The Turk and his lost provinces : Greece, Bulgaria, Servia, Bosnia . tof infirmities are also required to pay special an average forty thousand young men become ofmilitary age annually, but, as the government does notneed and cannot pay so many, about one-third of thisnumber are drawn by lot for ser\-ice, so that the actualtime spent in the army is two years instead of five asrequired by law. The reser\es, numbering about 200,000,can be called into service upon a few days notice,provided there is money in the treasury to meet theexpense. There is a military academy at Sofia atwhich of
The Turk and his lost provinces : Greece, Bulgaria, Servia, Bosnia . tof infirmities are also required to pay special an average forty thousand young men become ofmilitary age annually, but, as the government does notneed and cannot pay so many, about one-third of thisnumber are drawn by lot for ser\-ice, so that the actualtime spent in the army is two years instead of five asrequired by law. The reser\es, numbering about 200,000,can be called into service upon a few days notice,provided there is money in the treasury to meet theexpense. There is a military academy at Sofia atwhich officers are educated, and to enter that institutionand graduate with a commission in the army is thehighest ambition of every Bulgarian youth The offi-cers about town are a handsome lot of fellows, withpleasant manners, fine physique, intelligent faces andsoldierly carriage. The natives are all natural horse-men, and a squadron of Bulgarian cavalry is a worthyobject of admiration. The uniforms are similar to thoseof Germany. None but an expert could distinguish the. MILITARY CLUB AT SOFL\ THE PEOPLE OF BULGARIA 201 difference, and the garrison of Sofia must be very large,because uniformed men are so numerous in the army is kept up to a high degree of efficiencybecause trouble with Turkey is always anticipated, andmay occur at any moment. The Bulgarians have dedi-cated themselves as a nation to the emancipation oftheir neighbors and relatives in Macedonia, and areonly waiting a favorable opportunity to strike. Theirgreat difficulty is money. Their treasury is empty andtheir national credit is exhausted, but they will seizeevery opportunity that is offered for a co2ipd(^tat. Pol-itics seems to monopolize the attention of everybody,and the entire Bulgarian population is involved in aperpetual intrigue with the freedom of the Macedo-nians as its object. The native horses are small, but nervy and buffaloes of the Asiatic species are usedfor draft ani
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjecteastern, bookyear1903
