The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1924-03-07

day and so the world knows this shade
as Tyrian purple.
Tyre deserves more than a glance
from the motoriSt. 1t was built on q
rocky island with the sea for q moat.
Phoenicians erected walls $50 feet
high around their stronghold and from
this port dispatched their sailors who
are said to have been the first TO steer
by the stars. More than 1900 years
before NaSco da Cana Tyrian mari
nerS Circled Africa, arriving at the
Gates of Hercules" as Gibraltar was
called. A colony of Tyrians, fleeing
court i%ntrlgues, settled Carthage.
On to Beirut and the new East. 1t
has a monument TO the Twentieth cen
fury the American college overlook
ing the Mediterranean. Here $50
American instructors teach Persians,
Greeks, Syrians, Arabs, Egyptians, Ar
menians and the Turks in the same
classrooms. Their heritage of mutual
distruSt is here converted to friendship
by hard knocks on the football field.
To Damascus, the paradise"
Along the shore route the blue Of
the sea contrasts with the now Of the
Lebanons and, leaving Beirut, the auto
mobiles start for the famous peaks on
the road that eX-Kaiser Wilhelm
Travelled on his theatrical Eastern tour
not many years ago. Olive orchards
clothe the mountain side as of old, bat
the famous cedars are few Solomon
and his kith and kin failed to think of
future generations when they cut tim
Der for temples. When Mohaplmed
saw Damascus from the pass which
the motor cars mount in the lesser
Lebanons he cried out II dare not go
in. Man can enter paradise but once,
and Il l go into Damascus, this para
disc on earth, / shall not be able to
enter paradise thereafter" But the
traveller from the Occident will prob
ably exclaim, Beautiful, isn't it? l
hope they have q good hotel" and take
Il snapshot.
Damascus may De compared TO Mon
treal, Richmond, Virginia, or Albany,
New York. They are at the head OF
water navigatiOn-DamaScuS is the
head Of desert navigation. Travellers
cannot escape this significance as the
three dusty cars throttle down to push
into the traffic Of "the street called
Straight" where Ananias met Paul.
The street is practically q direct line
between the south gate and the north
gate and Is said to be the only straight
street in Damascus. 1t Is dOmed with
a continuous semi-circular iron roof,
high enough for a imam on a camel
with spear"
A riot of sounds and smells enliven
this corridor. FeZ-capped merchants
shout the marvels Of their candies;
brass workers, crOss-legged, work their
trade when not eXhorting. Turbaned
sons of the desert market cucumbers
three feet long; rug merchants, ice
cream statesmen, lemonade men. peddle
their wares. Everyone has heard Of
the famous Damascus swords. Here
they are for sale but they are MADE
in Germany" Other antiques come
from Manchester.
Caravans Halt There.
As head of desert navigation Da-
mascus is the halting place Of many
caravans. Men and camels alike re-
fresh themselves in the sparkling
mountain stream Of the town. 1t is
known to Bedouins and Moslems alike
us THE Pearl Of the Desert" Rail-
roads run on three most important an
cient routes out Of Damascus today
and the new motor transport follows
the fourth-to Dagdad. One goes north
TO Aleppo, another west 10 Beirut and
a third to Mecca. The latter carries
thousands Of pilgrims each spring.
One Of a party of four women who
recently made the trip reports only on
inconvenience, the prohibition Of wash
ing before lunch because Of the neces-
sary economy with water. About thirty
miles out Of Damascus the cars are
right In the heart Of the desert. The
ground Is even and very hard, so that
1t Is possible to bowl along at q rapid
pace. There is no defined road, but
the same track will be followed each
journey and very soon /, is expected
there will be a marked route. Barring
delays the convoy bOunces along on
the cobblestones of the city OF the
arabian Nights" by moor Of the third
Gay from Halfa.