The farmer and mechanic., 1911-04-11

!
! the 1olIieS and Vanities of fashiona BILE
lie Z,50O years ago. / saw the skull
or woman with gold pin that once
bound her tresses mbedded in it Time
ana decay had glued it to the vertebrae
OF her neck. [ saw scores of gold
rings for the fingers. gold anklets and
bracelets and great rings for the
! biceps. made Of pure gold. Some of
these arm rings were three or four
inches wide. They were Of the finest
Of gold and they came from Mycenae.
am surprised at the condition OF
the gold jewelry The most of it is
as bright as when it was made, and
great deal Of it is exquisitely carved.
Some Of the patterns are the same
as those used today. There are gold
bracelets with snakes heads al the
end; there are brac celets of gold coils
and there are dozens of big gold but
tons, some of which have holes
through which the thread passed
noticed one gold mask with the skull
still sticking to it and mans shin
| bone to which a gold greave was
fastened. There are also many metal
hand mirrors and needles, combs and
household utensils
The ParthenOn and it's Grafters.
| There is no better place to study old
! Greece than right here in Athens. You
! imb1be the spirit Of the ancients in
! tramping over the hills where they
/ lived. You see their wonderful works
! in the museums; you meet with their
| portraits in the statues; and among
the ruins which are scattered almost
everywhere you can easily rebuild the
famed structures of the past.
| Take the Parthenon the remains of
which lie on the Acropol:s, on the
! very edge Of modern Athens. They
were built upon a solid rock Of pink
marble, which ended in plateau Of
about ten or fifteen acres. This space
| is now covered with ruins and a large
stands | went over it today and made
photograph of some of the columns,
discovering queer things about its
construction. One is that the building
was largely a graft. The columns on
the outside are Of excellent marble,
and they stand we'll today. Those
within another part, which could not
be seen. Or which probably at first
looked as we'll as those farther out.
were backed with inferior stone, and
the marble there is now rotting away.
The stone is Clipped off and the beauty
| Of the old columns is fast disappear
/ ing.
The Parthenon i'll 1911.
I wish 1 could show you the Parthe-
non. Every one has read Of it. but 1t
is impossible to comprehend it just
as it is. Imagine a forest Of marble
columns which rise from marble
floor, the area of which is nearly an
acre Let each column be as big as
of a three-story house in the most
symmetrical forms. Of artistic beauty.
Let it be fiuted, and let the capitals.
rich in their plain DOric grace, up
hold a wall Of marble, around which
runs a frieZe of exquisite carvings,
and you have the skeleton of the
building The interior contains other
columns. which uphold the roof, the
whole forming temple which was re-
garded as the most beautiful OF the
l,n
Today the Parthenon is visible for
miles around Athens. 1t is the first
thing seen on approaching the Piraeus,
land it stands out far above the plain
upon which Athens lies. a great part
Of the building has been carried away,
land its most beautiful carvings are
in the British Museum at London.
iThey were taken there many years ago
by Lord Elgin: who got permit from
the sultan authorizing him ito remove
la few blocks Of stone from Athens
ito England" The cost Of the trans
portation OF those few blocks was
S1SO,OO0, from which you can see that
tshiploads must have been carried
Iaway.
The columns Of the Parthenon We're
made in sections, which We're placed
one on top of the other. Some OF these
sections are scattered over the Acropo-
lis and NOT a few stand on the plat
form / photographed an American
girl sitting on one. which gives q fair
idea of the diameter. and made also
a picture Of myself [ measured tn .
circumference.
The Parthenon was begun about
400 wears ago. 1t was a temple put
m TO the Goddess Athene or Minerva,
, whose statue was erected within. The
statue was made by Phidias 1t was
, IF gold and ivory and was fOrty-tWo
ana one-half feet in height. It Is sup
, posed that the inner Kernel OF the
figure consisted Of wood upon Whlch
; the form Of the Athene, was modeled
; | in some plastic material, and that ihls
, in turn was covered with plates OF
ivory and gold The ivory formed the
|nude portions Of the figure, while the
: cold represented the garments. Inc
/ Iyalue Of the gold in the statue Wa