The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-03-07
~ EXTRAORDINARY interest is be-
IT, ing manifested In all Jewish
circles about the future of Pal
80 estine. The decision of Nathan

/"
L. estine. The decision of Nathan
Straus of New York to devote
the remainder of his life to the uplift
of Palestine has stimulated interest
among the class of Jews who have,
until now, kept aloof from any work
in connection with the Holy Land.
Again, the conflict that is proceed
ing in Palestine between the advo-
Gates of the use of Hebrew as the
medium of instruction in the schools
and the representatives of the Hills
verein der Deutches Juden," who ia
vor the German language, has created
a desire to acquire an accurate knowl-
edge Of what is going on in the Holy
Land.
Traveller Revisits Holy City.
A famous traveller, who has just re-
turned from a visit which he paid to
Jerusalem, after an absence from that
city of 10 years, writes as follows:
SLOW is the progress OF the train
from Jaffa to Jerusalem. The dis
lance between the two cities is but
55 miles, but it takes three and a
half hours to cover it. One who is
accustomed to express trains in Eu-
rope, or even to fast trains in Tur-
key, is likely to forget he is in a train
at all. Nevertheless, the journey is
not ~monotonous; there are compen-
sations in panoramic views that meet
the eye.
1T was one of those afternoons
that is encountered only in Palestine.
Over hill and dale, ver the wide and
far-extended fields studded with null
hilarious flowers and aromatic herb
age, transparent blue sky, illuminated
by a majestic sun, shedding its warm
and brilliant rays AS 1 looked
through the open window my thoughts
were carried to the city where l was
born and where l lived the happiest
years of my life.
Nineteen years had elapsed since
l left the sacred city. How would IL
appear after that period? In Con
stantinople and in Egypt l had mel
with many a Jerusalemite. All had
the one story for me. You will not
recognize the city; it is a new Jeru
salem. new in every respect, new in
ternally and externally 1 did moi
give much credence to this statement
1 am not u~nacquainted with Oriental
exaggeration. What interested me
most was not the appearance of the
place, but the life within.
Had the life changed? Had tn,
old fanaticism died out? What wa.
the character of the new generation
that had grown up within thos'
years? What we're the present pros
poets Of a livelihood?
About 5 p. m. the train reached
dark, and, not to lose time, l took
cab and fastened to see that part Q
the city situated without the ancien
walls. l did not recognize it. During
my 10 years absence it had complete
~ changed. There Is no empty space
and 1t is all built UP. In place of tn,
old, dilapidated novels that disfig
ured the approach to the Jaffa gate,
found on both sides of the road larg,
modern stores and magnificent Euro
pean hotels. A little farther on Their,
was a fenced space with a number o
trees-very much neglected-knowl
as the park and adjacent to the ia
nous enclosure containing the Rus
sian Hospice, more beautiful thal
ever.
Mansions Replace HoveIs.
"For miles the long Jaffa road !
1anked north and south with inns
merable buildings and streets bearin
Hebrew names. Many of the larg
buildings are new institutions, other
are the old ones which in my tim
we're located within the city in ruiz