The Washington herald., 1915-01-31
az AZREA

| ed into Palestine and Syria with the de-
! claratiOn that he had come to claim the
/ keys to Damascus.
| But the British. with their great battle
! line in Europe to maintain. hardly can
! take the offensive in the East and emu
/ late NapoleOn's aggressive measures
! They will have to wait for the coming
Apparently the Turk was preparing for
| an Egyptian campaign many weeks be-
| fore he declared war, for he was even
I then communicating all the horses,
mules. camels and military supplies in
Syria and the Holy Land. The Khedive
! must have felt well assured OF an ener-
getic and victorious Turkish movement
when he deserted the British and gave
I in his allegiance to his historic overload,
the Sultan. while we may judge by the
summary dethronement of that crowned
| pUppet how seriously the English them
| selves take the threat of an advance from
the north.
Damascus n Seat of War.
For the Egyptian campaign. Damascus
| naturally is the starting point. With the
ships of England in control OF the sea,
Gen. Won der Goltz had no choice since
now. as through the ages, all roads lead
to Damascus. The only other line of COM
municatiOn between Asia Minor and Syria
is that followed by Alexander. but It is
only path and British naval guns could
pound an army to pieces as it attempted
Only al Damascus is an army served by
railroads. all of which. however. are mar
| row gauged. One OF the lines runs north
200 miles to Aleppo. while another runs
south 175 miles into the mountains Of
Samaria.
This latter road down into the Holy
Land. by which any movement of troops
against Egypt must be made is UNIQUE
in one respect. 1t is the only strictly
sectarian, railroad in the world, the only
transportation line that puts a passenger
off its train on account of his religious
belief.
The Parting of the Ways.
II is the new pilgrim road to Mecca
and my train to Palestine ran on its rails
for time before branching to the west
might have continued on it, IL / had
wished for nearly 800 miles. But there
at FL Maan. I should have been told to
leave the train. as no unbeliever, none
but faithful Moslems. may journey on to
the present terminus of the line at Me-
dina, which is more than 200 miles from
Damascus. For at Medina the prophet
is buried. and Mecca, where he was born.
lies 300 miles beyond by caravan. And no
infidel may look upon either of these
sacred places and live.
The little town of Derat 20 miles from
Damascus. is the parting of the ways for
the religious world. At that common
place railway station the Christian and
the Jew. making a pilgrimage to their
tan pilgrim on his way to Mecca But
they start together. and possibly their
roads meet again at their journeys end.
On the Way to the Holy Land.
At Derat I was on the edge Of the
dreary but fertile Hauran, the Biblical
Bashan, the garden Of the Canaanites
and the granary of the Romans, Not
withstanding it's fertility, 1t wears a wild
and desolate look The predatory Be
douins roam 1t in large numbers, and
for centuries they defied the Sultan and
looted all passers-by. Not until our own
time were the Turkish soldiers able to
hold their own in the Hauran, and judg-
ing by the great stone barracks I saw
no small force is required to police that
almost treeless wilderness.
Countless camel trains, despising and
still competing with their modern rival
the putting, noisy beast of iron, are TO
be seen from the car window. For the
French engineers who laid down the
railroad line could not improve upon
the untutored engineers OF antiquity.
and the road follows the immemorial
caravan trail
all the charts of warfare. Ages ago IL
was trodden by the idolatrous children
of the heathen East as -theyl poured
down upon the children of IsrAel and
centuries ago the armored hosth Of the
years war with the Crusaders OF the
BY the shore OF GaIiIee.
The train crosses the swift torrent of
the Jordan in its narrow, steep banks
Of red stone. and pauses at a humdrum
a wharf on the sea OF Galilee to take
any passengers who may wish to
change for Tiberias. the only town re-
naming on the shore. For the cities
warned are now but heaps of stone.