The Oskaloosa herald., 1900-02-15
FROM JOHN M'COY.
An Oskaloosa Boy Bn Route
Around the World.

The following interesting personal
letter received from John Mccoy. son
of Judge Ben Mccoy, of this city. who
was a member of Company +, but
who in place of coming home with
his command went on around the
world, is printed with permission, and
the HERALD is glad to lay it before
it's readers:
JERUSALEM, Jan. 6, 1900
MY Dear Mother: / know next TO
seeing the Holy Land yourself is the
pleasure OF reading about it from your
SON Johns pen. We did not spend
Christmas in Jerusalem as we had plan
ned as the quarantine was not lifted in
time, We spent part of the day very
pleasantly at Alexandria with DIR. Law
renee. one of our English cousins. And
maybe you think the guests of honor
did not enjoy the Christmas did
ner The cooking could only be
surpassed by Mrs. McCoy's best We
met lots OF fine people. TIL ere are few
americans in these countries outside of
the American missionaries, and they are
everywhere. They are always very cor
dial and hospitable They have a warm
place III my heart. After one sees the
deplorable condition of Oriental people,
the good they are doing in founding
churches, schools, colleges and hospitals
in all lands, one cannot help but be-
lleve in foreign missionaries. Don't
think / ever told you that l have a
chance to go into the work myself
(know this will please you immensel,
and feel highly hattered by Rev. Bond
fields offer made while at Shanghai,
but prefer the law and good old Mahas-
ka to any other place in the world.
Soon after partaking of our sumptuous
Christmas repast, we bid DIR. Lawrence
good bye and embarked on one of the
khideyial vessels for Port Said. The
vessel had just come in out of storm
in which she had lost her boom pole and
the sea was still rough when size sailed
out past the site of the famous Pharaoh
light house, and what do you suppose
did-did Just what the big fish did to
Jonah. Don't you think that was a
shame-the best meal that l had eaten
since joining the army.
We had to stop few days at Port
Said. The Arabs amused us by calling
us "Yanks." The shop-keepers wouli
shout at us clear across the street, "Hel-
40. Yanks, come over and buy some
thing. The ships run very SLOWLY
through the canal 1t took our ship
fourteen hours to cover the ninety-nIne
miles. 1t is wide enough for vessels to
pass each other Large steam dredgers
are constantly at work. 1t is lighted by
electricity. The canal is, of course, a
great engineering feat. but there were
no mountains to remove. The country
through which it extends is a
sandy desert and shallow, marshy
lake. While at Port Said we spent
a good deal of time watching the
ships coaling and the ships pass'r
through. Not a single American vessel
did we see. A large ne recent were fiy-
ing the British flag. The United States
should encourage commerce in the AS
iatic waters more than they do. as COM
merce is the source OF so much wealth
The telegram finally came that the YES
sells might go directly to Jaffa. It was
a nights run by steamer there. and after
much waiting we finally entered the
promised land. 1t did not take us as
long as it did Moses. The house of
Simon, the tanner. is about the oniv
thing of interest in Jaffa The small
stone house is built on the hillside above
the sea. A beRgar stands at the door.
There is the ancient well. the rock steps
leading to the top of the house AS we
stood upon the house top gazing admir-
inglv at the Mediterranean. j thought of
YOU and sincerely wished that YOU were
there instead of me. You would enjoy
1t so much more.
Jerusalem is about fifty miles FROM
Jaffa. The train runs very slowly, TAX
ing almost the entire afternoon to get
there. The country is very rich until
the mountains of Judea are reached.
We passed through many orange and
lemon groves. loaded down with the gol-
den fruit. The harvest of the olives
and figs is over. Remember passing
through field where a camel and
donkey were yoked together and were
pulling the rudest kind of plow mag
Unable. The camel got scared at the
cars, just like a horse does. A donkey
and a camel working together is very
common sight. The crops are raised
from December to June during the rainy
months. The land is mostly unfenced
Fences are generally Diles of stones or
the 81 owing cactus. The latter part of
the journey was through the mountains
OF Judea, which are more like rocky
hills than mountains.
Arabic is the prevailing language and
about eighty per cent of the population
are Mohammedans. Our landlord says
there are about fifty to seventy thousand
people in Jerusalem, two-thirds OF whom
are Jews. The Holy City looks just
like the pictures that one has often seen,
surrounded by a wall and built on a
hill, or rather four hills, Mount of Zion,
Mount Moriah, forget the names of the
other two. The principal gates are the
Damascus, Jaffa and David gates. 1t is
is stone city, the streets, houses, floors,
roofs are all made of limestone. Houses
are built over the narrow streets in
many places. They talk about Canton
being a dirty, filthy city, but you ought
10 see jerusalem / don't see how a
city could be worse. In ore of the
streets, we noticed the dogs making
themselves happy over the carcass of an
ass. The streets are used everywhere
for lavatories. What a striking con-
trast TO the new Jerusalem with its gol-
den streets that we read about In
Revelations. There are still the lepers
outside the walls, the money changers,
shepherds with their focks on the sur
rounding hills, streets crowded with |
people wearing the different colored |
coats or rather gowns; many donkeys |
and camels in the streets and amid such |
surroundings il is not difficult to inn |
agine Christ riding through the streets |
on donkey, his triumphal entry. Every |
thing has a biblical appearance. There |
are no street lamps, very few. Every |
pne carries a lantern at night 1t is the |
1n.,r Much driulipey yt,ater &c carripd ~, |