Catt, Carrie Chapman . Diary Nov. 14. Dec. 17, 1941 "The Holy Land" Diary-Palestine 1911 Trip around World When we arrived at Port Said, we found the entire port and everything in it completely preempted. King George, with an escort of warships, was en route to India and would arrive within a few hours. Every bed in every hotel was engaged in advance at a high figure and no trains would leave for Cairo until the King had come and gone. We were in a predicament. The man from Cooks, however, came to our rescue and got us on a steamer bound for the "Holy Land" and off we went before the King arrived. Jaffa, the port of entry to Jerusalem, had been a threatening spot for hundreds of years. A scattered row of cruel, jagged rocks run all along the harbor front about forty yards from the shore. We were taken off in row boats and the sailors threaded their cautious was through these rocks as our boat danced a lively jig all the way. To cheer our spirits, we were told that, at times, passengers were not able to land at all and that not long before a boat load were tipped into the sea and none was saved. Here it was, so it is said that Andromeda was chained to a rock and if, in truth, Persens really rescued her, he had a lively adventure and the story deserves the immortality it received. Through this harbor Salomon brought his cedars from Lebanon to build his palace and temple at Jerusalem and here, also, Jonah, trying to escape the Lord's command, was thrown overboard and was swallowed by a "big fish". For something over two thousand years, these rocks threatened the lives of all who entered the port and many lives were actually lost there, but, in the World War I, the British wanted to land troops there and blew the rocks up with dynamite and now even Jonah would find the port safe and calm. - 2 - A stone pier, filled to capacity with men, seemed to our unaccustomed eyes a picture from Bible days. With red fezes and turbans, white, blue, and black gowns, all out much like a woman's old-fashioned nightgown, it was a colorful sight. We followed the "man from Cooks" up steep, rocky, narrow and inexpressibly dirty streets and finally arrived at The Jerusalem, our hotel. Here, the doors were labelled with Bible names. Mine was Reuben. In each room, quotations relating to the room name were neatly painted on wood in English and German. Mine was: "Reuben, my first born, thou art my might and the beginning of my strength." We made a contract with an intelligent Syrian to serve as dragoman, or guide, and to show us the sights. Our first call was upon Zion, being talked of now and then in the newspapers, but not yet having won to its support a great number of Jews. Baron Rothschild had bought six hundred acres of land about 1893, eight miles from Jaffa, and turned it over to colonists. Thus, Zion began. In 1911, about two thousand people were said to be living there. The colonists cultivated olives, apricots, oranges, and almonds, for exportation and they also made wine from their own grapes. We visited a school where a class was reading the Bible in Hebrew. On our way to Zion, we had driven over the plain of Sharon, bounded by the Hills of Judea. Men were plowing, many using a camel and I was told that the plow handled was quite like those used in Bible days. "Put his hand to the plow" was a correct expression and was still used. The stone, narrow roads were filled with people, mostly men, riding loaded donkeys, driving -4- have picked out "spots" of Christian note and have built over them tombs, or altars, called holy, where prayers are said. Later, we were to learn that Mohammed and his followers share the reverence for this Holy Land too. There seems to be no record in the Bible, however inconsequential, that has not been definitely located and made holy by a marker of some kind, ranging in importance from a simple guide post to an imposing church or temple. On our way, the guide pointed out a big cave, high upon the mountain, where Samson made love to Delilah, the plain Rephaim, where David fought Goliath, the cave where the ravens fed Elijah, the spot on the River Jordan where Christ was baptised, the tomb of David, a gate in the old wall of Jerusalem through which Christ came. This gate is now stoned up because the Moslem fear the Christians will take the city some day and will try coming in through that gate. That was in 1911. Now, the Arabs fear the coming of Jews, not the Christians. Further, we saw the spot where Peter denied Christ and where the cock crew! At one point, we could see ten villages. One was Endor, from which the witch came; another, Shumen, where lived the Shulamite woman. At Nazareth, the spot is shown where the angels' message was received by the Virgin, the spot where the Virgin lived, the workshop of Joseph, the table upon which Christ dined with his disciples. These relics are owned by monasteries and are shown for profit. We took a memorable trip to Jericho and the Dead Sea, 4,300 feet below Jerusalem. The name of the Jordan River is said to be better known throughout the world than that of any other river. It is immortalized by hundreds of historic or miraculous incidents. Here, Moses and the Israelites, after forty years -5- of wandering, were passed clean over Jordan, "Jacob, Gideon, Abner, David, Abraham, and others crossed the river. Naaman was cured of his leproay by its waters, Christians baptised, etc., etc., but one thing not usually known is this: during the last sixty miles the river, by plunging over twenty-seven cascades, and rapids, falls 600 feet, a greater fall, it is said, than that of any other river except the Sacramento, empties