The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-08

Aammaf1D, MOunt OdTIllels I oAcStihS. IT GIVE you today some bits of Pales- tine out of doors. Within the past A few weeks I have kept away from the cities and towns, and have watched the shepherds and farmers. I have seen the real Palestine, with the same sky, the same rocks and hills and the same car pet of wild flowers that were here in the days of our Lord. I have talked with the farmers in the fields, have ridden side by side with the modern Balaam as he climbed the hills on his ass, and have even put my hand to the blows, such as were used in the times of the Scripture, and with a goad handle prioked on the bullocks and donkeys as they turned up the sod.
 The Land of the Farmer
 The Palestine of the Bible was land of the farmer. The children of Israel and their leaders were reared or worked on the farm. Abraham had numerous sheep and so had Isaac and Jacob. Saul was the son of old Farmer Kish, and he was hunting his fathers asses when he was met by Samuel, the prophet, who gave
 
 sheep when Farmer Jesse, his father sent him to the battle, where with his sling, he killed the mighty Goliah and in time became Saurs successor. Lot was one of the richest farmers the Jordan valley has known, and as for Job. who lived in | old Uz, he was the bonanza cattle man of his time, owning 1000 sheep, 5000 cam els, 800 yoke of oxen, 500 she asses and very large household. It was in one farm village, Bethlehem, that our Savior was born, and in another farming settlement, Nazareth, that He grew to manhood. A great part of His life was spent in going about among the shepherds and farmers, and in His preaching the most of the ex- amples and parables relate to things of the soil
 The Sheep Of the Holy Land The most common sight out of doors in the Holy Land is the sheep. They are everywhere. You find them on the rich plains where the Philistines lived; they feed among the rocks on the slopes of the Judean mountains, and spot the wilder ness all the way down to Jericho. They graze on every part of Samaria and Gal flee, and almost everywhere on the plain of Esdraeon. They are always watched over by shepherds, and are often driven to new feeding grounds The greater part of this country is mountainous. Lime stone rocks cover the soil, which is so thin that if you could pare it off for a depth of eight inches there would be nothing but stone. It is different in the plains and the valleys, but the hills are terraces of rock covered with boulders and sprinked here and there with patches of earth. The conditions, however, are such that the least bit of soil will grow luxuriant grass and the sheep seem to grow fat on the stones.
 l I remember some fiocks saw on my way to the Jordan They were heavy wooded animals, with tails of fat hanging down like aprons behind them. The most of them weighed POO pounds and the av- craze was fatter and finer than the best sheep of America. Some were white wooded and some brown and others had brown heads and white bodies. I have tasted the mutton. It is excellent, and is the best meat to be had at the hotels. Among the Shepherds
 The shepherds are about the same all over Palestine. They are kindly-eyed men with fair faces, bronzed by the sun. They stay out all day on the hills with the , sheep, driving them into the villages at
 
 Il his scrip, little bag of dried skin. He uses sling as David did. and stones his 1 sheep to keep them from straying. The strings of the slings are of goat hair, and the pad for the stone is of the same ma terial, often made with a slit in the mid ldle, so that when a stone is put in the sling fits close like a bag. Such things are now used in stone fights by the boys of the villages, who practice to see who can throw the farthest
 The wool of these sheep Is especially fine. It brings a higher price than that of Damascus, and something like a mill lion dollars worth of it is exported a year. The shearng is done by hand and much of the wool is sold unwashed. Some is washed after shearing, the work being done by women who receive less than a shilling day.
 Nearly every flock of sheep 9las it's goats. They are usually black and can be picked out at a great distance, Some of the goats produce excellent milk, and the best as much as three quarts day. In the Sheepfolds
 There is a great deal in the Bible about the sheepfolds These are common in Palestine. In the villages there are often lcorrals and sometimes caves in the hills. The village folds are closed at night, and the shepherds keep the keys. Those of the mountains are usually open and the sheep go in and out as they will.
 One of the most important duties of the shepherds is to water the flock. He does this at streams or wells. At the wells the women draw the water for the sheep as they did in the days of the Scriptures. They use bags of goatskin untanned. The skins are taken almost whole from the goats, and the legs and other openings tied up so that the skin is waterproof. There is but one hole at the throat, and 1t is in this that the water Is poured. The water for the household is carried in such bags, a network of ropes being wrapped around them so that it can be rested upor the back, the bag being sup ported by rope around the forehead. A bag of the ordinary size, when filled, weighs at least 30 pounds. The women go along with their heads bent half double, carrying such bags to their vil- liage homes. They do this day after day all their lives long.
 Cancels and DOnkeys
 The Palestine of today is a land of donkeys and camels suppose the latter are about the same as those owned by Job. They are reared in Beersheba, where the people largely live on their milk The camel is the freight car of Palestine. I have seen many caravans of them in going over the country. On my way here we passed some camels which the Bedouin drivers were shearing. They were clipping the wool from the kneeling beasts, which cried and moaned . and now and then uttered shrieks as the shears shipped off bits of their flesh. , Not few shed actual tears. The wool Ice sc infn oa