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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 1906)
Bee DAiF tche sonnn Adrertte In OMAHA THE DEE Best & West VOL. XXXVI-NO. 7. OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 5," 190G. SINGLE COPY 'FIVE CENTS. The Omaha Sunday AROUND THE WORLD WITH WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN Galilee, with Its Wealth of Sacred Association and Memories of Jesus Affords Appropriate Conclusion to the Instructive Tour of Palestine and the Holy Land. ATHENS. May 18. (Sjxial Correspondence of The Bee.) The boat schedule and they cannot be Ignored on the Palestine coast compelled ' us to reserve Galilee for the conclusion of our tour, and It was not as inappropriate ending, for while Jerusalem was the scene of the crucifixion and ascension, the greater part of Christ's life was spent In Galilee, and it was there that "most of His mighty works were done." Nor is Its history confined to the New Testament, for It has Its Carmel, associated with the life of Elijah and Mount Tabor, where Deborah's victory was won. Haifa, the seaport of Galilee, is built along the front of Carmel on the edge of a bay which the mountain helps to form, the Carmel Instead of being a peak, is really a long ridge, but a few hundred feet' in height. Jut ting out into the sea at this point and extending several miles to the southeast. A Roman Catholic monastery is erected over a care overlooking the Mediterranean, where Elijah Is said to have lived. To the north of Carmel lies the plain of Esdraelon, through which the Klshon river flows. The road to Kaiareth follows the south side of this valley to a point some seven miles from the shore where the hills of Galilee approach so near to Carmel as to leave but a narrow pass for the river. Here the road:crosses over to the north side of the valley, and for the remainder of the distance winds upward over the hills, giving a commanding view of 'Esdraelon. The upper part of the plain is as beautiful a country as .can be imagined well watered, fertile and thoroughly cultivated. The land is not held in severalty as in America, but by communities. The cultivators live in villages built at intervals around the edge of the valley, and the land is apportioned each year by the village chief, no one receiving the same tract two years in succession. As we looked down upon the valley we couJd distinguish the different allotments as they lay in long strips of equal, width. Wheat is the chief product of the valley, although there are a few olive orchards, and the mulberry tree is being planted. Oxen are the animals usu ally employed in cultivation, but we saw a horse and an ox together or a camel and an ox, and once a- camel and a donkey. Jezreel Is on this plain, at the foot of Mount Gllboa, where the middle plain connects with the plain leading down to the Jordan between Gllboa and Little Hermon. This is historic ground, for it was here at a great spring which flows out from under Gllboa that Gideon selected his gallant band. Nazareth, Home of Jesus. x The village of Nazareth, nestling among the hills of Galilee, must always be a place of supreme Interest to the Christian. Its location was probably determined by the presence here of an un failing spring, now known as Mary's fountain. Dr. George Adam Smith In his "Historical Geography of the Holy Land" points out the relation between the springs and the routes of travfel, and emphasizes A the prominence of Nazareth In the Bible times. Christ's boyhood and young manhood were spent near a great highway, for the old Roman road from Damascus to Egypt ran through the town. Cara vans naased to and fro laden with thm rlchoa nf tha Vnnhrafm nnA the Nile; princes passed that way on their royal journeys, and in time of war it was the route of armies. From a high hill Just out side the town Christ could look to the west and see the surf llne'on. walls of the chasm In which lay the Sea of Galilee, while, to the northeast rose Hermon, the pride of the mountains. Several of His . parables fit Quite naturally Into the scenes upon 'wkieh 'He looked, and these parables were the more effective because they were taken from the every-day life of the people. The stony ground, the rocky roadways' and the narrow strips, of, fertile soil were woven nto the parable of the sower, and some acquaintance of His youth, following, the merchantmen Into Egypt or Mesopotamia, may have been the original of the prodlgaLjson. Rev. Selah Merrill, our consul at Jerusalem, has refuted the statement so frequently made that the Nazarenes were held In con tempt. He shows that there is no 'Just foundation for the aspersions cast on this section of Galilee. Mr. Merc's book, "Galilee in the " Time of Christ," is, I may add, a very useful preparation for a trip through this part of Palestine. Chapels Mark Sacred Spots. Chapels bave been erected to mark the home of Joseph and Mary, the carpenter shop and the rock where Christ met His dlscl- pies after the resurrection, but one never feels certain about the Identification of places selected so long after the death of Christ and having no permanent physical marks. A few miles to the east of Nazareth is a village called Cana, which claims to be the "Cana ,of Galilee" where the first miracle was performed, and a church has been erected over a well from which. It is argued, the water was taken that was turned Into wine, but two other