its waters into the Dead Sea. We were entertained along the road by the unusual aspect of the people;- shepherds, barefooted with turbans on their heads and coats of color and gay striped, flowing garments. We called them all Davids. There were patriarchs on donkeys, caravans of loaded camels, women with loads on their heads. In the Valley of the Jordan there is perennial summer. Tomatoes bear twelve months of the year; roses are always in bloom and many fruit and flower gardens were all aglow in this last of December, 1911. We saw many, many pools, springs, or stoned wells. Always, at the right hours, from fifteen to twenty women would be there, surrounded by a host of children. Their stone jugs were laid upon the ground while their owners had a comfortable chat. These scenes were precisely what one might have seen two thousand years ago for, among all peoples, women have been the water carriers and they also took the place of the daily newspaper, exchanging the news and of schools for expounding the language. The holiest place to the Mohammedans, next to Mecca, is Harem esh Sheriff (Palace of the Temple). Here, David erected an altar and Solomon built his palace and a great temple. A huge rock, believed to have been David's original altar for burnt offerings is here. Over it, the Moslims have built a Mosque,- -6- the most beautiful thing in Jerusalem. From this rock, Mohammed ascended to Heaven; the rock. being spiritualized, attempted to follow him, but the Angel Gabriel held it back, the finger marks being clearly visible!!! The rock is thus suspended between Heaven and Earth, although some sustaining pillars appear to have an influence upon the matter. The Jews believe the Holy of Holies is the Ark of the covenant and that it is hidden beneath the rock, so no orthodox Jew goes inside the temple but he holds the temple hilltop in great reverence. Christians recall that Christ went into the Temple to drive money changers out, so it is a sacred spot to them as well. When we entered, shoes of felt were given to us to put over our own foot gear, so that our earthly feet should not touch the sacred floor. Suddenly, a chorus of voices rang out which made us pause and wonder. Alas, I was the cause. I had lost one of my shoes and my earthly one was stepping heedlessly upon the heavenly holiness of the floor. The wrong was soon righted, but I became the chief object of observation for an embarrassing moment. A spring exists somewhere about and many curbs are fed by it. Crowds of men were standing about, waiting to get their goat skins filled with water. These skins include the legs. A round piece is sewed over the hole made by the removal of the tail. The water is poured in at the neck, through large tin funnels, and the opening tied fast with string. These men go about Jerusalem, from house to house, selling water with these goats in their backs and are as weird a sight as can be found anywhere. The Rock is supposed, by the Moslims, to cover the mouth of an abyss in which the waters of the Flood are still heard roaring and pouring. It was here, it is said, that Abraham contemplated the sacrifice of Isaac, his son. A star in the floor indicates the center of the -7- world. Under the Rock is a cave, real or manufactured, and here the Jews believe that David, Solomon, Abraham and Elijah prayed and the Moslims believe that the souls of the deceased assemble weekly to pray. Mohammet said: "One prayer here is better than one thousand elsewhere." God's throne will be planted here, it is believed by many, and the final judgement will be announced by the blowing of trumphets. In fact, this rock seems to be a most important factor in creation for the above is only a small part of the remarkable beliefs concerning it. While this templed hill, once David's and Solomon's, is the most sacred spot to the Jews and Mohammedans, Christians have two "holy of holies". (1) The Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem. Here, the manger in the basement is shown and a star in the floor indicated the place where Christ was born. (2) The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where the Tomb of Christ is located. When the Mohammedans got possession of Palestine, the Catholic Churches of Greece, Armenia, and Rome, appealed to the Sultan of Turkey to give them the holy spots. In consequence, the holy rights over the most important spots are divided among the three and an armed Arab Moslem soldier stands at each one to keep the peace between the Christians. At the Church of the Nativity, hundreds of soldiers are massed on Christmas and other great days to see that peace is preserved while the three groups of gentle Christians worship the Prince of Peace. At the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the great time is Easter. Then, the church and the space around the church is filled by thousands of people. The priests gather about the tomb. A holy fire mysteriously comes through a small window from the tomb. The priests light their candles by it and turn, lighting the candles of those standing -8_ nearest and these, in turn, light their neighbors' candles until every person in the church has a lighted candle. Then those in the church go outside and light all the candles carried by the great crowd there. The church sells the candles at a good price before the hour set for the holy fire to appear. These, when lighted, are carried away on foot, on horse, donkey, and camel back and, at night, holy candles are supposed to burn in every Christian home. Some keep the holy fire burning all the way from Jerusalem to Russia, Armenia, and Greece. In distant churches