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NEFI.,ECTIONS OF THE PAST A}TD PNESENT by ABISTODII'{OS KALDIS

ReflectionsPastPresent

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Page 1: ReflectionsPastPresent

NEFI.,ECTIONS OF THE PAST A}TD PNESENT

by

ABISTODII'{OS KALDIS

Page 2: ReflectionsPastPresent

NEFI,ECTIONS OF THE PAST AND PNESENT

Today I feeL ltke stretchlng under a p3.ene tree snd

gaslng d,ovrn to enJoy the aaure and. blue l{ed.lterranean Sea,

then turnlng around. to the Left or the rlght to look at

the Alpe tr{arlt lmes, Veeuvlo, Lyoavettos or Taygettos. It

d.oes not natter whlch morrntaln or voLoano aB long as lt le

on the l{ed.lterraneen $ee or 1ts pearl,y claughtsre, the

Adrlat lo or Aegean Seaer. , . But, aLas! I an ln New Ysrk

glty where lte fl,atness ls reLleved by some.anorphoue sky-

screpers and the aharelns Pal,lsedee.,.. I an stuok here

ln thls groat l1etropo11c.... Hetre uy son was born and here

llne some of uy best frlend.s and here I have epent nost

o f nny coneo loue l l f , c " , . .

. I l.anded here over forty Jrears &So, a merc ohlLd by

mod.errr etand.ard.e, but qulte grown up by olrounEtarlooerrrr

At fourteen I ras s ref,ugee fron savese Turkey and et

elrteen a, mqnagsr of a vast eonnerolaL onplre ln Egypt..,,

Ae I setd. Juet now, lt wae by elrcumstanoes rhtoh we oalL

Klsnet or Luck.... $o, rhen I am on the croertroade, ard'

I have to nahe a deotslon, aa I wae ln the late l916le,

Ey lnstlnct guld,od. rc and not 4y 1og1e.... In Egypt, Just

by aooldent, uy UneLe Enrmevlus] happcned to get sl.ek, etlil,

stnce no other menbsr of ny fenLly could sgbstltute for

Page 3: ReflectionsPastPresent

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hlm, I was sent to charter our shlps, to collect and. pay for

varlous tobacco pl1es, charcoal and shlpwrecked wheat that

the Kal-dls FrBres dealt ln at that t lme.

Belng by myself, wtth a lot of money at ny d.lsposal,

I d.evel-oped. lnto nanhood. mueh earl-ler than my norrul age.,..

Not that I natured slnce th€h,. . I never d. ld, I a lways

renalned. as my frlend,s and frlend.ly-enemles tell me, a

chl ld r of at best r rchl ld.- l lke ' r . . .

I had no tlne for archaeologloal stud.Les as I or1gl-

nally pl-anned... However, I was fortunate to vlslt the

Calro Museum and. glance at the nasterpleces of granlte,

l lmestone, etc. . . I was occupled from mornlng unt l1 nlght

wtth supervlslng the loadlng and unload.lng of our shlps,

ln the vast Douanee d. rAlexandrle. , . I came ln contact wlth

the ploneer Arab natlonallsts and very often I wltnessed

the ghastly scenes of the unloadlng of wound.ed. Brltlsh and.

AustnaLian soldlers, f rom the Hospl taL Shlps. , . Thls was

a heavy prlce that the All les pald. for the Gall lpoll Canpalgn

1n the Flrst World trlar. . . But, what d.td upset me uostly

was the nlsery of the Arablan and Coptlc worker ln comparlson

to the luxurles of thelr own effendlms and the forelg;ners,

of course. One had to retreat to the European Quarter to

eat and relax... Once when f changed ln Benha to board

another traln for Ismalllar orl the Suez Canal, I starved

for hours because the fl1es covered the food of the fLlthy

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restaurants, l1ke a bLack cLoud., . .

As soon as ny Unele recovered., I returned. to Athens., .

