Evening star., 1897-02-27
III Ie
The Brightest, Brayest and Busiest
Nation of tie Orient.
Why TIE KING FAVoRS fHE RUSSIANS
: The The Modern Creeks: 5: and Their Po-
|iticatA tAmbitions.
HOW ATHENS COOKS TO-DAY


the Turkish empire. The loss of Crete, it
has again and again been prophesied, would
be the beginning of the end. Crete is the
key to the Dardenelles and the Bosphorus.
Fordhcat1ons here could easily command
the entrance to the Black sea- and if the
Greeks hold Crete it is a question whether
tney Will not hold 1t for the Russians. This
is what the English feared when they pre-
vented greece from taking the island in
1863. This was shortly after the marriage
OF King George to a Russian princess, and
the English were afraid that his wife would
turn his feelings toward Russia. This
danger exists today. Queen Olga Is a Rus
sian of the Russians. She is, you know,
the cousin of the present czar She was
the niece of Alexander II. and her daugt-
ter not long since married Russian prince.
l spent some time in Athens just before
the PrlhcesS Alexandra was arried, and
during my stay had chance to learn
much about the royal family. had an
interview in. with the king. through our min
ister TO Athens, and met many friends of
queen Olga. She has practically Russian
lied the king, l am told. He has not adopt
ed the Russian religion himself but by
Church, which is the church of Russia
was in Greece on the kings birthday.
This is national holiday, and at such
times the king and queen appear at church
cushioned in red velvet while all the rest
OF the people In the church must stand up
queen olga is very fine looking. She is q
oionde, with brown hair, regular features
ana beautiful neck and shoulders. She
Is tall and stately. and is every inch
queen The Greeks are very proud of her.
Ihey admire her when she appears at her
receptions in gorgeous dresses, wearing
many pearls and diamonds. They love her
also because she does not put on airs. often
gong about the city of Athens without
even maid with her. The Greeks are
democrats, rather than royalists, and they
like the queens democratic ways. They
admire her also on account of her char
acter She is woman of culture sneak
ing nearly every European language. AS
soon as she became queen she took up the
study OF Greek, and she is now the patron
of number of schools for girls which she
has founded. 1t was in an industrial school
that the wedding dress of the Princess
Alexandra was made, and the work was
done by young Greek girls.
A Chat With the King of Greece.
found that the king was very popular
among the people My audience with him
was arranged by our minister to Greece.
His majesty received ME in his palace, and
from the democratic way in which he
treated me I could see why he is SO much
liked by the Greeks. He shook my hand
as 1 was presented with a good deal more
cordially than / have ever got from
President of the United States. He
looked, however, much more dignified than
any President ever did. He was dressed
in uniform not unlike the undress uni
form of one of our army generals. His
coat was buttoned up to the neck and
there was a little gold braid on his collar.
He Is, believe, about five feet ten inches
tall, but he stood SO straight that he SEEM
ed to me to be oyer six. He is a very
handsome. man. His face Is blonde; his
hair Is Of a light color and a blonde mus
tache shows out over a strong, well-cut
mouth. was surprised when he greeted
me in the best of English He spoke it
carried on in that language. He asked
me a number of questions about things in
America and grew enthusiastic as he talked
of the future of Greece. He told me that
the Greeks were a very patriotic people,
and said that they had all the bravery
and force Of the Greeks Of the past. He
referred to the railroad development which
was going on IN the country, and said that
Athens would be a much greater city than
1t had ever been in the past. Throughout
the whole interview l could see that he was
very proud of the Greeks. He has a right
to be SO, for it Is largely due to him that
Greece Is in such good condition today.
The Greeks of 1897.
Very little is known about the modern
Greeks. They are the Yankees of the
far east. They are shrewd spectators
and are the money makers of the Mediter-
ranean. The biggest business houses
of Egypt are owned by Greeks
found Greeks selling goods in
Jerusalem and they have large establish
ments i'll Smyrna and Constantinople. They
are so much brighter than the Turks that
common saying among the latter Is:
From the Greeks of Athens from the
Jews Of SaIonika and from the Armenians
everywhere good Lord deliver u.s." The
Greeks pride themselves on their democ-
racy. They respect the king, but they don't
,s,,Ir ~ NO.,
they say that they believe SO much In
equality among Greeks that they prefer
to have foreigner rule over them. The
kings rule, however, Is only q limited
one. Every Greek thinks himself states
man, and to hear them talk you would i'm
agine they were running all Europe Their
country is. you know, only about as large
as West Virginia, or about half the size
1ation is not more than 100000 though
there are about as many more Greeks
scattered throughout the other countries
of the Mediterranean.
A Nation Of Politicians.
There Is more political discussion in
Athens than there Is in Washington. While
this trouble with Crete goes on business
will probably be given up for the time, and
the people will do little else than talk
about the situation. The chief places for
such gossip are the cafes, of which there
are hunQreQS IN AtnenS. here every after
noon and evening thousands of people come
together to drink coffee and talk politics
The newsboys bring round the political
papers. Of which there are half dozen in
Athens and each man has his paper and
his coffee. These papers are printed In
the same characters which you find in
the Greek classics. and the modern Greek
language Is much the same as the old
Greek found that could get along
with little phrase book, and could even
read some of the foxes III the Greek comic
papers. ,,,. 3er .-,., ..,..5
Political BOOms in Greece.
The Greeks of today are as great stump
speakers as their korefathers were. There
is much Shrewd electioneering done, and
the wives of the f3recian candidates help
their husbands quite as much as our
American wives DO theirs. Some of the
women even electionesT, for their hus-
bands. and was tpld Of one Greek woman
wko seeing that her husband would prob
ably be defeated, went to some Of the vii
lagos in the district ahd said that every
one who voted thsnright way would have
a free railroad ticket yto Athens and a
ticket to the theateF. The Greeks are crazy
for amusements, and this bid gave her
husband a seat in the parliament Every
man In Greece has the right to vote. The
members Of parliament are elected much