--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Alder, Lydia D. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 19 number: 3 published: 1916-01 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Lydia D. Alder, "The Island of Samos," *Improvement Era* 19, no. 3 (January 1916): 249–252.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1903unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera1903unse start_page: 249 end_page: 252 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1916-01) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1903unse publication_year: 1916 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1916, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # The Island of Samos The Island of Samos BY LYDIA D. ALDER The island of Samos is situated forty-two miles south ofSmyrna, off the west coast of Asia Minor. It is twenty-sevenmiles in length, its greatest breadth is ten miles, contains twohundred thirteen square miles, and has a population of nearlyfifty thousand. Two ranges of limestone mountains traverse theisland. Their slopes are partly covered with pine woods, vine-yards and olive groves. The valleys are very fertile, for this isone of the most productive islands of the archipelago. Its exportsare raisins, oil, fruits, skins and corn. We were informed thatan excellent quality of muscatine wine was manufactured here. Themineral products are iron, lead and silver. Vathy, its principaltown and capital, is situated on the south side of the island, andit has a good harbor. The town of Cora, near the south coast, isof much importance. It is built on a portion of the site of ancientSamos. In those times the island was famed for its temple ofJuno. Of this temple only a few ruins remain. Cora was thehome of Pythagoras and the Sculptor Theodosius, and was, fora time, the home of Anthony and Cleopatra. The Samiotes wereamong the first to join the Greek war of independence, throughoutwhich they were successful in holding the island against the Turks.Since 1832, the Island has been an autonomous principality, pay-ing a small tribute to Turkey. The people are Greeks, both inlanguage and religion. The island rose to great power underPolycrates, B. C, 532, and became the centre of Ionian arts,luxury and science, so the history reads. We arrived early in the morning at Vathy. The vessel wasanchored about two miles out in deep water. We were rowed tothe island over a beautiful stretch of blue sea. On landing atVathv we found the town to be one of the cleanest and prettiestimaginable. This we fully appreciated after the unsanitary condi-tions of Constantinople. The streets, and even the quay, are wellpaved with wide, white stones. Little patches of garden rosesnewly out; hawthorn, red and white, in full bloom and the treesladen with blossoms, make it an ideal spot of beauty. We madeourselves understood when we inquired for the post office, whichwe found to be a funny little affair up quite a flight of stairs. Ata store where post cards were sold, we found a man who fairlywell understood English. This man conducted us to the office 250 IMPROVEMENT ERA of Mr. Marce, the British jambassador. We learnedthat Samos is under thecombined rule of England,France and Russia. TheSultan of Turkey, however,holds the appointive powerof the ruler or prince, buthe must be a Christian. TheBritish consul was not inbut his brother, who couldspeak English fairly well,was glad to see us. Theconductor of our party,with a proud wave of hishand, which included all ofus, introduced us as "sub-jects of King Edward."This brought the quick re-tort from the writer, "I aman American citizen, subjectof the people!" Mr. Marce very cour-teously proffered his ser-vices to conduct us to pointsof interest in the town, andseemed pleased to accom-pany us. Mr. Marce in-formed us there was butone Catholic Church on theisland. Paul visited andpreached here on his way toEphesus (Acts 17). Afterdiligent inquiries we couldfind no trace of that time,nor could we learn of any-thing that bears on thatvisit. The doors of the GreekChurch were open, and awoman was cleaning it. Onthe pulpit lay an open GreekBible, and gracefully sus-pended near it hung awreath of flowers. At theHouse of Parliament we were introduced to the ruler. Heonly speak in Greek. He was a tall, handsome man, with a couldgentle THE ISLAND OF SAMOS 251 and refined manner. He bowed graciously, and shook hands witheach one of us as we were introduced to him. Mr. Marce acted asinterpreter, and told him we were all English subjects, except thewriter, who was an American. Oil paintings of the princes(former rulers of the island) were suspended on the walls of thisbuilding. In the centre of the Council Chamber was a long table,with chairs on either side. The floor was covered with a richred carpet. All the windows overlooked the sea. In an outerroom of the building, the town council met. In one end of thisvery plain room is a slightly elevated stand, where the presidingofficials sit; two ministers of the church of England, and myselfwere invited to this stand, and introduced to the company as tworepresentatives of England, and one of the Stars and Stripes, towhich we responded in little speeches. The town council onlymeets three or four times a year. "It was not necessary to meetofterner," the ruler said. On parting with the Prince, he expressedhis deep regret that he could do no more for us, and wished us asafe and pleasant journey. To him we expressed our pleasurein visiting such a beautiful place. Three of the guards of theisland had accompanied us during our visit, and went with uswhen we visited the barracks, where we saw some of the soldiersscouring their arms with good, old-fashioned brick. They area fine looking lot of fellows. Their dress is of blue broadclothpiped with red. This costume fits to the waist, then a kilt skirtreaches to the knees. Permission was obtained to photograph thegroup, which pleased them very much. They were arranged bythe officers, who invited some of the party, among them the writer,to be of the group. We promised to send them a copy of thispicture on our return to England. The museum, a very primitiveaffair, contains curios of this and adjacent islands. The schoolwe visited is a long way behind our times. In one room a manteacher, with a light overcoat on, and cane in hand, was standingas instructor to about fifty boys ranging in age from 10 to 12years. Not a window in the room was open. The air was vile.In the next room was a class of perhaps 15 or 20 young men,who would in a year finish the school course. Mr. Marce intro-duced us in each room, as a party bound for Palestine and Egypt.The writer was made conspicuous as being "the only American.'We asked the young men what they intended to do when they hadfinished in this school. Some said, "We are going to England'sschool," others said, "We are going to America." We found some nicely woven baskets on the outskirts ofVathy, the ingenious work of natives, some of which we took backto England. The Monastery of the Prophet Elias, is situated atthe foot of the mountains, in a very beautiful grove-of trees,flowers and shrubs. Here we whiled a little time away, dreamingrestful day dreams, forgetting the world that seemed so far away. 252 IMPRl >VEMENT ERA In this magical spot the real gives place to the ideal, and forget-ting is the pleasure of the hour from which thought wakens witha sigh. On the way down to the quay we stopped at the consul'soffice and found he had arrived. He was a rather handsomelooking Greek who spoke, excellent English. He informed usthat his family had been consuls in Samos since 1808, first hisgrandfather, afterward his father, and now himself. Being askedhe said that he was empowered to act in the name of the UnitedStates in any matter required. The consul and his brother ac- MK|^^*^yH|ipHa , ;»Mtf$H> i Sift " M"^^1^%*>Jin^a*ir.^9 m MONASTERY OF THE PROPHET ELIAS companied us to the quay and in parting, graciously wished us apleasant visit in the Orient, and a safe return to our native lands.We expressed our appreciation of the royal welcome we had re-ceived, and. the kindness extended to us, by all rising in the boatthat was to bear us back to the vessel. We spoke of our delight invisiting Samos, the beautiful, the primitive, and the law-abiding,and sighed that all the world could not be like unto Samos. Withthree rousing cheers and a tiger, we bade farewell to the fairisland smilingly kissed by ocean's in-tumbling waves, and balmyair o'erladen with the frasrrant scent of flowers and sea. "Don't yez know yit how t' drive a nail widout mashin' yert'umb?" gleefully inquired the hod carrier of the injured carpenter."No," retorted the carpenter, hotly, "an' neither do you.""Shure Oi do," returned the hod carrier. "Hould th' ham-mer wid both hands."—Ladies Home Journal.