The Oskaloosa herald., 1900-02-15

is estimated in the length of time that
il takes 10 drive TO the place. You Of
ten see the Christians stand by the hour
around these sacred places. A Mr..
Paine, from California, spent an entire
day upon Calvary few days ago.
Will tell you about our trip to Jer-
icho and close Jericho is about thirty
miles distant. The ride is through the
barren, desolate hills and is down
grade most of the way The wagon
road is a splendid one, having been re-
paired for the German Emperors visit
and after all of the Improvements the
Emperor never went to Jericho. We
were escorted by an armed guard,
mounted on beautiful Arabian steed
There are still the thieves and robbers
as in the days of yore. Almost every
person we met was armed with sabre,
shot gun or rife. The rifles look like
they might date from the time of Jesus
Christ. AT Bethany we viewed the re-
mains of the house of Mary and Mar
tha There was crowd of begging
children here, as there is everywhere,
crying for bacinS (gift). The mount
of Ascension was pointed out, You
know there is some controversy about
which is the Mount of Ascension and
some of the other places. The Good
Samaritans run it passed, a Roman
watch tower, guarding the road, and the
Apostles Fountain. Elijah's cave is on
the side of a lonely gorge, a convent is
built upon its side. Here we all drank
small cup of Turkish coffee, the best
coffee in the world The coffee is pull
verified and it makes very delicious
drink We had to walk down the last
hill leading into the Jordan valley. We
passed the site of Jericho in the time of
Christ, and over to Jericho in the time
of Joshua. Here was Elisha's Foun-
tain. It's waters were running a small,
crude -four mill. A woman was wash
ing her clothes in the small stream by
pounding them with rocks. A Moham-
medan, with his face towards Mecca,
was few feet away, with shoes remov-
ed and Squatted on a mat, was paying
his respects to Allah. He would stand
up awhile, repeating the prayers, then
bow forward with his face on the
ground and was continuing in this man
ner when last seen. At Port Said the
| Mosques are too small to allow all with
in, although many can not go in to hear
the preaching, they sit on the ground
outside in long rows during the ser
| them when to rise and what they are
| of fasting with them, and from sun up
to sun set they never eat bite. The
wide valley of the, Jordan at this point
is the spot irrigated by Elisha's Foun-
tain which is like an oasis in a desert
The Jericho of today was founded by the
Crusaders. 1t is a small village of Bed
| Efy1f IN
| There are a few hotels. The mountain
of TRANSPORTATION can be seen when
covered with snow. On the opposite
side of the broad valley from the noun
tain where Christ tasted the forty days
and nights, is Nebo, from which Moses
viewed the land flowing with milk and
honey. 1t is four miles drive from
| Jericho to the Dead Sea. Enclose you
a picture of us bathing in the very salty
sea, thirteen hundred feet below sea
level 1t is true that one cannot sink
in the water 1t was the first time one
of the boys could stay on the top of the
water. The other picture is of the Jor-
| dan where Christ was baptized and it is
| the same place where the Israelites
crossed We desecrated the spot by
taking plunge. Two baths in one day,
and did not catch cold The Jordan is
nearer like our old skunk than any river
that | ever saw. 1t is about as wide,
ten feet deep, and just as muddy as
the Skunk after heavy rain.
The most wonderful thing that ever
saw is the American Colony here at Je-
rusalem. The most remarkable thing
is that one hundred and thirty persons
can live together without any one in au
thority Every one is his own boss and
does whatever he wishes, and there is
not the slightest discord. Their motto
is to ''love thy neighbor as thyself," and
they do it, or the harmonious relations
would not exist The Bible is their
creed. One-half are American and
fourteen nationalities are represented
among the other half Any one NAV
join. The colony was founded eighteen
years ago. 1t is a thrifty society. The
men are teachers, carpenters, etc. We
spent yesterday afternoon and evening
with them and are going back again this
afternoon. 1t is very attractive place
to us. The beautiful American ladies do
not render it any the less agreeable and
we are thinking seriously of joining.
Hope to be home soon. Will have
lots to tell YOU Wish that you could
visit here When | get a law practice
that is worth ten thousand a year, you
shall. There is no grand scenery here,
but would think that to one who is re-
ligiously inclined that the Holy Land
would be the most picturesque of coun-
tries. With much love to all.
JOHN N Mccoy.
P. S. am going to Paris via Mar
settles. Our Iowa crowd is badly scat
tered. Bedier went to Paris over a
month ago, Haegler left few days ago
for Athens, Corley went to Bersheba
week ago and is going to spend some
time in Palestine The Bersheba trip
is dangerous trip He could not hire
Our drdgomdr to take him, but succeed
ed in getting missionary as guide.
They go unarmed and put all their trust
in God. This missionary once made the
trip when two Of his companions were
killed and he was stripped of his cloth
ing. ... J. N.
The New Town.
Abba Republican. The Consolida-
ton Coal Co. now has an option on