The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1883-04-26
STAUNTON, VIRGINIA, APRIL 26. 1888. Be.
Palestine and the Dead Sea.

and the Dead Sea, was recently given b,
Professor e. Hull in Dublin. The frlnda
:. mental basis Of the geological formation o
Palestine is the gneissic granite Of Archer
age and metalnorphoric origin, whichrise
into the mountains of Idumea, and is Thu
rock from which the huge monoliths Of
! Egypt have been hewn, such us Cleopatra
Needle, the obelisk of Luxor, and the col
nmns which adorn the Piazza of Venice
I This foundation rock formed part Of con
tinental area down to the Carboniferous
period, when it was submerged, and q great
sandstone formation was spread over il
known rs 1.-THE Nubian sandstone" After
another interval of time the sandstone
itself was oyerspread by limestone deposits
of Cretaceous and Tertiary age, deposited
/ over the floor of the ancient sea, and down
tothe close of the Eocene period the waters
Of the sea oyerspread the greater portions
Of Asia Minor, PALESTINE and the adjoining
districts Of the Asiatic and African conti-
nents
The first appearance of Palestine and the
adjoining districts as land surface dates
from the succeeding Miocene period, when
the bed of the sea was appraised into dry
land, and at the same period q great assure
corresponding with the line of the Jordan
valley was produced. Along this assure,
which has been traced from the Lebanon
southwark toward the Gulf of Akaba-the
strata on the eastern Tor Moabite) side
have been relatively elevated those on the
western relatively depressed 80 that the
strata on the opposite sides of the Jordan
valley and the Dead Sea do not correspond
with each other. This great fissure is the
key to the physical formation of the whole
region, because it gave origin to a river
which once flowed down from the noun
tains of Observation-Disclosures through the
Gorge of Arabah discovered by Burk-
hardt) Into the Red Sea in remarkably
straight line running north and south for
q distance of over $50 miles. This is now
the Jordan. The depression of the valley
continuing through the succeeding PHI
ocene epoch, the district Of the Ghor and
the Jordan valley was conveyed into lake,
which Professor Hull considered ultimately
extended from the southern end of the
Dead Sea northward nearly to the Lake
Merom, and included the Sea of Galilee.
This lake would then have had length of
100 milessnd an average breadth of ten
miles.
During ''the Pluvialperiod, . which sue
ceeded ''the Glacial, the waters probably
reached their maximum elevation, and con-
tinued to flow southwark through the |
Gorge of Arabah and the Gulf of Akaba |
into the Red Sea but from the increasing
dryness of the climate they gradually de-
creased, and the surface of the lake be- |
came contracted, and ultimately reduced |
to its existing limits. During this lower |
ingof the surface, the remarkable terraces |
noticed by most travellers were formed. 1
DR.. Tristan has taken the barometic level |
of several of these above the Dead Sea. |
They range up to $50 feet, and even higher. |
They appear to be undoubtedly old lake |
margins, and indicate the successive levels |
at which the lake stood. The 750-foot ter |
race very closely corresponds to the sum-
mit-level of the Gorge of Arabah. When |
the waters were reduced so low as not to |
pass through the Gorge of Arabah they |
became brackish, and ultimately salt-the |
salinity increasing as the area became |
diminished The saline ingredients in the |
surface waters of the Dead Sea are 24.57 |
pounds in 100 pounds of the water, while I
that of the Atlantic. only contains pounds |
in the same quantity. The Dead Sea |
water is therefore over four times as !
strongly impregnated with salts as that of |
the ocean, and in the deeper waters the |
sallnlty amounts to saturation, as saline |
deposits are forming over the floor of the |
Dead Sea. This remarkable inland sea
had assumed somewhat Of it's present con-
tracted dimensions, and was known as |
1.-The Salt Sea, as far back as the time:of |
the Patriarch Abraham. Near it's borders |
stood the doomed cities of Sodom and |
Gomorrah-not beneath its waters, as was
often supposed-but near its upper margin |
The New FORK Herald, makes the prop |
osition that the Republican National Con-
vention should nominate Samuel J. Ran
dali, eX-Democratic Speaker of the House,
for President This pre-supposes that
the tariff question will be the central and
absorbing issue in 1884, and that as Mr..
Randall is protectionist, and by reason
of this, in opposition to the policy of the |
Democratic party, the Republicans would |
indicate their Willingness to- hinge the re-
suit on that question, and none other, by
taking up Mr.. Randall. That might please
Mr.. Randall and the New York Herald, |
but as the Republican party has within its |
ranks equally as sound, if not s0under, |
men on the tariff, and certainly more in |
accord with the principles of the party, |
the selection of a candidate for President |
will be made fromits own numbers. The |
suggestion is not original with the Herald, |
however. We heard an experienced poll |
tician, give expression to the same notion |
several weeks ago, and further stated that /
it was one of the modes that Don Cameron |
was considering to get even with the re-
voting Republicans of his State, and at |
the same time, prepare a way for the indie
pendent Democrats of the South to sup |
port the Republican nominee. This spec
ulation might as well be dismissed at once. |
The Republican National Convention will |
nominate pronounced and true Republi-
can, with a consistent record on the tariff |
and all other Republican measures, and all |
who do not want to support him, will have
the privilege of voting for the Democratic |
nominee. There will be no trimming Or
coquetting with Democrats or Indepen-
dents. The party cannot afford it. and to
attempt it would offend and revolt the
great mass OF its tried following and insure
overwhelming defeat. i
Beauty.
1t is claimed that New York women
look younger at SO than Boston women do |
at 40, OF Chicago woman at 80, y for reason
that they have been taking Peq,ma for the
past three months, but Boston and Chicago
women are coming up in fine style-enter-
ing upon the home-stretch on Manalin / |
got one of yout books on the ellis of Life
from your Druggist as a present, and, as it
directs, have been taking Pe,amd and Man-
dtm. My boWelsa are iii excellent condition,
and the lungs and heart are improving
finely. j. M. Walker,
TaWaS Pa