El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-04-08
FRANK G. CARPENTERS LETTER.

were taken there many years ago by
lord Elgin, who got a permit from the
sultan authorizing him Ito remove
few blocks of stone from Athens to
tation of those few blocks was $751;
600, from which you can see that ship
loads must have been carried away.
The columns of the Parthenon were
made in sections, which were placed
one on top OF the others. Some or
these sections are scattered over the
AcropoIis and not a few stand on the
platform. I photographed an Ameri-
can girl sitting on one, which gives a
fair idea of the diameter, and made
also a picture of myself as I measured
the circumference.
The Parthenon was begun about 24Oo
years ago. 1t was a temple, put up
TO the goddess Athene or Minerva,
whose statue was erected within The
statue was made by Phidias. 1t was OF
gold and ivory and was 4211 feet in
height. It is supposed that the inner
kernel Of the figure consisted OF WOOD
upon which the form of the Athene
was modelled in some plastic material,
and that this in turn was covered
with plates Of ivory and gold. The
ivory formed the nude portions OF the
figure. while the gold represented the
garments The value of the gold in
the statue was about three quarters OF
a million dollars. There is an imita-
ton Of this statue in the national mu-
scum. It is pygmy. however, in com
parison with the great statue or the
Parthenon. being only 3h feet IN
height and made entirely Of marble
Excavating by Lottery.
The modern Greeks are anxious that
new excavations should be everywhere
made. They are spending a great deal
upon archaeological research, and they
have department of antiquities con-
nected with the ministry Of education.
at the head of which is an official who
gets about $4,000 q year. They have
raised a great deal of money for ex-
cavating old Greece by means of
lottery, and tickets are now sold on
the streets at Is cents each, which
give you a chance to make a fortune.
and at the same time aid in digging
up the past. At first only 100000 tick
cts were allowed to be issued, and this
number was subsequently Increased to
a quarter of million. OF late years
some of the funds of the lottery have
been applied to the navy, and the num-
Der of tickets is now more than dou-
bled, being 10000. The lottery has
255 prizes. The first is $4,000, the sec
Ond $500, the third $500, the fourth
$3.50, and the fifth $3.50. After this
there are 80 prizes of $40 each and
200 of SO each.
The average net yield of the lottery
until recently was about $4,000 and
altogether it has produced several hun
dred thousand dollars. This sum has
been spent in excavating the old cities
OF interior Greece, in establishing
museums and in historical and archeo-
logical research. The lottery is a pop
ular institution, and every one patron
ICES it.
American Excavations at Corinth.
Some of the most interesting exca-
vations of today are those being made
by our American students at Corinth.
The site of that old city was given to
our Athens Archaeological school, which
is supported by some of the leading
colleges of the United States, and the
students have been at work there for
a number of years.
I took the train and rode out to
Corinth a few days ago. The town lies
about three or four hours from Ath-