Bisbee daily review., 1908-04-12
THE TEMPLARS
 AT SEPULCHER
 DID GOOD WORK
Their Service In Palestine Was of Great Benefit To the
 WorId-Turks Confiscate
 the Mails.
co. c. Young.)
Jerusalem, Palestine. March

JSruSdlems faie6une, Marcn 10.
 The visit to the great city in the Orient has set me to thinking as never
 before about the relations to it of
 the thousands of Pilgrims. Since the destruction of tka city and temple by Titus. n A. D., in a Jewish revolt
 against Roman authority there nas
 been most of the time ban against
 these ancient people living in their
 own city I will say, however, that i the Crusaders did not trouble them.
 But after the fall of the city under
 Titus, Jerusalem had practically no history for several hundred years; and the simple record we have of it during
 that time is the notes of Jewish pro hibition of entrance mentioned in the Roman calendar. But soon after this depressing period Jerusalem had a by zantine or Greek rule which occurred about the time the split between the Roman aad Greek churches. This is why there are so many Greek churches l in Jerusalem: in fact they dominate in religious affairs and have the finest and largest chapel in the Holy Sepul- cher church.
 During the Saracen and Moslem rule the Jewish and Christian people have had a hard time to secure grants or privileges of any kind in Jerusalem; though now the French, Austrian and German governments have post oui- ces in the city. This insures the mail they handle against being confiscated by Turkish officials If mail is put in Turkish post office they reserve the right to coniscate if they choose to; and it may be that letters which mafl- ed in Damascus. Tiberias, or Nazareth will never reach Douglas. In these towns I have mentioned the other gov ernments having no control of the fmails A short description and pro hibition of entrance and the eonces- sions made by Turkish authorities. Beginning in 1880 Turkey gave permis- sion for the Jews to settle as traders in Palestine, If they would pay head tax of about twelve dollars on land ing at Joppa, and this tax is kept up today But soon Turkish officials saw years. As said ;n another article, the in the last ten years they have made it hard for them to land here and nare ] to live in peace. l am informed that very few have come in the past five else. but they fear If too many of Turkish officials do not care about the religion of the Jew or that of any one ! else, but they fear of too many of | them cOngregate in Palestine they may assist or lead a great uprising | in politics. The same fear is entertain ed about the Armenians. Not so much about the greeks and Batins for they are usually loyal Turkish citizens. ! Nearly every Greek Christian wears | the red fez, which is the political badge of the country, but I never saw Jew | or Armenian Christian wearing one. But the wonderful thing about Jer- usalem is that it is the shrine of the
 world, and has been for three thous-
 and years, and believe will be until
 the end of time, when sick of age the world will flee into the arms of eterni-
 ty for rest and refuge
 The Crusaders did great service | for Palestine and for the world, they came into this country while history and tradition were still fresh and mark
 ed all the places of sacred history with
 monuments and churches. Thus they
 are saved to the world, for in the years
 of Saracen and Turkish rule they
 (ould have been covered up forever. ! And then the Crusaders poured mil. lions of dollars into Palestine, traders came from every cline, and Pilgrims Ijourneyed here by the thousands. This led to the erection of hospitals and
 hospices, the first Dor treating the
 sick, and the latter for lodging Pil- grims. In this way originated the
 Knight Templars, Knights of St. Jonn,
 and hero it was that the Crusader or
 der and the Knights of St. John were made the great military power that ruled the Mediterranean for hundreds of years.
 I And the reader must not be sur
 prised when I state that this same | Pilgrim business is being repeated in Jerusalem today and has been increas- ling rapidly in the last five years. The only difference in the present move ment and the one which occupied the
 eleventh and twelfth centuries is lack of the need or military orders at the present time The tourists who come to Jerusalem in year, such as my self and all the like, amount to apour two thousand in a bad financial year
 and three thousand in a good one. They leave money here in hotels, and
 purchases goods, and this form of
 wealth the government cannot taA. But the Pilgrims coming here from
 Russia, Austria, Bulgaria, Italy, Ar menia are about seven thousand this year. They all belong to some branch | of the Christian churches and come here for a few weeks or a month of Pilgrimage, and it is said they leave about five dollars per head in Paies- tine. They are peasants of the coun- tries mentioned. and the ships give them round trip tickets from their countries to Jerusalem for about twen- ty dollars.
 Now I come to the main point of
 be article, you will be surprised when say that very few of these people
 ay for their food and bed while here
 b they beg! Not by any means. they
 re too proud to beg; and christianity
 ioes not produce beggarz- There are six large hospices here in Jerusalem where these people are cared for dur. ing their stay and not one cent is ask ! cd in payment; if man is able eo