Iuka reporter. (Iuka, Miss.) 1888-1894, 1889-10-10
THE HOLY CITY.
VIEWS FROM A HoUsE-ToP ON
MOUNT ZION.

MOUNT ZION.
Changes Time Has Wrought-Its
Present Cosmopolitanism The
Smallest Stones in the World,
etc., etc.
In letter to the New York World,
from the Holy City, Frank Carpenter
says: write this on the house-top of a
bishops residence on the top Of Mount
Zion, in the centre of Jerusalem. My
American typewriter stands within thirty
feet of the great square Tower of David
the base of which was undoubtedly built
before Christ. At my left surrounded
by the yellow stone walls of the houses,
is the dark-green pool which Hezekiah
made to supply the Holy City with water
in case OF siege, and beyond it out of
the honeycomb of buildings, shines the
great bronze dome which stands over
the spot on which Christ was cruciied,
and in which just now are worshipping
pilgrims from every quarter Of the
Christian world. In front of me, not
half mile away, on a great plateau
covering thirty-tive acres, is big octa-
gonal tower with bnbulous bronze dome.
tits the Mosque of Omar, and it stands
on the very site of Soloman's Temple,
while at its left is the church built on
the Roman mosaic floor of the house of
Pontius PLATE. The horizon on all
sides is bounded by hills. Jerusalem
lies in nest in the mountains. It is
built on regular plateau with valleys
about it and steep hillsrunning straight
up from these to the city and to the
higher hills on the opposite sides.
Around the edge of this plateau runs
wall about thirty feet high and within
this is the Jerusalem of to-day. It does
not cover, all told, much more than
the area of three hundred acre farm,
and good walker can make the circuit
Of its walls in an hour.
Sitting, as I am, upon the site of King
David's palace, I see the whole city
spread out below me. What a curious
city it is In my tour of the world /
have found no place so full of strange
sights, of picturesque characters and SO
different in every particular from every
other part ofjthe world Aside from its
wonderfully interesting historical asso-
Citations, Jerusalem to-day is city of
itself. Forty thousand people are packed
within its narrow walls and it looks more
like great honeycomb than city.
The houses are piled one upon an
other in all sorts of irregularities, and
if you would take half section. of land
and scatter over the whole great piles of
gigantic store-boxes Just as you find
them back of large store, you might
get some idea of Jerusalem as it looks
to me from Mount Zion. These houses
have no chimneys and their stone roofs
are in every case almost fiat. Many of
them have little beehive domes iutting
out of their centre, and if the town were
on level these domes would look like
the hay cocks of great meadow at the
time of harvest. Yellow limestone is
the material of Jerusalem. The wood
used in the building of the whole city
would not last an American family a
winter, and the roofs, walls and floors of
these thousands of houses are of cold,
yellowish white limestone. Even in the
Bishops mansion, which is one of the
finest in the city, get out of my bed
on to a stone floor and walk to my
breakfast through somo halls, down
stone steps.
There are no wells in this city of Jer-
usalem. All of the water comes down in
rain, and the trees and gardens Of the
town can be numbered on your fingers.
The hills about the city are almost as
barren as those of New England, and
the only foliage visible is the dark sill
very green of the olive orchards on the
Mount OF Olives and along the hills be-
tween Jaffa and Bethlehem. The only
green to be seen is an acre or so of COM
mon inside the walls OF the temple plat
eau, and here and there O housetop,
which by age has gathered coating of
dirt from the dust of the city, and on
which the green grass has sprouted.
Here and there you see ruined chears
which are too dangerous to be inhabited
by the bees OF this human hive and on
these the moss and grass grow. There
Is one green bushy tree at the base of
Mount Calvary, and solitary palm
looks out over the city beside the bus
mess street named after King David. It
is not an attractive looking town, and
Its glazing cream white makes sore the
eyes under the rays Of this tropical sun.
The walls Of Jerusalem are clean and
well cut, and they have not the dilapid-
es,oea SCtNhpAOA VI elkOcO "a bllo Guy Ol
China. They are entered by gates
which are closed at night, and at each
of these gates Mahometnn soldiers stand
and exact tax ON all of the produce
which comes into the city. The main
business gate is that which leads out be-
hind the Tower of David towards Jatia,
through which the Bethlehem girls bring
their vegetables each morning to sell
and through which all Of the imports
which come by sea are brought in. This
gate lies at my feet and can see the
curious throng which passes through it
day in and day out. There are donkeys
and camels with great loads on their
backs. There are pilgrims by the thou
sands and all Of the various characters
which make up this curious people.
There goes donkey led by fat Turk
In yellow gown and red turban; he is |
barefooted and he is bringing wood into
town to sell. The wood is the roots Of |
olive trees and his donkey load is worth |
just twenty-five cents, and he has had to
nav three cants nf a tax .,,,n,, ~ - AZ. 1