The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-10-16

the hills. There are i've stations be-
tween Jaffa and Jerusalem at which
| at the terminal points.
| The total cost OF the railway was
| 100000, or a little less than $4,000
| per mile The road was originated by
an American, a civil engineer named
| Zimple, who came to Palestine as a
! peddler of patent medicine which he
called Sunlight pills He brought
| the railway scheme before the Sultan
| at Constantinople, but failed to get
| the concession to build 1t. After his
! death the matter was taken up by tho
! French, who put the road through and
now own It.
Syria. and 1t is the father OF rail-
| This was the first railroad built in
road system which is now opening up
| great part OF the country. One sec
| ton Of the systemis the line which runs
from Damascus to Mecca, and connect
ed with 1t are others which will eventu-
ally join the Holy Land to the valley
OF the Euphrates, as we'll as to Asia
Minor and Turkey.
The Hills OF Judcn.
The trip from Jatfa to Jerusalem
gives one a fair idea of the character
of Palestine. The coastal plain Is
typical of the richest part of the coun-
try. It's soil is chocolate brown, the
grass is q green as that of Egypt, and
there are big orchards of olives and
fruits OF all kinds. The roads are
carpeted with rich red poppies and
wild flowers are everywhere.
Climbing the hills is like jumping
from the Nile valley into the desert.
There is nothing but rocks with a.
sparse vegetation scattered here and
there through them. The limestone
crops out everywhere, and in places
mountains of stones have been picked
up in clearing the fields. Such fields
are fenced with stone walls. There are
also corrals for the sheep walled with
stone.
Treelcss Land.
There Is absolutely no bushes or
groves Palestine Is treeless land
There are no forests OF any descrip-
ton and the only trees are fruit trees.
with now and then funerealf cypress.
perhaps in u garden. Our consul, Mr..
Wallace, tells me the country has two
groves which the people call forests.
One of these contains forty scrub oaks,
and the other is not quite SO large.
He says tina. few years ago there
was so brush on the hillside. but that
some people have even dug up thes
roots and sold them for fuel.
Indeed. fuel is one of the most cost
ly things in this country. 1t Is so ex-
pensive that it is seldom used except
for cooking. and that Notwithstanding
the climate Is cold. Wood is so va1u-
able that the older olive trees are
being cut down, and it is feared that
the groves VIII gradually disappear.
These old trees are often of consider
able thickness. but they are only
twenty or thirty feet tall and one will
supply but a small amount of firewood.
The olive trees Is as hard as the apple
tree, and far more knotty and gnarly.
Its wood is heavy and is sold by the
ton. the price now being about IS for
1000 pounds. The wood is brought /,
in on the backs Of donkeys and camels
and every stick has to pay a tax be.
fore 1t gets inside the gates OF Jeru.
salem
common fuel here is charcoal.
which is made mostly OF olive wood I
me chief manufactures of It are at /
Hebron, about twenty-three miles south
OF Jerusalem. near the cave in which
and where tradition says Adam died.
Hebron Is about 500 feet higher than
d Jerusalem, but 1T has big orchards of |
owes, almonds and apples, and the |
brush and dead wood Of these are used
to make charcoal.
AS to the use of coal ITSELF that is
almost prohibitive on account of the
nigh rates over the railroads The
same charge is made for carrying coal
yiv,e rct1I, r. u
per ton, or about cents ton per
mile. Such coal as comes here Is y,
me shape of briquettes. 1t sells for
SIS ton.
solomon's Pools.
Another want from which the Holy
Land suffers Isl water. The rainfall
IN the southern sections is something
amount gradually Increasing as one
goes northward toward Galilee The
country has always been one of pools.l
ana wells. and to-day every house IN
Jerusalem has Its roofs so made that
they drain into cisterns placed in the
courts. In dry seasons water Is sold,
and the man who has a spare cistern
gets big price for his surplus. Last
summer the American consul received
$50 for the water he sold. and the
american colony outside the city paid
$40 for cistern half full.
Nearly all the wells of the olden
times remain, and are pointed out by
the dragomen. One can drink from
the we'll where Christ met the Samari-
tan woman. and from that at which
Jacob met and kissed Rachael. There
are many cisterns scattered over the
the most of them shaped like
great pears.
Ihe pools of solomon We're connect
ed BY pipes with, Jerusalem few years
ago. and for time 1t was thought that
they would supply the city with water.
Ihese pools are on the highlands be-
tween Bethlehem ard Hebron. They