Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1916-01-28

n HAVE come on horseback over
desert to an enigmatical looking
building which has the shapeless-
ness and silence of a ruin, writes a
traveller in the Sahara desert. The
'cream-colored walls are lined. patched.
broken, gigantic. 1t is a rectangular
fortress. There is but the entrance,
and that is small one and heavily
barred. "A bell rope hangs down the
wall by the door. Jingle, jangle. /
ring the bell. There is a long silence
and | ring again. Then a disheveled,
barefooted monk laboriously undoes
the little door in the wall, present the
letter which / bear from the patriarch.
and l am admitted.
The monks are pleased: all shake
hands. l sit on one divan and five of
them on another. A novice washes
my hands, another brings me a glass
of brown liquid-water full of medlar
fiber in suspsaa:ea. When | finish
this he brings glass CT pink sugar
water, then coffee all round-thiE.Ae
fuls of sweet coffee. The abbot, a
fine looking fellow with regular fea-
lures, broad face, black mustache and
beard, and with an open space show
ing the freshness of the lower lip, is
talkative. He has a towel wrapped
round his brows for turban, and fin
gers black beads as he talks. Next
to him is a comfortable looking monk
In blue smock and a white knitted
skull cap on his head. Next to him
an old fellow with wizened bare legs
and feet. old yellow rags on his griz
zled head, ragged black cassock over
his gray underclothes.
What do you do all day." l asked
Pray. read. sing" they answered
What do you think of the WARP"
| THE war does not touch us. If they
! come and kill US we do not mind, bur
we pray each day that God will bring
/ 1t soon to a close"
IF the Arabs come, what will vol
do?''
If they shoot at us we will throw
bread to them; that will be our reply
They Are Christian Fanatics.
There were only sixteen monks, ant
including hermits there would not b.
! more than $50 of these holy men il
the desert altogether. There remain
but four monasteries, whereas in th
| fourth century there were several hun
dred. Seven thousand holy bachelor
and virgins learned of Ammon and hi
virgin bride alone. Here lived man
of the most eccentric of the hermit
and world deniers OF the early church
the men who Without knowing it CAV
| Christianity tremendous advertise
ment. The men who prayed to Goo
kneeling- for years on the tops of hig
columns, the men and women wh
laden with irons. the saints VIII
tanned the beasts of the forest, a.
gave to Christianity public interes
and interesting lore. 1t became eve
fashionable to retire to Nitria an
deny the world. Monasteries spran
saints, and gold and jewels poured il
to the monasteries. Art was be-
towed on the building of new churches
and celebrated artists painted the fre
Goes on the walls Not an inch {
these little desert temples was left III
covered by Byzantine fresco.
But the Saracen came and murdere
the cultured clergy. and tore away tn
jewels, as was fit, and rolled dow
many wall, wrecked many an alta
The holy brotherhood was annihilate
and there was sixty-years' gap
history. Then wilder type of Chri
tian took possession, converted Arab
for the most part, and they knew litt
Coptic, and so brought Arabic gospe
and liturgies. They repaired the dar
age and put up Arabic inscription