Enterprise in Bulgaria

The Insurance coverage Firm “New York” has been doing enterprise in Bulgaria since 1887. It solely accepts life insurances. The Bulgarian department has its seat in Sofia, and is subordinate to the Normal Company of the “New York” for Europe, whose workplaces are in Paris.

The Firm “ Union ” has been represented in Sofia since 1897. Just like the “ New York,” it solely contracts life insurances.

The Sofia department is beneath the quick management of the central Administration in Paris.

The “ Phoenix ” offers completely in hearth insurances, and has businesses in Sofia and Varna.

The “ Anchor ” contracts every kind of insurances. It is likely one of the oldest insurance coverage firms in Bulgaria. Its basic company is in Sofia.

Lastly, the “ Assicurazioni Generali,” which has solely recently been established in Sofia, contracts life and hearth insurances. The Normal Company for Bulgaria is in Sofia.

SAVINGS BANKS

The creation of put up workplace financial savings banks is dne to a regulation which was handed in 1885, and has since been repealed by the regulation of 1896. The Bulgarian Authorities acts as guarantor of the financial savings banks. The sums which can be deposited within the financial savings banks differ from 1 fr. to 2,000 frs., this latter sum being the best which the banks can settle for. An exception to this rule is made in favour of charitable funds or pleasant societies, that are allowed to deposit sums as much as 5,zero frs. The sums could also be deposited both within the title of the one that pays them in, or in that of a 3rd celebration, typically a minor. Each depositor receives, freed from cost, a ebook during which the sums deposited are entered via particular stamps, that are affixed to the ebook and initialled by the accountable official. Supplied with this ebook, the tours Bulgaria depositor might apply to any put up workplace within the Principality, which is sure to pay him the required sum, coming into the disbursement on the corresponding web page.

All of the funds of the financial savings banks are deposited by the put up workplaces or by the State comptrollers within the Bulgarian Nationwide Financial institution. The Financial institution pays the financial savings banks an curiosity of four} per cent, each year, of which four per cent, goes to the depositors, whereas the remaining } p.c. is retained to cowl the bills of the administration of the financial savings banks.

No embargo could also be positioned on sums deposited with the financial savings banks.

Such are, briefly, the tendencies of the regulation which regulates the financial savings banks nowadays.

The financial savings banks have, from the very first, met with a beneficial reception on the a part of the inhabitants. With out coming into into additional particulars, we reproduce some figures from the official report of the Administration of Posts and Telegraphs for the yr 1906. This desk will, higher than all

Authorities are quartered

“The workplaces of the Authorities are quartered within the largest buildings. An outdated barrack shelters most of them. Its huge rooms have been partitioned into workplaces with a protracted hall working between them. Each workplace has a door on this hall. On a few of these doorways there are inscriptions indicating the names of the departments which abide therein. The Division of Overseas Affairs, the Division of Commerce, the Treasury Division, the Division of Agriculture and all different civilian departments are situated on this constructing.

“One other huge constructing, a former faculty, shelters all of the departments pertaining to each exercise essential to the nationwide protection. Its workplaces are organized on the identical type as these for civilian actions. Thus the Nationalist Authorities has, fittingly, differentiated its battle actions from its administrative actions. The departments that are engaged in constructive work, whose actions will safe the nation’s improvement and progress are utterly separated from these whose responsibility is to safe the nationwide protection.

Hygienic nation within the Outdated World

“The 2 most lively civilian departments, or moderately the 2 departments to which the Nationwide Authorities attaches the best significance amongst these engaged in constructive work are the Division of Public Training and the Division of Hygiene. And if as all of us listed here are completely satisfied the packages of those two departments are strictly adhered to, Anatolia will likely be in a only a few years the most effective educated and probably the most hygienic nation within the Outdated World.

“The Authorities conducts its enterprise in probably the most democratic means attainable. The totally different heads of departments are members of the Nationwide Meeting and are, subsequently, all chosen straight by the individuals. They’re delegated to handle the departments by the vote of all of the members of the Meeting. Every head of division is individually accountable to the Meeting for the nice conduct and administration of his division.

