Emmons County record., 1911-02-02
HOMES IN Athens
As a Rule They Are Clean. but
Bare and comfortless.
PEOPLE LIVE IN THE CAFES.

When They % Get Into Their housss
Their Principal Occupation 10 Look
ing Out Of the Windo~s-rhs Mar.
riass Customs Of Greece.
Home lie In Greece. particularly in
Athens. is peculiar. 1t might almost
he said that there is no such thing
In NJ. Duckett Ferrimsus book on
Greece AMI the Greek" the manners
and customs Of the picturesque Hell
lenss. which are little known to the
average English reader are described
i, length Mr.. Ferrman states that
the Greeks do not know anything
about the art OF making a home.
"One may meet with exquisite clean
.neSs. he writes. with beautifully
embroidered bed linen scented with
rosemary. but never with what we
rlean by ooziness 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
cut of the window They are not given
20 inviting their friends to their
houses. II Is not that they are mig
sardly, for they will gladly entertain
you at restaurant at far greater cost
to themselves. But 1t does not enter
into their IDEAS to ask you home to
dinner. even after an acquaintance Of
many years.
They DO not ask each other, so it
! can hardly be expected that they
should make an exception in tie case
/ of foreigners. The cafe is n second
home to them. There they meet
i friends and gossip. That is one reason
/ perhaps why they dislike country life
! 1T 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
dwell in seldom remain long In the
! same abode. Two or three years !s
quite a long tenure. Many people
make point Of moving every year.
The imposing facades of Athenian
houses conceal. for the most part. a
bare and comfortless interior, and
we'll kept garden is rare. \ garden is
not made in year. and a person who
changes hie residence every twelve
months does not want to be troubled
Will, much furniture. nor Is he par
ticular as to fits arrangement. seeing
that 1T will be cared away in few
months.
Home life has no resources for the
Greeks. as 1t has for US. II affords
them little occupation and no amuse
ment They like 10 eat and drink in
crowds where there is noise and move
ment Their instincts are too gregari-
Gus TO allow them to appreciate the
domestic intimacy which we prize.
The day chosen for marriage in
Greece is usually Sunday. but the day
of all days In the year is the Sunday
preceding the Christmas feast. 1t is
NOT fashionable now to be married in
church In Athens the ceremony takes
place In the house of the brides par
ents. A temporary altar is set up in
the middle of the room.
AT 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-
mony is the crowning Of the bride and
bridegroom with wreaths OF orange
blossom: hence wedding is popular
~ called the crowning
Love 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 legally binding. are not to be con
travened with impunity.
Then it Is considered wrong for
brothers to marry until their sisters
have been we'd Again. girls mus
marry in order Of seniority. 1t would
not be right for a girl to be married
while she had an elder sister who re
mained single. The men OF family
are thus naturally anxious to see theil
sisters settled. and as a dowry is in
dispensabe its provision is often +:
matter Of serious anxiety and the fruit
Of great self denial on the part of ths
brothers II the parents are dead
There are cases in which brother!
have remained unmarried for year.
and have devoted all their hard earned
savings to the dowries OF their sisters
; Among the poorer classes emigration
is resorted to. not infreGuently solel.
with this object. and many dowr.
comes to Il Greek maiden from acros
the Atlantic"