The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1919-07-17

l rode both ways setting up on top
with the Greek drivers, and, of course.
Il learned some more Greek, for
learned enough of the language last
fall so l can talk enough to learn
more whenever am with Greeks who
cannot speak some language l know
more about than of Greek.
Sparta is city of only about 1000
people. During the Turkish rule of
Greece for some 400 years preceding
1821-1S28 (the Greek war for Inde-
pendence), Sparta Of old was aban-
doned and the Greeks left the place
on the rolling hills or ridges of the
valley, and built another city up on
the mountain side. Some 80 years
ago, a new city was again started in
the valley, but mile or so from the
site of the ancient Sparta, which is
marked only by group of rather
uninteresting ruins of old walls.
The view from Sparta is one of the
finest / have seen anywhere in Greece,
the long range of Mt. Taygetos on the
west side of the valley rising quite
abruptly with rock walls to the snow
capped top, about $500 feet above sea
level, while the valley at Sparta is
perhaps 1000 feet above the sea. From
the river near Sparta the road toward
Tripolis climbs steadily for more than
20 kilometers Q2k miles) winding
around the points and gorges of the
mountain side (east side Of the val
ley) and then goes along among the
mountain tops, finally descending 10
kilometers to the plain Of Tripolis,
which is about 2,150 feet above the
sea.
1t was an interesting trip, and there
was enough farming to make it well
worth while. Even the mountain side
from the Tripolis plain to the top, is
nearly all terraced with rock walls
between the little patches of land
where wheat is grown every other
year. the land being left fallow the
other years. l have seen such patches
not more than three feet in diameter,
with long rock lodges or rock walls
on all sides. Think of wheat field
of one square yard, dug up with a
sort of grub hoe, seeded by hand, Of
course, and harvested by gathering
the straw in the left hand and cut
ting it off with little sickle held in
the right hand. Probably million
acres of grain are harvested that way
in Greece each year, and mostly by
women They tie these in small bum
bundles, which are tied onto the pack
saddle of a mule, some six or eight
bundles nearly as large around as
salt barrel being tied on the side Of
the big saddle, till one can hardly
see the little mule, and then carried
from a few rods to as much as two
or three miles to the village, where
it is piled up on the threshing floor
or near it, later to be threshed out
by the tramping of the mules.
The mules have a shoe that covers
the entire bottom of the foot, so their
feet will not wear too fast on the
rocky roads and paths.
Much of the wheat will not yield
more than three or four bushels per
acre. The seed grain has produced
only one stalk, and that carries one
little head averaging less than IL
inches above the surface Of the ground
in many fileds, and carrying three to
six grains in the head.
o< in, Tri a
country girl came in early one morn
ing with load of grape vines on the
little mule. They were saved from
the pruning of the grapes, cut to a
length and tied into small bundles of
nearly uniform size. The hotel man
stopped the girl and asked the price
of the wood" per bundle. She asked
so lepta 90 cents). He offered IS
lepta she refused his offer and started
on, but he stopped her and offered
20 lepta per bundle; then rs. 30, 35
and finally 40. She then came down
to 45 He offered Al, AZ and finally
came up to the As, telling her to un-
load them.
There had been much talk and time
wasted (?) He reminded her that a
few years ago he never paid more
than IL lepta, and she said.
my Christian, at that time pair
of shoes in Tripolis cost IL drachmas
(about $2.40), while now l must pay
70 drachmas; and see that, my shoes
are all to pieces" He advised her to
have them mended. A neighbor or
croney of the hotel man Joined him
and both men tried to jew the girl
down.
Finally after the man had bought
the load, and the girl had them partly
unloaded, he said to her that the
punches were not as large as he
thought they were, and he would not
pay her As lepta for them. She packed
them on her mule again and went on.
There is a saying that it takes two
Jews to beat one Armenian in a deal,
and two Armenians to beat one Greek.
That girl had probably brought
those punches of grape vines from
distance of several miles.