Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1916-11-02

vines, and many trees. But for one who
spent, as I did, four summers on and in
Athens, 1t is not easy to learn that hills
may have a beauty aside from forests, and
that colors, contour, and form can lend
enchantment to the naked rock. 1t wa.
long before my New England eyes appre.
ciated the wonderful tints which the
Athenian sunset throws upon Lycabettus
and Hynettu and that L learned that Ath
ems now, as ever, should be hailed as the
'violet-crowned city,
II found the Athenian climate agreeable
and [ cannot now recall a single day of
MY stay there when, even in the rainy
season, the sun did not shine at least part
of the time. Cold winds there We're. tc
be sure, in winter, blowing down from the
snow-capped hills above the town or
blowing up from the sea at Phaleron: hui
there We're no ~frosts; the roses bloomed
during every month of the year in the
legation gardens; oranges ripened In the
open air, and We picked our breakfast
fruit from the trees outside of the win.
dow, while the palm hourishes there as i
have seen it nowhere else, not even in
the Riviera. The summer heat is easily
endurable despite a we'll nigh constant
temperature OF nearly 100. the absence OF
rain removing the humidity which makes.
American midsummer so intolerable.
Socially, too. the Athenian year divides.
itself with the climate. t the end of the
rainy season the court, the diplomati.
body. and the rich flee away, the latter
going. as they say, to Europe;' and to
take their places there flock to Athens and
to the seaside hotels at Phaleror and to
villas and resorts at kephisia-in-the-hills
numbers of rich Greeks from Asia Minor
and from Egypt; and the whole city re
verses the order Of it's winter life, turning
night into day and spending most of the
hNl1rS hot uyaoo c,,rcot o-l cr,~;- -
doors.
"Athenian HOSES are built to resist
heat. The exterior and interior. walls are
all OF thick stone, and. with tightly closed
windows, one stays in doors until the
afternoon tea, when the level rays of tho
setting sun permit adventure. Then one
strolls or drives, dimes wherever the din.
ner hour may find him, and Invariably OUT
of doors, journeys by tram to Phalerou
for the bathing and the music or seeks
the cool garden of the Zappeion to see the
movies or goes to Alysside for dinner
and the vaudeville, and never loses cast.
by returning home as late as 2 O'clock in
the morning.
Everywhere about the town. on thu
roofs of clubs or hotels, in the gardens or
on the terraces of restaurants, beneath
the proper trees of the parks, and even
in the streets tables are spread and I
venture to say that more than 100. 900 neo.
pie dine in the open air each night of an
Athenian summer. Greek cooking is mora
oriental than indigenous. Lamb or kid
with chicken-which has always seemed
to me to be the national bird Of all Eu-
J rope-are the principal meats, though from
the shores of Eleusis come delicious wild
duck, and other game birds are found
near by, while play. a Turkish dish nj
rice with chicken or lamb, and giaourti
the bulgarian ferment of milk, are stand.
ards in every Hellenic bill of bare.
With the renewal Of the rains the
Drown nelds and hillsides quickly clothe
themselves in green. The royal family "a.
turns from its cure the diplomats coma
back from leave, the great houses OF the
city open, the hotels and summer parden.
close. the Levantines take themselve.
home, and the winter season begins.
Entertaining In Athens travels a Soma.
what narrow circle. State dinners at tha
palaces, reciprocal entertainments at tina
legations, few receptions, and still fewer
dinners at Greek houses form the back.
bone Of the winters enjoyment. Greek.
rarely invite a stranger to their bread all.
Though among themselves exists a societv
which the foreign colony knows of, chiefly
by rumor.
There is much conversation in Atben-
a n$salons, and always Of a high order
In no capital OF Europe, I believe. can hc
found a more cultured society, and In no
drawing room that l nave known doe.
conversation flow SO smoothly and at snch
a high level. Art, politics. and the drama
are all we'll known in Athens. and the
Greeks are such accomplished ~linguists
that any foreigner may use his own
speech without hesitation. French. OF
course. 10 the prevailing foreign tongue.
with English pressing 1t hard for tirst
place"