Unday Bee
HALF TD.'IE SECTIflil
Pages 1 to Q
Advertle In
THE OMAHA DEC
Best West
VOL. XXXVI-NO. 5.
OMAHA, . SUNDAY MORNING, JULY 22, 1906.
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS.
AROUND THE WORLD WITH WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN
Week Among the Lebanon Brings the Traveler, Into Touch With Baalbek andjts Stupendous Remains of Former Magnificence; Damuscus, Where Life Flows as It Did Before Europe Was Civilized.
Omaha
... HE
ATHENS, May 18, (Special Correspondence of The Bee.)
Before writing of the Holy Land I shall devote an article
to the week which we spent among the Lebanons. While
the trip from Beirut to Baalbek and Damascus Is in
cluded In the advertisement of Palestine tours1 the placet
visited are not so intimately connected with Bible history as those
of Judea and Galilee. ' "
Beirut, the seaport for this section of Syria, has v the best
harbor to be found on the east coast of the Mediterranean and the
city Is naturally a place of considerable site and importance. The
population Is estimated at about 160,000, and' the residence por
tlon covers the foothills of the Lebanon range. The . principal in
dustry Is the production .of raw silk, the mulberry groves extending
as far as the eye can reach. '
The road from Beirut to Baalbek climbs . over the Lebanon
range, reaching in one place an altitude of about 6,000 feet.'.. .Tho.
view is one of rare beauty the winding shore, of the Mediterranean,
the terraced mountain sides and the . snow-clad peaks' combine to,
form an Impressive picture. The far-famed cedars of Lebanon, some
sixteen feet In diameter, still crown the! higher summits, but. fewi
. of them are visible from the train. A well-built carriage road f ol
j lows the same general course as the railroad, but, the latter now:
! monopolises the traffic. The main line of the railroad runs to
; Damascus, but in the Beka, as the valley of the Leontea is called
; at this point, a branch has been built to Baalbek, where a wonderful
temple once stood. The city was founded so long-ago that history
does not record its beginning. Arab tradition peoples, this district
with the earliest of the Bible characters. ...
Lgends Locate Babel's Tower There
..' '
The tower of Babel has been located at Baalbek by one tradi
tion, while another has Cain building a fortress there as a refuge,'
It Is certain that the city ranks among the oldest known to history,
the location being probably determined by the.' presence of a very
large spring whose waters would supply a great population. The
name of the city but a. few thousand inhabitants are to be found
there are) indicates that it was the center of Baal," or sun, worship.
It is believed by those who have made research that an' ancient tem
' pie, built by the Egyptians or Phoenicians, occupied the ground now
covered by the ruins of a later temple built by the Romans. It it
this latter temple which has drawn tourists from all over the world.
It was begun during the first century of the Chrfstian era, and the
work upon it continued for more than 200 years. It was dedicated
to Jupiter and the sun, the worship of these two deities being com
' blned. The Romans even adopted the Greek name, Hellopolis, for
the city, but the Arabic designation, Baalbek, has survived.
This grea temple was laid out upon an Immense scale. '. First
a.rull was mint, nuea witn suDierranean caamDers, ana upon ma
s
it
SJI -.11 r - itj-- IT'-. . -.to'!
& - .Statin r tsm, ' wr ' - s-s eijrri1 .- .- jrv ......' t
ST"1
'&2
tfL.il J j
. . i
yi'y iff fi
1 H 'H"rr' -
In the ball symbolized tho resurrection to what classical uses this
commonplace little Insect was put!
Among those who have been instrumental in bringing the hid
den treasures of Syria to the attention of the world, Mr. Asees
Khayat, a native of Tyre, but now an American citizen, deserves
special mention. Many American museums are Indebted to him for
their collections.
Speaking of Tyre and Sldon reminds me that In the study of
Syria and Palestine I ran across an early instance of monopoly.
