Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1880-05-12
CLEARFIELD Pa, WEDNESDAY, MAY 70, 1880,

about II per cent. OF the entire silk
crop OF the world. China and Japan
standing first, then Italy and France /;
but the Syrian silk is always sought
for, owing TO its superior quality. The
most of it is sent TO Lyons, and hard
times in America reducing the demand
for Lyons silks, produces hard times
in Mount Lebanon by reducing the
price OF raw silk aud cocoons. SO
closely is the world now bound to.
gether.
In addition to tho aforementioned
products of Lebanon, we have the
vine and the fig tree. The grape crop
is large, and from the grape are manu-.
featured wine, raisins and dibbs, or
molasses. And, more than this, | re-
gret to say, the iallaheen distill an
execrable drink, called "arak," or
whisky, from the raisns The dibbs,
or molasses, has been claimed by some
to be the so-called "unfermented
wine" which they claim to have been
the wine OF the Cana miracle and Of
the Passover. 1t would be Just as
proper to call Porto Rico molasses in
January an unfermented wine. Dibbs
is grape juice boiled down TO dense,
almost solid fluid, which actually so.
lidifies in the mild winters of Syria 80
that it can be cut with knife. 1t is
never called wine, and would not be
wine were il called So
TESTING THE PECULIAR TOBACCO.
Tobacco is or was raised to very
considerable extent in the vicinity of
Jabail, but the outrageous taxes levied
on it in late years by the Turkish
Government, have lessened tobacco
culture to a great degree, and bid fair
to drive it out of the market The
peculiar flavor and lightness of the
! Jabail or Latakiah tobaccos, arises
from two causes. One is the fact that
tobacco land is invariably fertlized
with goat manure, which is often full
OF ammonia. The iavorite place is the
yard of a goat pen. The ammonia
saturatos the tobacco 80 that when
! lighted it sparkles like the burning OF
saltpetre paper. have often seen
old Arabs, with their "ohibonks" or
"gallyones" = long.stemmed pipes
testing different samples Of Jebail to.
bacco by filling the clay pipe bowls
level full of cut tobacco, and then
holding them perfectly steady and
watching TO see which would leave
the highest cone Of ashes after COM
bustion had ceased, The enormous
tax on tobacco has made smuggling
profitable, and, as Lebanon is under
one form of government, and Beirut
under another, regular gangs OF Snug
glers are organized, who bring whole
caravan loads of tobacco into Beirut
by night, under covering of the dark
ness, aud succeed, either by bribing
the Custom House guards or over.
powering them by force of arms, in
supplying the Beirut market with
cheap tobacco The same is true Of
the export of tobacco to Egypt. The
whole Custom House force Of both
countries would seem to be 10 league
to deiraud their governments, and the
profits on one smuggled schooner
cargo of tobacco, will make up the
loss of several by seizure or shipwreck.
And IN bs this ssleesSagSGtSn Eear readers
not likely that more than onethird or
one fourth of the duties TO which the
Turkish Government is by its own
laws entitled, ever reaches the gov
ernment treasury, The stealing by
employees is colossal.
ROBBERS on ALL SIDES
The Lebanon mountaineers are gen.
orally hardy and industrious race.
For ages their mountain fastncsses
have been a refuge Tor the oppressed
and prosecuted victims OF Turkish
begs and pashas, and the former in
habitants of the fertile plains Of Ha-
math, HUNS, Baalbec and Palmyra,
driven to desperation by the constant
exactions and extortions OF Bedouin
robbers on the one side, and Imperial
robbers on the other, migrated into
Mount Lebanon. Here they built
their humble villages amid the tower.
ing cliffs, and often in the most mac.
cessible spots Wrestling their living
from the rocky mountain sides by al.
most incredible labor. Owing to the
steepness OF the decllvities, and the
violence Of the winter rains, the soil
has to be held in stu by terrace walks
bull Of immense stones. One wonders
how men, unaided by machinery,
could ever roll such massive rocks into
regular walls. On these step,like ter.
races they plant their olives, figs, mul-
berries and vines, and among these
latter, they SOW their wheat and bar
Icy. To one looking up the sides of
Lebanon from below. the mountain,
seems like one continuous stone stair
case. To one looking from above, it
It looks like staircase carpeted with
living green. Every little mountain
spring and fountain is carefully built
around with masonry, and the water
collected in cement.lined tanks 10 pro
vide irrigation during the burning,
rainless heats Of q Syrian summer.
The houses are simple, generally Of
one room, in which the family and the
cattle and the sheep lodge together
during the cold winter season. In
Southern Lebanon. and in the vicinity