Evening star., 1920-02-24
ny LOWELL THOMAS.

This is the second of a series Of articles
on the Palestine campaign by Mr.. Thomas, VINO
participated in those victories
On the summit of the holiest noun
tain in the world-the Mount Of
olives, whence Christ ascended into
heaven-stands the most blasphemous
structure ever raised by the hand OF
man! Within this building. painted
in mosaics on one of the walls, is one
of the most shocking pictures in the
world.
Some years ago. before his bubble
burst, the Emperor of Germany
showed us what buffoon he was by
staging triumphal entry into the
Holy city. On visiting the Mount OF
Olives the kaiser. always thinking IN
terms of war, told the Turks that
they ought to have wide road up
the mountain in order to haul artii-
lery to the summit, where they coulo
sweep Jerusalem. Ever since the time
of King David there had been little
footpath winding around the Mount
of Olives. 1t was good enough Tor
the founder of Christianity, and dur
ing the past two thousand years had
been good enough for the endless
stream of pilgrims visiting the Holy
Of the "all highest" Then. after the
artillery boulevard had been complet-
ed, an imposing palace was erected on
the summit of the holy mountain for
the kaiser.
In the courtyard of Der Stiftung''
is a bronze statue of the ex-emperor,
sword and sfrield in hand, dressed in
the armor of a crusader knight. In
side the palace is a chapel decorated
with mosaic paintings of great char
acters of the Bible such as Moses.
Joshua, Solomon. Elijah and many
others. In the center of the dome is
a large painting of THE Savior
seated on a throne surrounded by His
apostles. In the adjoining panel is
another painting. 1t is of the ex
kaiser and the kaiserin seated on a
throne and dressed in identical1y the
same robes.
Palace Becomes Place OF Worahip.
After Field Marshal Anenbys
sweeping advance across the plains Of
Phflistia. the vale of Adjalon and the
Judean hills, when we saw the bril-
lance of the crescent die before the
glory of the cross at Jerusalem. Gen.
Sir Philip Chetwode made the kaiser's
palace on the Mount of Olives his ad-
vanced headquarters. For time
lived there as his guest. Every Sun
day services were held in the chapel
The congregation was made up of the
victorious cockneys from London who
had captured Jerusalem. The parson
was Scotch chaplain with brogue
so thick you could cut it. Never have
enjoyed services so much!
Although the chapel is very dark,
one of my photographers tried a two
hour time exposure of the mosaic
paintings. especially the one of the
kaiser on the throne. All of them
came out perfect in every detail
Allenby Christian Conqueror.
So long as there is history Allenby
will be known as the Christian con-
queror, the lineal descendant of Cod
frey. of Richard Occur de Lion and
of all those early Christian knights
very gates Of the Holy city, only to
turn back beaten, or, succeeding for
the moment, to see the Mohammedan
come forth again and wrest back the
hard-won prize.
When Auenby drove the flaming
crescent Of the Turk from Jerusalem
he had accomplished one of the most
important feats in the worlds his
tory. But. strange as it may seem,
the details of that great event have
never been told. Space limits pre-
vent my giving them here. But one
fact hitherto unpublished is that
there were thirty Americans within
the siege. When this country entered
the world war they refused to leave
their homes. where they had been
living for many years awaiting the
fulfillment of prophecy. At first they
were prosecuted by the Turks and
Germans. But later on, when food
conditions became desperate in Jeru-
salem and the Turkish officials were
making fortunes by actually selling
the government rations at exorbitant
prices, in spite of the fact that they
were supposed to give them to the
civilian population without cost
Syria and Palestine, insisted on the
members of the American colony han
ding the food administration. because
he could not trust his own subordi-
mates.
Take Charge Of Hospitals.
During the months directly preced-
ing the capture Of the holy city, the
members Of this semi-socialistic re-