry had been robbed of their land dining 

 long ages of feudal oppression and foreign conquest, 

 but when the government became democratic it 

 was determined to restore a portion of it (almut 

 one-third) to its original owners at very moderate 

 prices to be fixed by the state. In the first instance 

 the government advanced the purchase-money, 

 creating a loan for the purpose. The greater port ion 

 of the debt was paid oil by the peasant proprietors 

 by the year 1881, and an act was passed to prevent 

 the alienation of embarrassed estates which would 

 otherwise have fallen into the hands of usurers. 

 The result was that in 1880 there existed in Wal- 

 lachia and Moldavia 406,893 holdings, averaging 

 10-6 acres each, and the great change has added 

 materially to the prosperity of the country and its 

 thrifty peasantry. 



The government of Roumania is a liereditary 

 limited monarchy, and the constitution provides 

 for an irresponsible king, who must In-long to the 

 Orthodox Greek Church ; a council of ministers ; a 

 senate and a chamber of deputies. The ineml>- 

 of both houses are indirectly chosen mainly by 

 'colleges' of voters; but the large towns elect 

 directly. Senators are elected for eight years, one- 

 half retiring every four years. Members of the 

 lower house sit for four years, but cither chamber 

 may be dissolve.! separately. The income of a 

 -enator must lie at least 376 per annum. Oi 

 the HMSt important political institutions in \ ,_ ,' 

 Hoiimania is largely concerned is the ' Dannim,..'' 

 Commission' (see DAKT7BE). whose headquarters 

 ite at (ialatz. Then- is a British representative 

 on the Commission. This is rendered necessary by 

 the great preponderance of British trade ; for wldlst 

 the total nnmlicr of vessels which cleared from the 

 Danube at Sulina in 1897 was 1324, with a tonnage 



