Milford chronicle., 1909-07-23

!
a reef of jagged rocks about whicl
a strange story is told by the native
Of JOppa. On the point of one o
these rocks Andromeda was chained
and from which she was released
by Perseus, whose prOwess, they
claim, is commemorated by a bril-
liant constellation in the sky. An.
dromeda was the daughter Of Ce-
pheus and Joppa and the grand
daughter of Aeolus, god Of the
winds she was chained to this rock
by the order of Neptune, to be the
prey Of famous seamonster. Per
seus returning on his wings through
the air from the conquest of Medusa,
the only one of the three Gorgons
that was subject to mortality paused
in his fight at the sight of the beau
tiful and helpless girl and promised
her father to save her and destroy
the monster if Cepheus would give
her to him in marriage. Cepheus
consented and when the monster
rose above the surface to devour
her Perseus turned upon him the
awful cOuntenance of the Gorgon,
from whose dripping blood sprang
the serpents that have since infested
Libia, and the sight turned the
monster into stone. Chains and an
iron ring were shown down to the
last three hundred years in proof of
this occurrence, but since the year
of 1000 they have disappeared.
Joppa was the southern boundary
of the Tribe Of Dan, and there the
timber sent from Lebanon by Hiram.
King of Tyre, for the building of
Solomon 5 Temple at Jerusalem was
landed. 1t also is the port from
which it is supposed that Jonah
sailed on that famous voyage which
terminated in the belly of the whale,
and at Joppa the Apostle Peter re-
stored Dorcas or Tabitha to life, |
her house now nearly gone, being |
still shown i'll an orange grove near /
the town. Down near the water
may be seen the house Of Simon the
tanner, where Peter lodged when
he saw in a trance the great sheet
let down from heaven full of living
some of which he said
was unclean and not fit for food,
JOppa was anciently a colony in
Philistia and existed, according to
their history, before the food. Its
name is said to have been derived
rom Japhet one of the sons of Noah.
AS part of Philistia it was brought
1nder the rule of TIE Jews by the
Maccabees, who aourished a hun
lred years before the time of Christ.
they strongly fortified the town
)ut it was shaken and destroyed by
he Roman General Cestius ; it was
ebuilt and again destroyed bv Yes
,asian on the plea that it was a den
# thieves and pirates. 1t soon re-
lived and became a prominent
hristian city, which character it
gain lost at one time owing to its
verthrow by the Arabians, but re-
aimed it later through the Crusad-
rs JOppa had many reverses dur
lg the Crusaders time, coming into
ossession of the Knights of St
ohn in A. D. II26, being destroyed
y Ssladin in 1887, rebuilt and
.cond time destroyed by Saladin
1871 it was recaptured by Rich
d, the lion-hearted, and finally -
ken again in I 1876 by the Moslems.
/ the 18th century JOppa almost
ased to exist, but was once more
built and surrounded by a city
all and a quay constructed, part
which still remains, but in the
tn century the town was taken
st by the Arabs in 1872, then by
e Mamelukes in 1855, and by
lpoleon I, in 1893.
Joppa has about go 600 inhabi-
ITS, Mahometans IS, 900, Jews
200 and Christians 5000 it has
delightful climate and is sur
1nded inland by about 400 orange
1ves covering from three to twelve
-es each. The gardeners are
yptians and live by themselves
small houses built of mud as in
ypt range blossoms and ripe
it are to be seen on the same tree
all times of the year. From the
cony Of one of the larger build-
$ the surrounding country about
opa may be plainly seen with its
ds of date palms and bonana
IS, with the mountains of Judea
the horizon. Along the roads
ding out into the desert may be
n professions of camels in single
tied head and tail together led
-idden by the Bedouins and their
lilies the xryorf4af,c faces ora oO1y-