The Dickinson press., 1889-10-19
Till CITY OF JERUSALEM,
A BIRDS EYE VIEW FROM A HOUSE
TOP ON MOUNT ZION.

Changes Time Has Wrought Among the
Sacred Scenes of Scriptural History in
the Cosmopolitan Old City-Thc Small
est Stores In the World.
l write this letter on the housctop of n
bishops residence on the top of Mount Zion.
m tho center of Jerusalem. NV American
typewriter stands within thirty feet of the
great square tower of David, the base of
winch was undoubtedly built before Christ.
AT my left, surrounded by tho yellow stone
walls of houses, is the dark green pool which
hezekiah made to supply the Holy City with
water Ill case of n siege, and beyond it, out
OF tho honeycomb of buildings, shines the
great bronze dome which stands over the
spot on which Christ was crucitied, and in
winch worship pilgrims from every quarter
OF tho Christian world. In front of me. not
half n mile away, on a great plateau cover.
ing thlrty-five acres, is n big octagonal tower
with n Dubious bronze DOME. 1t is the Mosque
OF Omar, and it stands OH the very site of
Solomon's temple, while at its left is the
church built OIL the Roman mosaic floor of
the house Of Pontius Plate. The horizon on
all sides is bounded by hills. Jerusalem lies
III q nest i'll the mountains. 1t is built on an
irregular plateau, with valleys about it and
steep hills running straight up from these to
the city and to the higher hills Oh the oppo.
site sides. Around the edge of this plateau
runs II wall about thirty feet high and within
thisi is the Jerusalem of today. 1t does not
cover, all told, much more than the area of a
three hundred acre farm, and n good walker
can make the circuit of its walls in an hour.
l A ~HoNEYcoMB.
Sitting, as nm, upon the site of King
DaNid's palace, l see the whole city spread
out below me. What n curious city it is!
In my tour of the world l have found no
place so full of strange sights, of picturesque
characters, and SO different in every particu-
lar from every other part of the world.
Aside from its wonderfully interesting his.
torical associations, Jerusalem today is n city
of itself. Forty thousand people arc packed
within its narrow walls, and it looks more
like II great honeycomb than n city.
Tho houses are piled one upon another in
all sorts OF irregularities, and if you would
take Il half section of land and scatter over
the whole great piles of gigantic store boxes
just as you find them back of n large store,
you might get some idea of Jerusalem us it
looks to mo from Mount Zion. These houses
have no chimneys, and their stone roofs are
i'll every case Utmost fiat. Many of them
have little beehive domcs jutting out of their
center, and if the town were OH a level these
domcs would look like the hay cocks OF a
great meadow ut time of harvest. Yellow
limestone is the material of Jerusalem. The
wood used i'll the building of the whole city
would not last an American family Il winter,
and the roofs, walls and floors of these thou
sands of houses are of cold, ycllowish white
limestone. Even in the bishops mansion,
which is cne of the finest in the city, | get
out of my bed on to Il stone floor, and | walk
to my breakfast through stone halls, down
stone steps.
There are no wells in this city of Jerusalem.
All of the water comes down in rain, and the
trees and gardens of tho town can be nun.
bcred on your fingers. The hills about the
city are almost us barren us those of New
England, and the only foliage visible is the
dark silvery green of the olive orchards on
the Mount of Olives and along tho hills be-
tween Jatfa and Bethlehem. The only green
to be seen is al acre or so of common inside
the walls of the temple plateau, and here ard
there a housetop which by age has gathered
Il coating of dirt from the dust of the city
and on which the green grass has sproute,l.
Here and there you sec ruined chears which
are too dangerous to be inhabited by the bees
of this human hive md on these the moss and
grass grow. There is one green buslly tree
at the base of Mount Calvary, and n solitary
palm looks out over the city beside the bust
ness street named after King David. 1t is
not nn attractive looking town, and its glar.
ing cream white makes sore the eyes under,
the rays of this tropical sun.