The Helena independent., 1892-09-25

'aiss any sort of crop in Palestine, and that
. to bribe the officers IN advance or teks
hem In ~ partners. Even this somsSimss
'aila TO project.
do you sss that ragged man out Of the
nc load3 His fest and legs are bare and
nis brown blanket il full OF holes and be IL
working 40 laborer OF the lowest class.
Well that wretch IN . private in the Turk
Ish army--A soldier. The regular wages of
the Turkish soldiers ID 80 cents month-a
sent day. But they have only bsen paid
half OF II for two years now, and to keep
from starvation the soldiers have to work
aud beg. and steal, a. chance for either
presents itself.
lyon Americans, l fancy, 1 have no idea
what governments like this ID capable Of
doing. Two months ago it sent two regi-
first thing they did was to seize every
camel in the streets OF the city and preas
them into ths service of the government
for six months without pay. Many poor
men are ruined BY it-t0taliy ruined. The
English consul saved some poor friends of
his BY swearing that he owned their eamels
and letting them serve him by doing their
own work.
IF village refuses or hesitstes to pay its
taxes the government sends seven to ten
soldiers and quarters them on tho village
till the tax 10 fully paid. This sort Of *
action has crushed the life ont of the peo-
pie till nobody has the least energy or am
tree or sows single rod of wheat he has to
pay backshsesh to the nearest officers"
1t 10 not easy travelling here. There are
only two roads in all these thousands Of
miles; the rest of the thorouRhfares arc
mere camel tracks. We went on horseback
down to the dead sea and back. seventy Ave
miles, via Jericho. Did We "fall among
~ NJ, n. ha hof
the thieves fell among us-at least, the
chief of them. The wild Bedouins claim
to own all Of that country, because nobody
but themselves live there and they exact
tribute. SO when we decided to 20 it was
necessary to do two things: First, we must
send the Yankee who dwella here in Jorusa-
lem down to Jericho to open his hotel there
the only building in the town except
mud huts; and second, we must hire the
sheik of of the Bedouins to be our guide to
keep his tribe from robbing and killing us.
We paid him &5 day to ride at our head
with tremendously long riflo and secure
our safety. 1t Was blackmail. But he was
red trousers and an embroidered green
cloak from Bagdad-he said hi paid $6 Tor
it-surmounted by a scarlet tarboosh with
big puggery around it that looked like
the stars and stripes. And 80 we wound
down the steep abysses, ten of US. and the
motel man laQ some nOQfS Cn0 6taTG OF u.s.
with his mules laden with wine and -four
and grapes and potatoes. 1t was an arid
aud desolate country. We fled past the
Mountain of Temptation, and the sight
from there tends to depreciate the reputed
saRaoity of the distinguished tempter. A
sensible man would not give his breakfast
for all the country that can be seen for
twenty miles iu every direction from that
slightly and imposing prom ontory.
One of the oldest things encountered In
Palestine 10 a woman at the churn. The
ohurR Of this region was once animated,
having been goat in its better days. Now
tho goat has vanished from it. flesh and
bone for the table of the epicure. and the
good wife hangs up to a spike on the cell
ing his skin by the neck and pours into the
uncanny vessel her wooden trays of milk.
Then she chulns, by seiZlng the Rhastly
thing BY the drOpsical hind legs and swing
ing it half round her and back again in
tiresome oscillation, as monotonous as any
old wooden churn in Yankee Kitchen.
When the butter ''sets" she rests her weary
arms and reioices and then she carefully
unties hind foot which has served for a
HANDLE and draws out the buitermilk, after
wards removing the butter by way of the
slitted brisket. This seems to be the uni
versaI churn of the Orient.
Whose milk is it2 goats probably. A
sleeps, perhaps. A camel's occasionally.
I am tired of goats cheese. sleeps milk
and camePs butter and whom l get home
shall hug the first COW | see.
W. A. CRorrur.