Show IN CLASSIC LANDS elder J M tanner tamer of provo who for some time past hs been serving as a missionary in turkey writes to the millennial Milen nial star from the hassle city of athens under date of blat majchr CWM as follows dew brother F M lydnah lamah junr arrived in constantinople on the ath and on the evening of th the loth instant we found ourselves on board an arabian steamer making through the waters of the golden horn into the bos BOB chorus aroud around the old seraglio and out into the stormy marmora marag W we stood on dock deck watching the glittering mosques and slender leader ginare mina minarets ti till they vanished from siant and the prince islands were lost to our view we were told that early next mornin morning we should pass through the dardac Darda dardanelles nelles elles at the stated time we were on deck with guide books in our hands asking a hundred questions from the p passengers ger 8 and woud wondering oring if this was the alace e or if it was as further along it 0 flyr yron on swam hire here or xerxes crossed the there re all kinds of answers we were given us ns but we were not content till we had fix edat least in our minds the exact places the trojan heroes crossed and where alexander led over his bis con army we concluded that it was not such a wonderful won erful ul feat to swim the dardanelles Darda nelles where leander and lord byron swam and were of the opinion that had they ever been herd b boys 8 in utah they wod either r have bave found a watery grave nor have been seized by a violent fever we were in smyrna a few hours and reached athens on the tae morning of of the AL AJ day daybreak brega we ware nifae both oil oft watch to get t the first se of the old acab acropolis wix a at athens althe n J we e could hardly wait ta on the ship is nabe the port 0 r t at porteus long enough to seep fr irom 0 m being cheated by the boatsman who rowed us on shore in our haste to get up to athens niles miles distant and climb the acropolis it boulde wo would ulde be tedious to describe these old ruins but the sculpturing and architecture they display are ara so grand that the they have ave given ven to every page of gre cian history the profoundest interest on the we took the train for corinth arriving at new corinth an enterprising enterprising little seaport town on the G gall about five mil mils from the ancient city of corinth we set out afoot through the fields to the city of biblical fame the earthquake of IM 1868 demolished the place ellch today has not more than thirty or forty houses bouses with probably a hundred inhabitants its wretched looking d dwellings well and miserable inhabitants are a sad comment on ou its former glory there is nothing here which speaks 0 of I 1 the illus illustrious triou past but the ruins of an old dorian temple we sat down amon among these ruins and ate our lunch luaco and wondered viba dered it if st pauls prophetic eye had ever penetrated the obscurity that has now settled upon this dismal but once renowned spot of earth the fortifications fifteen hup hundred dred feet above the city first came into importance during the peloponnesian wars and so favorable joe for defense has this thi 8 almost fortress been that the turks in 1582 could only be advantageously subjected by starvation this acropolis of corinth has been well lorti fled ed above by strong walls but it is nothing now but a mass of luins A peculiar feature that has given rise to tb many fabulous stories teven Is s a spring which bubbles up near the top p of the fortress from the summit the gulf of 1 corinth can he be seen one one side and the gulf of athens or egina agina on the other at present they are cutting a canal through the isthmus I 1 should judge it will be when finished ab about out two miles long on our return from old corinth we passed through the fields where the people were preparing their grape vines and plowing it is hard bard to say whether the same species of plow sai san use among them that tha was used by adam or not hit but at any rate it is very primitive A great reat proportion of the people are alonians albanians and if I 1 were to judge fudge what they are most moat celebrated for it would be for fer keeping savage dogs two of them cornered me on the way back and helped tp to turn the current of romantic thoughts I 1 had bad just fust been float ingin ingan but why I 1 should be the object of their spit ewas more than I 1 could account for as th they would pass rod good natu by rother brother lyman in order norder to bite me the costumes of the people in these parts are quite oriental the mews mens pants look as though they might be the missing link between petticoats and the modern parisian pants some of the men wear a sort of skirt which comes down to a little above the knees we hurried our visit and tried to bateh the returning train for athens but came ten minutes too late an agreeable situation to be in when one has raised blisters on his feet in order to be in ume tune the next morning we took the train to Eleus Eie ts and in the afternoon walked on to Athens bout about 12 miles distant this sacred old city is but little more attractive than corinth its ruins are more extensive he here re again I 1 bad the same difficulty in making friends among the albanian dogs at we took the road around the bay to the foot of the mountains where a small lake empties into the bay being a warm day we were very thirsty and struck a herd boys attitude upon the ground to quench our thirst ahl ah fits its salty salty as brine we exclaimed in the same breath we had now to walk an hour hoar before cam coming I 1 ag to drinking water this salt lake lak e probably has its source from ik a mine mineral ar spring near the base of the moun mountains ta I 1 n a fifteen minutes from this jake and we are at the mouth of the pass which leads over the mountains into info the plains of attica we turned liow jow and looked bank back upon the bay where we saw in imagination the great battle of salamis it was here gained a signal over Persians ms was si silent lentas as the grave the only indication of life was a big ja lazy zy albanian stretched out u upon on t the he ground watching his klock flock of sheep at nearly the highest point of the pass is located the daphne at present a cloister but former formerly lT a fortress marking the boundary between the athenians and the not hot far from these old ruins the ro road ad enters the plains of attica and athens is in sight where the pass emerges into the plains is a little house about feet and about 6 feet high bieh on the outside is a daub of a picture representing the savior on the outside is a miserable looking picture representing the virgin mary before the window of this miniature str structure the greek cat Cai catholics holies holics on their jour journey g mar 8 stop kneel down dowd A upon the ear eartra n I 1 in n t the le tops dust or mud and offer up a prayer before these images the road we have been traveling was in ancient times the holy row to Eleus Ele ts over which many a grand procession has marched to take part in the religious festivals niven given in the temple of demeter and core re in whose honor a beau beautiful atif ul work of the sculptor Is still kept in the at blots iii enste athena to is a pretty little city and quite modern the money here reminds one of the spartan money introduced by lycurgus itis it is quite a task for us to carry our money about not because we have so much but because a shillings worth is about all ali one man ought to carry euro european civilization however is iq advancing towards the east east it has already already pushed its way over the mediterranean and forced its commerce into most of its ports the greeks have become considerably sider ably mixed with other nations still they are struggling for their former greatness and place in the worlds history a noble ambition but out of proportion to their gen genius i us and resources kind regards from brother lyman your brother in the gospel J M |