Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1907-04-19
The sOLY n
An Interesting Letter From Rev. Geo
II. G~rssnnsld
CAIRO, Egypt, March 81, 1907,
EDITOR

Many OF my friends at Elko and else
where requested me as l left to send
them Letters and souvenir postals from
various places, particularly from the
Holy Land and Egypt. This 10 impossi
BILE for our itinerary has been arranged
so that 1t is absolutely necesslry TO
make use of every minute of the t;me
here, or miss some OF the very important
things to be seen. | have gotten up
very early this morHing so as to ,ahe
advantage OF II ioS moments before
the call Tor breakfast What | send
will be Just the few ,Eings ,ha: occur to
me ut this time, for there has been no
opportunity for q prepared article.
AT my last writing TO the Elko people,
| was about to- leave ConstantIuuple.
From there We sailed into tia Black Sea
which is so-called, not us is generally
supposed from tho color o! the sen, but
because OF lis ireacherous and danger
Gus waters often making SET fariug diff
ticult. | saw on lie III slant Asiaric
shores the wreckage Of several vessels
only recently swept ashore. Returning
from he Black Sea, We made for
Smyrna, where the tomb OF Polycarp
ana tie scene of his massacre were
pointed out. BY train we went to
Ephesus, where we saw the rui, : of the
great tetnpie Of Diana, one OF the seveo
wonders OF the world. Tie ruins OF
! fl rcn ~ fI,a Ga-.-, v,.,,, g.ra -. i,,,a
already seen, namely: Tie Colossus at
Rhodef, the temple of Diana at Ephesus
and the, Pyramids, but the only one of
the three that remains to tell uf tile skill
of the nncieEIs Is the Pyramids; for the
others have long since disappeared.
For the benefit o. those who may
desire to follow the Scriptural refer
ences. l will give theW It's ! proceed.
Ephesus was the fceue Of the events
mentioned III Nets 10: 23.il. Here Paul
spent three years OF his ministry and 70
this people he rote hs EpistIe to the
Ephesiaus. The churches at Smyrna
and at Ephesus are two Of the seven
churches Of Aeia, mentioned III E;syela.
tloD ll:5. Ii sceue that gre IL the
tourists eye here is 4 wonderful eX-
ample Of tie full imruI " Biblical pro
phecy, Here, where all mature smiles
upon he scene and ib. ciemcuts CON.
binr TO unoo the Scripture, Tor sunshine,
rain rnd fertile sol. combine Il. make 1t
d garden Of roses, We iini but squlIif
huls made Of dirt and adobe, III whcn
"A few miserable Arabs exist. Read he
velation lI:0. After a cnmmendation Of
their iTst works, to which they were
commanded Ia return, this charcb Was
accused Of having lett its first love and
threatened with the removal -. its
candlestiCk out OF Its place. except they
should repeat.
The temple Of Diana with it's l27
columns Of PGrian marble, 60 feet III
height, and the theatre seating %, 0G0
spectators Las been demolished. Old
Ephesus has never been revived. \
youug camel WAS grazing under tie
shadOw OF the ruins Of the former and a
Beu0u:i tent was spread over the site of
;he latter IN U0le:E wuils md along
the streets strewn here and there, We
cOui- see marble with The carvings Of
the masters OF Greece now neglected
II appreciated only by those who come
FROM a'ar; Tor the natives have but little
IL any idea OF the former glory OF their
now desolate land Tie EpistIe to the
Ephcsians liz read around the would, but
there are none at Epheaus to read il
They have left their first love. Those
ola templCs once stood Oh higher ground
than the surrounding land, but ut
present the excavations are from - to
40 feet below, the weapons Of man aud
the elements of time having filled in and
covered from sight, until achcologists
brought to orr view the remains OF
ancient civilizations. Where nuce were
heard the cries Of the people Great il
Diana Of the EphcEians." now there il
but a dry md and a wilderness.
Our next atop after leaving Smyrna
was Haifa, from which point we tool
the Ottoman train Tor Damascus. For
a long dist enc our tram passed along
tHc DHse vi MOUNT I HrileI, wneTc
Elijah maic his test with tho prophets
Of Baal aud Jehovah was declared God.
The rich red poppies tia, grow so cx,en.
sivcly in Syria md Palestine are sup.
posed Ia he the lilies ~ tho field 10
which Christ r, fertGd Wc passed along
The base Of Mount Tabor aud Little
HGrmou. Here II caravan u 200 camcls |
wa moving toward Nazareth. Cnmcls
have ceased to be Il curiosity for they
arc even mOru common than the Jack
rabbits or coyotes ~ the plans Of No.
vHda. Yesterday | saw Il camel and nm
Egyptian buffalo yOked together To a
wooden pillow IN the valley Of the Mild.
AT 0S and an ass pitched or yokcd 10 u !
piow ucar Joru allen called 10 mind the
tho familiar waiGiuR: sic yc not un.
equally yoicd together" II 10 not an
uncommon thing ut all to soc n small
donkey bearing Il heavy burden upon
which ia seated q great strong Arab. his
wife following 10y foot.
ETOry turn Of tho rond between 1faifa
and Damascus hm come ues aociatiop
With either tho Old or the Now Testa.