The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-09-19
ONE SHIRT A DAY.
Boston Transcript.


Imagine the amazement Of Beirut when
Americans, on board modern battleships,
came steaming up to the ancient city
imagine it, that is, for the amazement Of
Beirut could have been only imaginary.
Hundreds of her people have lived in the
United States, seen Americans by the
million, and doubtless beheld not few
American war vessels in American har-
bors Perchance some such returned
rover remembers trying to sell Admiral
Cotton some impossible commodities out
Of his peddlers pack. So the real amaze
ment, If there was any worth speaking
of, was rather that Of our lusty Jack
Tars, who must surely have raised some
very live questions during their hurried
voyage across the Mediterranean re-
garding the sort Of harbor they were
coming to, the sort Of climate they must
encounter, and the sort Of city they
would behold.
To all such queries the answers are
eminently satisfactory. No finer spot
could be chosen for an autumn sojourn
than the harbor of Beirut. Ten years ago
there was no harbor worthy the name in
this bay Of st. George Con whose shore,
by the way, St. George slew the dragon),
and our battleships might have come to
mischief in the shelterless roadstead.
But French capital has supplied a snug
little port, tho so exorbitant are the
dues that few Of the myriad coasting
vessels can afford to take shelter in it.
AS for health, Beirut is the sanatorium
Of Asiatic Turkey. Indeed, it is recon-
mended as a winter resort for Europeans.
The climate Is delightful, never torrid,
never very cold. There are no sharp
changes and no chill winds. The air is
as clear as in Colorado, and distances as
deceptive to the eye. Foreigners sleep
with their windows open and do not
perish. For ten months of the year the
land is bathed in sunshine. October, No
,vember and December in Beirut are like
a genial New England May. The water
supply, thanks to British enterprise,
comes from Dog river (named for a
long vanished stone colossus Of terrible
appearance) ten miles away, and is
pure Beirut was the first town in Syria
] to acquire the distinction of a European
water system. Besides, the city is clean.
Our sailors ought to thrive there.
Admiral Cotton Is to be envied the
view from his flagship. Beirut Is a city
set on a promontory: it has the sea on
three sides-the sea in which, not far
away, Jonah had his little mishap with
the whale White with the glittering
whiteness of eastern cities, the city
climbs from the deep Mediterranean blue
between dunes of red and tawny sand,
thru rich groves of mulberry, fig
and olive, thru dark forests of pine,
to the snowy peaks Of Lebanon. It is
the Naples Of Syria. "a glorious land
scape," says George Adam Smith, land
the town has not spoiled it,
A city whose past belongs to Rome and
to Phoentcia, a city which had been de-
stroyed 40 years before Christ, might be
expected to have It's future all behind it
Not SO Beirut Poor in antiquities, it is
rich In prospects. An earthquake robbed
1t OF its Oldest buildings in the year 551
few columns Of gray granite, a few
fragments of tessellated pavement are
all that is left above ground. And wha,
the earthquake spared the English de-
stroyed in 1910. Since then the Berothat
of the Phoenicians. the Berytus Of the an.
cient Romans. has risen anew. becoming
the most European Of all the towns Of
SYRIA It is proof Of the possibilities Of
what we are pleased to call the ''unchang.
| ing east.
| To be sure it is Europe that has done
1t. The English gave it water; the French
have given it gas. The French again gave
| it the magnificent turnpike which climbs
serpentlke thru the steep passes Of the
Lebanon and goes to Damascus. They
gave it, too, the Beirut Damascus rail
way. Germany and France have given II
| hospitals America. England and France
have given It printing presses and schools
Europeans Of all nations have made i
their home. the seat Of their commercia