villages with similar names contest the honor with this Cana. The Sea of Galilee has a double claim to distinction. To its natural beauty, which is unsurpassed, is added the glory of having .. .' ' ' ' " - ' ' ' ' ' - ' riSITERilEN BT TEH BEA OT OATJLKW. furnished the fishermen who were to become "fishers of men." Nearly 700 feet below the level of the ocean and walled In by high hills. It has a character all its own, and Its shores' were the familiar haunts of Him who by precept and example taught the nobleness of service. The sea is some twelve miles in length by six or eight in breadth. The Jordan pours into it the waters of Hermon and Lake Merom, and carries its overflow tp the Dead sea. The plain of Gen nesaret Includes nearly all the level land adjacent to it, save the Jordan valleys above and.below, and Is so prominent a feature of the . landscape that Its name Is sometimes applied to the sea. ' ' The vlU " lage of Magdala, home of one of the Man's, is situated on the edge of this plain, but is now only a collection of mud huts, .each. one bearing a booth of boughs upon Its flat roof. (The house top is an -' Important part of the house in the orient, and furalshes a" sleeping 'place for the occupants during the warm summer nights.) The village of Magdala, with the land belonging to It, has recently been sold to a syndicate which proposes to very much Improve Its cultlva-' tlon. ' . -. Modern Activity at Tiberias. . , ; . . . A little farther south, on the west side of the sea, is the city of Tiberias, the only city still remaining of the ten or more that 2,000 . years ago stretched along the shores. The city's name gives evi dence of its Roman origin, and It was once so Important a place that its name was a rival for Galilee in the designation of the sea. Tiberias was one of the sacred cities of the Jews, and today the de-' scendants of the Hebrew race constitute three-fourths of Its popula tion. A Jewish society, of which Baron Rothschild is the patron, has several schools here, and a number of the residents devote them selves 'entirely to the study of the law. Near Tiberias are the hot springs Bpoken of by Josephus, and their healing waters still have a great reputation. The bath houses are not kept as they would be In Europe or America, but the mineral properties of the water make it very invigorating. A Jewish synagogue has been erected by the hot 'springs, and the annual feast in honor of Rabbi Meyer was celebrated there during our stay in Tiberias. As it was the only feast of the kind we ever attended, we found it exceedingly interesting. The devout Jews were gathered in large numbers, some coming several days' Journey; many of the men wore a long curl In front of each ear, a custom which we first noticed In Jerusalem. The feast is an occa sion of rejoicing, and there is dancing, music and merriment. A part of the ceremony is the burning of garments contributed by those in attendance,' and the right to light the fire is made a matter of auction. We went into the room where the bidding was in progress and were Informed that more than $10 had already been offered for the honor. The feast has many of the characteristics of a fair, the vendors of candles, cakes, drinks and merchandise plying their trade and different delegations marching with banners. There is at Tiberias a splendidly equipped hospital established by the Unfted'Free'church of Scotland and conducted by a skillful surgeon and a corps of assistants. More than L50 persons. were treated the day that we visited the hospital. Surely this institution is a fitting memorial, and what more appropriate place for a hospital than these shores where the lame were made whole, the deaf were healed and the blind received their sight? The site of Chorazln, the city which Christ denounced for un belief in connection with the Capernaum and Bethsaida, is still a matter of dispute, but Capernaum, where Christ dwelt during the greater part of His ministry has probably been identified. It is sit uated on the northeast corner of .Gennesaret, close by the shore of the sea. There is no town there now, and no bouses save a Catholic monastery, but recent Excavations have unearthed the foundations of a building believed to have been the Jewish synagogue in which Christ spoke. - On one of the stones of this synagogue is a reproduc tion of David's seal and a pot of manna; if this is in reality the synagogue in which Christ referred to the. bread .of life, it may be true, as some one has suggested, that He found His text: "Your fathers .did. eat manna in the wilderness," In this carving upon the stone. ... Bethsaida Has Disappeared. .There has been a great deal of discussion over the site of Bethsaida, and some have argued that there were two towns of the same name, one to the north end of the lake Just east of the mouth of the Jordan, and the other on the west side not far from Caper naum. But both towns have so completely disappeared that they cannot be located with any certainty. Safed, another of the sacred cities of the Jews,, lies some dis tance west of the Sea of Galilee, but within sight of it, perched on a high hill. It is so conspicuous a landmark and so often seen by the Great Teacher that it may have suggested to His mind the illustra tion: "A city that la set on a hill cannot bo hid." The Sea of Galilee, beautiful as it is with Us clear water and It picturesque environment, is a treacherous body of