St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-12-24

a necklace OF coins, and the forehead of
each maiden is decorated with crown
of coins. some of which are silver and
others gold. They do not hide their
faces like the Mohammedan women,
and their features are clean cut and re-
fined. have seen fair samples of the
pretty girls of most of the countries of
the world, and the Bethlehem girls are
the equals of any. They are as intelli-
gent as they are pretty, and found that
those with whom l traded usually got
the best of the bargain There is little
poverty in Bethlehem, and the girls
whom | met were we'll dressed, for the
Orient, and they seemed well-to-do.
AS you near Bethlehem you find the
hills grow more ragged. Their sides
are covered with stones, and you see
that they were terraced into gardens in
the days of the past. About mile
from Bethlehem l stoppe for while
before the tomb of Rachel. Its little
square building, about the size of a
smoke house, covered with white
dome, and it is situated in the midst of
Mohammedan cemetery. 1t is Wor-
SHIPPED by MusSulmen, Jews and Chris
tlanS, and all its walls are covered with
the names of travellers. A little further
on you find David's we'll. and then go
round corner and come in sight of
Bethlehem.
HOW BETHLEHEM BOoMs.
The Bethlehem of 1894 is one of the
most prosperous towns in Palestine. 1t
Is bigger today than it has ever been,
and it now contains about 5000 people.
1t does big business in making beads
for the Catholic pilgrims and the Rus
slams out of mother-of-pearl, and the
most of the pearl paper cutters which
come from Palestine are made at Beth
lehem. The people make great many
backs for prayer books, and they are
thrifty In the extreme. The town runs
along the sides of the hills in the shape
of horseshoe, and it stands out
against the sky, with big hills rising all
around it, Its architecture is much like
that of Jerusalem, save that the houses
are newer and cleaner. They are built
of stone, and they are more like stone
boxes than comfortable homes. Most of
then are one-story, and they stand close
to the cObblestone sidewalks, without
yards or gardens. There are no sanitary
arrangements to speak of, and these
houses and lot Of big churches make up
the town. The people composing it are
chiefly natives. They are Greek Christ
ians, and there are only 300 Mohamme-
dams and sixty Professionals i'll the place.
WHERE CHRIST WAS BORN.
| asked for the stable in which Christ
lay in the manger. | felt sure of find
ing it, for in Palestine every spot is
marked, and, though it is now nearly
1000 years since the events of Christ's
life took place, the guides of Judea can
show you every spot which His fingers
touched, and mark out every foot of
land upon which His feet stood. l was
told that it was at the western side of
the town, and l found great church
built over it. Just opposite this church
there was saloon, and my turbaned
driver spent his time in this while
| visited the church. 1t is great stone
structure, ragged and old. with cent
uries of hard usage. 1t was built, it is
said, 1.500 years ago by the Emperor
Constantine. Its roof was once covered
with lead. but the Turks stripped this
off and made it into bullets when they
captured it, and killed Christians with
the product. The church has again
passed into the hands of Christians, and
the services were going on as l entered.
| stopped for a moment and watched
the Greek priests, who, in long black
gowns, were chanting their service,
while boys in bright-colored dresses
swung incense lamps to and fro. There
were, perhaps, 200 men and women
standing at worship within the great
pressive. Leaving this hall, was taken
down into the crypt of the church, and
thence to the stable where. it is said,
Christ was born. l went down wind
ing staircase carrying candle, and at
last found myselfin great cave about
twelve feet wide and forty feet long. the
ceiling of which was about ten feet high.
This cave-like room was t1oored with
marble. Thirty-two lamps burn day
and night within it, and 1t has an altar
at one end. under which is a silver star
set into the marble pavement, where
you find an inscription in Latin stating
that on this spot the virgin Mary. gave
birth to Christ, L was not surprised to
find the stable a cave. l saw many
such in Palestine, and great part of
the animals Of the country today are
stabbed in caves. This stable, however,
has been changed by the decorations of
the church, and it is impossible to realize
the real scene of Christ's birth while
in Ii. | looked at the manger. 1t is
made of marble, and it is said to be the
identical manger in which he rested.
This is. of course, fraud, as is also the
we'll at the other side of the crypt, where
the holy water is said to have burst
forth at this time for the use of the holy
family. l looked down into this well.
III Is SalQ ludI lto stdI tudG Ru[UtQ lue
Magi fell into it, and that it still shines
down there in the water, but that it Is
only visible to the eye of the purest
virgin. looked into it. but, being of
the other sex, could, of course, not see it.
Trere are number of other chapels
about the stable, each of which has its
traditions, but the incense, the marble
and the gaudy church decorations about
them take you far away from the reality
and make you think rather of the mar
BILE stables in which the Roman En-
peror Caligula kept his golden-shod
horses rather than the donkey and
camel stable in which Christ was born.
HOW CHRIST's BIRTHPLACE REALLY
LOOKED.
From the real stables Of the Bethlehem
of today one can better learn just how
the stable of Christ appeared. L visited
one after leaving the bediZened and
over-decorated sanctuary under the
church. The stable is cave, the floor
of which is of rough stone. 1t has
number of chambers, which open into
sort of court. and in these chambers are
donkeys. camels and horses. They eat
out OF stone boxes, and in front of them
on the floor men and women lie sleeping