Josephus accuses John of Olschala of monopolizing the oil business
on the Mediterranean coast. It was early In the Christian era that
the aforesaid John, according to Josephus, convinced the Jews who
dwelt in Syria that they were obliged to use oil made by others,
and then the historian adds. "So he (John) bought four amphorae
' with such Syrian money as was of the value of four Attic drachmae
and sold every half amphor at the same price; and as Galilee was
very fruitful In oil and was peculiarly so at this time, by sending
away great quantities and having the sole privilege so to do, he
gathered an Immense sum of money together."
This Is interesting and instructive. It shows, first, that monop
oly is an ancient evil, and, second, that the monopolist in his in
clination to take advantage of the consumer by raising the price
was much the same then as now but I have been afraid, ever since
I read of John of Gischala, that some American named John might
try to imitate him and establish a monopoly in our country possibly
in oil.
MODERN DAMASCUS.
on both sides of the Jordan, as well as along the Mediterranean
coast. The tombs also have yielded up their treasures and the
massive walls which separated these chambers the superstructure I museums of the world have been supplied with tear bottles, per-
wa reared. The temple was approached by a staircase 150 feet ' '
,M ... . . , . ,rtA ,,.,., ji.mot.. The Phoenicians are credited with having invented the making
wide and entered through a hexagonal court 200 feet in diameter. .
, . . .A. ... ' -. of glass in the days when Tyre and Sldon were their chief cities. It
Next came the great coutt, nearly-400-feet square, with-an-altar ......... ,. ' . ..... .v
' . , .v" ' , . . ,hMV1. , is said that-the art owes Its discovery to the use of saltpeter In the
In the center. Both of these courts were open, but had broad col- , . ' "
. . . . . fc 4 place of stones by some sailors who landed at the mouth of the
onnades around the sides supported by granite pillars brought from " . ., . . . . .. .
ZZ . . . .--,--- i.,inn river Belos, near Akka. Finding.no stones upon which to put their
the upper, Nlle. These-colonnades were ornamented with carvings .. . BurDrlged toV,nd tnat
aid contained i-wo.rows pf niches,-330 altogether, formerly occupied .f1"?"' J. - " ' ' -,t 7 f urpr;sea to fln? tn"
... ' ';v v-. .Mat H:.' tne flr had fused the sand and the saltpeter Into a transparent sub-
.. ,. ' i. n t .u. tiv "th" stance.
me results oi ms niiecn. yeur muujr ui uio iuim, hub:uw w ,
.71 : V ; " :r"7" " v, Kwi.l2rf1WkI,Mei and vases found from time to time in the tombs of Syria and
at that time -worshiped ly, the cpnquerors and by Abe narrerpjpliav.
."7.,. . r - . .. . .Egypt are more beautiful than when they left the band ,of the
Jttpitay-TempU:Xmpo3
1 The temple of Jupiter-must -nave been a-most Impressive-building.
" It stood twenty-six feet above the courts, and therefore about
fifty feet above the natural level of the ground around. It meas
ured 810 feet in length and 160 in breadth. Its outer wall supported
fifty-four columns. In Corinthian style, each column being seventy
feet in height, seven feet in diameter and composed of three pieces.
Six of these columns are still standing, having survived three earth
quakes and one mountain torrent. The six columns with the cap
itals and cornice give some idea of the magnificence of the temple -before
it's decay. The atone used is taken from a limestone quarry
near the city, and (the carving is excellent. Enormous masses of
stone He scattered over the ground parts of pillars, pieces of
cornice and sections of the pediment 'How these huge blocks were
ever lifted Into place is still a matter of conjecture. No mortar was
used, and yet in some places the Joints are so nicely fitted and the
stones so accurately cut that a knife blade cannot be Inserted after
a lapse of nearly twenty centuries.
