Bisbee daily review., 1908-04-17
A Wild RIDE
HAD REV. YOUNG
ON TO JERICO
He verifies the Statement That
Jordan Surely Is a Rocky
Road to Travel--Dead Sea
Sights.
fC. q. roung.l


&C. C. Ioung.1
Jericho. Palestine, March II. 1908.
The widest ride of my life was this
day from Jerusalem to Jericho, and
it will remain vivid in my memory
when other less important events have
passed away. At present time the jour
ney can be made In carriage II the
passengers walk some of the distance.
The grades are too steep for horses
either to hold back in going down hill
or pull the load when going Up hill.
Jericho, the Dead sea and Jordan river
are near each other and the distance
from Jerusalem is about thirty miles,
and the fall in altitude is over 1000
feet, which makes the average descent
about $50 feet per mile. The altitude
of Jerusalem is 3,100 feet, and the Dead
sea is 1900 feet below the ocean level.
and in going this distance in one half
day in March makes one feel the great
difference that altitude makes in eli
mate. In the morning at Jerusalem
we needed overcoats and wraps, but
by noon we put them of at Jericho,
and wanted ice cream which we did not
get.
A small description OF the descent
over these historic mountains, and
along this very old road. Leaving Jer-
usalem and travelling about miles
We entered on the eastern slope of
Mount Olivet, the ruins of Bethany.
Here il was that Martha and Mary liy-
ed, those two devoted women whose
lives often have been repeated in the
world; one of them a servant of tenn
poral things and the other an absorb
ed worshipper The site of their home,
and that of Simon the leper are still
SHOWN us and very little doubt as to
the places.
Passing Bethany for few miles
there are some narrow strips of land
On the mountain side which produce
wheat, but soon we plunge into the
wild, rocky mountain gorges. too steep
and barren for cultivation. You have
heard the saying that Jordan is a
rocky road to travel" and / can verify
the statement. Armed dragomen and
native Bedouin guides attend us and
we fear no danger. Other native Bed
ouins are met along the way, thus Civ
ing me a modern back ground to the
ancient Bible story Of the man who
went down to Jericho and fell among
thieves" Just half way is the Good
Samaritan Inn and it is built on the
spot and around the fountain of water
which have accommodated many thous-
ands in the passing years. It is the
only house on the road to this day,
and the only place where one could
be built near the water.
Passing the Samaritan Inn, refresh
ed with water and the rest from JOLT
ing, We soon enter the region called
the Brook of Cherith whose banks
are 200 feet high above the small
stream that We can see below rushing
on to the Dead sea. The road does
not enter or cross the brook but pass
es along the steep, cavernous banks on
the south side which reminded me OF
my experience in Grand canyon Of Col.
/ orado. Though the stream is alive
with water, yet the whole length OF
the canyon is so wierd in appearance
that 1 thought what lovely yet sublime
retreat the prophet Elijah had; and
it was here that he was fed by the
ravens Sublime, Sublime" were the
words I often uttered in presence Of
| dnis scene of natures making, and
surely the prophet had an appropriate
place for his meditations and to gel
again in close touch with his master
From this place we descend into
the main valley of the Jordan and
on the site of the ancient Jericho.
What will interest the reader Is to
state that l saw the excavating work
which is revealing to the world the
city and broken walls of ancient Jeri-
cho. The city has been lost to sight
for hundreds of years and people even
doubted that this was the real site,
but today saw-tne walls as they were
built nearly four thousand years ago
and in places eight and ten feet thick
/ The houses and rooms are shown as
. LueN were wien lclL III OluCu AlIItS
glass vases, jugs, pottery are seen
everywhere. And what astonished me
is that the excavating society began
work right in the place where Bible
history and tradition located the city
and in process of time at the depth OF
about fifteen feet underground they
found the walls and soon came to
light the houses and other things
have mentioned Thus you see what
dirt and doubt have covered up for
years the pick and spade are reveal
1 ing as plainly as the day the sun.
About fifty yards from the ancient
wall of Jericho is Eiisha's fountain
which has never ceased flowing in the
passing years and 1t is the prettiest
spring of fresh water / have seen in
Palestine Near here saw the south
ern cotton growing on an experimental
farm. Some of it is two years old, as
the frost never kills II. and has both
the cotton staple and bloom. The
iani OF the valley is fertile and some