it is said the holy fire is kept alight year after year. The church is in the custody of the Moslems and they carry the key. The three Catholic groups have the right of mass at the tomb and at the Church of the Nativity, each has a chapel. To keep peace, Moslem soldiers are always present and on Christmas Day a row of them stands in a circle around the inside of the buildings. Another church, called "Ecce Homo", is built where the Judgement Hall of Pilate stood. Here, he gave Christ over to the crucifiers. Often, the chanting of the Koran from a Mineret divided attention with the ringing of Christian bells and, everywhere, dirty diseased, degenerate men, women, and children whined for alms. Perhaps for two thousand years they, and their ancestors had always been hungry and had never had a bath! In one church hangs a tapestry, very old. There are several holes in it, about two inches in diameter, bound with brass like the eyelet of a shoe. Through these, ropes were passed which, when pulled, lowered or heightened the lamps. Each brass ring was kept in place by four rivets. Two disappeared from one -9- ring, so a soldier stands there day and night lest someone put in new rivets and thus claim some advantage for his church! In another, a row of lamps, hang, suspended by chains. One chain has no lamp. A soldier, always a Moslem, stands by. Why? The Armenians got permission to hang a chain there. All agreed, but when an attempt was made to attach a lamp upon it, the Latins made a row and said they never agreed that a lamp should be hung upon the chain! The dispute grew serious, hence the ever present soldier. A window, covered with dust and cobwebs, is shown in another corner. Thirty years before, one of the denominations was about to have it washed when another claimed the window as its share of the church. So, there was another row and neither would let the other wash it, therefore the cobwebs accumulated for thirty more years and are probably there now, thirty years later. The Armenians spread a handsome rug in a passage to their chapel, but the Latins had to pass over it diagonally to reach their chapel. The Armenians complained that the Latins were soiling their carpet and there was another grievance, so, one dark night, the Latins brought some big shears and cut the carpet diagonally from corner to corner, so they could walk on the bare floor and there the tattered rug still lay in 1911. These are illustrations from the host of superstitions, ignorances, and fanaticisms, that still lie behind wars and all the decisions dependent upon them. Alas, this world of ours is governed much more by prejudice and intollerance than by justice and reason. It will still be a long way to civilization. - 10 - While in the Holy Land, we saw villages, some once belonging to the Phillistines and others to the Canaanites. We crossed the Sea of Gallilee, took a rowing trip on the Jordan, tasted the salt waters of the Dead Sea. We saw a rock with the footprint of Christ upon it and the dent in the rock where his staff had rested, so they said. We drove from Jerusalem to Nazareth and, on the way, passed over the watershed separating the Mediterranean from the Jordan. There were many terraced hills, covered with olive orchards. Men, women and children were gathering the olives, climbing tall ladders and often loading big baskets on the heads of women or backs of donkeys. On all sides, men were plowing with their little, one-handed plows and wore the unusual long gown. Women were carrying water jars on their heads and one woman was doing her family washing. She sat, cross legged, before a stone upon which lay one garment. She occasionally threw a handful of water over it and constantly beat it with a stick. The distance lying between that method and the soap and washboard way of half a century ago is thousands of years. We stopped over night at Nablus, a small stone built village. Nearby, we found Jacobs' well. Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans agree that this is the land Jacob bought. Surely it is a good parcel of land "for it lies in a fertile valley." Here, a tomb was built for Joseph and a well, seventy-two feet deep, is declared to be Jacob's. The Greeks possess the spot and they were building over it quite a grand new church with Jacob's well in the basement. In that vicinity, we saw plenty of Joseph's coats. They are still woven as were those of Judea, but these are still gayer with broad, red stripes. It is on the identical spot where Jacob received the coat given by the Brethren that Joseph's tomb stands! - 11 - The town of Nablus is the home of the last remnant of the Samaritans and, at the time of our visit (1911) , there were only 180 of them left. They were very poor, but they believe themselves the first of all the chosen people. A tall, pale faced, dignified man was the High Priest, clad in a long white robe and red turban. These people have a copy of the Pentateuch which is supposed to be the oldest Bible manuscript in existence. It is written in old Samaritan and few can read it. A very antique silver case of strange shape and manufacture holds the parchment which unrolls for reading. The little dribs that tourists pay for a sight of this wonder and the sale of the little tin imitations of the silver holder for the manuscript seem to be the sole income for these departing people. On our way, we visited the Mount of Olives and saw a small mountain, topped by two churches each with lofty spires, one Greek and one Russian. Each church claims to rest upon the exact spot where the ascension took place. From here, Christ led his Disciples after the Last