Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1922-04-12
BIRTHPLACE OF JESUS
LAND OF FLOWERS

where Jesus moved and performed his
works was rather a disappointment
to the pilgrim the following interest
ing article by a writer to the Galena
Gazette, is pleasing surprise. We
think so well of it that we are re-
printing it.
Doubtless every reader of the
Bible has longed to see the country
where Jesus was born, spent his
youth and early manhood, ministered
unto others, performed his miracles,
| suffered, died and rose again. The
| hope to visit Palestine had long been
with us and is at last being realized.
| We find it difficult, however, to eX
| press our feelings upon arriving at
| Nazareth where our Saviour passed
! the thirty years Of preparation Tor
his great mission upon earth. AS we
| look upon the site of the early home
Of Joseph and Mary, now covered by
sanctuary, the place of the Annuncia-
ton nearby, the church in which the
| Saviour wor shipped and in which he
! proclaimed himself the Messiah, the
| spot where Joseph piled his trade OF
carpenter and the well which Mary
visited daily as young woman, we
are at a loss to find words in which
to express our thoughts. We are
aware of course that there may be
doubt as to the authenticity of the
exact places pointed out as those
mentioned above, but we know that
we are treading the streets over
which the feet of our Lord and Saw
iour passed many times and are wit
Messing scenes such as He saw dur
ing the three decades of His residence
~k
life now in Nazareth is much the
same as it was nineteen centuries
ago. 1t certainly was no more print
tive then than now. The donkeys and
camels stop at Mary's we'll to quench
their thirst, the ahalf-clothed children
walk the stony lanes, the tradeSmen
call their wares from the tiny shops
in the crooked narrow lanes, the ar
tisans work at their benches or sit on
the floors of their fiOorless mud-cov-
cred huts, the wretched populace
crawl into their unlighted novels,
children are born into world de-
void of comfort and life is merely a
state of keeping body and soul to-
gether for a brief period of years. A
faithful picture of Nazareth during
the boyhood Of Jesus and the NaZa-
reth of today would show no material
difference except that the town is
populated at present entirely by
Arabs, that the telephone is in evil
dence and that the main street is
macadamized. The visitor is lighted
to his room by a candle, sleeps upon
a springless bed and lays his head
upon a pillow stuffed with straw At
the Franciscan Monastery he eats
barley bread, occupies narrow high
ceilinged cell and in the morning
looks out from his window upon as
antiquated community as can be
found anywhere on Garth, cOmmuni-
ty apparently entirely oblivious to its
world wide fame as the home of the
Son of God, despite the fact that
thousands of pilgrims and tourists
come yearly to pay homage at the
shrines erected to mark the historic
homes Of Jesus and his parents.
"Of the people of Nazareth, of their
poverty and ignorance the less said
the better as it is we'll to carry away
all that is bright and endeavOr to for
get the sordid and repellant. Warn
ings as to what to expect had been
freely given us and yet the distress
ing phases were not annoying.
"The approach to Nazareth was
filled with agreeable surprises. The
highway from Haifa is nearly equal
to the best macadam roads in Amer
lea. 1t passes around Mount Carmel
and through the plain of Esdraelon
and Jesse, respondent in the verdure
of spring, the roadside carpeted with
flowers, climbs mountains over easy
grades and finally descends into
Nazareth. A more picturesque or de-
lightful twenty-thrce mile ride could
hardly be conceived. Everywhere
were mountain peaks each celebrated
in biblical history and numerous viii
lagos mentioned in Holy writ. The
plains are wonderfully fertile and
under modern farming methods they
would produce enormous crops, but
alas. the Arab will not adopt improv-
ed systems Notwithstanding the eX-
ample of German colOnists who have
endeavored to introduce better ma
chinery and methods.
"From a mountain wagon the traV-
eIer sees spring blowing III progress
with oxen drawing the ancient wood
en- stick shod with iron, turning over
a few inches of the rich, stony soil.
Thousands of goats, cattle and sheep
Craze on the mountain sides, tended
by shepherds as of old, and as night
falls, fires are lighted on hundred
hills as it gets very cold when the
sun goes down. Caravans of camels'
five or more in a row tied together
and led by a little donkey add to the
picture an oriental coloring. Every
where men, women and cnlldfen,
either walking, riding or in the fields,
complete the scene, but nowhere any
forest trees. Attempts were made to
plant the rapidly growing eucalyptus
but the MOslems would not permit
this innovation but now that the Eng
lish are in control, reforestation may
be undertaken. All along the road,
/ preparations for improving the al
ready excellent highway are in
progress, rock being quarried and
broken up by hand with which to re-
surface the road. The workers are
mainly Russian, German and Aus
trian Jews. brought into the country
by a Zionist society with funds large