Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-04-19
AT THE ACROPOLIS.
A Washington Woman's Visit to
Modern Athens.


Modern Athens.
THE TROUBLES OF GETTING ASHORE AT PArRAs-
THROUGH IMMENSE cURRANr FIELDs-AMTpsr
PERFECT RUINs-IS THE DECENTRALIZATION
TALMAaE SECURED MARBLE FROM MARS HILL.
Correspondence Of TIE EVENING sraR.
CoSsTANTISoPLE. March %.
VvEE LEFT CORFU one beautiful af-
x ternoon per s. S. Scilla for Athens.
NNB or rather Patras, where we arrived
" " the next morning and underwent
j the painful operation Of embarking
for a ship does not come up to the wharf here
unless it is a merchant vessel. The captain or
some one in authority helps the boatmen, who
swarm up to the steamer and yell. push and
of course swear, but as we have not learned the
Greek or Turkish language we don't quite un-
derstand the words; STILL if looks and gesticu-
lations are counted for anything, our American
blasphemers are mild, indeed, to the express
sions of these creatures here. We staggered
down the shaky stairs at the side of the steamer
and with our luggage, which, heaven be praised,
can be taken in our own hands, and Topped in
a deep row boat, were rowed to the Patras Gus
tom house. After glance at our valises and
a grunt of disappointment that nothing contra
band was found we were allowed to proceed on
our way to the car station. As our train would
not leave for four hours we concluded to do
the city. At first we did not realize that we
had become objects of interest. Not until we
found the crowd which followed US and sur
rounded us grow larger and larger. Children
would run on ahead of US, then stop, turn
around and look at our faces as We passed by.
Patras is a strange little uphill city, an old
fertilization being the only thing of any beauty
in it, and we were glad to leave the town at II
nfp nSryht IL
along the beautiful gulf of Corinth.
The water is as blue as the bay of
Naples, and the mountains on the other side
slope down to the waters edge. The view was
one stretch. clear across Greece, of uninter-
rupted beauty.
CURRANT FIELDS.
We passed by immense fields Of what
seemed TO grape vines; indeed,
there were miles and miles of thea.
Then once in while there would be a
large field of dazzling white sand. The grape
vines are just what we supposed. only the
grapes are very tiny and called currants.
The sand plains are where the currants are
dried, and from Greece we get the finest dried
currants in the world, and these are found in
the greatest quantities and finest qualities near
Corinth.
Mt Parnassos We saw from every
where along the route-a noble old
mountain snow capped six months of the
year. and at last just the last bit Of
daylight had departed we entered Athens.
Saturday evening and Sunday seemed such a
proper day for our first in the cid bible city,
The first tolerably complete account of ancient
Athens dates from the second century OF the
Christian era, but the origin of Athens is lost in
the miss OF antiquity. Its name and arms
mean Athens or Minerva, and Minerya's head
figures on its money, post boxes, public build
ings and everywhere.
AT THE AcRoPoLIs.
OF course the thing OF, greatest Importance
in Athens is the Acropolis. The Parthenon is
the most perfect monument of ancient art, and
as we stood on the ground and looked up at
the noble pile of cream white marble we felt
that its magnifcence even ruin was soul
stirring and too beautiful for words. The whole
Acropolis stands on this hill two hundred feet
high. When one looks on these monstrous
blocks of marble and tries to realize to what a
state of perfection machinery must have at
tanned to place these arches, blocks, columns,
frleZes, at their immense heights, he feels, in
deed, that there has not been much improve
ment or advancement, in some things, since
the days of Perlcles As the visitor looks at
these huted columns, follows the delicate carv-
ing of the friezes, wonders at the remains of
the lfe-slZe statues, he could not believe that
years have passed since the marble was chiseled,
so perfect is every piece. 1t seems sacreligious
to attempt to describe these glories. No pen
can do it, and it is because men have failed to
picture the wonders in words, that we we're
totally unprepared for the superbness which
lay before, around and above US.
.r...a on MARS HILL.
We walked over to Mars Hill and stood on
its beautiful pink marble foundation, for the
whole hill is one mass of rock or marble. We
read Paul's sermon acts xvii. 22d verse to end
OF chapter) and wondered how many others
have done the same thing. We were amused
to hear that Talmage had, through our Amer-
can minister, secured a large block of the mar
BILE from Mars Hill and shipped it to America
for the corner stone of the new tabernacle in
Brooklyn. The days came and went with
great rapidity while in Athens and before we
were ready our time was up and We had to set
sail for COnstantinople. We have just arrived
and are resting from the voyage across the
Grecian Archipelago. Only the trip across the
sea of Marmora was at all pleasant to me. Sun
shine and pleasant company count for naught
when one Is sea sick.
DETAINED AT DARDANELLEs.
The Austrian steamers land we were on one)
are never allowed to pass the strait, save at
night, and then only with permission each
time. lis granted by cannon. Last night
when we arrived our cannon made ready
to fire. but it refused to go OFF. We dared not
pass thong our signals by lights had been given,
received and acknowledged. Our ship was
stopped, a hfe-boat lowered, our captain and
an officer rowed over to Turkey the explanation
made and accepted, then 10 Asia Minor, where
the same thing was done. and then they returned
to our ship. A high. signal given, a report of
a cannon heard from one shore, and then from
the other and we were sure then We could pass
on. 1t was quite exciting to those of Us who
had remained up on deck to watch the passing
through the strait, and after il was all over We
wondered what would have happened had we
gone on without the red tape permission.
lis very warm here, even more than in
Athens, and as l look out of my window over to
Stamboul feel very grateful that this is not
my nome. In DC.
THE WENDS OF THE SPREE.
A Singular People and Their Curious
Customs.