Supper to the Garden of Gethsemane. At Gethsemane, we found another church and bought cards to which a dried olive leaf was attached and a printed description announced that the leaf had come from a tree standing there when Christ came or if not, from a tree which was a direct descendant. The olive tree lives long and those in the garden are believed to be hundreds of years old. At Nazareth, we experienced the worst hotel on our trip around the world. It was kept by Arabs. No one slept, every bed was occupied by crawlers and when Mrs. Boesina paid her bill, she handed a tumbler full (she said it was full) of bedbugs. There is but one town pool and that is fed by a wonderful spring. It is the only water in the place. Here, then, Christ and Mary - 12 - came for water. The women and children we saw gathered around the pool and were unspeakably dirty and in tatters. We were told they made a different appearance at festivals, but their work-a-day clothes were more repulsive than those I saw any other place around the globe. At a distance, the gay coloring of the clothing made a picturesque sight. At home, a man plowing in his somber overalls, and driving a plodding team, is an uninteresting sight, but in Palestine, a man dressed in a long white robe, a bright blue over dress with a yellow turban on his head, his young son following along clad in scarlet, while a camel pulled the one-handled plow, is a sight to make any artist rave. Such views were common in 1911 and the description is not exaggerated. At length we came to the top of the mountain and looked down upon the blue and sparkling Sea of Galilee with the village of Tiberias nestling on its beach. In the distance, snow covered mountains towered above all others. We wound back and forth, and round and round, until we arrived. We were suddenly stopped by an august man of authority, brilliantly clad in Turkish fez and gay trousers. He demanded a clean bill of health from Nazareth and at least twenty men and boys looked over his shoulders to read the paper our dragoman produced. We realized that we appeared as queer to these people as they to us. We noted their features resembled our own, but they were all black-eyed and dark skinned. Artists have immortalized Christ as a man with blue eyes and auburn hair! "How so?" I frequently asked myself for the people of which he was one were brunette in type with dark eyes and skin. I found the answer later in South America where I saw a picture of Christ, painted by an artist, half Spanish and half Indian. His Christ was very dark brown with a braid of black hair - 13 - hanging down his back and a broad Mexican sombrero on his head. Then I knew that every people have interpreted "God created man in his own image and likeness" to mean that man had been made by God of their tribe and kind. We had a good night because all four of us had a bath in the one and only and, therefore, the first bathtub in Tiberius, supplied by water from the Sea of Galilee. The next morning was Thanksgiving, November 30, 1911. We were loaded with our goods and chattels into a large row boat and travelled across the sea to Samak. We were greeted by a glorious sunrise over the mountains and the source of the Jordan. We heard the train whistle, whereupon the boatmen leaped into the water, took us, one by one, in their arms and carried us ashore! The train time was 9:30 A.M., but this morning it left at 8:30 A.M. Why, we never knew. It was an all day's trip to Damascus. On the way, we passed through the Mohammedan land of Druses. They were only a different group of people to us then. Under the League of Nations, the Mandate over Syria had been given to the French and the Druses, after a time, startled the world with a fierce rebellion. The French (see slip attached) When I had been in the Holy Land three days, had made the trip to Jericho, the Dead Sea, and the Jordan, had eaten a "mess of pottage" and heard that Palestine was being visited by a "plague of flies", I thought every congregation, Jewish and Christian, throughout the world, should send its clergyman to visit this country in order to catch the "atmosphere" in which Bible history had been produced. The manners and habits of the people, their clothing and their ways of life, resembled in a The French had informed the world that the Druses were a barbaric, ignorant, and primitive people. Afterward, at a Foreign Policy luncheon, I heard a young man, who had been living with the Druses when the war came on, outline the causes of that war and I have afterwards wished I had his words which were, in part: "The cause of the war was a cat and a quarrel over its possession." Later, Mrs. Osterheld, a good suffragist of Yonkers whose husband had died and who had thereafter gone on a long trip around the world, came to see me. She brought me the most precious souvenir I possess. It was a magazine printed in Arabic by the Duses and it had in it an article by a young Druse woman who had been at school at the Beirut[gh] College and it was a description of the organization of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance and, lo, my picture illustrated the article. What she said about me, I could not read. Later still, I went to speak at the International House on a Sunday evening. I began with a supper and they told me I could choose students of any nationality there to take supper with me. In a spirit of mischief, I suppose, I choose the Druses and two of them supped with me. I have never believed, since, that the pronouncement of any nation that its enemy was barbaric was necessarily founded on fact. - 14 - surprising manner what they must have