The Oklahoma City times. [volume] (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 1908-1984, 1918-01-29
SdeI6msNArMoae

v oUes W a tecttc communication MO me National Geographic society, gives
now under the protection Of the British Empire since the occupation Of
today from its Washington headquarters in the following war geography bulletin,
sorts Of taste, and interests as Palestine has been; and dis !, 81 natural for none
mas excited 50 keen an interest for so long a time and II so many nations
AS we have all at some time or other read much about the country It may
wei De thought mat nothing now remains to be sad a6ou, Palestine except by
ng I'G,n ,'g' to lgl Bat IT al OF II, h,' red a good d2l about the l5
oIored by sentiments Of reverence and romance-rc often vague and not al
ut may, therefore he worth while to set down b a plain and brief way the
@lCnt impressions which the country make, on a Western traveller who passes
when most Of the details bayc vanished and broad impressions ar. just what al,
@ %%lI ,S }"',"H5, > d a.sIS '"' !" convey" because '' are '"'"''''
par, hmS' lo find nd f (. . ,,n i'n IL . sq"gls him n' Sy G. n' . aaIi[' ,n "1I be sto,g gd
Taking il as the region between the Mediterranean OF the vest and the Jordan
to sixty broad-that IS to say, it IS smaller than New jersey whose area IS
"oi hi, region large part, did not belong to ,oeoe@, Israel Their hold on
wde and rich plain along the Mediterranean was occupied by the wadke rth'
the cast and the plains on the west King David, in the days of his power
le"j Jor%sn '" os Mo,S Sy , l.Tgi ,Ss@ % az, l G' off, Gn ON "' III, "", o% isS' and looked across
Nearly all the event, event, IN tn, history Of Israel Israel that lal ar. l RECORDED ~ m the o1
been crowded from the days Of Abraham III our own so much h,oD-thm is
-N@ IS it only that Palestine IS really a small country The Traveller COM
few mile, north Of Jerusalem he see, looking northwad. a faroi summit carry
Hs mot" whose who sE fountains T%%i feed ed the the i%a Of Of Damascus "'
But Hcmon is outside the territory of Israel altogether standing in the
mountain mass as within the country, because it also. is frequently mentioned
IN the Psalms and the Prophets but tn, two ranges o Lebanon also rise beyond
the frontiers Of lrae, lying between the Sy1aos o Damascus and the Ihocn'-
cans OF me west
"rchap, it is because the map, from which children used to learn Bible
geography were on a large scale that most OF rs have failed to realize how
narrow were the limits within which took place all those great domgS that fill
the books Of Samuel and Kings JuStin the same way the classical scholar who
visits Greece is surprised that so small a territory suinccd for so many striking
incidents and for the careers OF so many famous men
Palestine is a country poor in natural resources. There are practically no
minerals, no Goa, no iron, no copper, no silver, though recently SOM OIL wells
have been discovered in the Jordan valley. Neither are there any large forests.
and though the land may have been better wooded in the days OF Joshua than
II is now. there is little reason to think that the woods were OF trees sufficiently
Large to constitute a source Of wealth A comparatively small area Is ht for
uNage
To an Arab tribe that had wandered through a barren widGFes for 40
weary years. Canaan MAY we'll have seemed a delightful possessions but many
a county in Iowa, many a department in France could raise more grain OF vine
than all the Holy Land.
There is one stretch Of fertile level land 20 miles long and from three TO
six miles widc-the plain OF ENnion. But with this exception IS only in the
bottoms and on the lower slopes Of a few valleys chiefly in the territory OF
Ephram from Bethel nort1ward and along the shore II the Bay OF Acre that one
sees corn fields and olive yards and orchards. Little wine is now made
"SuCh wealth as the country has consists in its pastures, and the expression
a land flowing with milk and honey appropriately describes the best 1t has to
offer, for sheep and goats can thrive on the thin heritage that covers the hills.
and the numerous aromatic plants furnish plenty Of excellent food for the bees;
but it is nearly all thin pasture, for the land is dry and the soil is mostly shallow
The sheep and goats vastly outnunber the oxen Woody Bashan, on the cast
side Of Jordan, is still the region where one must look for the strong bulls