The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1896-02-01
HOLY PLACES.
Hon. D. P. Thompson Delivers an Inter-
estins Lecture on Palestine.

! Hon. D. P. Thompson Delivers an Inter
estins Lecture on Palestine.
Tuesday at the Congregations
q church, Hon. D. P. Thompson, Of
). Portland, formerly our minister tc
9 Turkey, attracted large audience by
, his address on the Holy Land. The
gentleman is close observer. and dur
, ing his travels in the Orient has made
pen sketches of what he has seen and
his impressions of the country and the
people.
Landing at Joppa Or Jappa from
Port Said, on the Suez canal. Mr..
Thompson made the journey to Jerusa-
lem over the beautiful plains of Sharon.
He described this portion of the jour
ney as very delightful, the grassy
slopes being covered with many species
of wild flowers, which grow in pro-
fusion. Arriving at The holy city he
visited the churches of the Holy Sep
ulcher and of the Nativity, where the
sacred palaces are guarded by priests
of the Roman, Greek and Armenian
faith, and these in turn protected from
each other by Turkish soldiers. Mr..
Thompson says Christians in the
Orient display such malevolence to-
wards those of different sects that if it |
had not been for the government forces |
they would delight in cutting each |
NJ ha of ha lif !
ferent churches in the holy palaces,
although daily attending to their
duties OF keeping the lamps burning
and guiding pilgrims, never exchange
words with each other, and this has
continued for centuries. The Greek
turns his back to the Roman, and these
in turn to the Armenian. When Rus
sia, after the late Turkish war, was
given certain provinces of Cir
cassia and Armenia, the Armenians, !
rather than adopt thu Creek faith,
went over the boundary line into Tur-
key, preferring to live under Moslem I
rule than change their creed and be
protected by the Gar. {
The Mosque of Omar built on the 6
site of Solomon's temple is place OF /
general resort for Christian, Moslem
and Jew. Within the inc,osure is G
Mount Moriah, an elevation of about s
four or five feet, which is held sacred t
and surrounded by an iron railing. /
Here is the spot where Abraham at g
tempted to offer Isaac, and other t
scenes connected with biblical history. b
Men remove their shoes before enter q
ing the Mosque, but women-although
they are rarely permitted to enter
are considered nondescripts by Mos
lems and little attention is paid to v
them Q
The leper colony is beyond the 1
brook Hinnan, outside the gates OF Je- .
and the lepers are completely "
ISOLATED from the inhabitants of the y y
country. They are the most miserable 7
beings that Mr.. Thompson ever saw. G
Dependent almost entirely upon in- |
iividual and public charity, they eke I;
1ut miserable existence. The colony
exists the same as it has for ages, and r.
ibis is the only spot in Palestine where -
eprosy is known. The question is de- n,
,ated neither it would not be advisable a
o destroy the leapers. and thus rid the B
country OF this plague.
His journeyings through Palestine .
included visits to the Cave of Mac. =
,elah, the tom bs of David and Rebekah, II
he valley of Jehosaphat, the Garden
# Gethsemena, Mount of Olives. Beth
chem, Bethany, Jericho and the river
ordan. In the ruins of old Jericho. j.
ear Elijah's spring, M. Thompson's =
'arty celebrated Washington's birth D
ay, Feb. 22d. and amidst patriotic
ongs and speeches the hours were
pent amidst the relics of thousand
ges the same as they would have been .
t home in the United States. ~
The route from Jerusalem to the Jor- =
an, is over a limestone, and the trail =
) worn four or five feet deep by the -
ontinuous travel of thousands of years. ~
hepherds watch their focks by night =.
n the surrounding plains assthey did ~
4 that halloweG morn when the
Angelic choir announced the birth of ~
be Savior. Prowling bands of =,
render travel unsafe. and -
ecurity is only guaranteed by hiring ~
heikh as guide, who, perhaps divides ~
he backsheesh he receives among ~
is thieving confederates. Not for -
century has any one been molested -
'hile under the guidance of this a.
'edouin provided by the governor of ~,
erusalem, and robberies have been =,
ute frequent when tourists have at -
empted TO protect themselves. -
Mr.. Thompson fshed in the sea of =.
iallilee, and considered itas fine sport ~ ~
8 in some of the rivers of Oregon. 1t ~
, about twelve miles long by six wide, -, -
nd is beautiful body of water. Free -; =.
uent storms happen, and these are W.
uite.dangerous to small crafts that are
sed by those living on its shores.
The lecturer claimed the attention dc
{ the audience, for over an hour, and in
he scenes depicted were realistic. Free II,
ueut quotations were made from the he
ible and new Testament, descriptive,Cf n,
vents that had happened at the places he
listed. These increased the interest =,
n the address, and made it in cer- n
ain measure an epitome of biblical q
history. Mr.. Thompson has seen a 4,
reat many places in this world, and ~
: is to be hoped that he will again be
avor The Dalles with another address =,
N other places visited by him. de
a
CHANGES In THE PORTLAND P. o. :,