The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-04-16
Wlfcrc the Dirt Road i shorter Than
tIe isatlroad.

Wl1crc the Dirt Road i Shorter Than
iJte Railroad.
From Jafa to Jerusalem is IS mules
by dir road ana 81 by railway. The
latter winds its tortuous Way through
the mountains vi Judca and Ii takes
3 L. hours hy train. The Grst stop
is at LYDIA, where Peter visited the
saints aud healed .Acncas OF the palsy
While at LYDIA the disciples ut Joppa
sent for him and he went over ther"
and raised Tabitha from tho dead
and presented her alive TO The saints
and widows. Ihc next station -
I:aInlch. Said t. b. the ~Arimalhea
mentioncn in the New Testament
Here lived Joseph. "a rich man Of
Arimathea,' who begged of plate the
new tomb. ltamleh is a placc IF more
than s,U0o people. 2.6Vp OF whom are
Christians. Near Isamleh y = small
village on Il hill. This hin was point
ed out by . professional dragornan on
the train ~ the place where Samson
got the tnr1e handrod foxes. whose
tails he tied together, with tirebrands
between them. and then turned them
loose in tho ripe wheat Of IN" PhlllS-
tines. SOMEONE on thu train asked him
if SamSoiI kept a geological garden on
the hin, but he could not cnliShten
the enquirer. We had gone only a
few yards further when sdW q large
red fux trottinG of towards 4 cactus
fence 10 conceal itself. The cave Of
anSo is in plain view from the car
windoW-but that remarkable jaw
bone with which lie slaughtered So
many PhiliStincs Was not ~ evidence
For twenty miles oct from JaGa the
railway traverScs the Plain OF SnaIon.
This plain is a fertile tract lying be-
tween tho mountains Of Judea and the
Mediterranean. Although cultivated iof
more than 5.3UU years without the atd
of fertilizers. it i. still remarkably
productive. \ fgW CntcrpriSing Ger
mans have settled in and around
.Jafr;L and arc demonstrating what n
ODDLY land il IS. The soil and eli
mate are especially adapted TO the
growth Of oranges olives. figs. Grares
wheat ana corn. Oranges are rs plel-
titul as hickory nuts in our country.
From Jaffa there are annually eE-
ported many ship loads Of the finest
oranges III the world. over 800 shin3
clear the port every Year. laden matp-
IL with oranges and other produces
Of this magnificent plain. 1T Is not
surprising that the martial Philistincs
fought 50 ~vaiiantly FOR their posses
sions in sharon.
The secret Of the Doughty Philistinc-.
No doubt many BiDle reaacrs have
admired the fighting qualities of thsl
PhiIiStincS and wondered how Il Wsts
they survived 50 many almost COIN
plet annihilations They seem 70 nave
moro lives than a cat. Occupying a
small territory there could not have
Been many Of them ana set 1t was Inn
possible u kill them out and conquer
them permanently. Recent excaF4-
tons and discoveries have thrown
much new light on the Ph"listinc
and show that they were either
lIgyptiaGs or tributary 10 Egypt. And
10 doubt K was from Egyt3t that new
recruits came TO take thu places ~
those destroyed ~ the Israciitcs. IN
1887 certain prick tablets with cuncl-
form characters on them were fou'lI
in upper Egypt. The blIck tables
turned out to be letters ~ The Ego
tian kings from their tributary princes
or rulers in Nsia. These letters have
been translated into English ana
some Of them We're from Philistia. q
copy or the translation was ghoWn ne
BY y resident OF Jerusalem. some Of
the letters from the Pni!istinc cities
refer 10 the Hebrew invasion and cd!
for the return OF the Egyptian 5arri-
sons which had been withdrawn I4le
appeals for soldiers arc very earnest.
In esponse to these appeals no doubt
came fresh recruits to ~replcnish the
ranks Of the Philistincs that were de-
stroycd by Joshua and his successor
Further proof OF this theory is fur
nished in an uncarcd for museum iD
Jerusalem. This museum is not meli-
toned in the guide books and proDt-
blv not seen bv one in five hundred
visitors to the Holy City. The came
gentleman who showed ne the rams
Iation Of the brick tablets carried me
to the museum IL an Arab school IN
it arc PRICELESS discoveries that either
confirm or explain the scriptures but
they arc piled up in old boxes. scat
tered over the floor in confusion AM
no attention paid 10 them
When the Philistine Exploration
FUND obtained OF the Sultan a con-
cession to excavate in Palestine, -
The permission granted vas anneAGf
q stipulation tbat ever! thing found
should be delivered To the Turkish
authorities. Among the CbJecls
i'll tbe land Of the Phillsttncs
we're Egyptian seals. rings, scarabs
ur.on which were ~cartouches OF Phar-
aolls, carved images Of Egyptian gods
and kings, showing that tie Phiiis-
tines were Egyptians or tributary 10
that country. The caGtouchcs of the
Pharaohs Gu the scarab3 would ina:-
cate the reriods that Egypt ruled tue
Philistines, These recent discoveries
NAV give a 6 meaning TO the words