The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1868-05-15
THE ISLE OF CRETE AND THE
CRETASSs

INK ISLE OF CRETE AND HE
CRETANS.
The island called Crete bv the an
clients. Gambia by the moderns, is the
| largest and most beautiful of the Gre
clan Archipelago. Stretching diagonal
ly across the Mediterranean. it makes
the great south wall of the blue
| Egean."
1t is about one Hundred and sixty
miles long by nearly thirty broad. 4
range of lofty and rugged mountains
runs through the center, Astounding in
caves and grottocs. Hence perhaps the
ancient fable of the Labyrinth, in " hich
roamed the Minotaur, devouring the
tribute children" which were sent ev-
cry year, mournfully, in black sailed
ships, from Athens. In the beginning
of his dominion of Greece, the Turk,
| finding that the fire of his soldiery was
dying out in repose, devised a scheme
Internal. Every fourth year the sub
Iject Greeks were ordered to parade
their children. The Turkish inspector
selected the finest boys as soldiers.
They were torn from their parents. TAX
en- to distant homes. there circumcised.
and trained up III the Moslem faith.
Strong By nature. ignorant Of their race.
petted by their trainers, they became
were enrolled in the troops of JaniZa-
ries, and would burn their own viii
lagos, and slay their own parents, for
the glory of God and the honor of his
prophets. We speak now OF Turkish
history ia modern times.
The sea coast OF Crete Is rugged and
rock-bound. so that the island would
seem rough in character but for the ha-
10 which the half tropical light throws
over it.
Between the Inountan-spurs and
along the shores arc plains of marvel
Gus fertility. Oranges, lemons, figs, lus-
cious fruits and olive orchards spread
over the whole island. Aromatic plants
abound, and in the groves are beautiful
birds of song. The kaja-Gulbul charms
even the stolid Turks.
When Greece was the center Of cul-
ture, Crete was the spot most favorable
for human beauty and strength. Hence
the fable that the island was the cradle
of religion and of law; for there the
infant Jovc grew to be father and king
of gods and men and there Minos first
embodied natural justice in written
laws. Homer, alwas graphic and accu-
rate, called it the ''Island of the Bless
ed" The island has peculiar charms
for the tropical, the temperate and the
Dry, soft and warm upon the shores
and the plains. cool and bracing upon
the hill-sides, it is icy cold high up in
the mountains.
The shepherds who Watered their
flocks at the melting snow of Mount
Ida could see their villages, and ham
lets, and churches, scattered about in
the dark green forests of olives and wide
spreading vineyards. or further down
amid the gardens, golden with orange
and lemon. Those shepherds now stand
there armed warriors, bearing the flag
of the cross and they can see between
them and the Turkish castles upon the
coast, surmountcd by the red crescent.
and scattered over it the blasted trunks
and hlaekencd walls which mark where
grew their olive groves and stood their
! houses and their churches.
| One of the peculiar characteristics OF
| this island is its geographical position
at once its bane and its blessing, ac-
cordlng as war or peace prevailed II.
Lying in the great highway between
the West and East, it has been the war
path of nations, and been s9ourged by
passing armies.
The barbarians have several times
left the surface blasted and bare. Semi
and left as vestiges, towers, batteries
and vast fortresses, the possession OF
which enables the Turks to dominate
the whole sea coast.
! When Crusaders went to the Holy
Land, Crete felt the effects of their pres
ence. When the fiery flood was rolled
back, and the cross everywhere went
down before the crescent, Crete was one
of the last battle-tields. Commerce ut
terly died out, and pail as of death
spread over the island.
a now dawn has broken; and il
Crete is freed from Moslem sway, hei
great agricultural and commercial re-
sources will be developed, and her real
value known.-LedcenrOr Times.
| MAGNIFICENT PROGREsS.-TEe high
est summit on the route of the north
ern branch of the Pacific railroad has
been passed. Three thousand laborers
have been employed for three month:
thirty miles west of Cheyenne, over.
coming the fearful obstacles that nature
had reared. During the present month
the range of hills will be passed; thcT
ensue the Laramie Plains, where the
track can be spun along as III the Platte
Valley. Three hundred miles of tracL
has been transported across the MisSou
ri during the winter, and it is antici
pated that before the season closes car:
will be running within two hundred
miles of Salt Lake City. The Califor
mia end will be extended about ont
hundred and fifty miles this year, max
ing the total probable progress of th'
Pacific Railrod for 1868 about four hun
dred and fifty miles.
Our own great line is also sweeping
up the Smoky with gigantic strides
Already the snort of the iron horse
I may be heard within twenty-five mile
of Fort Wallace. The trade and trafii
of New and old Mexico, with goodI.
proportion of that from Colorado, Mon
taHa and the other new Territories, vii
find in the Union Pacific, z. D., the best
because the surest and most speed,
route, and the interchange of produc
lions and commodities is sure to Great
: "a commerce, the extent and value o
which it is impossible to calculate
LearenroTth Times, 18th.
RELIGION Observation-Disclosures
not duty it is necessity. You Nigh
as well talk of the duty of breathing, o
the duty of having the pulse beat, as t
talk of the duty of being religious.
is duty to breathe, to be sure, and
is duty to have the pulse beat; but "
. do not talk OF these things as being DIT
S, ties. 1t is one of the indispensable n.