The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1904-02-24
SUEZ 4 DuEAnY DITCH.
Cnnu. CICft Through Region Bnre of
All Save Biblical Richness.


: w +. Curtis in Chicago Record Her
!: aid
: A'loat on tn" Red sea. Jan. IS
Every vessel passing through the Suez
'aiill Is compelled to take Il pilot be-
'94S" SHIPPERS OF ordinary vessels cam
iint De trusted To navigate the narrow
channel. for the slightest deviation
may cause damage that viii cost thou
sands OF dollars To repair Each wear
no"rN"r, navigation is rendered easier
ny ne Widening OF the channel and
by the excavation OF additional siaiuys
on hnSinS where vessels can mass
from The moment the pilot goes on the
bridge h" takes charge uf the move
n.n'& %! ;ho Shii. and is responsible for
Whatever may happen. regulating tho
speed according Ia tonnage and
draught.
Vessels cannot pass in motion When
they meet the one which arrives first
az the signal station is compelled To
stop and tie up in the basin until ,h,.
other goes by. These basins are found
NJ intervals OF Il few miles. and at
every basin is "garc" or station in
harEe of signal officer, who CORE
spends To train dispatcher on one
ui uut railroads. and the block system
lS used Ia rrgulnte the movement OF
\"S*"iH Formerly no traffic was al
lowed at night. but now 1t is carried on
without interruption by the aid OF
electric lights un the SilGrc and search
lights OH the vessels.
me CAM! looks exactly what 1t is
i Dig '.itri on II desert OF sand on
!, Whl'h i"NrS. j,HkalS hy"nnS and oc-
casiunaIly liou.; ;tr, seen by the wutch-
men in thr siGihu towers At some
places tn" btuk& Of earth on either
SIDE are So nigh tlint Passengers on the
Steamer cannot sec over them, but for
most Of the journey YOU have, a wide
sweep on both sides back To the noun
tainS that rise from the desert and
at certain point for II mile or two
Mount Sinai is visible 81 miles To the
southeast, and is pointed out to you
by the raptnin or the deck steward.
Naked Arab boys rln along the banks
crying Tor bakshecsh and easily keep
ABREAST OF the creeping vessel, grab
hinS ~ pennies which passengers
throw lhcm from the deck. Half the
COINS ron dow In the water, which Is
. eXnSprratnE to the youngsters. They
| do not like tu stop and dive for them
while thti" is Il chance. Of getting more.
: but imaStilc they mari; The spots and
come back tn recover lost bnrksheesh h
when they have l.ft In. vessel
There are only Two towns of nny
) account on the canal. t,r Is Ismalla
half way point. with population of
1000. 1t is the only monument i'm honor
| Of the I<hrdive ismui who did the
| most and spent the most 10 carry out
the enterprise. and lost his throne
thereby. 1t is rather pretty town.
ahundnntiy irrigated, and hence has
: ana other trees. Here reside most OF
the engineers and other officers of the
! canal. because it Is preferable to Port
. sand. There is hospital for sick em-
rl"yees. a club for the benefit of the
officers. and several good houses, in
Guiding one erected especially for the
entertainment of Nj. de LesReps, when
he should he pleased to use it. Beyond
lsmalin. ns before. are occasional
cases in the desert--groves OF palms
: and luxurinnt gardens surrounding the
stations of the canal officials. for
: wherever you can turn water on that
| lonely desert everything will grow with
, q wild luXuriancc. Il spoiiis an il the
| earth suddenly released terminating
power that had been accommodating
during centuries of suppression.
, The chief interest Is found In the
town of SucZ. because 1t Is the crossing
place of the great caravans Of camels
that furnish transportation between the
two continents OF Asia and Africa, and
travel regularly between Cairo. Da-
! mnscus and Bngdnd; also because bib
licnl historians believe that here the
: waters of the Red seu opened $500
years ago and allowed 100000 Of the
children of Israel to cross over upon
! dry bottom. 1t requires II considerable
. concession to the imagination and Il
strength of faith that 4 majority OF
mankind do not possess to accept this
theory, but no one knows to the con-
trary. and experience has taught me
: never to doubt the faith of interesting
stories. II you do, you deprive your
, self and others OF much pleasure. 1t
} Is like analyZing the attraction Of q
pretty woman. or separating her fea-
lures into lots, classifying them and
measuring them by the Venus de Milo.
On the other side of the Red sea.
which. by the way. Is not red. but blue
AS blue ns the sky In June-yOu cun
see the purple peaks of the Sinnitic
, range. and q few miles from the shore.
fl,
!, by donkey, one of these remarkable
GASES that are frequently found in the
, desert. This particular one is called
; the Wells of Moses. There !s g co;ii=
beds and refreshment can he obtained.
, but 1t Is better 20 start early In the
morning, SD as to get back the same
. day. and take IL luncheon In a basket
from Suez. The trip can be easily
made while the vessel Is coalinE.
; The children of Israel, according to
the Bible, wandered three days in the
wilderness or Shur and found no water,
and when they came to Marah they
could not drink the waters, for they
against Moses. sayn: What shall we
drink?" and he cried unto tho Lord
! and the Lord showed him n tree which
| he cast into the waters and the waters
were made sweet. And they came to
Elm, where there were II wells Of
; water. and three score and ten palm
trees, and they encnmped there. by the
: waters. And Miriam. the prophecies.
! the sister Of Aaron, took Il timbrel
in her hand, ana all the women went
, out after her with timbrels and with
dances. That beautiful scene. one Of
the most dramatic in the whole Bible
Z is believed to have taken place here
/, for these wells are the wells Of Elm.
and three and ten palm trees still
shelter Il collection of u dozen or more
springs. The village is peopled by
naked Arabs, sinewy, springy, en-
during fellows, whose flesh shines like
l polished mahogany. and who must re-
: semble the young men OF Israel when
they started on the journey that was
not finished for 40 years.
, 1t is difficult to understand why and
: how they happened to be wandering
, about 30 long down here. If you will
look at the map you will see that Suez
: ia almost a line with Cnirl. md Ii