The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-12-23
by FRANK G.. CARPENTER.)

1
Washington, d. c., Dec. 2o.-Come
with me this morning, only a few days
before Christmas, for a walk in the
footsteps OF Jesus the child. During
my several trips to Palestine l ave
spent many weeks in travelling over
the country, taking pictures and max
ing notes Of the places. ! have visit
ed Bethlehem, where our Savior was
born, and have lived for days in Naza-
reth, where his boyhood was spent. l
have gone over much Of the road that
Joseph and Mary travelled when they
carried the child into Egypt, and
ave crossed the mountains Of Sama-
ria from Galilee to Jerusalem, where
He went as a boy of twelve and was
found teaching the doctrine in olo
mons Temple.
gone into the wilderness where u
Lord was tempted of the devil after
those forty days Of hunger and thirst,
and at Capernaum l saw the recently
excavated marble synagogue where
some of His first preaching WAS done.
[ have climbed to the top Of the hill
above the Sea of Galilee, where He
delivered the Sermon on the Mount,
and have picked flowers from the
rolling green sward below. where the
miracle of the loaves and fiSheS oC-
Cured. Not far from that place, or
the opposite side of the water, may
be seen a steep hill down which the
swine ran when our Savior had cast
the devils out of the man and they
entered them. i have been in Beth
any. where lived Mary and Martha,
and have sat under the trees in the
Garden of GethSemane, where Christ
spent that night of terrible agony
before He was betrayed by Judas with
a kiss, / have also seer the various
places which the several authorities
a picked out as the scene Of the
crucifxion. In this letter. however,
| shall write only of the places asso-
ciated with Jesus, the child.
Many of the localities are about the
same as they were when our Savior
was alive. Some a been covered
with churches and converts, but the
warning sects OF Christians ave not
been able to change the bright sky.
Nature is the same now as 1t was
then. The same flowers bloom and
The same birds sing, and besides it is
not SO long. after all. Jesus was born
in Bethlehem only 1913 years ago
DO YOU know what that means? The
ordinary lifetime of q man is not
much more than was that Of our Sa.
vior. He lived thirty-three years. II
would take only ffty-eight such life.
times to cover the period between nov
and the birth Of Christ. Every on
of US know ifty-eight men who are
thirty-three years Of e. Bunch
their lives together and you have
all the time between nov and the be
ginning OF the Christian era. Eacl
Of us has a relative who is, perhaps
sixty-five years old. The lives OF thir
~ such men would, if patched togeth
er, reach back to the days of Kin,
Herod.
We shall start on our travels a
Bethlehem. 1t is q little town situat
ed in the mountain about $500 fee
above the sea and within forty mile
OF the Mediterranean. 1t is abou
fourteen miles from the Dead sea an
not very far from where the sand
wastes OF the Arabian desert begir
The country is limestone. The create
part of it is covered with rocks, wit
patches of green showing out Of tn
stone. Here and there the rocks hav
been gathered together and YOU Sc
pastures and fields. The field upo
which the shepherds lay and watche
their flocks when the star appeare
is from a quarter to a half mile frOI
the town proper. 1t lies far belo'
it, and h shepherds had to elm,
to get to the stable where Jesus we
born.
Inc nOiy CITY OF Je- -SdAeHl Is AT u
north, a distance of about seven mile
I have ridden it on horseback in lie.
than an hour. My last trip betwee
the two places was made in a ca
riage, and a boy on a donkey gallope
beside us almost all the way. Tt
road has been macadamized. 1t
uphill and down, but the most of it
SO smooth that with a good motor c:
you could easily make the distan'
from Jerusalem in twenty minut
n have enough time to put in a ne
tire on the way. The Wise Men fro
the East probably came over tn
road. They are supposed to have ri
den on camels, and if they had 4
racing variety they probably reach
Bethlehem in less than an hour aft
leaving King Herod, who, you m