Bisbee daily review., 1903-03-15

af.er the summer solstice every fifth
 year witnessed the celebration of the
 Olympian games. These games, so old , that the first Historic record, in SS4 B.
 C.. is said to be that of a revival of
 the more ancient ones.
 At the time Of the Olympian game
 all hosiiities ceased throughout the province, in order that not only all
 those who had qualified might take
 part in the games, but also those who attended might be assured safe pass
 age by the ample guard stationed on
 and about the city. No person in { Greece lived 100 far from Olmpia to | prevent his attendance at these games,
 and at length even those from neigh
 boring countries came.
 ! The games thenselyes consisted of
 double course foot races, wrestling 1 and boxing. leaping, hurling the jave- l lin, and the chariot races, picture of which Lou Wallace has so ably painted in Ben Hur The contest participants, both of brain and muscle, and to win was proof positive of an enviable development, both mentally i and physically.
 | The prize was a crown of wild olive, plucked from the sacred grave of Zeno. 1 To the victor himself the greatest hon. age was accorded, taxes were reunited, i lyric songs written in pta:se of Inn. | In Sparta he was even permitted to ! fight in battle next to the person ci
 the king himself, and the crown of ! wild olvise was cherished years after
 wards. even by his children's children,
 as proof of the nobility of their au- cestor
 l The influence of these games were I beneficial, not only to contestant, but , to the entire Greek nation, as they
 maintained in the nation a general re-
 spect for manly and intrepid charac- | ter, and supported thas moral dignity
 and independence. which so long re-
 sisted the aggressions of force from 1 without, and were proof against the ] contagion of weak and licentious prin-
 ciples within. They stimulated patriot
 ism also, for in long, long years after wards, at the recent revival of the OIympian games when the whole world | sent representatives 10 participate, that spirit of patriotism made itself manifest in the Marathon race. The
 course was for twenty-five miles, the
 greater part of the distance lying in
 the broken country north of Athens
 and terminating in the ten-mile slope overlooking the harbor and city of ] Athens, that part of Greece most dear
 to the Greeks. During the first fifteen miles of the course, the Greek repre- sentatives was outstripped by the run
 ners from England and America. But
 when the crest of the hill was reached , and the beautiful panaroma below was revealed 10 the Greek, that inherent love of country, that desire to win for : Greece. gave new life to the runners , One by one the leaders were o'ertaker
 and passed, and when. the goal was
 reached, King George stepped down : and shook the hand ofIthe victor, his } subject, the Greek. But if is not SC : much of the races themselves or of the
 so-called rewards that we wish tc
 speak. as of the training which must
 be undergone by each contestant, anu } it's effects upon the whole Grecian peo pie.
 l Do not thick that the training re - ceived in the ten months preceding the races in the gymnasium at Ellis, was 5 the only training received or that the } contestants in the games were the only ones who tried for those places Il think I can see some of those l lltowns in ancient Greece. The young