TTTE mrATTA BTTNPAY BITE: APRTTj lfi, 1911.
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Succulent Stuffing for American Puddings Raised in Greece
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CGR12?TB
CANAL
A GREEK
3
(Copyrght, 1911, by Frank O. Carpenter.)
ATHAa (Special Coiresoon deuce of
PI The Bee.) The Greeks of today are a
I nation of farmers and saiifir ..c titles
are few and there are o..., S twelve
towns which have more than 10,000 in
habitants. The most of the ueoDle live
in farm villages, from which, they go out
daily to their work in the fields. The holdings
are small. The farms on the-Dlains are from
o Marseille, where it is
i reach wines, being
ten to fifty acres in sizo and there are very few in the
country which have more than 200 acres. I have
spent the last week in riding through the chief agri
cultural districts and pen these notes at Patras, the
chief port of the west It took me a day to reach it
from Athens, and there were vineyards and farms all
the way. I first crossed the plains pi Attica; they
are now spotted with orchards and vlneyarda;
trees and vines are bare, but the buds are swelling
and they will soon be covered with emerald leaves.
The soil is rich, reddish brown, which shines like vel
vet under the rays of the Bun. The mountains are
blanketed with robes of silver gray plush, the dusty
grass, upon which flocks of sheep' and goats are
feeding.
As 1 crossed these plains I stopped at Eleusls to
attend the spring festivities of the Greeks preparatory
to planting, and thence came on to Corinth, which in
the days of Christ was as large as Boston is now; it
has shrunken to less than 4,000 and is mainly mad Kopais basin.
tip or rarmers. ine town nus not been bettered by
the Corinth "Canal, which there cuts its way through
the isthmus. The traffic-is small and most of the
ships still go around to the Piraeus by sea. There
was a ship in the canal as I crossed it.
From Corinth on westward the railroad passe for
miles through great vineyards. The vines have been
cut back, and they are now nothing but stumps as
thick as my leg and as high as my knee; th'ey are
budding and will soon put out the new sprouts for
the year.
part of the crop now rn"i
used in making the cu. . .
mixed with grapes for that purpose.
In addition to tha Zante currant Greece produces
fine muscatels and sultanas, and also grapes, which
make excellent wine. The native wines are sd cheap
that the common man has wine at his meals. Many
of the farmers make their own wines after the old
style, in which the Juice is trodden out by the bare
feet of the girls of the family.
$
pressed from the crushed comb and strained feclhe
market.
Grain Farming.
I saw but little wheat on my way across Greece,
although I am told both wheat and barley are grown.
The most of the wheat used is imported from Russia.
Borne Is still raised on the plain of Thessaly, which in
A Queer Costume.
I wish I could lift half a dozen of these Greek
farmers up by the napes of their necks and drop them
down on the main street of an American city. You
would not know whether they were men or women
until you saw the beards on their faces. They seem
to be dressed for the stage and to be posing as ballet
dancers. They wear knee breeches and leggins, and
above them a dozen or less short white skirts, which
are so stiffly starched that they stand out from the
waist like those of the maid in the flesh-colored tights
.who dances about on the bareback horse of the circus.
Above the skirts Is a vest, covered with embroidery,
and a fez cap tops the outfit
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tub.
tne past was the bread basket of the country. This
the plain is nowj divided up Into, estates owned by a very man is his shoes; these are of red leather, turned up handkerchiefs bound around their heads.
few people, who rent the lands for two-thirds of the
crop. The government proposes to buy the larger
farms and sell them off to the peasants on long time
at low prices.
Another increase In the farming lands of Greece
will come from the draining of Lake Kopais; this will
add about 70,000 acres, and I am told that there is
more which may be brought Into use. As it 1b now,
less than one-fifth of the country 1b cultivated and
only about one-tenth is used for grazing. The only
farms of any size are those in Thessaly and in the
at the toes like old-fashioned skates, with a fat, red,
woolen tassel on the tip of each shoe. Such dresses
are always worn upon Sundays and feast days, when
the men strut about and talk of the greatness of
Greece present and past.
The Greek women have curious costumes which
vary largely -according to locality. As a rule tnelr
dresses are flowing, and they look well on the tall,
long-legged maidens. A common field gown is made
of linen; it falls from the neck to the feet without the
fullness of the American Mother Hubbard. Over this
is worn a sleeveless sacque of white wool, bordered
with black stripes. Many of the girls wear knit or
At the other end of the felt caps of bright red and some have gay-colored.
The women
has been arranged for or even proposed Booh skirts
are-homespun linen, heavily embroidered with silk.
