El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-02-18

motor cars ABREAST upon 1t 14Sh
of falling over the edges, and an Eng
lish traveller here says that a cricket
match might be played upon its face,
putting the stakes at the right distance
apart and giving the bowler at least
two feet at the end for his run. This
stone is one solid block, as smooth as
a marble column and accurately
square. Each side of it measures IA
feet and it is about 20 feet long. Stand
it on end inside modern ten story nat
and it would fill ten rooms one above
the other, each room IA feet square and
seven feet high. It has been estimated
to weigh 1900 tons and it would be
fair sized load for 80 freight cars on
the modern railroad track.
Think of moving stones like that out
of the mountains and up and down hill
for a mile without the aid Of iron and
steel machinery or electricity or steam
That is the kind Of work the Romans
did 1900 years ago. All through the
temples you may see examples Of how
they lifted great masses into place and
that of masses of carvings more beau
tiful than those of our buildings today.
On some of the blocks still in the struc-
ture I saw punches Of grapes no bigger
than my thumb as beautifully cut as
though made by nature. There were
also Cupids and Cherubs. exquisitely
carved. It was said Of the artist who
built the great temples of Delhi and
Agra in India that they worked like
Titans and finished like jewellers. The
same was true of the Romans of the
reigns of Antonius, Caracalla and Nero
have taken photographs of some OF
the broken columns with myself stand
ing beside them to give an idea Of their
thickness I measure five feet eight
~ L. .aolr. ora full
two feet more in diameter. Among the
wonderful carvings are those which
form the frieze above the great pillars
200 or 900 feet high up IN the air.
Among them are the heads Of gigantic
lions, each head as big as a flour bar
rel, but polished like a fine marble
mantel It was through the mouths Of
these lions that the roof was drained.
Defacing the Ruins.
The beauties of the temple will be
preserved from now on. They are
guarded by the Turkish officials, and
tickets which cost dollar apiece are
required Of all who go in. I was shown
through by DR.. Michel About. an archie
oIogist. who was here with the Ger
mans, and who could explain just how
the temples looked in the past. He
showed me where the early Christians
Pad erected a church inside the temple.
dsfacing the carvings and breaking the
noses of the beautiful statues They
took pleasure in destroying the gods OF
the heather. After them came the
Arabs. who used the place as a fort,
throwing great round chunks Of mar
BILE as big as a foot ball There are
piles of these marble balls inside the
temple today They were probably cut
from the columns. The Arabs made a
mosque in the temple. They wiped out
all the traces of the Christian religion
and used a part of the church for a
bath After them came an earthquake,
so that much of the ruins were covered
up, until the Germans began their great
excavations and left them as they now
are.
am stopping here in the little town
of Baalbek, which stands right on the
edge Of the ruins. 1t has an excellent
hotel, and its people are hospitabIe. It
has about five or six thousand inhab-
itants made up of Mohammedans and
Christians. There is a small garrison OF
soldiers, two Greek Catholic monaste-
ries and several girls schools. The chill
dren followed us as we walked about
through the ruins selling purses made
of Syrian silk, into which they had
woven the six columns of the temple.
They also asked for baksheesh and tie
begging palm was every WHSIo 70 DC
seen.
The CedarS of Lebanon.
am surprised at the scantv vegeta-
ton of these mountains Of Lebanon.
had expected to find them covered with
| forests, whereas thay are almost tree
less. Their lower slopes are well Guilt
waited and some o. them are tcrraced
almost to the top. Thousands Of acres
made up Of little patches, rise step:ike
one above another, covering the hills
for miles and miles. The patches con-
tain mulberry orchards and vineyards
There are also peaches and apples, and
in the valleys are rich fields of wheat
barley and clover. The chief formation
is limestone. and there are rocks every
where, although the soil seems wonder
fully rich.
The cedars of Lebanon may have beer
great in the past, but they have now
! disappeared. The only ones left are
! situated about nine or ten hours from
! Baalbek. The trees grow in the thin
soil, which covers the white limestone
/ the ground being coated with spines
cones and leaves. The oldest trees are
seven IN number, and the ta1lest is no
more than so feet high. The largest o.
all is about Is feet thick, so you set
they are merely sprouts in comparison
with the big trees of California and
| quite small as compared with the giant!
of Washington and Oregon. The cedar!
| which were taken from the templ'