He’s detachable by the vote of the Meeting which instantly elects his successor. The heads of the departments have their personal workplaces whose doorways are all the time open to all. Because the Authorities is of the individuals and for the individuals any citizen who needs to see one in every of his deputies regarding a matter linked along with his division has the proper to return in and is obtained directly with none formalities.

However he has to attend instantly to his enterprise after which he has to depart. Effectivity is the slogan of the Nationwide Authorities and for this function all pink tape has been utterly eradicated. No loitering, no ‘manana’ coverage is indulged in. Issues that need to be accomplished, have gotten to be accomplished instantly and nobody has the proper to intervene for the pleasure of following the dictates of a set routine. Actually that is probably the most environment friendly type of authorities that I’ve ever seen.

Nicely, write to your spouse to come back right here

“You might be Ivanov?” he mentioned.

“Sure, your Excellency.”

“How do you come to be right here?”

Semyon advised him all.

“The place are you off to?”

“I can not inform you, sir.”

“Fool! What do you imply by `can not inform you`?”

“I imply what I say, your Excellency. There’s nowhere for me to go to. I have to hunt for work, sir.”

The station-master checked out him, thought a bit, and mentioned: “See right here, pal, keep right here some time on the station. You might be married, I feel. The place is your spouse?”

“Sure, your Excellency, I’m married. My spouse is at Kursk, in service with a service provider.”

“Nicely, write to your spouse to come back right here. I will provide you with a free cross for her. There’s a place as track-walker open. I’ll communicate to the Chief in your behalf.”

Swept the platform

“I shall be very grateful to you, your Excellency,” replied Semyon.
He stayed on the station, helped within the kitchen, minimize firewood, stored the yard clear, and swept the platform. In a fortnight`s time his spouse nrrived, and Semyon went on a hand-trolley to his hut. The hut was a brand new one and heat, with as a lot wooden as he needed. There was somewhat Vegetable backyard, the legacy of a former track-walker, and there Was about half a dessiatin of plowed land on both aspect of the railway embankment. Semyon was rejoiced. He started to think about doing Nome farming, of buying a cow and a horse.

He was given all essential shops a inexperienced flag, a crimson flag, lanterns, It horn, hammer, screw-wrench for the nuts, a crow-bar, spade, broom, bolts, and nails: they gave him two books of rules and a time-table of the trains. At first Semyon couldn’t sleep at night time, and realized the entire time-table by coronary heart. Two hours earlier than a practice was due he would go over his part, sit on the bench at his hut, and look and hear whether or not the rails had been trembling or the rumble of the practice may very well be heard. He even realized the rules by coronary heart, though he might solely learn by spelling out every phrase.

It was summer time; the work was not heavy; there was no snow to clear away, and the trains on that line had been rare. Semyon used to go over his verst twice a day, study and screw up nuts right here and there, maintain the mattress stage, have a look at the water-pipes, after which go residence to his personal affairs. There was just one disadvantage he at all times needed to get the inspector`s permission for the least little factor he needed to do, Semyon and his spouse had been even starting to be bored.

Byzantine historical past

Right here the Emperor embarked or disembarked when transferring in his imperial barge from one a part of town to a different by water. One of many items of statuary, representing a lion attacking a bull, bestowed upon this Marine Residence the identify Bucoleon (The Bull and Lion), below which designation it’s ceaselessly talked about in Byzantine historical past. There was enacted the tragedy of the assassination of the noble Nicephorus Phocas by John Zimisces, with the connivance of the Empress Theophano, the sufferer’s spouse; a typical occasion of the intrigues and crimes that usually dishonoured the palace of the Byzantine emperors.

The story has not too long ago been advised by the sensible pen of Mr. Frederic Harrison, and subsequently should not be repeated. However the customer to the spot can recall the occasion with startling vividness, so properly preserved is the stage on which the tragedy was acted. Instantly reverse, on the Asiatic shore, is Chalcedon, the place the conspirators joined Zimisces to proceed to the scene of their merciless work The Sea of Marmora over which, on that deadly evening, a snowstorm unfold a veil to cover the boat which bore the conspirators throughout the sleeping waters, comes as much as the very base of the palace.