I bought one In Athens, which had . a band bf silk
thread, worked In curious patterns running a foot
deep along the edge of the skirt. The silk aJose
weighs several pounds.
are uniformly straight and well formed. They carry
heavy burdens, and that on their heads. I am told
they are intelligent, industrious and thrifty. They
are taught to sew when quite small, and are expected
to embroider the skirts to be used upon their wedding
days. TJiis is often done long before the marriage
Nevada Murderers Given Choice of Death
Millions In Currants.
. As I looked at the stumps a Greek official with
whom I was traveling said:
"It is these vineyards that give us our living; they
produce the chief crop of the country, bringing in
from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 a year."
"Indeed," said I. "I did not know that Greece
was a great exporter of wine."
"It is not," replied the Greek, "but these vine
yards are not grown for wine. The grapes they pro
duce are known as currants, and they are shipped all
over the world for making plum puddings, fruit cake,
buns and mince pies. We send thousands of tons of
them to Europe and from 15,000,000 to 20,000,000
pounds to the United Statee every year."
"But the bushes are not like our currant bushes?"
"They are not currants in that sense of the word;
they are a seedless grape as big as a marrowfat pea
and as sweet as sugar; they are dried and sold as
raisins; they get their name, currant, from the fact
that they were originally grown near Corinth. We
have, all told, about 150,000 acres devoted to them,
and we regulate the crop so as not to cheapen the
prices. This matter comes up in Parliament and it is
one of our political Issues. . We have a currant bank,
organized to aid the Greek farmer, and other banks
help them In handling the crop. At one time the cur
rant bank bought up the poor currants on the market
and sold them to local distillers for brandy; this was
because it was feared they might injure the reputation
of the Greek currant in the markets of the world."
"From where are the currants shipped?"
"The most of them are sent to Patras, and thence
to the different countries by sea. The export is some
times as much as 3,000,000 pounds per annum."
A Crop for America.
Since vthls conversation I have made some in
quiries about the Zante currant, as it Is called, and
am wondpring if It cannot be produced in America.
We are now taking about 13,000 tons every year, and
this is about one-twelfth of the whole crop. We have
all sorts of climates, and some which correspond to
that of Corinth. Parts of California and Arizona
must be of that nature. I am told that the currants
often produce a net of $40 per acre and that a cur
rant vineyard will sell for $400 or $500 per acre. The
vines begin to yield in their fourth year and are in
their prime at twelve years. They will keep on bear
ing for fifty years, and vines are shown here which are
said to be 100 years old. The vines are planted and
cared for as In most grape-growing countries. The
currants are ripe In August and are easily dried and
packed for shipment I am told that the Inferior
Poor Agriculturists.
The Greeks are very backward as to their farming
methods; they are now using the same tools their an
cestors did when Aid Athens was in the height of its
glory. The wheat Is cut with the sickle and bound
with the hand. The threshing Is done with flails, or
the grain is trodden out by bullocks. Much of the
work is done by women and girls. Oxen are used for
plowing, and the plow Is a forked stick with a rude
eh are at the end. Fertilizers are almost unknown
and no rotation of crops is practiced. The people
plant the same, grain year after year, until the fields
are worn out, and then let them lie fallow until tbey
recuperate. The soil Is thin and light, but I" Irrigated
it produces bountifully. One of the great troubles
is lack of water.
y v How the Farmers Live.
In the summer many of the farmers sleep out of
doors and live largely In the open air. The country
houses are almost everywhere poor and rather mean
In comparison with those of other European countries.
They have stone floors and the poorer ones have
neither windows nor chimneys. Some of two stories
have a stable on the ground floor, and the people live
above, going up by a stairway from the outside. There
is almost no furniture and a little stone stove or an
open fire often forms the cooking arrangements. In
the smaller houses the pigs are sometimes taken in
side. A little low wall Is built across one side of the
room and there the people sleep at night.
The Greeks live simply. I did not see a drunken
man during my stay in the country, and there cannot
be much gluttony In a place where bread, wine and
onions make up the average dinner. But little meat
is eaten by the farmer, goat's cheese and dried olives
taking its place. Olive oil is used for butter and is
eaten upon everything. Farm hands are usually fed
upon bread and olives, with mutton or goat's flesh
upon feast days. One of the great feasts is at Easter.
This holds the same place as Thanksgiving with us, a
roast lamb taking the place of our Thanksgiving
turkey.
The Honey of Hymettus.
