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Show Greece & Athens and (Prepared br ttin National Oeographlc Society. So-ciety. Waihlngton. U. C) Greece, In currying on In Asln Minor, Mi-nor, against tho Turkish Nationalists, what may be called tho only major war now In progress, uttrucis ntten-tlon ntten-tlon uncw to tho prolonged presence of tho Greeks on tho world stage. Thero are few parallels to the striking strik-ing rnclal phenomenon of Hellenic continuity throughout the vicissitudes of 2,000 years. Modern research has penetrated tho dark byways of medieval me-dieval Greek history, and wo now know that tho Greeks, whatever their temporary fate, have preserved unbroken un-broken tho thread of their uatlount existence. Tho firmest bond which unites the Greek of today with his Illustrious forebears of the golden ago Is tho Greek language, tho essential elements ele-ments of which rcmnln ns they wero In tho days when tho tonguo served as tho medium of the noblest poetry nnd tho subllmest philosophy which tho rnco has yet produced. This tonguo traces Its unbroken Uncage back through medieval and Now Tes-tnment Tes-tnment Greek to tho classic speech of Plato and of his contemporaries. And yet, with nil this continuity of language, there exists now In Greccu n linguistic condition of affairs af-fairs around which centers a controversy contro-versy at onco comic or tragic; for there ore In Grccco two languages, Ar tntlinf tlm nnn Innmmnn ! tuA w iuihvi v uhu iuu5uu(jv 111 tnu forms ono written by tho newspapers, newspa-pers, spoken by tho educated classes, and used In parliamentary debates and In public documents, Including tho Scriptures, tho circulation of which Is regulated by law; nnd tho other a vernacular used by tho masses mass-es of tho people, containing many words of foreign origin, especially Turkish and Italian, arising from thoso periods of foreign occupation, with a much simplified grammar rarely rare-ly reduced to writing, except for private pri-vate communications. Tho former Is tho cultured tongue; tho latter tho popular Idiom; and between tho two thoro rages n merciless warfare, In which fanatical students of tho university uni-versity have lost their lives, ministers their portfolios, nnd a Metropolitan of Athens his miter, ureeco or loaay Almost New. Greece of today looks back only three generations, If ono places Its origin In tho war for Independence, which wns concluded by the protocol of London In 1830; nnd, witnessing tho progress which In that brief span has been mndo In n land qf such spnrso resources, one cannot seo how pralso can bo withheld from a people peo-ple who have accomplished so much. When tho city of Athens passed from Turkish control nnd wns designated des-ignated as tho capital of tho new free kingdom of Creece, It was n mere handful of wretched huts clustered about tho Acropolis. Today It Is a thoroughly modern city, with splendid splen-did streets, magnificent public build-Ings, build-Ings, handsotno residences, nttrnctlvo parks, and most of tho modern Improvements Im-provements of which western cities boast. Tho building of this city nlono In n land of such scanty resources Is fnlrly compnrablo to the development of our own rich West, nnd as meritorious meri-torious when all tho clrcumstunces are considered. Infirm) iimt tim rir..ni. of today nothing to his credit savo tho building of tho attractive capital of his nation, that nlono would bo sufficient to rank him among tho constructive con-structive agencies of tho modem world. Iu this city of old memories nnd now hopes, Greek life centers now as In Its classic days, and hero ancient and modern Greece are Inextricably mingled In n curious medley of modernity mo-dernity and antiquity, which colors tho most ordlnnry of every-day affairs. On every hand arise the shattered monuments of Its splendid past, nnd even the tiniest fragments which servo to link tho life of the present with the days that nro gono are most carefully preserved. Guards Its Antiquities. The Greek government Is keenly alive to Its responsibility for the safeguarding safe-guarding of Its antiquities, and tho department of archaeology, under tho charge of the ministry of education nnd religion, Is pulnstaklngly organized organ-ized and prudently ndmlnis ored. Tlie museums nt Athens nro bnmlsomcly housed, conveniently