ft
mAm? mA??&ir :- AA9"inm; uro toh? is-A
b nmjmr v s' jb 4 fwr ' c p - m t a a 4 m avail av n m w i a o .h r mbl -j. - m j m m . mm w ari aa Br m mmr m m-i v n a " kt la xr -
BliiiiliiSiiH Great Changes Going. Spllill
V?f- -V ' Ae Coastsof Africa. 1 r-. : V M
I. . v . - , . . - ana Arabia fi -V-i
--, . i- iulte v " " : 'v"s'' """ "v,v : : "'
ill x -h s, -s; 1 1 -zaMr-y mry'' -jr em tw j-to i . v w
&JS.Z.S QFKOSmRS
BT FRANK 0. CARPENTER.
I am on a German steamer of 5000 tons,
bailing down the Red Sea. 'We took ship
three days ago at Port Bald, and were 18
liours going through the Suez Canal. We
tarried a while at Suez, and we are now
off Port Soudan, where the new railroad
aoross the Nubian desert begins. WTe are
just opposite Jeddah, where, according
to the Mohammedans, Mother Eve was
buried, and where the pilgrims start out
over the desert to Mecca. With the
ship's slass one can almost see the place
where the greatest grandmother of all
mankind lies. She rests outside the
wall In a tomb 400 feet long, and a mosque
rises over her dust. You have heard the
Mohammedan story of how Adam fell.
Uve gave him the apple, and he ate It,
and as a punishment both he and she
were cast out . of the Garden of Eden. As
they dropped a' 6trang- west wind was
blowing, and this wafted the fairy form
of Eve to Arabia; while Adam, with his
heavier -weight fell down in Ceylon.
There Is a string of coral keys running
from Ceylon to Hlndoostan, which is still
known as Adam's (bridge, and it was over
them that he started out on his long hunt
tor Eve. It took him 200 years to find
her, and the , meeting was somewhere
near iMecca. . What became of Adam's
bones we do not know, but those of
Eve are supppsed to He at Jeddah.
Odd Features of the Red Sea.
Jeddah is Just about half way down the
Red Sea. It took us 36 hours to come
here, and we shall be fully that long in
steaming to the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb,
where we enter the Indian Ocean. The
Red Sea Is mighty small on the map. It
looks like a scratch 'between Asia and
Africa: but the scratch is actually about
900 miles wide' In many places, and so
deep that the -most of the Blue Ridge
Mountains could be dropped down into
It, and only their higher peaks would
reach the surface., The Red Sea is so
long that if it began at Ireland, and
extended westward across- the Atlantic,
it would go half way to Canada. If it
could be lifted up and laid down upon
the United States with Suet at Philadel
phia, Bab-el-Mnndcb would be a hundred
miles or so beyond. Omaha, Neb., and all
the way between would be a ea canal as
wide as from New York to Washington,
or wide enough to accommodate all '.he
navies of the world abreast, and leave a
hum'.rcd miles or more to spare.
A Ktval for the Suez Canal..'
This mighty waterway narrows almost
to a point at each end. Where it leaves
the Indian tcean It Is no wider than the
English Channel at Dover, and it is lost
at the north In the Suez Canal. Start
ing at Pa.b-el-Mandf b. the coasts broaden
out and then run almost straight to tne
upper end. where- tbey -fork irilo two gulfs
and inclose 1 he lower part of the Sinai
Peninsula. These two gulfs are those of
Suez and Akabah. The- Gulf of Sues
in 170 miles long, and it has - been
joined to the Mediterranean by the Suez
Canal. The Gulf of Akabah is 110 miles
long, and capitalists are now. talking of
making a canal Trom It to the Mediter-'
ranean. The Akabah Canal would be a
considerable distance east of the 6uez
Canal, but it would practically parallel
It. It would nm through Turkish terri
tory, and for this reason it can -be built
without Infringing on the Suez Canal con
cession, which relates to Egypt alone. I
sm told that a new Canal would pay well.
That of Suez is already overcrowd ,
and there Is enough business for two.
As to the Red Sea itself, it has deep
L A - - 1 gSAm . WfMm. A :
water throughout. Along the main chan
nel there is a full half .mile of salt sea
under the ships, and in some places It Is
more than a mile and a half deep. The
average depth of the Gulf of Suez is
greater tthan the height of a 20-story
flat, and two W'ashlngton monuments,
one on top of the other, could be sunken
into the Strait of -Bab-el-Mandeb 'and
leave plenty of water above for the
deepest ocean steamer to go over them.