You have all heard of the honey of Hymettus,
which was so celebrated by the old Greek poets. That
honey is sold throughout Greece, although it is
claimed that honey from other places than Hymettus
is equally good. All Greek honey has a fine flavor,
which is supposed to be due to the thyme which grows
everywhere. An American woman who has made a
fortune in bee-keeping In- the United States and who
understands all about flowers as honey producers has
Just made a tour of Greece. She says there Is no
land on earth so well fitted for the bee farmer nor any
which has as many honey-producing flowers. She
found fifty different varieties of blossoms on a tramp
of one day and discovered that each contained honey.
She thinks Greece might supply much of the honey
of Europe If its bees were bandied after modern
methods. As It Is now the hives are mere bnikets,
plastered with mud, and the bees sre smoked out
when the honey is taken. Many are killed and the
cutting Is so rudely done that the honey must be
OCRATES, In 399 B. C. drank the hemlock.
and his act has since stood forth as some
thing quite heroic. And there have been
other notable examples of self-destruction;
but it remained for Nevada to give mur
derers the choice of being legally killed or killing
themselves. The new criminal code of the state con
tains this section:
Section 431 The punishment of death shall be
Inflicted by hanging the defendent by the neck until
he is dead, or by shooting him, or by allowing him to
voluntarily take a sufficient quantity of hydrocyanic
acid to produce death. The Judge at the time of pro
nouncing sentence upon the defendant shall allow the
defendant to designate which of the methods of death
provided for herein shall be administered in execu
tion of his sentence, and notice of such designation
shall be given to the warden of the state prison. If
the defendant shall elect to voluntarily take hydro
cyanic acid, then he shall be provided by the physi
cian, by order of the warden and in his presence, with
a sufficient quantity of such acid to cause Instant
death.
This new code of the state of Nevada with its
ghastly choice of acid and lead and hempen cord seems
a step backward of 2,000 years, says an article in the
Chicago Tribune. But for all that it appears to be in
line with present day sentiment toward the death
penalty. In older times the gallows was a place of
publio amusement. Men hung pn Tyburn trees,
dangling in their chains. But hangings have almost
ceased to be a public spectacle. There has been a
revulsion. Many contend that crime Is not prevented
by hangings, that the publio. is merely brutalized.
States snd nations have done away with it. The
death scene has been robbed of much of its spectacu-
larism. And with the hydrocyanic acid of the Nevada
code, there need be not even the noise of scaffold
building; four men together in a Little room, a tiny
cup, and then
This code marks the first thought in modern
American Justice for the feeling of the dying man.
Tons of argument have been printed on the death
penalty pro and con; but It has all considered only
the effect upon the public and the prevention of
crime. This is the first time the murderer himself
has been allowed a choice, that he may name the
death which seems to him least horrible. When sen
tence is passed in Nevada the murderer shall 'name
A Dance at Elensls.
The Greek country girls have their national dances.
It saw one at Eleusls, within sight of the ruins where
were celebrated the mysteries, in the famous temple
where Demeter was worshiped and where the art of
agriculture had its start Youmay remember the
story. Pluto, the god of Hades, had carried off the
beautiful Persephone, the daughter of goddess Deme
ter, and Demeter was hunting her. She came to Eleu
sls disguised as an old woman, and the king there en
tertained her so well that she gave seed corn to his
son and taught him to farm. She finally found Perse
phone and arranged with Pluto that the latter might
stay with her outside Hades for two-thirds of the year,
while during the other third she would remain in
darkness, like seed corn in the ground. It was on ac
count of this legend that the Greeks held their farm
ing festivities here, and here they have them today.
At this dance the girls were dressed In costumes
of silk embroidered with gold. Their heads were cov--ered
with veils of fine silk, the ends of which were
striped with gold. They wore the long gowns which I
have described, and on their breasts were squares of
gold coins so strung that they extended from one side
of the body to the other. Those breastplates were
their fortunes, each girl carrying on her person the
the manner of his death. He mav b hnno-d nr
may bo shot. or. if he prefer to end the ghastly busl- dWry Wh,Ch Bhe br,DB8 t0 her nu8ban ,n marriage,
ness by his own hand, he may place on the tip of his Tbe GreekB have no marriages without dowries, and
tongue a slnEle droD of hvdrocvni,. ntA ., the brlde ,8 expected to add her share to the fund
the instant, fall dead. He may commit suicide by
poison under the law, the officers of the state stand
ing by. The prison doctor, under direction of the
warden, shall warn him Just what will follow, and
shall then hand him the poison cup upon which he
shall read, printed, this authority the state confers
for his self-destruction:
There is contained herein a sufficient quantity of
hydrocyanic acid to cause speedy death. You are
authorized to take the same for the purpose of carry
ing into execution the sentence of death heretofore
legally pronounced against you.
If the miserable victim of passion and Justice shall
which the groom has laid up for starting housekeeping.