water. Its surface is swept by sudden gusts of wind and tempests often lash It vntll its waves beat high upon the shore. A resident of Tiberias told us that he bad seen it when It might be mistaken for an ocean, so violently was It agitated, and ho bore testimony also to the unex pected squalls that visit it. ' We spent two days on the sea, and in crossing it found the wind so variable that probably halt a dozen times the sail became useless and It was necessary to resort to the oars. There was no great tempest while we were there, and the waves did not "beat into the ship," but the wind was at times contrary.. Tho uncertainty ot the weather has been attributed to the numerous ravines or canyons which run down from the mountains round about tho sea, and ' these are the same now that they were 2,000 years ago, travel upoa the lake is attended with the same risk that it was then. In the time of Christ the Sea of Galilee was tho sceno of busy life. The population of the country described as Galilee has been estimated to have been at that time about 2,600,000. Tho sea was covered with boats, built for fishing, for traffic, for war or for pleas ure. Josephus collected 230 ships upon one of his expeditions upon the sea, and in a sea fight that took place there the number killed on one side alone was given at from 4,000 to 6,000, . Good Fishing in Galilee. The sea was full of fish and the Gospels furnish abundant proof of the importance of fishing as an industry, a fact also established by outside evidence. Dr. Morrill, in the book above referred to, soya that the fish taken were noi only sufficient to satisfy the local de mands, but that they were packed and shipped to Jerusalem and even to cities along the Mediterranean. The Bupply of fish has not yet been exhausted. Sallm Moussa of Jaffa, the very efficient Arab dragoman furnished us by Cook, supplied us with a net when we visited the sites of Capernaum and Bethsaida and our son caught enough fiuh for our lunch. It was a delightful outing that we had that day, gathering water-worn pebbles from the beach, picking up Diicua, yJ i. . uivu iucio bic uiau iai n'ui.n, auu iuuouu KJ LI unit iiuiu flie sea and on a lamb bought from a Bodouln who was tendin lk flock near by. " 1 The visit to the Horns of Hattln was reserved for the ret trip, the road from Nazareth to Tiberias passes near tho hill whK bears this natno. It was in 1167 the scene of a celebrated battle lv milieu oaiauiu wuu a viviury over lut) crusauers. luig mil, ay m tradition which has come down from the time of tho crusaders. Is styled the Mount of Beatitudes. There is nothing to determine Just whore the Sermon on the Mount was delivered, but because the Horns of Hattln have been associated with that wonderful discourse, I was anxious to visit the place. There is no road leading to this eminence, and the bridle; paths can scarcely be followed. The ground is covered by boulders and broken stones, half concealed by grass and thistles and flowers. The guide stepped over a large snake before we had gone far,, and as it was of a very poisonous variety, he felt that he had had a very narrow escape. From a distance the top of the bill Is saddle-shaped! and the two horns have given It its name, but on tho top there is very large circular basin, probably 200 yards In diameter, and the ' rim of this basin was once walled and a citadel built there. . View from the Mount. ii y The view from this mount is one of the most beautiful I L.v ever seen. To the north Hermon rises In grandeur. Its summit cov ered with snow; the Intervening space is filled with hills, except In the immediate foreground, where the Sea of Galilee sparkles In the sun. At the foot of the mount stretches a verdant valley, and front the valley a defile runs down to the sea. This opening gives a yiow, of the shore where Capernaum and Bethsaida are supposed to have stood, and one of the roads from the sea. to Nazareth follows the stream which flows through the defile. On the opposite side of the mount Tabor can be seen, and beyond the hills of Samaria. There is inspiration In this commingling of hill and vale and sky. Whether, as a matter of fact, Christ, "seeing the multitude," ascended to this place, I know not, but it furnishes an environment fit for the sublime code of morality presented In the Sermon on the Mount. No other philosophy has ever touched so high a point or presented so noble a conception of human life.. In it purity of heart is made the test, mercy Is enjoined, humility, emphasized, forgive ness commanded, and love made the law of action. In that sermon He pointed out the beginnings of evil, rebuked those who allows themselves to be engrossed by the care of the body, and gave to the world a brief, simple and incomparable prayer which the Christian world repeats in unison. If In other places Uo relieved those whose sufferings came through the infirmities ot the flesh. He here offered a balm for the healing ot the nations. ,W. J. BRYAN. (Copyright, 1906.) Educational Happenings of the Year and Their Universal Significance JTTy tltsi moBl signmcam eaucauonai nappenings of the year are uaiui; uwui vt yuu?, VI ClitIl i uiuvvuieiiui kuu may best be considered in connection with the larger tendencies which they represent. There Is, first, that democratlo spirit which cares tor human beings because they are clti sens, and seeks In education to make the most ot every one, whether his talent be