, 1900-05-14

At the Presbyterian church Sunday
evening Rev. H. V. Rominger spoke Of
a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, which he
made some years Ago.. He said:
1t is worth all the annoyance and in
convenience of oriental travel u see
with ones W eyes these ancient lands
of glorious birth, centers of religion
and classic literature, sacred in the
minds Of millions of men.
The usual landing place Of pilgrims
TO Jerusalem is Jaffa, the Joppa of
Jonah's day, famous with biblical,
CRUSADER and Napoleon memories.
The day l landed the town was alive
with futtering flags and crowds of peo-
pie in holiday dress, not in honor Of
my arrival, but in celebration of the
breaking of the first ground for the
railroad from Jaffa to Jerusalem. 1t
was a fearful scramble to got of the
ship and through the TuIk ish custom
house, which the Arabs call geheneen
or hell. Cairo had been ]tolerably clean,
but Jaffa has no such ambition, and is
thoroughly oriental with dirt Il dogs
and mud and mire. We picked Il way
Though the slippery streets of ooze and
filth, pursued by crowds of bar king
dogs and beggars yelling for back
sheesh.
After visiting the house of Simon the
Tanner, who was not at home, | found
myself on the second day seated in a
two-horse carriage, with other fellow
travellers, driving over a good road to-
ward Jerusalem. 1t was a balmy spring
morning; the skies over us were bright,
the air loaded with the perfume of or
ange blossoms. The t~reeless plain OF
Sharon was green with undulating
wheat fields, full of wild flowers and
singing birds, and all nature was al
her hest to make this first day electric
among holy hills on the way to Je-
rusalem. We pass telegraph poles and
ancient watch towers, strings OF lon
keys and camels, loaded with freight
and baggage. One camel had a piano
strapped on his back; another was
LOADED with cases of petroleum, labeled
"Pratt's Astral Oil, warranted not to
explode" We passed by Ramleh and
down into the Vale Of Adjalon. We
leave behind us Abu Gosh. the ancient
Kiriath Jearim. the spot where David
| Elau- tho pinnts We mako nur last riS.3
over the desolate, barren hills, and in
the gathering shades of evening come
in sight of our longed-for goal-that is
we sighted a few houses among the
this was Jerusalem. AS nc carriage is
allowed inside the walls-in fact there
is not a street in Jerusalem through
which a carriage could passive are
stopped outside in front of a German
hotel. Before the hotel are camps fly
ing the American flag. There are other
camps and crowds Of people Of all
types of dress-full dress, half-dress
and undress-of all features, nationali-
ty and religion passing by and into the
city. 1t is all strange and like a
dream. The wishes of many years are
realized. We have arrived at Jerusa-
lem, the city of ten thousand memories,
and yet we have not e it. The
shades of night had fallen fast, and set
tied down over the olive orchards, over
1.-THE camps and walls and towers, and
there is also a holy hush over the soul,
filed with unutterable thoughts of the
~stupendous events which lave ruled
the world from Olivet and Calvary that
are close by, hidden there in the dark
ness.
In the morning as I looked down the
winding Jaffa road in front Of the ho-
tel. past some cheap restaurants. wine
and beer shops-for they have saloons
and %saloonatics in Jerusalem-I could
discern part of a gray wall surmounted
by an arch and a tower. Underneath
1.-THE arch is a Turkish soldier with uni
form and cimiter, and above the star
and crescent of the Turkish empire.
You can only enter Jerusalem by per-
mission Of the turbaned Turk.
There are three supreme sensations
for the traveller around the world,
which can never be repeated when he
approaches and is about to behold for
the first time, the ancient seats OF
world religion, culture and empire, Je-
lrusalem, Athens and Rome, these three
and they are without an equal on the
lglobe. Around these three centers