The evening times., 1898-09-17
JEWISH COLONIES.
There Are Now Twenty-four i'm Pal
estine and All Prosperous.


DR.. and Mrs. Aaron Friedenwald, of
Baltimore, have returned from journey
to the Holy Land. Among other things,
the former said to a Sun reporter:
There are about twenty-four Jewish
colonies in Palestine with about 5000 col
onists. One of the most important of the
:olonies in the neighborhood of Jaffa is
the Petaeh Tikve (the Gates of Hope).
They have fine synagogue, library and
school. The land is in a successful state
of cultiyation-principally vines and or
ange trees.
In travelling through the country one
is deeply impressed by the lack of trees.
The Arab never plants tree; he only
takes them down. In consequence. in
some places it is very swampy, and one of
the first things done in new colony
Is TO plant trees. The eucalyptus is a
rapid grower, and has been found to an
tagonize the effects of malaria. In Pc
tach Tikve 40. 600 trees have been planted
The Baron Rothschild, who has saved
many of the colonies from wreck by his
generosity, in one single district planted
600 eucalyptus trees.
painted
In some of: the colonies. Silk worms are
raised, and the silk industry promises
eventually to~be an important feature OF
the Industrial life. Grain is raised In
| large quantities in some of the colonies
but at present the main source of reye-
! nue. Is from the manufacture of wine
The Baron de Rothsehild buys all the
grapes that are raised in one section.
Ihey are taken to his immense establish
| ltgl,r
| cob and converted into wine. Only Jew
ish laborers are employed EVERYTHING
about the places from the buildings 10
the mac hinery is of the latest and most
approved fashion. In Rishon lie Zion the
WINE cellar has capacity of 10000 hekto-
liters. number of agencies for the wine
nave been established in Austria, Ger
many. and England. Eventually there
may be one in the United States"
Almost all of the 5000 colonists are
from Russia or Roumania The land up
on which they have settled was purchas-
ed for their use either by Baron de
Rothschild or by colonial societies. The
most noticeable features of the colonies
DR.. FriedenwalG said are the happiness.
industry, courage and hopefulness of the
! colonists. Each colony has it's school.
/ where Hebrew is taught in the veraacu-
lar. The colonists have adjusted them
selves TO their environments, and live on
| friendly terms with their Arab neigh
| bors.
"A point of great interest" DR. Erie
! denwald continued, lis the stimulative
3 effect these colonies have had upon the
! Jews in Jerusalem. Fifteen years ago
/ there were about 5000 Jews in Jerusa-
! lem, and there was great deal of pow
! erty. For years the Jerusalem Jews
/ have had TO depend upon fund which
! has been collected from Jews ali over
/ the country. and has been distributed To
/ them. Now the population is twice what
j 1t was nfteen years ago and there is less
+ poverty. The change is partly due to
/ the education the young men here re-
I ceived in the trades schools founded in
Jerusalem by the Alliance Israelite Uni
| Verselle, and partly to the fact that a
! great many have found employment in
! the colonies. Several new industries are
! projected in Jerusalem and some new
! colonies have been organized by the Jews
| in Jerusalem
1T is not generally known that in Je-
rusalcm there is large circle OF cult
| waited Jews. They have a fine library,
| where once week scientific lectures are
| delivered in Hebrew. | attended one of
| these meetings. ar which Mr.. Yelln, who
| is considered one of the greatest OF the
Arabic scholars, lectured on Hebrew
and Arabic poetry. Every possible cOur-
| tesy was extended to us by those whom
| we met