great or small. It is a spirit which is working itself out la provision for the exceptional needs of defective, delinquent, and unfortunate children. In some European countries, and more re cently in our own, special classes and even special schools have been established. In connection with city systems of schools, for that mid dle class ot pupils who are not really defective or delinquent, but are not quite up to the lower level of normal childhood and youth. On the whole, we1 are still lagging in this matter. But In one direc tion -there Is notable progress, namely, In the establishment and maintenance of Juvenile courts. Starting in Chicago, very near the close ot the last decade of the nineteenth century, the erection ot such special caprts has gone steadily forward, and with markedly good results. The movement has finally received the endorsement ot congress and the president in the shape of legislation for the Dis trict of Columbia, and a Juvenile court was accordingly opened in the city ot Washington on July 2, 1906. The natural concomitants ot Juvenile courts, child labor laws which are enforced and com pulsory education which compels, have also made a substantial ad vance. Juvenile courts, parental schools and schools and classes for backward or forward children', flexible grading of schools to adapt them to various grades of ability all of these things and many more Involve an advance in specialism in educational affairs. A well Informed English visitor has, only this year, expressed surprise that with all our talk about the specialist and the expert in education we still have so little expert knowledge in positions where it can be made effective and repose so little confidence in it when it may be had. Are we, indeed, making any progress in this matter? An an swer may be found In the reorganization during the last year of the City school system ot Boston. Boston, which ha4 In IS 74 a school committee of 116 members, and ever since 187S a coaimlttee of twenty-four members, has now, under the Storrow bill, which went Into effect on January 1, 1906. a committee of only five members, and this committee seems Intent on doing the business of an education board in a systematic and ef fective manner, relying, on the supervising body for the pedlgoglcal management of the schools.- Dr. Stratton D. Brooks, who has been called to the auperl&,endency, is charged with the Urge responsi bility of directing this pedagogical side. Along somewhat different lines the educational system ot - the District ot Columbia has . been . reorganized. Instead ot a Board ot Education ot seven members appointed by the commissioners of the district a board of nine members is now provided, to be appointed by the district supreme court The salaries of teachers are advanced and provision is made for automatic promotion, with Increase In salary. ' Various other changes are introduced by the new law, among them provision for hygienic and medical Inspection. We are peculiar among the nations in our regard for spon taneity in education. Far down in the grades we expect pupils to educate themselves. In the high school they educate themselves by the management of their own school societies, school Journals, school athletics, and all In adolescent imitation of college life. In college all manner of student activity abound, but they reach their highest stress and strain in Intercollegiate athletics. The last year has been marked by a reaction from the extreme of lalsaes falre In the relation of school authorities to these activities. In' Kansas City, Chicago, Spokane and several other cities boards ot education have provided for the regulation or the suppression ot high school fra ternities. The whole country over public attention has been sharply directed to the reform or the suppression of intercollegiate foot ball. This game has so often been reformed, to no purpose, that a great many intelligent people, both within and without the col leges, have become very tired of such reform. The demand in some quarters has grown insistent that the game be utterly abol ished, and the death of young Moore ot Union college last Novem ber, though only one of many deaths from the game in the last year and the years Just preceding, has brought this radical demand to a focus. After various conferences, one of which was initiated and participated in by the president of the United States, a revision ot the rules governing the game has been made by the intercol legiate foot ball rule committee. It remains to be seen whether this revision will meet the demand for thoroughgoing reform. There have been .single occurrences which of themselves have profoundly concerned he educational world. The death of William Ralney Harper, president of the University of Chicago, at high tide of his career, was one of the most sorrowftri occurrences ot the year, but the manner in which he "awaited and met his death, show ing forth the greatness ot his spirit, made it one of the most In spiring. There have been other sore losses by death: General John Eaton, ax-commlssloner of education ot the United States; William U.Prather, president of the University of Texas; Albert Prescott Marble associate superintendent ot the schools " of New. York Oity, and other men and women ot wide usefulness. Dr. Prather was succeeded in the presidency of the University ot Texas by Dr. David F. Houston. Prof. Martin G. Brumbaugh has suc ceeded