| Show LETTERS FROM PALESTINE killis feb 28 1898 after meeting with our saints at haifa we proceeded north on the ML mediterranean to beyrodt Bey rout the weather being pleasant we quite enjoyed the trip in the morning the next day we found ourselves coasting the borders of the ancient phoenicians Phoenicia ns the ancient cities of sidon and tyre have almost lost all their importance only a small trade is carried on in those places as compared to beyrodt and haifa the two last named cities do the main business and there the large steamers call at beyrodt they all have business while at haifa they do not all stop whereas sidon and tyre have only a few of the smaller tramp ap steamers make an occasional visit at beyrodt we called one day and then we proceeded north to Es kenderton ken deroon Alexand rette this view of the lebanon from the sea is a beautiful sight this high mountain range balch will be described in another letter Is covered on the west side olde with arabian villages and summer I 1 resorts of various sized all stend tend ing to make the whole scenery very picturesque and one will at once wonder how one could live on such soil and such elevations yet thousands do live and are apparently happy when we passed north the latter days in the tops of the mountains seemed heavily laden with snow and the people seemed to have a bri brisk S 1 taste of winter the winter here in these qu quarters axters seems to have been extremely severe snow could be seen on the hills of judea and Sa samaria maxia which must have ben been very severe on tue the olives and other tender varieties of fruit grown in this country at Esken deroon we landed safely after having ohe of the most agreeable voyages up the coast the sea was so calm that not a ripple nor swell was percept perceptible Able this was a special favor to us as we are but poor sailors at beat and indeed the whole journey has been quite pleasant and the sea but little troublesome 1 at Esken Eaken deroon we were taken I in n hand by the custom officers who first examined our passes which they found all right then the baggage was looked into here they showed indifference to everything except books they asked for books and when told me had a few harmless arms of that kind they managed to wake up their sleepy vigilance and soon our books beret were marched off to the book prison for turks consider books dang dangerous arous these were also indeed dangerous for they consisted of my bible in english a dictionary and grammar in turkish and brother lunds bunds testament they told us to rest undisturbed the prisoners would mould be taken good care of so we left and soon found ourselves a la turk in a khan your correspondent made his way back to get the passes which could be hia had all except brother hagoes Ha gohs gobs they wanted anted to see him and find out where he had been and what caused alm ilm him to leave his fatherland etc the questions were answered with difficulty and through a little mistake came near ending in his being put in jall jail in his bid excitement fearing he would be detained he offered a few pia toes in back which the police could not receive because he did it before the others this making it wa an open bribe now this was one of the few times in a mans history when a a backa backo hish to is refused but it happened however and poor brother rago hagob was mardred off to the govern ment and in a few minutes found himself detained brother hagob had been negotiating for our trip to kilus s with a driver and as we were waiting for his coming and he did not show up we were somewhat anxious waiting in the street a lieutenant of the turkish army came up and asked if we were off for and when told we were as soon as we could arrange for the trip he asked to have the privilege to ride with us in our wagon to this we assented he at once volunteered togo and clear ha gobs case which he did and in the place of receiving a scolding for offering bask shish chief of police handed over the haases passes and sent his best wishes to some americans whom he knew at thus ended a small ripple upon an otherwise pleasant trip soon we were upon our way and as good fortune would have it a captain of 1000 who was moving to some point in the island was in our train so we were well protected from any attack that might be made by any of the roving kurds burds soon we found ourselves climbing the steep mountain towards beyla beglane Bey lane i ne a small town beautifully located alp ilp up in the pass this town is very old at least over 2000 years but like all these ancient places it has lost its former prestige and pomp and now it looks like all other arabian hovels located as it is in a steep gulch one can easily imagine how nice it must have been when the houses were new and trim and pride taken in making the town a handsome one soon we found ourselves on the summit 1686 1585 feet above the sea whence we could see the lake of antioch on the one side and the mediterranean on the other in the evening we put up at a place called duruk khan here we had our first trial in making our beds on the floor in this country we turned a number of times to find the softest place which we found no small task although our companions the fleas found no trouble in finding soft spots on us many were the vain grabs we