The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1893-05-26
miscellaneous.
Farming Around jerusalem.

While spending a short time in Je-
rusalem asked we'll informed Eng
lishman how the farmers in the vicin-
ity got along;
ed rising infection There are none
or next to none. All the people live
in huts in the little villages. They go
hungry the most of the time. They
all try to getaway and some succeed
why do they not take land and
raise crops?"
Because the Turkish Government
laws its hand on everything. The
arabic land all belongs to the Govern
ment, and the law permits any man to
till it who chooses on condition of pay
ing tithes-that is, a tax amounting
to one-tenth of the crop.
"a heavy tax, you say, but that is
by no means the most. The tax col
lectors are totally irresponsible-to
everybody except the Sultan. The
Turkish Government lets out the
office of Collector to the highest bid
der that is, to the man who will agree
in advance to return the greatest reve-
nue., direct premium for robbery and
| tyranny. Sometimes the lucky bid
ders sublet their contract to others,
and they to others again the last bid
der extorting enough to pay the Gov
eminent and himself and all the black
mail between. To do this, instead of
| taking tenth of the crop when it is
harvested, they take a quarter of it,
or, perhaps, half of it, and the farm
er is robbed and left penniless. These
| collectors are army officers, and they
have not been paid a cent in four
| years. so they habitually and syste
matically steal by tacit permission of
the Government. There is only one
way to raise any sort of crop in Pales-
tine, and that is to bride the officers
in advance or take them in as partners.
| Even this sometimes fails to protect.
DO you see that ragged man out of
the widow that very characterization
carrying u load? His feet and legs
| are bare and his brown blanket is full
of holes, and he is working as labor
err of the lowest class. Well, that
wretch is private in the Turkish
army-a soldier The regular wages
of the Turkish soldiers is 30 cents a
month"; cent IA day. But they have
only been paid half of it for two years,
now. and to keep from starvation the
| soldiers have to work and beg and
| steal, as a chance for either presents
itself.
| You Americans, l fancy, have no
idea what q Government like this is
capable of doing Two months ago it
sent two regiments of soldiers here in
to barracks. The first thing they did
| was to seize every camel in the streets
of the city and press them into the
service of the Government for six
months without pay. Many poor
men are ruined by it-totally ruined.
The English Consul saved some poor
friends of his by swearing that he
owned their camels and letting them
serve him by doing their own work.
tIf village refuses or hesitates to
pay its tax the Government send sew.
en- to ten soldiers and quarters them
on the village till the tax is fully paid
This sort of exaction has crushed the
life out of the people, till nobody has
the least energyor ambition left. If a
men sets out an orange tree or sows d
single rod of wheat he has to pay back
sheesh to the nearest officers"
1t is not easy travelling here. There
are only two roads in all these thous
ands of miles the rest of the thorough
fares are mere camel tracks. We
went on horseback down to the Dead
Sea and back, 70 miles, via Jericho
Did we ''fall among thieves - No
! verify, for the reason that the thieves
fell among us-at least, the chief O
l them. The wild Bedouins claim tC
own all of that country, because no
! body but themselves live there ant
they exact the tribute. So when we
decided to go it was necessary to dt
two things First, we must send thu
, Yankee who dwells here in Jerusalem
! down to Jericho to open his hote
there-the only building i'll the tow
except mud huts; and second, w
- must hire the sheik of the Bedouin
to be our guide to keep his tribe from
robbing and killing us. We paid hin
So day to ride at our head with ;
= tremendously long rifle and secure on
safety. 1t was blacknail. But h
was picturesque creature, with loose
baggy red trousers and an embroide1
ed green cloak from Bagdad-he sait
II he paid Sc for it-surmounted by
= scarlet tarboosh with big pugger
around it that looked like the Star
and Stripes And so we wound dow
: the steep ADVISES, 10 of us, and tn
l. hotel man had some hours the start O
: us, with his mules laden with win
v and flour and grapes and potatoes
5, 1t was an arid and desolate country
/ A sensible man would not give hi
a breakfast for all the country that ca
re be seen for 90 miles.
One of the oldest things encountel
= ed in Palestine is q woman at tn
churn. The churn of this region wa
, once animated, having been a goat /
its better days. Now the goat ha
vanished from it, flesh and bone, Il
the table of the epicure, and the goo
, wife hangs up to IA spike on the ceilin
: his skin by the neck and pours int
the uncaGny vessel her wooden stra.
of milk. Then she churns, by SeiziIl
the CHASTITY thing by the dropsic'
hind legs, and swinging it half rouI
her and back again in tiresome oscill
ton, as monotonous as any old WOO
en- churn in Yankee kitchen. Whe
- the butter sets she rests her veal
arms and rejoices and then she cal
fully unties IL hind foot, which HI
served for handle, and draws o
, the buttermilk, afterward removn
the butter by way of the slitted br
ket. This seems to be the univers
churn of the Orient.
Whose milk is it A goats, pro
ably. A sleeps, perhaps. A came
| occasionally. l am tired of goal
cheese, sleeps milk, and camels bl
ter, and when l get home shall n
the first COW | see.
| -''Go upstairs and tell your ma
j mo +J,.t Mr. and Mrs Blank ha