El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-10-15

who put the road through and now
own it.
This was the first railroad built in
Syria, and it is the father Of a railroad
system which is now opening up a
great part Of the country. One section
of the system is the line which runs
from Damascus to Mecca, and connect
ed with it are others which will even
tua1ly join the Holy Land to- the val
ley Of the Euphrates. as wen as to Asia
Minor and Turkey.
The Hills of Judea.
The trip from Jaffa to Jerusalem
gives one a fair idea of the character
of Palestine. The coastal plain is typi-
cal of the richest part of the country
Its soil is a chocolate brown, the grass
is as green as that Of Egypt and there
are big orchards of olives and fruits
of all kinds. The roads are carpeted
with rich red peoples 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 stone 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.
TreeIess Land.
There are absolutely no bushes or
groves. Palestine is a treeless land.
There are no forests of any dissertation
and the only trees are fruit trees. with
now and then a funereal cypress. per
haps. in a garden Our consul, Mr..
Wallace, tells me the country has two
groves which the people call forests.
one of these contains 40 scrub oaks
and tae other is not quite so large. He
says that a few years ago there was
some brush on the hillside, but that
the people have even dug up the roots
and sold them for fuel.
Indeed, fuel is one of the most costly
things IN this. country. 1t is so expen-
sive that it is seldom used except for
cooking, and that Notwithstanding the
climate is cold. Wood is so valuable
that tha older olive trees are being cut
down, snd it is feared that the groves
VIII gradually disappear. These old
trees are often of cosidrable thickness.
but they are only 20 or so feet tall and
one will supply but a small amount
Of firewood- The olive tree is as haru
as the apple tree and far more knotyy
and gnarly. Its wood is heavy and is
sold by the ton, the price now being
about Sc for 1000 pounds. The wood
is brought in on the backs of donllsvs
and camels and every stick has to pay
a tax before it gets inside the gates
of Jerusalem.
A common fuel here is charcoal. which
is made mostly of olive wood TIE
chief manufactures of it are at He
oron, about % miles south of Jel usa-
lem, near the cave in which Abraham.
Isaac and Jacob are buried and where
tradition says Adam died Hebron IS
about 500 feet higher than Jerusalem.
but 1T has big orchards of olives, al
monds and apples. and the brush aud
the dead wood of these are used TO
make charcoal.
As to the use of coal itself, that is
almost pronibitive on account of the
high cateS-OYer the railroads The
same charge is made for carrying coal
as for carrying silk, the rate being 81
per ton, or about cents a ton perfl
mile. Such coal as comes here is in 4
the shape Of briquettes. 1t sells for
SIS a ton.
SOIOmOn's Pools.
Another want from which the HOLY
Land suffers is water. The rainfall I
in the southern sections is something
like six inches and upward a year, the
amount gradually increasing as one !
goes northward toward Galilee. The !
country has always been one of pools !
and wells, and today 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 1
summer the American consul received /
$50 for the water he Sold and the !
American colony outside the city paid /
$40 for a cistern half full
Nearly all the wells of the olden |