The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-12-20
Nv FRANK G. CARPENTER

Dy
Mighty Trench Which Forms thc
Worlds Cellar-Graphic Description
Of the River From Its Source to Its
Mouti,-In the fountain OF Let-
anon and Between the Seas OF ihfc
and Death-The Fail and
the Electric Observation-Disclosures
John BapIzcd and How the Pilgrims
Are There Handled TOday-They
Enter the Water in misunderstanding
ming an the Dead Sea-On the Site
OF SOdOm and GomOrrah-Mnc.
Lot Licked Up BY Came!s.
JERICHO. 1910.
Tn Jordan, How can I make you
see it as it winds its way through TINS
great cash IN the thirsty face OF old
Mother Earth? All day long [ have
been travelling upon its banks. the
lower part OF It's course. / have visit
ed the ford where Joshua crossed with
his army Of Jews when he took pos
session Of Canaan. have stood on the
spot where it is said that Jesus was
Baptized by John, and have gone over
the place where the waters were part
ed by the cloak of Elijah. Here at
Jericho I am within a short gallop OF
the Dead Sea, into which the Jordan
flows, and sitting on the steps or my
hotel I can see Noun Nebo, where
Moses stood when he viewed the
PROMISED Lana, winch ne was y ~
enter. In former travels / have seen
the Jordan. near the Sea Of GaHlee.
and have been not far from its source
in the Labanon Mountains
In the Cellar OF the Earth.
his Jordan valley is the cellar OF
the world. 1t is a great trench. which
begins A thousand or more feet above
the sea, in the Lebanon mountains,
and within a distance Of $50 miles as
the crow flies cuts it's way down to
thirteen hundred feet below sea level.
where it ends in the Dead Sea. The
bottom Of that sea is a half mile be-
tow the surface Of the Mediterranean,
and in Jericho, where L am writing,
We are almost 1000 feet below the
highest point in Jerusalem. There IS
no other part OF the earth uncovered
by water where the land for any dis
tance is sunken for even 200 feet be-
low the level Of the ocean. This is tho
greatest trough OF the world. and
OF the strangest.
Typical of heaven. the Valley OF the
Jordan IS emblematic OF he'll. The
most Of il Is as thirsty as the dry
sands OF the Sahara, and just now its
heat IS as torrid as Tophet. The plain
over which l rode today on my way to
the river was covered with thorn
bushes. The only green after leaving
the irrigated farms about Jericho was
that which borders the gully through
which the Jordan runs, the remainder
being Of alkaline earth thrown up by
4he floods In castles and mounds,
making guliies and hills OF all sizes
and shapes.
The mean temperature Of Jerusalem
Is 64 Fahrenheit. 1t ia temperate
throughout and the snow falls there
IN the winter. The heat here is AS
great as that OF the center OF Nubia
Dates can be grown, and in the past
Jericho was known as the city or
palms.
A Bird's-Eye View of the Jordan.
But this is not the character Of the
whole course Of the Jordan. Let me
give you a bird's-eye view Of the river,
or. better, let US suppose we have
taken an ~aeropiane and are going
from its source in the Lebanon noun
tains to where it loses Itself in the
great sea OF salt below. 1t rises on
the foot Of Mount Hermon, whose
peak is covered with snow the greater
pant Of the year. 1t has two or three
different sources. One is near Dan
and higher up is another at Banias,
near the spot where Christ said:
art Peter. and upon this rock
will I build my Church, and the gates
Of hell shall not prevail against it."
It IS from Banias that the Jordan
has it's chief start. 1t comes from g
ave in the limestone rock which Is
now chOked up with stones. but Ou1
Of which the water flows in a great
SOiuIne, cora, sweet ana pure. Inere
are trees bOu the cave and the stream
runs through a beautiful park down
TO Lake Huleh. which is only sever
feet above the sea- The spring d
Banias has always been noted for Its
sweetness and purity. 1t Is said thu
waters and ave were formerly dedi.
Gated to the god Pan, and that from
this the name Banias, or Panias
came. Greex tablets have been fount
nearby. and ruined temples and col
umns show hat the place was once
the site Of a considerable city. It ha!
now only a mud village of about fit.
hutS.
Going down to Lake Huleh. we Sc,
q marShy catchment basin into which
other streams run and from which tn
Jordan flows out. There IS little act
ivity about the lake. A few Bedouin