After this committee of fourteen is duly elected a meeting is soon called. It takes several months to consider the problem. Every player must sign a contract to carry out his part to the best of his ability. Offenders are punished with great severity. Married women are barred from the prominent parts. It is said that more than one hundred rehearsals are held before the opening day.
The receipts for a season are enormous. The sale of post cards and souvenirs greatly add to the sum. It is not surprising that these people are often accused for running the play for the money there is in it. But the leading characters only receive a few hundred dollars for the season's work. The church receives a large amount. The theater building and upkeep represents a fortune. To care for the thousands who attend, the town must have a good water supply, an up-to-date sanitary system, and many things that would be uncalled for in an ordinary town. Located as it is away in the mountains, it is very difficult to have the things that are necessary in the way of improvements.
The people of Oberammergau are a humble, hard-working people. Their main business is wood carving and they are experts in this work. Without the Passion Play season the demand for their product would not be so great. As is said above these people are very religious. They have a very expensive church or two. On a peak of one of the highest mountains in the vicinity is a gigantic cross. This is kept polished and when the sun shines upon it the sight is very beautiful. Many journey to the top of this mountain and the view richly repays one for the difficult climb.
CHAPTER XIV
The Country Where the War Started—Servia
It was a Servian lad who started the war, or rather the fire was all ready to start and he lit the match. Whether he was hired to do this or not as has been reported may never be known as he died before the investigation had been completed. Nevertheless, this deed aroused the interest of the world in a country that was almost unknown before the war.
Servia is not quite as large as the state of Indiana. The population is about double that of Indiana and the climate about the same as this state. The northern boundary is, or was at the outbreak of the war, the Danube river, on the east Bulgaria, on the south Greece, while on the west were Albania, Montenegro and Austria. She was shut away from any seaports all the years, and most of the time surrounded by enemies, the greatest of these being Austria on the west and Turkey to the east.
In natural resources Servia is one of the richest countries in Europe, being productive of soil, good climate, well watered and having large mineral wealth. The Moravia river runs across the great plain in middle Servia and is to the country much the same as the Nile is to Egypt. Corn is cultivated everywhere in the country and is perhaps the greatest crop, while wheat also is largely raised. While various fruits are widely grown the plum orchards are the most numerous. Grapes also are grown extensively. Gold, silver, copper, iron and coal are found in many parts of the country. It is interesting to know that a Belgian company has perhaps the largest anthracite coal mine in Servia. Also, there are three and one-half million acres of forests in this small country.