Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-06-29
Through Palestine BY Water.

The conversion of Jerusalem into a
seaport is a project which would shock
the religious sensibilities of Englishmen,
If their associations with Bible countries
had not become so hard and prosaic.
The cession of Cyprus, the scene of the
hrst missionary journey, was looked
upon at first as good stroke of business
on the part of Lord Beaconsfeld. and
subsequently as bad investment, its
trade being inconsiderable, its harbors
worthless and its strategical value with
reference to the Suez Canal of small
account. An experienced traveller goes
to the summit of Ararat because il is a
more conspicuous exploit in mountain
climbing than the well-known Alpine
passes offer to venturesome spirits, and
consequently will make thrilling chap
ter in book, and not because he has a
suspicion that the keel of the Ark ever
grounded there. A year ago a cam
paign was conducted in the ancient
land OF Goshen and a stronghold
stOrmed on the site of one of the cities
of bondage. and in the rapid movement
Of the troops and the press of diplomatic
and administrative questions. no leisure
was left for the contemplation of the
religious associations of the signs and
wonders of Egypt. Railways have been
planned between the Jordan and the
coast, and the sole consideration has
been whether they would pay dividends
IN the cost of construction. In like
manner this new project for construct
ing an lnter-oceanic canal through the
Holy Land and the region beyond the
Head Sna - r-acrarIaI -
in its practical aspects of utility and
availability rs waterway to India.
As the details of the scheme are re
cited in the Times Oondon), the pro-
posed canal is to unite the Mediterranean
and the Gulf of Akabah. the eastern
arm of the upper waters of the Red Sea.
A great trench is TO be followed out
from Haifa, in the Bay of Acre, through
the plain of Abstraction to the valley of
the Jordan. tapping the Lake of Cali
lee. The course of the river will he
! diverted lower down for the sake of
converting Jericho and Jerusalem, and
possibly Bethlehem as well, into salt
water ports, or halfway houses on the
canal. Beyond the Dead Sea lies a
| desOlate region seldom travcrsed by
European travellers, through which n
| canal will have to be cut to the Gulf of
Akabah. 1t is sandy valley, which
was once the bed of n sea, but now
abounds in scorpions and serpents--an
uninhabitable desert waste. The entire
water route from sea TO sea, including
Lots great salt marsh, or bitter
lake, will measure two hundred
miles, and varying in width
from two hundred feet to ten miles, will
float vessels of the largest size from the
Mediterranean to the Red Sea. While
the projectors refer casually to the
prophecy of Ezekiel that there is TO be a
broad sea in the heart of the desert and
that ''the fishers shall stand upon it
from Engedi even unto Eneglaim,
sacred associations have little to do
with their scheme of an inter-oceanic
canal through Palestine. They talk
lightly of draining the Lake of Galilee,
changing the course of the Jordan. in
creasing the business facilities of Jeru-
salem. and steaming through the Dead
Sea. They are prepared tOpay $1,000
900 rs recompense to the natives whose
property may be injured by the sub
merging three hundred square miles of
the Holy Land. AS for the losses in re-
ligious veneration and sacred feeling,
they roughly estimate that these would
be amply compensated for in the revival
of business activity.
1t Is not probable that the present
| generation will witness the consumma-
\ ton of this scheme. Even if NJ. de
Lesseps does not enlarge the Suez Can
/ nj, British ship-Owners and capitalists
will not favor a water route of two hun
! dred miles through Palestine when an
/ other only half as long can be found on
the isthmus. Nevertheless a company
has been formed, with the Duke of MARI
| borough a chairman, TO raise sufficient
capital to enable body of engineers to
survey the Jordan valley, take sound
ings in the Dead Sea, and explore the
/ desert as far as Akabah. The last sec
| ton of the route is the one which offers
the most formidable engineering diff
| culties, and this will be the first to be
surveyed. If the engineers reports are
| favorable, negotiations with the Porte
for the exclusive right of way will be in
/ order, unless the imaginations of the
projectors are caught by some other
/ glittering scheme. A suggestion for an
inclined railway to the crest of Mount
Sinai may divert them from any serious
endeavors TO convert Jerusalem into
seaport and Bethlehem into a stirring
| places of busineSs.-N. y. Tribune