Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1871-03-16
Alexandria Gazette
Modern Athens.

We I'LL know Of the Greece Of the past-the
Greece of SophocleS, OF Dcmosthcnes and Of
the pagan gods, but with the Athens and Sparta
of to-day We are not SO familiar y lookcr-on
of late in Athens has given some interesting
facts connected with this old home Of sageS,
Warriors and philosophers city OF MIN
erva, and where, III the ancient time, even the
little children spoke tam!llary OF Venus, Dan
Cupid, and the rest of the goodly company OF
Olympus. Before Navarno, this classic city,
ground down beneath the heel Of the brutal
Turk had degcncratcd into poyerty-strlcken
town ola few hundred houses. But the spirit
Lycurgus was still cxtant and time had not
altogether destroyed the glory OF t he Acropols;
And now Athens is the seat of learning and
culture again Its University has 200 stu,
dents. who are instructed by sixty accomplished
professors, mostly educated in France and
Germany, and twelve private lecturers with
four full faculties of philosophy, law, medicine.
and theology. Here also, us III other cities OF
of Greece. gynillSla and common schools
Vt arts and colleges for ladies, flourish. AS an
evidence OF the intellectual activity OF the
Athcniuns, it may be remarked that there are
twenty newspapers published iii Athens
Apart from its sacred ruins the historical
names OF many of its citizens, and the language
that is spoken, something oi the old romance
of Greece rests in the costumes that may bc
seen on the streets of Athens. Although the
people are gradually adopting the European
dress, the old Hellenic garb is much worn.
This consists Of rough hair and wool cloak
called the capotc, the red Fcz cap, cmbroidcr-
ed Jacket, white fustincllas like High land
krtlc, embroidered leggings, high-toed shoes
and pistol and tobacco pouch The llydriote
costume is also very common. 1t is worn by
the islanders chiefly, and is composed of loose
Turkish trousers and blue jacket of the same
material. Some oi,thc features OF the streets
of Athens are peculiar and interesting to the
tourist. The signs in front OF the shops arc
cttered with the strtnge characters familiar III
our colleges and schools-thc characters in
which Sappho wrote her burning songs.
Names of antiquity mark the appellaton Of the
streets. Upon the corners one reads Sopho-
cles street, HermcS street, IEoluS street. Joye
survives in the avenue named after him. and
ux-eycd Juno is not forgotten in the naming OF
a lane. The comprehensive faculty OF the
Greek language to express much IN little Is
shown in the readiness with which 1T has rrovi-
ded words for new innovation. thus i ra"-
road is Siderodromos, Il post office Iachydro-
meion a cigar store kapnopoleon
AN IMPORTANT DECISION. N.-The Supreme
Court of Pennsylvania has recently made de-
cision which should put every man on his guard
as to the manner in which he fills up printed
note or check The facts in the case were sub
stantialIy as follows: A owed B one hundred
dollars for which he gave his note. payable in
ninety days A printed blank form was used,
b filling up the blanks with the proper figures
and dates, and A signing the note when 1t had
been put in the proper shape. b subsequent
ly, without the knowledge or consent OF A.,
wrote the words, ''andlW," after the words,
''one hundred, in the body of the note, and
then sold it to c. When the note became due
A refused to ply, and plead that the insertion
of the words ''and ffy' in the note was i Tor
gerry, fact that was abundantly proven. SUIT
was brought by against a, the maker OF the
note, and although the forgery by Is Was al
mitted, G recovered Judgment against "A Tor
one hundred dollars. An appeal was taken to
the Supreme Court, and there the Judgment
WAS affirmed The Court however, said that
the Judgment ought to have been for one hun
drcd and fifty dollars, but inasmuch as the
plaintiff below took exception to the judg-
nlent rs rendered, it could not be disturbed.
At first sight this decision appears to bcmost
unjust, but this is the reasoning OF the Court as
to the necessity Of the rule laid down in order
to facilitate commercial transactions. There
was nOlll1QS Ou tIlc llcc VI liiio uo'C W Pu' WY
innocent purchaser OH his guard. In filling 1t
up a blank space had been left between the
words conc hundred and the word 'Iollars,'
and in this space the payer had written the
words and fifty" in the same ink and the same
handwriting in which the other blanks had been
filled The most skilled expert could not have
detected the forgery. AS between \ and b OF
course Is could have recovered nothing, and any
attempt to enforce his claim would in all probl-
bility have resulted in sending him to the pcni-
tentiary for forgery, but when the note was
found in the hands of an innocent party who
had purchased it for valuable consideration
the case became entirely different. There was
nothing to put him on his guard, or to raise the
there being neither difference of ink nor crowd
ing of words = BaH american.
(LrNRERI GOAI-We observe q state