The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1897-06-12
GREEKS AS pEGENERATES.
English Traveller on the Modern in-
bnbitants of Hetlns.

=
habitants of Heilns.
tt is a beautiful corner of the earth,
where every prospect pleases and only
man disappointing. He falls pam
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
They are tall and swar by, but without
the fine features characteristic OF Arabs
and Moors or the dignitied demeahof
common to most orientals. And, then,
their dressl / often find English peo-
ple refusing to believesthat the Greeks
wear those incredible petticoats, but IL
is a fact. They are much more general
" worn in Greece than kits are IN the
highlands, and much more absurd
They consist of fabulous number OF
Yards of some white material, which
looks like highly starched muslin, stand
ing out stiff and barely reaching to the
knee. exactly like ballet dancer
skirt. The lower part OF the leg Is
swathed in bandages; on the body is
worn a short jacket, as brilliant IN color
and material as possible, and on the
head a bright cap with a long tassel,
The whole is an exact presentation OF
the stage bandit, with all his tawdry
finery and melodramatic suggestion;
and when one encounters such figure
on the countryside, armed with rifle
that looks like q legacy from the Sara
Gems, with various krives and pistols,
one feels transported into a barbara
age, when human life was cheap and
murder the main business of the day.
To be honest, | was never molested
by any of these gentlemen; but one day
| had the greatest difficulty in persuad-
ing companion of mine to turn his back
on pair of them He was convinced
that they would plug US from behind SC
sinister was their appearance. The
| fisher-folk are shade or two worse thar
| the rustics, and the town rabble more
villainous than either. Of course, thu
| educated people wear ordinary Euro
| pean dress or uniform. AS for the la
dies, doubtless they are charming; but
alas for the beauty of Helen, of Phryne
OF Aspasa, and the other Legendary
| heroinesl Looks are matter of taste
| and | have neither the wish nor thu
right to say anything rude; but if any
| body goes to Greece expecting to see II
the face of man or woman anything re
motely resembling what we have learned
from sculpture to call the Greek type
| he will most certainly be disappointed
The common people appeared to M
| neither clean nor Industrious, and
| have reason to know that many ar
rank thieves. But, all the same, the.
are not wholly degenerate. Did not
| Greek win the long-distance event a
the Olympian games ?And in one thing
at least, they excel. They are the fines
divers in the world, and exclusively en-
| gagged for the most arduous and dan
gerous kind of sponge fishing, the head
| quarters of which is on the Island O
Aegina-pronounce Enigma, with tn
"i' short. Classical scholars please ne
tiee.
The degeneracy of the modern Gree
is shown III nothing more plainly than
the wretched appearance and abount
ing dirt of his towns. Athens, of cours,
is city apart, where classical associ;
ton swallows up all other impression
And Corfu presents pleasant aspect o
superficial survey. The harbor, tt
citadel and the sea-front are yer
charming, and the hotels well enough
but the back quarters and slums, int
which few travellers venture to pen
trate are nothing less than pestilentia
Yet Corfu is -place-the Brighto
of Greece. In all the Ionian islands it
melancholy to see the signs of an al
solute arrest of progress, followed /
decay, which fell upon the people fro
the moment when the stimulus of Bri
ish civilization was removed. There al
the half-finished houses, showing no
enterprise and progress were at worl
left as they stood and rotting ava
Patras, the commercial capital, is mea
and squalid, without a redeeming fe
ture. The disorder" of Greek financ,
needs no explanation to anyone who h;
seen the Greek at home. He is good ft
an empty and vain-glorious eXcitemen
but of real effort and progress, of an.
) thing approaching to western civiliz
ton, he seems quite incapable when lie
; to himself-St. James Gazette.