Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-06-13
SIGHTS IN BETHLEHEM.
Birthplace of the Savior Marked by
Strikingly Beautiful Environments.

William E. Curtis In the Chicago Record Herald.
1t delights the soul to find at last clean
and well kept town in Palestine, and the
more so because Il is Bethlehem a place
which appeals more strongly and deeply to
the religious and poetic sentiment than any
other on earth, because It has been the
scene of the most beautiful idyIs In human
history; for was 1t not here that Ruth
CLEANED the fields of Boaz. and not only
won good husband but became the mother
OF a long line of kings, and was IL not here
that Jacob laid the body of his beloved
Rachael? Looking from the walls of the
convent you can see the home OF Jesse, the
slopes upon which David herded his sheep,
the farm or BoaZ. the caves In which David
hid from Saul, the fields in which the shep-
herds were abiding, keeping watch over
their f1ocks by night when they saw the star
OF Bethlehem, and the paths by which they
approached the stable in which the young
child lay. All this scarcely seems real but
there 1t is, spread out before you like an
ordinary landscape, like the views in any
ordinary country, and there are no fakes
In the natural features Of Bethlehem. The
landscape is exactly the same this morning
as 1t was on that memorable day when
Samuel came up from GilgaI to choose a
king from among the chief men of Judea.
According to the legends, the star fell into
well. and you can see it there now. The
rest Is so real. so actual so tangible that
one Is tempted TO believe that story. and L
saw the star myself, twinkling in the dark
water.
1t is delightful four-mile drive from Je-
rusalem to Bethlehem over a good road, be-
tween picturesque and sunny landscapes
and every foot OF the way is filed with his
torical associations We pass a great hos
pital which Sir Moses Montefore built for
the benefit of the poor OF his race and the
Temple Colony, where German Lutherans
from Wurtemburg and Buffalo have set I'D
model town as an example to the inhabi-
tants or the Holy Land: the Hill of Evil
council: one OF several trees on which Jud-
as Is said to have hanged himself; the
country house Of Caiaphas; the house of
simeon, who wanted TO depart In peace be-
cause his eyes had seen thy saivation:" the
Well at which Joseph st topped to water his
donkey when he was on his way to Bethle-
mem: the Convent of the Cross which was
rounded by st. Helena; there is the earth
that nourished the roots that bore the tree
tnat yielded the timber that made the cross
upon which the Son of God was crucified"
Under the altar OF the chapel the monks
VIII show you hole in the ground where
the stump OF the tree once stood and nil
grims fall down and worship it.
Strange bands these pilgrims. partfculsr-
ly the Russians, but there are many Others
ana they come from all the corners OF the
earth In hunger and thirst, through FROST
ana neat, begging food on the way and.
sieeplns under the stars at night Their
falth is mighty. their zeal q burning fiame
and their satisfaction intense Only a snuI
entirely free from the trammels OF the
world can kneel and kiss marble slab
which covers hole from which a tree IA
SAID TO nave been taken 1000 years ago.