been two thousand years ago. Quite naturally, we imagined the people we saw along the roadsides walking and talking through familiar Bible scenes. We, as naturally, gave them Bible appelations. We saw many Josephs with coats of many colors. There were patriarchs from Moses to Jacob, sometimes rising on donkeys, sometimes on camels and sometimes walking with a "staff". Witches and beggars were plentiful. We saw an occasional Disciple and Mary and Martha were to be seen at nearly every pool with jars or gourds on their heads in which to carry home the water for the household needs. Shepherds, driving their sheep and carrying crude whistles which, "they said", were precisely the same as David used, were a frequent sight. I bought a whistle to keep as a curio. We visited a native home of consequence and saw an infant, four months old, in "swaddling robes." The hands and feet were bound fast by the quilt, tied securely with a strap wound around it several times. The baby cannot sit or bend, but must be horizontal and be held perpendicularly. It was given the bottle and went to sleep standing. Then a piece of cloth, thick enough to keep the air out, was put over its mouth and nose. Yet the population has increased. The total was a curious and interesting experience but when we had completed our fourteen days' tour, I changed my mind and thought all the clergymen had better be kept safely at home lest they should ask themselves the logical question: why have these people changed so little in two thousand years? They use the same plow as in the days of Moses. They carry heavy loads on camel back and have devised no other way to ease a one-sided burden than to make the poor camel carry a balancing stone on the other side. They sleep on floors, - 15 - sit cross-legged, and sell wheat by a small measure which is heaped as high as the measure will hold. It is a startling but common sight to see a greasy old man, smoking a pipe and sitting cross-legged on the dirty street while, before him, are boards, covering considerable space, on which little loaves of bread are rising for the oven which opens directly upon the street. His business is to keep the dogs off. The last Sultan, the military overlord, had allowed neither electric lights nor telephones. That Sultan died and his son, in 1911, allows a few electric lights, but, as yet, no telephones. "What are these people thinking?" a clergyman would ask as he wandered among these age-old scenes. The American colony in Jerusalem, where we stayed when there, was composed of sweet natured, dear people, trying to live lives based upon "love thy neighbor as thyself." They had made many friends with their nursing and visiting, but the leaders believed that Jerusalem would, in time, be a Christian city, the earthly capital of the Great God. They were convinced that in God's own time the Jews will acknowledge Christ as the Messiah that their history had prophesied and the Mohammedans, too, will acknowledge Christ as God instead of a prophet. The Jews, meanwhile, in 1911, were believing that in God's own time Jerusalem would be a Jewish city once more, Solomon's Temple would be rebuilt where once it stood with the new holy stones preserved from the ancient temple built into the new walls. The Mohammedans knew very well that as they controlled the City and owned most of the land around it in 1911, they always would and that from the minarets their representatives would always call the faithful to daily prayers and to chant the Koran. - 16 - Over thirty years have passed since 1911; what now? The German "terror" has driven millions of Jews in all occupied territories from their homes, robbed them of their dearest possessions, and deliberately murdered, it is estimated, at least two millions of them. At the end of the last war, it was interpreted by the world at large that the Balfour Declaration had promised the Jews a Homeland in Palestine and Great Britain was therefore given a Mandate over that country. Great Britain, itself, had a divided opinion and has now, the Jews say, refused to grant permits of entry to many thousands of refugees, fleeing from the devouring devastation of the Germans. The Jews are seeking to establish a Jewish army, properly armed and trained, in order to defend their Homeland and to help "win the war." The Arabs are arming, too, for they declare an Arabian Empire was promised them after World War I by the British Lawrence and they are thinking the Jews are the handicap which prevents it completion. In fact, the faiths of two thousand years have been whipped into a new variety of zeal and vengeance in the Holy Land. The bigotry, always present, has grown narrower; the fanaticism, never absent, has grown fiercer and, therefore, to the rapidly mounting number of problems to be settled when the nations lay down their arms, is Palestine, the Holy Land. Who shall rule over it and how? Where is the man or nation wise enough to answer? If no answer is forthcoming, what? Meanwhile, out of the mass of memories of "holy spots" and places, and ancient customs in Palestine and Syria, the one which lingers longest and seems the most inexplicable is the Jewish Wailing Wall. For hundreds of years, Jews have been accustomed to go to that corner of the old wall of Jerusalem, still standing, - 17 - every day from 4 to 5 o'clock and especially on Friday. They go to bewail the fall of Jerusalem. There were 100 men and 75 women present at the wall. There were many Rabbis in plush coats and fur caps. The Leader chants:- For the palace that lies desolate Response: We sit in solitude. Other chants of Leaders: For the walls that are overthrown