The Ordway new era., 1920-09-24

NtE upon time MOSES IoOh
40 years to travel from Egypt
into the Promised Land. To
day the Palestine Military
railway is doing II between midnight
and dawn. every day of the week,
writes Clair Price In Asia. l stood at
my carriage window. entering Pales-
tine to the metrOnOme-click of 30 miles
an hour. Below me, the rails were
bedded in golden sand, up the slope
of which the green of the adjacent
fields lay like surf on yellow beach.
Ludd was a small railroad yard in
vast pool of sand, with Welsh coal
cinders specking its yellow eXpanse.
With its passengers leaning out Its
windows calling into the station
crowd "Ya weled," the Officers Spe-
cial pulled in on its way to Haifa
shortly after seven O'Clock and came
TO dignified stop alongside the little
"Jerk-water' train for Jerusalem.
An Arab weled, wearing a fez and
station porter's brassard. strapped
my luggage to his head, transferred 1t
to the Jerusalem train, demanded a
tip of ten piastres (50 cents). accept
routed with the wrathful air of man
who has staked gold mine and has
found it contained only quartz. The
Jerusalem train consisted of n London
& Southwestern locomotive and three
ancient Egyptian State Railways pas
seucer cars, bearing on their wooden
sides the chalked words which desg-
mated them for "ofiicers," "batmen'
and "civilians."
Arrival at Jerusalem.
finally lost interest in the fidgety
train and went TO sleep. 1t was an
Arab porter's "Khowajah, khowajah,"
which brought me bolt upright and
awake. He was gathering up my lug
gage. The rest of the passengers had
left. / followed him out of the car
and into the crowd of British soldiers
in pith helmets and shorts, Egyptian
military policemen In fezzes and
shorts. Baluchistan soldiers in turbans
and shorts. Zionists in khaki drill and
native porters, who moved about on
the fenced-off platform. My porter
led me into the cool dusk of the Gus
toms barrier, on toward the quaran-
area of the station. Jerusalem was
nowhere in sight. l climbed into an
arhuggy. with eyes narrowed to slts
against the glare of the limestone sur
faces. and was driven away from the
station Mt gallop to the accompani-
ment of n furious jangling of bells
and the harsh grinding of iron tires
on crushed limestone road. We
rounded the low hill and sighted
Jerusalem n mile awayAa savage
ravine ribboned with glaring white
roads and crowded on the farther
slope by a huge modern German
church with brief length of ancient
gray wall retiring modestly beyond 1t.
On the very roof of Palestine. over
looking the Dead sea, n quarter of a
mile below the keels of the craft off
Jafra. the walled city of Jerusalem
lies between the Hnnom and Jehosha-
phat ravines, as New York city lies
between the North and East rivers. 1t
overhows into a dusty red-and-white
modern suburb to the north, as New
York overilows into the Bronx.
Haifa's New Importance.
The physical Jerusalem is small.
hut the spiritual Jerusalem is the
scene of such world panorama that,
although went there to stay day or
two. should be there yet, had | not
cast n tleeting glimpse at the expense
account. With a movement order to
Haifa. | finally drove back to the
Jerusalem station one evening, and,
feeling like Ali Baba returning to
stark world after six miraculous
weeks in the Robbers Cave, boarded
the fussy little train that conveys of
hcers over the Jerusalem-Ludd line.
Haifa is like Atlantic City in the
wash of its surf. 1t is like Florida In
the wide. white streets of its German
colony. 1t is like Manitou in its green
slopes of Mount Carmel. 1t is like the
orient in the narrow, vaulted streets
of its native quarter The war has
rnada la .t,.. -. .-,