The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-05-28
GREEKS AS DEGENERATEs.
English Traveller on the Modern In
habitants of HelIas.

1t is a, beautiful corner of the earth
where every prospect pleases and only
man is-disappointing He falls pain
fully below his surroundings and his
name. The men do not inspire conf
dence, especially when one meets them
on the lonely hillside. They may be all
right, but appearances are against
them, says the st. James Gazette They
are tall and swarthy, but without the
/ fine features characteristic of Arabs
and Moors or the dignified demeanor
| common to most orientals. And. then,
their dressi 1 often find English peo-
pie refusing to believe that the Greeks
really wear those incredible petticoats,
but it is a fact. They are much more
generally worn in Greece than kits are
in the highlands. and much more alb
Surd. They consist of a fabulous num-
Der of yards of some white material,
which looks like highly starched mus
lin, standing out stiff and barely
reaching to the knee, exactly like q
ballet dancers skirt The lower part
of the leg is swarthed in bandages; on
the body is worn a short jacket. as
brilliant in color and material as pos
sible, and on the head a bright cap
with a long tassel. The whole is an
exact prese NATION of the stage bandit
dramatic suggestion; and when one
encounters such a figure on the coun-
tryside, armed with a rifle that looks
like legacy from the Saracens, with
various knives and pistols, one feels
transported into a barbaric age, when
human life was cheap and murder the
main business of the day.
To be honest, i was never molested
by any of these gentlemen; but one day
l had the greatest difficulty in persuad-
ing companion Of mine to turn his
back on a pair of them. He was con-
WINGED that they would plug US from
behind, so sinister was their appear
ance. The fisher-folk are a shade or
two worse than the ruStics, and the
town rabble more villainous than
either. OF course, the educated people
wear ordinary European dress or uni
form. AS for he-ladies doubtless they
are charming; but.3alas for the beauty
of Helen, of Phryne, of ASpaSia, and
the other legendary heroinesi Looks are
a matter of taste, and / have neither
the wish nor the right to say anything
rude: but if anybody goes to Greece
expecting to see in the face of man or
woman anything remotely resembling
what we have learned from sculpture
TO call the Teek type, he will most
certainly be disappointed. The COM
mon people appeared TO me neither
clean nor Industrious. and l have rea-
son to know that many are rank !
thieves. But. all the same. they are
not wholly degenerate. Did not a
Greek win the long-distance event at
the Olympian games? And in one thing. !
at least, they excel. They are the |
finest divers in the world, and ex- /
engaged for the most ardu- /
Gus and dangerous kind of sponge /
fishing, the headquarters of which is
on the island of Aegina-pronounced |
Enigma. with the 81 short. Classical
scholars please notice.
The degeneracy of the modern Greek
is shown in nothing more plainly than
in the wretched appearance and
Astounding dirt of his towns. Athens,
~ course. is a city apart, where CLASH
cal association swallows I'D all other
Ia. pI esslors. And Corfu presents
pleasant aspect on a superficial survey.
The harbor. the citadel and the sea-
front are very charming, and the hotels
we'll enough: but the back quarters and
slums, into which few travellers venture
10 penetrate, are nothing less than
residential. Yet Corfu is a showplace
the Brighton of Greece. In all the
-onian islands ii is melancholy to see
he signs of an absolute arrest of pro-
yress, followed by decay. which fell
lpon the people from the moment when
ne StifnClus OF brltlSn clNliizdtlOH was
There are the half-fnished
houses. showing how enterprise and
progress were at work left as they {
TODD and rotting away Patras, the I
capital, is mean and l
qualid, without a redeeming feature. I
The disorder" of Greek finances needs 7
10 explanation TO anyone who has seen y
he Greek at home. He is good for an c
mpty and vain-glorious excitement, t
nut of real effort and progress, Of any i
hing approaching to western civiliza- '
ion, he seems quite incapable. when y
eft TO himself I