The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1904-02-24
sumz A DnEAnY DITCH.
Cannl Cleft Through Region Hare of
All save Biblical Richncss.
w. b. Curtis i'm ChicoCo Record-uar

@h''O'N Oi NtC < SGo jail. TO-
Every vessel passing through the Suez
N is compelled to take u pilot, be-
cause shippers of ordinary vessels can
not be trusted to navigate the narrow
channel, for the slightest deviation
may cause damage hat Will cost thou
sands of ollar to repair. Each year,
however, navigation is rendered easier
by the widening of the channel and
by the excavation of additional sidings
or basins where vessels can pass.
From the moment the pilot goes on the
bridge he takes charge of the move
ments of he ship and is responsible for
whatever may happen, regulating the
speed according to tonnage and
draught.
Vessels cannot pass in motion. When
they meet the one which arrives first
ut the signal station is compelled to
stop and tie up in the basin until the
other goes by. These basins are found
at intervals of a few miles, and at
every basin is u "gare' or station in
charge of Il signal officer, who corre-
spends to II train dispatcher on one
OF our railroads, and the block system
iS used to regulate the movement of
vessels. Formerly no traffic was al
lowed at night. but now it is carried on
without interruption by the aid of
electric lights on the shore and search
lights on the vessels.
The canal looks exactly what 1t is
- ''tp = VII a. dNSNl vi hIlNl Ill
which foxes, j~acSals, hycnas and oc-
~casionally lions are seen by the watch
men in the signal towers. At some
places the banks of earth on either
side are so high that passengers on the
Steamer canno see 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, me
at Il certain point for a mile or two
Sinai is visible 81 miles to the
southeast, and is pointed out to you
by the captain or the deck steward.
Naked Arab boys run along the banks
crying for buksheesh and easily keep
abreast of the creeping vessel, grab
ping at pennies which passengers
throw them from the deck. Half the
coins roll down i'm the water. which is
eXasperating to the youngsters. They
do not like to stop n div for them
while there is n chance of getting more,
but L imagine they mark the spots and
come back to recover lost backshecsh
when they ave left the vessel.
There are only two towns Of any
account on the canal. One is Ismalia.
n half way point. with a population Of
4 900. 1T is the only monument in honor
of the Khedive Ismail. who did tile
most and spent the most to carry out
the enterprise, IL lost his throne
thereby. 1t is rather n pretty town,
.abundantly irrigated, and hence has
lovely gardens and grove of palms
and other trees. Here reside most of
the engineers and other officers of the
canal, because it is preferable to Port
SAID. There is Il hospital for sick en-
ployees, a club for the benefit OF the
officers, and several good houses, in
Guiding one erected especially for the
entertainment of NJ. de LeSscps. when
he should be pleased to use it. Beyond
lsmalia, as before. are occasional
GASES in the deseTt-groVcs of palms
n nd l1NDriDpt tnrlp,c ,vr,,n,,oli,n thn
stations OF the canal officials, for
wherever YOU can turn water on that
lonely desert everything will grow with
n wild ,uNuriance. 1t seems as if the
earth suddenly released terminating
power that had been accommodating
during centuries of suppression.
The chief interest is found in the
town OF SucH, because it is the crossing
place of the great OF camels
that furnish transportation between the
two continents of Asia and Africa, and
travel regularly between Cairo, Da-
mascus and Bagdad; also because bib
lical historians believe that here the
waters of the Red sea opened $500
years ago and allowed 5000. 900 of the
of Israel to cross over upon
dry bottom. 1t requires n considerable
concession to the imagination and a
strength of faith that "a majority of
mankind do not possess to accept his
theory, but no one knows to the con-
trary, and experience has taught me
never to doubt the faith OF interesting
stories. If you do, o deprive your
self II others of much pleasure. 1t
is like Analysing the attraction of n
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 he way. is not red, but blue
AS blue as the sky in June--you can
see the purple peaks OF the Sinaitic
range, n Il few miles from the shore,
which o can reach in three hours
by donkey. one of these remarkable
GASES that are frequently found in the
desert. This particular II is called
the Wells of Moses. There is a com
fortress hotel kept by an Arab, where
beds and refreshment can be obtained.
but 1t is better To start early in the
morning, so as to get back the same
day, and take Il luncheon in n basket
from Suez. The trip can be easily
made while the vessel Is coaling.
The children of Israel, according to
the Bible, wandered three days in the
wilderness of Shur and found no water,
and when they came to Marah they
could not drink the waters. for they
against Moses, sayin: what shall we
drink" and he cried unto the Lord
and the Lord showed him a tree which
he cast into the waters and the waters
were made sweet. And they came to
elm, where there We're ~ wells of
water, and three score and ten palm
trees, and they encamped there by the
waters. And Miriam, the prophecies,
the sister of Aaron, took n timbrel
in her hand. and all the women went
out after her with timbrels and with
dances. That beautiful scene, one Of
the most dramatic i'm the whole Bible,
is believed TO have taken place here,
for these wells are the wells OF Elm,
and three and ten palm trees st"'
shelter a collection of a dozen or more
springs. The village is peoplcd by
naked Arabs, sinewy, springy. en-
during fellows. whose flesh shines like
polished mahogany. and who must re-
semitic tho young lneu of Israel when
they started on the journey hat was
not finished for 40 years.
1t is difficult to understand why and
how they happened to be wandering
about so long down here. If YOU will
look at the map o will see that Suez
is almost on n line with Cairo, and it
was the most natural rendezvous of the
tribes, who were scattered all along
the Nile from Memphis, which is Just