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Show A FAMOUS TOWN. - About five weeks ago a fire broke out in the little town of Urfa, better known to the European public by its Biblical name of Ur, and highly venerated throughout the Orient as the birthplace of Abraham. The house in which that celebrated patriarch was born is still standing in Urfa; it is called "Bet Chalil Allah" - the house of God's friend - and hundreds of pious pilgrims visit it annually. When the conflagration took place on the 24th of January, many of the inhab- [unreadable] dwelling, carried thither all their valuables, persuaded that the flames would respect the structure in which so holy a personage first saw the light of day. Strange to say, their faith in the inviolability of this ancient sanctuary was justified by events; for while the fire raged all night long in Urfa, destroying a large number of houses in the vicinity of "Bet Chalil Allah," that edifice as well as one or two buildings immediately adjacent to it, remained absolutely unharmed. This triumphant vindication of its protecting virtue has, so it would appear, greatly enhanced its reputation for sanctity; and doubtless the pecuniary results of the present year's pilgrimages will enable the Urites? to surmount their losses by fire in a highly satisfactory manner. - London Telegraph. |