ROUMANIA, THE PIVOTAL STATE 



387 



primary schools, added to the scope and 

 curricula of the fitting schools, and ex- 

 tended the usefulness of the technical 

 colleges. The institution that has at- 

 tracted universal sympathetic interest is 

 the school for the blind, endowed and 

 protected by the poet-queen. Elizabeth, 

 better known by her pen name, Carmen 

 Sylva. 



From the depths of grief and the dark- 

 ness of despair into which she had been 

 plunged by the death of her only child, 

 Carmen Sylva looked about to see if 

 there were any as unfortunate as herself, 

 with the intention, if such could be found, 

 to devote her time toward alleviating 

 their wretchedness. In her happy days 

 she had seen so much beauty that she 

 thought she could realize the deprivations 

 of those who could not see. so she 

 equipped her model school and found 

 some respite from her loneliness in 

 brightening the lives of those doomed to 

 dwell in unending night. She spends 

 much of her time in the school reading 

 to the pupils and helping them to see the 

 beauties of nature through her receptive 

 eyes. 



A PLEASIXG CAPITAL 



Xo description of Roumania could be 

 complete without some reference to her 

 capital. Bucharest — Bucuresci, '"the city 

 of pleasure." Baedeker, if there were one, 

 would tell you that it is a city of three 

 hundred and forty thousand people, 

 spread out over a rather monotonous 

 plain, with a superficial area almost equal- 

 ing that of Paris. 



This great expanse per capita is due 

 to the fact that the majority of the houses 

 are one-storied, and buildings of more 

 than two stories are very rare. Then, 

 too, the streets are wide, and the manv 

 boulevards, quite worthy of the name 

 even in the Parisian acceptance of the 

 term, use up a large amount of space, 

 but yield ample returns in the health and 

 beauty they create. Along these streets 

 we rind attractive shops and pretty build- 

 ings, government offices and a royal pal- 

 ace, comfortable hotels and well-equipped 

 itals. 



The larger of the two universities is 

 located here, and the capital is the center 



of art. scientific and literary activity. Its 

 amusements, copied somewhat freely 

 from those of Paris and Vienna, have 

 the patronage that one expects in a south- 

 ern city, and the spacious parks invite 

 the seeker for quiet repose. In the meet- 

 ing here of the West and the East, the 

 motor-car is vanquishing the droshky and 

 its picturesque driver. 



A MUCH BEDECKED DRIVER 



Nothing gives, for the money expend- 

 ed, such a feeling of wealth and aristoc- 

 racy as a ride in one of these victorias. 

 drawn by two fast-stepping coal-black 

 horses and driven by a bearded coach- 

 man wearing a velveteen cap and an 

 overcoat of the same material, which al- 

 most reaches his heels. Around his waist 

 he has a sash of a color to suit his great 

 coat, with the two ends trailing over the 

 seat ready for use as a signal cord by the 

 patron unable, because of linguistic lim- 

 itations, to otherwise give the order to 

 stop, turn to the right or the left. 



The other cities of Roumania are de- 

 ficient in interest and the monuments are 

 rare and commonplace. Some of the 

 river ports are centers of extensive trad- 

 ing in grain, but the business is so largely 

 in the hands of foreigners that they re- 

 tain but little that is peculiarly Rou- 

 manian. 



In the Balkan Avar of 1912 Turkey's 

 enemies were fearful that Roumania 

 would go to her assistance and. in case 

 of victory, profit by the acquisition of 

 Bulgarian territory. On the other hand. 

 the Turks knew that with Roumania 

 against them their defeat would be 

 prompt and complete. 



Roumania held aloof. 



When the Allies, dissatisfied with their 

 shares of Turkey as distributed by the 

 Ouchy Conference, fell upon one another, 

 it was again a question as to what course 

 Roumania would take. She. at an oppor- 

 tune moment, took the part of Servia and 

 Greece and received in return for a small 

 expenditure of men and money the prov- 

 ince of Silistria. 



Just now a greater conflict is raging, 

 and the aid of Roumania is eagerly 

 sought. Is she a pivotal State? If so, 

 which Way will she turn and what will 

 be her reward? 



