The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1880-05-06
A RAILWAY IN PALESTINE.
Places in the Holy Land Through Watch
~ the Line Will Pass. y >''''.
New York World.

reports OF that time, was reprimanded
in the chapel by Chancellor Frelinqhuy-
sen for irreverence in predicting that
the echoes of Mount Sinai would before
long become aroused by the shrill
whistle of the locomotive. Neverthe-
less, recent advices from the Orient to
the principal promoters in Boston of
the palestine railway some of the
stock of which has been subscribed for
in this city-show that this ia likely to
occur. And now that the Palestine
railroad seems an assured fact
although its bonds are not yet in the
share lists of Wall street-it is of inter-
est to know something of the clay Of
the land;' through which it is to run,
and of the places into and out of which
passengers journeying on the road will
be whirled. The scheme of putting iron
or steel rails across the surface of the
Holy land is by no means a new one
England has long wanted q shorter route
to her eastern possessions than is fur
nished by water connections, and al
though the present projected railroad,
which is to run from Cairo, in Egypt, to
Mosu1, on the river Tigria, is nominally
an American undertaking, the work is
to be done with the support of English
money. According to Boston paper,
:'the charter was obtained with the
minimum amount of capital and num-
Der of incorporators." There are in
the company fifteen men, with each
one share of the stock; eight OF the fif-
teen live in Observation-Disclosures enough
to come within the law-and one of
them lives in this city, but is now tenn
porarily absent.
To get clear idea of the proposed
route reporter of.the World called up
on the Rev. DR.. Hitchcock, who is,
well known, as a professor in the Presby.
terrain Theological seminary of this city
which ex.Gov. Morgan 80 literally
endowed the other day-and Is the
president of the Palestine Exploration
company or society. Having been
given the direction of the road, DR..
Hitchcock said: SWELL, if the railroad
starts from Cairo, it will stretch rather
more than one hundred miles to reach
Port Said, running northward along the
Pelusiac branch of the Nile. Port Said
got its name in 1859 from Said Pasha,
and owes its origin to the Seuz canal.
It is q place now think of about nine
thousand population-mostly French.
1t has harbor of five hundred and
seventy acres aud twenty.six feet deep,
which was dug out at great expense. It
is protected by immense moles, the
eastern one running out mile into the
Mediterranean and the western one a
mile and a half" AT this point con-
nection will be possible with the line of
steamers running between the east and
Europe: Excepting close to the sea, y
continued Dr.. Hitchcock, "the railroad
will probably run eastward. It is near
ly one hundred miles to Ell Areesh, sup
posed to be the river of Egypt the
ancient boundary between Egypt and
Syria. Then it must turn northward,
if, as is said, the intention is to reach
GAIA. The distance from Ell Areesh to
GAIA is, I think, about fifty miles. GAIA
is one of the five chief cities of the an
Gent Philistia. It is now best known by
the Arabian name of Ghuzzeh. It is
some three miles from the Mediterran-
can, and has population of about six
teen thousand. I suppose the second
stop in Palestine will be Esdud,- the
ancient Ashdol, (which is twenty-five
miles from GAIA. In reaching Esdud
the railroad will doubtless pass over
the site Of the ancient Ascalon, which
is or was twelve miles from GAIA. e.
dud, which is referred to in the New
Testament as Azotus, is not very prom
ising or prepossessing town. 1t is about
three miles from the Mediterranean,
and its inhabitants chiefly reside in mud
houses. Ramleh, some seventeen or
or eighteen miles further on, will prob
ably be the third stop. Ramleh, by the
way, will not be a bad place for trav-
elers to stop over q train. It is q
beautiful little town of about three
thousand inhabitants, nearly a third of
whom are Christians. It was founded
by: the Arabs in ZIG A. D., so that it
Car hardly be called mushroom vii
lage; Ramleh will doubtless be an i'm
portant station if, as you say, there are
to be branches from there to Jaffa and
Jerusalem. It would, indeed, be very
singular 1t there were not, for Jaffa is
but twelve miles northwest and Jerus-
alem only about twenty miles south
east Of Ramleh."
According to the plan OF the railroad
as published, the Jerusalem branch will
ascend the valley of the Nahr Rubin
and Wadi Surar and will reach Jerusa-
lem from the Gihon valley, the station
at or near the Damascus gate. Leaving
Ramleh the main line will run north
through the plain of Sharon to a point
near. the ancient Bethar, whence q
brach is proposed to Nablous, the an
cient Shechem., Continuing northerly
from Rethan to the Abu Zabura, the
road will ascend that river valley and
cross the. Carmel range through the
Megiddo pass. From Cairo to this point