The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1885-10-28
go TO JERICHO -
AFnmous Biblical Town on the BANKS
ofthe sordau-Its Rejuvenation
and Associations.


The old injunction, 60 to Jerl'
cho y hitherto so uncomplementary
TO the person referred to. may now
be used, as correspondent of the
New York SuR in the Holy Land
explains, with all due respect to
those advised, and with proper and
friendly regard for their health and
happiness
when / last visited Jericho, six
wears ago, il consisted ofa miserable
village of mud huts. containing a
population of mixed negroes and
Bedouins. amounting at most to 300
souls. | was astonished now TO find
that. of all places in the world, it
was going ahead. There was sort
of boom going on; very minute
boom, it is true, but still it was prog
ress, and there is no saying what 1t
may lead to.
1t seems that the Russian pilgrims
to the sacred spot have discovered
that it is remarkable for the beauty
of its scenery and the deliciousness
of its air. Accordingly, not only has
a sort of hotel or asylum been built
for their accommodation, but indi-
viduals have put up little cottages,
and made of Jericho place of win
ter resort. The climatic advantages
of the region have also induced an
English physician to recommend il
as a winter home for his consump-
tive patients.
Hitherto when one told a person
ito go to Jericho" it was polite
way of intimating TO him that he
might 90 somewhere else, Jericho
being the next hottest place known
to that more distant region; but
now we may tell our friends to 90 to
Jericho in spirit of benevolence, in
the hope that il may restore, them to
health. What an unbearable place,
by the way, Jericho would be if all
the bores who have been metaphor
ically sent there had literally gone
As it is, / cannot imagine a more
agreeable place for person not ab-
solctely dependent upon society to
go to and spend a month or two in
winter
There is peculiar softness and
balminess in the air, not to be found
elsewhere in the world, for their is
no other place in the world 1,100 #
below the sea line. There is a wide
level, open plsin to scamper on
horseback ia all directions; there
are thickets Of tamaisk, and uebk
and bamboo, swarming with wild
boar, deer, gazelle, and other ami
mails, some of them not to be found
elsewhere, to delight the sportsman.
There is the Jordan handy, with
sfirst-rate fishing to satisfy the most
ardent angler there is the Dead Sea
to bathe in and boat on (only there
are no boats for persons whose
tastes are aquatic. There is fora
which would be source of never
ending Interest to the botanist, for it
is peculiar 20 this region; and the
same remark applies, to some ex-
tent, TO Its ornothology and etc.
mology. There are ancient ruins in
all directions to satisfy the most in
veterate archeologist, while the ex-
plorer has only to cross the Jordan,
and in a few hours he will find him
self in a region untrodden by the
foot OF the tourist, with all manner
of interesting discoveries awaiting
him. Then he is still comparatively
in the world, for a smart ride of Eve
hours will take him back to Jerusa-
lem, and he need not be afraid OF
having to suffer hardship, for the
fare in the Russian hospice is excel
lent, especially in the matter of milk
and vegetables.
Ny advice, then, to the invalid,
the sportsman, the man vi natural
history, and the antiquarian, who
may be looking out for a new winter
resort, is go to Jericho !" There is
no particular reason that | can see
why the Russians should have a
monopoly of this charming spot.
though We should be very much
obliged TO them for making it habit.
able. No doubt when the partition
of the sick mans" property, for
which they have been waiting 50
long, takes place they viii put in a
claim for Jericho.
Besides, there are the ruins around
which cluster the most sacred asso-
Citations of the Christian world. The
Mount of Temptation is supposed to
be the hill which rises from the
plain of Jericho, and the waters in
which Jesus received His baptism,
flow by.
The Government intend building
a bridge over the Jordan,and on my
way back from visiting its proposed
site passed the much disputed po-
sition of Gilgal, where the Israelites
made their first camp in the Prom
ised Land. This has but recently
been identified by the ever to be La
mented Palestine explorer, Mr.. TYR
whit Drake. who fell victim to
his zeal in the Jordan valley. Moth
ing is to be seen there now but some
mounds, in which have been found
pottery, broken glass, and lessere.
1t was for long the resting place of
the Ark and the Tabernackle. 1t
was somewhere on this plain that
Sodom and Gomorrha, ''the Cities of
the Plain" were situated, and not
to tSe South of the Dead Sea, as
was formerly supposed, but their
sites have been looked for in vain.
Hence from Justinian's time the
plain began to be covered with mo
nastic editices, and the gorges and
precipices of the enclosing mount
aims 10 be burrowed with hermit's
caves and sacred shrines and chap
els.
The monks that inhabit these
buildings are In one sense as inter-
estlng as the buildings themselves,
for one has only to converse with
them to be transported to the mid
die ages. They are probably the
only class of men who have remain
ed absolutely unaffected by nine
teenth century civilization or modes
ofthought They are like the toads
that have been locked up for centu-