Stupendous as is the plan of this wonderful temple, and elab
orate as Is its ornamentation, the most remarkable feature is the
size of the stones employed. The guide first shows a number of;
blocks about thirty-three feet long, fourteen feet high and ten feet
thick. After one's wonder has had sufficient time to express itself,
three blocks are pointed out which measure sixty-four feet In length,
fourteen feet In height and twelve fee? in thickness. The estimated
weight of one of these stones is nearly 1,000 tons, and it is calculated
that It would require 10,000 horse power to lift It
At the quarry a companion - block, seventy-two feet long and
about fifteen feet In height and thickness f is to be seen,, chiseled
from the stone about It, bat not entirely separated from the stratum
beneath It This was probably Intended for the sustaining wall
around the temple. Whether it remained at the quarry because
the work was Interrupted or because the builders despaired of being
able to moye it is a secret which the living are not able to reveal.
After tfie decline of paganism the Christians built a' church in the
great court, using the atones and pillars for the walls. Then came
the Mohammedans and turned the courts and temple into a fortress,
making use of the walls of the church. , ' : --f , -
Where Bacchus Was Worshipped
A little way distant from the great temple is a smaller temple
dedicated to Bacchus, which would of itself be sufficient to . dis
tinguish a city but for its more famous rival. This temple is about
IIS feet long by 110 feet wide, and a row of fifty columns, of which
. fourteen are fluted, surrounding it These columns are sixty, fee't ln
height and about six feet In diameter. While smaller in its dlmen- -sloa
this temple is even more elaborately carved than the larger one.
' Some of the clusters of grapes are less than two Inches In height
' but exquisitely wrought This temple is in much better ajate of
' preservation than the great temple, and is therefore in some re
spects' even more Interesting.
,. Emperor William of Germany visited Baalbek In 1898 and was
so Impressed by the ruins that he obtained permission from the
- sultan to clear away the debris, and the traveling world Is under
obligations to him for having made it possible to inspect the
foundations and the ground-plan. In this connection it may le
added that Emperor William seems to take a deep Interest in this
part of Asia. He visited Jerusalem to lay the cornerstone of the
German church; he sent to Damascus a beautiful bronze wreath to
adorn the tomb of the great Mohammedan general, Saladln, and he
- has encouraged the establishment of German colonies in Palestine.
There are German settlements of considerable size at Jerusalem,
' Joppa and Haifa. At four places we found German hotels, and it
, Is needless to say that they are kept with the excellence character
istic of the race.
The friendship which the emperor baa shown for the sultan
seems to be reciprocated, for roads were built, harbors improved
and many other things done in honor of his visit We have heard
. all sorts of rumors as to the kaiser's intentions, but the only thing
that seems certain Is that German influence in this part of Asia is
' increasing. , . .
While Baalbek contains Ihe largest and most famoua ruins,
: it is not the only place thVt attracts the archaeologist There are
hundreds of sites of ancient , cities which abundantly repay the
excavator. Specimens of Greek and Roman art have been found
Damascus End of Lovely Ride
, i
But on to Damascus and we reached it all to soon, for tb
ride across the Anti-Lebanon range Is also picturesque. The route
down the east side of the mountain follows the valley of the Abana,
a splendid stream, worthy of the compliment paid It by Naaman.
It leaps from the mountain side a full grown river, and plunges
down Into the plain only to be lost in the sands, but not until it
has brought verdure to many square miles that would otherwise
be barren. It Is easy to understand why Damascus Is among the
oldest if not actually the oldest of all the cities still standing. It
occupies the one green spot in all that section, and is the outpost
of the Mediterranean coast The Arabian desert stretches to the:
east and southeast for hundreds of miles, and the caravans from
Persia and Arabia pass through Damascus on their way to Egypt
even now, as they did when Babylon and Nineveh were young; it
was also on the road between the great east and Tyre and Sldon.
Damascus is an oriental cltjt. and Is still Innocent of the ways
of the western world. Its bazars give one a glimpse of life as it was
before Europe and America were known to history. The govern
ment is erecting public buildings according to modern plans, but tho
covered streets, lined with little booths, the homes of the peopTe,
the dress, the customs and the habits are the same that they were
when Saul of Tarsus wandered down the street called "Straight" la
ejarch of the one who was to restore his sight (This street, though
straight as compared with the other streets, is hardly deserving of
the name which It still bears.)