Hot and Sultry. -
The Red Sea is red hot. I have steamed
many miles along the equator, but this
is much hotter. The water here Is shut
in on both pldes by deserts, which fur
nish -no streams to cool it, and the trop
ical sun beats down from January to
December. As a result the surface of the
water is often 100 degrees above zero,
and It forms a great hot-water plant,
steaming the air. The sun's rays are
bottled up also by the deserts, which act
as a second heat radiating plant. The
result Is that the air is often suffocating
and there seems to be only a waving
sheet of blue steel between us and the
lower regions. Indeed, were it not for the
electric fan In my cabin I should be un
able to write, and outside upon deck we
have double roofs of canvas- to temper
the rays of the sun. Last night many
of the passengers slept outside their cab
Ins on account of the heat. We eat our
meals fanned by electricity," and' yester
day we had a sand storm, which covered
our ship with red dust, and even entered
the portholes and got Into the beds. That
storm came from Arabia, and it may
have swallowed up some of the pilgrims
now on their way to Mecca. , .
The air here is so salty that one can
almost eat eggs without seasoning; The
water contains so much salt that if 100
pounds of it are boiled down four pounds
of salt will be found in the bottom of
the kettle. The evaporation is so great
that were it not for the inflow of the
Indian Ocean the sea would, within less
than a century, go into the air - and
leave in its place one Immense block of
salt. Indeed, these watens are more
salty than those of the ocean,- and they
are saltier than the Mediterranean and
most other salt sea?. . .
, - Sue ln( 1907. -
I had expected to find the Red Sea
coast more thickly populated. There are
no cities of any size and very few Vil
lages. Even Suez has only about 18.000
people, and of them not more than 3000
are Europeans. ; The . town has large
docks,-but Its trade is small,' and it has
had nothing like the growth .which men
thought would follow the completion of
the canal. There is direct railroad connection-
with Cairo, and passengers on
their way home from India stop off
there and join their ships, at Alexandria,
or take other steamers - from that port.
. Hosier' and Its Mines."
Have you ever heard"; of the town of
Kosler? It is a Red Sea port that at one
time had a great trade. It lies on the
west coast some distance south of Suez.
It was formerly the end of a caravan
route from the Nile, and the early Chris
tians crossed ftver that way 'and' took
boats for the Slnal peninsula to-reach the
mountains where Moses received the
commandments.
Today. Kosier Is- a stopping place for
Egyptian pilgrims on their way to Jed
dah. It usedo be much more important
in that respect than now. It had many
irms and hotel tents outside.. It was well
supplied with dancing-girls and the other
surroundings of a true pilgrimage center.
Then the Suez Canal came and killed It.
The port is now nothing. Its big houses
have fallen to ruins and It has become a
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAX, PORTLAND. JANUARY. 5, 1908.
village of one-story huts. There are
emerald mines near it, however, and the
desert region about shows evidences of
having been once worked for gold.
Port Sudan.
The two chief ports on the west coast
of the Red Sea are Port Sudan and Sua
klm. They , were nothing a fw years
ago, but rthey promise to grow into cities
since the completion of the Red Sea
road. There has always been -something
of a town at Suaklm, and the original
intention -was to; use- that place as the
terminus of the railway. The English
surveyors, however, found a much better
harbor at Port Sudan, and they have
extended the railroad to that point. The
town, which was absolutely nothing two
years ago, has now several thousand peo
ple, and it grows like one of the mush
room settlements of the Canadian West.
The British government is erecting great
docks and harbor buildings. It has put
up lighthouses and built a - postoffice,
quarters for the government officials and
schools. Many lots are being sold and
residences are going up. The settlers are
Chiefly Europeans, the most of whom
come from Italy and Greece.
The- harbor of Port Sudan Is shaped
like a leaf. ' It is 300 feet deep and well
protected - from the sea outside. There
are now steamers twice a week from
there to Suei and Aden. The ships start
at Suez, go to,Port Sudan and then south
around the w'est coast of the Red Sea,
and return, calling at some of the ports
on the east coast. The ships are of the
Egyptian Khedlval line. They are said
to -be comfortable. ' .
At present one of the grea,t needs of
that port Is a hotel. There are no ac
commodations for travelers, and some of
the steamship companies will not sell
tickets to Khartum via the Red Sea on
this account.
It takes 26 hours to go by rail from
Port Sudan to Khartum. Sleeping-cars
will be put on the railroad this year, and
there will probably be considerable travel
as soon as the proper hotel accommoda
tions are furnished at the port.
Already many freight steamers are call
ing at .the port, and in a short time the
bulk of the freight for Central Africa
and the Upper Nile will go that way.
Italian Africa.
I have been making . some Inquiries
about the Italian possessions on the west
coast of the Red Sea. They have a col
ony known as Eritrea, which begins
about, 150 miles south of Suaklm and runs
down almost to the Strait of Bab-el-man-deb.
It Is not wide, and it terminates a
little back of the coast where the Abys
sinian hills'begln. It Is only a" Tew years
since the Italians tried to include in
Eritrea a large part of Abyssinia and
failed, owing to the bravery, of King
Menelik. The land they have now is of
small value. There are only a few tracts
that can be irrigated and the exports are
nothing. The strip is inhabited by. no
mads, who raise camels, oxen, sheep and
goats. The pasturage is scanty and the
shepherds move about from place to place
with their stock. Some of the tribes live
in tents made of matting and their wants
are simple to an extreme.
! Massawa.
