Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 233, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 September 1910 — The HOLY LAND TODAY. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The HOLY LAND TODAY.

WHAT has been one of the chief charms of the Holy Land for Bible students will before long be a thing of the past. After centuries, even millenniums, of conservatism in customs and speech, the barrier to enlightenment has been broken down by tlje Young Turks, and men of enterprise have been invited to enter Palestine —so long held in bondage by tho late sultan—and to form it into a modern and progressive country. With the entry of civilization and modern culture the many peculiar customs which have been observed since the days of the patriarchs, and the poetical speech of the natives which re-eejio words of the prophets, will soon be banished. For even in the smallest actions of their life the people rehearse Biblical scenes of the days of the patriarchs and speak to each other in the poetical phraseology of the Psalmist and the prophets, quite unconsciously. Perhaps the most interesting figure in Oriental life is the tall, dark Bedouin, whose life resembles in every detail that of Abraham of old. Sven he, illiterate and Ignorant as he is, a wanderer of tho desert, living the most primitive life, embodies bls ideas in highly metaphorical language. His black camers-halr tent is probably of the samb shape as that'of the patriarchal days, and Is made in such a manner as to facilitate Its erection and its removal and transportation on the backs of burden-bearing camels. The Bedouin is surrounded in his wanderings by just as many oxen and other animals as was the wealthy patriarch of early days. Biblical Scenes Rehearsed. In the fields one sees living illustrations of many of the parables, and in the villages are rehearsed many incidents mentioned In the Bible. There b a great variety of homes- to be seen in Palestine representing the various stages of the evolution of homes — from the abodes In the rocks of the poor peasant or the leper to the modern stone bouse of the wealthy Mohammedan. There are the more picturesque homes made of twigs and branches. These are literally ‘'A shadow In the day time from the heat.” They are also made of cloth from camel’s hair—and merely supported by long, rude poles. Then there are the houses of clay. The houses have flat roofs. These flat earthen roofs are not much protection against rainstorms. They soon become soaked and then commences a disagreeable dripping of water through the roof, which continues day and night. In stumper the people sleep upon their roofs, and some spend the day there, taking their cooking utensils up. At the sound of the crier from the minaret, five times a day, announcing to the village that “There is but one God, and Mohammed is his prophet,” every man and boy spreads his prayer rug on his cloak before him and kneels down upon It. Whether he be In the field at work or 'in his home

at rest or in the streets bargaining, at the sound of that call to prayer he turns his face eastward to Mecca and bows down his forehead to the ground, and rises and makes many genuflexions while muttering Arabic words from the Koran. Gates No Longer Closed. In olden days every city had high, wide walls. It was possible to walk around the city upon them. Today parts of the walls of Jerusalem are wide enough for this. The gates of a. city were always closed at sunset. Caravans arriving after dark were obliged to wait outside until morning. Travelers on foot could enter the city by the small door of the gate, which' was known in the gospel-days by the figurative expression: “The eye of the needle.” Christ was referring to thia custom of making the camels wait outside the gates until dawn, because of the Impossibility of their passing through the smaller door, when he said: ‘lt is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle," Though the gates of Jerusalem still stand and a sentinel guards them, they are never closed by day or night. One of the most interesting illustrations of scenes of Bible days, perhaps, since our Lord took it as symbolic of uprightness In man’s dealings with his fellow-men is the daily scene of measuring wheat in the marketplace. The official measurer is hired by the vender of wheat and he measures the quantity before the eyes at the purchaser. He shakes the measure and continues pouring on more wheat until It literally runs over. By this very act he seems to reecho Christ's words: “Good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over, shall men give unto your bosoms.” It Is still customary in well-to-do homes to recline on couches during the meals, but in the village homes the people sit on the matted floor around the' large wooden bowl which, contains the cooked rice or baan* The head of the house opens the meal by taking up a handful of the greasy rice and a piece of bread, and rolling It into a ball he places it Into the guest’s mouth himself. This complimentary act is the sign for all those assembled to literally “dtp in the dish,” eating with their hands. Work of the Women. When the evening meal is over, the comfortables are taken off the shelves and spread on the matting for the family to sleep on. Beds consist only of comfortables. When the children are all rolled up and asleep the. women in the homes begin the grinding of the wheat for the bread for the next day, while singing plaintive lullabies. This is monotonous work, and was often given to prisoners to do. Samson's enemies set him to grinding when he was their captive. Ezekiel, speaking of utter desolation, used the expresslop, well understood by the people: “The grinders shall cease and the sound of grinding be low.” The women are as busy in the field* as in the houses. There are Ruths gleaning and reaping and winnowing and even plowing by the side of the oxen. To the town the women come bearing the produce of their fields, and they look very picturesque “sitting in the market place.” On their heads they carry large baskets and on their shoulders their small sons sit, taking their first lessons in riding. Thia leaves the women’s arms free for the other purposes. Baby girls are carried in a carpet hammock slung across their mothers’ shoulders. There is a figurative prophecy regarding the better standing of women in the Orient, in days to come in the proclamation: “Their daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.** 1 Those better days are now at last breaking, for this is the dawn of freedom from subjection of women in ell Turkey and the Holy Land. But with her loosened fetters will go also thecountry’s traditional customs, and its i quaint, poetical fonntf of speech, ha | flucnced by the influx of civilization;