The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1884-03-08
The Oldest City,

Writ are too apt to be rudely dispeli-
ed on neared view and acquaintance;
Tor the ravages of time and the neg
lect of degenerate governments have
left most OF them forlorn and repul
slve, and inhabited by the forlorn and
repulsiye people-so travellers say.
The still surviving beauty and impor-
lance of Damascus, however, in spite
OF all disadvantages, make it, in
measure an exception in the long roll
OF decay and exception in the long
roll of decay and departed glory. We
may well venerate and admire the
spectacle of the first city in history
OUTLYING 50 many younger and great.
er ones. Its thousands of years are a
kind of mortality.
Damascus is the oldest city in the
world. Tyre and Sidon have crumb
led on the shore; Baalbec is a ruin:
Palmyra is buried in desert;
Nineveh and Babylon have dis
appeared from the Tigris and the Eu-
pirates, Damascus remains what it
was before the days of Abraham
center of trade and traeel-an island
of verdure in the desert; "a president
ial capital" with martial and sacred
associations extending through thirty
centuries.
1t was near Damascus that Saul of
Tarsus saw the light above the bright
ness of the sun; the street that is call
ed Straight, in which il was said she
prayed, still runs through the city.
The caravan comes and goes as it did
a thousand years ago; there is still the
Sheik, the ass, and the water-wheel
the merchants of Euphrates and the
Mediterranean still occupy these
with the multitude Of their wares"
The city which Mohamet surveyed
from a neighboring height, and was
afraid to enter, because it Was given
to man TO have but one paradise, and
for his part, he was resolved not to
have it in this world" is today what
Julian called the EYE of the East" as
it was, in the time of Isaiah, "the
head Of Syria
From Damascus came the damson
(our blue plum, and the delicious APP
ricot of Portugal, called damasco;
damask, our beautiful fabric of cotton
and silk, with vines and flowers raised
up on a smooth, bright ground; the
damask rose, introduced into England
in the time of Henry VIII; the Dam
ascus blade, so famous the world over
for its keen edge and wonderful elias
ITCHY the secret of whose manufacture
was lost when Tamerlane carried the
artist into Persia; and that beautiful
art Of inlaying wood and steel with
gold and silver, kind Of mosaic, en-
craving and sculpture united-called
damaskeening-with which boxes.
bureaus and swords are ornamented.
1t is still a city of flowers and bright
waters; the streams of Lebanon and
the silk of gold" still murmur and
sparkle in the wilderness of the Syrian
gardens-Exchange.
The Managers of the Wisconsin
Central railroad last year offered GER
tain prizes or rewards to their locomo-
tive engineers who killed the least
number of animals on that road. The
result for 1888, is thus set forth by
the Stevens Point Journal Of recent
date: The principal prize or gold
medal for 1888 has been awarded to
F. J. Calkins, he having made his
regular runs and avoided killing any
live shock. The medal, valued at
500, is 2 Ito inches in diameter and
contains thirty-eight pwts. of 16-carat
gold. The front design is in raised
work and of different colored gold and
the effect therefrom adds much to its
attractiveness. Standing in bas re-
lief, and sharply defined against the
background of lake and distant hills,
is locomotive appropriately marked
"Wis. Cent1 r. r. while directly in
front is shown the troublesome bovine,
in the characteristic position inyaria-
bly, shown by the 'critters" when en-
deavoring to retain possession of the
track and outrun railway locomo-
tive. A beautiful diamond glistens
from the headlight of the locomotive.
On the reverse Of the medal is the fol-
lowing inscription: wisconsin Cen
trail Lines. Presented to +. }. Calkins,
locomotive engineer, as a reward for
not killing any live stock in 1888. +.
n. Finny, general manager" The
medal was enclosed in a handsome
silk lined case and was presented to
Mr.. Calkins Thursday. The other
prizes, have been awarded as follows,
for the wear 1888; J. James $50; l..
Choate $50; c. T. Waldo $40; ID.
Hill $40; NJ. W. Buck, $40
The medal described above was re-
ceived by Master Mechanic Short on
Friday morning, and will be sent to