The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1910-07-18
Howard A. Burrell
In the Holy Land
Nestor Of Iowa Newspaper Men Writes Highly Entertain
ing Letter Describing Modern Palestine.

were eaten by fleas, that is, all were
who did not smoke, and if the beds
had not been canopied, mosquitoes
would have punctured all our tires.
There is not single mosquito in all
Germany, nor a married one, either,
but the Orient is alive with them. We
did not escape these well-borers till
we reached Greece and Italy.
Between the old and new Jerichos
is the prophet Elisha's mighty spring,
flowing stream as thick as a fat
mans leg. 1t was in this desolate re-
gion that he hid and was fed loaves
of bread by ravens. 1t was always
hard to believe that story, tho it be
essential to our salvation to believe
al those amusing old yarns For raw
ems are of the crow family, and a
crow will steal anything, whether it
round the edges of crook. The wo
needs it or not, just from pure cussed-
ness, and it would have stolen Eli
shas bread sure But Presbyterian
Van Dyke says these we're not birds
at ALL There was a tribe of Arabs
whose totem was the raven, and it
was these Bedouins who toted bread
to Elisha.
We were in the region, too, where
the prophet got SO mad at the kids
for guying his bald head, he cruelty
set the bears on them. Where, also,
he grabbed the ascending Elisha's
cloak, and with it swept asunder2 the
Jordan and walked over dryshod. We
must believe that story, or peril our
souls. Didn't the preachers, the wor
men and / see the very place in the
river? OF course we did / wouldn't
dare question that story. / wonder
they didn't build church over the
sacred spot, and set lot of priests to
chanting, bleating and bellering in it.,
like impassioned cows smelling blood
at "shivaree.' BY the way, the BIZ
BILE does not say Elisha went up in a
chariot of fire. Re-read the account
carefully, critically.
We saw, on the road. a monastery
built like hornets nest on the side
of frightful precipice above Cherith
brook. Hundreds of Russian peasants,
men, women and children, walked to
it and back They were the stupidest
looking fanatics I ever saw. They
processioned in Nazareth. The mems
hair was banged, and it was cut
round the edges of crock. The wo-
men were brighter than the men, who
looked as though they hadn't brains
enough to wad gun, certainly, not
enough to wad two guns. In the Good
Samaritan Inn / saw giant strike
/ his small Russian wife, carrying a
! baby-all for Christ's sake, of course,
These Russian Zealots on holy pill
| grimage, were the most perfect
/ brutes and fools / have seen
David said "all men are lars and
4 have qualified it, for there is not even
! one in all the Orient, who is not a
/ liar. Why, they make such dis
eliminating fuss about Ananias
and Sapphire ] do not see. In com
/ parison, sAnanias was quite respect
able, and am not ashamed of my
middle name! All this party calls me
Ananias! have to stand off all the
Orient!
j In the Church of the Holy (?) Sep
4 ulcher in Jerusalem ! saw the mark
ed very spot where Adam was made
of red clay. Unfortunately, they dc
not show the fence against which he
leaned to dry. | was real glad to see
that spot. 1t affected me deeply, and
+ asked the party to pardon the weak
ness of my tears. In fact, broke
down and blubbered, but it was not
whale blubber
/ overworkins the Angel Gabriel.
In Jerusalem they overwork the
Angel Gabriel. The imense stone, Mt
/ Mariah ic onuarpd nv the MOsoue M