The Modernisation of Palestine.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 13, 27 March 1912, Page 34

The Modernisation of Palestine.

Rapid Development of the Holy Land — Transportation Concessions and Water Supply — Tramways and Telephones — Mecca to be joined up with Damascus — To Mecca by Rail from Paris

By

HAROLD J. SHEPSTONE.

EBY rapidly, and with so little \ / advertising that the rest of the |( world scarcely realises it, the modernisation of Palestine has been going on ever since the triumph of the Young Turkish Party over Alxlul Hamid. In political, educational. and particularly in economic reforms, there has been a great deal of progress. Important railway- and transportation concessions have been

granted, while Jerusalem, Jericho, and Palestine's newest city. Beersheba, have been given a much-needed water supply. Damascus, too. has recently had her water-supply greatly improved, and is the fir-t city in Bible lands to have an electric tramway, and in this particular Beyrout is following suit. It is hoped, too. that Jerusalem will in the near future boast of a tramway service. Indeed in every department of commercial enterprise and activity modern methods are being rapidly brought into vogue. The question of drainage of the principal streets of Jerusalem has recently received attention, and, like Constantinople. the Holy City has got rid of her dogs, and her pavements and -tracts are cleaned by the new sanitaiv department of the Government. Ihen the Turkish authorities recently granted a concession to several English and American companies for the con-strm-tion and exclusive operation of telephones both in the Turkish capital and also in Jerusalem. Indeed, as Constantinople becomes more modernised and adopts Western methods so does Jerusalem. Perhap- it is in transportation facilities and in water-supply that the development is most marked, fine has only io add that last year plans were submitted to the Turkish Parliament for the ‘(instruction of no fewer than 1500 miles of railway, with mineral and oil-rights in the Asiatic dominions of the Sultan, to -how the rapid development now going on in this part of the world. Th • line- of the Hedjaz railway are to be carried with all speed across the 285

miles of desert between Medina and Mecca. Starting from Damascus this line runs almost due south through wild and sterile country for more than 820 to Medina, the burial-place of Mohammed. It is principally used for carrying Mohammedan pilgrims. At many "of its more important stations one can now send telegrams in any European language to all parts ot the world. Until

quite recently they had to be handed in written either in Turkish or Arabic. Tourists visiting Palestine now make use of this line lor reaching the rockhewn city of 1* tra. on the edge of the great Arabian desert. It means a saving of at least eight days in the journey. This is, of course, by no means the only railway in Palestine. The first to be opened was that which connects the seaport of Jaffa with Jerusalem, built by

Note the grooves in the stone worn by bucket ropes. the French, and which will finally revert to Turkey. This line is fifty-five miles in length, and the journey is a particularly interesting one, as one passes through the scenes of many Ohl Testament events, such as the birthplace of Samson. Mizpeh (where the Children of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, were called together several times, and where Saul was anointed king), the spot where the Ark rested, ami many other sacred places. Then followed one from Beyrout, on the coast, to Damascus, also the work of the French. Crossing as it does the Lebanon regions, the line passes through some really beautiful scenery. The distance by rail between Beyrout and Damascus is ninety-one miles, and the railway is a narrow gauge, and for climbing tin* mountainous portions (about twenty miles) a cog-wheel-and-rack system is employed. Of more recent date is the Turkish line from Haifa, also on the coast, round the southern end of the Sea of Galilee to Damascus. Ibis line owes its inception to the Me-ca project- When the latter work was put in hand all materials for its construction had to be carried from Beyrout to Damascus by th? French railway. The rates charged the Turkish Government by this line were so high, however, that it was decided to Build this side line, giving them a direct communication with a seaport. Th? gauge is 4a ft., and it was erected by English engineers. As the track runs across 'the Province of Galilee and touches many places mentioned in the Xew Testament, it is naturally much patronised by tourists, and from its inception has been a financial success. Skirting along the foot of Mount Carmel the track runs to Afuleh. close to Nazareth. It was originally intended to continue the rails round the western shores of the lake. If this had been done Tibeti is. Magdala, ami Capernaum would have been connected with the Mediterranean by rail. The engineers, however, finally decided to run the iron road round the southern end of the lake. The track passes through •Semakh. at the southern extremity of

the Sea of Galilee, from which boats carry passengers across to Tiberias. From Seinakh the line proceeds up the wild gorge of the Yarmuek. and thence to Daraa, where it joins the main line from Damascus that runs down southwards to Medina. Daraa now boasts of a large repair shop for repairing disabled locomotives. The station here also possesses a modern restaurant ami hotel, as well as a post office ami 'telegraph office.

