The Harlowton news., 1911-02-10
HOMES IN ATHENS
As a Rule They Are Clean, but
Bare and C0mfortIess.
PEOPLE LIVE IN THE CAFES.

When They Do Get Into Their Houses
Their Principal Occupation 10 Look.
ing Out Of the Windows-The Mar
riase Customs Of Greece. -
Home life In Greece, particularly in
Athens. Is peculiar. 1t might almost
be said that there is no such thing.
In Mr.. Duckett Ferriman's book on
Greece and the Greeks the manners
and customs Of the picturesque Hell
lenes, which are little known to the
average English reader. are described
at length. Mr.. Ferriman states that
the Greeks do not know anything
about the art Of making home.
"One may meet with exquisite clean.
hness," he writes. with beautifully
embroidered bed linen scented with
rosemary. but never with what we
mean by coZiness. 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 of the window They are not given
to inviting their friends to their
houses. 1t is not that they are mig.
gardly. for they will gladly entertain
you at a 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.
ID nth on
can hardly be expected that they
should make an exception in the case
Of foreigners The cafe Is a second
home to them. There they meet
friends and gossip. That is one reason
perhaps why they dislike country life.
ut 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 is
quite a long tenure. Many people
make a point Of moving every year.
1.-THE imposing facades Of Athenian
houses conceal for the most part. a
bare and comfortless interior, and a
we'll kept garden is rare. A garden Is
nof made In year. and person who
changes his residence every twelve
months does not want to be troubled
with much furniture. nor Is he par
ticular as to Its arrangement. seeing
that 1t will be carted away in a few
months.
"Home life has no resources for the
Greeks as 1t has for us. 1t affords
them little occupation and no amuse-
ment. They like to 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.
, 1.-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 ant
bridegroom with wreaths of 'orang'
blossom; hence wedding Is popular
ly called the crowning.'
"Love marriages are rare exceptions
The match is made by the parents ant
relatives rather than by the parties
principally concerned. There are Ger
tain established usages which. thougl
not legally binding. are not to be con
travened with impunity.
Then It is considered wrong 70
brothers to marry until their sister
have been wed. Again. girls mus
marry in order Of seniority. 1t woul'
not be right for a girl to be marrie
while she had an elder sister who re
mained single. The men Of famil
are thus naturally anxious TO see thei
sisters settled, and as dowry Is IL
dispensable it's provision Is often
matter of serious anxiety and the fru
of great self denial on the part Of tn
brothers II the parents are dead.
There are cases in which brother
have remained unmarried for year
and have devoted all their hard earne
savings to the dowries Of their sister
Among the poorer classes emigratio
is resorted to. not infrequently solel
with this object. and many dowr
; comes to a Greek maiden from acros