Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1911-02-10

Is a Rule They Are Clean, but
Bare and confortless.
PEOPLE LIVE IN THE CAFES,

When They Do Get Into Their Houses
Their Principal Occupation Is Look
10 Out Of the Windows-The Mar
siege Customs of Greece.
Home life in Greece. particularly In
Athens. IS peculiar. 1t might almost
be SAID that there is no such thing.
n air. Duakett Ferriman's book on
"Cr0e1c and the Greeks" the manners
and customs Of the picturesque Hell
lencs. which are little known to the
average English reader, are described
at length. Mr.. Ferriman states that
the Greeks do not know anything
ahout the art Of making a home.
@Onc may meet with exquisite clean
llnass he writes, with beautifully
embroidered bed linen scented with
rosemary. but never with what we
mtan By coziress. The Greeks are far
less in their houses than we are, and
when they are at home they appear to
spend most Of their time In looking
out cf the window. They are not given
TO Inviting their friends to their
Aenaes. It is not that they are mig
rafdly. for they will gladly entertain
yon at restaurant at far greater cost
20 themselves. But 1t does not entcr
into their ideas to ask you home to
dinner even after an acquaintance Of
many years.
eThey do not ask each other, SO =
cen hardly be expected that they
should make an exception in the case
of foreigners. The cafe is a second
Horne 10 them. There they meet
friends and gossip. That is one reason
peshaps why they dislike country life,
'It offers no alternative to the home
there the hearth is the social center.
while IN town It is the cafe In Athens
those who do not own the house they
dsHoi in seldom remain long in the
san'e abode. Two or three years IS
quite n long tenure. Many people
make point Of moving every year.
sIhe Imposing facades of Athensan
houses coace,ll, for the most part.
bare and comfortiess interior, and
wen kept garden is rare. A garden
not made in year, and a person WI
changes his residence every twelva
months does not want TO be trouble
with much furniture. nor Is he par
tieular as to its arrangement, seelng
That # viii be carted away in few
nonihs
.Tiome life has no resources for The
creeks. as 1t has for us. It affords
them little occupation and no amuse-
ment. They like to eat and drink IN
crowds. where there Is noise and move
mant, Their Instincts are too gregari
otts 70 allow them to appreciate thf
Domestic Intimacy which we prize.
"The day chosen for marriage in
Greece IS usually Sunday. but the day
Of M days in the year is the Sunday
preceding the Christmas feast. It IL
n5t fashionable now to be married In
clurh. In Athens the ceremony takes
place in the house of the brides PR
cots A temporary altar is set up in
tie middle Of the room.
est the conclusion Of the ceremony
the priest and the couple join hands
and walk three times round the altar
the guests pelting them with comfits
The most important part Of the cere-
moag is the crowning of the bride an
bridegroom with wreaths Of orange
BLOSSOM; hence a wedding is popular.
" called The Crownlng.'
.Ieee marriages are rare exceptions
The match is made by the parents and
relatives rather than by the parties
principally concerned. There are GER
tain established usages which, though
not lcgslla binding. are not to be con
travelled with impunity.
erhen It is considered wrong for
bratheiN 70 marry until their sisters
have bsen we'd, Again, girls musi
marry in order of seniority. It wor'd
not he rleht for girl to be married
while she had an elder sister who re-
mained SINGLE The men Of a fam,lr
are thus naturally anxious to see their
ieess seftled. and as dowry is In
dlarars1hie It's provision is often
uafier Oh serious anxiety and the fruit
of great self denial on the part of thu
brothers If the parents are dead.
'1hese are cases In which brothers
have remained unmarried for years
ard have devoted all their hard earned
ssyines 70 tho dowries of their sisters.
Among the poorer classes emigration
is resorfed TO- not insrequently solely
with this object. and many dowry
comes 10 a Greek maiden from across
the Atlantic"