Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-04-24

ger She was the daughter of King
Alcinous, and when Ulysses awoke
she led him to her fathers palace.
With its exquisite gardens and lus-
cious fruits.
The guides. who endeayor to adjust
their moral consciousness to the Curl
osity OF visitors and the topography
Of the island to demands made upon
them. show the exact place where
Ulysses swan ashore. and the gard
ea OF the King Alcinous, which is now
occupied by the palace of King George
II Greece, one of the most democratic
aad confederate of monarchs. who
owes o have the people enjoy every
thirg ihat belongs to him. He opens
his sntes to strangers and subjects
alike. and nobody is required to pay
a fee or even to ask permission, al
though the decent thing to do is to
leave card az the porters lodge and
a word of appreciation, which that
official takes entirely to himself.
One of the streets in Corfu is named
in honor of King Alcinous. and Ulys-
ses is considered a sort of stepson of
whom the community is exceedingly
proud.
The captain tells you that you
might see Olympus If it is a clear day
II mean Mount Olympus. the home
Of the gods, where Jupiter and Ven
us and Mercury did such queer things
and had such high old times. I'm
| fortunately. Olympus is now on Turk
ish soil, much to the sorrow and the
modification of the Greeks, who. If
they had their territorial rights would
again include that noble mountain
within their jurisdiction But it is
very seldom clear enough to see Olym-
pus from the lonian sea. and when |
told professor in the American col
lege at Athens what the captain said.
| he observed sarcastically that |
might as well have looked for the or
acle of Delphi or Agamemnon's tomb.
which is near Mycenae in southern
Greece
The tomb of the great Grecian gen
eral is well preserved. and is one of
he most striking examples of ancient
masonry. 1t has been completely
eghumed by the Greek Archaeological
society and is worth a long journey
to see. 1t is n sort of underground
temple artistically constructed in the
shape of bee hive fifty feet high,
aud near by is the tomb of Clytem-
nestra, his wife, which is also inter
esting but not in such good repair
Agamemnon you will remember, was
king of all the Greeks and com
manded the expedition against Troy
After his return he was murdered by
Aegisthos. who during his absence
had taken the liberty to make love to
his wife. Orestes. only son of Aga
memon. avenged his fathers death
and his mothers shame when he grew
up, and both were buried with all the
honors that the Greeks could pay.
Corfu has been the scene of many
exciting events both in modern and
neurological times. At present the
people are more or less excited over
the action of the government in eX-
pelling Mahmud Damad Pasha, both
er-in-law of the Sultan of Turkey, and
liadji Kadri and Siret, two other
Turkish eXiles, who are accused of
sedition and conspiracy and, having
fed from Constantinope to escape the
wrath of the sultan. took refuge upon
the beautiful Greek island, where they
were received with warm sympathy
and treated with distinguished respect
by the people The government of
Greece, however, could not very well
furnish an asylum to Turkish fugitives
of such eminent notoriety because the
relations between the two countries
have not been entirely cordial since
the close OF the war four years ago,
and the Grecian ministry considered
it prudent not to offer any cause of
offense. So the sultan's brother-in-
law and his companions We're request
ed to leave Corfu and are now going
10 Switzerland, which is the most hos
pltable country in Europe to political
exiles.
Corfu hates the Turks. No people
on the earth's usrface hate them more,
not even the Bulgarians or Macedon-
ans, although more than a century
has passed since the wrongs of which
they complain were committed. From
1915 to 1863, with the other Ionian is
lands, Corfu was occupied by the Eng
lish, and in the latter year, upon the
accession of the present King George
to the throne, Mr.. Gladstone persuad-
ed Queen Victoria to give them back
to Greece. That accounts for statue
of Mr. Gladstone that stands before
the university in Athens and was
erected by the students a few years
ago.
Fortunately for those who come
here to enjoy the climate-and it is a
; favorite winter resort for the people
with weak lungs and other invalids-
/ English administration built fine
system of roads. and they are still in
comparatively good repair, although
! the modern Greeks will never be cele
brated for road building. You can
drive from one end of the island to the
other and during the spring months
and the late fall it is as near paradise
as any place on earth, The late EN-
i, press of Austria had a beautiful villa
just on the outskirts of the city il
| was proposed to bring the late Czai
. of Russia to Corfu in the hope that
his life might he saved and nrmarous