For our majesty that is departed For our great men who lie dead, etc., etc., We pray Thee have mercy on Zion. Response: Gather the children of Jerusalem, etc., etc. Men and women kiss the stones which are part of the old wall and wail as we westerners have never heard wailing before and they shed real tears while the atmosphere is depressingly solemn. The manifestation may seem curious, but, when considered in connection with the history of the place and the fact that generation after generation have been wailing and praying in this place and in this way for centuries, it becomes a phenomenon more impressive than any other at all comparable to it. In Damascus, we found holy places numerous and much revered. In the chief mosque is a tomb, said to be that of John the Baptist. All Christian prophets are also Mohammedan prophets. Here, too, is the tomb of Saladin who conquered the crusaders. Outside the City, there is some of the very old City Wall and a spot is marked, made famous by St. Paul: "Then the disciples took him by night and let him down by the wall in a basket for the gates were guarded." The walls truly look old enough to justify the claim. We saw much well worth remembering in Syria, but the greatest of all was the ruin of what is believed to the Greek Helipolis. Wars destroyed the city, but even an earthquake - 18 - and the conquering Mohammedans could not destroy the temples which still amaze the modern tourist. There is an immense Court to the Temple of Juniper. There is a Temple to the Sun, one to Bacchus, one to Venus. All four are decorated with carving in stone exquisitely done in elaborate and artistic patterns. Niches for statues were numerous, but no statues remain. Great columns of solid rock, ten feet in diameter, were lying prone or broken, while some slender Coninthian columns were still standing. The stone for the walls came from a quarry nearby. We went there. One stone, sixty feet long and (being square), eight feet on each side, was lying as it had been left long, long ago. The carving is plainly unfinished and it is possible that some part of the Temples were never completed. It is believed that three blocks of stone are the largest ever used in a building. There are 64 feet, 63 1/2 feet, 62 1/2 feet long by 13 feet by 10 feet. One is filled with wonder as to how stones of such great weight could have been brought and elevated to their places in a land where donkeys and camels were, in 1911, still the only means of conveyance. We climbed some cut stone stairs to a great terrace which commanded a magnificent view of the mountains. The ruin of Baalbek whose builders and history, as well as the story of its undoing, are not certainly known, stands as an unanswerable challenge from ancient to modern architects. I awoke the next morning with the memory of this glorious ancient creation blotting out all other thoughts, but, alas, before arising, I was counting the bites on my hands and arms to my elbows. There were twenty-five on one and seventeen on the other. We had been bitten by bedbugs, fleas, and mosquitoes all the way. I had met all three at other places and times, but - 19 - I had never given hospitality to all three at once until I went to Palestine. In Damascus, there is a market where second-hand things are sold and it goes by the illuminating title of "the louse market." That was one pest we escaped. My conviction was that every kind of vermin had prospered undisturbed since the days of the ancient Jews. I have had no late bulletins, however, on this important subject and hope the incoming hordes of returning Jews have shouted "scat" to these old-time "plagues" and that they have been well supplied with modern antidotes. When we arrived at Jaffa, it was with the intention of making only a four days' stay in Palestine. Indeed, we would not have come at all had not the King of England and his warships chosen that particular moment to block the Egyptian port while all the population crowded into it to express their deference to his Majesty. No sooner, however, had we slipped over the frontier than cholera broke out in Jaffa and that port was closed. We escaped very happily through Bayreuth after a two weeks' visit, but the next morning we were informed that out ship was being held under the suspicion of cholera and, eventually, the ship and its seven hundred passengers were taken to Alexandria. Our group of four women, one husband who had joined us and an English clergyman, were all there were from the Western world. The remainder of the seven hundred were Arabs, Egyptians, Armenians, and mixed races, Mohammedans, Jews, and Christians. We passed in a file and stuck out our tongues for an Egyptian officer to look at and were finally stowed away for the night. The worst meals conceivable were served us at a good price per each. After much discomfort and some dread of possibilities, we reached Cairo, all suffering from dysentery, but without cholera symptoms. After - 20 - a few days there, our companions, accompanied by the husband of one, left us to return to their respective homes and Dr. Jacobs and I, both fumigated, our bites from crawlers healed, our dysenteries abated, the respectables of the earth departed from Egypt with only a limited sightseeing to our credit. While we were pent up in the hot and well-nigh insufferable quarantine station, we were continually reminded of a story a consul had told us. Cholera had visited Palestine many times. Upon one occasion, a man had been appointed to bury those who died of it in Jaffa. He buried three, all the cases they had. The man above said: "What is three? Not enough for a