As in Cairo, the different trades have different sections. The
dealers in sugar occupy one quarter; the silversmiths, the candy;
manufacturers, the blacksmiths, the carpenter each class ha
its cluster of shops. The Arabian horse being the pride of the
Bedouin, we were not surprised to find much attention paid to the
manufacture of saddles, saddle bags, bridles and trappings, only theyi
were for the most part made of wool and cotton rather than ot
leather. Bright colors, tassels, fringes, shells and ostrich feathers
'are employed ir the "orna4ntanon" of UVhorse, the donkey' and the
camel. '
Points of Interest at Damascus
The candies of Damascus are very good, and very cheap, and
. , .t .T , . . .... ... , . . nuts of all kinds are to be found in abundance, an excellent variety
f v-v , ' "" 'l 7 v , 7" " " ' of walnut being grown within the city limits. Naturally this city
The industry was inaugurated at Tyre "and Sldon, and for
some time "the Phoenicians supplied the world with glass. The. bot-
manufacturer; the outer surface has decayed, and beneath are re
vealed all the colors of the rainbow. It was the custom to fill the
tear bottles with tears of the mourners and to bury them with the dead
The scarab which is found so often In the ancient tombs in
Syria and in Egypt are the old-fashioned tumblebug or dung beetle
with which every boy, or at least every country or village boy, Is
familiar. I little thought when I used to see the tumble-bug roll
ing his little globe of manure along the dusty road that he was
considered a sacred Insect several thousand years ago, or that he was
ever used as a symbol of the Creator; and yet his likeness adorns
temples and tombs, and his image, cut in stone and bearing the seal
of rulers, has been found by the thousands. Often the heart ot a
dead person was removed and a scarab inserted in its place. The
scarab,, rolling its ball, typified to the indent an unseen power
guiding the aun, while the bursting of the young bug from its egg
Men Who Guide the Locomotives
and
silent brotherhood.
An Iowa man, Warren Sanford Stone, has been chief of
the engineers since the death of Peter M. Arthur. He is
46 years old, hearty, candid and cool, and has pulled everything
from a local freight to a limited. '
"I entered college with the law in mind, .but several of my
brothers were railroad men, and the life they led, together with the
wages they earned, lured me from school and Into a fireman's .place.
In four years and a half I was given an engine. I was an engineer
for twenty years and never had but one employer.
"I ran Into an accident or two, but it wasn't my fault. I had a
fast daylight passenger train part of the time and killed thirteen
human beings in one year. That wasn't my fault, either. The ter
rors of an engineer's life are the idiots who walk on the track and
the farmers who whip up and try to get over. 'Persons who drive
horses seem to have a mania for beating the' locomotive. If they
would stop when they hear the whistle and the noise of the train, or
would Jog along as before, they would escape.. But they will do
neither. A good many of them stand up, look like wild men around
the eyes, and lay on the lash. The next lnefant they are under the
wheels or in a tree or a field along the right-of-way."
"Are there 'hoodoo' engines?"
There Are No Hoodoo Engines
"No; I kept an engine for six years which, had a bad reputa
tion every man who took it had lost his job but I found it to be
all right Bad engines generally are unlucky because the men who
run them ought to be doing something else carrying a hod, for
Instance.
Common sense is the first quality of an engineer, but that is a
universal need and la no more necessary to engineers than to anyone
else. Secondly, I would say a quick and reliable mind. If you are
running sixty or seventy miles an hour yqu can't take a situation
home with you for reflection and advisement - You have got to act,
and be In a hurry about It Moral courage Is required to run a'
. train at a mile a minute.
"Sometimes the lights are on the other side, and the fireman,
stripped to his undershirt even in zero weather, springs forward to
the seat he never uses and calls the signals. The engineer repeats
them back, looking straight ahead, and the fireman, chilled to the
bones, sweating at every pore, goes back to bis everlasting shovel.
Curves are taken at full speed. Towns are passed with the throttle
wide open. Yards dancing with clear red ad green lights, each of
which is a voice and a sign to the engineer, are here one minute
and gone the next. There must be physical courage in she teeth
of all this, but greater and better still is the moral courage of the
man In the cab his confidence in others as well as himself and his'
readiness to assume responsibility on the spot.
