Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1925-11-25

WouId-be conquerors of the plainsmen
Revolt of the Druses.
A certain amount of disorder has
existed in some parts of Syria since 1919
when the British forces which had
captured the country, withdrew. Con-
hlctlng groups sprang into action. The
Arabs wished a control of Syria and
Palestine as well as other parts of
Arabia by Arabs; the SyrianS demand
ed an Independent united Syria with
Syrians in charge; and Turkish propa-
ganda was active for a resumption of
Turkish control. All the groups were
opposed to continuation of the
French mandate. In March, 1920 ex-
tremists proclaimed Feisal, now king
of Iraq liking Of Syria" with his cap
ital at Damascus. After a DELAY of
several months French forces cap
tured Damascus and unseated Feisal.
For more than a year the Hauran
and the Jebel ed-Druze held out
against the French; but in the spring
Of 1921 they were granted autonomy,
the new Druse state comprising chiefly
the Jebel ed-Druze. 1t was to be I'M
der French supervision but independ-
ent Of Damascus.
The recent revolt of the Druses was
due to the refusal of the French high
commissioner of Syria to remove an
unpopular governor of the Druse state.
When French troops were removed
from Syria to Morocco the trouble
came to an open rupture.
Since the defeat of Emir Feisal in
1920 the French have been attempting
to put the administration of the coun-
try more and more into native hands,
making the high commissionership "a
mission of mere assistance and ad-
vice" Even the services of mail, tele-
graph, police and navigation have
been placed under Syrian control.
The Druses of Hauran have one Of
the queerest of mixed religions. Their
religion forbids them to use alcohol,
tobacco or profanity but binds them to
take life for a life when one of their
tribe is killed. They believe the
worlds population remains ever con-
slant and that times duration is ex-
actly 343,000,0O0 years.
Nominally Mohammedan, the Druses
have embodied in their faith features
of the teachings of the old Hebrew
prophets and Jesus, and supplemented
this mosaic with ideas from various
pagan sources.
When a stranger visits a Druse
home his nest places before him two
jars, one filed with water, the other
empty. If the visitor is Druse he
will pour the water of one into the
other TO signify his belief in transmit
grafton of souls.
Lebanon and Its Cedars.
One of the most interesting parts Of
Syria is the Lebanon. 1t will be re-
called that the massacres of Chris
tians in 1860 led to European inter
vention From that time Lebanon
was an Independent sanjak or prov
ince, governed by a mushir, who had
to be Christian and was appointed
for five years. with the consent of the
SACaaN pONCAos 1hClG was AAO OOLupul-
sorry Turkish military service. A small
local force of paid soldiers did police
duty. Taxation was light. Under this
administration excellent roads were
built throughout the province, by
which nearly all villages were reached
and benefited
A grove of only about 400 of the
famous cedars of Lebanon now re-
mains near the town of Bsherreh. To
jewellers in Syria, where forests of tall
trees do not exist, these majestic
cedars must be overawing. A modern
Syrian writer says of them that they
are 'undeniably the most lofty of all
the vegetable kingdom" The fact is
that they are about eighty feet high,
which is more than the height of the
trees Of an average American forest.
A striking popularity of these trees
is the growth of their branches. which
extend straight out at right angles to
the trunk and are furnished with ex-
ceedingly thick foliage, brown as seen
from beneath, but when viewed from
the hillsides their upper surface re-
sembles rich, dark-green lawn stud
ded with zones standing erect.