Here the Venlzel lsts and the Royal lsts dlv lded the Greek

natlon whlch was alread.y sufferlng by a heavy load. of over

a nll l lon Greek refugees from Turkey.,. It lost of ny chLLd-

hood. frlend.s had €ione to Anrerlca and I d.ecld.ed to go there,

too. I couLd not stand the parental guldanoe anymore and,

havlng tasted a totaL lndependence ln the Land of the Nlle,

I wss d.eternlned to proceed to Boston through New .York Clty

1n splte of the opposltlon of my entlne famlly.

tr0nly shepherd.s and farmers go to the States[ ny

parents eaLd. rrHow could^ you nake a llvlng fron nanuaL work

r r .Nou are no t used to l t r t t they ad .d .ed . . .

rrWeLL, I w111. try and., lf condltlons are unbearable,

I have enough cash to carry me through for a year or two

wlthout workLng. I wlll- study. rr I had. earned a thousand

gold.en pounds comnlsslon from the partners of the $hlp-

wrecked. wheat.and"I . oone!.d.ered, then as I et1Ll d.o tod.ay,

thls sum as a hug;e f ortune. . .

Belng uprooted from our hometown wlth lts open

horlzon, weaLth and. cosmopoLltan galety, we nere not happy

elther ln Leevos or ln MytlJ.ene, where we sought and. f ound

ref,uge from the blood.-sta1ned. hand.s of the crlmlnal Turk...

FulI of adolescent v16our, soon we reaLlzed how

asphyxlatlng was the atmosphere Ln herolc but poor Greece

Page 5: ReflectionsPastPresent

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r., A natton to be loaded. wft|r 3t+f6 ln ratlo to lts populatlon

wlth refugees, nany of then reachlng lts shores wlthout shoes

and. cLothee no rnatter how hard lt nay try lt ls lmposslble

to feed. them &11,. . And, we were not content wl th food aLone,

slnce most of us were fortunate enough to have some lnvestments

ln Brltlsh and Engllsh banks and. Ilfe was not as d.esperate as

wlth the nuLtltude of the vlctlms of thls forced mass exodus

oir $ur energles d.emsnded out}et . , . Luckl ly we dld. f lnd a

rellef by d.ecldlng to come to the country of George 'Cashlngton,

Jefferson and. Llnco1n.. . At f l rst ny faml ly we.s shoeked.. .

How could. I earn my L1v1ng ln a country where nanual labor

relgns supreme Among newly arrlvlng ltnrnlgrants... Amerlca

ls the ld.eaL country for farmers and. s€&n€rl... Theee argunents

at f lrst seemed. l-ogloa1 to me but, soon I dlscovered to ny

surprlse that I was as strong and even far stronger than

the average worklng nan ln my UncLe Ernmanuelts OLlve O11 t{1L}

!n Preveza where I wouLd. }lft 15O-1b. bags fuLl- of ollves

and. toss them wlthout straln lnto the gr lndlng stones.. .

I was Ero!{|ng so strong wlth soccer, footbaLL and oarlng

that at L? I was 1-82 pound"$.. . So I declded to fo l low ny

class.natee to Boeton where they flrst land.ed ln the summer

of '191-5.

The onLy lnpedlment now was the lack of lntellec-

tua] envLronment among the plaln lmmlgrants.. ' I was rLch

then, comLng from Alexandrla, Egypt wlth $e5OO. !n ny pocket

as a oornqLsslon from the sale of shlpwrecked, wheat to the

Engl-lsh Artqy... $o, I toLd my parents lf the aond,lt lons

!{ere not ld.eal-, I would return by the tlne the Flrst World

Page 6: ReflectionsPastPresent

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tfar was termlnated,.. WelLr Xoll cannot convlnce your parents

on ar1 unknown Journey, rro rnd.tter,how nany favorable arguments

you dlspos€rrr t{e had. reached an agreement: I shouLd embark

a,s a steerage pessenger on the S.S. rrPatrlstr, bound for

New Iork Clty, but, stopplng over ln Patras on the western

shores of Greece.r,and., lf these twenty-four hours proved'

