The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1903-05-07

which have been discovered in the
north bank. The popular supposition
that poisonous exhalations arise from
its surface is mistake. Birds fy
over it without injury, and no baneful
effects are suffered by breathing the
atmosphere On the contrary, con-
sumptives and other persons of deli
cate health have found the air healing
and stimulating, Notwithstanding the
great heat, and frequently camp upon
the shores. At one time several col
onies Of hermits lived upon the shores.
and within a century penitents have
come here to die among it's repulsive
surroundings. There were formerly
several boats plying the waters, bring
ing merchandise from the opposite
shores to Jericho and for the accom-
mediation of'tourists. At present there
are but two, one Of them, a small
steamer, recently brought over in Sec
tons from Alexandria by the treasurer
OF the orthodox Greek church at Je-
rusalem for excursion purposes. is laid
up under a probation from the gov
ernor Of the province, who has not re-
ceived the amount of baksheesh to
which he thinks himself entitled. So.
"A great deal Of mystery and super
stition attached to the Dead sea in
olden times, much of which was dissi-
pated by q thorough exploration made
by Capt. w. F. Lynch, an American
naturalist, who was sent over by the
Palestine Exploration society of New
York in 184S. His report has ever
since been regarded as the highest au-
thority on all questions, although sew
eral points are still disputed. Certain
passages of Scripture can be recon-
ciled to the physical conditions that
exist today only upon the theory that
the climate and topography have
changed in radical and remarkable
manner. According to the 14th chap
ter of Genesis, there was already a salt
sea here in the days of Abraham; the
valley Of Siddin, as is was called, was
full Of slime pits" and somewhere In
this awful and uninhabitable region
was the scene of Gods most terrible
punishment of human sins. The glare
of the fire and birthstone that rained
upon Sodom and Gomorrah still illu-
inmates this repulsive plain.
When Abraham and Lot looked down
from the Mountain of Bethel (Which is
not satisfactorily identifed) the valley
of the Jordan was we'll "watered ev-
erywhere as the garden of the Lord,
and like unto the land Of Egypt" The
longing eyes of Moses gazed from Piz-
gah over landscape of beauty and de-
light; at the temptation of Jesus the
plain of Jericho was covered with fer
tile. fields where now are banks of ma
ked, lfeless 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 desolate waste
Of mud.
There were once five cities-Sodom,
Gomorrah, Adnah, Zebolim 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 COM
munity of size ever existed in this CHI
mate, where now no man can live.
1t is also perfectly clear from the
Scriptures that the catastrophe which
overlook the five cities upon the plain
was not from water, but from fire, and
the absolute disappearance of all
traces of walls that must have been
built of stone, because there was no
timber, is of itself remarkable phe-
nomenon. This is, perhaps, the only
place in Palestine where the Bible
student is utterly bewildered because
of the contradictions between the land
and the book-ChicagO Record Herald.