The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-26
THE NEW RAILWAYS OF TURKEY-By Fra1k G. Carpenter.

Persian carpets and around the sides will
 be painted verses from the Koran In let
 ters of gold. chart will indicate the
 direction of Mecca. so that one can al-
 ways turn his head the right way when
 he prays, and there will also be minarer
 on the top of the car, six and a half feet
 high. These cars, I am told, are being
 built at Constantinople.
 The Mecca road Is a narrow gauge
 with French rolling stock. The mate
 rial has been imported from Europe,
 the ties being of iron to withstand
 the white ants which eat anything
 wooden. One of the great difficulties of construction has been the lack of
 water. The road goes for long stretches
 through the desert and many of the
 trains carry tanks to supply the en- zine.
 By Rail to Damascus
 travelled over part of this Mecca
 road on my way from the Holy Land north to Dapascus. was rowed by four lusty Syrians across the Sea of Galilee to Samach, which is the station on the lower end of that sea and the place where a branch line runs off to Haifa. From there northward we skirted the east side of the Sea of Galilee, pass ing the hills upon which our Savior preached and where He drove the devils into the swine. We rode up the val ley of the Yarmuk. stream almost
 as large as the Jordan. which loses it. self in the Jordan farther south. We climbed the foothills of Lebanon, and at about 5000 feet above the surface of the Sea of Galilee reached the rich plain of Hauran. the great bread bas- ket of the Bedouins. It grows wheat and other grain and the land near the track was covered with. poppies, gold t.-41 T Ia. lJxrn nrNly Ta could see Bedouin camps everywhere.
 They are made up of brown tents five or six feet high and are so low that the people have to stoop to get in. Outside each little settlement was an inclosure for the stock. and on the | lands nearby cattle and camels, were grazing. As we travelled we could see great flocks of black goats feeding on the sides of the Lebanon noun tains They hung to the cliffs and | looked much like flies on the wall. | There were also droves of black cat 1 tie, and many flocks of white sheep | each carrying a tail of the size of sofa pillow. which hung down like an apron, half hiding its legs.
 | The cars were crowded with Turks. Syrians and Bedouins but on the ad- vice of a friend I gave the conductor dollar and in return had compart- ment all to myself. Baksheesh will do anything in Syria. As Shammas, my guide, puts it: "The franc Is the wheel upon which the world goes round" Steaming Over Holy Places
 It seems almost sacrilegious to travel by
 rail in the footsteps of the Bible. The iron tracks now cover the pathways of the prophets, and the ghosts of the saints
 may be reused by the shrteks of the loco l motive This road to Damascus, beginning with the branch line to Haifa, skirts the edge of Mount Carmel, where Elijah lived | in cave and where he contended with | the 45O prophets of Baal and caused their | destruction. It goes up the plain or
 Esdraelon. where the fair Jezebel lived,
 and where John galloped to Jezrel on his race for the throne. It takes you in plain sight of Mount Tabor, and under | the hills of Nazareth where the Savior's boyhood and young manhood were spent. | It crosses the spot where Jael was camp
 ing when Sisera came and she lulled him to sleep to drive the tent peg into his | forehead and 1t then goes on up to Damascus over q route which was prob- ably travelled by Abraham, David and