lnposelbLe, then I would return home. Sure enough, I salLeA

and, to ny amazenent, at least slxty-flve of my feLLow-

traveLers were weLL nannered. young'men lnterested ln ped.agogy

and. phlLosophy, and. some of then ta]-ked even on poetry and

palnttng. $o I feLt that ny future l, lfe ln Amerlca,wouLd. be

among people lnterested. [n metaphyslcs and., slnce the country

!.s rtoh and. the lrages hlgh, one can work a few hours and

stud.y the rest of the t lme.. . Wel1, DS future exper lenceg

on the l-and. of the d.ollar were not dl.sappolntlng on that scorer

However, llx greetest dlsappolntment cane after leav-

1ng Patras and reachlns Boston. l4oet of the poor Lmmlgrants

there d.ld. not burd.en thelr bralns wlth abstract thotlghts.

Thelr sole concetrn was to save so they could etther return

qulckly to the beautlful lsLes and molrntalns of Greece, of,r

to send. all thelr savlngs for the ameLloratlon of thelr

fanl l lest poverty.

Those who phl}osophlzed 1n ny steerage eompartment

were not the usual lmnlgrants who Leave thelr pasturesr

farms and. f lshlng nets to come to rlch Amerlcai there

happened to be flf,teen grad.uates of the Patmos and Samos

Page 7: ReflectionsPastPresent

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$enlnary who, lnstead. of belng ordalned. as prlests, d.ecld.ed,

to cone to Amerlea and seek thelr for tunes., . th€ other f l f ty

were C1vlI Servants of Hls Malestyrs Imperlal Colony of

Cyprus. , . They went on str lke and they were f l red. . . .Bo they,

too, d.ectd.ed. 1n a group to come across the Atlantlc and l-lve

as free n€rr . . . I see them sometlmes here and there, 1 lke I

do ny own fellow-Atarneanso

t{hen from tlne to tlne I vlslted. ny frlend.s and. coo-

patrlots ln the polyglotld New York Clty, belng ref,ugees

they feel at home ln New Ydrk, where everyone seems to be

a refugee. Even the Anglo-Saxon at nlght seems l"tke a

stranger when the commuters evacuate the Clty... Llke the

rest of the Greek-Amerleans they formed. a benevolent Soclety

the Atarneus and gave each year a beneflt perfornance, usually

at Paln Gard.en. ".

These gatherlngis are stl l l golng on ln

New York Clty and the most backward the town of orlgln of

a Greek-Amerlcan the strongest as a rule ls hts $oclety.

Ours belng more or l-ess cosmopolltan wllted away and lt

exlste onLy on paper norr.

I seld.om meet any oo&patrlots unLess they possess some

k lnd o f a r t lB tLc cur los l ty . . ,

The other d.ay I met Father Arsenlos at an Exhlblt lon

of Byzantlne Icons and Mosalcs, Thls large beard.ed. prlest

had abandoned Journallsm and was ord.alned as a prlest, He

toLd. ne thet he was happlly raarrled but late1y hls wlfe

asslgned. the care of h1s chlLd.ren to a nurse and d.eclded to

Page 8: ReflectionsPastPresent

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d.evote her entlre tlme to .€.g.!ESgSg.

rrlfond.erfulrrr I ea1d. to Father Areenlos... trYou shoul_d.

be glad. thst she choee s fenaLe professLon. rl

r r l t ls not sort t Ar lsto. . . $he 1s lnvest lng the s6aLL

fortune she lnherlted from an Unole tn Alabam, for the

publloatlon of a l{agaelne, cal,Led. EXQUIfIITE. t'What have

the solpsore to d,o wlth the Magaslne.,. I thouEht ehe wsnted,

to beoone a couturlere, &t flrst, and. that le why I reflected.

that lt wll*s naturaL for a wonan to be a d.ressmker... Even

my wlfe ls uaklng her own oLotheg reoent3.y..,

Wlth a d.eep sl.gh Father Areonloe sald. to nor trl ltad.

better tell you the whole story Elnoe you are a:n old. frlen0.

