The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-08-16
THE CANAL OF. .coRINTH..


|. The opening of the Corinth canal is an
even: OF com merclal Importance. This
l. work is only four miles long, but it has.
been nearly twenty years In course Of.
construction and has cost something like
twelve million dollars. it having been
found necessary:t0 curt through granite
ridge. 2S5 feet. high. over two thousand.
wears have passed SINCE the canal was
trst planned. but the. work made little
progress until our. time. .The old Corin.
lhiQns anticipated CAPTAIN Eads with n
silprailroad across the lsthmus, on which
the largest vessels Of commerce and of war
were moved on rollers from the Gulf OF
Gorinth TO the Cuff Of Egina: :: -. =. !. :
( The new. canal will en- able steamers.
from Btndisi: to AleXandria.to save some
eight hours. and 1T will. revive the ancient
cnmmerce. between Western Greece and
THE Islands, 1t Will not makemuch differ
.enceto the general trade of the Meduer-
ranean:; that will continue as heretofore.
10 steer a course south of the IlacQnian.
.c&pes, butit will be: a great.help TO local
trade. The Gulf of Corinth, or Lepanlo,
as it. is sometimes called, has been a GU!
de sac; il will now. become a link in the.
chain between Ilaly and Turkey and Asia
Minor. -. -: :
j. Perhaps: the chief interest aroused BY
tine. resurrection of Corinth Will be derived.
from lis antiquities: No city in Greece:
has a more famous record. Here lived
Jason and ,Medea; n re the Argo. was
built. here Pegasus: and Bellerophon,
pranced On:land and scared into air; here
The: sons of Hercules: reigned, and here
Arion rode on dolphin and charmed the
fish with. his, tuneful:ditties. Corinth was.
+ = cient when history began. Like Eng.
land she was the mother Of colopies some
of which. grew. richer than the: mother.
country. 1t was Corinth which piaD TED
Greek power a Syracuse; all through the
sizes of Greece settlements av6wed a
CnHntHian. origin and used Gorinthian.
cUinage. In the days. before roads began
the STATE wliich. commanded tiie.sea was
maker Of the world. and often in Greek
history The fleets OF Corinth. ruied the
waves. 80. j.. .... - $3.50. -
They were. leyel-headed people: these
Corinthians They made. their. city a
great .entrep0t.of trade before AntiOch.Or
Alexandria. =: It was the E0ndop Of the.
fourth ana third centuries before Christ.
Merchants from all countries brought their
wares there for sale. and they met well
come. which thecfrowniDG and jealous pee
Pic Of Carthage. refused to .b6st0w on
stran gers II was: ever the policy of:
Corinthians 1t was that of Ven ee:in.its
heyday-to make their city agreeable. No
where in the world of that day was so
much money lavisned on pleasure. No
Where Gid dissipation and luxury flourish.
so pi6fusely. The finest stature n.the city:
was erected to Lais. But the Corinthians
were thrifty. They charged.high uTices for
their entertainments, whence The old. Latin
proVerb that a man must have along
purse TO 90 TO >Corinth.- On: the. top of the
hills which lo6keddpwn on the town-the,
Acrocoripthus and. the Oneion-were pala-
tial sorts. The Visitor could sweep with
his eye. the bay. tfecked = it'll white sails on
the one side, and on the other, across an
arm of the stormy -EIean. the first Of The
lovely isles OF Greece aud distant SalamiS.
Corinth shared the fate Of ali. these old
Greek cties-now up. now down. The,
Romans destroyed it when hey invaded
Greece Julius Caesar. rebuilt it,. Afaric
sacked It. Il was restored by the Turks
+ When Venice spread her sway over the
Eevant SHE took the place and held it'll
sire was expelled. by. the Turks. In their
.udhHN-i J. - cha ue u ~ ;bfetCe" esldDleueu
her independence. Since then it has been
a small dirty Greek village. which travel
ers seldom take lie trou Die to visit, es-
.RerlalIy as the inhabitants enjoy the repu-
.tation Of being the mosteXpert .thievesin
europe. Ii is possible that the canal may
attract a larger population, but as place.
81: pleasure and reyel and delishtits race
is pro badly run - :. =
,+Ene future Of Greece itself.is. a problem.
The country is barren and rocky. with
few. fertile spots. A century ago few
Greeks ceu'd read and write; now Sc per
cent Of the.males have received some edu-
cation. though the women are as ignorant
as ever. -. -. -. -. !: