The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-04-07
GREEKS CA&EBRATE
 INDEPENDENCE

In every city in this country which
 has a Greek colony there will be fes- tivities and rejoicing today, for this
 is the Hellenic festival of independ-
 ence, commemOrating that glorious twenty-fifth of March, 1921, when
 Ypsi1anti unfurled the standards Of freedom at Patras. As the Greeks
 still cling to the old style calendar
 the anniversary falls on the seventh
 of April, new style. Prior to the
 present war the Serbs in this coun-
 try often joined with the Greeks in
 making the bird of freedom screecn
 on the seventh of April, and at an
 earlier time the BuIgars were invited guests at the festivities, but the Hel- lenes will play a lone hand today. The preservation of Greek neutrality at a time when her former friend and ally, Serbia, was being ravaged by the foe, has resulted in a decided gelidity in the relations between the Greeks and Serbs in this country, while the Bull gars are now the sworn foes of both. Only a little investigation is neces-
 sary to disclose the fact that the
 great majority of Greeks on this side
 of the Atlantic are favorable to the Allied cause and look upon Venize1os as the great statesman, of the father land There are a few pro-German Greeks, however, and a considerable number who uphold the neutral course adopted by the government.
 Hatred of the Turks is still doni-
 nant in the Greek mind, and the old feud will be revived by the orators
 who address today's assemblages. The Greek national anthem, By the
 Sharpness of the Sword" will be heard today in many cities, but 'HThe Star Spangled Banner will be featur- ed in the program for the Greeks, al- though cherishing the traditions of
 their fatherland, are not lacking in patriotic ardor for the land of their adoption. The Canadian Creeks will sing God Save the King no loss Justify, and many of them have dem | onstrated their patriotism by enlist ing in the Dominion's forces.
 The flag of Hellas, it's azure and white reflecting the Grecian skies,
 was not given to the breeze with out
 many bloody sacrifices. When the insurrection against Turkish rule
 broke out in 1921, the ottoman gov
 ernment carried on the contest in the
 most barbarous manner. Year after year Greece was ravaged by swarthy
 hordes of semi-savagesx from Asia
 Minor and Egypt. The resources of and villages destroyed, women and
 children were massacred or made the
 slaves of their. cruel captors, and l thousands of survivors were driven l to live in caves and to feed upon roots and leaves In spite of these | the foe, but fought bravely and with
 unconquerab1e resolutions, exhibit
 ing the nobIest qualities of their an
 cient race.
 1 England, France and Russia, finally took up the Greek cause, and when | the combined squadrons of the three l powers annihilated the Turkish fleet
 near Navarino in 1927 the cause of l Greek independence was won. It is a strange coincidence that the Greeks 1 owe their present freedom to an alli- ance of three nations which are now 1 allies again, and which have vainly Isought the intervention of Greece on their side. In the early days of ths l Greek insurrection the Holy Ali
 ance,'' led by Austria. opposed the l Hellenic cause, but the whole power i of European and American liberalism
 espoused the brave patriots of Hellas
 and set in motion a current of public l opinion too strong for the forces o1 reaction to stay or stem. It is to
 Russia, more than any other coun- try, however, that Greece owes the 1 realization of her long dream of free | dom ;