For yearCI ehe wrote short storlee and. twtoe she attenpted a

Long novel, too. Every tlne, the PubLlshers returned. her

nenuscrlpts nutl l,eted by the eclsaorE of thelr ed,ltors...

rrNo more of thatn sald. ny wlfe. nFron now on I em golng to

ugg the r . . r . . . r , r . . r ' . $ C t r S I O n S

on otherg. t l

ttThe psyohologlsts rtt add^ed. gr oo-voyagsur of -ny f lrst

AtLantlc oroagtng, trceLl ,hcr act!.on revehg@..,rf

ftForget these new prlests, rr I eald., ttand. J.et the

Fapadla (prlest,rs wife) have her fun... tet her get evon

and., bsLd.ee, who knows, she nay becone a blg Journallsttc

guooggg . . o B

nI hape sorrr h6 eald., and. tlnld.Ly a.eked. ne to attend

hLs Churoh once ln a whlLe... 1d,ld. so on a Good. Frld.ay and"

Page 9: ReflectionsPastPresent

r7I,u'{' '

B

Jolned. the Chorus of the Epl taphlan Threnos"( Ienentat lon). ' ,

Father Arsenlos was very lmpresslve ln hls prlestly robes...

and llke all other compatrlots, we al.ways taLked nostalglcaLly

of our chlldhood ad.ventures. $ometlmes I meet Theoprastos ln

some concert. Theo was a good. flghter ln our naval bttles;X

agalnst the Turklsh bQys, We dlscussed. stone-throwlng wlth

Angelo and. horseback rld.lng wlth Demetrlos, the dlgnlfled boy.

Onoe ln a bLue moon I wouLd. bump tnto BaslL the blg-

nosed. boy ln the corrld.ors of the New Iork Llbrary, and. wlthout

any ulterlor motlve Itd caLl hln wlth hls old nlolcname'

rrCyrano d.e BerSeF&c... rt When he vras young and. sklnny he

reeembLed. St. John, the Baptlst; ln proflLe he looked thoroughLy

Llke a hawk... Then when we wouLd cal-l hln Cyrano poor Basll

felt very embarrassed.,. But now he was proud. of hls nlck-

name and hls AngllcJ.zed nannersr If he had. not burled. hlnse$

ln theoLogloal and phllosophlcaL books you couJ.d. easlJ.y mls-

Judge hLm fron hls sartorlal perfectlon and stlff nnnners

for a Babbltt... BaslL stl i l d.ressed. lmpeccabLy ae he d.1d

1n our hlgh school d.ays, lnclud.lng hls lndlspensable starched.

cuffs and" wlng coLlars that were hls unlque trad.e ng.rk...

Now that he was gettlng old.er hls nostaLgla for our home town

hed. no boqnds. Llke so ugny others he wanted. to return and

d.te on the sacred eoll of Ionla and Aeolla*

rrBut the horrlble Turk d.oes not seem to weaken, tt he

always sald melanchollcal-Iy.

Page 10: ReflectionsPastPresent

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. r rDo not glve up, Basl l r r r I to ld hl ln. , . r rWho lmcmq, the

Greek FIag wlth our own Amerlcan Flag nay chase the Turks

ln to As la , , .wh€re they be long. . . r t S

rrHow, howrtr Basl l " retorted.. . . nCanlt you see that

even the Devll hel-ps thls Turk always... Iou are dreamlng,

Ar l s to . . . l l

"No, r ro r Bas l l , I d .o no t d rean a t a l l . . . there 1s a

posslblLtty that the lurk rntry rermln neutral ln the next

w&r &gatnst $ovlet Russta, the way he dld d.urlng the last $

orre111 Then our Pentagon, that d.oes not sentlnentallze but

uses logarlthmlcs and other anclent psychologlcal strategle

weapons, w111 allow the Greeks to lnvad.e Turkey and stop

the d.escent of the Slave to the blue Med.lterranean Sea. rl

BaslLt3 eyes flashed. wlth lmense Joy and. respond.ed

wlth evld.ent emot lon,, .

