The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-05-01
Hon. Charles A. Dana, in the SUM-


1t was q beautiful afternoon in May
when our ship steamed out OF the mar
bor of Marseilles. We had laid out an
interesting scheme of travel, ana we
were now beginning it's realization. we
were going through the Mediterranean
stopping at two places in Greece, thence
TO Salonica and Constantinople, ana
from there to Odessa in Russia. Frolu
there by ship the whole length OF the
Rack sen to Batoum, thence by rail
10 Tifiis and Baku on the Caspian sea,
then again by rail to Samarcand In
Turkestan, and finally back from Cen
tral Asia through European Russia,
Poland and Germany to the Atlantic
again, and so to New York, making In
ali from the commencement to the end
a. tourney of perhaps 5000 miles.
II began most pleasantly, and so 1t
continued to the close Not single
storm of any Importance, not mlshap
of any kind came to interfere with our
comfort. 1t Is true we were not able 10
get beyond the boundaries CT trans
Caucasiai but that was due to the tenn
porary breaking UP of the mountain
railway between Titlls and Baku; but
ppart from that we were able to carry
out our fun plan, And in due time we
found ourselves safely at home again
on the delightful borders OF Long
Island Sound.
We had the luck to pass through the
Strait of Bonifacio, which separates
Corsica from Sardinia, in full daylight,
SO that we could see fairly the extreme
points of each OF those famous islands.
They are billy and wooded near the
strait and one could not help wishing
10 60 ashore on each and explore the
whole interior. Next day we passed
among the Lipari Islands and saw both
the crater of Etna and the smoking
cone of Stromboli. The Strait of Mes
eina. between Italy and Sicily, we
reached Just as the twilight was COM
ing on, and the only idea we could
gain of the scenery was from the vague
outlines Of the heights, and the mass
of tWinkling lights in the streets and
houses cleaning through the darkness
and showing the position of Messina.
TINES CHANGES.
Charybdis and Scylla are passed al
most without noticing either. Yet, we
reflected a whirlpool which could make
O. great disturbance and danger to nav
igation in the time of Ulysses, might
only prove q trifle to a modern steamer
of 5000 tons.
The plan of our voyage included two
landings in Greece, one at kalaInata in
the ancient Peloponnesus, and the 9TH
er at Syra, an island among. the Cy-
clades, We We're very glad of this
opportunity to see something more of
the modern Greeks and of the cities
they live in. Kalamata is at the head,
of the Gulf of Koron, some thirty or
forty miles north of Cape Matapan.
1t is a busy manufacturing, modern
place of 5000 to 5000 inhabitants. The
principal industry appears to be the
manufacture of silk. Our anchor was
hardly thrown out before peddlers of
silk things were on board, selling what
they could to the passengers. The
goods seemed to be hand-woven, solid
and substantial, and of only two or
three simple colrs. Handkerchtets
worth from one to two francs each,
and pretty scarfs, thin and gauzy,
formed the principal articles of these
dealers traffic. They also had white
and drab materials for women's dress
es. but / saw no printed stuffs.
Fran Kalamata to Syra occupied
whole night, taking us around the
southern extremity of Greece and to
considerable distance eastward from
the coast. Syra, with it's 10000 or 10000
people, is a very attractive place, en-
tirely European in appearance, with
fine residences, churches, morasteries,
and other public buildings on the slopes
of a high hill, while the commercial
quarter is spread out on the lower
lands along the shore. The people in
both these towns seem to have a great
deal in common with the Greeks of
classical times. Activity, energy, quick
wit, and ability to take care of them
selves form conspicuous traits of the
population. Syra is said to be the most
important town in the kingdom after
Athens, and a walk among its streets
end shops confirmed the impression
formed in other towns where the
Greeks evidently predominate, that no
people are better able to manage their
own business than these intellectual,
practical, energetic, and Open-minded
descendants of the antique Achaians.
They are surely among the most use
full and efficient citizens of the modern
world.
MOUNT OLYMPUS.
The next morning as we were moving
northward along the coast OF Mace
donia, the Thracian Olympus, with
snowy SUBMITS, lowered before our
eyes in the west. 1t is a noble and
most impressive group of mountains,
and no one who sees it in a clear sun.
rise will condemn the early Greeks for
making it the special abode Of their
divinities. Perhaps the Myslan Olym-
pus, which arises above the Turkish
city of Brussa, is grander, and GER
tainly 1t is some thousands of feet high
er; but ii lacks the majesty and vari-
ETY. Of its Thraclan compeer
We reached Salonica at about noon,
and had ample time to drive about the
city during the stay of the ship. Its
appearance is very gay and cheerful,
considering the amount of history that
attaches to it, Here XerXes had his
camp on his way to overwhelm Greece:
here Cassander brother-in law of
Alexander the Great, gave to the un-
conquered town the name of his wife
Thessalonica; here Cicero lived in ex-
lie; here was the Church of the Thes-
salonians to which Saint Paul ad-
dressed two of the most interesting
among his epistles. The place has
now some 10000 inhabitants. 1t has a
considerable extension along the wa
ter front, and II reaches up the long
slope of Mount Kortiash, quite far in
land. l had heard that was rather
dirty and disreputable, but we found it
cheerful and reasonably clean in the
beautiful sunshine of that lovely
bustling streets the European element
seemed to predominate, and / could not
discover that the Turkish ownership
gave TO the city any special differ
ence of physiognomy compared with