made but turkish fleas axe are like pad dys they are not there when wanted our journey continued thus quietly and peaceably for two and a half days until we reached killis aglace situated on a large here a curious crowd gathered around our wagon and for a few minutes we were objects of great curiosity the sight was amusing from both sides we could not help smiling at their simplicity and impudence a crowd they were P F F HINTZE march 28 1898 our arrival here at this city has certainly made a great stir men ot of fifty years of age say they have not in all their time seen the like in every direction there is investigation we have been called out night after night to speak upon the gospel to crowds ranging all the way from twenty five to one hundred in all instances the houses have been well filled and many on the outside this desire on the part of the people has given us a fine opportunity to lay the gospel plainly before them of course mana man come out of pure curiosity but how many mamy of the latter day saints are there not today who in some such a way first heard the truth little be lieving that any good could come from isow such a condition could ot course not exist without opposition soon the professors from the central turkish college of an tion belonging to the american mission in turkey saw the danger to their crafts they immediately issued five circulars on mormonism niam purporting to prove by the bible that Mormon mormonism imn is false and winding oft off with all the vile stories about the mormons cormons long sines exploded polygamy horribly des bribed blood atonement the mountain meadow massacre etc they claimed it was to show the source ot or mormonism in order to prove its falsity also that joseph smith was a lazy low money digger at first many thought a great weapon had been found but soon intelligent and honestly seeking men began to see through the scheme and already before we came away better signs were appearing that is the thick clouds that gathered for a couple ot weeks were gradually dispersing and a freer spirit began again to exert its influence so severe was onslaught that it looked like a cyclone of persecutions on sundays particularly morning meeting was all we could hold this was held at 7 or half past 7 a m this is customary also to avoid the mob afternoon meeting we had to suspend on the streets we were followed by curious shouting mobs occasionally stoning us and all the time whistling and yelling mor r r mor r r rolling out the r in a real comical way now mor means purple in turkish so BO they veiled mavy mor r r ye llor blue 1 11 this of cours ewas fun for the hoodlums hundreds followed us in the streets men women and children in the gates and on the flat house topi taking in the sight afforded why it was a real circus to them to see what they thought to be the much married mormons cormons Mor mons wherever we called if they were not admitted the houses were stoned and an attempt was made to break in until we had at last to call in the police to protect us this proved quite effectual and soon the names of many were taken and one ot or two arrests were made we also called upon the kaimakan the governor of the city who promised us all needed protection this all had a good effect the protestants at once be gan to give notice in their churches that the people should be careful about persecutions as the mormons cormons also had rights to be respected the climax seems to have been reached one sun SUAI day when we were trying to organize a sunday school in a brothers house as it seemed impossible to go to the meeting house the mob was trying to pound down the door and storming the house when two of the brethren came hurriedly and told us a large congregation gre gation had assembled in the third district to hear mormonism explained and that we would have to come at once or it would seem as though they could not live there one professor hohannes from the college would be there and he would explain the othel othe side brother lund decided that brother maycock dr hagobian and your humble servant should go to explain to them the gospel we did the subject chosen being authority this we explained from the bible the professor answering by explaining what a wicked fellow joseph smite was according to reports from ids his enemies As you may imagine this was a complete vindication for us our new members became stron stronger geri the honest admitted the weakness of the bp opposition position and altogether we had a good influence over the people our last sunday was spent in conference hundreds came to hear us and much good is being done invitations to come to other places axe are gradually coming in and the outlook in general to is fair one incident is worthy of notice to show how well the lord works with y kis people here the first week after lir arriving riving in a man and kis bis wife e fr desired baptism and as it was our rule sm to send all applicants to brother lurkis the presiding elder he being now ordained to that office we also t sent these he told us that in his r f judgment they were not just juat ready yet he said the man was about to i go out into the village to trade with 4 cheap jewelry to beat the villagers if possible ioa sible now he said this is not be coming a saint he instructed the nan n to