The Carbon County news., 1931-01-15

Society. Washington. ID. C.l
WE ALL know of Bethleher
w as small town in Judea an
sing about it in our carols
but probably few realize hov
much it still contains that helps IL
to visualize the first Christmas. 7,
those who know il well-its narrow
winding streets and lanes, cobbe
stone paved: its age-old homes witt
walls of rough-cut stone grown mel
low with years of sunshine; its
vineyards, olive yards, and ter
raced gardens; and, most of all, its
people and their Biblical customs
1T still speaks wildly of the Ma.
tiyity story.
The town, crowning a hill and
dominating open valleys to the east
and south, lies just far enough to
the north of the busy road that
links Jerusalem and Hebron to be
undiSturbed by congested traffic.
With the exception of handful of
Moslem neighbors, its 5000 hospit-
able inhabitants are all Christians
and live together in amity.
1t IS not to be supposed. how
ever, because we find here a per-
yading spirit of peace. quiet and
friendliness, which to a great ex-
tent is missing in the large neigh
boring cities. that the Bethlehem
ties are an indolent, easy-going peo-
pie. Quite the contrary. 1t is NOT
only the absence of political and
religious animosities among them.
but their thrifty industry that has
brought on state of well-being.
AS we pass through the con.
fined thoroughfares, now under a
Vaulted archway, now up by
steep flight of street steps, we may
hear the hum and screech of tools
carving pearl shell into ornaments
or cutting thick sections of the
same material into beads. The re-
suit may be brooch, pendant. or
necklet to bring joy to a lady upon
the return of the pilgrim purchaser
TO some distant land. 1t may be
an intricately carved and inlaid cru
cifix to hang, perhaps, on the wall
OF some small, lonely chapel; or it
may be a snow-white rosary mount
ed with pure silver, destined to find
It's way into convent.
Artisans Work in Homes.
These handicrafts, which, accord
ing to local standards, have
brought at last a decent living,
sometimes have been the avenues
to modest wealth. Best of all, the
industries have cultivated a sense
of independence and self-respect in
the natives.
The places of work are by no
means sWeatshops, although hours
of labor are long and hard: nor
do they SAVIOR of the factory. The
shop consists of a room or two in
the home or adjoining it. Some
times only the members Of a fam
lily work together; at other times
few others are employed. Sitting
cross-legged on the floor and work |
ing with the simplest tools and con.
traptions, the artisans turn out
beautiful things; and, while the
squeak of saw or the rasping
noise of many files cutting away at
the hard shell is not a pleasant
note, still, unless they have stopped
to return in 1owery Arabic the sal
utations of passers-by, the workers
probably will be found passing
otherwise irksome time in singing
in unison tunes centuries old.
A little way beyond this shop
solitary man sits under the dense
shade of a fig tree, making beads
from a palm seed known CONNER
cially as vegetable ivory" but To-
cally as "Mecca fruit" These
beads are dyed in vivid colors and
made up into Moslem rosaries, upon
which the faithful repeat their
prayers.
Not all the folks of Bethlehem
are humble laborers. Many families
ire modestly well off. Their men
have journeyed afar in their youth.
mostly of the South American coun-
,ries, and there have built up for
.unes, beginning possibly as ped
Hers, then operating retail stores,
and finally becoming wholesalers
md supplying the newcomers from
heir native land. Prosperous as a
'esult of their efforts in the coun-
ries of their temporary adoption,
hese merchant princes have re-
urned to pass their declining years
u the homes Of their boyhood.
Many Have Travelled.
Many such successful adventur- j
RS began life in the Bethlehem I
'earl shops, saving a small amount
rom each thousand beads turned
'ut. By dint of hard work and pa [
ience, they gathered enough for {
teerage tickets, and once abroad ,
hey were helped along by their
already established. {
Others of them came from more '
families. Their fathers t
nay have boasted of being coffee s
nd spice merchants" importers of
in the period before {
he countries around this end of .
he Mediterranean were opened to {
World commerce by steamer and i