In some parts of the country I am told that the boys
of the family have to .wait until the girls are provided
with husbands.
Weddings in Greece.
Weddings are usually held 'in churches and the
priests perform the ceremony. According to the rules
of the church, a boy cannot be married until he is 14,
and the girl bride must be at least 12. In many places
the girls are not married until 15, -and in some not
ur.tll 18. The dowry is fixed heforn thn waHiKn, t.a
fail at the last moment and his hand refuse to carry if it has not been paid the bridegroom may demand
to bis lips the cup, he shall forthwith be led out and the cash before the ceremony take rln M.n.
hanged from the gallows until he be dead, or be stood
up and shot.
German Snuff-Takers Particular
T
that
HE snuff-taking habit prevails to a consid
erable degree in Germany, although it
seems to be on the wane in other parts of
the world. The explanation of this is said
to be due in a measure to the fact that in
some parts of Germany, where the land is largely cov
ered with trees, smoking is prohibited and the snuff
habit is looked upon as a substitute.
There are Beveral factories in Nuremberg
make a specialty of tbe so-called Brazil roll tobacco,
made ready to be ground up for snuff. In Landshut
and Regensburg are half a dozen factories that have
a very considerable output of an especially favored
brand of snuff known as schmalzler, undoubtedly so
named because the main ingredient after tobacco is
grease (schmalz).
Landshut is the center of the schmalzler snuff in
dustry. It Is still the custom for the old forest
dwellers that is, the Bavarian Highlanders to pre
pare their own snuff, which lnxthe language of the
people Is known as schmel or schmai, and almost
every old snuff-taker has a special recipe of his own.
Tobacco usually forms not more than half the
body of this snuff. The tobacco Is tbe so-called Brazil
rolls; these are formed of tobacco leaves, first soaked
lu a syrup, strongly Impregnated with various spices,
and then twisted Into hard rolls of about one and a
half Inches In thickness. These rolls can be bought
from every village merchant. The old snuff-taker
adds to this tobacco, according to individual taste,
beef tallow, a little lime, a small pinch of very fine
pulverized glass and such flavoring matter as his ex
perience has found most pleasing.
The Ingredients are well mixed in a wooden bowl
with a wooden pestle, the rubbing process being con
tinued until tbe required degree of fineness Is reached.
Pine needles or other similar ingredients are often
added as flavoring. The schmalzler thus finished is
usually canted in pouches made from hog's bladder
or in wooden boxes. When the old Bavarian moun
taineers meet each other the first thing after they
have said "Gruess Gott" (God greet thee) is the pres
entation of the snuff box or pouch. A refusal is al
ways regarded as an unfriendly act.
In the district about Landshut tbe habit of snuff
taking Is almost universal. The children learn it
early and the women not infrequently contract the
habit. Foresters sent here from districts where the
habit Is not known are said to acquire it very quickly,
and Its use and the strength of the habit have received
official recognition in the instructions to wardens of
prisons and similar institutions in south Bavaria that
confirmed snuff-takers must not be suddenly and en
tirely denied its Indulgence. In tbe forest district
snuff-taking UuniversaX v
the marriages are a matter of business and divorces
are not uncommon.
The farmer's daughter Is supposed to have a trous
seau consisting of at least three costumes. One Is for
everyday wear, one for Sundays and the other for
festivals. In going to the church the wedding party is
usually mounted on mules, with a man going in front
playing the bagpipes. After him come the bridegroom
and his friends and behind him the bride, who must
be silent all the way. Following the bride are the
mules bearing her dowry. The bridal gowns differ,
according to tbe locality, and also the wedding trous
seau. In one provlnce the bride wears a gauze veil of
old rose and in some other places the veils are white.
As the married couple leave the church their
friends throw candles at them and accompany them
to the house of the groom. Here the groom enters
and shuts the door, after which the bride Is led up.
She first 'smears the closed door with honey and then
throws a ripe pomegranate at it. The pomegranate 1b
filled with seeds, and If it breaks and the seeds stick
to the honey it is thought to be lucky and her married
life will be happy. As she does this her husband
opens the door and offers her bread and salt. She
dips some bread Into the salt and eats it, and then
touches some water and oil. After this her husband
lifts her lnnide the bouse and puts her in a corner
with her face against the wall. Here she Is supposed
to stay while he and his friends are eating the wed
ding dinner and as long thereafter as there Is a guest
in the house. When the last stranger leaves and her
new lord gives ber permission sbe may turn around
and make herself at home. This is the one time of
ber life when every Xanthippe Is silent
FRANK. Q. CARPENTEa.