arranged, nc-urntely nc-urntely ratnlogued, and open to In ii'itl'ii nnd study without fvt th ittr U.ig a point of gren pride the Acropoll. with Athenians. In addition thero nro now, ut various points In the kingdom where research Is going on, smaller museums devoted to tho preservation of the trensures of the locullty. Crowning tho city of Athens stnnds tho sheer nnd mighty rock ot tho Acropolis, dominated by the Parthenon, Parthe-non, matchless even In Its ruins, which projects tho changeless purity of Its lines against Hits background of tho changing centuries, which have nuulo of It In turn tho shrine of the ves nl, the church of the Christian, tho mobquo of the Moslem, nnd now nud ever the Ideal of all lovers of tho beautiful. Near nt hand cluster tho chief rem-nnnts rem-nnnts of the glory that was Greece; on the one side the tiny gem of the Temple of tho Wingless Victory, so chaste nnd delicate Iu Its proportions nud outline, nnd on the other tho nrechtheum, with Its unique porch of tho Caryatides. Hard by tho stairs of tho Imposing Propylnea rises the sturdy rock of tho Hill of Mars, wheuco St. Pnul declared the unknown God nnd Incidentally Inci-dentally took tho Athenian measure for all Intervening time. At a little distance stands tho rough-hewn Dcma, where Demosthenes and Cteslphon stroo In matchless phrase, while Just below rlso tho Ivory-tinted columns of tho Temple of Theseus, best preserved of all tho classic remains. Against such n background It Is easy to project tho ties of sentiment which bind the Ufo of the Greek of today to that of the classic worthies from whom he claims direct descent. With only n slight shock ono will learn that tho mnn who gives him his morning coffee benrs tho trcmen dous name of Thcmlstoclcs. And yet It Is difficult to visualize tho modern Athenian with thoso who once walked his streets. It Is only In the Islands or deep In tho country, where tho Albnnlan flood which swept across tho Attic plain has never reached, that ono finds tho facial lineaments and tho bodily grnco which tho ancient sculptor has taught tho modern world ns being common to nil Greeks of classic time. Its Aarlcultlirn Rarkuiarrf Greece Is essentially a Innd of agriculture, agri-culture, pre-eminently Intended to bo such; but, owing to tho tremendous drain by emigration from tho rural districts, tho progress of agriculture has been painfully deficient. In many places tho land Is tilled only by women wom-en and girls. Mnny of tho men hnvo gono off to America. Many And tho Athenian cllmnto agreeable. Cold winds thero are, to bo sure, In winter, blowing down from tho snow-capped hills above tho town or blowing up from tho sea at Phal-erou; Phal-erou; but thero are no frosts; the roses bloom during every month of the year; oranges ripen In tho open nlr, ono may pick his breakfast fruit from tho trees outside his window. Tho summer heat Is easily endurable, tho nbsenco of rnln removing the humidity hu-midity which mnkes American midsummer mid-summer so Intolerable. Ono cannot truthfully say that midsummer nights In Athens nro really cool, but thero Is a henslblo difference from tho heat of tho (lav nml n frliniwa iiu. t ways makes sleep possible. At tho beginning of the hot season, thoro Is usually nn exodus of tho court, tho diplomats and the wealthy from Athens. To take their places thero flock to Athens and to tho seaside sea-side hotels at Phaleron and to villas and resorts at Kcphlsla-ln-the-hllls numbers of rich Greeks from Asia Minor and from Egypt; and tho whole city reverses tho otder of Its winter life, turning night Into day nnd spending spend-ing most of tho hours between sunset nnd sunrise out of doors. Everywhere about the town, on tho roofs of clubs or hotels, In tlio gardens or on tho terraces of res aurants, beneath tho pepper trees of the parks, and oven In tho streets, tables nro spread, and probnbly as many as 100,000 people dlno In tho open nlr each night of nn Athenian summer. Throughout Greece and Indeed throughout tho entire Dn'knn region-English region-English Is much heard, because of tho great numbers of Greeks who have returned home from America; nnd few travelers In the Peloponnesus will fall to recall at almost cerv ra Irond stutlon the eager face thrust In n tho .n-rnie windo,i and qulvcr'n "lib lu d viand, "You fellers fnv VllU'o 41?' |