The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-08-02
JERUSALEM.
Christianity's Capital the Home Of Disease,
Filth and Ignorance.

Christianity's Capital the Home Of Disease,
Filth and Ignorance.
Letter In New Haven journal and Courier,
Jerusalem is hardly disappointment, because
l had my ideas rather low down. Many of the
streets IN remote quarters are abominably filthy
ana would not advise any one to venture about
In them without clothes pin on his nose. Dead
cats, rats and dogs are plentiful / even ran
across one or two dead donkeys just outside one
OF the city gates. There are many sacred pools,
which have stagnated from disuse, and would
DO rooted out by the health board of any we'll
reguiated city. Walking Is difficult, as the mar
row streets are paved with ugly cohblestones,
winch have become very slippery and are exceed
lngly hard on shoe leather. Night is made
hideous by the bowling of hundreds of hairless
dogs, that seem to have nothing else to do. The
praying OIL the donkeys is also something awful.
single bray can be heard a quarter OF mile,
and there is no limit to the possibilities Of we'll
trained chorus
The Mount of Olives is the greatest disap-
pointment Of all. In the first place it is hardly
mountain at all; and in the second place, it is
painfully conspicuous by reason of paucity of
olives. There are plenty of other hills here
abouts that are much more thickly wooded In
the third place, the top is disfgured by large
number OF tawdry mosques, dirty huts and
manure piles. This may seem like a savage
arrangement but it is sincere. / doubt not that
IN the days of Christ the mountain was all COW
cred with olive trees, and altogether a more
attractive place than it is now. The valley of
Jehoshaphat otherwise known as the valley of
the brook Kidron, separates Olivet from Mount
Meriah and Bezeth As this valley Is quite
deep. Olivet is made to assume the proportions
OF quite a Hill when yon stand at the bottom of
the raylne; but looking toward the mount from
point in Jerusalem where the valley is not
seen Ollyet shrinks into painful insgniticance
Inc popular path by which 0livet is assembled is
believed to be the same which David pursued
when he fed barefoot and weeping from his son
Absalom, accompanied by band of faithful
subjects, who heaped earth upon their heads in
token of grief at the disobedience of the usurp-
ing prince. Up this path have toiled in order
to familiariZe myself with the country round
about pausing anon to look back at the city
which has played so important role in the
drama OF the nations. From near the summit
OF the mount the view of Jerusalem is really sat
isfactory-all that one could wish The extreme
top is, as | have said. cluttered up with unat-
tract1ye buildings but one can hardly resist the
temptation to reach the summit in order to com
mand at once the view Of the Jordan valley in
Guiding the Dead Sea ON the one hand and view
of Jerusalem and its environs on the other
In order to get more detailed view, /
paid a sixpenee and assembled the minaret of @
mosque, and there high above the offensive
sights sounds and smells OF the place, viewed
the remarkable natural panorama TO which
have alluded. One could stand there for hours
picking out sacred sights The serpAntine ribbon
OF green which marks the course of the Jordan
is distinctly visible The water cannot be seen,
and, indeed, is not visible till you are within q
rod or so of the river bank At its southern ex-
tremity stretches the Dead Sea- its waters bright
and beautiful to the eye, but deadly and nause
Gus to the palate Between lies bleak, horrid
wilderness with nothing to relieve the awful
desolation. Toward the south is the sshill coun-
try of Judea.n With glass the ruined castle of
Macherus maybe dseerned on the mountains of
Moab where Josephus tells us that John the
Baptist was imprisoned and ultimately executed.