Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1873-06-26
THE HOLY LAND or TO-DAY.
Interesting Review of Explorat lions
| now I'm Progress.
From tho New York World Of Mont1av-

Interesting Review of Explora lions
now I'm Progress.
From tho New York World Of MONDAY.
A meeting in behalf of the Palestine
Exploration Society was held last
night IN the Central Methodist Church,
Seventh avenue, near Fourteenth
street. lev. Professor Hitchcock was
the first speaker. He said that explor-
ers were every week identifying new
spots near the Jordan. Rev. DR.. Rob-
inson did not make very wide explor-
alton. Countless ruins exist, the ex-
ploratlon of which will produce great
results III the interest of the Bible. In
1860 the English began to examine the
west side of Jordan They invited the
cooperation of Americans. The result
was, the English concluded to leave to
the American Society the east side of
Jordan while they took the west side.
The English have SURVEYED l. $50 square
miles. The Americans will use the
same scales, 50 that uniform map
may be made. The English are spend
ing W.. 900 a year, the American Socie-
ty will keep within $40, 600. The whole
work Will require five years. A frank
appeal will be made to the Christians
OF this country to furnish the money
tor this enterprise. A number of
Americans are now on the ground, and
have surveyed their base-line of five
miles. The expenses have been met,
SO far, by gentlemen of New York, who
have subscribed $500 to 500 apiece.
The desire is now to obtain SO sub
scriptions. If the Bedouins are too
troublesome the enterprise will be Civ.
en- up. 1t is desired that this bible.
loving earnest Methodist Church shall
have the first chance to subscribe. The
speaker said he would now introduce
IN explorer, who is the son of mis-.
sionary, and was born in Palestine.
Rev. w. Fl. Thompson said that the
longer he stayed i'll Palestine the more
he realized how little is known about
the country. There is no site except
Jerusalem that seems so easy to ex-
plore as Tyre. He had been there
some forty times. Beyrout is now
using old Tyre as q stone quarry.
Ceserea was evidently built from the
stones of an old Phenician town.
Most modern cities in that region are
built in this way. An Arab once took
him to see tesselated pavement in
Tyre. Near it was hole that led to a
causeway just discovered. This was
evidently the causeway that was made
of the ruins of most ancient Tyre, taken
by Alexander; by it he connected the
island on which the city stood with the
mainland. TWAS made of mass of
old Phoenician columns. All the
waters near Tyre are strewn with the
ruins of some of the finest
buildings ever erected. Columns of all
sorts are found, and the Oldest are
the most massive. He thought the
exploration of such waters was far
more important work than the search
for an open polar sea. Some peasants
of Sidon lately struck upon four leaden
boxes full of gold pieces. They quar-
relied, and the news coming to. the
Governor, he tortured them until they
disgorged the whole sum. Such treas.
ures have been often found there, as
such burials have been going on fol
1000 years. He had been much struck
bya castle near Tyre. Found it Sara
Genie, with Can aanite base. From
that castle he and his father counted
seventy-two ruins of towns and castles.
In travelling through Galilee he found
that Josephus was right in saying that
there were 1900 towns there. These
ruins stand 20 close that they almost
touch. This land has been conquered,
as far as the west of Jordan is concern
ed, by oil great nations. But Jordan
Valley, 1900 feet below the seq, has
acted Us barrier, and the east side is
remarkably unchanged from the times
of Job. An architecture is found there
that seems likely to last as long as the
earth. Every particle of the houses,
even to the ceilings, is of stone. There
is sort of lava bed there which it cos,
Mehemet Ali $4,000 men to capture
from 1000 Druses. In this very place
was the stronghold of "Og, King Of
Bashan." That land has treasures OIL
immense value, because it has been SC
little disturbed. There are incriptlons
there which will certainly explain the
original dispersion of the race from
the plateaus of Asia, and also why the
Egyptians had hieroglyphic while the
Asiatics had phonetic language. A,
the close of this speech the names Of
those who would pay $40 a year for five
years were taken.