The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1891-06-25
MALIc GULF

and again repulsed, kept It up for two
dAyA On the second day faVorite body
Of household troops Of the king, called the
Immortals. because their ranks Of 10000
! were always maintained to the maximum,
were sent In under the personal direction
Of Xerxes. They, too, were cut to pieces
and driven back by the Greeks, who CON
stantly supplied fresh men to defend the
narrow pass.
On the second night citizen Of the 70
gion occupied by the Persians revealed to
Xerxes the secret mountain path, and q
detachment Of soldiers crossed over and at
daybreak attacked the Phocian guard with
. shower Of arrows. The guard, more
scared BY the surprising attack than
harmed BY the missiles, hed down the
mountain, and the Persians pushed on to
the rear Of Leonidas. Warning reached
the defenders Of the pass through scouts,
and opinion was divided whether TO stay
and fight It out or retreat. The Spartans
were firm, their king holding that his own
honor and that Of Sparta was at stake, and
that the pass they had been sent to defend
must not be yielded to an enemy. The
warriors Of two tribes, 700 Thespians and
100 Thebans, volunteered to remain, and
the others retired.
AA@SAAAAAAA4
iShment, promising them that thet should
sup with Pluto that night, and then
marched them outside the pass TO assail
the advance guard Of the Persians. So
furious was the onslaught that many Of
Xerxes soldiers threw themselves into the
sea to escape the deadly Grecian spears,
and the Persian officers resorted to the
lash TO keep the soldiers up to the rack.
In the heat Of the hand to hand struggle
LeonidAs was killed, and q desperate com
bat was waged around his body, until
finally the remnant Of his band drew It
back along the pass behind q cross wall
that efectually blocked up the way, and
there calmly awaited the end The Per-
sian detachment on the mountain side
quickly closed In on the rear and cut OF
all means Of escape. Then the work Of
Slaughter began. The Greeks fought to
the last like wild beasts at bay, and when
their spears, swords and dAgcors were lost
or broken, struggled with natures weap-
ons 30 long as the power remained.
The Greek dead Is placed by the his
torians Of the time at 1000, and this num-
Der includes the slaves attending the war.
riors. In the last struggle I 400 perished,
and out Of the 1000 total that took part
during the previous days Of course some
were killed. Tne PERSIAN loss Il eSblmAbeu
ct 10000, q number fairly proportional to
the circumstances, where one Greek was
fully equal 10 ten Of the assallants when II
came to close quarters.
Un the day Of the last struggle at Their
mopylas the Grecian feet retreated before
the Persian, and It required another cam
paign to arrest the career Of the mighty
invader. This was effectually done during
the year at the naval battle Of SalAmis. OF
the shores Of AStica
The defense Of the pass proved . useless
sacrifice. though possibly the result would
have besn different had the entire Greek
forces been on hand to cover the TheH
mopylD gates and the mountain path as
wen. But people who worshiped martial
VAl0P doubles found some compensation
IN baing able to hand down 10 later genera
lions the wonderful story Of the SpartAns.
Whose deeds they oommemorated on the
spot By this legend, Stranger, tell 10 the
LAcodnmoniAns that we Lie here In obedf
Oncs 10 their ordeFs."
GEORGE L KnMBR