Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1898-12-17
IN THE HOLY LAND.
CHRISTMAS DAY AS IT NOW is IN
BETHLEHEM
The MOdcrnity of Jerusalem - The
Scene of the Nativity-Inc0ngruo
Visitors In the Sacred GrottO.
Christma4 Night Rituals.

NikAt ANRtuAAbs
CAN aboard for Jerusalem, Ramleh,
Artouf and the tomb of Samsonl"
The poet Lamartipe, writing Of the
Holy Land in his 'Meditations'' sixty odd
years ago, tells Of buying an arsenal of
pistols, sabers and other weapons to arm
his company against the Greek pirates
who infested the archipelago sea and of
divers other dangers which made the
journey to Jerusalem full of danger and
excitement
Nowadays an uneventful sail on one of
the Messagere's steamers brings one to
Alexandria. Another stop occurs at Port
Said just long enough to take a cocktail
served solemnly by a barkeeper in a white
cravat, his establishment being in a six
story building of iron framework, with
nothing in the least oriental aboat it,
Then the next morning your boat is bob
bling up and down in sight of Jaffa. The
deck swarms with priests and ecclesiastic-
al travellers, representing all the countries
and religions in the civilized world, and
some that are not civilized, which puts
the sailors in a bad humor, as they be-
lieve that priests on board bring bad luck
Close by the sea at short, distance from
the city a rai:~!ay station stands, a little
one, it is true but genuine.
| 1t is a strange experience indeed riding
to Jerusalem behind putting and whis-
| thing locomotive
After having passed through fra grant
gardens the line opens into plain famous
| in Bible history as the garden of Pales-
| tine. This was the land of Canaan, the
country of the Philistines spreading away
under our eyes in the clear oriental atmos-
| phere, bounded in the distance by the
vague blue lines of the mountains of Ju-
dea.
The train rushes onward, and now the
distant points of the mountains of Judaa
| grow palmer On the right in the dis
lance white point marks the tomb of
Samson and little further on second
white point, to the left this time, is said
to show the place where he was born.
Finally one reaches Jerusalem, and in
spite of drea,n= and spiritual exaltation it
| is impossible to deny that the first effect
is disappointing. One passes into the
Holy City. through streets and avenues
which resemble nothing SO much as the
| unattractive thoroughfares which run out
| of Paris from the St. Ouen quarter.
| There is nothing in the least, oriental
about them. Instead of Zion and Golgotha,
one sees only red roofs and long new build
/ ings with monotonous lines of windows
which look like hospitals and orphan asy-
lums.
Passing outside the walls of Jerusalem
| one traverses the valley of Gehenna, sees
Jobs we'll with it's white cupola and then
| finds himself advancing up the slopes of
| Mount Zion, which stands to the left
| Continuing along the road one passes a
Jewish city which was commenced by Sir
Moses Montefiore with the idea that it
would be inhabited by poor people of the
Hebrew faith, and of late years crowds of
| this prosecuted race have been coming to
the land of their ancestors and to this par
ticular city from all parts Of the world.
Arrived ut Bethlehem one naturally
hastens to sec the scenes of the Nativity,
full of expectation and yet ready to be dis
appointed. The Mount of Olives, Golgotha,
the sacred sepulchre, all were in my eyes
spoiled for the want of that exquisite sim
plicity which bad filled my childish vi
sions. Everywhere the ardor of the faith
full has shown itself in upsetting and i'm
proving things in a deplorable manner.
Passing through the narrow and crooked
| street which cuts Bethlehem into two
parts one finally reaches the extremity of
the burg and finds himself in an oblong
square, which in it's turn opens into al
esplanade paved with stone, here and there
showing openings into cisterns which
served for baptisms and for ablutions
among former generations of Christians.
In those days it was the usage to wash be-
fore entering the sanctuary.
A curious scene is here on the very bor-
der of the place of the Nativity. On one
side a burial ground with white tombs, on
two other sides rows of bare, high walls,
like fortress or a prison. Here and there
I H. H. 1x,.N
One looks about him mystified, but finally
discovers black hole in and out of which
people are passing almost ON all tours, SC
low is it. This is the chief entry to the
sanctuary of the Nativity. Having passed
through this hole, one finds himself in a
large hall divided by four colonnades and
surmounted by roof thanked by heavy
beams. People stand about talking and
smoking, children play, Turkish soldiers
sew up their uniforms, women give suck
to their infants, fakirs offer oranges, beads
and candies for sale, while Greek and
Franciscan monks hurry about as if on
business of pressing importance. Former.
", l am told, the Arabs used to stable
their sheep here.
But this is not the stable where Jesus
was born, and one is some time in discov-
ering it. On the left two Turkish soldiers
| Win rlueS are StreCcnCO ldZfly on q DeUcn
One is asleep, the other yawns. In front
of them a circular stairway goes down tc
door which seems to indicate q crypt
. The door passed, one continues the descent
by narrow staircase until he comes t
two other Turkish soldiers, this time
standing up, with guns on the floor, and
on the left, lighted by hanging lamps, 1:
the following inscription: 'Hic de Virgins
Maria, Jesus Christus, Natus Est" (hers
Jesus Christ was born Of the Virgin
Mary). We are in the stable.
This discovery is much of a surprise
and ones first movement is for protesta
ton, for the simple reason that nothing
at all like stable Is apparent. We arr
In Srotto. To this objection the reply il
maze that in olden times it was the Gus
tom in Palestine to use grottos for stables
At night the Christmas service in Beth
lehem begins at 10 O'Clock with a pontif
ical mass celebrated at the Franciscan
church near the basil.ca. The riches
vestments are worn for this Office, tics
having been presented in the name of thu
: French republic by Marechal MacMahon
: This first ceremony is concluded about