Edward Brooks as superintendent of schools of the city ot Philadelphia. Mr. Carnegie's beneficent provision for the pension ing of aged college and university teachers has taken effective form. Already the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has adopted general rules of procedure, which will not only relieve the needs of many worthy servants ot the public good, without hint or semblance ot charity, but will at the same time greatly quicken the general movement of higher education. Dr. Henry S. Pritchett has resigned from the presidency of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to assume the presidency of the new Foundation. Mr. Carnegie has again taken part in the educational activity of the time by his new foundation, the Simplified Spelling board. The destruction ot San Francisco involved very great losses on the side of education. Out of sixty-eight public school buildings in the city twenty-nine were destroyed, together with the city library and three other great libraries and numerous smaller but not insignificant collections. The Leland Stanford Junior university suffered heavily from the same disaster in the destruction of some of its finest buildings and the losses of educational equipment in some ot the smaller cities of California was very serious. All of these are happenings at home. The international spirit in education, which last year and the year before found expression in the great exposition at St. Louis and the visit of the Mosely com mission and the Royal Prussian commission to this country, has re ceived new confirmation during the year Just past in the endowment by James Speyer of the Theodore Roosevelt professorship at the University of Berlin. This chair, under the Joint administration of Columbia university and the Prussian ministry of education, can hardly fall to spread abroad among the more highly educated classes in Germany a better knowledge of American history and American ideals. Already Prof. John William Burgess has delivered at Ber lin the first series of lectures on this new foundation, bis subject being drawn from the political history of the United States. Among the educational movements of the year in Europe, the first place must be given to those affecting the relations of church and state in the field of elementary Instruction. For the last two or three years the religious question has. in an unusual degree, troubled the educational atmosphere. France was the storm center a year and more ago. The decisive victory of the secuUrlzing move ment in that country has left the situation there comparatively o.ulet durln the last tew months. Now. the center is In the English Parliament. But Prussia, too. Is greatly disturbed. A new school till is now before the Prussian Diet which deals with the source ot school maintenance, defining the proportions ot the funds which shall be provided respectively by the state and the community. The bill looks to an Increase of local taxation, and this, under the Prussian system, involves a clear demarcation between confessional and nonconfesslonal schools. The liberal parties favor the latter type of school (slmultanschulen). In which children ot all denominations receive instruction from the same teacher. Sudx schools are, on the whole, less expensive than those maintained sep arately for the several religious denominations, and, they are ad vocated on other grounds as well. Hitherto they bave been gen erally opposed by the government. It seems altogether likely that the outcome of the hot contention now going on will be the triumph, at least for the time, of the conservatives and the party ot the cen ter (Roman Catholic), who stand tor the denominational , schools. In England the victory of the liberal party meant necessarily the revision of the educational act ot 1902. That measure brought about great improvements in educational administration, and in particular it gave a great impetus to secondary education. But it also introduced the principle, new in English education, that local taxes might be imposed for the support of denominational schools. In practice these taxes, when applied to the maintenance ot de nominational schools, went generally to the so-called 'national" schools, under the control ot the established church. The story of the "passive resistance" and active opposition to this law is familiar to readers generally. The new 'education act Introduced in the House of Commons in April leaves undisturbed the administrative gains of the act of 1902. But it brings forward the sweeping provi sion that "on and after January 1, 1908 a school shall not be recog nized as a public elementary school unless it is a school provided by the local education authority." The Commons, by a large ma jority, has adopted this provision, which would exclude denomina tional schools from any share in public funds, local or national. This does not go back to the status quo ante, in which denomina tional schools might receive an allowance from the government, being debarred only from sharing in the income from local taxation. The bill contains many other provisions, some of them Intended to safeguard the Interests of religious instruction under the new sys tem. The whole ground is fought over with great determination. But closure has been introduced, and it is expected that the bill will go to the House of Lords before Parliament rlte thgj by before August t, The Outlook. " " "