Tensas gazette., 1916-11-17

n bic temples, OF massive aGue-
- ducts, of extensive amphithea-
ters, it is easy to project the ties Of
sentiment which bind the life of the
Greek of today to that of the classic
worthless from whom he claims direct
descent, according to communication
addressed to the National Geographic
society by George Higgins Moses. for
merly United States ambassador to
Greece. Mr.. Moses in his graphic pic
ture Of the Athens of today and of the
modern citizens of the city which
reached the pinnacle of it's greatness
In the days of Pericles, says:
cit was with only slight shock that
I learned that the man who brought
me my morning coffee at the legation
bore the tremendous name of Themis-
tocles. And yet it is difficult to Wis.,
ualiZe the modern Athenian with those
who once walked his streets.
thinking of Homer, of PraxiteleS
and of Phidias, one looks for Helen,
for Hermes and for Athene; but the
only Helen / ever saw in Athens was
an American girl, married to n men,
Der of the cabinet, and whose golden
hair, blue eyes and classic features
made her at once the reigning hostess
in the city. And it is only in the
islands or deep i'm the country where
the Albanian food once swept across
the Attic plain has never reached, that
one finds the facial lineaments and the
bodily grace which the ancient sculp-
tor has taught the modern world as
being common to all Greeks of classic
time. And this survival persists chief
~ among the children, because inces-
SAINT toll and scanty nOurishment soon
deprive both boys and girls of their
native grace and stamp them with
the ineradicable marks of a life of
labor.
Climate Is Agreeable.
"The Attic year is sharply divided
climatically into two seasons. the rainy
and the dry, the latter beginning late
in May and extending to early OctO-
Der, and during which there is no rain
fall except q single thunder shower
which comes with great regularity dur.
ing the second week in August. Out.
side of Attica climatic conditions ere
somewhat better. In the islands along
the Gulf of COrinth. and in the Morea
there is constant greenery-grass
vines and many trees. But for one
who spent. as did, four summers or
and in Athens, it is not easy to learn
that hills may have beauty aside from
forests, and that colors, contour and
form can lend enchantment to the
naked rock. 1t was long before my
New England eyes appreciated the
wonderful tints which the Atheniar
sunset throws upon Lycabettus anC
Hymettu and that learned that Ath
ems now. as ever. should be hailed al
the 'violct-crOwIed city
Personally, L found the Atheniar
climate agreeable, and l cannot nov
recall a single day of my stay there
when, even in the rainy season. thu
sun did not shine at least part of tn,
time. Cold winds there were. to b'
sure, in winter, blowing down from
the snow-capped hills above the tow
or blowing up from the sea at Phaler
on: but there were no frosts; the rose:
bloomcd during every month of th'
year in the legation gardens; orange
ripened i'm the open air, and we picke'
! our breakfast fruit from the tree
outside of the window, while the pain
! flourishes there as have seen it no
! where else, not even in the Riviera
The summer heat is easily endurable
despite a well-nigh constant tempera
ture of nearly 100. the absence of rail-
removing the humidity which make
+ American midsummer so intolerable.
Social Year Is Divided.
Socially. too. the Athenian year di
vides itself with the climate. At tn
/ end of the rainy season the court, tn
diplomatic body and the rich flee away
the latter gong, as they say, to Eu