From one of many palace home windows overhanging the ocean, a basket, hooked up to a rope, was let down many times to the boat, and many times drawn up, with one conspirator in it at a time Zimisces being the final till the entire band stood throughout the imperial abode.

And someplace within the vaulted constructing we nonetheless discover on the water s edge, and whose ruins appear haunted by evil ghosts, was the chamber during which the doomed emperor lay slumbering on the ground, and was rudely woke up to know all of the bitterness of ingratitude and the sharpness of a merciless demise. Geography and topography are definitely the eyes of historical past.

Holidays to Bulgaria are on you checklist with issues to do quickly. I’m from bulgaria and I can guarantee you you’d adore it right here. Holidays in winter, holidays in summer season, journey holidays, household holidays.

Bucoleon is the attractive Church erected by Justinian the Nice

To the west of the Bucoleon is the attractive Church of SS. Sergius and Bacchus, erected by Justinian the Nice; for some account of which the reader is referred to the chapters on the church buildings of town. The district extending thence to the traditional Gate of S. iEmilianus (Daoud Pasha Kapoussi) is exceptional for having been occupied by the synthetic harbours, constructed, every so often, on the southern facet of town within the curiosity of commerce, or for the usage of the imperial navy. They have been 4 in quantity, and, however the modifications of centuries, they’ve left their impress upon the bottom to a level which permits their website and contour to be clearly recognized.

 

Development of art in Turkey

But this restriction was originally placed on the use and not on the production of images: silver money coined at the time of Mohamed bears the effigy of the prophet. However, in the course of time his successors went so far beyond his teachings and his example that they altogether forbade even the creation of images. Thus the coins of all Muslim rulers were made to bear their names instead of their likeness, and for centuries Muslim artists, including the Turks, devoted their genius to creating exclusively decorative art representing writings, arabesque designs, or flowers.

It was, therefore, only as education spread among the people of all classes, it was only after even the masses began to understand the true purpose of the restriction placed on the use of reproductions of living beings, it was only about ten or fifteen years ago that Turkish artists branched out into these heretofore forbidden fields of art. Thus the delay in the development of art in Turkey is due to religious reasons. But even at that I consider it salutary; after all it is much better to have in its infancy that branch of art Iistanbul tour guide which reproduces living beings than to have religion stained by idolatry especially as the other branches of art were permitted to follow their natural development.

No one can say that the Muslims, the Orientals, have not a keen appreciation of color and design, no one can say that the restriction placed on art has atrophied their sense of beauty.” As I was finishing these remarks, my friend Emin Bey, who was to take us to Hassan Effendi, arrived and we started on our way. Emin Bey speaks perfect French. He is one of the high employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but he does not know English and told us that neither Hassan Effendi nor probably any one that we might meet at his house would speak English. So we decided that I should be the translator and I told our American friends to ask without reticence any question they might wish.

Turkish refugees in Constantinople

Hassan Efifendi lives in Stamboul not far from the Mosque of Sultan Soliman, but on a side street. So when we reached the square in the center of which has been built in recent years a monument to two “aces” of the Turkish Aerial Fleet who died on the battlefield we turned to the right and entered a narrow street. We passed under the arches of the old Roman Aqueduct, at the foot of which were built little wooden shacks covered with tin plates which had been in other days Standard Oil cans. These shacks are the temporary abode of many Turkish refugees in Constantinople, people who have been left homeless either by the war or by the numerous fires which have devastated the city in recent years.

The season of Prinkipo was at its end

In this atmosphere of suspense the last days of our stay in Prinkipo drew near. Our house in Stamboul would be ready now in about a month. I had promised my wife to take her to Erenkoy and to the Bosporus. My father wanted us to discharge our obligations towards the rest of the family. And besides he was soon going back to town himself. The season of Prinkipo was at its end. Constantinople and its surrounding are at their best in the early fall, but Prinkipo gets too cold. The bathing season was finished, the yachting season was at its end. The hotels were closing. One by one the villas were shutting their hospitable doors. The summer colony was disbanding. Prinkipo was preparing for its annual winter sleep.

