The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1903-06-20


cy. A human body floats without exer.
ton, and can only be submerged by a:
effort. Swimming is unpleasant, as tho
feet, being the lighter part of the
bcdy, have too great tendency TO rise
10 the surface The sea is usually per-
fcctly calm. The water is SO heavy
that it requires a strong wind to dis
! turb it.
Fish placed in the Dead sea gasp a
few times and die, and the only liv-
| ing things that exist in the water are
Il lew microbes, the hacilii of tetanus,
which have been discovered in the
| north bank. The popular suppo5ition
! that poisonous eXhalatiOnS arise from
4 its surface is a mistake. Birds fly
over it without injury, and no baneful
effects. are suffered by breathing the
atmosphere. On the contrary, con-
sump,ives 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 pcnitents haze
come here to die among its 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, small
steamer, recently brought over in sec
tions 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.
A great deal Of mystery and super
stitiOn attached to the Dead sea in
olden times, much of which was dissi-
rated by a thorough exploration made
by Capt. w. F. Lynch, an American
naturalist, who was sent over by the
Palestine Exploration society Of New
York in 1S4S. His report has ever
since been regarded as the highest au-
thority on all questions, although sew
cral points are still disputed. Certain
passages CT Scripture can be recon-
ciled to the physical conditions that
exist today only upon the theory that
the climate and topography have
changed in a radical and remarkable
manner. According to the 14th chap
ter Of Genesis, there was already 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
of the fire and birthstone that rained
upon SOdom and Gomorrah still illu-
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 well "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
sed life!ess clay, bearing no vegeta-
ton but grease plants and sage brush.
From no point of view that could
have been occupied by Abraham, Moses
Dr. Jesus does the valley of the Jordan
appear anything but desolate waste
If mud.
There we're once five cities-Sodom,
1omorrah. Adnah, Zebolim and Zoar-
cut no man can tell where they stood.
Their ruins have entirely disappeared.
Ind careful investigation has demon
;trated that the popular idea that So
lom and Gomorrah lie at the bottom
# the Dead sea is mistake. 1t is also
mistake to suppose that any COM
nunity of size ever existed in this eli
nate, where now no man can live.
1t is also perfectly clear from the
vertook the five cities upon the plain
vas not from water, but from fire, and
he absolute disappearance of all
races of walls that must have been
uilt of stone, because there was no
imber, is of itself a remarkable phe-
onenon. This is, perhaps, the only
lace in Palestine where the Bible
tudent is utterly bewildered because
f the contradictions between the land
nd the book.-Chicago RecordHerald