Verhovayak Lapja, 1940. július-december (23. évfolyam, 27-52. szám)

1940-08-29 / 35. szám

August 29, 1940----------------------------------------Verhovayak Lapja REMINISCENCE By Carole King j Branch 430 ------------­It was dusk. Our cottage overlooked the lake. The sun, which was setting, had left the sky a delicate rose­­painted it seemed with gold dust; the lake, very calm, rippled quietly, shining un­der the setting sun like a huge mirror. Gradually a pale moon floated in the sky, its beams glimmering mysteriously on the ebony waters of the lake. The breeze gently whispered to the trees and far above us a million stars brazenly winked at the moon. We spoke of love. The beauty of the night made us speak more slowly, causing our voices to quiver with tenderness. Someone asked if one could stay in love for years and years in succes­sion. We disagreed, argued pro and con, discussed cases, set limitations, gave examples until an old gentle­man who, until now remain­ed quiet, spoke: “I know an admirable case of love—true love— which, impossible as it may seem, was extremely happy. “Here it is— “A few years ago I made a trip to Tahiti. For over a month I roamed this won­derful island with the queer­est sensation that I was somehow at the end of the world. I lived only on the islanders’ hospitality, sleep­ing and eating where my extended hand was wel­comed. “Late one evening I came upon a little house, set by itself at the bottom of an isolated valley. Around the cottage grew hollyhocks of variegated hues; farther back a little garden—enough to live on in this fruitful land. “I knocked at the door. It was opened by an old woman, still pretty and neat—exceptionally so. An old man sat on a wicker chair. He rose when I en­tered, saluted and sat down without saying a word. His wife quickly turned towards me and said: “ 'Excuse him. He is deaf.’ “She spoke Spanish I was surprised, so I asked: “You are from Spain? “ ‘Yes we are from Spain, but we have lived here now for thirty years.’ “I shuddered at the thought of thirty years be­ing spent here, in the wilder­ness, isolated from the rest of the world. The lady beck­oned me to the table and we ate. When the frugal meal was over I went to sit by the door; the lady re­joined me and. tortured with the pangs of curiosity, asked: “ ‘So you, too, come from Spain?’ “Yes, I’m a wanderer. My home is where I happen to be at the moment. “ ‘Are you from Madrid?’ “No, I’m from Valencia. “She appeared excited; I felt it more than saw it. She repeated in a voice filled with emotion. “ ‘So you are from Va­lencia. Do you know people there?’ “Oh yes, nearly everyone. “ ‘The Hernando’s?’ “Yes, very well. They were good friends of mine. “ ‘And your name?’ “I told her. She looked at me wonderingly, then said: “ T remember, oh, how well. And the Balboas. Do you know them?’ “Very well, the last of the family is a general. “Then she said in a voice shaking with untold an­guish: “ ‘Yes, Paul Balboa. I knew him well, too. He is my brother.’ “I lifted my eyes at hers, aghast with surprise. Then I suddenly remembered. Long ago a great scandal had taken place among the aristocracy of Valencia. There had been a beautiful and rich young lady who had run off with a common­er. He was a very handsome man. She had seen him and fallen madly in love. They were suspected by no one. One night they disappeared together. Her people looked for her in vain but never found her; so after a few years considered her dead. And I found her, here on this island! Then that man must be he. My eyes must have asked the question. For she nodded ‘yes’ and said: “ ‘It makes no difference. He is deaf—has been for some time.’ “I noticed that she loved him still. So I asked: “Have you at least been happy? “ ‘Oh yes, very happy. I have never regretted.’ “I looked at her, surprised at the strength of real love. She had been rich, and for love had given up a life of luxury for one of worries and struggles—and. she loved him still.” Our narrator grew quiet. The question was answered. Someone said she was a fool. Another said, “What difference, she has been happy.” Slowly my friends de­parted and left me alone " Homestead, Pa. with my thoughts. Perhaps I, too, would some day know the joys of a perfect and lasting love. Who knows? Only time will tell. * * * (Editor’s Note: Obviously Ste­phen J. Rotz (Rob Storm) started something when he began to sub­mit a few issues ago his original short stories, for we now have with us a new member short story writer, Carole King, of Branch 430, Homestead, Pennsyl­vania, which, incidentally, is also the Branch to which Mr. Rotz belongs. The writing members of Branch 430, and the Branch it­self, are to be commended .for the active interest they are taking in making the English Journal a better and bigger organ of Ver­­hovay’s American branch life. We welcome Carole King as a new short story contributor, and we sincerely invite all our other talented members of the various branches to send in for publica­tion their short stories, poems, essays, book reviews, letters to the editor, etc.) ■-------------O------------­VERHOVAY SUMMER SCHOOL CLOSES By Andrew C. Sirncho Six weeks of intensive study were successfully closed Sunday, July 28, at the Verhovay Summer School Exercises. The exercises, un­der the direction of Mrs. Andrew Kovalik and Miss Jolán Ruisz, proved a reve­lation to the parents, rela­tives and friends attending, The large dance floor of the American Hungarian