The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-09-05

strongholds are isolated and breathe the spirit of past ages. As an example it points to the Monasteries of Thessaly. nature-made skyscrapers reached by unioue elevators, which are described in communication to the society by | Elizabeth Perkins as follows:
 saThere is a legend, perhaps it is his tory, that there was once ruler in Constantinople who disliked his brother | and wished to banish him to the remot- | est corner of his Xxi gdom Consequently | the monarch built the monastery on well-nigh inaccessible mountain in Thessaly- and founded brotherhood about 400 years ago, in what seemed to be the uttermost corner of the earth. "The monastery was called 'Meteora, meaning 'domicile of the sky After the original was built, twenty-thrse others grouped themselves around and were inhabited for a while They were however, finally abandoned, with the | exception of three which are still in l use
 ! .~rhe seven hours trip across the plains of Thessaly to the iowa Of Kalabaka is most enchanting. Occa- sionally a Greek priest, with long beard long hair, and long garments rides by. His high hat and his large cross in dicates prominently his calling, and. if he is not in too great hurry, a pedes- trian may stop him. kiss his cross, and 1 be touched on the forehead with a little switch, presumably dipped in holy
 water. and the sinner obtains absolu- tion for the day.
 1 we left the train at kalabaka. and 1 there took horses and guides to climb
 to the high built monasteries. For three hours the horses had to pick
 their way over hillsides where. in the month of February, no trail was visible. "As we looked in wonder at one de- | tached colossal pillar of stone, we dis covered on its seemingly unattainable summit building. This habitation of
 man, half natural rock and half arti-
 ficial, seemed most extraordinary. Our guides drew attention to the higher precipices, and as we grew accustomed to their outlines we saw, on all sides,
 monasteries tucked into the ledges of
 the perpendicular walls. They are not
 all inhabited today. but they are there,
 bearing testimony that man has climb
 ed, and built. and lived on crags that
 seem impossible for goats to climb.
 "The whole of the west plain of Thessaly lay at our feet, and the white mountains of the Pindos range rose
 rugged and imposing before us At the
 base of the rock on which Trinity is perched, like an eagles nest. our guides hallooed and beat with stick on a tin can. found in the bushes. Soon
 an answering call came back. and over the precipice, some three hundred feet
 above us. the peering faces of several monks were seen. Then something serpentine flew into the air. and as ii dropped perpendicularly we saw dang- ling from a coil of rope what looked like a small fish net Down came the cable until it touched the earth al our feet, and the fish net proved to be a large sized rope bag. which opened and spread out flat on the ground.
 "QAe at time we were invited tc
 step into the middle of this net and
 squat. Turk fashion. The edges were
 gathered together onto large iror
 hook, a shout was givo.. d the nei
 scared upward, while it's occupant felt
 somewhat like an orange at the bottou
 of a market woman's basket.
 ."The ascent takes just three minutes
 Occasionally the openwork elevator
 swings into the rock with slighI
 bump, but the monks at the top wint the windlass slowly. and the bumpinl . does not hurt but as a compensation , the view grows more beautiful ever,
 second. At last the top was reached