Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1923-06-28

stirring the soil with donkeys hitch
! ed to their crude plows.
| Beyond Rata a bit, we come upon
large sign posted on each side OF
the train, "Palestine-Egypt From
! tier" and at 1918 a. m. we are in
| the present borders of the ancient
and historic land of Palestine
| There are two or three lines of tele-
graph wires and very many, perhaps
| by far the majority, of the poles are
! anchored-some with one, others
with two or four lines fastened to
weights buried in the sand. The pipe
| line for the water is first on one side
! and then the other of the track, as
there was not the same need for OBJ
serving grades with it as with the
railway Generally it is covered in
a ridge of sand. We are now in a
land that is well titled where cactus,
wheat, and different kinds of fruit
trees giving the land a prosperous
look And now we are stopping at
GAIA, the city whose gates Samson
carried away in the night. Think
of running through this town on a
steam railway The effects of AL
lenby's bonn bardment can be seen
from the car window. Here, as at
Kantara, a qauntity of war supplies
remains. There are great quantities
of straw Gin big sacks) piled up
some of it under cover Of canvas and
some in the open. The sprouting
grains have sent their green shoots
through the sacking in search of
light. There is also a big lot of coal
at this point, and here we see one
of the military cemeteries. A sim
ple-minded beggar comes along the
train and some British soldiers give
him of their bread and stale cheese
in a playfully tormenting way, but
he goes off happy. That woman
with the oranges on her head has a
sleeping babe on her back. Near
GAIA is a qauntity of unlaid rails
and at various places there are un-
used rails and joints of the large
pipe with which the water main is
laid. The wire used on the entangle-
ments is perhaps of small value, but
it would seem that the metal posts
which support it would be worth
taking up. War is a tremendously
expensive thing, both as to blood
and treasure.
The line follows the course of the
retreating Turks and brings us
through mud villages with a thrifty
growth of green upon their roofs
Ashkelon and Ashdod are passed
At one place, there is a stockade
made by planting railroad iron in
the earth and stringing barbed wire
,ict ic ITc
Dud. and is the Biblical Ashdod. At
Rehoboth there are orange and eu-
calyptus trees.
Here we are at 1udd, the LYDIA
of New Testament history, and as /
walk through the station amidst
many tracks with a good number of
trains and locomotives with steam
up, | see Robinson CrusOe on sale in
the news stand. On the train, / get in
touch with a son of Abraham, a
Zionist, and with young man of
the country returning from school
in England, on account of his moth
er's illness. He is MOhammedan,
The Jew expects his people to re-
gather in the land of promise; the
Mohammedan isn't sure about it.
L
a frank opinion, for the Mohamme-
dams are greatly in the majority.
and if the Jews come in, what shall
they do? Soon the train has brought
us through the orange groves to
Ramleh where an airplane is rising.
At one place, three airplanes were
seen in flight at once, and this in
that old, slow-going land where
Melchisedek was priest, where David
was king, where the patriarchs are
buried, and where our Lord was in
carnated. 1t is the month of Febru
ary and the warm spring weather
has not yet come, but the grain is
looking well; the orchards are full
of promise; and the deep scarlet
flowers which sometimes color the
earth attract the eye. Something
over a mile away is Akir, modern
name bearer of Ekron where the ark
of the covenant was brought from
Gath and from where it was carried
to Beth Shemesh. This is historic
country.
About four miles from Ekron is
Ali Muntar, identified with Make
dab where the five kings of the
Amorites hid in a cave after the bat
tie of Aijalon, and here it was that
Gen. Allenby met his hardest resist
ance from the Turks. And presently
we get into the valley of Sorek con-
nected with many of the events of
Samson's life. Zorah may be seen
ON a hill top If you know where to
look for the strong mans birth