Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-01-04

lick about. 1t is just as 1t was with snuff
in the days of our forefathers when every
one offered his friends a pinch of his
choice macaboy.
The Port for Mecca.
1 regret that shall not be able to stop
at Jeddah, the port of Mecca, to which /
have already referred. 1t is one of the
most interesting places on the Red sea
and 100000 or more pilgrims pass through
it every year. While at Omdurman. a few
weeks ago. I saw something like 1.4O0
MohammedanS who were going by
the new railroad across the Nubian desert
to Port Sudan where they expected to get
ship for Jeddah. Some of them had been
ten years on the way and their religious
enthusiasm had not waned. They started
out upon camels from the borders of
Timbuktu and had been forced to sell
their camles for food After that they had
walked from oasis to oasis working for
money to carry them onward. In that
party there were so many that the Eng
lish government officials had to divide
| them up into patches and send on a train
load or so at a time. The road saved
them\ several hundred miles of camel
riding or walking and it will probably be
a great pilgrimage route in the future.
At present the pilgrims come to Jeddah
from all parts Of North Africa and from
the eastern coast of the Mediterranean
sea- They also come from India and
southern Arabia and Jeddah takes her
toll from each of them. The people live
by fleeing the devotees. The town is
full of hotels and it Is noted for its dis
comforts. 1t has bad water supply and
after each big rain there is an epidemic of
fever. All who land in Jeddah go on foot
from there to Mecca. The distance is
siXty-five miles and a guide is required.
The New Mecca Railroad.
The British are now talking of building
a railroad from Jedqah to Mecca If
they do, it will probably pay WELL for the
travel is enormous. Twenty-Five years
ago there were more than 10000 Moham-
medans. who came annually by sea TO
make their way over the sands to Mecca
and Medina. There are probably half
again as many more today and the rail-
road will SO reduce the cost of the trip
that the number Of worshipers will be
greatly increased. Indeed the day NAV
come when some Mohammedan tourist
agent will be selling to pilgrims from all
parts of the MOhammedan world round
trip tickets to the birthplace of the
prophet, including admission to the
manned died. The sultan is already
building a line southwark from Damascus
to Mecca, $50 miles of the road being al
ready completed, and 1t is expected that
| early in 1910 There is now a line from
Beirut to Damascus, and one will be able
| to start in at that port in the western
mediterranean and go to Damascus, Jeru-
salem and Mecca without change of cars,
The Mecca line Is being built by Turkish
soldiers. under .ne supervision of a. Ger
man civil engineer. and the cost is be-
ing in part betrayed by thewoluntary COM
tribufions of. Mohammedans in all parts
of the world. - z - ; =.
| When these railroads are completed
| there may be a chance for Christians to
visit the holy city. All who have peen
there in the past have had to go in dis
| guise. and the man who would ATTEMPT =,
| today, takes his life in his hand The
| railroad will be Differed by Mohammed-
| ans. and it is doubtful whether they will
take Christians as passengers. They will
nave to cater to the pilgrims. as it is
| from them that their traffic must come.
In the meantime. without wishing to act
as did the fox who called the grapes sour
do not believe there Is much to see in
Mecca after all. The town lies in, hot
sandy valley watered for the most Of the
year by a few brackish wells and some
cisterns. The best water comes in from
| Arafat through little aqueduct, and 1t
| is sold at high prices by water trust at
the head Of which Is the governor of the
| CITY.
Mecca. all told has only about 10000
inhabitants. 1t fills the valley and runs
up the sides of the hills. The houses are
of dark stone. built in one two and three
stories. They stand close to the streets
There are no pavements; it is often dusty
| and 1t takes all the holiness of the sur
| roundings to make life agreeable.
The Kaaba.
The most important place in Mecca is
| the sacred mosque, and the most i'm
portant thing in the mosque is the Kaaba
a cube-shaped stone building which lies
in its center. In the southeast corner of
this building at. about five feet from the
ground. is the black meteorite which the
Mohammedans saw was ance part of the
Gates of Paradise. When Adam was
cast out. this stone fell with him and it
dropped down near Mecca, At that time
lit was of beautiful white color, but it is
now turned to Jet. having been blackened
by the kisses of sinners. Every pilgrim
who comes to Mecca presses his lips to it
again and again. imagining that as he
does so his sins go out of him into the
stone. and his soul becomes as pure as it
was when he was a baby. There are
| several hundred thousand pilgrims VINO
perform this kissing act every season, so
that the holy stone of the kaaba gets its
millions of kisses every year. What a
load of sin it must carry!
FRANK G. CARPENTER