The Wilmington daily Republican., 1901-12-21

OF all the quaint Christmas celebfs@s
tions the world over that In the holy
a city of Bethlehem ranks re-eminent.
1 This little village. with a normal pOpu-
e lation of less than 5000 people, becomes
! in Christmas week a great cosmopoli-
tan center of $4,000 or 10000 devout
souls, all eager to pay homage to the
, place hallowed by the Saviours birth.
f, In Bethlehem the people are brought
face to face with the wonderful scenes
, which are but feeby known by book to
the rest of the world. Here they see
the place where the three wise men of
the east halted after their.long journey.
Here they worship the. shrine inciosng
the manser in which Christ was born.
They walk along the same road follow
ed by the Virgin Mary in her painful
journeys to the ancient city. Buildings
and ruins are there which the eyes of
the infant Christ rested upon. The tiny
city, crescent shaped and beautiful to
look upon, teens with the realities
which the rest of the world celebrates
as an event lost in the haze of antiqui-
ty.
Bethlehem is about the only thor
oughly Christian city in the Holy Land.
Latin. Greek and American races form
nine-tenths of the population. and for
the most part they are a prosperous
people, proud Of their city and prone to
regard Jerusalem as of secondary i'm
l q Vnp law, i'd, l,,,t d.
away to the south and is easily discern
ible. The road from Jerusalem to the
city of David is up hill nearly all of the
five miles. and even in December the
rays of the sun make the journey ter
ribly hot one
This road presents wonderful sight
in Christmas week. Nearly all of the
visitors to Bethlehem come by way of
Jerusalem, and they must follow this
road. some on foot, others on patient lit
tie donkeys, many on cames few on
horses and whole families in cumber-
some vehicles. Boxes and barrels of
| provender, bedding and tents, chairs,
/ tables and cooking utensils on carts
and wagons make such an endless pro-
| cessiOn that it would seem as If the
whole world were moving into the little
city on the hill.
Hotels in Bethlehem there are none.
Those who come for a stay of several
days must either find shelter and food
in the homes of the regular inhabitants
or bring these necessaries with them.
Most of the pilgrims bring tents and the
few things that are necessary for the
brief stay. Hundreds of these little
| Wh to toy &c nj q hills
and fields about the city. People swarm
in and out of them. jabbering away In
a multitude of different tongues. Box
es of provisions are strewn about In
tremendous confusion: little cook stoves
send up feeble curls of smoke. and
Bethlehem proper becomes lost in the
avalanche of strangers.
Stern looking and silent Arabs ON
camels and horses, carrying the long,
ferOcious looking gun of Damascus; ma
tive Syrians whose eyes have been
blinded in battling with the sands OF
the desert; long coated and heavy
bearded Russians; square shouldered
and soldieply looking Germans: Eng
lishmen in silk hats and frock coats:
busy. sightseeing Americans; fussy and
gesticulating Frenchmen, Spaniards.
Italians, Greeks. all jumbled together,
each bent upon doing and seeing ev-
| erything in his or her own way regard
| less nl the advice of the busting towns
people.
| Christmas Is something more than q
religious event of these latter. 1t is the
great money making season of the year,
and with true oriental avarice. they
make the most of it. Yet they are hos
pitabla and pleasant people. The poor
est pilgrim can visit Bethlehem and be
certain of food and shelter during his
stay. Eut when the rich man comes he
must pay double for everything that he
buys and is inportuned to buy an end
less variety of things.
Peddlers and beggars surround him
at every step. Genuine relics are Offer
ed at fabulously low prices-so low, in
| fact, that not even a ten-year-old child
would be deceived by the earnestly CIV
en- history Of their genuineness. Many
Of the travellers return to Jerusalem at
night in preference to accepting the
/ limited hospitality of Bethlehem. These
are the richer of the pilgrims. The
| poorer ones stay in the city until the
end of the pilgrimage.
The great center of interest is the
Church of the Nativity, the only build
| iE' of Importance in the city and one of
Il oldest structures in existence. AS
the centuries have rolled on it has been
| necessary to repair 1t many times, but
much of its original form and character
still remain Here all the pilgrims go
daily in Christmas week, the service be-
ing continuous.
There are many shrines in the
great building, containing relics OF
Christs time on earth. The most ven-
Grated of these Is the one which. II Is
said incloses the actual birthplace OF
the Saviour, A marble slab on the floor.
marked with great star of silver in the
center covers the sacred spot. To kiss
this stone some of the pilgrims journey
thousands of miles. and all day long in
the Christmas season great crowds sur
round it. waiting for their turn to kneel
down and salute it.
The priests say that many times 1t
has been necessary to renew the mar
bic covering, as the constant kissing
of ages of worshipers has actually worn
the stone away. The same is true Of
the marble covering of the crypt in the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jeru-
salem Many of the pilgrims bring gifts
of great value to The grotto chapel. and
the hurch today is one of the richest
in the world. Another shrine deeply
venerated is that of the Chapel of Magi.
where the three wise men-Balthasar,
Va hos n IaI ma