Bee
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OMAHA
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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. " " "
