The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-04-28
" WELLINGTON O.. THURSDAY APRIL 49, 1881.
The Mlscortunes of Chic.

The Misfortunes Of Chic.
The Island of Chic Cor Scio) is . land
OF sorrows and acquainted with grief.
Every age in history has brought upon
Nearly 800 years before the beginning
of the Christian era the Persians mas
sacred its Greek population to punish
them for joining in that Ionian insur-
rection which led, few years later, to
the invasion of Greece by the hosts OF
Darius. More than hundred years
later the Chians were compelled, in the
Social War, to shed some of their best
blood to break away from the Athenian
confederacy a1d establish their auton-
omy. In the next 900 years the island
underwent the vicissitudes of Mace
donian, Roman and Byzatine rule.
Then, in the thirteenth century, came
the Turk with fire and sword, and its
inhabitants were once more butchered.
During the years of Italian rule in the
East, Chic several times changed own
ers, but reverted at length to its brutal
conquerors, the Ottomans. In 1922 the
Chians joined in the general revolt of
the Hellenes against their Turkish
masters. Their desperate valor and
isolated position made them a conspic-
uous mark for the exemplary vengeance
of their. cruel enemy. Kara Ali did the
work. In seven bloody days he slaugh-
tered, with such atrocities as only
Turk can invent. more than so, 900 men,
" omen and children; the remaining
O,O0O of the population were sent into
slavery in Asia Minor and ut Stamboul.
The present inhabitants of Chic are
nearly all Moslems. The ancient curse
had apparently worked itself out; at
least there was no human hand to as
sume the duty of its execution against
the Chians of to-day. But the powers
of nature, the most awful and destruc-
tive of them all, the earthquake, takes
up the work, and the city and island
again count their slain and MANNED by
thousands. The Greeks of to-day will
whisper to themselves that the impla-
cable Fates their pagan ancestors so
implicitly believed in may be still q
living, acting force. The dark god
desses have smitten the people OF the
Sultan at moment when he is puffed
up with the pride of his triumph over
the Giaours who have consented to take
away from him far less territory than they
at first demanded. The soft May skies
that looked down upon the horrid deeds
of Kara Ali titty-nine years ago have
of the victims has not cried in vain
from the blooming fields.
Chic Is part Sof tho we'll known
earthquake territory which extends
over most of the islands of the Egean
and for a considerable distance on the
adjoining mainland of Asia Minor. No
body fully understands earthquakes,
but it is certain that some parts
of the earth's surface are much
more liable to these disturbances than
others. The whole Mediterranean belt,
from Asia Minor to the Atlantic, the
West Indies, South America, particu-
larly the west coast, and California. are
subject to this unpleasant infirmity,
while the United States, exclusive of
California, the British Isles, and all the
northerly portion of the Continent of
Europe enjoy comparative immunity
from it. 1t would be impossible to con-
struct an island less fitted to withstand
the wear and tear of earthquake shocks
than Chic. The verse which commem-
crates its claim to be the birthplace of
Homer well describes it as "Scio's
rocky isle." In its western part it is
all rocks. The island greets the eve
of the mariner approaching from the
west in the guise Of a bare and rugged
chain of limestone, lifted high out of
the water. and terminating at its north
ern extremity in the still loftier peak
of Mount St. Elias. Earthquakes love
rocky soil. The shock is not only
transmitted with much greater velocity
through formation of that kind than
through loan, or earth and boulders,
but it is infinitely more destructive. In
the case of earthquakes, the Scriptural
parable does not hold good, for he
who builds upon the rocks is sure to
be crushed in the wreck and ruin of
his domicile, to be dug out next morn
ing and decently buried from the un-
damaged house OF his neighbor who
chose a sandy building lot. ..-....
Notwithstanding the disagreeable fre-
quency of destructive visitations, it is
not to be wondered at that the luxu-
rious inhabitants of the Orient love the
little island of Chic and stick to it as an
abiding place. for it is one of the love-
liest spots in the world. 1t lies Just
south of the mouth Of the Gulf of
SMYRNA, in q delightful climate, and
far less exposed than its western neigh
Dor to the "black winds" that sweep
those seas. From the main land it is
seen across strait not more than five
miles wide as q matchless gem set in
the waters of the Egean. for its east
ern shores are as charming as its west
ern are grim and desolate. The plains
and valleys that lie back of tho city oi
Chic are clothed in perpetual verdure,
not by the favor of Jupiter Pluvius, for
rains are irregular and sometimes pain
fully scanty. but by an admirable sys-
tenn of irrigation. But life in Chic is
not laborious, and its figs and wines are
fine enough to compensate for some de-
gree of toll, though the quality of its
vintage has deteriorated since the days
when Virgil sang its praises. just now
the poor Moslems who have taken to
their boats in alright are doubtless be-
wailing that pitiless Kismet has driven
them out of the Fortunate Isle, for their
life there has been one of almost un-
mixed enjoyment.-N y. Times.