| Show 1 THE HOLY LAID travel is kow done by railway AIA LADIES UNVEILED our correspondent kids with women ancient cities Vis lied correspondence and an shall be there attys izaiah touristy To in syria and palestine only a few years ago described the fascination or ot trav aling by mule or camol in thia land just as the happened to strike them from this on it will be a matter of telling what the holy land looks like through a c r window perhaps thy mode of travel baa much to d with the disparaging accounts of pals line mere atie more rocks in the road and the way is longer to abd tbd pedee trim than the hore oman to the horseman than to him who on the upholstered seats of a palace car for several years the tinkle of the locomotives bell has kept time to the swaying ocean of flowers on the plain of searon between jaffa and jerusalem and now her shrill whistle echoes among the cedar capped ledges of ml lebanon bayrouty ia married to da maacks by the iron band yes damascus the oldest city in the world ha offered bia horny hand to stylish beyrodt and been accepted but that is the custom here for damsels ly fifteen to be bound to old men bv iron bonds A adane is thia infidel caravan on the camel trains that havo so noiselessly bended wended their way through the mountains from time immemorial the one enters the city and switches into a khan without disturbing the weary arab bleeding bleeping Ble on the ground near tho gate the other charges into the station with such pomp and display that old men open their mouths and unconsciously clinch the ratling of the lenca and ladies raise their veils A won darful camal is the locomotive to these nations the climb over the leanona Lb anona ia so ataop that terae rais are asad the acu ecu tre of which receives a co wheel located so as to run above the ground not in over the plains the frenja system of railroading IF employed which is by no means as good aa the american I 1 went to la marcua on the new arjad soon after its opening the cars are divided into compartments ona ot these I 1 happened to occupy alone at a station ia the mountains five mohammedan ladies stalked in on me they surveyed me for a few moments aad began one by one to unveil thay aaker me if I 1 spoke arabic and learning that I 1 did after a fashion they overwhelmed me with questions about railroads but I 1 knew to be in there with muslim ladies unveiled was enough to causa comment green ayea occasionally looked in at the open window but found the faces of tha ladisa concealed they were vary careful not to allow a mohammedan to see them with veils thrown back to be gallant ibold them they maiett haval the room exclusively and taking my valise I 1 bought other quarters at the city of bachle I 1 tooer carriage to the ruins of Ba albick these ruins constitute one of the mceven wonders of the world 1 had beard and rend much jf the remains of these wonderful tem bleg but arriving amone them I 1 felt to exclaim as the queen of sheba did when lehe visited king solomon toe half was not told me one may judge from the remains of this inglorious with what a pride of pomp paganism arrayed itself be foie its death there haye been oo 00 aich erected to the arne creator aa these ancients reared to their idolatrous coda baa bece means in arabic the city or crowded place of the eun and ia supposed to correspond with mentioned in the book of joanna 60 joshua took all that land from the mount halate that goeth up tc i beir even unto IQ the 01 lebanon under mount herman there ard evidences of three ona to nonato jupiter and the birco ai emple of the first only six pil lars stand now bat they rear their mas to such a di zev beicht and bland unsupported in such striking rand that one feels to insist that the hand of god was in the enterprise in of taking their silent testimony that they were reared to commemorate ahe sun they stand in a straight line holding on their heads hundreds of tons of rock at a height of 60 feet and the whole columna and lappinga cap pinga are as fine iv carved as if worked on a temple of miniature proportions the around is strewn with prostrate broken pillars one of which I 1 was just able to reach the upper esq of standing at its end nineteen of aix columns with which the temple of jupiter was adorned remain they are 65 feet high and and 6 feet 3 in diameter one of thede gillara fell the wall more than a century ago and still rests there it is almost beyond belief with what and minuteness the faces ani maly flow dra vines bic are carved in theae hard rocks many pieces of the culling to the portico have fallen and they are as large ae a small one roomed bouse the fact that some of be scones remain above half finished together with an proves that the carvings were wrought after the massive atones were placed in position in the tem plea