The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1916-03-15
SACRED SHR|NES
IN FIELD OF WAR
I Seem In Danger Of Being
Obliterated.
"A REPORTED SHOOTING RANGE
On Mount CaIvary--Landmarks
OF Birth OF Christianity
In War Zone.
THEIR CONTROL IS SHIFTING


London. March 9.-tCorrespond-
,ence of the Associated Press) The
care of the Holy Places brought on
the Crimexn War, with the siege OF
;Sebastopcl, the battle of lnkermaL
and the Charge of the Light brl-
gade, Just as the care of these Holy
Places. so called, had before that
.conyulssd all Europe with the three
Crusades. and yet the care OF these
same Ffoly Places-the Holy Sepul-
cher ali Jerusalem, the place OF the
Nativity at Bethlehem, and the
countless other landmarks OF the
birth cof Christianity--are changing
hands as an incident of the present
war. and almost fnperceptipiy oe-
cause of the noise Of the conflict nm
so MANY other theaters OF warfare.
One report is that milltfSy
shooting range has. been set up on
Mount Calvary, the site above all
others venerated by the Christian
world as the place of the crucitixion.
But inquiry establishes that II this
rifle range exists II is at the Gordon
Calvary, SO called, after Gen. Cor
don. of Khartum fame, who desig-
mated it as what he believed to De
the real site, though it is not the
Calvary commonly accepted by ira
dition, venerated and guarded by
Pilgrims and the Church, and con-
tended for by European nations.
This Gordon Calvary is in the out
skirts of Jerusalem, some distance
from the traditional site Of the Holy
Sepulcher.
From a military standpoint, all
attention to the German-Turkish
military operations in Syria has
been absorbed in the slow approach
southwark toward Egypt and the
Suez Canal, that rich prize supposed
to be the line 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 prepare
ton and advance. with military
forces in control of Jerusalem,
Bethlehem, Nazareth and through
out the region of the Holy Places.
and the French. Italian, English and
other custodians of these sites, ex-
pelled or informed Seven of the
Italian custodians at Bethlehem
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-Turk-
ish movement through the Holy
Land is shown by the fact that the
military railway, on which the ap-
proach to Egypt depends, is believed
to be constructed to the desert out
skirts of Beersheba. This is the
same town referred to in holy writ,
and which created the Biblical
phrase from Dan to Beersheba," as
II is the uttermost limit of the Holy
Land, where 1t merges into the des-
ert leading to Egypt. 1t is this Bib
Ideal point--Beersheba is ex-
'pected to be the military base, to
which the railway will bring down
supplies from the North. for the ad-
vance across the desert, should the
attack on Egypt ever be carried out
as II has been loudly heralded. So
that Beersheba to-day is performing
the same function as in Biblical
days-the last outpost before enter
ing the desert, $50 miles across,
with an ocean of white sand and al
most no water holes--none ade-
quate for the watering of great
army. The only cavalry here must
be such as is mounted on camels,
with the dazzling white sand as
deadly to the eyes and throats of
beasts and riders as poison gas is to
the men on the firing line.
The reports recently spread
Indicated that the Italian and
French custodians of the different
bcIv places had been interned by the
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