Omaha daily bee., 1891-10-25
Denies that He Tried to Buy the Place Of
@ 0hrists 0~ruoiixion.
PALESTINE NO PLACE FOR RICH JEWS.
The Great Preacher Talks OF His
Success and His Lecture Income
Anecdotes of Famous Men
He Has Met.
~tcorufohted 1871 by F,ant q. carpen,cr.1

week In $1,000. 900 families!
Ar author whose books sell by the hun.
dreds Of thousandsl
A lecturer who is now offered $3.50, 900 for a
series Of talks
An intellectual worker, the gray matter of
whose brain can produce from $500 to 81 900 a
day the year roundl
This is the Rev. 4. Dewitt Talmage, who
stands before the people of the United States
in rs many different lights as there are varia-
tons OF the human mind. To many, no is
sincere, cody and genuine. To others, he
appears false, sacriligeous and a humbug. II
the former, he is a most wonderful apostle;
IL the latter, he is certainly a most successful
humbug, and in either case he is by far the
most interesting character in the American
pulpit today. ! called upon him at his home
in Brooklyn the other day, and had three
hours OF most interesting conversation with
him. went with him over his great taber-
nacle and chatted with him upon many sub
jects.
Tho Talmagc Home.
DIR. Talmage lives IN a big four-story, brown
stone house on the corner of South Oxford
and Calvert streets, Brooklyn. 1t is in u
good neighborhood and the house is perhaps
the finest in the block. Passing up broad,
brown stone steps, you enter a wide hall, the
floor Of which is Dorcelain-tiled in blue and
yellow. A black walnut staircase leads from
the right of this hall to the second story, and
at tho left, just opposite this, is the entrance
TO the parlor. This parlor is about twenty
i've feet 'ong, and there is another smaller
parlor separated from it by folding doors, at
inc back. 1t contains as many curiosities
as a museum. Beautiful pictures hang upon
the walls and an old master in oils repre-
sehting Christ casting out devils hangs lust
at the left OF the entrance. The floors are
covered with Turkish and Persian rugs,
Whlch Dr. Talmage picked up at Damascus
a the time be made the tour through the
Holy Land, and there are swords from Cairo,
tables from Constantinople, rare busts from
italy, and articles of vertu and curIos from
all parts of the world. On one wall there is
a banner of silk which u Chinese missionary
sent to DIR. Talmage, and on a stand below it
Is a piece of elegant old lacquer from
Japan. There are baskets from Alaska.
pieces OF stone from the Acropolis, sand from
the base of the Pyramids, a chunk of stone
from Baalbec, and pretty things from every
where. The rest of the house corresponds
TO the parlors, and every article in it seems
to have a history.
1t is in this parlor that DR.. Talmage re-
ceives his visitors. He is besieced with call
ers, and though he receives almost everyone.
he has to guard his privacy. His workshop
Is at the top of the house. 1t is a big room
furnished in the plainest manner and packed
full OF books. There are books on the tables.
in the cases and on the floor. Magazines are
scattered here and there, and the tables
which take up different parts of the room are
Uttered with manuscripts. newspaper clip
pings and papers. Not a half dozen men get
into this den during the year. DR.. Talmoge
restricts its occupants to himself and his pri-
vate secretary. The servants are not permit
ted TO clean it, and at long intervals only is
Mrs. Talmage allowed in with her dust brush.
There are no fancy books In this library. and
the newest copies are torn and mutilated. In
using a quotation DIR. Talmage tears out the
paragraphs to which he refers and pastes them
into his manuscripts to save the time of cow
Ing them. He does the greater part of his
work by dictation. He dictates readily. and
some of his best writings are taken down nv
an amanuensis at tho rate of $50 words per
minute.
How He Looks and Talks.
1t was IN the parlors that DIR. Talmage re-
ceived me, and | noted that the step with
which no entered was firm and sprlngy. He
viii be 90 years old IN January next, but his
hair is still brown, his dark rosy face shows
that his blood is full of IRON, and he saws he
can eat ms three square meals every day and
enjoy them. He is a big man and O strong
one. He Is, | Judge, about 3 feet IL inches,
and he weighs about 10 pounds. His
broad shoulders have a slight stoop,
but they are well padded with mus,
cular flesh, and his arm look as though
they could wieid an AK as well as GIad.
stones. He was dressed in plain business
clothes andll noted, as an hour or so later we
walked toward the Tabernacle. that the high
nat that he wore was a derby, and its num-
her, 1 Judge, was about So. Doctor
Talmage converses rs well as he preaches.
His talk with me was tull of bright savings.
1t was perfectly unconventional and simple,
1t covered Il great variety of subjects and |
only give a taste of its substance.
Palestine and the Jews.
Referring to the Jewish troubles in Russia,
i asked Doctor Talmage If he did not think
that the Jews would ev e~ntually drift back to
Palestine. Ho replied:
Al don't think the prosperous Jews of
Cmerica or Europe ought TO 20 back to Pal.
estine Our Jewish citizens here have al!
the comforts of civilization. In Palestine
they would find the land and the people so
old IN years, newer than the Youngest parts
OF our western frontier The land offers no
neld for their undoubted ability. ana they
would Dc surrounded by discomfort and
@A> AShhAo Va Il hltSllDO. IL seems
TO me, Is not destined to come from
the Jews. 1t Is u field for the work
OF all nations, and / believe that all the peo-
pies OF the earth are to unite in its improve
ment. Tho country is, TO q large extent, n
desert now. The lands between Jerusalem
and the Valley OF the Jordan arc rs barren
MS the plains OF Colorado, and in climbing up
the hills OF Judea you pass through a
country where only the sparSost of yege-
tation is seon on the hillsides, and where the
crop Is made up of rocks. These hills. how
ever, show evidences that the land wa once
o garden. The hills are terraced, and Won
see signs of them having been carefully cuI-
tivated In past ages, | believe IL will become
"A garden again. Gods ~favorite figure is the
circle, ana Palestine is moving In a circle
back to its old beauties. These rocks which
laid upon tho hills above the Plains of
Sharon where the Philistines lived are lime
stoue, This stone Is disintegrating, and be-
coming skeletonized The lime is sinking
into the soil and Palestine is getting by the
action OF It's climate what our farmers spend
great sums Tor TO revivify their lands. The
climate or Palestine is changing, the rainfall
IS increasing, aud at no distant date the
and will blossom like the rose. AS IL is,
many OF the Jews In the Holy Land are turn,
ing their attention to agriculture. They
have experimental farms aud they are rails
ing tne crops. The Plains OF Sharon are
today as fertile as any part of the state OF
New York, and the time will come when the
barron hillsides Of Judea will produce like
our rich lands OF Westchester county, or like
the rich valleys about Lancaster, PenusyI-
wanna, or those which border on the Sciota
In Ohio"
"Will Jerusalem ever become n great city ~