Evening journal., 1898-06-23
FoRn ON THE oRIENT.

FORD ON THE ORIENT.
One Of the leading business men Of
the town, a personal friend Of Peter }.
Ford. has received this letter from
him, written at Jerusalem on May 80,
and kindly consents to its use by the
Wayfarer:
"As you observe, we are now in Jer-
usalem. We left Cairo last Sunday for
Alexandria, which is quite a city. II Is
the best Of any we have yet been in
much superior to Cairo-at the same
time possessing all the Oriental fea-
tures that you find In the others.
Wherever British influence preyailsyou
can see a great difference. IL would be
we'll for these countries If It had pro-
tectorate over them all.
1--WE left Alexandria for Jaifa, which
is quite a city, and like all the others
mainly are, without exaggeration, a
composition Of filth, beggary, holes and
alleys and possessing all the requisites
that would go to make up a first-class
hell. A person not being here cannot
form a conception Of what constitutes
one OF these. or all Of these cities. AS
for the towns and villages throughout
italy Africa, Egypt and Palestine
and / suppose, every other place we
shall see-are only lot OF mud huts,
built entirely OF mud and rooted in
with rubbish. Filth of the worst form
IS the main feature and beyond de-
scription. To give you an idea-if
there was a violent rainstorm Of six
hours duration, such as we expert
ence sometimes, eight-tenths of Egypt
would be homeless, but they could
ag ain build up their towns In a day or
a week. / have no doubt that one Of
these towns, containing 5000 people,
could be rebuilt in a week with mud
and water as the building materials
You would not find a particle Of wood
used In the construction OF the entire
town unless in the excuse for a door.
Jerusalem is beyond description and
so. you see, l cannot describe it. we
have been on the Mount of Olives, Gar
den OF Gethsemane, Mt. Calvary, in the
Hall OF Pontius PLATE where the Saw
ious was condemned and where lie
started up Calvary with the cross. We
followed up the road, which is marked
station after station, from one to four
teen, finally ending at the Holy Sepul-
chre. ft Is, to say the least, awe-in-
spring to think you are in the pres
ence OF the scenes of the greatest trag-
edy the world ever witnessed. But il
becomes evident that He would have II
so. as ] am sure there is not people
that ever existed from whom could
cmanate less sympathy. They could
cruelty Him again, if necessary. We
were also in the House Of st. Ann
where the Blessed Mother was born,
also In the house-or, In other words
they should all be called grottos OF
cells-excavated out Of rock. We wer,
also at Bethlehem, on the spot wher,
the stable and manger were and wher,
our Saviour was born, these places be
ing marked, and guarded all the tim,
by soldiers or monks, and lights bein.
kept going all the time for century af
ter century We were also in the Mill
grotto, or cavern, where the Blesse,
Mother hid when Herod issued tn,
edict to put the babies to death. can
not enumerate all, but give you fal
idea Of the principal things / have seen
We were on Mt. Zion and Mt. Moriah
where are the remains of Solomon
Temple. The views from these mount
are picturesque in the extreme. w
shall bring home flowers from Geth
semane. There are seven hills, an,
these hills decline to deep valleys. Fo
instance, at the base Of Jerusalem OF
the east Is the valley Of Jehosaphat. G..
down from Jerusalem, cross the vale!
and go up the Mt. of Olives. So goe
it-up hill and down dale and up an
other hill There you have it, We ar
going to Jericho, the Dead Sea. an.
Jordan. When we come back WI
shall cross the Plains ofSharon and tn,
Hills Of Judea to Jana, where we viii
take the steamer for Smyrna, in ASH
Minor. From there to the islands @
Rhodes, Constantlnople, Athens an,
Rome, which last-named place we ex
pect to reach on June 25. My wife 4
very well and we have no reason I,
complain. IL is a case Of fight you
way here day after day, and a man 4
lucky to live and to escape bein,
robbed"