work honestly for his living if he wanted the blessings of god and not engage in anything so questionable he promised he would take the counsel couns and work at home as he had a work pork and pay his debt brother barkis further said that if he failed to do this ind went out to the villages he be would 4 probably be robbed robbe dand and hurt besides tn rn a few days we heard the man had left for the villages the temptation to t 11 iheke easy money being too great for diiro to withstand but how swift the judgments of god the man went and N to af few days his wife received a tele W ysra wain m that her husband was at marash A city about ninety miles north robbed and wounded and for her to come at s ji ance sy A few days ago our brethren from za elders dekran Sha bablan and asi 1 li Ri fishan shan Sherl nian arrived they had F teen more than two weeks on the road f bow chow pleased we were to see them we insaf ad waited bulted so long when we met we embraced A eni 1 braced and wept with joy the most y impressive being the meeting of ER IS JB rother hagob and his cousin nishan fy V they bey embraced and kissed and cried fec like children brother hagob barly gave way and cried until he had to CD be pacified por for nearly three years abey ey had not met brother hagob had iteen in zion and was now returning il with the blessing of the servants of grod and of his holy house and grother brother nishan had closed up his busi Ps to come to meet us two hundred ewles iles and to see an apostle of the lord jesus christ and to assist in the im stant movement now being carried 00 on ih this land brother nishan is a genuine enuine latter day saint for over aven en years the saints in his town IZ have not seen an elder and all the sae e god has protected them and led them by his spirit so that now w there are nineteen members and many in and what is remarkable za ll 11 t they are free from false doctrines which have had some hold in other 7 parts of this mission y ocy Y brother hagob loft immediately with y T 1 albe returning caravan to and W brother nishan was invited to go with ut nil and to assist us in our work f our health has been good brother s excellent the saints have ted us well and done all to make us comfortable we had a room which i stoey ey furnished for us here we spread pur r beds upon the floor having good eavy avy quilts to adeep on the food was afif as good as could be expected and as 1 I we are in a strange land of course we have to have strange things their jf j f seasoning and preparing seems to be f the greatest trouble with the food kind regards to all our friends from V f brother brother lund brother maycock aft larsen brother nishan and from from your humble servant F F HINTZE asia minor april 15 1898 our experience at killis wais was comical 13 brother rother lund had a camera along and as the crowd here was mixed indeed amade de up of men women and children yf camels horses and donkeys and not forgetting the everlasting dog of joey t the he seene scene seemed perfect for the K g Acca occasion idon and we got the lieutenant to vo down on the market which was just aust under our window to quiet the browd he succeeded and atter after a successful attempt to take their pictures had been made we were astonished to find in a few minutes a large crowd at our door wishing to see the pictures we had to explain to them that this was out of the question as it took time to develop them later on we found one man shivering with fear because he was told his plc alc ture had been taken and would be sent seni to america and would probably be sold for money the poor fellow was found by your correspondent in some uncertainty as to whether or not hs he would be a prisoner or what would become of him he was comforted another fellow with a camel loaded with twigs for sale was taken by surprise prise for he did not observe that bib camel and twigs had been photographed gr ap hed when informed he was waa much concerned as he was not certain that his twigs could be sold and aa he did not understand the process he was not right sure but that his him twigs had in some mysterious way been injured hence to save the situation and be sure that no one would hear of his hib misfortunes and thus refuse to buy his hio load at the usual prices he moved to another place at killis the weather was very cold and during the night EL a heavy frost proved quite injurious in the low places a great many fine olive trees were winter killed olives and grapes and figs seem to flourish here and in the immediate neighborhood of this town a great deal of fine fruit is grown the road from killes to EL a distance of 36 miles is in places quite rough and volcanic volcan ic the snows having just melted oft off the trail was still soft this piece of road was made on horseback riding 0 on pack saddles everything proved that the winter had been very severe reports from the high mou mountains n bains of asia minor stated that many had frozen to death and that even babies in many places had died with cold in the cradles this seems awful ot course but it is possible as the peo pie have no stoves their houses are often poor and the cold walls and damp floors are never warmed through besides the babies are not dressed as warmly here as in europe and america in the place of a dry warm |