rrFron your mouth and. lnto the ears of God....rt and.

whlle saylng these words he nade the slgn of the cro€s,

on hls forehead., orr hLs belly and. on the left and. rlght sld.es

of hls shouLd.ers, thrlce,

An Ind.ochlnese poet who happened to notlce BeslL

crosslng hlnself stopped. and lnqulred. polltely lf we were

devotees of geometr lc s lgns. . .

t 'No, nor[ we sald both of us slmultaneousl-y.

The lLttle poet Hum Chan of Hoboken, New Jersey, who

lqrew ne from hls adolescence, sal.d.l

trArlstor w€ have to go back to terse geongtry.. "I

I

Page 11: ReflectionsPastPresent

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othernrlse the coolles w111 devour us.fr And he added., wh11e

ralslng hls lnd.ex flnger:

i lGeometry, lt seems slnple' but slnple thlngs are

d. l f f lcul t for the s lnple people to grasp.. . t '

f iYes,rr I sald. , . . t r l fu l ly agree wlth Xorr oht poet of

the slLver and. goLden DragorlS... fhen turnlng to BaelL who

was absorbed, wlth h1s reflectlons of the comlng war, I sa1d...

rt$tmpllclty ls d.Iff lcu1t. That ls the reason why I

thlnkrBasll, that Hun Chan has somethlng to lt.., Let us

d.raw a llne from Chlna to Ind la and then extend. lt to

Alexand.rla, and lf we c&rry lt as far as Athens and Rome

we have the answ€f . , . rl

rrHowrtt he sald, Bas1l, ln obvlous confuslorn. i l It

d.oes not rnake sense.rl

rrlt does thoughrrr I sald. ItIf you stop lgnorlng

CLenens, the ALexandrlan, who ls certalnLy far cLearer than

your neoplatonlc Plot lnus. . . Your dar l lnS F1ot1nus, got

Lost ln thLs orlental nystlotsm.., Try to firasp thls and.

then l t w111 be as c lear to you as d.aylLght. . . Clemensrr t

I contlnued, ttbelng purely aesthetlc, has an extra dlmenslon.

He unravels the thread., . . In fact he ls nearer to dear Hum, rl

and. whlle sayln$ thls I patted. the shouLd.ere of the absent-

mlnded Ind.ochlnese poet. Baell seemed" skeptleal, and I

conelud.ed trlunphantly, .. flClemens ln hLs Stgonata tel]-s

us that to be rralve e.nd not self-oentered" [email protected] to be ;rble

Page 12: ReflectionsPastPresent

11

to dlscard the unessentlals, and. so-eall"ed. slnple people

cannot d.o that I Bosl!, They lack the eseentlal-s to begln

wlth, ". You have to have ballast before you can throw lt

overboard. rr tsas11 seemed a LlttLe d.lsturbed. and. I lnvlted.

hln to Boston for the Easter hol ldays. r r0ome, come, Basl l ,

to the tAthensr of Amerlca, and be my guest.r l

rrThank you Arlsto. Who knows, I nay come to the

tAtt lcat of Amerlca and Look at your"P11gr1ns.r l

Boston lras then, &s lt contlnuea to be even now,

, qulte a d.tfferent clty than the oesmopolltan New York. It

1s more EngJ-lsh than England. and, therefore, not a place for

a Med.lterranean ltke o€.

To a newcomer :.t ls l1ke a tomb ln splte of lts f lne

proportLons...LucklLy there was the Boston Common and the

CharLes Rlver Basln where we stroLLed and. d.lscussed. all the

probLens of nankfurd...

