Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-02-26

Ill "A
fnear Faifal both marked by a Fran
eiscan convent, where the weary trav-
elcr may find food and shelter. Old
man Elisha must have had an eye for
natural beauty, for a prettier view
than from the cave fthe obstrnctional
convent removedl could hardly be
found anywhere.
or further interest, and seldom miss
cd by the treyeler on a tour through
the Holy Lands. are the Syrian cities
Damascus and Baalbek, the latter
with the most extensive, most impos-
ing and most ancient and best pre-
served ruins IN the world. Damascus.
although q populous and ancient city
with great name and history, is MOI
attractive. but very dirty place with
little in it worth the hard tip to get
there, especially at this season. when
the mountains OF Lebanon and Anti
Lebanon, over which the railroad
passes. are generally, as Ifound them,
covered with snow. Its boast is
large. fine mosque with the grave of
st. John, the Baptist. and that Of Sal
eLdin, which the German empefor
adorned with jewelry crown; besides
This one is shown the original f2l
house OF Ananias, the disciple, and
that OF Judas. the Eastern Gate. close
TO which. on the outside. the CONVEX
sion of ST. Paul is said to have oc-
Cured. The renowned bazaafs are a
lot OF dirty stalls, with all kinds of
goods, mostly Oriental especially Jew
eiry. some of it very pretty and cheap.
With my Aloha to all good people
in. Honolulu.
Yours sincerely,
J. II. SCHNACK.
H.
Jerusalem. Jan. 9Th, 1914.
Editor Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
ready closed and mailed, think it
proper to say few words about PAL
estine at large and its people
The country east of the Sea of Gal
lice Ia pretty sheet of water of about
z by to 8 1-2 miles in area. enclosed
by mountains slipping towards the
shores of the seal and nearly all the
plains have good and fertile land,
which will yield good crops of cereals
OF any kind. But for all that ii is
very thinly settled, due, as / am in
formed. to, the little encouraging Mt
and hard conditions the Turkish gov
ernment imposes upon the agriculture
list.
There is plenty of land lying idle,
but II has to be bought of an indiffer-
ent government, which does not seem
to care whether it sells or keeps its
lands, in spite Of the fact that its
treasury is always empty and is al
why's in need of money. And unless
deal involving higher amount can
be effected directly with the authors
ties In Constantinople, there Is so
much red tape and blatherskiting to
officials required, that would-be pur-
chaser gets disguised before he gets
halfway through, and drops it as a
bad job. When he does buy, however,
he has to pay high taxes, for which he
receives absolutely no return by way
Of improvements
Another great difficulty lies In the
fact that with the exception where
property is touched by the one rail-.
road line existing here. there are no
ways and means on which farmer
could depend for marketing his prod
uce, the rainy season rendering the
so-called roads unfordable and use
less.
As an example | shall illustrate in
a few lines an experience had, going
In company of three other gentlemen,
by carriage with four horses over the
plain of Sharon from Haifa to Jaffa,
a distance of about forty-five miles in
a straight line, but about $50 by the
road we had to take. 1t led through
swamps, bOgs, bitches and streams
with no bridges, or If so in such bad
repair that very often they could not
be used Dozens of times we had to
walk to ease the load so that the
horses, good as they were, could pull
the vehicle, and as many times We got
stuck in the mud. and but for the help
of Arab farmers with their horses
which we were always lucky enough
to find (someties at long distances1,
l doubt that we ever should have
reached our destination in that way.
There is weekly steamer service be-
tween Haifa and Jaffa, but the land
ing at the latter place is so bad, par
ticularly during the winter months,
that passengers going there very Oft