We packed our bags and went to visit my aunts.

ERENKOY

Since our arrival at Constantinople my wife had been complaining that I had not shown her a “harem.” So she was very anxious to visit my aunts, in Erenkoy, when I told her that was there that she could see one, at least in the Turkish sense of the word.

Harem in Turkish means nothing less, but nothing more, than the special house or the special section of a house reserved to the ladies of the family. In the old days when the ladies did not associate with men they used to live in the main house or in a part of the house, generally the best, where they had their own sitting rooms, dining rooms, boudoirs, etc., distinct from the sitting room, dining room or den of the men of the family. When I speak of “ladies” and “men” in the plural it is well to remember it was and still is the custom in Turkey for all the members of the same family to live together under the same roof. The Turkish family is a sort of a clan.

Always many ladies in a family

So while there are always many ladies in a family, foreigners must not imagine that there are many “wives.” This is a true narrative of Turkey and the Turks as they really are, so I have to speak the truth even at the risk of shattering many legends. I am bound therefore not to fall in line with the traditions established by other writers who never fail to refer to a servant in a Turkish household as being a “slave,” and to the ladies of a Turkish family as being “wives.” The truth is that slavery was not generally practiced in Turkey even before the Civil War in America, and the “wives” referred to by most of the foreign writers either exist only in their imagination or else are the sisters, sisters-in-law, daughters or cousins of the head of the family which foreign writers innocently or purposely represent as his wives.

Near Eastern excavating

In the early days of Near Eastern excavating, mud brick walls were simply not understood and in some cases, their very existence was hardly suspected. The normal practice was to go on digging until one reached the stone foundations, or even, in the case of Assyrian public buildings, the upright stone slabs with which the lower part of the walls were reverted.

There are still pictures which have become familiar in every textbook on excavation, like those of the Hittite palace at Sakjegeuzi, where mud brick walls six feet thick have been laboriously cut away and removed, leaving only the sculptured slabs standing, which had adorned their faces.

A French excavator in Babylonia, as late as the nineteen thirties, complained of finding no walls at all: and even in the architectural records of some Greek excavations, the supposed stone walls sometimes appear too thin to have been anything but the foundations for mud brick upper structures, the remains of which were never recognized by the excavator.

German archaeologists

It was German archaeologists in Iraq at the beginning of the present century Walter Andréa, Robert Koldewey and others, working at Babylon and Ashur, who discovered and perfected the technique of wall tracing and indeed devised a routine of other specialized practices adapted to the requirements of Mesopotamian excavating.

Furthermore, they first set about training a group of Arab artisans who could attend to their manual operation. These men came at first, as in Egypt the “Qufti” artisans do, from one particular village, Sherqat, near the site of Ashur. In addition, it was from a small remnant of Sherqati workers, by then elderly men, that I myself learnt the craft of wall tracing when I first went to Iraq in 1929.

Together we taught younger men and the “guild” which we created was afterwards greatly expanded by the Iraq Antiquities Department when they began to undertake their own excavations in the late nineteen thirties. Today the Sherqati workers are still an indispensable asset to foreign expeditions, including that from the British School in Baghdad, which has recently been excavating at Nimrud.

The tools, which wall tracers use, have varied in time and still vary from country to country according to local practice. Sir Leonard Woolley, for instance, because of the circumstances under which he started excavating in Iraq at the end of the First World War, used to prefer the ordinary army entrenching tool.

The Sherqatis use two picks one a small, single pointed implement with a fine balance for tracing, and the other an ordinary double pointed pick axe for heavier work. In Anatolia, packmen use one of these for preliminary work, a flat shovel for scraping and a long rigid knife for finer work.

On the present occasion

He was eager in the pursuit of pleasure; of a lively humour, good natured, and of a frank disposition : a, man might trust his life with him, but not his seeret. He was fond of war, not for the attainment of any specific object, but for its oavii sake. He prayed that Servia might be engaged in war so long as he lived, but that after his death she might enjoy peace. He did not like to command soldiers brought from the plough ; but preferred Momkes, Bckjares, and practised warriors.

