Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-07-07

for the Thames Iron COM
naay to complete the line. which
penetrate Galilee. the garden of pales-
tine. and the most fertile portion OF
the valley of the Jordan If 1t were
finished one could go by rail to Ma
zareth and the Sea of Galilee as well
as to Jerusalem.
No bipiical interest attaches to
Jaiia. II is not mentioned in the
Bible and the only great historical
events associated with the place oc-
.urred in the year 100. when 1t was
beseiged and captured by Tancred. the
crusader. and in 1898. when it was Wis
;tci by the German kaiser. The
Turkish government took great deal
of trouble aud spent great deal of
money to show its respect for VIII
helm H. and to make his journey in
the Holy Land pleasant and prohtable.
1t was a great thing for the country.
too, and even we. this very day are
enioyins noticeable advantages due
entirely to his visit.
Before he came Palestine was al
most entirely destitute OF roads.
Since the days of the Romans road
building has been a lost art. In fact
the Turks aud Arabs do not care any
thing about roads. any more than
about boats because they travel on
the backs OF animals and never use
wheeled vehicles for any purpose.
| Therefore a camel track is good
enough for them, and they are willing
| that foreigners should follow their eX-
ample without indulging in the luxury
of carriages and wagons. Hence Pal
| estine had probably the worst roads
| in the world But when the emperor
| decided to visit the Holy Land the
| sultan employed a number of German
engineers and under their direction
set his army at work to build 12G
miles of macadmized roads to the
points his fellow sovereign desired to
reach Most of them are in good
condition today. although they have
not been repaired since 1898, and un-
der heavy rains that occur in the win
ter are gradually washing out.
| A new pier at Hafer was also built
| by the Turkish government because.
| the old one is awkward and dangerous
for landing. Dr. Schumacher, the
American consular agent. was the
contractor, and made a good Job of
| it, The pier is a solid mass of mas
onry and concrete ana was intended
to be immortal. 1t was never used
but once. however. and that was when
the emperor landed.
His reception by the German col
onsts was the greatest function ever
held in Haifa. They made him
speeches and presents, they sang the
songs of the fatherland and little girls
presented flowers to the empress and
ladies' of her suite. His majesty took
a great in terest in everything. He
visited the schools and ordered new
outfit of furniture to be shipped from
Berlin He went to the soap factory
and purchased enough of its products
to wash all Germany. He visited the
stables and the blacksmith-shop, and
was so pleased with everything, and
particularly with the loyalty of the
coonists, that he has since given an
annual subsidy to each of the colonies
of 1000 marks.
This manifestation of interest was
very important to the welfare of the
colony, for it strengthened their posi-
tion with the Turkish government and
impressed the officials with the pro-
prety of respecting them. These
officials understand the relations that
exist between the sultan and the kais-
er and appreciate the fact that Ger
many has for years been standing off
the other European powers whenver
they have threatened Turkey. The
colonists have suffered a great deal
of annoyance from the local officials
and provincial authorities, who, like
all Turks. are opposed to everything
foreign and look upon infidels as their
proper prey. In assessing and col
lecting taxes. in authorizing the sale
Of land and in various other official
transactions they We're formerly very
extortionate and ugly. but since the
emperor's visit they have been more
reasonable.
The present head of the Temple
Society is Christian Hoffman, a son OF
the founder who lives at Jerusalem.
The colonies are governed by a coun-
ell elected by the people which meets
periodically at Jerusalem where they
own large tract of land just outside
the city walls and have village of
400 or 500 people with fine buildings,
neat streets. well-kept gardens and
every evidence of German industry
and thrift. There are few .Ameri-
cans among them.
The colony at Jaffa numbers 200,
that at Sarona, near Jaffa, 400. There
| pp A H.,
in the valley of Rephalm numbers 42O,
with few Americans. All the col
onists are equally prosperous, especi-
ally in trade, and are increasing grad
ually by recruits from the United
States, Germany and southern Russia