Greeks Plan for War

1916

Athens, Sept. 9, via London, Sept. 11. — "If the Entente and anti-Venizelist factions can only keep quiet for 10 days and not embroil the situation, Greece's entry into the war will be a settled fact," said a prominent Greek official to the Associated Press this morning. "If not," he continued, "it is the end of Greece."

King Constantine and Premier Zaimis had a lengthy conference on the situation today. On the whole, the situation with regard to Greece's entry into the war on the side of the Entente Allies seems favorable.

—The Fryeburg Post, Fryeburg, Maine, Sept. 12, 1916, p. 7.

Germany's Handicap

1916

Mr. Boyce's Talks

A piece of "war news" that has been featured in the dispatches from abroad is the report from Rome that "Berlin newspapers are discussing the possibility of shortening the German front, and it is believed that this is intended to prepare the German people for the evacuation of France and Belgium."

This sort of a report will have to be taken with a large grain of salt, in view of the fact that there have been many war rumors from the same source which failed to "stand up," as the correspondents say. At this time, with Roumania added to the ring of foes about the Teutonic powers and with Greece nearly the same as in, there would naturally be strong temptation for guesswork along the lines of the dispatch from Rome. Whether Germany has reached the point where she is ready to consider withdrawing from northern France and Belgium is another question. The news of the withdrawal of large forces of German troops from the Verdun front to assist the Austrians and Bulgarians in the new Roumanian campaign is of greater significance than the Rome rumor.

Readers will remember the interview which I had at Berlin with the German Minister of Agriculture, in which he said that Germany was like a fortress surrounded by enemies. He said she was perfectly able to produce everything within herself absolutely necessary to eat and wear and for defensive purposes — and there he stopped. I gave it as my opinion that Austria-Hungary and Turkey were Germany's great weakness, and that the more Germany permitted her military machine to be scattered and the farther she got from Berlin, the more likely she would be forced back within the original German fortress. So far, Germany has been saving her own country, except for men, war materials and supplies. However, on account of the necessity of aiding Austria-Hungary and Turkey, and particularly the former, she has had to go far beyond what might be called the walls of her fortress. The more the fighting fronts are extended the more serious the situation becomes for her.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 6.

Chrysanthemums

1910

Chrysanthemums stand fourth in commercial importance among flowers. Only the rose, the violet and the carnation surpass them, and that chiefly because the chrysanthemum season is so short, while the others can be had from the florist nearly the whole year round. Greece gave us the name. Chrysanthemum means "golden flower." But the name was invented long before the big butter yellow globes were known in the Occident. It referred to the prevailing gold in the small varieties that were known. Strangely enough, the first chrysanthemum brought into Europe was not gold, but purple. It was a small flower about two inches across, shaped, like an aster. Somebody took it to Europe from China in 1790 — and, presto, the modern history of chrysanthemums was begun. — Argonaut.

Treasures of the Sea

1903

The sea around the shores of Greece is full of treasures. A little time ago the divers were bringing up the statues lost when the ship which was taking them to Rome was wrecked over 2000 years ago. Now the relics of the battle of Navarino, which was fought in 1827, are being fished up, and a number of old bronze cannon, swords, guns and pistols have been recovered from the Turkish and Egyptian ships. — Tit-Bits.


Household Sermons

The best sermons that ever were written to make men good husbands were written to recipes. — New York Press.

Antiquity of Geometry

1907

The Science May Have Existed In India For Long Ages

Did we learn our rule of three and our Euclid from India? Researches have brought to light astronomical tables in India which must have been constructed by the principles of geometry. Some are of the opinion that they have been framed from observations made not less than 3,000 years before the Christian era, and if this opinion be well founded the science of geometry must have been cultivated in India to a considerable extent long before the period assigned to its origin in the west, so that many of the elementary propositions may have been brought from India to Greece.

The Indians have a treatise called the "Surya Sidhanta," which professes to be a revelation from heaven communicated to Meya, a man of great sanctity, about 4,000,000 years ago. This book contains a rational system of trigonometry which differs entirely from the first known in Greece and Arabia. In fact it is founded on a geometrical theorem which was not known to the geometricians of Europe before the time of Victa, about 200 years ago. And it employs methods of demonstration unknown to the Greeks, who used others. The former have been attributed to the Arabs, but it is possible they have received this improvement in trigonometry as well as the numerical characters from India. — Chicago Tribune.