Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1879-05-08

are indeed OF great mass and simple
dignity, aud. with the strong and foigy
towers rising above them at irregular
intervals, constitute about Che mos. i'm
pEczsive feature of Toe locality, wheih-
er viewed from the inside or al q DIS.
tance froM beyond.
But IL little is-to be said in commen-
dation Of the general architectural ap-
peaFance Of Jerusalem. still fewer
words Of praise can be bestowed upon
her streets. The lhoroughfares are al
narrow, dark. crooked, uneven and fillhy
io the utmost degree conceiezbIs. Such
tsssns ha i coE1Vug nncn ON wheels hns
pro56bIy never been seen inside the
walls Of the present city. and so round
and smooth have The limestone paving
blocks been worn that tvaveI, either on
the back Of on animal or on foot, IL al
ways difficult and sometimes positively
dangerous. particularly after fall OF
rain. To megely say that the streets
are dirfyHires Ilo adequate idea df their
actual Condition, and this remark Is es.
pecially applicable 10 those in the Jew.
ish quarter. In some OF the Fellah vii.
lages Of Egypt had seen filth and foul
ness which ! then supposed could not
be matched anywere ia the world, bot
what afterwards saw and smelt among
the chosen people in Jerusalem made
the Egyptian denominations seem clean
and fragrant by comparison. Why the
people inhabiting some Of these lOcali-
ties are not every year swept of the
face of The earth by diseases born Of
filth, decay and degradation is ques-
ton that would puzzle all the boards Of
health and sanitary commissions in
Chrrslendom If they could for n mo-
ment only conceive the actual condi-
ton Of things EXISTING there. .
From what already knew Of Jeru.
salem, | did not expect TO see a city
covering large extent Of ground, vet
I was nevertheless greatly surprised 10
find il occupying 50 small territory as
it really does. A friend and myself star
ted out for a strollon Sunday afternoon,
and walked entirely around the city,
outside the walls, in fiIiy minutes. The
way is hilly and stony for the NEST part,
but brisk walker could do IL easily in-
side OF forty-five minutes, and should
say that almost any one walking leisure
ly could do ii comfortably in an hour.
NY companion, who is a thoroughly
competent practical engineer, after.
wards calculated Il from the best sur.
vcys and maps at command, and found
that the total area OF the city inside the
walls is a trihe less than two hundred
and forty acres,-haFdly a respectable
sized farm in a county where land is
reasonably cheap and population not
too dense. There is something of a
settlement outside the walls, on The
northwestern side, bat IRON one thous-
and 10 fifteen hundred will probably
cover all The inhabitants residing there.
In all other directions excepting Tho
little village Of Silcab, on the south
side, and few houses lining for lit
tie way the road TO Bethlehem, every
thing is barren and unoccupied.
How the people Of the city manage
to make their living, or whence they
obtain a supply of iife-sustaining food
is more than can imagine. The only
sign Of market saw anywhere in or
ABOUT ihe place. was Ittle display IN
that direction in The open street ia front
Of our hotel every forenoon. watched
il closely, but was never able TO find
anything for sale except great Profu-
sion OF caulihower, a few baskets Of
JafTa oranges, and Ten or dozen bun
dies OF olive wood roots, which had
been brought in for fuel on the backs OF
donkeys and The heads Of Arab women.
Never, by the way, did see a man be-
little himself by carrying burden OF
the kind. The selling was also chiefly
done by women, and the same sex ljkc-
wise seemed to be the principal buyers.
Around these miserable bits Of mer-
chandise did these forlorn creatures
squat By the hour, and what they lacked
in business they seemed 10 try 20 make
up by screams and noisy clatter. This,
too, appeared 10 increase in exact pro-
portion as The stock in hand grew less.
But il seemed 10 me that less than ten
dollars would al any time have bought
out the entire market, wood, fuel and
sll.-Jerusalem Correspondence Wash
ington Star.