I enJoyed the Publ-lc Llbrary and the sermons of

John Haynee Hol-mes at the Conmunlty Church. There I practlced

ny rhetorlcal pourers d.urlng the questlon and. d.lscusslon

per1od.s. . .and.r 4t t lmee, I asked a quest lon or t lao of the

varlous speakers on the Boston Comm911., .

Once I caused. a sensatlon wlth my questlon to a

fo].lower of 8111y Sunday. I askedr trWhy ls Bud.d.ha becomlng

the favorlte Son of God.?tr Nelther the Evangellst nor any

other speaker seemed. to be able to answer ny questlon exoept

Page 13: ReflectionsPastPresent

12,

a, Jesult who voLunteered, to eay that trBt1{'d'hs, too, la none

other then Jeeus, the uay the Pa}LaE A.thena took the f,orn

of the HoLy irlad.onna.,. Just d.lfferent rsnes but the s&me

deLtles... Bellbre thenrrt he sald, Hbut wlthout treservatLons;

and they wLLl guld.e your steps.rl

Hy oswe^nlon and. oLose frlen0, Berberellls, rho

becam a Dentlet, Later on told the Jeeult that the artlete

osrve the tmages of Buddhs or palnt the Mad.ocrnes and the

othere worehlp thcts...

and. the Jeeult, wlth the o*r.#""* of an anolent $tolo,

dld. not d,lsagreet on thc oontrefy he oalnly saf,d, ttYcgr yogns

@n, the artlsts uake the lnagcs beoause they are d.lvlnely

lnsplred.. . .It

An I.S.l l. epeaker shouted., tnDo not beLleve ln fetlshes

rrr3r9ll afe nOt SeVAggg bUt mOd,efn OlVl}lZed [c3r..rr AtXd.r he

added., nGod !.s oplumn and. the Soclal,lsts applauded.

An Evangellstr ooqhlng and. eplttlng ln hls hsnd'ker-

ehlef , trled. to shout d,own the ohorus of anerohleter soc!.'eLlsta,

a.Snostles, athelste and thelr Llke by oaIllng then ehlLd.ren:

of, $atannr. . rr$etans, Satans, hold. your blaephenleS. .. tt

Ae newoosprs to tht s land of Llberty we' fel"t happy

!n obeenrtng the freod.on of speeeh and,, turnlng to uy ooupani*.r,

I SAld, trTh}S 1g Wqrd,effuL...$I9 ghOULd OOne egahxfr... And we

d.Id cono, egaln and, agalfr. . *

aLthqrgh free ee I uas on $y o$rn, I nLeeed uy parento

Page 14: ReflectionsPastPresent

and the lurury of the European and. Egyptlan 1lfe...o1lr flnances

dld. not permlt any l-ururles such as nald. servlce, etc. I{ere

I was &way from hone vehere I used. to curse because the nald"

would brlng me ny sL1ppers., untle ny shoes and' ny old-er

brother would. try to force me to change ny strlped pants at

nlght and. rny rnother, but especlal-ly my Aunt Athena, would'

argue wlth me f,or not botherlng to wear at nlght ny wlng

coLlar and. stlff cuffs,r.so, rrthe punlshment wor1ld. f lt the

crlug. . . l '

Here ln Amerlca I had. to brlng ny dtrty Laundry to be

washed. and. then nake an extra trlp to fetch lt from the

Chlnanan. Lucklly I solved. thls problem by swltchlng to a

Frenoh Isundry on CoLumbue Avenue near the Baok Bay Statton,

olrned. and operated by a cheerful La,tvlan Jew whom I cal"Led.

the r Is rae . l l te r . *

I{owever, I d.!.d. not d.eprlve nyself of the necessLtl 'es

untll the glrls entered. lnto ny 1lfe.

