Show I 1 AKING a 0 OLD p palestine and high politics A deep discontent t pervades the people and myriads of them have emigrated to the united states my by WILLIAM T ELLIS Jerusalem Of all the old nations palestine Is the one in which tho the world Is most interested over these comparatively few square miles havo have swept most ot of the forces that have nade made history lore here were given to t the he race r aco those influences which havo have done dona most moat to change the history of the past two thousand years ruins of liala a dozen civilizations strike the eye of 0 the fr traveler through t the he land yet notwithstanding all the life of the syrian peasant Is not greatly different from what it was lit in the time of abraham wonder of wonders this old order la Is now undoubtedly passing away this la Is the most interesting of all the sights rights hero here for the discerning traveler it la Is a i revolution evolution wrought by the return to this land of forces which iad had their inception here atter after affecting most of the surface of tho globe they havo have come back to do their work in tile the place of their birth palestine Is more deeply traveled by tha th prevailing unrest of the times than any other nation I 1 have yet visited pressed upon from many sides by the most modern influences made densi sensitive tive to human rights by centuries of oppression it la Is small email wonder that the syrians were most enthusiastic in hailing balling the new regime with its promise of liberty justice fraternity equality in those phrases Is embodied bit all that the people have coveted in vala vain tor for generations now they want these boons and they want them right away falling their immediate r realization they turn their faces facea toward america from one land of promise to another one morning I 1 witnessed the week ly exodus of at the je station of the jaffa railroad jt it was a scene for a painters brush the rho young people who were leaving tor for america were dressed in foreign etyle only the young men still wore the tax fez of turkish subjects this they would exchange tor for hats as soon as they hey got on board ship the stern old men clad as aa their fathers had bad been clad before them for gen orations erat ions grimly tried to BUpp reea a all oam saw ii aliey mua abide the conditions condl don to tho the oid end tha women did not wall wait aloud ns as la Is tho the usual oriental way over the departure of sons and daughters for these fine looking strong featured women are almost anglo saxon baxon in their appearance shanka to the strong strain attain of crusader blood in their veins the flight from bethlehem to america has been unusually large because of these traditional dit ional lonal qualities or aggressiveness and independence the loss lose to syria la Is great for the are famous workmen especially in the carving or oc mother of peart pearl the magnitude and importance of the ini migration gration to america from syria byrla scar can hardly bo be overestimated more afore than a quarter pt a million are now lit in the new land of promise to which so many more have their faces turned the government sent tho the conscription officers after christians in jeru saleta it could find only 20 the others othera having fled mostly to america the return ot of emigrants to jo america and their letters domn have a powerful influence InAuen ce in increasing the unrest here all over the lebanon which has an autonomous christian government anti and where property la Is therefore safe the returned emigrants have built fine houses and then in a surprising number of cases havo left them anil rone gone back to america usually taking a number of their neighbors along the town ot of zahieh hableb in the lebanon has haa of its people in the e united states they have created a new village with the same sama name more tore remarkable still in the case of clamma na which now has bag of its native bom remaining here while 1200 are in america american oil the light of asia in other ways america to Is contributing directly to the awakening of this old nation probably the most typical single accessory ot of the life of palestine la Is the water jar carried on the heads beada ot of women As it was in the days when rebecca went to tho the well with ti it clay jar upon her ter head so co it continues until now dut but it ft chango change is coming the water jar as an institution ution ts to beginning to crack standard oil tins ting are taking kits jtb place 1 saw a woman at jacobs well at sy by char carrying water on her head in one of these square tin cans tho the water by tho the way was used in making mortar for the building of the now new greek over the well at the fountain of the virgin in nazareth I 1 lave have watched tho the village women fill their jars ars and carry them of ott I 1 on oa their beada just aoi aa mary used to do at the tha same bame spring but some I 1 noticed car ried the ati square cans ot of tho the standard oil company these same cans tarnish furnish most of 0 the abe tin that la Is used in asia As aa I 1 have watched long caravans of camels camela bear bearing lur cases of standard oil into the interior I 1 I 1 have recalled the hundreds of tin shops I 1 ta M seen all over asia aiila wherein the littile workmen were beating out these theme tins abil ua rash fashioning lonIng them into aseere a of 8 articles for dome domestic atle use in egypt ll it once secured it a mummified eat cat how C to carry it without breaking was waa my azo problem em I 1 put it up to the first tinsmith I 1 met and in ten minutes he be had transformed part ot of an american oil can into a well made coffin for pussy tho the light of asia standard oil it Is called out here because it has displaced olive oil and candle dips as an illuminant the school teacher and batesman ship hip there Is 8 no novelty in the statement which has been repeated by every observer that has ever been in turkey that the greatest part america has in the awakening ot of this empire and no other nation has had a greater to Is through the american schools which have leavened the whole lump jump with american ideals these aro are breaking down to some degree the religious sectarianism which Is the curso ot of the country they are even making the now new generation of moslems