The Lands of the Tamed Turk; or, the Balkan States of to-day: A narrative of travel through Servia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Dalmatia and the recently acquired Austrian provinces of Bosnia and the Herzegovina; with observations of the peoples, their races, creeds, institutions and politics, and of the geographical, historical and commercial aspects of the several countries — John Shaqi
The Lands of the Tamed Turk; or, the Balkan States of to-day: A narrative of travel through Servia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Dalmatia and the recently acquired Austrian provinces of Bosnia and the Herzegovina; with observations of the peoples, their races, creeds, institutions and politics, and of the geographical, historical and commercial aspects of the several countriesJaekel, Blair
History
The Lands of the Tamed Turk; or, the Balkan States of to-day: A narrative of travel through Servia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Dalmatia and the recently acquired Austrian provinces of Bosnia and the Herzegovina; with observations of the peoples, their races, creeds, institutions and politics, and of the geographical, historical and commercial aspects of the several countries
Jaekel, Blair
Balkan Peninsula
Under cover of the blackness of the night of Friday, June twelfth, two
roughly hewn coffins were carried into the _konak_, and in them were
placed the mutilated remains of Alexander and Draga. No care whatever
was even taken to clothe the bodies properly. While the people of
Belgrade still slept and dreamed of the events of to-morrow the hearse
was driven, slowly, out through the rear gate of the palace grounds,
over the cobbled streets, up to the weather-beaten door of the little
chapel of the Obrenovitch family, which stands in the old cemetery of
St. Mark, back of the city. Graves had been prepared hurriedly under
the board floor of the chapel and, after chanted benedictions had been
uttered by two priests—the only mourners—the bodies of the chief
victims of the bloodiest national tragedy of modern times were lowered
reverently to their final resting-place.
Story has it that the rambler roses, which cover thickly the fence in
front of the palace grounds, had bloomed white until the summer of
1903, but that the spilled blood of the royal couple had changed their
hue to red. Of course this is a consoling little piece of fiction,
circulated by the friends of the Obrenovitch dynasty; but one thing is
agreed upon by all, that the roses never bloomed in such profusion or
with such gorgeous colouring as they did that year.
[Illustration: THE BALL-ROOM OF THE NEW PALACE, BELGRADE.]
While strolling by the palace grounds to-day you would scarcely believe
that only a few years ago the _konak_ of Alexander and Draga stood upon
the very spot where now a bandstand, festooned with electric bulbs,
shelters the musicians as they play for the royal family, while the
street in front hums with the chatter of gay promenaders. You will see
the same red rambler roses, forming a brilliant screen to the beautiful
garden in the background. Perhaps you can, through the eye of your
imagination, see the very spot upon which fell the distorted remains of
royalty on that memorable tenth of June.
* * * * *
Notwithstanding the fact that the untimely death of the last
Obrenovitch put an end to the family contentions, a number of dastardly
crimes are perpetrated each year in Belgrade by the constituents of the
two rival houses. The latest Servian outrage to be hawked before the
world was the murder in prison of the brothers Novakovics on September
28, 1907, because of their too zealous efforts to bring to the bar of
Justice the real murderers of King Alexander.
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