report,- make it twenty." So they did and people were quarantined and put to many inconveniences that the rascals might get a "rake off." We wondered whether it was genuine cholera that threatened or if it was Egyptian politics taking a pick at our pocketbooks. When, a year later, Dr. Jacobs and I were in Tokyo and about to separate, she returning to Amsterdam across Siberia and I, crossing the Atlantic to San Francisco, we reviewed our trip, surveyed the advantages gained and the miseries suffered, counted the costs and the profits. It was then that we asked each other the question: What country has stirred our minds and thoughts most deeply and given us the largest returns and we both answered: Palestine, the land we did not care to visit and to Palestine we said we would both like to go again. [Palestine] No country in the world is more picturesque, and none more dispairingly archaic than Palestine. For centuries it has been the point of contest amoung Jews, Christians and Mohammedans each group the narrowist and most bigoted of its sect. At Benares the Mecca of the Hindus, we saw the hilly bank of the Ganges crowded with hundreds of people men and women, who had come to bathe in its holy water and at the same time to make offerings to it and to pray to it. On the bank is a small open temple erected to the small pox goddess I saw a young man with intelligent face bring his three young children and make offerings to her and then bathe the foreheads of his children from the font of holy water which stood before her. In Burmah the crowds were offering flowers, paper forms of gay colors, bells of the small ?????p??? wh?rken figures of Buddha were which make the great golden Pagoda enshrined In Singapore, that international commercial city where the flags of all nation fly from mast heads in the harbor on full upon a Chinese holiday. On the road leading to their cemetery we saw at least a thousand junckshas and we saw only a park filled with men women and children. Each rickshas carried a basket of offerings so crude, so barbaric might have aroused a smile, had it not been for the [great] closely packed crowd of men and women and children, most [with intelligent eager faces packed like sardines and] standing silent, awe struck and in reverent [attitude] worship I returned to my hotel in a condition approaching sea sickness! At Amritzar in Northern India the sacred city of the [Hindus] Sikhs [and Burares] it was the [harvest] spring festival and in the Golden Temple priests sat in a circle on the floor surrounding a sheet. They were dressed in white and their garments were splotched with yellow and pink resembling a careless cooks apron who has been making jelly. [One shouted from their holy scripture] The same mark of colored powders were everywhere and one priest with white hair and grey whiskers had stained them pink! Can a more undignified [and less] being be imagined than a man with pink whiskers. Yet the solemn crowd came, some with baskets on their heads, some with bowls in their hands, but all bringing [gifts] offerings of fruit, flowers, rice, sweets or money. The flowers went into the sheet, the more substantial gifts went where curious globe trotters couldn't pry. The third class carriages of our long train had been crowded that morning and the people [were] had been full of joy and laughter. Now we recognized many of them as pilgrims but their smiles had been replaced by solemnity, and their eyes shone with reverence which even pink whiskers couldn't move. A little deeper study reveals the fact that political divisions follow the lines of religion and that oriental politics religion & oriental religion is politics. The more he sees and knows, the more clearly does he see the inseparable character of these great forces Men in the West have been given votes because they are tax payers, because they are educated or because they are doing the world's work None of these reasons have governed the extension of suffrage in the East. Where votes for men exist they have been given because the men [are [?]] represent a religious party. Several Eastern colonies have "Legislative Councils" and many Eastern cities have municipal governments. In nearly all [numbers] fixed numbers of representatives are assigned to the great religions bodies [in the country] and I believe in no country where there is a seemingly political movement is there a union of religious forces. ["The Holy Land"] Holy Land & Land of Disenchantment A beautiful Rebecca, barefooted lithe graceful, clad in a free flowing garment, stood outlined against a stone wall A water jar was poised upon her head and another was in her hand. No picture could be prettier. We drew nearer and discovered that her face was much tattooed her hair unkempt and her dress a mass of unspeakable filth! Here women are nearly all tattooed and as they have discovered tattooing on the faces of the mummies of Egyptian women [it?] is probably that it has long been the custom and that the Rebecca of old was no exception. 