Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-06-24

| I'VE HllleS lOIlS anu oUU ltel nigh. -
pillar that rises beside it is pointed out
| to tourists as the remains of Lots
wife. This deposit of fossil salt is said
| to contain a higher percentage OF
chloride of sodium than is found else
where. The bottom of the lake in that
vicinity is covered with large crystals,
so hard as to defy solution except in
boiling water.
Nevertheless the water of the Dead
Sea is not the saltiest in the world, as
is generally supposed. Ocean water
contains per cent. salt, the Dead Sea
26 per cent, the great Salt Lake of
Utah II per cent. in the rainy season
and % per cent. in the dry season; Lake
Elton. on the Kirglin Steppes of
Siberia, east of the Volga river, 20 per
cent, and Lake Urumia in Persia, is
said to contain from % to 50 per cent.
The latter is strongly impregnated
with iodine also.
The water of the Dead Sea is very
nauseous. No stomach is strong
enough to retain it. 1t is sticky to the
touch, and, when dried, leaves a coat
ing of salt and other chemicals upon
the flesh of bathers But it is a beauti-
full blue color, and so transparent that
one can distinguish objects upon the
bottom at a depth of twenty feet. 1t
is difficult to swim in because of its
buoyancy. A human body floats with
out exertion, and can only be sub
merged by an effort. Swimming is
unpleasant, as the feet, being the light
or part of the body, have too great n
tendency tC rise to the surface. The
sea is usually perfectly calm. The
water is so heavy that it requires a
strong wind to disturb it.
Fish placed in the Dead Sea gasp a
few times and die, and the only living
things that exist in the water are a few
microbes. the bacilli of tetanus, which
have been discovered in the north
bank. The popular supposition that
poisonous eXhalations arise from its
surface is a mistake. Birds fly over it
without injury, and no baneful effects
are suffered by breathing the atmos-
phere On the contrary. cOnsumptives
and other persons of delicate health
have found the air healing and stimu
lating, Notwithstanding the great heat,
and frequently camp out upon the
shores. At one time several colonies
of hermits lived upon the shores, and
within a century penitents have come
here to die among its repulsivc sur
roundings. There were formerly sew
cral boats plying the waters, bringing
merchandise from the opposite shores
to Jericho. and for the accommodation
Of tourists. At present there are but
two, and one of them, small steamer
recently brought over in sections from
Alexandria by the treasurer of the
orthodox Greek church at Jerusalem
for excursion purposes. is laid up I'M
der a prohibition from the governor of
the province, who has not received the
amount of baksheesh to which he
thinks himself entitled.
A great deal of mystery and super
stitution attached to the Dead Sea i'll
oldcn times, much of which was dlS-
sipated by Q thorough exploration made
by Captain w. f. Lynch. an American
naturalist, who was sent over by the
Palestine Exploration Society Of New
York in 1913. His report has ever since
been regarded as the highest authorityo on
all questions, although several pointsar
still disputed. Certain passages OIL
scripture can be reconciled to the
physical conditions that exist today
only upon the theory that the climate
and topography have changed in
radical and remarkable manner. Ac-
cording to the fourteenth chapter of
Genesis there was already a salt sea
here in the days of Abraham; the valley
of Siddin. as it was called, was full of
i FIJI
and uninhabitable region was the
scene of Gods most terrible punish
ment of human sins. The glare of the
fire and birthstone that rained upon
Sodom and Gomorrah still Eliminates
this repuIsive plain.
When Abra ham and Lot looked down
from the mountain of Bethel (Which IS
not satisfactorily identifed), the valley
of the Jordan was well watered every
where as the garden of the Lord, and
ike unto the land of Egypt" The
longing eyes of Moses gaZed from PlZ-
gah over d landscape of beauty and de-
light. at the temptation of Jesus the
plain of Jericho was covered Win
fertile fields where now are banks OF
naked, lifcless clay, bearing no vegeta-
ton but grease plants and sage brush.
From no point of view that could
have been occupied by Abraham, Moses
or Jesus. does the valley of the Jordan
appear anything but n desolate waste
of mud.
There were once five citieS-Sodom,
Gomorrah, Adnah, Zeboiim and Zoar---
but no man can tell where they stood.
Their ruins have entirely disappeared,
and careful investigation has demon
strated that the popular idea that So
dom and Gomorrah lie at the bottom OF
the Dead Sea is a mistake. 1t is also
a mistake to suppose that any commu-
nifty Of size ever existed in this climate,
where now nc man can live.
Just how the Lord "overthrew the
cities" is not disclosed either by scrip
tural history or the evidences of nature,
or the appearance of ruins. The IN
quisitiye explorer can gain no light
from any Of these three usually reliable
sources The great difference in level
between the Sea OF Galilee and the
Dead Sea has often been cited as evil
dence that they were submerged by the
sinking of the surface af the earth, and
| it has often been suggested that Hood
| might have followed an earthquake or
the eruption of volcano; but geolo-
gists are confident that no active vol
canoes have ever existed in this vicin-
lity. and that the subsistence of the
| Jordan Valley occurred in the tertiary