Home, 17th and Cuming Street, proved an ideal place for the examinations. Opening the exercises with a prayer, the students soon settled down to earnest work. A program, developed for this occasion, consisted of songs, poems, plays and speeches. Drawing the big gest hand was the story from the text book, enacting the “Papa Frog”, teaching the little frogs to sing. Prizes for star pupils were awarded to Frank Fabian and Elizabeth Kurovszky, of the Junior Class. Miss Ruisz said that all her pupils were stars. To Frank Fabian, pupil of Mrs. Kovalik, goes the honors for the brightest boner pulled during the regular school session. Mrs Kovalik asked her pupils to define: “A tehén legelészik.” Frank said: “The cow is pasturizing.” Closing songs were “Szó­zat” and “God Bless Amer­ica.” Pupils were treated to ice cream and pop. ECONOMIC PROGRAMME OF HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENT IN SUB-CARPATHIA Almost immediately after the reincorporation of Sub- Carpathia in the Kingdom of St. Stephen (the first King of Hungary), the Hungarian Government set to work to outline its programme for the economic and social rebuilding of this area. In summer, 1938, more than 7500 Sub-Carpathian workers found employment in the Great Hungarian Plain. These workers were then enabled to carry their earnings in kind back to their homes free of charge; the total quantity of their earnings amounted to 24,000 quintals of com, 240 truck loads. In addition to agricultural labour, the Government also provided for employment in road building and restoration work. The length of the newly built, modem roads is no less than 50 kilometres, another 11 km. have been newly paved, that involving a cost of 4.5 million pengő. The village of Drugetháza (district of Perecsény) has received a new wooden bridge 85 meters long; another bridge of 55 meters has been built in the village of Lozánka and one in Bustyaháza, over the river Talabor. Next to the latter bridge may be seen the old one, which collapsed before it was completed, that being evidently the “perfection” with which the Czech régime performed its work in this area. (It will probably be remembered that the Czechs “saved” costs allotted for public works in Sub-Carpathia.) The following records will show the work which the Government has so far done in the field of railroad building. A new railway line 13 km. long has been built between Taracköz and Aknaszlatina. The number of workers employed here was 2,600. Two new railway stations have also been built, and the earth excavated during the operations amounted to 380,000 cubic meters. — The Hungarian Post Office has also done very exten­sive work in Sub-Carpathia. Old and neglected post offices have been repaired, the head offices at Perecsény, Nagyberezna and Szolyva rebuilt, whilst a completely new and modern telegraph office has been built at Huszt. New telegraph and postal services have been organized in various parts of Sub-Carpathia. The villages of Horlyó and Sóslak have received new post offices. The old post office staff has been retained, sp that no complaint or grievance has been voiced by any of the employees; the years spent in the service of the Czech régime have been accepted in full, so that many of the retained of­ficials are now in a more advantageous situation than some of the original employees of the Hungarian Post Office. The modernization of the equipment of the post office of Ungvár is to cost the Hungarian Government half a million pengő; the work is now in progress. In the Tarac valley the building of a new large water power station is now in progress; a dam is being built over a length of 13 km., at a cost of over 30 million pengő. Many hundred workers are already working in the Tarac valley, and probably 2500 workers will find per­manent employment here for at least five years. After the completion of the dam in the Tarac valley the irri­gation of nearly 250,000 yokes of land will be made pos­sible, and the inhabitants of the Técső district will find a permanent living here. Further operations for the build­ing of smaller dams have also been started in the valley of the Talabor and at Nagyság. The building of the water power station between Neviczke and Ungvár, under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture, is nearing its completion. New military barracks are being built in various parts of Sub-Carpathia, at a cost of 5 million pengő. In addition the cultural and social requirements of the population of Sub-Carpathia are being served by the building of new “health homes,” children’s homes and social homes. The most modem “health home” has been built at Perecsény. Children’s homes have been built at Nagyberezna, Ublya, Uccás, Szobránc, Perecseny-Po­­tásnya, Bercsényiíalva, and Antalócz. The development of Sub-Carpathia’s tourist traffic is an important problem, not only of the Hungarian Government, but of all tourist agencies and other factors in Hungary. The work done by the Hungarian Tourist Bureau would deserve a detailed description. The city of Budapest is having a sanatorium with a hundred beds built at Kőrösmező, at a cost of 200,000 pengő. A tourists’ home, which also serves as a place of exhi­bition for works of peasant art, lias been built at Volóc, at an approximate cost of 20,000 pengő. Work in the forests — the principal occupation of the Sub-Carpathian population — is also in progress every-

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