Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1904-04-21
PROGRESS IN
PALESTINE
New Activities in the Holy Land-A Southern Asiatic
Trans Continental Railway Planned With Syrian
Terminals Market for American Agricultural
Machinery

the tranS-Jordan country, heretofore
almost as wild and as unknown as
Thibet. will be opened to ordinary
transient traffic.
The line between Beirut and DamaS.
Gus. capitalized by French and Bel
sians. is reported to be already on
paving basis. Very lately new
feeder 20 it has been opened under
the name of the DamasCus-Hauran
branch. extending down the valley of
the Orontes to Baalbeck HONS, and
Klamath, and thence continuing to the
Euphrates. This line has made II
possible for tourists to reach the Cele.
brated ruins OF Palmyra after very
short carriage ride from Hons The
Be.rut-Damascus route also passes
through the cedar forests that cover
the slopes of Mount Lebanon.
The introduction Of American agrt-
cultural machinery has already begun
and seems destined to revolutiontze
conditions Of living in Palestine. Only
very recently a rich man of Damas
Gus, Abul Rahman Pacha, who is SUI
rerintendent of the annual pilgrimage
to Mecca, ordered from an Indiana
firm a modern steam threshin2 ma.
chine. the second of its kind ever seen
in Judea. Consul Rarudal, at Beirut
states that the triumphal march of
this machine through Damascus was
one of the most spectacular events
which has ever occurred in the White
City. On its way out to the PaCha $
estate in the country it broke down
several bridges, but it was pulled out
of the creek beds and finally brought
to its destination in good condition,
| II will of course, he able to do the
work of thousands of the old,fashion-
ed fails in a region whore for the
most part the people still live and
work much as they worked when
Abraham crossed through these fields
with his Chaldean floCks. Thou
sands of acres of immensely fertile
lands, Mr. Rarndal says now lie idle,
only awaiting reclamation by machin,
cry and some guarantee Of safety
from the wandering Bedouins who for
centuries have hindered agriculture.
Every piece of machinery that is
brought into Palestine is serving n
useful purpose in teaching the popu-
lation new ideas. new methods. They
now have ocular demonstration that
more wheat can be raised by the use
of reaDers and threshing machines
than in the old-fashioned way and
/ that it can be got to market more
probably over the railroad than when
carried, as is done at present. on the
backs of camels from the Hauran
the granary of Syria. through Johan
and Aka by way of Nazareth. To
day the camel driver eXacts as his
share, onehalf the load of 500 pounds
while the farmer, after taxes and
other fixed charges have been paid.
receives but poor remuneration for
| his labor In this picturesque but
uneConomical traffic about 5000 cam
els are employed whose usefulness
will be gone. once the Haifa line of
the Damascus railway has tapped this
rich agricultural section from the
southwest and opened It uD to the out
side world. Then new era will have
been ushered in and hundreds of thou,
sands of acres which have heretofore
lain fallow will undoubtedly he takoN
up for cultivation. with perhaps such