Arizona republican., 1916-03-01
SHOOTING RANGE .|S SET UP! 0N.
 MOUNT CALVARY
Republican A. p. Leased Wlre1

the Light Brigade, just as the care of these Holy Places. so called, had be- fore that convulsed all Europe with the tiree Crusades. ana yet the care of these same Holy Places-the Holy Sep ulcher at Jerusalem, the place of the
 Nativity at Bethlehem. and the count less other landmarks of the birth of Christianity>are changing hands as an incident of the present war, and almost imperceptibly because of the noise of the conflict in so many other theaters of warfare.
 One report is that a military shoot ng-range has been set up on Mount Calvary, the site above all others ven- erated by the Christian world as the place of the crucifixion. But inquiry establishes that if this rifle range ex-
 ists it is at the Gordon Calvary. so called after General Gordon of khai- tum fame, who designated it as what
 he believed to be the real site though
 ii is not the Calvary commonly ac- cepted by tradition. venerated and
 guarded by Pilgrims and the church, and contended for by European nations
 This Gordon Calvary is in the outskirts of Jerusalem, some distance from the
 traditional site of the Holy Sepulcher.
 From military standpoint, all at tention to the German Turkish military
 operations in Syria has been absorbed
 ill the slow approach southward toward
 Egypt and the Suez canal, that rich
 prize supposed to be the link between
 Europe and the Orient. But while this
 main military object has been going on,
 it has involved at the same time the
 steady occupation of the entire Holy
 Land as part of the field of prepara-
 ton and advance, with military forces
 i'll control at Jerusalem. Bethlehem,
 Nazareth and throughout the region
 of the Holy Places. and the F're/ch
 Italian, English and other custodians of these sites. expelled or interned. Sev-
 en of the Italian custodians at Bethle-
 tem--the site of the Nativity-have re-
 gently been interned by the military authorities. and their place is to be taken by Austrian custodians.
 The sweep of this German Turkish
 movement through the Holy Land is
 shown by the fact that the military railway, on which the approach to Egypt depends is believed to be con- s,ructed to the desert outskirts of Beer sheba. This is the same town referred to in holy writ, and which created the Biblical phrase, from Dan to Beer sheba,'' as it is the uttermost limit of the Holy LanL, where it merges into the desert leading to Egypt. It is this biblical point, Becrsheba. which is eX- pected to be the military base, to which the railway will bring down supplies from the north. for the advance across the desert. should the attack on Egypt ever be carried out as it has been loudly heralded. So that Beersheba to- day is performing the same function as in biblical days-tke last outpost betOre entering the desert. 150 miles across, with an ocean of white sand and almost no water holes-none ade- quate for tEe watering of a great amry. The only cavalry here must be such as is mounted on camels, with the dazzling white sand as deadly to the eyes and threats of beasts and riders as poisoi: gas is to the men on the firing line. 1 Cardinal Bourne, in the course of 0 talk with the Associated Press, rren- ] tioned the solicitude felt for these sa- cred shrines and the gradual way their care was changing hands. He pointed
 out. however. that the Sultan of Fur key had in past years given guaran- tees for the continued Christian pro- ta1 fn tIs. T, the nationality of this care might change, the cardinal felt that it would still be Christian. For specific in quiries on the Holy Places. the cardi- nafs entourage referred to the com missioner for the Holy Land. a mem Der of the Franciscan community To- cated in the outskirts of London Seen at the Franciscan monastery, the commissioner, F'r. Albert. gave such 1 information as had filtered through. As to the report of a shooting range at Calvary. he pointed out that this did not refer to the sacred spot accept cd for centuries as Calvary, but to the
 so-called Gordon Calvary. first located 1 by General Gordon a few years ago. | II n, ! where he became famous as Chinese" Gordon. he spent some time in the Holy | Land, and then in the Soudan, where l he Was victim of the Mahdi at Khar- | tum before the Kitchener relief expe- 1 dition arrived.
 | The last time F'r. Albert visited the l Holy Land he was in company with
 Lord Butte. and as they passed this
 so-called Gordon Calvary Lord Butte
 stated that Lord Kitchener had told him he supported the claim of Gen. ! eral Gordon as to the Gordon Calvary l This was a curious circumstance | Gordon, the victim of Khartum, locat- | ing q new Calvary. and then Kitchener
 Of Khartum, supporting the theory of | the explorer whose fame was so close
 ly linked with his own at Khartum
 The reports reaching Fr. Albert in licated that the Italian and French l custodians of the different Holy Places had been interned by the military au- thorities, Austrians or some of the eastern sects replacing them There are many of their sects--Capts. Creeks Armenians and even Abyssinians- though little is known of who is ir
 charge. except that most of the Latir custodians are interned.
 | While the changes do not constitut, loss of Christian control. yet the,
 show the shifting of the nationalit, of that control, which has been fire
 1uent cause of international compli
 cation in the past.
 Besides the main points Of militar. J operation in this locality. like Beershe I t, o,d Tar,,ca 1ap, bp ubolo moo n