I 1 broke a piece from the largest rock to have ever been used in archi la fact there are three 01 these stupendous blocks measuring 64 ft ga ft 8 inches and 63 ft in length 21 yards lone and 5 yards wide are hewn into alabee and moved from the quarries but these have been and are placed in the massive wall at a height of 20 feet abaye the ground half a mile away another lies hill bur led in the earth at one end in the quarry from which the others were taken bow they were ever raised aaa problem which the of our own day fails to unravel to gel access to the other temple we rapp ered on the old broken gate to a muslim hauae to give the romalea time to hide from our polluting ayee for a amily lives in the same yard this temple is a gem in its exterior but baa nothing remarkable inside in the evening X went on the roof of tho hotel and viewed the ruins by moon light aa the queen of night threw her light on those polished columna and stole along the eilent corridore corr idora ann through the broken doorways it presented the must solemn aspect 1 ever saw the great open court before the rents bo to speak ou columns for great tunnels cross und re croaa each ftuer beneath all laid UD with huge blocks up to the keystones aboyo ones head within these catacombs cata combs it is cool and damp and dare but without it would seem that his solar majesty the erection of this gibat temple to hie honor by a double portion of warmth one never wearies oi gazing upon those graceful ruins from every and in eveia light we can aeo in them strength grecian architecture and roman power for all nave had something to do with their erection but we are forced to end our praises hero in the knowledge that all this magnificence ft as pride friio worship pagan and all this edill and grace and beauty defiled by voluptuous soul destroying sin but this consolation it la typical ot the downfall ot idolatry returning from baal beck our carriage broce dobo and we were compelled to pass a part 0 the evening in the wilde of that valley curious men women and children us some to tend a helping band and others to beg it waa bunday afternoon when 1 looked from the car window and beheld that fertile garden surrounding damascus that city to the desert parched arab ia tha first degree of heaven it is a aid that mohammed hims 11 the pleasure of it saying that he expected but one heaven and would take bia death everybody who boea to damascus is expected to vianit the christian garden and see the apper tens oat smoking dargelies nar gelies and drinking mastic it ia said that in that gar dan are to be the handsomest women in the world ladies and gentlemen smoke alike my guide pointe d out the broken walla and demolished houses that testified of that horrible massacre of christiana br muslims in 1860 then he piloted me through some filthy lanea into a court before a dwelling dwell inc explaining that it lad rained one cf the richest men in the city to furnish one room and no wonder a I 1 saw oil side the bouse is old and mean but in side it is one mass of pearl marble and gold the floor ia laid with variegated little diamonds of marble placed in fig ferjis and a white fountain 0 the same material rests on the back of lions in the centre of tho room from the white marble wall cut with onyx and alabaster extends small trees carved from white atone as dali cately as nature builds coral ani on tha bagchee ban chee perch golden birds the apio oart of the walla and the ceiling are mounted with pure gold which causes the leaves and fruits to stand out in bold relief the furniture is studded with pearl A muslim hausa and one owned by a christian are also to visitors aad are similar in their attractions I 1 went along tha crooked street called straight and around to the spot where paul was lowered in a basket to escape the anger of the jews back through the bazar and I 1 came to the bie tree its limbs are decorated with rags aad banners because it is held sacred by the muslims there is a small room inside and a door to enter carry their sick abero in the belief that it will effect a cure my gui ie broke me a piece of tha bark off but not without being detected for men rushed from adjourning shops crying harame har ame illegal other places of interest were the tomba ot the wives and daughters of mohammed antique market the great mosque that recently burned the turk ish baths the pilgrimage road to mecca and tho home ot tho lepers damascus is very much like alpopo both in environments and bazars they are both laree cities in which more or leas fanaticism abounds among christians jews and mullins muslins Mus lins damascus bag oar formed its massacre mai sacre of christiana and learned the consequent lesson aleppo has hers yet to perform nine beara boara westward brought back to the coast of the E W R |
