Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-30

highway which betokened the fact that
they had arrived within the limits OF the
colony. The road wound w the mountain
side to the clean village which is the cen
ter Of the colony.
The wagon stopped in front Of a build
ing which displayed the sign Hotel Graf"
The travellers were wondering how they
would ask for dinner in the sign language
when suddenly the door OF the hotel
opened and gave forth a hustling little man
who shouted: Welcome to our city. I
know you are from America and 1 will
feed you right. Get right out and 60 in
the parlor. You will find the New York
papers in there. l take the Jolnal 1
think William Randolph Hoist is the great
est man in America since George Washing
ton"
The surprised and delighted travellers
instantly knew that they We're at home
with a product of the melting pot Of the
east side OF New York. Mr.. Graf, for he
was the proprietor of the hotel, explained
that he had left Roumania for New York
at the time his father Joined the colony
which came to Palestine. His father died
and left the hotel and other property,
which Mr.. Graf Of New York came to
Palestine to manage. He took great pride
in showing the Americans about the col
ony. but he constantly interrupted him
self by asking questions about New York
and expressing the hope that Mr.. Hearst
might yet be president Of the United
States.
1t was evident that this particular col
onist greatly preferred Lorber's restaurant
and the Thalia theater on the east side to
the Plain Of Sharon, the promised land,
a. 49, - A. -. De- 80 -
the majority of the thousand souls who
made up the colony. For here they have
found peace and plenty instead Of perse-
cution and poverty. The government of
the colony is an absolute democracy Of the
form Of the old-time New England town
meeting, with just the same flavor Of the
ocracy. The synagogue and the school
epitomize the purposes and ambitions of
the people. In the one the old men are
constantly at prayer for the coming of
the Messiah and the restoration OF the
kingdom Of the Jews. In the other the
children are being taught to read and write
and calculate, after the fashion of mod
ern children in modern schools, with the
strange distinction that the only language
used Is Hebrew. Not Roumanian, not
French, not that strange jargon known as
Yiddish, but the Hebrew of the pure clas-
sizes, the Hebrew Of the Talmud and the
Rabbinical books Of the law.
The streets are well paved, lighted by
gas, there is a waterworks system, and
many more evidences Of twentieth century
civilization than one would expect to find.
The hospital, the gift of Baron Rothschild,
not only provides for the members of the
colony. but extends its illustrations to
the Arabs, Syrians and Bedouins OF the
neighborhood. The stores and shops look
like those of a small rural village in Amer
lea, and IL 1t were not for the queer dress
of the old men and the earlocks which
proclaim the eastern Jew, it would be diff
ficult for one to realize that he is stand
ing under the shadow of the flag of the
shield of David.
In this colony the principal income is
derived from the vineyards. The wine
produced is owned by the community in
common and the colony's public expendi-
lures are made from the proceeds of the
sale Of the wine. The remainder is divided
among the heads of families. The wine
presses and watts are sheltered by a huge
building which resembles an American fac
tory building. Underneath this are the
largest wine cellars In Asia Mr.. Graf
showed the American party through its
dark and cavernous corridors, proudly pro-
claiming that there was nothing like it in
America and thriftily explaining that this
wine could be had in Nov York or Chi
cago under the label Samaritan Society"
The Americans enjoyed the visit to the
colony, not only because 1t afforded the
opportunity to see the working of a prac-
tical experiment in zionlsm, but also be-
cause it was the most prosperous place
they saw in all Palestine. Here the people
were well-fed, well-clothed, clean and con-
tented. 1t is only in the Zionist colonies
and in the German colonies that one finds
such conditions in Palestine. And yet Mr..
Graf was living proof that to the average
Jew the United States of America, and not
is Zion.
BY FREDERICK J. HAsKIN.
Tomorrow-THE HOLY LAND.
z. CruaaderaI Gaatla-