Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-01-25
TENSIONS TRAVELS.

which none bul NlIElnS could see IT.
Passing through a door and turning
to the right, we enter IA narrow passage
in the rock leading to the chapel cover
ing the traditional spot where Joseph
was commanded by the angel to flee
into Egypt. Five steps descend hence
TO the chapel of the Innocents. where.
according TO tradition. Herod caused
several children to he slain who had
been brought here for safety by their
mothers.
a rather unpleasant feature of the
Church of Mary, as | noticed II, wns
the presence of Turkish aoldcrs. on
inquiry | was informed that Il military
guard was kept here night and day to
insure order and safety to visitors and
local worshlppers. The church being
the Joint property of three Christian
denominations. quarres and differences
often arise, which occasionally have
ended in bloodshed. 1t Is to guard
against repetition of such occurrences
that the Turkish guard is stationed in
the church.
After visiting the Church OF the Ma
tivity, ! walked about one and half
miles down into Il valley lying south
east of Bethlehem. to visit the so-callod
Shepherds Field, on which there Is n
grotto which has been transformed into
n chapel. II belongs to the Greeks who
have also quite n handsome church in
the neighboring village of Bet Sahur.
which Is supposed to be the Ashur men-
toned In Chron. 2: "a. Near by the
Field of the Shepherds is n piece of
land which tradition points out as the
field of Boaz, connected with the beau
tiful story of Ruth. The Grotto of the
Shepherds Is situated in the midst of an
enclosed group of olive trees. A ira
dition extending back to the year go,
makes the angels appear to the shep>
herds here. For centuries church
and monastery stood on the spot but
there IL no mention of n grotto until
the Crusaders time. Returning to
Bethlehem visited the MIX Grotto OF
Woman's Cavern. thus named on the
strength of n tradition which alleges
that the holy family once sought shelter
or concealment here, and that drop
OF the Virgins milk fell on the floor of
the grotto. For many centuries both
Christians and Moslems have enter
tained n superstitious belief that the
rock of this cavern has the property of
increasing the milk of women and even
of animals and to this day round
cakes mixed with dust from the rock
are sold to pilgrims.
In Baedeker's Palestine and Syria"
find the following about Bethlehem
"In the name of this town which in
Arabic Is called Bet Lahem, and has
existed for thousands OF years, is per-
petuated n very ancient popular tradi-
ton. In Hebrew. the word means the
place OF bread, or more generally the
place of food and is probably derived
from the fact that the region about
Bethlehem has from very remote an
tiquity presented n marked contrast to
the surrounding wilderness. The cpl
tibet of Ephratah (Micah 8: u indicates
the district in which the town lay
bethlehem is the scene of the beautiful
idye of the book of Ruth. which forms
an introduction to the history of David,
and It is to that monarch. who es-
looked upon as an ideal type.
that the little town owes its
celebrity and Importance. In
the eyes of the Prophets Bethlehem
was specially sacred as the home of the
family of David and the other cele-
brated members of the family, Jacob,
Asahel and Abigail also once resided
here q Sam. q 49,, 1t was not, how
ever. until the Christian period. when II
began to attract pilgrims. that Beth
lehem became place of any size.
Down to the fourth century II was still
unimportant. Justimun, however.
caused the walls to he rebuilt, and SO
many monasteries and churches were
soon erected. that 1t is spoken of as
furnishing place about the year 800.
Its church being at that time especially
famous. On the approach of the Cru
saders, the Arabs destroyed Bethlehem.
but the Franks soon rebuilt the little
town and founded n castle near the
monastery. In 1244 the place was de-
vastated by the Kharesmians: in 1889.
the fortications and the monastery
were destroyed. For time the place
lost much of its Importance, but with
In the last three centuries it has grad
ually recovered. Quarrels between the
Christians and Muslems frequently
caused bloodshed, and the inhabitants
were even occasionally molested by the
Beduins. The Muslema who occupied n
separate quarter Mt Bethlehem were ex-
PEELED by the Christians in 1881. and
after an insurrectlon in 1894 their quar-
ter was destroyed by order of Ibrahim
Pasha. Since that period the town has
been almost exclusively occupied by
Christians.
Bethlehem of the present day has
about 5000 inhabitants, about 260 of
whom are Musems and so Professionals.
The rest are Greekes Romans and Ar
menians. The town is situated on a
hill at the junction of two valleys, and
1850 feet about the level of the sea.
The Latins, the Greeks and the Armen-
ians each have a monastery In Beth
lehem and several churches; also a
number of schools. The inhabitants
live chiefly by agriculture and breed
ing cattle, besides which they have for
several centuries been occupied In the
manufacture of rasaries. crosses and
other fancy articles in wood mother-of-
pearl, coral and stinkstow Cline mixed
with bitumen) from the Dead Sea
Bethlehem is also the market town Of
the peasants and Beduins In the
neighborhood. many of the latter COM
ing from the region of the Dead Sea.
I'll Khalil. the ancient Hebron, which
lies about is miles southwest of Beth
lehem, was originally on my travelling
program: but as no other travellers
happened to be going there. and also
being informed that the hostile. fanat-
ical Moslems, who inhabit the place.
absolutely refuse to show Christians
any of the points of interest in and
about the town, changed my mind
and returned to Jerusalem from Beth
lehem. A few items concerning He
bron may. however, be in place here.
Hebron is situated among the noun
tains of Judea, in a deep valley, %
miles southwest of Jerusalem, and 20
northeast OF Barsheba. in country
Astounding In pasturage and vineyards,
yielding the finest grapes in Palestine
one of the oldest inhabited cities In
the world, 1t is. after Jerusalem, the
second largest in southern Palestine
containing about 10000 Inhabitants,
mostly Moslems. The merchants Of
Hebron carry on brisk trade with the
Beduins, and often travel about tho
country with their wares. The chief
branches of industry are the manufac-
ture Of water skins from goats hides
and glassware.