Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-29

z==zz=n HID Plain of Sharon is a mar
- wi row green ribbon stretching
~ AEN along the Mediterranean
shore of Palestine from MI
A Vl Carmel southwark to the hills
l2sN6 of the Philistines. 1t Is no
where more than seven miles
wide and 1t is only about fifty miles
long, and of all the land of canaan
promised to the children of Israel as
the land OF plenty--this plain only stu
flows with milk and honey. Under the
patronage of the German emperor
great highway was proposed to be bullt
stretching from Jaffa northward
through the Plain of Sharon to Carmel
whence ii was to turn eastward TO
Nazareth Only a few miles of this
road were built, and 1t Is the only road
in all that section of Palestine, with
the exception perhaps of half mile OF
Roman paved road near the castle OF
Athlit which was repaired by the cru
saders and which stlll is in fairly good
condition.
The traveller starts out from Jaffa
over this macadamized highway with a
light heart. The sup shines, the breezes
blow, the scent of oranges and pome~
granates is in the air; on one side is
the green-gray fringe of olive trees
outlined against the barren white mis-
of the interior, and on the other side is
the snow-white lace of the breakers,
and beyond the blue of the Mediter-
ranean. The road runs between groves
of oranges. fortified behind impregnable
barriers of cacti. Here and there one
sees the whitewashed house of a thrifty
German settler who has come to the
HOLY Land in obedience to n faith
which teaches that all Christians
should repair to the home land Of the
Savior, and who has remained here to
make the desert blossom as the rose by
the substitution of European thrift for
Arabian Incidence.
But after a few miles the influence
of the German colonists and of the
Jaffa orange market wanes. The or
ange groves give way TO ill-kept Vlne-
yards The white farm houses are no
longer seen, and In their stead are the
mud-walled villages of the Syrian ma
tives Every evidence of what we are
pleased to call the progress of modern
civilization is left behind. The country
is given over to grain fields titled as
they were titled in the days of Herod.
There are no trees. no houses, and all
too suddenly the highway ends, and
ones wagon rolls out on the green vel
vet of the Plain of sharon.
Although the traveller has seen Jaffa
and its market places, although he has
marVeled at the wonders Of Jerusalem,
although he has worshipped at the
sacred shrine of Bethlehem, although
he has already visited the many holy
places of historical fame, 1t is here on
the plain of Sharon, in the open air.
far beyond the voice of chanting priests
and unconfned by temple walls. that
he finds the Holy Land OF his imagln-
alton. This Is the country In which
Jesus lived through which Jesus
walked, and where Jesus taught. Other
things have changed, the cities ne
knew have been razed to their tounda-
ton stones and have been rebuilt time
and time again since he walked and
talked but the country of the PAIN
of Sharon is just as he left it.
The forests which covered the hills
of Judea. Samaria and Galiee I'm the
DAYS of Christ have disappeared before
the twin assaults Of ak and torch, the
fertile valleys have been deprived of
the GATHERED moisture of the hilltop
woods and the land which was flowing
with milk and honey has been laid
waste. and is now. for the most part,
barren desert. Not so the Plain OF
! sharon. Every drop of rain that falls
on the great central range of hills
which divide the deep valley of the
Jordan from the seacoast Is conserved
! in tiny streams which drop into sub
| terranean passages to well up again
beneath the soil of this narrow level
strip along the coast.
! And how thankful is the land! No
where in the world is there a more
beautiful stretch of country than the
plain laid out from the foot of Carmel.
| The grass of the waste places grows
almost as green as the wheat and bar
| ley of the corn fields. And the wild
! flowers add the tribute of color 10 the
poem of praise. The Plain of Sharon
| is as green carpet spangled with
| figures Of scarlet and of purple. Here
one finds a deserted field grown up
with lilies of the valley, enough to be
worth a kings ransom In an American
| florists shop, and there one sees a