BY RAIL TO JERUSALEM.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIX, Issue 9476, 13 December 1918, Page 5

BY RAIL TO JERUSALEM.

(By K.T., •;■! thr "Daify yiail")

[The broad-gauge- railway from Cairo to Jerusalem \\«s opened vi July, but in the tumult o£ the ..worlii war tho <?"oui pa<.«od almost unnoticed. Its \ -itcci, hou- ■. ever, will bo,felt, long utter th»war, and, in its particular waj it irs almost- aa great »v f\<>m .1the opening tho Sue? Cuti.*).] "I shall be in Jou.^ik-iii—luiS see—-ych—to-morrow nigh I.''

; I wa-s having a loiieh tea in liv; lounge of Shepherd'-* Hotel, Cairo. * Opposite (o mo wf re iwo young oft]- • cers ou leave from die Iront, and stray Hakes from a \t;V\ light conversation drifi-cd coward* mo, and passed away into the realm oi' the commonplace. But- the last words stuck: "In Jerusali-ni—io-inorrow night." I looked at my ; it \"m> halfpast four. Some years aj^o I had had thoughts of visiting the Holy City, but had given, up all idcu of the trip on account ot die iiie^onu; journey. ■ The overland route, irom Ismailia to Jerusalem, via El Arish and Gaza, took at the ihortest ihroc -weeks, and was not only highly expensive* but also not a little dangerous. The alternative route was a sea trip front *• Port Said in a coaster to Jaffa, and tlienco by \he> Turkisli railway tc Jerusalem. Tho shortest time in which this could be managed frontCairo was about 36 hours.

■ But the advancing British Army has left in its wake a well-laid doublo- . trick; .starring from Kaucara, on the Suez Canal, it skirts the seashore io Gaza, the gateway of Palestine. To Lho south of Gaza the line branches, one line running to Jerusalem, via Beershoba, and the other hugging the'coast to Ludd, which is the jump-, irig-off place for further extensions to the north. The old Turkish metregauge line from Ludd lo Jerusalem has been converted to Lho standard gauge, and it is thus possible to go right through without changing. When the lino is open for civilian traffic in 'the near future it will h<* possible to enter a wagon-lit at Cairo Station, any evening afc dinner-time s and to hove tea- at the New Hotel, Jerusalem, on the following day. As for tho scenery—well, night* would prevent one from seeing the splendid new swing bridge across the canal at Kantara, or tho quiet graveyards and the toy-like blockhouses on the Sinai Desert. Dawn would disclose Khan Yunis and the fairy-like plantations of the oasis. Before breakfast; Gaza would bo passed, with its broken white houses and trench-scar-rod fields.

The morning would be spent in a gradual approach to the hills of Judea, which run nearly parallel with - the ' train, but incline gradually towards the line, liero and there a mud-walled - village, with plentifully leaved trees shading the tiny dwellings—the cities of' the Philistines.

Before luncheon one could enter the orchard area, where, as far as the eye can see, plantations of orange trees cover the undulating country. A halt at Ludd., and then -on—past Kamleh, . the quaint, ' old-fashioned birthplace cf Saint George, to Arsuf, where'the hills meet the plains. From there to Jerusalem the' engine pants wheezingly tip ■ a rugged and rocky ■ , wadi ' between the mountains. By 4 o'clock thp v tableland wouldvbo,reach- ■ ed, and the train would pull slowly . into the little hillside station, below " tho Bethlehem Road, which is' the railway terminu9 of Jerusalem, tho - moat interesting city in the-world. But there is a danger. ■ Tho contrast between Cairo and Jerusalem is the contrast between the fever in the west and the slumber of antiquity. The railway must not bo tho cause of spoiling Jerusalem in any way, for tho railway brings Jerusalem almost within the cirrfc of easily .accessible • ■ places.