THE BAGHDAD LINE. Of the lines yet to be built in Asiatic Turkey one will extend from Samsoon. on the Black Sea. in a south-easterly direction to a point near the Persian border- This district is expected to become a great oil-producing country, and only capital is needed to develop it. Another will start from some port on the Mediterranean, not yet determined, and stretch in a north-easter!v direction to

Lake Van, crossing the other line. Then, of course, there is the famous Baghdad enterprise, the concession to construct which was given to the German Emperor some eleven years ago by the deposed Sultan. Here it may be added that this particular railway does not concern Palestine. but it is the link by which the Holy Land will be finally connected by rail with Europe.

Few realise what this will mean in the way of connecting the Asiatic dominions of the Sultan with Europe by direct railway communication, and also, for that matter, with the kingdom of the Shah. Another ISO miles and ‘the Baghdad line will reach Kill is. already joined up with the Hedjaz enterprise. If the Bosphorus has by that time been spanned by a bridge, which has already been suggested by the authorities in

Constantinople, the Turkish capital will be in railway communication with Damascus, Medina, and Mecca, and also with the rest of Europe. It is also proposed to run a branch line from Jerusalem to Zizah, thus joining the Holy City with the Hedjaz route. Lt would be possible then to travel from Paris, Berlin. Vienna, or any of the other centres of Europe direct to Jerusalem and other cities of the Holv Land by rail. WATER SUPPLY. Coming now to the question of water supply, a very important consideration in all Eastern cities, we find much being done in this direction by the authorities. Recently an English company introduced into Beyrout the water of the Dog River, which is some miles to the south of the town, which now enjoys an abundant

supply of pure water. Damascus has also recently had her water supply greatly improved, an 1 in the Holy City itself new waterworks were recently opened with much pomp. la ancient times Jerusalem |»ossessed a generous supply of pure spring water, with which the “Great Sea” and other of tin* vast reservoirs beneath the temple area were tilled, ami which made it possible for the city to withstand prolonged sieges. Ihis water was brought from the south. About three miles to the south of Bethlehem. which is six miles to the south of Jerusalem, lie the three great reservoirs attributed by many to Solomon, ami which are now called Solomon's Pools. The water was brought from these pools to the city by two aqueducts, but

The large house in the distance is the Government Serai.

The Government Building or Serai to the right, the principal hotel to the left. Tradition locates the temptation of Christ on the mountain at the left.

for many centuries they have been out of repair and never used. The result Jias been that in modern times Jerusalem has been dependent on the rainfall, ijvhich comes in the winter months, for Its water supply, accumulated from the i’oofs in rock-hewn cisterns built generally beneath the houses. A short rainfall, a few years ago, made it necessary tor the municipal authorities to run a daily tank-train from a spring at Bettir several miles down the Jaffa and Jerusalem railway. Now this is no longer necessary as Solomon’s old aqueduct has been repaired, or rather a modern pipe has. been built along it, and pure water is now obtainable in the city from the ancient Source. It is now proposed to build large reservoirs at the springs of Ain Ji'airah and Ain Fouwar, situated in the Hipper part of the valley of the Brook Clxerith, some twelve and eighteen miles north of the city respectively, and bring In water from here. A German firm Offere to erect the reservoirs and piping On favourable terms.

THE SEVEN WELLS OF BEERSHEBA. The next Palestine town to have a Tvater-supply waa Beersheba, the name (meaning “Seven-wells," the site being identified with the history of the patriarch. It is a place of hoar antiquity, and yet, as a town, it is the newest in Palestine, having been but (recently established and built as a Government centre, in order to bring the Bedouin tribes of this locality into subjection. As in Bible times, when “from Dan to Beersheba” was proverbial, so now it marks the southernmost limit of Turkish rule.

A more recent attempt to establish another Government centre further south has failed. The wells mentioned in Genesis are in the valley below the town. It is said that all seven of them can be identified. From one of them the water is pumped up to the town

through piping by a motor. In this region the rich soil, under favourable conditions, still yields a hundred fold of wheat or barley, as the sa’cred record tells us was the case in the time of Isaac.

If it seems strange that one of the most ancient sites, where stands the newest Government post, should be one of the first in Palestine to have an adequate water-supply, it is equally singular that the little .squalid mud village of Jericho, whose only importance is because of the crowds of tourists that, in the season, pass the night in the hotels there, should be the next locality favoured with the water-supply. Here a three-inch pipe has been laid from Elisha’s fountain, which lies to the west, near the ruins of old Jericho, for two tfiousand metres, to near the Serai, or Government House of the present Jericho, whence it is distributed by small pipes to the hotels, convents, and mosque. So that now travellers en route for the Jordan and Dead Sea can have pure drinking-water in place of the fouled water that formerly came through the ditches by the roadside, from the distant fountain. Then all over the country the primitive way of raising water for irrigation and other purposes is being rapidly superseded by pumps driven by kerosene motors.