Milford chronicle., 1909-07-23
A MILFORD BOYS VISIT
ABOUT THE HOLY LAND
U. S. S. North Corolina,
en- route from JOppa, Palestine,
To A1exandratta Eovot

Editor Milford Chronicle,
Milford, Delaware.
We left Smyrna, Turkey, June
10th, and arrived at the Isle o.
Rhodes, where formerly stood the
Colossus OF Rhodes, one of the seven
wonders Of the world, June nth,
and proceeded the same day to
JOppa, Palestine, where we arrived
June 18th, and at noon of the same
day one hundred men left in a party
for a trip to Jerusalem, and l will
try to describe to the best of my
ability the country and customs as
we found them and what history
that could be learned OF the differ.
ent places that we visited.
Palestine, or the Holy Land, ex-
tends from the southern shore of the
Dead Sea in the south to the south
ern slopes of Mount Hermon in the
north, which is almost identical
with the biblical definitions of the
limits of the Land of Israel as ex-
nding from Dan to Beersheba.
From the coast Palestine extends
eastward to the Mountains Of Moab
and Gilead, beyond the Dead Sea
and the River Jordan. tits bounded
on the north by the most southern
spurs Of the two mountain ranges
of the Lebanon and the Anti-Li-
banus and by Mount Hermon, on
the east by the Arabian Desert, on
the south by Arabia Petrea, and on
the west by the Mediterranean Sea.
Its length from north to south is
about I4O miles, its average breadth
about eighty miles and contains
nearly 1000 square miles.
The name Palestine" or "Pales-
tina, " as near as could be learned /
was derived from the Hebrew Pal |.
escheth, which means The Land .
of the Philistines, ~ and should be
properly applied only 70 the south /
eastern quarter of the area above
described, that portion stretching
along the sea shore from GAIA to
Caesarea and inland to the noun
tains of Judea and Ephraim, which
was anciently Philista The pas
sages occur in the bible regarding
this territory may be found, accord T.
ing to the missionaries, in Exodus
XIV, IA Isaiah xiv, 2g-3I
The most ancient name of the
country, however, is Canaan, and
this is evidently owed to the descent
Of the people inhabiting it at one
time, from Canaan the fourth son !
If Ham and grandson of Noah. In
he time Of Christ, when the Romans
we're in possession Of Syria, Pal c
.stine was divided into four pro- a
,inces of Galilee, Samaria, Judea q
nd Perea, the last included all the 6
ountry of Gilead and Moab east of e
he Jordan and the Dead Sea. Il
The country is very mountainous ?
nd in the valley of the Jordan is J
luch below the level of the Medi- b
if l am not mistaken the st
liver Jordan and the Dead Sea is II
bout 1900 feet lower than the al
lediterranean. The climate varies Ia
realty, some districts being very II
old and others very hot, and the &C
uality of the soil varies as much re
5 the climate, some parts being w
Extraordinary fertile while in other OF
istricts there is little beside rock, Ia
md and stone. III
Palestine is now, and has been IN
T many centuries under the rule M
Turkey, the Governor of Jerusa-
N holding his authority direct tai
1m COnstantinople. o.
Joppa, as it is called in English, a
hile in Hebrew it is Jaffa or Yafa, rol
the main gate into Palestine be- gr'
G the nearest seaport to Jerusa- ac'
III. 1t stands on a high rock, Eg
1ich rises from a low sandy coast, in
d presents a beautiful appearance Eg
I'M the sea, there are four steam fru
ip lines that touch there weekly, at
ing to and from Egypt, and one bal
week from the Black Sea, and ing
side these there are occasional JOl
light vessels that call there for feel
lnges bound for different parts of tire,
: Mediterranean. Steamers have on
anchor at some distance from the lea
ore owing to the shallowness of see
, water, and are compelled to file
or ]