Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1921-06-23

prepared by the National Geographic So
ciety, Washington, D. c.
Greece, in carrying on in Asia MI
nor, against the Turkish Nationalists,
what may be called the only major
war now in progress, attracts atten-
ton anew to the prolonged presence
of the Greeks on the world stage.
There are few parallels to the strik-
ing racial phenomenon of Hellenic
continuity throughout the vicissitudes
of 1000 years. Modern research has
penetrated the dark byways of me-
dieval Greek history, and we now
know that the Greeks, whatever their
temporary fate, have preserved un-
broken the thread of their national
existence.
The firmest bond which unites the
Greek Of today with his illustrious
forebears of the golden age is the
Greek language, the essential ele-
ments of which remain as they were
in the days when the tongue served
\ as the medium of the noblest poetry
and the sublimest philosophy which
| the race has yet produced. This
tongue traces its unbroken lineage
| back through medieval and New Tes-
lament Greek to the classic speech Of
Plato and Of his contemporaries.
And yet, with all this continuity
of language, there exists now in
Greece linguistic condition of af-
fairs around which centers contro-
versy at once comic or tragic; for
there are in Greece two languages
or, rather, the one language in two
fOrms-one written by the newspa-
pers, spoken by the educated classes,
and used in parliamentary debates
and in public documents, including
the Scriptures, the circulation of
which is regulated by law; and the
other a vernacular used by the mass
es of the people, containing many
words of foreign origin, especially
Turkish and Italian, arising from
those periods of foreign occupation,
with a much simplified grammar rare
ly reduced to writing, except for pri-
vate communications. The former is
the cultured tongue; the latter the
popular idiom; and between the two
there RACES a merciless warfare, in
which fanatical students of the uni
versity have lost their lives, ministers
their portfolios, and a Metropolitan
of Athens his miter.
Greece of Today Almost New.
Greece of today looks back only
three generations, If one places its
origin in the war for independence
which was concluded by the protocol
of London in 1880; and, witnessing
the progress which in that brief span
has been made in land of such
sparse resources, one cannot see how
praise can be withheld from a peo
pie who have accomplished so much
When the city of Athens passed
from Turkish control and was des
ignated as the capital Of the new free
Kingdom of Greece, it was a mere
: handful of wretched huts clustered
about the Acropolis. Today it is {
: thoroughly modern city, with splen
did streets, magnificent public build
ings, handsome residences, attractive
? parks, and most of the modern i'm
? provements of which western cite!
t boast The building of this city alon,
: in land of such scanty resources /!
< fairly comparable to the development
of our own rich West, and as meri
torious when all the circumstance
: are considered. Indeed, had the Greel
/ of today nothing to his credit saw
3 the building of the attractive capita
, of his nation, that alone would b.
: sufficient to rank him among the con
t structive agencies Of the moderl
world. ,---4 'e'- ''-'sFlls! ae ( ( "a n L.
Y In this city of old memories AM
= new hopes, Greek life centers now a
, in its classic days, and here ancien
4 and modern Greece are inextricabl
t mingled in a curious medley Of mo
= dernity and antiquity. which colors tn
d most ordinary of everyday affairs
!, On every hand arise the shatteret
r monuments of its splendid past, an
o even the tiniest fragments whic
serve to link the life Of the presen
d with the days that are gone are mos
s carefully preserved.
d Guards Its Antiquities.
The Greek government is KeenI
g alive 20 its responsibility for the safe
f guarding of its antiquities, and tn
= department of archaeology, under tn
charge of the ministry Of educatlo
= and religion, is painstakingly orgar
,, lied and prudently administered. Th
l. museums at Athens are handsomel
d housed, conveniently arranged, az
s curately catalogued, and open to ir
= spection and study without fee, thi
e latter being a point of great prid