The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-07-20

| faloSIiQe, ana as SdcTeu " tiC
medans as to the Hebrews The pres
ent mosque was restored by Sir Moses
Montefiore, although it belongs to the
| Moslems.
1t was beside the tomb of Rachel that
Samuel, the prophet, met Saul, the son
/ of Kish, when the latter was searching
the gullies around Bethlehem for the
live stock of his father that had gone
astray, and anointed him with the holy
oil to be King of Israel.
The story of David, the shepherd boy,
of Bethlehem, who, after a succession OF
most remarkable adventures and
achievements, became King of Israel,
is unsurpassed in all literature for SEN
timent, romance and tragedy, and many
Of the scenes are laid around this quiet
little city. You remember that David
was skillful harpist so they brought
him one night to the Kings bedchamber
that he might drive away the evil spirits
| and the Kings son, Jonathan, and his
daughter, Michal loved the young mu-
stefan. But Saul, insane with jealousy.
remorse and unsatsfied ambition, threw
his spear at the minstrel who had to
flee from the palace. He was a fugitive
in the hills for many days, being hunted
| like an outlaw, and having many mar
row escapes And you remember the
night that the rash boy cut off Sauls
coattails while he was sleeping and an
other time carried away his canteen
and his spear.
Every hill, every valley, every stone
around Bethlehem, is associated with the
adventures and triumphs of that shep-
| herd lad, and it became known at early
times, and has ever since been called,
] the City of David. He inherited the
| fields of Boaz, and the house in which
Ruth lived was his home for many
years, until, in his old age, he gave it
as an affectionate gift to the son of an
old friend, whom he highly esteemed.
| Five hundred years later Bethlehem
was the scene of another jdyl the most
beautiful ever enacted, when the stars
and the angels sang a serenade together
| over a stable,
Then followed the great tragedy, when
the threshold of every cottage in Beth
lehem was stained with the blood of a
baby. murdered by Herod in order that
the child that had been born in a man.
ger might not live to become king.
The Bethlehem of today has a popula-
ton of about 5000 people, almost entire
ly dependent upon tourists and pilgrims
and the manufacture of religious en-
blems. At least 1900 men, women and
children are engaged in manufacturing
rosaries, crucifixes and other articles of
olive and sandal wood and mother Of
pearl The mother of-pearl work is ia
nous. The material is obtained from
shells brought from the Red Sea and
some of the carvings are exquisite. You
can see hundreds of people making all
kinds of ornaments and trinkets in win
dowless rooms as you pass through the
narrow streets.
There are no Jews in Bethlehem, and
only seven Mohammedans, at least so
they say. The rest of the population are
Christians, and Bethlehem has the repu-
tation of being the most orderly, indus
trious and contented community in Pal
estine. The city is the cleanest We have
seen. although there might be some i'm
provement on several of the back
streets, the Sums I suppose. The main
part of the town is neatly kept: the
pavements are swept and sprinkled
daily, the houses are neatly whitewash-
ed, the courtyards are as clean as a
New England dairy and the atmosphere
is free from the hideous stenches that
assail you in other towns.
The only drawback to the pleasure of
a visit to Bethlehem is the appalling
ugliness of the church that stands over
the scene of the nativity and the per-
sistence of the pcddlers who follow pill
Vri nj tn nj
as they go about sightseeing. They do
not leave you alone for a moment. You
cannot look at anything without having
half dozen impertnent vendors of ros-
aries, beads and other articles come be-
fore you. You cannot think for a mo-
ment without being interrupted by their
rasping voices importuning you to buy.
1t is strange that justifiable homicides
do. not occur here every day.
Millions of rosaries are shipped from
Bethlehem annually to all parts of the
world, as Mohammedans and Greeks, as
we'll as Roman Catholics, use them to
count their prayers. They are even more
necessary to the former than to the
members of any other creed, because
they are required to repeat the same
prayer ninety mine times, and very few
people have the mental vigor to keep
tally on such a task Millions of cruel
fixes Of ivory, mother pearl, olive,
sandal wood and cedar, lava marble
alabaster and other materials, are made
and sold, and carloads of articles of olive
wood of all descriptions are carried
away each week on the backs of camels
to the railway freight stations at Jeru-
salem or across the mountain trails to
Jaffa, for it is still possible for the
caravans to compete with the railroads
In rates. Much of this material goes to
America. / met a gentleman in Bethle-
hem who had a booth at the Worlds
Fair at Chicago for the sale of religious
merchandise, who told me that he had
built up trade of large proportions and
was shipping each year thousands of
dollars worth to Chicago and New
York, where he had his own agents es-
tablished, as we'll as profitable bust
ness with the department stores
When we were securing around town
with our kodaks we caught sight of a.
Bethlehem bride. Many OF the towns in
Palestine. like those of France and the