Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1880-04-30

Places in the Holy Land Through Watch
the Line Win Pass.
New York world

ltpNitS III thAt llUne, WAS rsprimanued
IN the chapel Ivy Chancellor Frellnehuy.
sen fo, irreverence in predicting that
tue echoes Of Mount Sinai would before
long become aroused by the shrill
whistle of the locomotive. Neverthe.
less, recent sdvioes from the Orient to
the principal promoters in Boston of
the palestine railway"-some OF the
stock of which has been subscribed for
IN tins city-show that this is 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 tho "lay of
the land through which il is To run,
and OF the places into and ont OF which
passengers journeying on the road will
be Whirled, The scheme of putting iron
or steel rails across the surface OF the
Holy md is by no means y new one.
England has long wanted Il shorter route
10 her eastern possessions than ia fur
nlshed by water connections, ana nj,
though tho present projected railroad,
which is to run from Cairo, in Egypt, to
Mosul, on the rivet Tigris, is nomlnally
an American undertaking, the work is
to he done with the support ot English
money. According to " Boston uaper,
"the charter was obtained with the
minimum amount of capital and mum.
Der of incorporators." There are in
the company fifteen men, with each
one share OF tho stock; eight ot the hf.
teen 1--we i'll Massachusetts Just enough
to come within the hw--and one Of
them lives IN this city, bat is now tenn,
porarlly ahsent.
To get n clear idea Of the proposed
route n reporter of the World called up
on the Rev. DIR. Hitchcock, who IL,
well known, MS u professor in rae Freshly.
terrain Theological seminary Of this city
which ex.Gov. Morgan So literally
endowed the other day--and Is the
president of the Palestine Exploration
company or society. Having been
given the direction of the road, DIR.
Hitchcock said. "Well, il the railroad
starts from Cairo, il 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 1869 from Said Pasha,
and owes its origin to the Seuz canal.
1t is II place now think of about nine
thousand population mostly French.
IL has n harbor of five hundred and
seventy acres aud twenty.six feet deep,
which was dug out ut great expense. Ii
il protected Ivy immense moles, the
eastern one running out n mile into the
MaA,
mile and u halo CAT this point con.
nection will be possible with the limo of
steamers running between the east and
Europe Keeping close TO the sen,
continued DIR. Hitchcock, "the railroad
will probably run eastward. 1t is near.
~ one hundred miles to FL Areesh, sup.
posed to be the river of Egypt the
ancient boundary between Egypt and
Syria. Then II must turn noithwad
il, as is said, the intention is to reach
GAIA. The distance from FL Aretsh tc
GAIA is, / think, about fifty miles. GAIA
is one of the five chief cities of the nm.
eient Philistia. 1t is now best known by
the Arabian name of Ghuzzeh. II is
some three miles from the Mediterran-
can, and has n population of about ak.
teen thousand, ] suppose the second
stop in Palestine viii be Esdud, - the
ancient Ashdol, which ia TWENTY-FIVE
miles from GAIA. In reaching Esdud
the railroad wi II doubtless pass over
the site of the ancient Ascalon, which
is or was twelve miles from GAIA. rs.
dud, which is referred to in the New
'Testanns nt No Azotns, Is not very prom
ising or prepossessing town. II 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 he the third stop. Rsmleh, by the
way, will not be y bad place for tray
elers to stop over train. II is II
beautiful little town OF about three
thousand inhabitants, nearly a third Of
whom are Christians. 1t was founded
by. the Arabs in ZIG A. d., 80 that it
car hardly be called n mushroom viii
lsge; Ramleh will doubtless be an inn
portant station If, as you say, there are
to be branches from there to Jaila and
Jerusalem. II would, indeed, be very
singular II there were not, for Jafia il
Dul tWelVe mites UOILnWebL anu JeTHs.
alem only about twenty miles south
east OF Ramleh."
According TO the plan OF the railroad
Az published, the Jerusalem branch will
arcend the valley Of the Nahr Rubin
and Waai Surar and will reach Jernsa.
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 a
brach is proposed TO Nablous, the an
cient Shechem. Continuing northerly
from Bethan.to the Abn Zabura, the
road will ascend that river valley and
cross the Carmel range through the
Megiddo pass. From Cairo to this point
the maximum grade will be twenty
feet TO a mile and through the pass forty
feet 10 a mile. From the base Of the
bill Of Megiddo branch is pro.
posed, to run down the plain Of Es-
draelon, and thence northward along
the shore through Acre and Sidon, and
by the ruins OF Tyre TO Beyrout. Il.
Henderson, lies north Of Beyrout ut the
northeast corner Of the Mediterranean
Al /. III - a -. =. :.