The Powder River County examiner and the Broadus independent., 1920-10-01
\ NCE upon a time Moses took
10 years to travel from Egypt
4 into the Promised Land. To-

10 years to travel from Egypt
into the Promised Land To-
day the Palestine Military
railway is doing it between midnight
and dawn. every day of the week,
writes Clair Price in Asia. stood at
my carriage window. entering Pales-
tine to the metrOnOme-click of 30 miles
an ho,lr. Below me. the rails were
bedded in golden sand up the slope
Of which the green of the adjacent
fields lay like surf on q yellow beach.
Ludd was small railroad yard in
a vast pool Of sand. with Welsh coal
cinderS speckn" its yellow eNpanse.
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 a dignitied stop alongside the little
"jerk-water" train for Jerusalem.
An Arab weled. wearing Il feZ and a
station pOrter'S brasSard strapped
my luggage to his head, transferred it
to the Jerusalem train. demanded a
tip of ten piastres $50 cents), accept
ed half the amount and was finally
routed with the wrathful air of man
who has Staked Il gold mine and has
found it contained only quartz. The
Jerusalem train consisted Of a London
4 Southwestern locomotive and three
ancient Egyptian State Railways pas
se,,"er cars. bearing on their wooden
sides the chalked words which desig-
mated them for "otiicers," '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-ott platform. My porter
led me into the cool dusk of the GUS
toms barrier. on toward the quaran-
tine barrier and thence around to the
area of the station. Jerusalem was
nowhere in sight. climbed into an
arbuggy. with eyes narrowed to Sits
against the glare of the limestone sur
faces. and was driven away from the
station at gallop to the accOmpnni-
ment Of furious tangling Of bells
and the harsh grinding of iron tires
ON - crushed limestone road. We
rounded the low hill and sighted
Jerusalem mile away-a savage
ravine rihboned with glaring white
roads and crowded on the farther
slope by huge modern German
church with brief length of ancient
gray wall retiring modes,ly beyond it.
On the very roof of Palestine. over.
looking the Dead sea. n quarter Of a
mile below the keels Of the craft off
Iaffa. the walled city of .]erusa lem
lies between the Hinnom and Jehosha-
phat ravines. as New York city lies
between the North and East rivers. II
overtiows into dusty redand-white
modern suburb to the north. rs New
York overflows into the Bronx.
Haifa's New Importance.
The physical Jerusalem is small.
but the spiritual Jerusalem is the
scene of such world panorama that.
although ! went there to stay a day or
two. | should be there yet. had | not
cast 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 Bahia returning to a
| stark world after six miraculous
weeks in the Robbers Cave boarded
the fussy little train that conveys Of.
ticers over the Jerusalem-I.udd line.
Haifa is like Atlantic City in the
wash Of its surf. 1t is like Florida III
the wide. white streets of its German
colony. It is like ManitOu in it's green
slopes of Mount Carmel. 1t is like the
! orient in the narrow, vaulted street.
Of its native quarter. The war ha.