The Elk advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Elk Co., Pa.) 186?-1868, 1867-11-07
II CreISSlI EItieE,

Among the brave men who, in the
ill-fated Island of Crete. are sustaining.
single-handed, against powerful and
brutal foe the cause of civilization, there
is one whose portrait, as we hnd it to
be drawn in Greek journal, is worthy
of place besides the figures ofa HON
eric hero. Demetrius Petropoulaki is
indeed a striking proof, if one were
needed, that the ancient blood of Greece
still runs in the veins of living men,
Seventy years Of war and suffering have
left their mark upon the gigantic form
fatigue and wounds and exposure have
left visible inroads upon the iron frame.
Half patriarch, half cavalier, there is an
expression Of resignation to suffering
on his face, and look as of dying Ii
on in his half closed black eye, while
an affable smile of goodness dwells Oh
his lips, beneath his long, heavy nous.
tache, and his hands are slashed with
saber cuts, and he has been so riddled
with balls that when he speaks you can
hear every word produce painful hiss
ing in his breast. All over his martyr
ed flesh is written :he epic of his life
An unchanging genLleness, an august
serenity, exhale, as it were, from his
person. The impression he leaves up
on you is that OF the just man who, con
tent with the past and assured o! peace
with God, awaits his hour in confidence.
Chief Of powerful clan in Mama, that
small district, the home of the ancient
Spartan, which the Turks have never
been able to penetrate, Demetrius Pet
ropoulaki has remained faithful to the
manners of his ancestors, and the white
tunic and scarlet sash-the splendid
costume of Shandehers-still lend their
aid to enhance the majesty Of his per.
son. Careless cf the presence Of men,
he falls upon his knees at his wonted
hour, and prays to the God of battles,
as a patriarch might have prayed, or a
Highland Chief. BY day he journeys
on, over mountains and through val
leys, on his sorrel mule, stopping on
the way sometimes through fatigue aud
pain. At night he spreads bit Of car
pet, aud stretches himself out on it, and
thus discourses with his faithful follow
ers on the perils they have encountered,
and of the victory that is to come. He
himself never sleeps, only slumbers
rising up gently if he hears one of his
companions restlessly moving in order
TO spread over him his own sole cover
ing, and then returns to lie on the bare
ground. When the hour of battle is
come his son Leonidas heads the phal.
anx, and followed by his son George
Petropoulaki for three generations of
this heroic race are fighting there for
the freedom of Crete. The chief will
remain behind until the last pillicar is
in line, and then seated on his mule,
he rides or tranquil and fearless into
the midst of the balls, with his majestic
cry OF On, my children "Ot such
men as these, the accounts we have from
Crete make little mention, yet it is such
men as these who alone make those ac-
counts credible, for the world has new.
er witnessed spectacle Of greater en-
durance and more astounding heroisn
than is exhibited daily in the lives of
these Cretan volunteers for liberty
But history will some day do them JUS
tiae, and when that day comes, the
grand o!d Chief Peropoualki will form
the leading figure in the awful drama
which barbarism and civilization are
euacting az Edmond Desmazes says,
behind closed doors, iR,tbe blood soak
odiIslaQd of Crete.