The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1908-03-13
4 STRANGE PAGEANT.
Annual March of Mohammedans to the
i,tt@ Tomb of, Moses.

s3 sffit, Tomb Of Moses. @
One sOf3 the strangestf of all the Dag.
.eants which are to he seen in Jerusa-
lem Is the annual march Of the Mo.
Ihammedans to the tomb of Moses. To
them, as well as to Christians and
jews. Moses Is a prophet Of the high
eat honor. But, rejecting the traditions
Yot the Hebrews. they refuse to believe
that he was buried in a valley in the
land OF Moab. az is described in the
Hast chapter Of Deuteronomy Instead
they assert that he was buried where
be ibreathed his last. upon the summit
Of Mount Nebo. .s9f53i
/ Therefore each year at the time of
the Greek Easter the faithful gather
by thousands In the early morning be-
Tore the site Of the temple Of Solomon
In perfect silence waiting Tor day
break. Later the strange scene OF quiet
" entirely transformed. fanatics dane
Ing and preaching. hordes of dervtshes
whirllng about in mysterious sacred
dances and hundreds of exhorters rous-
ing the enthusiasm of their fellows.
The scene Is gaudy with hundreds Of
red and green banners. and the only
remittance OF order Is In the semiregu.
lar organizations OF marchers.
AT last the procession forms. with
the banners borne ahead. an imam
bearing the yataghan Of the prophet
Q short. straight edged sword used by
the armies OF Northumberland afte,
,themnmore dancers and marchers.
"a large pattsof the population OF Je-
tusalem gathers about the gnte. out Of
which the procession moves toward
the Mount of Olives. but few besides
the faithful endeavor e. obtain a place
tnl the ranks OF marchers. since death
has often been the penalty OF an ut
tempt by a{nonsM ohammedan to mats
this march TO "Nebi-Mouca." the "topa.
of Moses E5t l.,Sf ag
Traders Of many. kinds Invade thu
camp. Tor the marchers remain at tie
mosque five days. and All their SOP.
plies must be bought from the wan.
dering merchants. who make d bnsi!
fesstof looking after their needs. Ar
err the 6Gst, excitement ifanaticisp,
Yields to good hpmpr. aNd gaines 5aHi'
banter I'LL the time for those who
haye paid their duties at the tomb.
The mosque on Nebo Is one Of the
most sacred OF Mohammedan shrines
and II of the most difficult for q
Christian to approach. .i
An English traveller who brought au
order from the porte was denied adj
mittatce, and. although in recent years
1t has become possible to enter, 1t Is
too early yet to forget the experience
Of one traveller who came bearing a
order Of admittance from the sultan
himself.
'.Thisi 6rman." the guardian priest
said, Commands me to let you enter the
mosque. Very well; you can enter.
Bit think well before you do so, for
I find nothing written here about let
ting you out againw
4 Tales They Tell,
John II. Barnes Of St. Louis dlsIo.
Gated his Jaw six times in one day
while eating.
james r., Wilson OF Georgetown.
Del, who took white beans by mistake
quinine pills, says the beans cured
him of grip.
A sneak thief stole from two miners
IN Los Angeles a suit case which he
thought contained gold dust. A rattle.
snake was inside.
a man In St. Louis telephoned to a
police station to send an officer to bluff
wife" IN order to compel her to
give him his shoes. he got the shoes.
: