BULGARIA AND ITS WOMEN 



385 



that they dropped their correspondence 

 with Bulgarian school friends and ex- 

 pressed themselves bitterly, although, as 

 Tinka said with a shrug, "What had I to 

 do with it?" 



This antagonism of which I have 

 spoken was at the bottom of the devas- 

 tating little war that followed the war of 

 the Allies against Turkey. No one who 

 knows the so-called Allies could conceive 

 of their working together harmoniously 

 after the war with Turkey was over. 



EDUCATION AIv^ STRIDlJS 01? THIS PE^OPIvS 



Youngest among the nations of the 

 Balkan Peninsula to be freed from Turk- 

 ish domain, it being less than forty years 

 since they threw off the Turkish yoke, 

 illiteracy is less common in Bulgaria than 

 in any other country in that region. In 

 1880 only one out of ten soldiers in the 

 Bulgarian army could read and write; 

 today only one in twenty cannot. An 

 excellent system of public instruction has 

 been established, with nearly 5,000 pri- 

 mary schools, a large number of second- 

 ary schools, and the University of Sofia. 

 The amount spent for educational pur- 

 poses in 1912 was $1.20 per capita, as 

 compared with 67 cents in Servia, 50 

 cents in Greece, 40 cents in Montenegro, 

 and 20 cents in Turkey. 



The Bulgarians are mainly a peasant 

 folk, living on the land and cultivating the 

 soil. Under Turkish domination there 

 was nothing else open to them. But since 

 they obtained their freedom, in 1876, they 

 have developed along other lines also, a 

 small part of them becoming dwellers in 

 cities, soldiers, merchants, and officials. 



One keen observer of the Bulgars says 

 of them as a race: "The Bulgarian is 

 truly a son of the soil, wedded to the 

 uncompromising earth, whose very quali- 

 ties he seems to have drawn into his be- 

 ing — unequaled obstinacy and tenacity of 

 purpose, combined with the most practi- 

 cal point of view, promise great things 

 for his race. Frugal and taciturn, he has 

 none of the thoughtless cheeriness of the 

 Rumanian or the expansiveness of the 

 Serb." 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 



There are neither the idle rich nor the 

 abjectly poor in Bulgaria. The high and 



the low lead the simple life and luxuries 

 are hard to find. The men of the coun- 

 try are mainly peasants, but the women 

 nurses during the Balkan war all paid 

 tribute to their courteous and respectful 

 demeanor. Mrs. St. Clair Stohart, in her 

 "War and Women" declares that Bul- 

 garian men of all classes could give les- 

 sons to the men of most of the nations 

 of Europe in their attitude toward 

 women. 



Living is very cheap. At a hotel good 

 accommodations can be secured for $1.25 

 a day. A leg of mutton costs 20 cents in 

 the market, meat 6 cents a pound, and a 

 dozen apples may be bought for 2 cents. 

 Sofia has been called "The Little Brus- 

 sels," just as Brussels in times of peace 

 was called "The Little Paris." 



When the Bulgarian goes traveling, he 

 is always first of all sure he will not miss 

 his train. Even the tourist stopping at a 

 Sofia hotel is routed out of bed at 5 

 o'clock in the morning to catch a 7.30 

 train, and he is expected to go to the sta- 

 tion at least an hour before train time. 

 The people like to do their waiting at the 

 station, and the visitor is expected to pre- 

 fer the same leisurely manner of "taking 

 the train." 



The Bulgarian peasant, generally speak- 

 ing, leads a very primitive, but beautiful 

 and active, life. The house is of the 

 simplest, furnished lightly with mattresses 

 on the floor and rude stools and tables. 

 The mother has her spinning-whe'el and 

 sometimes her loom ; she may also help 

 her goodman in the tobacco field or the 

 onion patch. She spins and weaves for 

 her daughters the heavy cotton garments 

 that they wear, then embroiders them 

 richly in bright reds, blues, and greens, 

 and sews in bits of looking-glass and 

 beads to make them gay. She cross- 

 stitches their bright aprons and strings 

 beads for their necks. 



PEASANT COSTUMES 



A holiday in a Bulgarian village brings 

 out a wonderful array of gaudy cos- 

 tumes, straight and awkward in line, but 

 most brilliant in color decoration. The 

 women's big waists are usually empha- 

 sized by huge silver buckles, which stand 

 out almost grotesquely. When, however. 



