The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1909-08-05
BILKINS m GALLILEE
No One Owns Their Farm
In That Historical
Country.
ALLOTTED By VILLAGE CHIEF

A Small, But Intensely Interesting
Country.-It Once Was the Hcme
of the Worlds Best Citizen.-The
People Live In "Communities."- -
The First Great Miracle.-The
Parallels and the Inspiration.-
Wonders Of The Sea of Galilee.-
The Fate Of Three Cities.-The
Mount Of Beatitudes.-The Great
Sermon by the Worlds Gretest
Preacher.
Haifa, Galilee, July %. 1909.
Correspondence of The Caucasian
Enterprise.
Galilee liz one ov the very small
countries, almost too small ter be
shown on the maps ov the world.
But that liz one reason why hit liz
worth seeing. why hit liz worth read
in erbout. Ask a thousand educa-
ted persons erbout England or Ger
many an they can all tell you some
thin ov the history ov each country,
though what they tell you may be
incorrect or hit may be ov but little
Importance, fer the average citizen
liz az green az grass on everything
except politicks an finance an
things like that. But what he don't
know on them subjects would flll
larger book than heZ ever bin pub
lished. For instance, doubt IL one
tenth ov the educated people know
that hit IL a fact that Christ spent
the greater part of His earthly So
journ in the narrow limits ov CALI
lee, country not much larger than
some American farms. 1t wuz in
Galilee that most ov His mighty
works were DONE" Therefore, no
country can be richer in real his
tory, in genuine human interest, an
1 hope to be able to furish at least
some proof before l end this Letter.
A part ov Galilee IL well-watered
an rich. The people live in villages
a short distance apart an the land IL
owned by these communities" The
village chief alots this land each
year so that no farmer cultivates the
same land more than one year at
time. The result IL that awl ov the
land il in a high state ov cultiva-
ton. In other words, there air no
good an bad farms-they air awl
good.-Wheat IL the chief farm pro-
duct an to this you may add a vari-
ETY. ov fruits, includin' olives. The
Sea of Galilee and other waters fur
nish good supply ov fish, the prin-
cipal meat product. Horses. oxen,
camels an donkeys air used to some
extent in cultivatin' the land.
Now We will see what claim CALI
lee hez in bein' land where history
wuz made, especially when Christ
wuz on earth. He wuz in Gallilee
when He performed the first great
miracle by turning water into
wine." A substantial church stands
over the we'll from which the water
wuz drawn. 1t wuz on the shores of
the sea of Gallilee that Christ select
ed the fishermen who became the
fishers of men," Here 1t was that
He looked at the "stoney ground"
the rocky roadways" and the mar
row strips of fertile soir' and then
wove them into the parable Of the
Sower whose seed fell upon stony
ground. 1t IL awlso more than likely
that some chance acquaintance, a
young man, furnished the subject
here for the wonderfully apt illustra-
ton about the Prodigal Son. 1t IL
awlso believed that the spot IL
known where Christ met his disciples
after the resurrection. At any rate,
the locality IL known even IL the ex-
act place lacks natural means ov
Identification.
The Sea ov Galilee IL twelve miles
long and eight miles wide. The Jor-
dan River forms this sea, bringing
the water from Hermon and Lake
Meron, then the same river carries
the overflow into Dead Sea. The
Plain Of Gennesaret IL near the sea
lon the edge ov this plain IL the vii
lage Of Makdala, the home ov one o,
the Marys. Near this stands the city
low Tiberias. This liz one ov the ga
cred cities ov the Jews and they
number more than three-fourths o'
the population. Two thousand year.
ago there we're ten or twelve othel
important towns or cities that stoot
along the shore ov the sea. But the!
went into decay. There air numbei
ov hot springs near Tiberias, proba
bly, the same mentioned by Josephus
the ancient historian. These spring
hev a great reputation for their heal
. in qualities. But until they fall int
, other hands they will not enjoy ;
I great amount ov frst-class foreigl
patronage az they air not now vel
managed. A Jewish synagogue he
!. bin built near these springs an tn
Jews hold an annual feast there eac
year, some ov them comm long dis
tances.
At Tiberias they IL fine hospits
n which wuz built by the United Ere
q Church ov Scotland. More than
. hundred patients air treated thef
ldaily. Hit IL fitting place for
a great hospital. for hit wuz In this Il
lcality that the Game were mad
- WHOLE" the deaf were healed an
"a the blind received their sight"
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