El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-01-14

. ing, who came here about three years
ago. and is now experimenting some
excavations which are being made he
/ has a number of Arabs working under
! him digging up an old church which
was built there by the Crusaders
Where Joseph Worked.
They have just uncovered a grotto.
which Father Kersting told me is IN
doubtedly the place where Joseph had
/ his carpenter shop, and where, II so,
the little Christ must have played
! among the shavings- I took photo
: graph of the excavations.
The various sects here make all sorts
Of claims. The Latins a1lege that they
own the table upon which Christ dined,
| with His disciples both before and after
the resurrection. 1t is a block Of hard
chalk eleven feet long and nine feet In
breadth. In another place in the Latin
monastery is what it known as the An
gels Chapel and the Chapel of the An
nunciation. where the Virgin received
/ Gabriers message. There is also an
old cistern which is called the Kitchen
of the Virgin. and in the center OF the
town is Mary's well, or, as it is some
times called, Jesus's spring, or Ga
briefs spring. This is undoubtedly
authentic, for it is the only spring or
watering place that Nazareth now pos
posses or ever has possessed It is
therefore certain that the child Jesus
and the Virgin frequented it, and that
Mary came here daily for water. This
is a fountain rather than a we'll The
water gushes forth in two streams into
a stone basin. and from there flows
into a stone-inclosed pool There are
always women with water jars about
it, and the scenes of today are prob
ably the same as they were in Christs
time.
In the Bazaars.
Nazareth has thousands OF pilgrims
who come here every year TO visit the
places hallowed by the Savior. and it Is
also on the mail line from the noun
tains of Lebanon to Jerusalem. Cara
van routes from Damascus to Egypt
wind about it. and it has always been
place of more or less traffic.
The bazaars OF today are of about
the same character as they were IN
Christ's time. They are narrow cave
like stores lighted only from the front
The merchants sit there walled around
with goods, and the customers stand
out in the cobblestone roadway and
! bargain IS to their prices. The streets
are dirty and camels and Bedouins are
continually moving through them The
men year turbans and gowns, and the
! ing as they are Mohammedans or Chris
tians.
I was interested in the mechanical
work going on. in these bazaars.
stopped in a carpenters shop and
photographed a workman Of just about
the age Joseph must have been when
! our Lord was a boy and passed as his
son I asked as to carpenters wages,
and was told they ranged from so cents
G dox IN f11S frp =
! street stopped a while with the black
/ smiths who were making knives.
razors. plow points and the long thin
| crescent shaped sickles used here for
harvesting The sickles have teeth
like fine saw. the wheat and barley
being sawed off. as it were. I watched
/ blacksmith shoe a horse. He used
| a plate of iron of the shape of the
/ hoof about an eighth of an inch thick.
( It was solid with the exception of d
! hole as large as a finger ring in the
/ center There were three small holes
on each side for the nails which were
| driven into the hoof. When shod the
horses foot was entirely covered by
the iron with the exception of the small
hole in the center.
The Boys of Nazareth.
During my stay here 1 have paid es-
| pecial attention to the children. They
| are the best part of the Holy Land, and
are as full of fun and as delightful as
| our children at home have seen fam
lilies which recall that of Joseph and
Mary Here in Nazareth 1 see the little
ones everywhere playing There is a
tkreshing floor on one side of the town
where the earth has been stamped
dowp and where the grain is failed or
troden out after harvest This is one
| of the great Fairgrounds, where the
| boys come with their marbles and where
| they play ball. They have a game in
which the boys try to throw the ball so
as to hit a stone mark set up for the
! purpose. They also strike the ball
with a club and send it beyond the
| boys outside. They play blind mans
buff, leapfrog and hide-and- and
as I went through the streets the
other day I saw two little ones rising
and falling on a board resting on the
edge Of a sharp stone, making a seesaw.
One Of the games played is like our
Button, button, who has the button %
The boys stand in a row with hands
folded and the one who is it goes
along and rubs his two hands hol1ing
the pebble over each pair of fOlEe ed
| hands. endeavoring to drop the poDble
into one without being caught 1t is
then necessary to guess who has the
pebble. We play the same game with
the button.
Another game is known as the tied
monkey" In this the boy who is at"
catches hold with one hand Of a rope,
which is fastened to a peg in the
ground while the others beat him with
handkerchiefs or ropes in which knots
are tied. IF he can catch one of them
without letting go his hold on the rope
the boy caught takes his place.
Worth More Than Girls.
observed that the boys here usually
play by themselves They rather look
down upon their sisters, and the ordin-
airy family considers the girl of but
little account. When a girl Is born no
! fuss is made, but when a boy comes
the friends of the family run through
the streets crying out: Good tidings,
good tidings." The father prepares a
east and all of the friends of the fam
! lily give presents of money for the ben
eft of the boy. Immediately after the
child is born it is rubbed over with
zalt 1T is then wrapped in swaddling
clothes 50 tight that it cannot move
and kept in that state for about a
week. 1t is then unfastened. washed