Mexico weekly ledger., 1902-05-01
IOurnsyllg up TO Jerusalem.
~ vAlTra raalAas N ooluuraA araAIo

BY wAlrFR WILLIAMS IN COLUMBIA HERALD
JERUSALEM, Feb 81 eO2.-In few
Oriental ports do steamers make fast
70 a pier. In almost every instance
the harbof is such that the steamer
must cast anchor a half mile OF so
from shore and send passengers and
freight to the land in small boats.
With the solitary exception OF Alex
andria this has been the case in every
port at which we have landed.
At Jaffa the landing is the more
difficult and dangerous becauseof the
presence Of jagged rock between the
open roadstead where the ships lie
and the shore,
Upon enc Of these rocks a German
steamer struck and went down a year
or two ago. Parts OF the machinery
may yet be seen upon the shelving
stone and give the voyageran Uncanny
feeling; landing at JaIa and Beirut is
made more unpleasant by the shouts
and rapacity Of the boatmen-more
numerous and more thieyish even
than Niagara oabmeu at their worst
The passport business is a great in
stitution for Turkish o~ficialss To
travel through Turkey one must have
first a passport issued from his own
government; second, a tezkereh, or
permission to travel, issued by the
local Turkish officers and third, a wise
by each vilayet through which the
traveller passes. Each puts money
into the purse OF some fat Turk-a
couple Of metalliks, about three cents
being the cheapest. At each port the
passport must be shown and again at
each town in the interior. Copper Is
king in Tnrkey-a handful Of copper
coins makes every police official do
obeisance. The passport officials ask
questions that seem rather odd to the
American visitor. For instance at
Damascus the inquiry wasmade;"How
many wives have you? What is the
color Of their eyeS?n And again at
Beirut: 'Did your grandfather wear a
mustache?n
THE HOUSE OF SIMON THE TANNER.
When Peter went down to Joppa to
call on Miss Dorcas and raise her from
the dead he was told the place where
she had lived. So were we several pla-
ces. This good woman, mother of a
thousand sewing circles and a pro
voker Of much gossip and many good
deeds. seems to have lived all over
| Joppa 50 that when Peter called "the
| saints and wldows"-as II widows were
not saintsl-and presented herr the
introduction could have taken place
in any Of a half dozen Of Dorcas
homes.
The home Of Simon the tanner where
Peter atarried many days" is more
definitely located. We did not tarry
50 long. The house stands upon the
seashore and encloses a very ancient
well.
A tg tree grows upon It's fat ROOF
and was putting out its tender fruit.
First comes the fruit Of the fig and
then its leaves. There is a fine view
from Simon's house overlooking the
dangerous rocks and reefs out upon
the Mediterranean sea. Il is the view
which Peter must have seen when be
lodged here.
An acacia tree, taking deep root.
grows upon the brow Of a hill near by.
Curiously enough, an old Mohamme,
dan mosque was erected in one Of tb,
tiny rooms Of the tanners house-tbG
room 10 which Peter is said TO have
slept. These Mohammedan folk:
build mosques to every body-Chris
tian, Jew, Pagan, as well asthose VIII
hold TO their own faith. AT SmyTn;
they count Polycarp as one Of tht
great prophets Of Allah. This is due
Of course to ignorance but 1t helps Il
add to the number Of MohammedaI
mosques and worshippers.
By CARTHAGE TO JERUSALEM.
A little dinky railway line with ont
train daily viii take the traveller owe
the fifty miles from JafIa to Jeru
salem in four hours. 1t is nearly
days journey oyer the highway b.
carriage but this method Of travelling
is far pleasanter.
The carriage road, it win be sur
prising to hear, is ten miles shorte
than the railroad. 1t seemed to TIN
class that it would be almost saerileg'
to have ones first view Of Jerusalem
from the window Of a jerk-wate
railroad train. There was a unani
nous vote for carriage rather than al
aboard for Jerusalem. Train leaves II
five minutesin
1t was nine O'Clock in the morning
Of an ideal February day when we lefl
JaTa - possibly an ideal June day
would make the meaning clearer, 70.
the February weather we have had il
Palestine approxlmates the May o.
June weather Of the Middle West il
the United States. We stayed for q
time ia Jafia at the Hardegg hotel
We gods, what a name! Mr.. Hardegl
has twelve lodging rooms in his tav
ern and lntead Of using numbers hal
named them after twelve of the tribe
Of Israel forgetting, as have most 9th
er people, that there we're thirteen
tribes. His parlor he calls Israel
Imagine the hotel clerk calling
"Frontl show Mr.. Smith up to lisa
char Or, "send a bottle Of cham
payne to the gentleman in Benja
mini
At the gateway on the Jerusalem
road we were confronted by Matthew
seated at the receipt Of custom. The
old fellow collected this octrol Of
municipal tax upon all goods brought
into the city to sell and also carefully
examined into the right Of persons Z
leave JaIa Matthew Of old doubtless
had the same position and was looked
upon with even more aversion thar
bis modern successor.
THE FLAIE or SHARON AND IT'S FLOW.
ERs.
The morning ride from jana IS
largely through the plain Of Sharon,
famed in the Old Testament for ia
fertility. The miserable Turkish ad.