HY INITIATION fO A}MRICAN GINI,S

NARAAGANSETT

The excurslon to the Blue HlLl' Glouchester and. Rock-

portr d.ld. cost a consld.erabLe amount of money, but not to

enJoy such recreatlons d.urlng onets early'youth ls crlmlnal'

to say the least.

*I wa.e brought up 1n Greek $chooLs and we never called a Jewe Jeipl we aLways eal-led. hln an Israellte, and I am glad thetthe new State of Palestlne ad.opted thle euphonlc and. whlstllngrtame of t lgraeL r .

Page 15: ReflectionsPastPresent

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The d"ecLaratlon of war agalnst Gernany thrllled ne

Lrnmensely. I proceed.ed to the LocaL Board to reglster for

servlce, but Lnstead. of belng sent, &s I erpected, to Canp

Devon, the Board. deold.ed. to asslgn me to the Hood. Bubber

Conpany whlch was manufaoturlng rubber shoes for the boys

l lover There". . . l l01r€r There[ . . .

To ny surprlse and. pleasure I wae placed. between ?O

glrJ,s who were prepa.rlng the so-called tlcket for the |tlvlaklns

Departm€r?,trr... fhe work aLlotted. to me requlred 48 hours

woekl-y, but l-ucklly I flnlehed" lt In 2O hours and. thus I

had. sufflclent Lelsure to stud.y or d.o whatever I wanted. to

d.o ln my spare tlme.

I have an affectlon for hlatertonn where the factory

was located., a,nd whenever I happen to lecture ln Rockport,

ltiasso or Glouchester, I al.weys vlslt ny chll-dhood. frlend.s

there.

Sometlmes I get mlxed up wlth Boston, Watertonn and

Atarneus-Dlke1l where I was actuaLly born,.. lt seons to me

at tlmes ae l"f I were born tn Massachusettsr..so fanlLlar

the Bay State ls to ny earl-y Llfe.

And., lt ls natural, slnce I resLsted^ so much the

crush!.ng po!{er of the new envlronuent, thi}t when gradrnLly

I dld rqster lt, f was a sllghtly changed. young; lna.n. . . so

cha,nged" that when l returned to Europe and. Greece, to ny

surprlse - wlth all the economlc advantages of ny rleh famlly,

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I d.lessvered. that lt wae lnposslbl,e to be away from the Unlted.

$tates...$her€ noet of atr frlend.s Llve and. enJoy the ben*f,Lte

of Denocr&cy...&rtd frlends are the rea]. reLailves.

The war was progresetng favorab}y for the AlLlee. I

reJolced. notlclng the Llttl-e fLags of the battle-front novlng

ngrthwag,d, toward. Gernany lnetead. of morylng d.olnaword. to the

vlolnlty of ny beLoved. Far!.sr orl the map outsLd,e the Boston

Poetts bulLdlngs. I fel.t a refLeotlve gJ.ory that our Anerlcan

fo:ces, under GeneraL Pershlng, pertlclpated. 1n thelr forward.

pueh. l

The onl-y eadness I experlenced. then we'e the news of the

passlng of nJr frlend., George Dllboy, helolcally. I was 8o

sorry that a young nsn d.ted. so ear1y, but I feLt proud that a

Landensn of mlne was prooLalned a hero, and. Later on I &cgot[-

panled" hJ.s father to the Boeton Conmon where he recelved,' poot-

humousl-y, the CongresslonaL lled.al, for Brsvery from the hands

of Genenrl Edlrard".

One'nornlng 1n Novonber, 1918, or enterlng Hood I saw

the f3.ags d.lsplayed from the wlnd.ows of the faotory, and soon

an ltaLlan brass ba6d arrlved. and. we alJ. narched, thoueands

end. thousands of us, to the Clty HalL of Hatertown, Mass.

It seeun thls, was the slgne3. for me to paolt for Greece

vla Farle and. l'llareelll€se - I had promlsed. ny parents on

departlngi from Groece that I wou}d returrr as soon as the War

w&g o\rofr I lrept my promLse.

,!;" ***, ,* *.J