The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1902-07-10
SCENES IN JERUSALEM.
There Are Many Modern Buildings
in Palestine's Ancient City
Noticeable Features

hCl ( Is d IdIuSOllt railway SldIlOn
in Jerusalem, built of fine quality of
pinkish stone, which is quarried in the
vicinity and generally used for build
ing purposes. just before the train
enters the town it passes through a
group of attractive-looking houses
built of the same material, with roofs
of red tile and surrounded by orange
and olive trees and luxuriant gardens,
writes William f. Curtis, in the Chi
cagO Record-Herald.
You know at once that either Euro
peans or Americans abide there, be-
cause no Turk, Arab or Jew, in this
part of the country at least, ever
kept such a neat place or thought Of
surrounding himself with such beauti-
full specimens of the vegetable king
dom. 1t is another of the colonies of
Germans, founded by the Temple soci-
ETY., who have come here, as they went
to Jaffa, Haifa and elsewhere, to pro-
mote the kingdom of God on earth and
show their neighbo<s how to live in
cleanliness, comfort and contentment;
how to spend their time in useful occu-
pations and how to deal HONORABLE
with their fellow men-lessons which
the population of the orient find it very
difficult to learn. The Temple society
does no evangelical work, although it
is founded upon religious principles
1t is organized to promote the material
welfare of the people of palestine, and
although there is not much improve
ment to be noticed yet, they have prob
ably made as many converts as the
other missionary societies, certainly
more than the missions to the Jews.
The missionary question must be
treated more delicately in Palestine
than elsewhere, because converts are
so few. Since | entered the country
at Smyrna, more than month ago,
have heard of not a single Moslem con-
vert to Christianity, and of only two
Jewish converts, and | have asked
pointed questions of all the Catholic,
Protestant and Orthodox Greek mis-
siOnaries l have met. The Protest.
ants and Catholics both claim con-
verts from the Orthodox Greeks, and
from other less numerous sects that
exist here. | have not yet heard of
Greek missionary who has converted
Protestant or a Catholic, and vet all
of them are doing an immense amount
of preaching to each other and good
work in their hospitals, schools and 9th
er charitable institutions. Their inf1u-
ence is also admirable in many places
toward the improvement of morals,
and the advancement of civilization.
We do not know what the country
was before the missionaries came here.
but there has been o decided change
for the better since. A mission for
the promotion of street cleaning and
house cleaning. for the conversion of
the people to the use of soap, towels,
bathtubs and fine-tooth combs would
be very useful, and perhaps might ac-
complish great deal if they would be-
gin with the governor and work down,
for the governors palace is one of the
filthiest places in all Jerusalem, and
its surroundings are repulsive enough
to nauseate a man with copper in
sides.
The Jewish quarter is almost impos-
sible for persons with delicate stom-
achs, who are accustomed to pure air,
to visit 1t fairly reeks with stenches
that are new and strange. The courts
within the houses, the pavements Of
the streets and the living apartments
as far as we have had the courage to
see them. are unfit for human habita-
ton. One of the most prominent jew
ish inhabitants, a scholar and a phil
anthropist, explained that the filthy
condition was due to the lack of wa
ter; that the wate@ facilities in Jeru-
salem were very limited. and that all
the supply for the families had to be
brought long distance in jars upon
the heads of women and children.