Fast Train Must Be on Time
"If a fast man is late three times he Is out and another engineer
takes his place. This silent but relentless, threat Is over him night
and day If he likes bis job. There are plenty of good engineers who
would not take a fast train if they could get out of It They are not
afraid, but they don't enjoy the work. Allen Tyler, who was chosen
to run over the division out of Cleveland with the eighteen-hour
New York and Chicago special, came to me the lay before he was
killed and told me how proud and happy he was for the chance.
"The brotherhood Is growing at the rate of 4,000 engineers a
year. The -freight traffic in this country doubles every decade, and
it requires a good many new men to meet the natural expansion of
business. Three hundred and eighty-one engineers were killed on
duty during the last two years. Notwithstanding our growth, we
haven't enough men to supply the demands of the railroads. In
formation which has been obtained carefully shows that the average
life of the engineer is but ten years. In that time he either dies on
duty or from natural causes or Is disabled totally. The average of
our members is 41 years, yet there are engineer of 70 who are run-
you can wager your last dollar that he is delivering the goods.
"It must be remembered that engineers suffer more from ex
posure than does any other class of workers. This especially is so
in the west. When the front window of his cab 1b covered with
snow or frost the only thing the engineer can do is to hang his head
out of the side window. He may be running forty or fifty miles an
hour and the wind may be coming right into his faee at the same
velocity. Flesh and blood give way under such terrific conditions
and hundreds of engineers go to pieces every winter.' Some of them
recover and some don't." 1
Engineers Suffer From Exposure
"How long must a fireman serve before he gets an engine?"
"From two and a half to three years, but in the meantime he
must be a man of iron and willing to work like a horse. Firemen on
modern freight engines shovel from eighteen to twenty-five tons of
coal every trip. The limit of human' endurance has been reached i
with them. It is no longer a question of larger and stronger engines,
but the problem is to stoke the engines already in use.' It seems to
me that a machine will have to do it. Two firemen sometimes are
employed on a single engine, but that arrangement is hardly practi
cable. One man works, gets overheated, sits down and takes cold.
The other man, when his turn comes, has the same experience.
"The best figures we can get and they cover ten years, show
that only 17 per cent of the firemen on American railroads become
engineers,1 and that only 6 per cent get passenger trains. Some of
them, having little stamina, give up, but more of them lose their
health. Nowadays a fireman doesn't straighten up from the time
his engine gets under way until his run is over. Furthermore, the
door of the firebox on a modern engine is about face high and the
Intense heat often ruins the fireman's eyes. At least 15 per cent
of the firemen who serve their full time fall to get engines because
of defective eyesight. Even if the eyes can be made normal with
spectacles, the fireman cannot become an engineer, although he
may have grown up on the road and been a steady and competent
man. After he runs an engine for a while he may be. permitted to
wear glasses, but he is barred from certain trains and from all em
ployment as an engineer on other lines.
"Then the age limit is discouraging to young men. I am 48
years old, but no more than six roads in the United States would
give me an engine if I should want one; all of the others now refuse
to hire new men who have passed the age of 45. In fact, the limit
is 40 on many roads and the Pennsylvania company has lowered it
to 35. The brotherhood is opposing the theory that an engineer of
40 or 50 is on the down grade. A general manager said to me re
cently: 'Well, Stone, you must admit that you can't get into a
cab as easily as you could twenty years ago.' Such talk is rubbish,
and so I said: 'I am not an acrobat, but an engineer."
Examination Every Two Years.
"The fireman who has served his time goes gaily about his busi
ness, and at the end of two years is ordered to headquarters for an
other examination, a biennial performance which continues so long
as he lives. He is compelled to know his engine and how to get it to
the next station if it breaks down, and must understand the electric
dynamo, which often is in front of his cab. He must be familiar
with the mechanism of air brakes and pumps. Consequently, an en
gineer not only runs his engine, but heats his train and frequently
lights It.
