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


not seen elsewhere. But l must hurry
on.
We reach kirjath Jearim, where the
ark was located for a long time
20 years-the city OF woods, but there
are no woods now, except some fruit
trees. 1t was at kirjath Jearim that
David and all Israel played before
God with all their might, with singing
and with harpS." 1t was the begin
ming OF IsraeFs glory" as il has been
called. kirjath Jearim is the same as
AnathOth, where the prophet jeremiah
was born. 1t is like most villages here
perChed on the side of nil and
makes but Il poor show; but from here
is seen a fine and we'll cultivated val
ley, with gardens and orchards. Sew
eral villages are located in this neigh
bOrhood, including Ain Karin, the re
ported birthplace Of John the Baptist
aid where Mary visited his mother,
Elizabeth; also a place claiming TO be
EmmauS Of scripture. In this valley it
WIS that David killed Goliath with a
stone picked up from the brook, now
y
running water 0cca sionaIly. By the
way, l will say here that in a three
weeks travel. l have not, outside Of
the GORDON and its sources, seen a
running stream, except q few springs
no woods. 10 brooks or rivers. The
plain Of Damascus is however, an eX-
ceptiOn 50 far as rivers are concerned
From the valley Of Kolonich to Jeru-
salem is about 405 miles. all I'D hill
as it practically has been all the way
from the valley Of AjaIOn. Along this
route was carried the ark Of God in
triumph TO Mt Zion and somewhere
here Christ must have joined the two
disciples on their way TO Emmaus
From age to age thousands Of Israe-
lites have gone up here to their feaSts
at Jerusalem. Later these now desc
late regions have echoed to the tramp
Of Roman legiOns and the war cry
Of the crusaders.
Mount Oliyet is seen on the east
and Scopus, its northern range The
first buildings seen are new ones.
outside the walls. all Of modern con
structicn and built by foreigners, as
converts, missions, hospitals, etc. HI
nally, when the last hilltop is reached,
Jerusalem is seen, but not to it's best
advantage ana the view is disapDOint-
ing. The city should be seen first from
the heights of Mt. Olivet. From there
the city looks really beautiful and if
tie visitor would be satisfied to leave
without entering it he would very like
ly carry away with him the grand
conception he might have formed about
it from reading of its glory III the
time of David and Solomon, when in
the days Of the latter, the precious
metals were as abundant as iron and
stone and in this case distance would
certainly lend enchantment to the
view Ii anyone looks for ''enchant-
ment' Of view inside the walls Of
Jerusalem he will certainly be disap-
pointed Narrow. crooked, uncleanly
and uneven streets prevail pretty much
all over the city, which at present
covers within the walls. some 21G
acres of ground. Of which 81 acres are
taken up by the HI"am-esh-Sherif. or
the place occupied in part by the greaJ
mosque and another mosque, said to
have originally been church. \
great part of this ground is covered
with marble slabs and the balance is
greenSWard. The great mosque was
also Il disappointment to me, both as
to size and grandeur, but this does not
necessarily prove much, but it may
indicate t;iat l am poor judge III such
matters OF course | shall not attempt
to give you any detailed account of
what is shown as holy places in Jeru-
salem. Some Of them may be genuine
and others not. One thing is certain
TO be genuine as to location, and that
is Jerusalem and so is the Mt. of
Olives. The garden of Gethsemane is
shown in two places. l understood.
The most likely one is fenced III with
Il very high stone wall and guarded
by monks as the apples of their eyes.
Yes. more than that, they would prob
ably rather loose an eye or even two,
than suffer 4 single leaf to he taken
from the ancient-looking olive trees
within the walls Fallen leaves or
branches may be had. but it is not
easy to get access within the inner
fence of iron. Flowers from the gar
den MAY be had.
The valley of JehOshaphat or edron
and the valleys of GihOn and HinnOm
are there, but neither of them is as
deep as formerly and they have largely
been filled by rubbish during the diff
ferent destruction of the city. In the
valley Of KedrOn there is no brook and
the valley of Hinnom, or Gehannah,
has not the fearful appearance one
would ina CINE from the name, as both
valleys are largely covered with gar
denS and fruit trees. The village Of
Sloan is there but not the pool. Lep-
ers abOunt in that locality and they
are persistent beggars. The whole
surroundings are rocky in the extreme,
but every available spot is terraced
and cultivated to advantage apparent
ly. The rocks being limestone, the
soil needs no fertilizers, l am told.
In fact. from the nature of things here.
fertilizers sufficient. if needed, could
not be furnished in sufficient quantity.
WATER WHEELS STILL.
! No Indication of Life in the Fox River
Valley.