He quarrelled with his wife because she refused to treat his Momkes as well as she treated him: “All of them,” he said, “ were his brothers.” No one was better fitted for bold enterprises and hazardous excursions; and he was best pleased when employed in the mountains: for defending the defiles of which he was admirably qualified. On the present occasion, however, lie was not entrusted with a duty of this nature; but was called upon to show, whether his qualifications were such as would enable him to defend fortified places and entrenched positions on the frontier.

Wcliko’s brother, Milutin, was the first to encounter the Turks ; who appeared near Xladowo, and attacked the peasants as they were busily engaged in carrying off their property into the mountains. Milutin dispersed the enemy; but, from inability to pursue them with his horsemen over the mountain paths, he did not succeed in recapturing all the booty and prisoners they had taken.

On hearing of this, AVeliko determined to scour the country whilst awaiting the enemy. He drove many thousand head of cattle into his citadel of Xegotin, and ventured as far as the gates of Widdin ; where lie was seen, on his Arabian steed, in the plain before the fortress. Xear Bukowtscha he put to flight the first Turkish troops which appeared on the Timok.

But when the Turks arrived, 18,000 strong, he was obliged to shut himself up in Xegotin. It was then his delight to make sallies, day after day, and night after night; and thus to keep the besiegers constantly in a state of alarm. Compared with the losses which he caused them, his own were trivial: though he lost better soldiers, and each diminution of his numbers could not but be seriously felt. At last both parties were obliged to solicit aid   the Turks, from the Grand Vizier; and AVeliko, from Kara George and the Senate.

Bulgaria not like Egypt

I do not gather that even in the worst of times the peasantry were cruelly over-taxed. Bulgaria is not a country like Egypt, where, given a good Nile, the crops are so rich as to make the poorest fellah worth robbing. By hard work and extreme thrift the Bulgarian peasants contrived to earn a living. They had no motive to do more. What little they saved after they had fed and housed themselves was hoarded. Large estates were almost unknown.

The peasant had his two or three acres to till; and on their produce he lived in comparative comfort, secured from oppression by his own real or apparent lack of means. When the Russian troops entered Bulgaria as liberators, the common soldiers were astonished to find that the peasants they had come to deliver from Ottoman tyranny were apparently far better off than the ordinary Muscovite Moujik.

Thus the misgovernment to which Bulgaria was subjected at the hands of Turkey did not produce quite as evil effects as might have been expected to result from a vicious system of administration. As an instance of how the system worked, I may repeat a story told me by one of the most eminent personal tours bulgaria of Bulgarian statesmen as coming within his own experience. Some thirty years ago there was a small tradesman at Gabrovo who carried on the business of a tanner, and had laid by a little money.

After the fashion of his countrymen, he sent his son to Paris to learn how business was carried on in more civilized countries. After a few years the lad returned home, having acquired knowledge of various new processes in the art of tanning, and persuaded his father to purchase modern machinery and start a tannery after the French model.

Tanner was ruined

The scheme was carried out; the factory went on swimmingly, and threatened to drive local competition out of the field. Within a few weeks, however, of the new works being opened the premises were burnt down by Mussulmen in the tannery trade. The tanner was ruined, but had no possibility of obtaining redress. He knew perfectly well who had committed the offence; but the offenders were Mussulmen, and it was idle for him, being himself a Christian, to sue them before a Mussulman tribunal. In consequence he gave up the business and abandoned all idea of introducing improvements into his own trade.

Honduras at a glance Latin America

As stunning as it is troubled, Honduras is one of Latin America’s most off-the-beaten-path destinations, whose relative obscurity belies a wealth of natural and historical wonders. From the breathtaking underwater world at Roatan to the awe-inspiring Mayan ruins of Copan, and the wildlife brimming virgin cloud forests of the Cusuco National Park among countless others, Honduras is a powerhouse of new discoveries, unknown wonders, and a culture that’s utterly captivating.

Honduras has been fighting on hand and knees to rid itself of its bad reputation, yet a government initiative to clean up the streets (and its status) is proving quite fruitful. Just a few months ago, CNN named Honduras a top travel destination for 2016, confirming what countless others have known for years: if you’re looking for a unique, diverse, welcoming, and unforgettable new place for your next Latina America tour, you really couldn’t choose a better place than Honduras.

