Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1917-05-04
Latest Developments on Mesc-
potamian Battle Front Re-
call History Of Bible
Characters.
PERHAPS AMAGEDDON NEXT
If Allied Transports Land Troops
at Haifa, to Meet Advancing
British, Then a Battle
st Megiddo Likely.

ay The Religious Rambler.

Gy The Religious Rambler.
The dispatches called 70 nrr'ion 1t.
, when reporting tho apturc % Basdad.
but not the least interesting item in the
recent remarkable news from bible
lands is the fact mat Babylon has fallen
once more, and this time to the troops
Of Great Britain. Despite n! the attcn-
ton thu, IS being given 20 RaSdaa--and
some If the recent articles are atnaz-
ingly inaccnrate--that city of the
calipns does not have anything Ike the
hold upon public attention that old
Babylon occupies a unique position,
n it's passing into the control of the
British is noteworthy.
Literally. tho British nave taken
Babylon. one is the Babylon of today,
and the other is the Babylon of the
time of Nebuchadrezzar. The former is
the town Of Hillah. situated Within the
confines Of old Babylon. and famous
for its dates. / have eaten dates in
many parts of Mesopotamia. but those
OF Hillah are the best of all; The town
is small. with only "a few hundred in
habitants. and it's buildings are all OF
mud bricks. like the Babylon of old.
Hard by are the ruins OF Nebucha-
arezzar's palace and the houses of the
German archaeolugists. who have been
ut work ~aXcavating the ruins for many
years. Before h war there were a
dozen German scholars living regularly
at Babylon, together with the Arab
worknea encamped outside the walls of
their compound. The head OF the con-
munity was the famous DR.. Kaldeway.
whose hospitality has been extended To
the few Americans who have penetrated
into that remote corner of the world.
Judgin from the guest hook which DIR.
kAldeway kept. ! should say that there
are probably not a score of persons in
all America who have pressed foot on
tho VaH,- trteGE nf t}1a Fnr,r 0f Nab,,.1,n-
drezzar's throne room. as the Germans
have laid il bare.
The kaiser's Stake ia Babylon.
Germany had more than a scholarly
interest in Babylon. The of
the work amounting. DR.. Haldeway told
me, to 100000 q year. were met by the
German government. The kaiser's per-
sonal interest in the Babylon project is
famous. MOI only was it a research
work that appealed 10 the imagination,
but II was also a stake" in this won
derful region TO which the imperial
1erman ambitions were directed. The
members of DIR. kaldeway's staff were
NIL German officers. and that their ac-
tivtfles were not exclusively archaeo-
logical has been demonstrated by the
.ariy success of the Turco-Teutonic ex-
petition They accomplished what the
British. long dominant in this region,
had believed Impossible.
Now Barylon is practical: a suburb
Of Rasdad. 1t automatically fol-
lows the fortunes OF that metropolis
pf Mesopetarnia. When the city of the
saliphs fell 10 General Maudc's forces.
and the turks were chased from all the
outlying positions. Babylon was one of
the first points to be cleared. Your un-
sentimental British officer was not un-
ninaf1ii of the romance of capturing the
.ity which had fallen to Cyrus the
Treat and to Alexander the Great. and
"A fYlf1a nac haE1 - on,,1to ,>..:t:-. T..
lD the histories of antiquity. AS a
German center. it was important that
4 should not be left in the enemy's
aands.
In che footsteps Of Abraham.
Eible students best understand the
dispatches from Mesopota1nia. for other
persons. FOR the most part, have only
he hazicst notions as to the location
cf Mosopota,nia itself, not to speak Of
It's detailed pSiats. Interest in the pres
INT retreat of the Turkish-German
forces is enhanced by the fact that they
are operating within strictly bible ands
AND their course is almost Identical
with that ollowed by Abraham, when
he followed the voice that called him
out of Ir of the Chaldees. Kut-E!-
Arlara ls on the edge of ancient Ur.
The chaldeans are still living there.
Arnons n Christian leaders hung by
the Turks when they took Bagdad were
eminent men OF the Chaldean Chris
tian church. one Of the historic east
srn Chi yches which has borne witness
70 ats faith. despite ell prosecutions. in
this famous region.
When Abraham went to Haran ne
followed the Tigris river, Just as the
Iurks are doing. They have The adj
vantage Of 100 miles of the Bagdad rail-
a which has been built northward
from the city the name OF which it
bears, to oil SGrnarra, the place IA
SnOus reHgtnaSly as the tomb OF the
10th Imam. the n.shdi whose return
W expected by Moslems. 1t was because
OF p ptlgriHages that this section of
b railroad was completed without
waiting for the rest. The mosque
which coSers b tomb of the 10th
Imam lie one Of the most beau.iful in
the world. externally. No Christian has
g been permitted to enter Its sacred
precincts n few weSterners have even
seen Its wallis.
The route of Abraham. and Of the
fleeing army, passes old Ninevah.
across the river from which IL the city
sOf Nosul. where b army 10 likely to
make q stand. This 81 q walled CITY
the capital OF q ytlayet. A battle be.
meath the ruined walls OF Ninevah.
would be IN cOnsonance with. q char
gactersiof this wnr. which tAS so wonder
fully linked the old ana the new. the
past and the present, the east and the
vest. All that - alive In Nsnevah il a
little Village over b reputed tomb OF
1onaalh,, ana sttn BEARING that prophets
Fiehips ~ Rsbsee.,s Ws.l.
IfsdafeatS8 Rks41fosnl, tive Turks and
sneeuuane Win make their next stand
~ an0fker point Of ecriptural interest.