Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 253, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 October 1911 — ODD COLONY IN ASIA MINOR [ARTICLE]

ODD COLONY IN ASIA MINOR

Language and Customs of 350 Year* Ago Still Preserved by Self-Exiled Russian Cossacks.

Constantinople.—One of .those curious Instances of quaint historical survival, of which many occur in Asia Minor, has lately come before official Russian attention In Constantinople. It Is the case of a colony of about 3,000 Russian Cossacks settled in Anatolia, Asia Minor, 'pje forefathers of these Cossacks left Russia for voluntary exile 350 years ego. Their departure was occasioned by an attempt to enroll their names for census purposes in writing. According to the creed of these peasants, the writing down of their names Jeopardises their chance for salvation for it Invalves the curse of Antichrist, enabling him to set his seal upon them. During the while cf this time the Cossacks have kept their identity absolutely intact They speak a Russian dialect bearing the'same relation to the language of the present day as does our modern English to that of Chaucer. They wear the Russian dress of three centuries ago, and even grow herbs, uncultivated elsewhere in Anatolia, to make the dishes that were the food of the mediaeval Russian. A few months ago this little band of Russian exiles found themselves suddenly faced by the same danger that threatened their ancestors in the sixteenth century. The Turkish government, having to call upon its Christian subjects for military service, demanded the enrollment of those men of the community who were of age, and again