Then read on Honduras – All you Need to Know Before You Go and discover one of the most fascinating countries in all of Latin America.

Honduras at a glance

A country of 8.8 million people, Honduras is in Central America and borders Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador. Spanish is the official language yet English is widely spoken. Comprising a mix of ethnic groups, Honduras’ population is primarily Christian.

Over 60% of the people in Honduras live below the poverty line, with many having no access to fresh drinking water, basic healthcare and an education. Plagued by years of civil unrest and violence, this is a country hell bent on waking from its economically and socially catastrophic slumber.

With a government intent on maximising safety for visitors, and a tourism board zealously showing off the country’s unending treasures, Honduras is seeing a rise in tourist numbers and swiftly emerging as Latin America’s most priceless gem. For Hondurans, this really couldn’t come at a better time.

Locals are friendly and welcoming and take the safety of visitors very seriously. In many ways, this can easily feel like the safest country you’ve ever visited, and that’s precisely what your hosts want to convey. Safety precautions should be adopted, (as is usually the case when one travels) but do note that Honduras receives hundreds of thousands of tourists a year, 99% of whom go home with only happy memories and not a single sign of trouble.

Crime in Honduras is localized

There’s no denying that Honduras’ crime rate is nothing but shocking, but it helps to learn that much of it is centred on gangs and drug wars. Honduras has been plagued by political instability, internal turmoil, and abject poverty for decades. The resulting high crime rate is certainly nothing unique, unfortunately, yet much like other hot spots around the world, a great majority of trouble is not aimed specifically at tourists. Moreover, the less desirable areas are located in very remote regions of the country where police presence is virtually nil. As a tourist, your safety risks are infinitely mitigated simply by visiting the most popular areas. Obviously, this is where all the best attractions are!

Pasture land and woodland

The communes hold their lands, which are not of very large extent, under a different tenure. Each commune owns a certain amount of pasture land and woodland, which is held in perpetuity, and for which no rent is paid either in cash or kind. Every member of the commune has the right of grazing his cattle on the parish pasture-grounds, and of cutting fuel from the parish woods. As the population increases, and as land becomes more valuable, the commune tenure will probably have to be altered. For the present, the system works fairly well, and is popular with the country.

Caisses Agricoles

The condition of the peasantry has also been improved by the establishment of the Caisses Agricoles, which owe their origin to Turkish rule, and which have been largely developed under the recent administration. When poor Midhat Pasha—a sort of Oriental Hamlet, born in an evil hour for himself, to try and set right a world that was out of joint — lived at Rustschuk, as Governor- General of the vilayet of the Danube, one of his many measures of reform was the establishment in Bulgaria of Mutual Assurance Associations for the development of local industries.

The land-owners in each district were compelled to contribute a certain sum, calculated in proportion to the amount of the tithe at which they were assessed, into a common fund. This fund was placed under the control of a certain number of the leading inhabitants of each locality, who were partly elected and partly nominated by the administration. The funds so raised were employed in making advances to the farmers within the district, who required advances for the improvement of their lands. The advances were made on personal security.

As the administrators had to deal with funds to which they themselves were large subscribers, and as they were necessarily well acquainted with the pecuniary position of any borrowers who applied for advances, there was little risk of the funds of the Caisses being imprudently invested. When Bulgaria was declared independent, the native Government found these institutions in working order, and has since largely increased their number. There are now not far from a hundred of these Caisses to be found in the country, possessing an aggregate capital of ^600,000, and having power to borrow loans from the National Bank.

None of these institutions have ever actually failed to meet their liabilities, though naturally enough several of them have invested portions of their funds unwisely, have made bad debts, and have thereby diminished their available resources. Still, on the whole, they have done good work, they have enabled farmers in many instances to tide over bad times without resorting to the native usurers, who charge exorbitant rates of interest, and they have acquired the confidence of the general public As a proof of this, I may mention that the Sobranje has recently passed a law authorizing the guardians of children under age to invest the trust funds at their disposal in the Caisses Agricoles.