El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-12-20

Greeks were quarreling over it, when
the Mohammedan government came in
and forbade either sect touching it.
Therefore, that window is unwashed to
this day.
The stable is under the church. You
reach II by winding staircase, and
gong down come into a cave about u
feet wide and 40 feet long This room
is fioored with marble, and 80 lamps
BURN day and night within it. There is
star set in the marble pavement, and
there is an inscription over it stating
that on that spot the Virgin Mary gave
birth to Christ.
star Is Nailed Down.
This star is held down by nails.
About year ago the Armenian who
had the right to clean it was working
away when he knocked off the head
OF one of the nails. This caused a great
connection. The Greeks, LatinS and
Armenians began to fight over it, and
the governor of Jerusalem, to settle
the dispute called in a blacksmith
to drill out the old nail and put in a
new one. The blacksmith was a Latin,
and the Greek and ArmenianS would
not let him go to work because they
did not want any Latin marking the
birthplace Of the Savior. In order to
settle the trouble the governor called
in a gypsy, who had no religions stand
ing whatever, and he replaced the nail
without opposition.
While in this grottO under the
church tried in vain to imagine the
scenes of Christ's birth. The decora-
tons were out of all keeping with the
place, and the warning Christians pre-
vented reverent thought. Besides, there
was marble floor, the decorated walls
and the lamps. I got a better idea by
going into some of the actual stables
which are IN use IN Palestine today,
and which are just about the same now
as they were 1900 years ago. I remenl-
Der one such stable near Jerusalem. 1t
was cave, with a floor of rough stone.
The cave was divided into chambers or
stalls which opened into a sort Of
court, and in these chambers were
donkeys, camels and horses.
Where Mary Had to Rest.
There we're men and women sleeping
on the floors of the courts, with the
animals eating out of their stone boxes
or hangers about them. The people
had no bed clothing except their
blankets, and they ate their meals on
the floor 1t was on such a floor that
Mary had to lie, because there was no
room at the inn, and the manger in
which the baby Christ lay was prob
ably followed out stone box, such as
those in which the dOnkeys were eat
ing. Within this stable 1 saw a BedOuin
woman with a sleeping baby on her
knee. She had just been feeding the
child and her breast peeped out be-
tween the folds of her coarse, rough
gown. Her arms were bare to the
shoulders ana LueIe were bracelets up
on her wrists. Her face was as sweet
as that of any madonna I have ever
seen upon canvas, and her baby, still
in its sWaddling clothes, looked as
pure and as innocent as the most IA
nous representation of Christ.
1t was a stable like that that the
wise men lknelt and presented their
gifts. Il was there that the shepherds
we're led by the star. and it was there
that our Redeemer first saw the light
Of this world.
Bethlehem was so small that it must
have been difficult to hide the infant
Christ from the men sent by king
Herod to search for Him. and it is no
wonder that Joseph and Mary took the
Holy Child and fled with Him to Egypt.
The Travels of the Infant.
The most of the pictures painted in
Of this journey represent
Mary with the child in her arms, on