tolerant A case in point to Is that of the who were so BO bitter that they would not even let a foreign traveler pitch his tent in one of their villages now the people themselves are forcing their religious leaders to admit or provide schools it la Is in a still stiff Mar district outside of beirut that the only woman physician in turkey who possesses a license from the government to practice has her headquarters dr mary alary L eddy addy la Is a wonderful american woman of tireless efterpy eft energy ergy masculine initiative and extraordinary skill whose experiences in itinerating among the arabs and throughout syria read like a romance now she has opened the first tuberculosis sanitarium in the empire and she plans a nationwide nation wide anti tuber campaign in this she Is supported by the american red cross at beirut established by consul gen eral era 0 ble bia ravendal thus it may be seen how bow tho the american influence in turkey la Is working la in humanitarian and inspirational ways europe arop 0 a deg igns on an palestine Pa leUne in contrast with tho ahe altruistic lahero labors of 0 america americo for or turkey and on ea specially pec lally ally for tho the holy land is the conduct of tho the great Hur european powers who are arb playing a skillful 1 game ame for the ultimate control ot of this la land nd and even making use of religious prejudices to that end russia fosters and supports pilgrimages As one instance of her interest in this direction it may be said that she maintains in jerusalem a hospice where pilgrims may bo be entertained at one time she stands behind the greek church and equally important the greek church stands behind her A widespread ecclesiastical support Is ot of moro value out here her than a warship franco Is no longer allied to tho the church but just tho the same sho she is the ot of all roman catholic interests te nobody Is so BO blind as aa to suppose this interest represents religious both these nations as well as great britain also seem to be hopelessly outdistanced by germany tho kaiser balsar impartially supports protestant and catholic aal also goes out of his way to throw elaborate it if artificial buo queta to islam all lit la the interest ot of germanys germanas Germ anys schemes here bere tho the german name has been written largo large all over syria up in the famous ruins of 0 which emperor william visited in 1898 may bo be seen an incongruous marble and inlaid mother of pearl tablet recording his sentiments of appreciation of the ruin and of abdul alamid both ruins significantly coupled on tho the tomb of 13 aladin tho the great who drove the crusaders from palestine Is still preserved it faded wreath of flowers laid there by the christian emperor of whose eulogy of islam tho the edans have made so BO much A gold wreath with a pendant which Is apparently a posthumous decoration was presented to the tomb by william but as tho the decoration contains the ngua figure of a cross its presence la Is counted sacrilege by tile the more fanatical moslems and it Is necessary to keep two guards always on duty in tho the tomb to prevent the forcible removal of tho the wreath the most conspicuous objects in tho the landscape of the holy land except mount clermon II ermon aro are tho the two towers or steeples erected on tho the mount of olive by the germans and russians these aro are tho the first objects that meet the travelers eye from whatever direction he comes they may be seen been from far over the jordan by them tho the holy cites site may bo be located from mount nebo local residents real dents point to certain features about these towers which indicate that in time of war they could be readily used tor for other than religious purposes naturally the object of tho the present activities ot of tho the powers which have hava ambitions of their own for syria la Is to be ready for all eventualities an american communistic experiment tho the only comment communistic salu experiment of which I 1 havo have knowledge that has baa not camalo come to an early and inglorious end is what Is V awn as aa the american tol col ony on hero in jerusalem it has exists existed tor for more than a score of years ands and outwardly appears to be more pros porous than at any other time in its history it numbers more than a hundred persons none ot of whom strange to say Is in a socialist they claim to be merely a big family with no particular theories to work out they havo have all things in common and each doe docsh the work tor for which he bo or she seems best qualified while a largo percentage of the american colony aro are i swedes the majority of the group I 1 hold american citi citizenship enship they do 16 an extensive estens exten siv lv business in pressed flowers and olive wood articles and their store la Is admittedly phd foremost in the city showing that evan even in the orient the one price principle can be ma mado ae to pay an official at the american consulate said to me when wo we were wera discussing the colony 1 I notice that when anybody in the city wants anything dono done ho he usually goes to the american colony thus the american trait of efficiency has come to bo be the dominant characteristic of the community tr like the ill fated american colony at jaffa this one was started on fan a peculiarly religious basis A chicago lawyer and his wife came out here to wait for foi the return of the messiah they held extreme views on many subjects including the making ot of money ilard hard times eventually drove them to work and now while the religious aspect of the colony has fallen very much into the background it as a notable commercial success there was no marrying or giving in mar marriage ariage in the earlier years of the community and frequent and grave charges were made against it especially tho the matter of 0 tree free love the members themselves and their friends have always N t 17 4 jr camels laden with american oil hotly denied these and called them slanders at present the members marry although all eat at the same table bablo and share the same lite life they seem un uncommonly omm only happy and are in especially good repute with the ua na to whom they show hospitality certainly their life la Is in lovely contrast to the bitter religious sectarianism here copyright 1811 by joseph D dowles Bow lea |