The Washington herald., 1915-01-31

Persian Gulf and down to the shores Of
the Indian Ocean. At the top of that
immense waste sits Damascus, the port
for all the ships Of the desert on that sea
of sand.
The city is far to old to count it.
years. and it contents itself with the un-
challenged boast that it is the oldest
town in the world; The lizard and the
Of its ancient rivals. Its downfall was
celebrated in the great city of Jove. and
1t may read today its own obituary writ
ten on the walls of Karnak $500 years
Nineyeh, and Tyre rise and fall and the
earth cover them as in a grave. II had
already waxed mighty when Solomon
reigned in all his glory on the throne OF
David. 1t was heavy with age when It
became the captive of Alexander, and
800 years more had rolled over its roofs
when Pompey claimed it for Rome.
Holy Ground for Three Religions.
Spiritually it is city of all things to
all men. The MOslem Teveres the very
earth around about as that from which
Adam was made and out of which the
pleasant groves of Eden sprang by the
rivers of Paradise. Although Mahomet
never was in Damascus. the faithful
know why. The steep heights above the
city, up whose side a road was con-
structed for the Kaiser's special con-
venience. is called the Hill of Ma
in rose and pearly tints beside its rush
ing rivers and among its minarets. Once
the prophet stood on that hill and be-
held that vision of beauty. But he drew
back. Man can enter Paradise only
once he exclaimed. and rather than risk
the loss of the heavenly Paradise he did
not go down into the city. but turned
away.
To the Jew. as well as to the MosIem.
Damascus is holy ground. and he has set
up a synagogue there for the tomb Of
Elias. To the Christian. too. the city
makes its special appeal. For ii was as
Saul came near Damascus. yet breathing
out threatenings and slaughter. that
there shined around about him a light
from heaven and he heard voice saying.
saul, Saul. why persecutest thou me?"
Rising from the earth to which he had
been stricken. he went into the. city to
preach Christ in the synagogues, and
bling city wall down which the escaping
convert was lowered in a basket while
his enemies watched the gates day and
night TO kill him.
faithful kneel above the buried head of
John the Baptist, stands on soil that
has been sacred to men of many faiths.
There the Romans built temple to their
gods and the Emperor Theodosius trans
formed ii into a Christian church. There
for more than a century after the Arabs
came Moslem and Christian kept their
altars under the same roof, and to this
day one of the mInarets of the mosque is
called the tower of Jesus" waiting,
many believe, for the coming Of the Mes
siah to judge the quick and the dead.
And nearby there stands Roman gate,
beautiful in its ruins, which continue to
bear the inscription carved upon its
architrave 1,50O years ago: Thy king
dom, o Christ. is an everlasting kingdom
and thy dominion endureth forever
throughout all generations"
The War In the East.
To the strangely varied history and
traditions of the mosque, the Kaiser
made one contribution more when he
sent the wreathed cross to be laid beside
the grave of the solder of the Crescent
And now Gen. Won der Goltz has chosen
Damascus as the headqusrters for the
Turco-German military operations in the
southern field of the war.
The strategy, the plan Of campaign of
the Turco-Teuton alliance has not yet
been uncovered and curious world must
wait TO see which way the scimitar of the
Sultan is to cut He cannot throw HIM
self into the fray in the theater Of war
in Europe as long as Bulgaria maintains
her neutrality and hes across his path
to the Servian border. But there remain
two frontiers in the East where he Is
in striking distance of the allied enemy.
One of these is the Russo-Turkish bound
airy in Armenia which stretches for some
Ararat to the Black Sea, and\ the other
is the sandy border OF PaleAtine and
Egypt
an attempt to drive the British out Of
the land OF the Pharaohs remains to be
seen. But we know that this was what
he tried to do when Napoleon seized ana
occupied Egypt hS years ago; ana rranee
his hordes were making ready to descend
upon the Intruder however, the latter
with Napoleonic boldness carried the war
into the AnAnny's own country and march