Evening star., 1897-05-15

| They cloud the air
- and officers have to
sweep the sky with brooms before they
can gain a chance for their field glasses
The only creature that has not been thrown
off its natural balance by this invasion is
the bold flea of Greece. Even this could
not disturb the calm industry of the Gre
| clan flea. These animals operate with
drills. which they work by foot treadles,
and afterward one feels as if one had been
attacked by fleet of red-hot stove lids
| The f1eas were superior to the correspond
ent. They continued to lead their un-
| troubled life of work, and they reaped
| about all the vengeance which Greece was
| able to get as a nation.
| The Earl of Perth Amboy, NJ J., arrived
here lately to represent New York news
paper. He discovered at once that the
| Parthenon is too little; that 1t is far
| smaller than the American Tract Society
| building In New York. Then he looked
| over the eastern question. and said that it
| was absurd, and departed in a cloud of
| dust, upon which a stereopticon threw
| fresh details of the increase in circulation
| OF his journal He left Athens dripping
with perspiration and blind and dazed with
| amazement The diplomatic corps was
particularly prostrated Upon being in
| formed that he was likely to return, the
| citizens are considering a plan to set fire
| ~ tiAS Sity dllu IStIedl 10 lNe nils.
| The English Special.
But this American whirlwind is a bottle
of beer and a plate of crackers to the Eng
| lish correspondent who understands the
| eastern question. OF course, one can't
| throw a stick into any part of Athens with
out hitting three men who understand the
| eastern question, but the English corre-
| spondent has an iron-clad and immovable
! way of understanding a question which
reminds one unmist takably of a god. He
| is perfectly simple and ingenious about it,
Apparently this ability to understand the
| eastern question is given him because he is
| a British subject. He does not state this
| fact, but upon looking him over one can
| see no other reason for his believing that
| he understands the eastern question He
| appropriates knowledge of the eastern
| question as blandly as his government ap-
proprates an island or a tribe of negroes.
| The child-like air with which he recog-
| niZes his absolute infallibility is something
| very fascinating to those here who feel
| that the comprehension of the eastern
| of the empire of Russia, and if there is
| man who knows aught of that mystic
| thing he is man with no tongue.
| Knows the Eastern situation.
| consular officer, who has devoted
| number of years to the study of the peo-
| pies of the east, and the conditions here
| was compelled by an obligation of social
aniability to listen to prolonged elucida-
| ton of the problems of the east by Lon
| don correspondent. The consular officer
| was not greatly bored, because by this time
consular officers are immured to those phe-
| nomena. Finally, when the London corre-
| spcndent arrived at some phase of the
| situation to which the official had devoted
study and time. the official indifferently
| gave his opinion. There silence for
| moment, while the correspondent looked
pi ioudly at the official. Then the corre
spondent said: ''On that subject l talk
with men whose opinions l respect" He
turned his back on the official.
His allusion to men whose opinions he
would respect caused considerable excite
| ment here, and first report of it was not
| credited. 1t was believed to be a rumor set
af1oat by the extremists. Finally, public
| opinion decided that he must talk in his
| Sleep
| 81 Am the On1y.'
| But if the London correspondent here
has an iron-clad and immovable sense of
the divinity Of his intelligence, there are
| also in Athens American correspondents
of the type who write to their journals:
II am the only correspondent up to the
| present time who has been able to pene-
| trate to the Businesses of Larissa. During
| the terrible journey across the desert that
| surrounds this city / was three times pros
| trated by the heat and had five horses die
under me. My dragoman, Murphy, had his
| ears frost-bitten-"
Seriously, people In official circles who
are posted in all matters of news say there
has not been a report sent from Greece of
this whoopetty-whoop description that is
not terrifying its assininity. The pity of 1t
| is that then the simple-minded people of
Europe laugh at the poor correspondents,
instead of at the men who are really re-
| spor sible for this sort Of crime.
| Bit of Sarcasm.
One expects foreigners to have a univer-
| col Prnc in, he int oil Of he
ican people in the face of these splendid
| exhibitions.
There was a correspondent here who asked
| an interview of the king, and because GER
| tain people took trouble for him he was
| granted it. He gave the interview to some
of the Greek newspapers also, and then, by
| a singular juxtaposition of circumstances,
! he left town. An aid-de-camp was sent to
! gather the editors of these newspapers,
and then an official spent long time la
| boriousy debating the most sweeping de-
| malls. In delicate situations like an east
| ern imbroglio an absurd interview Is more
| than an annoyance Later the correspon-
| dent cabled to his acquaintances in Athens
| to apply to the king for decoration for
| him.
| In Marked Contrast.
| It would be deadly wrong not to speak
| now of the men who in affairs of this kind
| do their duty simply and faithfully. and
| with no uproar. There Is, for instance, an
| American correspondent here who has
| crossed Armenia in the midst of the
! troubles who has lived in Crete with the
insurgents. and been in all the lombard
ments and fights there. and who is now
going to Arta, In the hope of joining the
wild band of volunteers who are about to
raid into the troop-covered provinces of
Turkey. In fact, he has as fine a record as
| man can get out OF such a situation. But
1 Of course. NO one knows him, nor cares
about 1t. He has no reputation at all, rel
atiyely. His pay must, naturally, be in the
same ratio.
Today the king refused him an interview.
mainly because the wild ass Of the desert
who wanted q decoration had made the
king wary Of correspondents.
STEPHEN CRANE.
A Suspicious CircumstaAee.