Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1902-07-09

ITS living off pilgrims and tourists, AMI
VIII find holy places and arguments
and evidence to support them as long
as trustful and contiding people are
willing to pay for the privilege of see
ing them. Those who are competent to
speak on such subjects say that the
longer you stay and the oftener You
come to Jerusalem the more rapidly
these objections diminish in impor-
est which the ruins and traditions i'll
spire, but everybody will always be
obliged to confess the degraded aspect
Of the people, the material and moral
decline of the city. the filth ana wretch
edness of the homes, the cheap ana
tawdry decorations of the churches,
and the appropriateness of the monu-
ments. These things make people mel
ancholy If not Disguised. A combina-
ton of superstition and fanatlclsm,
With Journalism and avarice, is the
chief characteristic of the modern city.
once the fountain head from which
the knowledge of the true God was
aiffused to all mankind. and after n
few days experience you feel like BUT
toning up your pockets when you kneel
TO pray before sacred shrine.
Jerusalem is not town for amuse-
ment or recreation; for everything in
1t is tiRged with religious sentiment
and relates to scriptural history. There
is nothing to attract a traveller but
shrines and memories, and the air is
full of controversy, Jealousy and doubt.
There is nothing beautiful in or about
the city except the Mosque of Omar.
which is one of the sublimest concep-
lions of Saracenic architecture III exist
| ence. Although we sing of the glory,
| the purity and happiness of Jerusalem,
It is one of the most repulsive places
in all the world. The old city is mass
of stone masonry, separated by narrow
streets and courts and surrounded by
a wall thirty-eight feet high and alto
gether two and half miles in length.
There are few open spaces, the streets
are crooked; many of them are blind
alleys, and those in the business dis.
| tricts are vaulted over. There are no
| sewers and none but surface drainage.
All the filth and offal of unmentionable
sorts is dumped upon the pavement for
1 the dogs to scatter and the rain to wash
away. In wet weather the streets are
shrinking cesspools. and when they dry
up the mixture is ground to powder be-
meath the hoofs of camels and donkeys
and the sandals of men, blown into
the air and absorbed into the threats
!, and nostrils, the eyes and ears of man
and beast, with myriads of microbes of
| all varieties. You actually have TO hold
your nose rs you walk down the Via
Doloroso, the most holy and interest
ing street in the world, sanctiiied hy
the feet of the Savior who followed it
as He bore the cross to Calvary.
Death Turks at Night.
| The streets of Jerusalem inside the
walls are repulsive by day and unsafe
ut night. Strangers, particularly for.
eigners or Christians, should never
wander out by themselves after dark.
They are strictly warned against such
folly, because it is Moslem town. in
which business is suspended from sun
| set to sunrise and becomes like city
| of the dead after dark In the older
portions there are no street lights, nc
gas, no electricity, not even petroleum
| lamps. When darkness falls the ba.
zaars are closed. the shutters are put
up, the camels and donkeys are turned
| into the corrals Mt the khans, and the
people retire behind tile high blank
walls. that inclose their habitations
Those who are compelled to go out on
honest business have lanterns carried
before them. A man going home with
out light is apt TO be arrested for II
suspicious character. But this is no,
the greatest danger In passing through
the streets at night n stranger is apt
to be touched by leper, or bitten by
a cur, or stabbed by Mohammedan
fanatic.
The latter are the worst of all assas-
sins. because they strike without rea-
son, and their religion not only justi-
ties but rewards them for taking the
lives Of unbelievers. While the police
and military are always on the lookout
for these "fakirs," as they are called,
and punish them with instant death if
detected, the penalty has no terror for
them and 1t Is impossible for strangers
to guard against them because they
cannot distinguish between people. All
Christians look alike TO them. Some of
the "fakirs,' after having made the
pilgrimage to Mecca or to the Mosque
of Omar in Jerusalem, go out into the
world TO fulfill vows they have made to
Kill or chastise "gaiours," as Christians
are called, for the sake of the faith, OF
tor some Imaginary slight or profana-