Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-08-18

OI WHICH LIS railway Will pS SonotA NSASo'
The road will skirt the bay of Acre. On
the shores of Galilee, and cross thence the
river Kiehon, turn eastward and hug the
base of Mount Carmel, pass through the
gorge between il and the Galilse hills, and
enter the plain of Esdraelon. Thus it
completely skirts the borders of Galilee on
the south and Samaria on the north. The
station of Nazareth will be twelve miles
from that village, but branch line will
run to the foot of the hills in
brief time after the trunk line
is laid. The grade in twenty miles rise
from the sea level viii be but 2l0feet. The
road crosses-for it is already partly laid
| out-the watershed to descend into the
plains of Jezreel, and thence it reaches the
river Jordan, and from its waters, by an
easy incline, il proceeds to Beisan, the an
Gent Bsthshean. From that point it enters
section notably malarious, historically
dangerous to travellers, and traversed
chiefly by bands of nomadic Arabs, whom
the stranger does not care to meet. But
this region, by proper systems of drainage,
to which it is by nature admirably adapted,
since all that is needed is to open slight
bitches through the bottoms, can be made
to blossom as the rose. It is rich to tropi-
cal extravaganza, and the soil is about as
nearly perfect as can be desired. The line
will pass from this section to the valley Of
the Jordan by gentle descent until a point
is reached 500 feet below the sea level, and
from there will continue north to Djr-el-
Mechanism Near this ancient Roman
bridge, still crossed by the camel caravans
transporting the valuable produce of Hsu-
ran to the coast, the company will build a
bridge for the road, spanning the Jordan
with the best approved truss-work Of this
age. Here will be presented curious con-
trast-close beside the massive masonry of
dead ages will rise the light and unroman-
tic structure of the nineteenth century,
and the civilizations of two widely
separated periods will be brought
into comparison by their handi-
work in one branch OF architecture.
After crossing the Jordan (which though
here spoken of as having been touched and
then departed from, it must be remem.
bered, is because of the tortious character
of the stream, which, in direct line Of
sixty miles after leaving Gennesaret, trav-
erses 200 miles of course), the line follows
the general trend of the stream to its confu-
ence with the Nahr Ysrmuk, and crossing
it, it makes for the ridge overlooking the
lake of Tiberias, otherwise the lake of
Gennesaret or sea of Galilee, and is thus
to the east of its waters and we'll on its
way to distant Damascus. To this point
only have the surveys, according to the
latest report, been completed. The route
thence is not definitely settled upon, for
there is question of some heavy grades
involved as against the desirability of
touching certain sections en- route. In one
of these routes the grade will in
fifteen miles require something over
| 5000 feet to be overcome. Proba-
bly, the road will be run along the
east shore of the lake-here 620 feet be-
low the level of the Msditerranean-to
the stream known as the Wady Semakh,
and pass directly by the steep place where
the swine, which we are told were pcs
sessed by devils, rushed down into the
sea. When the plateau is reached the
road will cross the rich lands of Jaulan,
and the great grain-growing region of
Hauran, and will throw out feeder to
Mezrib, the chief grain emporium of the
district and the principal hating place of
the pilgrims from Damascus to Mecca.
Steam tugs are to be placed upon the silent
waters OF Gennesaret, aad the solemn still
ness of the region is to be broken by the
screech of their whistles as they touch at
modern-b built landings on its shores. The
entire length of the road will be but 100
miles, or but very little mere at best. It
is estimated that in grain carriage alone it
will secure sufficient business to insure a
good return for the capital to be invested.
The road will certainly change the whole
face of the country by stimulating indus
| tries which, without the road, cannot exist,
as the natural roads Of the land are ex-
ceedingly difficult, and have been but little
| improved by art, and the means OF trans.
portation are rude and uncertain. A great
quantity of land fit for wheat growing will
be brought into use, and soon echo to the
hum OF modern agricultural machinery as
the harvests are gathered in. The revival
of agriculture will stimulate other indus
tries, and thus the Holy Land will be re.
juvenated, and by the strong arm of com.
mercs set free from the sleepy slavery of
the oriental. The olive, the fig, the pome-
granate, now largely cultivated, will be
even more industriously attended to and
made sources of revenue. The famous
grapes of Palestine, remarkable for their
size and flavor, will possibly reach Euro
pean tables; the barley, maize, rye, and
the tobacco and cotton of the land will be
still more cultivated, and as the people
become accustomed to rapid means of
transport, they will be led to habits of in
dustry such as they are now strangers to,
while the construction OF this line of rail.
way will sooner or later lead to the build
ing of other lines, and thus the half desert
ed land of Canaan, infused with new life,
will be transformed from relic of the past
to an active agency in the work of the busy
present.
The commercial effects in detail of this
introduction of the railroad into the Holy
Land, the new relation it will cause it to
sustain to the business of the world in gen.
eral, the effect of the probable entry of its
enlarged products in modern marts, the
social changes that will in time be brought
about-these are topics pregnant with spec.
ulation for extended essays.
SOME PECULIARIrIEs OF An OCCIDENTAL
CONTEST.
There is one element in the French
Anamite problem that is not generally
taken into account, but which is of the
/ utmost importance to be considered in