The Wyandot pioneer. (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1853-1868, 1858-11-05
Solomon,s Temple,

SoiomOn's Iemple.
Mr.. Williams, the editor Of the Utica
Herald, has reached Palestine in the
course of his Eastern wanderings. The
following is an extract from his last letter
describing the "Holy City," ....5
There was one "Holy Place" in Jerus.
allen I sought in vain to visit--!he site Of
the Temple, of Solomon. It is, as you
know, occupied by the principal Mosque
of the city--the Moaque of Omar. In
cludng the nclosure, it occupies the whole
southwe stern part of the city, and appears
one Of the most imposing edifces / have
seen in the East. Hitherto strangers have
been permitted to visitit by paying mod.
est back sheesh Of from five to fifteen dol
lars each but Of late the Mohammedaus
have been growing no better very fast"
in the matter of toleration, and this year
have saucily shut the door of the sacred
edifice in the teeth of the whole squad Of
"Chrislian dogs.'' l attempted to look
into the inclosure, but a Turkish sentinel
offered to make me present Of the con.
tents of a very rusty musket, while an old
vagaboDd who stood near suggestively
drew his finger acrossihs throat-indica-
ting. by such suggestive gesture, that in
case l should enter. / should for the fu-
ture be relieved Of the bore of carrying
head upon my shoulders. These ras.
cally Mohammedans have also placed
some sacred edi6ce or other over the tomb
OF David, SO that no Christian is permit
ted to see the resting place Of the great
Psslmist, And I may here remark, that
there is no sadder spectacle In all this
stricken land than that of Arabs,
and, if possible, still more degraded
Turks, lOrding it over the sacred city,
The ground once pressed by the feet Of
Solomon, and David, and Christ, now
echoes to the tread Of the Moslem Janisa.
ry and the driveling Deryish while the
Jew is covering in obscure places. the
Moslem struts with the air of one who
treads on thrones :. while the Christian
begs permission tokneel at the tomb OF his
Saviour, the Turk lisdainfully proclaims
himself monarch Of all be surveys
While the "Holy Sepulcher" is nominally
in the hands of the Christian, Turkish
soldiers kept guard at the door, and a
Turkish Pasha keeps the key. "''''''"
Looking Giasses-How they are Manu-
.agal tuf ys.a factured. +i.,q,ssfor
The process is one Of the most curious
of the modern arts, and is an extremely
simple one. A sheet Of tin foil, somewhat
larger than the glass plate is laid upon
smooth table, and quick silver poured
over it until the foil is covered. All i'm
purities being swept off from the surface
of the mercury, and the glass plate made
scrupulously clean, it is brought even with
the edge of the table, and pushed gently
forward sideways, SO as to slide over the
mercury bath. its edge just dipping be-
meath its surface, so as to push before,
it all impurities. and to exclude, all air.
bubbles. Weights are then evenly applied
to the glass, and the whole table inclined
to such an angle as to- favor the drawing
off Of the superfuous mercury, this re-
quires some days or weeks according to
the size of the plate. There is constant
risk in the whole process, even when the
greatest care is practiced. The1larger
the glass the greater the danger OF break
age and imperfections. Sometimes the
amalgam crystalizes producing flaws.
which requires the operation to be re-
peated. 1t is these causes that make
large mirrors so costly. In addition to
this. high wages must be paid to the
workmen, as the mercury produces sail
walton, destroys their health, renders
some Of them cripples for years, and short.
ems the lives Of all. '' ''s7 % 's''
EF There is,a set of men 10 this coun-
try who have been coutemptiously de-
ron,;r. .,od .sMud SILL Ratort oenfla-
men, and call the -arristocratic author of