Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 308, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 January 1918 — FAMOUS AS CURRANT ISLAND [ARTICLE]

FAMOUS AS CURRANT ISLAND

Zante, in the lonian Sea, Also Is Noted _■ . for Its Olives and Earth--quakes. Zante, the famous currant island of the lonian sea, where the revolutionary movement against the policy of King Constantine followed close upon thetifeels of similar manifestations of discontent in Crete and LeSbos, is described by the National Geographic society in the following war geography bulletin: The frequency with which Zante is visited ’by earthquakes of disastrous severity accounts in some measure for the comparative lack of prosperity on this lonian island, which enjoys a salubrious climate, is 'abundantly watered by springs, stilP deserves the” appellation of “wooded Zacynthos,” applied to it by the poet Virgil, and whose central plain is a veritable garden spot with the succession of vineyards and olive proves., Zane lies eight miles south of the island of Cephalonia and miles west of the nearest point on the Pgjd* ponnesian coast. Its greatest length Is about 25 miles and’ it has a maximum breadth of 12 miles. The western half of the island consists of a series of bare, limestone mountains which slope gradually down to the eastward until the luxuriantly fertile central plain is reached. The eastern Side of the island also Is elevated, but here the hills are clad with vines and groves of the fig. olive and' oraqge. The olives of Zante are. with the exception at those grown on the nei£hbortag Island of Corfu, the largest tills part of the world. The chief product of the island and the principal article of export is the currant (which derives its name from its native city, Corinth). This small grape, which grows on a dwarf vine, has played and is still playing an impart in the economical life of Greece. A mania for currant culture swept over Zante and other sections of the country adapted to the vine’s growth faring tbs last quarter of the Jeenth cehtury, to meet a shortage in

France, but it resulted disastrously for the Zantlots. Zante was colonized either by the Arcadians or Achaens in very early times. It remained Independent for many generations, but in the middle of the fifth century, before the Christian era, the Athenian Admiral Tolmides forced the inhabitants to acknowledge the supremacy of his city, while Sparta’s sway was accepted after the Peloponnesian war. In 357 B. C. the island was used as a base of operations against Syracuse by Dion, the pupil of ■•Plato. The expedition was a success, but Dion’s career as master of Syracuse was short-lived, for he fell a victim to the assassin Callippus, one of his own Athenian followers. The Macedonians captured Zante in 217 B. C., and they were followed by the Romans, under whose regime the island was a part of the province of Epirus. Vandals, Normans, Franks and Turks held the island in turn until" 1455, when the Venetians bought it from the last-named conquerors. The long suzerainty •of the republic city is reflected today not only in the appearance of the people, but in their language, arid most' of the Zanitiot aristocracy boast of their Venetian descent, while they speak both the Greek and Italian languages. In 1797 the island became a French possession, and shortly afterward was occupied for a brief season by the Russians, who w'ere followed by the British. In 1864 England ceded Zante a’nd the other lonian islands to the modern kingdom of Greece. An interesting natural phenomenon of the island is a shallow spring on the Bay of Keria, wdiere both pitch and wateß) bubble up. Thel pitch has-been used by the natives in caulking their boats since the days of Herodotus. ' . On the east coast is the capital city and chief seaport, Zante, occupying the site 1 of the ancient city of Zacynthos. Its 14,000 people represent a third of the total population of the island.

■ & ; An electrical process for drying unbarked logsx)f lumber in piles has been Invented by a Frenchman.