2 Six hundred passengers were taken ashore [?] "Lazaret where four undescribable, never to be forgotten days finally came to an end. A double high picket fence, guarded by armed soldiers made us aware that we were prisoners. For our keeping here, five persons to a room, we paid 16 shillings per day. Like other prisoners we were given "[?] [?] leave and placed under watch for a few days more Before we were restored [?] and respectability we were scrubbed, fumigated, disinfected and laundered 3 To discover that the women of Rangoon the metropolis of Burmah have had the municipal vote for years. Parsee Hindoo Mohammedan Chinese and Buddhist women are on the electors rolls and actually vote. The leader of the women is an ardent and orthodox Buddhist who gives her whole life and fortune to social work and had voted for 25 years 4 We sailed up the Canton Ry with this announcement in plain sight Watchmen adequately armed are stationed day and night on various parts of the vessels and all reasonable precaution is taken to ensure the safety of the lives of all on board" We passed a fishing village which had been raided by a band of 50 pirates the night before looted the shops killing several guards in the process and making their escape This is a continual process all over China One by one we made our calls presented our letters and asked questions Every one agreed that no woman had ever voted nor been elected We chased up & down north to south and east to west in and out of its narrow streets over bridges and through galiways always in the midst of hurrying scurrying throngs & shouting 5 men women and children. Among those who knew no woman was telling in a legislature were one Amer, one Italian and three Chinese physicians, two heads of important schools two heads of hospitals two leading missionaries and many [?] who had lived in Canton through the Revolution Yet in time we sat in a gallery and looked down upon the Assembly seating with more women in its midst We had been drenched twice that day by tropical showers and the thermometer was soaring near the top. The men wore light colored clothing and carried fans Eight women wore black one one dark blue Mr Tse Yung Pak Cein Fung Mong Hui All of them were Confucian Some were married and their husbands did 6 not like being known as the husband of a legislator, so these doubty women replied. Very well, we wont disgrace you we will take our own [?] until the Assembly ajourns, therefor several are known as Miss altho married Burmah We have visited Mohammedan mosques in many countries Jain Sikh and Hindoo temples in India and Ch churches erected on sacred ground in Palestine & Syria and every where we saw men only 7 CCC. dictated To make the loop to S.A. we took a detour of 11,000 mi by steamer from the usual round the world route and travelled 4,000 mi by train in S.A. To prepare myself I read books concerning explorations, missions ethnological history of the native races, stories of A. Life, in all 21 books on S.A, We were in S.A. nearly 3 mo. of the 76 days 12 entire days and 11 nights were spent on trams and 14 d. in sightseeing This left 40 d which we spent under the direction of the S. Comm. of the 11 towns united with a view to S. work. These included the capital of the 4 provinces comprising the union named Cape Col. Transvaal, Drage T.S. and Natal I made 13 speeches, each exceeding an hour at Pub. Halls and 22 other speeches usually in con, 8 with social functions and varying from 10 min to 1 hr. We attended 7 evening receptions given in our honor. One by the mayor of C. Town. S. Frederick Smith, 18 luncheons, 3 given by the Mayors of Pretoria Johannesburg & Dustan respectively one by Mrs. Botha, wife of the Premier, one by Mrs. Hall wife of the Min. of Finance one by Lady Rose Innes wife of Acting Chief Justice 14 P.M. teas some of which developed into important meetings; 3 A.M. teas; 6 dinners; 3 picnics. I also attended 12 meetings with the Ex. Com of the S. Orgs of the towns visited. These affairs made 76 official af, for the 40 days, or nearly 2 per day. Our work closed with a [?] at Dustan, where a Nat.S.A. Assn was formed. 9 Burma Just how it happened that the B'ese W. escaped the cramping, unhappy structure which have held the women of Africa in cruel bondage for many centuries I do not understand, but escape they did. When American and Brit. W. were leading the way in the Western World in campaigns to secure to W. the right to control their own Prop. these B__ese, women had been in complete enjoyment of that right since time immemorial. The present customs are so old that no one knows when they did not Ex. Whatever belongs to a Man or W at marriage or whatever comes to them by inheritance afterward is his or her exclusive possession and whatever is earned during marriage is joint Prop and is controlled jointly. The law is 10 (Burma) precisely the same for husband + wife. In our world this might mean that the husband would be forced to divide his profits or wages with his wife, who would earn nothing herself. Not so here. Retail business of all kinds is in the hands of women. The business is usually very small to be sure, but it is the Woman's very own. They buy and sell land and borrow go to Court and to Bank with the same freedom and Independence as men. They own houses, collect rents, and one Burmese Man told me that fully 1/2 the Buis. Trans, which come to Record have W. as Principals. Men and W marry here because they fall in love, Divorce is easily obtained, Virtue is highly regarded and so far as I could learn is more common than other Asiatic Countries II (Burma) Min and W. each keep their own name at work and the children get an entirely new name. In this these daughters of 1,000 yrs of freedom have a vote in the Municipality of Rangoon and they have had it for some 30 yrs. Hindus, Moham, Parsis, and Budhist were on the voters rolls. II (Burma) Min and W. each keep their own name at work and the children get an entirely new name. In this these daughters of 1,000 yrs of freedom have a vote in the Municipality of Rangoon and they have had it for some 30 yrs. Hindus, Moham, Parsis, and Budhist were on the voters rolls. Transcribed and reviewed by volunteers participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.