"A tenth of the engineers in this country are not in our or
ganization. We give them no trouble and make no effort to deprive
them of their places. All that we do Is to Insist that they be paid
brotherhood wages, work brotherhood hours and be given all of our
own conditions and privileges. These matters we arrange with tho
railroads and not with the men themselves. Some of those who are
out would be welcome and some would not be accepted by us under
any circumstances.
"In Canada, where wages are the lowest, an engineer gets $2.80
(Continued oa Page Eight)
Is a market for Persian rugs, and large stocks are kept on hand.
While the people make everything which enters into the daily life
of the country, they are especially skilled in braes, damascene ware
and the inlaying of wood with mother-of-pearl.
Damascus Is not especially noted for places of historical in
terest The tourist is shown the house of Ananias and the window,
through which Paul was let down from the wall, but It Is doubtful
whether the identity of these places has been really established.
A house, known as the house of Naaman the leper, is now very,
appropriately used for a lepers' home. There is no uncertainty
about the river Abana, and another river near Damascus is known
as Pharpar. An ancient wall surrounds the city, and one of the
largest mosques in the world occupies ground first dedicated to a
heathen temple and afterward to the Church of St. John the Baptist,
erected by Arcadlus, the son of Theodoslus.
The blg-talled sheep described, by Herodotus is to be found on
the streets of Damascus. It is a peculiar breed, and the tall, which
is considered a great delicacy, is often so heavy as to seem a burden
to the sheep. It is broad, covered with wool, and sometimes ends
in a curl. We also saw here the long-eared goats, as curious look
ing in their way as the sheep.
And what shall we say of' the Damascus dog? He Is to be
found everywhere and has no owner. We counted eighteen in one
group and 238 In one forenoon's ride. They live on charity and
fight whenever an opportunity offers. It seems to be aeainBt the
law of the sultan to kill dogs, as one learns to" his regret after he
had heard them barking at all hours of the night It Is superfluous
to add that the flea is as common as the dog, and aa Indifferent also
to the peace of the stranger.
A new railroad which is building from Damascus to the south
will soon make It possible to go to Galilee In a few hours,' but now,
it is more convenient to return to Beirut and go to Haifa by boat
This we did, and having a couple of days at Beirut we learned some
thing of the religious work done there.
i
Presbyterian Missions and Schools 1
In the division of territory the Presbyterians ot America were,
In 1870, assigned the country around Beirut The district is di
vided into the Beirut, Lebanon, Sldon and Tripoli stations, and. at
all of these stations schools as well as churches are being established.
So successful has the work been that the native communities now,
contribute half a dollar for every dollar sent from America. There
is also an American press at Beirut which publishes the Bible In
Arabic, some 80,000 copies being Issued laBt year, In addition to re
ligious tracts of various kinds. One of the leaders in the missionary
movement,- Rev. H. H. Jessup, has completed bis fiftieth year of
service among the Syrians.
The Syrian Protestant college Is also located In Beirut, and
occupies a beautiful site overlooking the sea and in sight of the
highest peak of the Lebanons. While Christian In management,
J.hls college Is not denominational, but is under the control of an
American board representing a number of churches. Between 600
and 700 young men are in attendance, and its graduates are scat
tered throughout the world. Within its halls are to be found
Protestants, Catholic (both Greek and Roman), Armenians, Jews
and Mohammedans, and its influences In these parts can scarcely be
overestimated.
The present president of the college, Dr. Howard S. Bliss, Is
the worthy son of the college's first president. Dr. Daniel Bliss,
whose religious and educational work in this territory covers more
than half a century. The elder Bliss, now past 83, and bis wife, are
enjoying an enviable experience. Their active labors over, with
minds still alert and with hearts still young, they are spending the
evening of their lives near the scenes of their labors and among tho
children and grandchildren who have blessed their home. Their
rest has been earned and the peace of their latter years is a merited
reward. 8urely they Illustrate the blessedness of lives consecrated
to a high purpose and rich In noble service W. J. BRYAN.
- (Copyright, 106.),
