Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1906-12-01
The Holy Land Today.

For centuries the Holy Land SUM
bered while the rest of the world was
awake and active. The passing years
brought wonderful changes to other
lands, but for century after century
Palestine remained virtually the same
land that it was in the time of Christ.
This has contributed an inexpressiblc
charm to that region, but within a
dozen years that charm has been, in
large measure lost and a new Pales-
tine has come into being The trans
formation has been wrought by a rail-
road which was built from Jaffa, the
ancient Jaffa, to Jerusalem in 1892 and
which +has infused imore new life into
THE Holy Land than it had absorbed
in the preceding Is centuries. An idea
of the great change is given us by the
consular reports. They show that the
annual revenue of the custom house at
Jaffa has grown from $4,000 to $500. 900
since the railroad was built The ex-
ports and imports for Palestine for the
past year aggregated $4,047 900, an in
crease of $3OS.OO0 over the previous
year. The imports alone aggregated
s2,25S,00 The exports of oranges in
export last year being $3.50 Water
melons. grapes and wine. also figured
extensively in the exports. The Pales-
tine imports embraced for the past
year hardware, petroleum, cotton goods
sugar and building materials. The
latter go almost exclusively to Jerusa-
lem and Jaffa, showing that both cit
les are increasing in population.
Nor is the awakening confined to
these two cities. At GAIA the govern
ment is to build a sea jetty for the
protection of shipping. With this i'm
provemcnt that city, now numbering
10000 souls, thinks it will radically gain
both in population and in wealth.
Beershcba ut present has but so dwell
ings, but it's people believe it has a fu-
to encourage building. A carriage road
has been constructed from Beersheba
to Hebron, and these points are con
nccted by telegraph. A carriage road
is being constructed from Jerusalem to
Nablous, the ancient capital Of Sauna
ria to be completed within a year.
An easier though slightly longer road
than the present one, is being mad"
down to the Dead Sea and Jericho and
will be finished by the close of this
year. 1t will for the most part follow
the ancient roadway, the scene of the
parable of the man who went down
from Jcrusal lem to Jericho and fell
among thieves.
The railroad locomotive has opened
the aytfor improved farming machn-
cry until today the turbancd Bedouns
look on in MCndermcnt at American
mowers ands threshers. For centuries
the grain has been CLEANED by hand,
following the manner depicted in the
BOOK OF Ruth, but the picturesque GUS
tom is being supplantcd by the occi-
dental method. The railroad is now.
prosperous and earning good return
on the capital invested. In 1894 the re-
ceipts We're .s1H 1000, of which CT per
cent was profit. The number of pas
sengers conveyed was 9,555 first class
and S4,569 second class. Twenty-Five
thousand tons of merchandise We're
hauled.
The ,Americanization of the Orient
has begun in earnest, at last. The
next 10 years should find even greater
changes. Students Of history and the
ology may wish the old order to have
remained, but commcrcialiSm has seen
the opportunity to make another dollar,
and such opportunities are never re-