Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-05-23

Damascus, April, 1890.-After spend
ing month i'll Egypt, mostly On the
Nile, as far as tie urst cataract, nearly
800 miles above Cairo, among pyra mids
and ruins Of gigantic temples and royal
tOmbS, some OF them between 400 and
700 feet into the solid rock, a trip of
some 80 days i'll Palestine and Syria
was on the program and commenced
under favorable conditions. The
country below Cairo, towards IS.ndilIa.
is, Tor d railroad ride Of several hous,
very fine and rich looking, with better
looking villages and better dressed
people, 50 far as they appeared at the
stations. This is the section supposed
by some to nave been the one. at
least Ill part, occupied by the Israelites
before the exodus, and if 50 it is no
wonder that they grumDled when they
were led into such deserts as are found
along the Red sea and the Arabian
wilderness, even ii their situation dur
ing the later part Of their SOjOurn in
Egypt had been less satisfactory
AS W. travel toward the canal, the
country becomes more and more bar
ren and desOlatc and finally is nothing
hut shifting heaps OF sand. The canal
is III some places protected against the
and III the same way us our railroads
are protected against SuOW-drifts. The
railroad runs close to the canal, from
Ismailla to Port Said, where we stop
ped for day. Then we left by
steamer in the evening for J&lla. Mex
morning we sighted the low and sandy
shores of Syria. BY 10 o'clock y ~
we landed under very favorable con
ditiOnS, as the landing here is always
more OF less difficult ahd often very
dangerous there being no narbOr
and the shore quite rocky. | do not
suppose | can tell you much if any
thing about this country that YOU
Wee not familiar with before. but
as | promised to write you OCCASION
ally, | will give you some OF my inn
pre@siOnS and part Of what | have
seen here
Jaha locks well, quite so. when seen
from the deck Of the vessel, but the
illusion soon yanisheS on entering and
ascending its narrow. winding, dirty
anu iil-Smelling streets. 1t would
he 4 waste Of time, both for YOU and
me, to give any history either of this
nr other places he"e, as You can get
that much better from books than
could do 1t. Among the places shown
us here is the place where Simon,
the tanner. lived and on the roof of
whose house Peter saw the vision and
received the messengers from the cen
i,i,,,
near the sea" as described in the Acts
and may be genuine, especially as it
IS not claimed that the house now
on the Spot-a small mOsIem mosque,
IS the one in which Simon lived. An
sther sight is the reported tomb of
DOrcaS full of good works" and who
after death came to life again through
the apostle Peter: also the place where
the house of the parents of DOrcaS
was located. On this spot has lately
been erected a Russian church.
Jaffa is. ON the land side surrounded
with orchards of orange lemon and
tig trees, and the delicious fragrance
from the flower OF these is Il great
relief. when cUntraSted with the smell
of the streets. In going east from
.Iaffa we soon reach the beautiful
plain of Sharon. said to be about 20
miles long and 20 miles wide. 1t
looks rich in soil and winter grain
which appear TO prevail not only here
but through the whole country. The
i!,.n at first slopes gently east. but
or becomes undulating. The soil,
| clay, needs no ferulizing, | am
formed. In many places are fine or
ards OF olive and fig trees. mostly
ones. On our left we have LYDIA,
., here Peter healed Eneds who had
IN sick eight years. The village is
located in Il charming spot among
orchards and gardens. We pass
through Ramleh. the home Of Joseph
Of Arimathea and NicOdemuS. \ con
vent is built on the spot where their
houses stood From the top Of very
ancient and high tower near by we
have a splendid view of the surround
ing country, including the mountains
of Samaria and Iudea and the Mediter
rancan sea. We next pass through the
valley of Aialon. where Joshua sub
dued the AmOriteS and the sun and
the moon stood still. Further on is
RethOron. where Solomon was given the
privilege of asking some special favor
of God and instead of asking for
riches. he asked for wisdom to govern
his people well. Here we begin to as
cend the barren mountains over a
route which was the main and prac-
tically the only one between Jerusalem
and the surrounding country and the
Mediterranean and Egypt and over
which Joseph and Mary must have
travelled with the child in their flight
frCm HerOd. Over this road must also
nave been carried the cedar timber
which King Hiram furnished for the
temple of Solomon. There is now a
good wagon road between Jaffa and
Jerusalem. but of late construction;
how it was in olden times no enc can
tell now. In this whole country there
are practically no wagon roads aside
from few between leading cities
Stch as the one named and one be-
tween Jerusalem. Bethlehem and Heb
ron and between Damascus and Bey-
rant It is a terrible country to build
roads in-not for lack of me -arial. for
nearly the whole Of it is made of or
consists of such. Everything is car
ried on camels. dOnkeyS or horses. No
waUOnS-aS side from, carria CeS in the