The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1878-01-11
CRETAN WOMEN.
FEIy Homes Outside Made Pleasant In
tide by Model Mothers and wives.

a Cretan village is a strange looking
place. All the dwellings are alike in
ugliDess, oblong in form, with walls Of
rough stone. and fiat roofs, destitute of
parapets and chimpeSs. One or two
arches are thrown across the length OF
the cottages to support the roof, which
consists OF tenacious clay a few inches
deep, laid on pieces OF bark and rolled
flat-let antiquaries shudder-with the
drums OF marble columns. In Askypho
the heavy STOW storms which occur there
make 1t unsafe to carry up the buildings
higher than one story, ahd they certainly
have 4 most miserable exterior.
But the comfort within doors depends
at Askypho, as everywhere else, not on
the architect, but on the lady OF the
house, and the wives of Sphakia rank
high among their sex. They are
conspicuous for their beauty. Thei,
dark eyes are large and lustrous, their
features are delicately Chiseled, and
4 beneath their modest kerchiefs. Their
carriage Is graceful as the does.
But, though possessed OF uncommon
personal charms, their attention Is by no
means confined TO the toilet Every
thing which their homes contain is the
work OF their own hands TIE cloth OF
| the husbands jacket and fez of the wool
/ of the sheep he tends is dyed, spun and
woven by the hands of his faithful wife.
She it is who makes his garments from
the cotton plant which grows before the
door the bright scarf that binds his
waist is from the silkworm which feeds
upon his mulberry trees: the mat and
tapestries whose bright designs taken
from the pattern book of tradition alone,
giving his home q cheerful air, are the
work of her industrious loom, and many
more objects that / am incompetent 10
enumerate are due 10 her untiring labOrs.
1t was these same Sphakian women
whe only ten years ago were, with their
helpless childIen, hunted from mountain
to mountain, outraged and murdered.
In the cottage of nay guide, though the
owner was by no means q chief among
the people, the tsblecloth, the napkins,
the sheets, all of them homemade, were
bOrdered with Cretan lace; and pillow
case was a single piece of the same rich
material the counterpart was so gor-
geous with many colors that | did not
refrain trem expressing NY admiration
OF it. " Yes said my host, d" my wife is
of very good family, and knows the old
fashioned ways OF weaving, which her
N )ther taught her"
I no cottage itself consisted ola modern
sized room, with gallery for sleeping in,
and two very small ones, of which the
larger was the kitchen. The walls were
not even whitewashed, and the floor was
OF mud, yet the spirit that reigned there
reconciied one to all. dined with great
zest off EnglisA plates, which are priced
Il -
England, but without wine, not a drop
OF which was 10 be found in any of the
seven villages-a significant fact. The
wife waited on Us, for coniugal respect
Is strictly enforced, while even suspected
iufdelity /, punished with death. 1t is
easy to believe how such a people hate
and despise anyone, be he calmakam or
be he " milordi," who attempts to intro
duce the vices of western Europe into
their mountain retreats retGn Cor.
Landau Times