The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-04-18
Big Rush TO the Holy Land.

tour through Egypt and the ll"l.
Land this year complain Of unusual
difficulty in getting bcrths in ,ransat-
lantic liners, and agents in charge Of
trips to these countries say that it is
almost impossible to get them started
on schedule time This is ascribcd
to two causes. says the New York
Sun. One is that the number of in
tending tourists in the lands Of Bible
story has increased beyond all cxpcc
tations, and the second is that the
British Government has taken no
less than fifteen large steamships off
the hands Of thc different steamship
companies The tourist season in
Egypt and the Holy Land begins in
December ard ends from March to
May, according to locality. After
March he hot desert winds begin to
blow in Egypt, and by the end Of
April it becomes too warm for com
fort even in Palestine, although the
nights are cool.
y man who has personally conduct
ed - great number Of tours through
the Bible lands said last week, in
talking of the present status of travel
in these countries: 81 do not suppose
there ever was time when it was so
hard to make dates for tourists. The
number of people who want to go to
the Holy Land is far in excess of the
accommodations. The taking Of so
many ships by the British Govern
mcnt for war purposes makes it diff :
cult to arrange tours, especially as
the season lasts only few months.
How do acc cunt for the large num-
bcr Of people who are going this year?
Well, there are number Of contribu-
ting causes. During and for some
time before the war with Spain the
tourist obusiness dropped lower than
it had been for several years, and
tourists are now making up for lost
time. Then, again, times have been
good since the war, and people are
spending money. The chief reason,
l believe, is that trip through these
countries is not considered SO formid
able an undertaking as it used to be.
Modern inventions worked wonders,
and even the road from Cairo to the
Pyramids, which used to be travers-
cd ou mules, has trolley line, with
an Arab conductor, clad in garment
that to an American looks like n
night shirt, jumping on and off the
ears. collecting fares and pulling The
bell strap just like an American con
ductor.
'1t may be, too, that the promi
nencc given by newspapers to qucs-
tions Of religion and discussions on
the Bible has inspired number of
Americans with the desire to visit
Bible countries. AT all events, it is
fact that there were never :n lily
memory so many people who want to
go to these countries as at present. This
time of the year is the popular one
for taking the trip. The later rains
are over and the air is pure and balmy
there, just like ideal June weather in
this country, with an average tempera-
turc, of 80 degrees in the daytime.
The nights are cool. Most tourists
leave for home in March, but few
take chances of tho deserts winds and
remain longer. No one who has not
encountered them can realize what
these winds are like. The PARTICLES
Of sand find their way through closed
doors and get into the food. They
even find their way into your watch
and stop it, and the sand, being sharp
and gritty, cuts the mucous membrane
and causes the nose to bleed. It
acts the same way ON the lungs with
some people, and produces hemor-
rhages. But that is nothing to the
sand storms. 1 once was caught in a
small one with friend. Our Arab
guides covered their faces but We
were not posted and the sand acted
exactly like sand blast and took all
the skin off our noses and lips.
would know better now how to act if
I was' unfortunate enough TO ho
caught again. The hot winds which
bring the invisible PARTICLES Of sand,
however, are harder to deal with than
thc sand storms, which can be saen.
I believe they gave rise to the custom
of Moslcm women never appearing in
public unveiled.
"Of late years most tourists want
to visit the Dead Sea, but the season
for that ends early. It is situated in