The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1916-03-02

~ ANNoN awakening the echoes
M over Ilium's plains, where the
allies have been trying to
~ pound their way beyond the
Dardanelles, stir many legen-
Diary memories of this historic battle
region and bring to mind the oldest
contrasts. Here, where now mod
ern ordnance is hurting its messen-
gers of destruction, Homer's heroes
waged their spectacular, single-handed
combats, while admiring armies
grouped themselves around to watch.
II Is a far cry from the romantic siege
of Troy to the terribly impersonal bat
tie of today. Yet the old walls of
Troy must bring some sort Of inspira-
ton to the soldiers fighting in their
shadows, soldiers Of the allies or Of
the Turks. Excavated Ilium, near
one of the present wars great bat
tlefields, is described in a communi-
cation to the National Geographic So
ciety by Jacob E. Conner.
/ The Trojan walls are still in evil
dence; those same walls that defied
Menelaus, of Ajax, Nestor, Diomed,
Ulysses and Achilles, to fall at last
by stratagem. They remain as a
ruined and abandoned stage minus
its paraphernalia, wherein was played
so many centuries ago an insignificant
little drama compared with modern
events, but it was drama so big with
1axys, Al 8n11 hnt
| world has never known its equal
Wars in these crowded times are
for gain, but in the youth of the world,
| IL we take the Iliad literally, men
could afford to fight for an ideal.
Hence the Homeric warfare was a
beautiful, a poetic pastime, seriously
resulting to some happy few, who
were thenceforth rewarded with i'm
mortality in song.
Troy Well Worth a Visit.
AS the theater OF the worlds great
est epic poem, Troy deserves visit
any year, every year. In the thoughts
| and emotions it revives and stimulates
in the aroused sense of Indebtedness
| of all subsequent literature and art 1t
| richly repays a visit. The classical
| student will leave 1t in daZe OF
meditation upon things more real to
him than the actual things he has
seen and touched.
On the site where the German sa-
| want, Schliemann, unearthed Homer's
Troy, nine layers of old-time cities
were found, one above the other.
They were builded, destroyed, and
forgotten here during the more
than 5000 years that civilization has
lived upon the products of the fertile
| valley. The topmost layer contained
the remains of the Roman city Of
| Ilium: two Hellenic villages were
found directly beneath it, which -four
ished here between 1000 B. G. and the
| Christian era. The sixth city from
the bottom was identified as Homers
| Troy. The bottom layers contained
the remains of prehistoric settlements,
unimportant villages that have es-
capped every memory except these few,
uncovered, decaying stones. In the
second, or burnt city, probably 500
years before the time of Troy, was
found a considerable mass of buried
treasure, silver Jars, gold daggers, and
wonderfully wrought diadems Of gold.
Describing the country around Troy,
Mr.. Conner continues:
Yonder is the summit Of Mt. Ida,
where the gods in solemn conclave so
often sat, where "cloud-compelled
Zeus" sometimes thought two ways
in his mind at once" or else ended all
debate with nod that shook high
Olympus and caused the heavens to
reverberate and glow with the flash
| Of his thunderbolt.
| Famous Rivers Only Creeks.
Away over yonder, skirting the ridge
Of Ilium, is Simois' stream, or should
be; but the bridge across 1t shows
upon our approach that modern Simois
is no more than creek. Worse than
that; following its .attenuated course,
less than a mile downstream, we dis
cover that 1t ends in a morass instead
! OF the Scamander as of yore. And
the latter stream Is scarcely less dis
appointing, for it is no more dignified
in size or appearance. In fact, their
sluggish currents united can scarcely
boast of banks except at occasional
intervals, for both streams are now
only broad swales merging with the |