The chief Italian port Is Massawa. It
a little town situated on a coral island
and joined to the mainland by a cause
way. It has two short railways which
connect it with the Abyssinian hills and
which comprise altogether about 4S miles
of track.: The road is to be continued to
the town of Asmara, near which some
gold mines have been opened.
I am told that the Italians have recent
ly built a telegraph line from their port
to the capital of Abyssinia and that they
are trying to increase their trade with
that country. They are shipping consid
erable salt, which, strange to say, is so
relished by -the Abyssirilans that it brings
more than suger and takes much the
same place among them as candy and
tobacco with us. The average Abyssinian
carries a stick of rock salt with him and
takes a suck at it between whiles. .If he
meets a friend he asks him to take a lick
of his salt stick and his friend brings out
his own individual stick and they take
lick about. It is Just as it was with snuff
in the" days of our forefathers, when every
one offered his friends ;a pinch of his
choice macaboy. . -
-The Port of Mecca.
I regret 'that .1 shall not be able to stop"
at Jeddah, the port of Mecca, to which I
have already referred. It is one of the
most interesting places on the Red Sea
and 100,000 or more pilgrims pass through
it every year. While' at Omdurman, a
few weeks ago, I saw something like
1400 Mohammedans who. were going by
the new railroad across "the Nubian Des
ert to Port Sudan, where they expected to
get ship for Jeddah. Some of them had
been 10 years . on the way and their re
ligious enthusiasm had not waned. They
started out upon camels from, the bor
ders of Timbuktu and had been forced to
Bell their camels for food. After that
they had walked from oasis to oasis,
working for money , to carry them on
ward. In that party there were so many
that the English government officials had
to divide them up into batches and send
on a train load or so at a time. ' The
road saved them several hundred miles
of camel riding. and walking and it will
probably be a great pilgrimage route in
the future.
At present the pilgrims come to Jed
dah. from all parts' of North Africa and
from the eastern coast of the. Mediter
ranean Sea. They also come from India
and Southern Arabia and Jeddah takes
her toll from each of them. The people
live by fleecing the devotees. The town
is full of hotels and it is noted for its
discomforts. It has a bad water supply
and after each big rain there is an epi
demic of fever. All who land In Jeddah
go on foot from there' to.M.ecca. The
distance is 66 miles and. a .guide is re
quired. '
The Sew Mecca Railroad.
The British are now talking. of build
ing a. railroad . from Jeddah. to Mecca.
If they do, it will, probably pay . well,
for the travel is enormous. Twenty
five years ago there were more than
60,000 . Mohammedans, who came ' an
nually by sea to. make .their way ovei
the sands to- Mecca and Medina. There
are probably half again as many more
today, and the railroad will so reduce
the cost of the trip that the number
of worshipers will be greatly increased.
Indeed, the day may come when some
Mohammedan tourist' Agent will be
selling to. pilgrims : rrom all parts of
the Mohammedan . world round-trip
tickets to ths birthplace of the prophet,
including ' admission to the Kaaba and
also to Medina, where Mohammed "died.
The Sultan is already building a line
southward from Damascus- to Mecca,
560 miles of the road being already
completed, and it is expected that it
will reach Medina In 1909 and Mecca
early in 1910. There is now a line
from Beirut to Damascus, and one will
be able to start In at that port In the
Western Mediterranean and go to Da
mascus, Jerusalem and Meoca without
change of cars. The Mecca line is be
ing built by Turkish soldiers, under
the supervision of a German civil en
gineer, and the cost is being In part
defrayed by the voluntary e
tions of Mohammedans in all parts of
the world.
When tflese railroads are completed
there may be a chance for -Christians
to visit the holy city. All who have
been there in the past have had to go
in disguise, and the man who would at
tempt it today takes his life In his
I hands. The railroad will be officered
by Mohammedans, and It Is doubtful
whether they will take Christians as
passengers. They will have to cater to
the pilgrims, as it is from them that
their traffic must come.
In the meantime, without wishing to
act as did the fox - who called the
grapes sour, I do not believe there Is
much to see in Mecca, after all. The
town lies in a hot, sandy valley, wa
tered for the most of the year by a
few brackish wells and some cisterns.
The Genealogy of the Taft Family
Its History Compiled by the Mother of the Secretary of War.
RS. LOUISA M. TAFT. mother of
the Secretary of War, who died at
her home in Millbury, Mass., on
December 7, at the age of 80, spent the
last years" of her life compiling the New
England history of the Taft family and
.of her own family, the Torreys, from ge
nealogical data collected by her husband,'
Judge Alphonso Taft, during his lifetime.
-The history, together with eulogies of
.her husband, father and mother and ref
erences to the Secretary of War which
show her pride in him, has been recently
published in a genealogical history of
Worcester County, Massachusetts.
The first ancestor of Secretary Taft re
vealed by the late Judge Taft's researches
was Robert Taft, a housewright, who
went from the then province of Brain
tree and settled at .Menton, Mass., in
1669. He had five sons, one of whom,
Joseph, born in 1680, married Elizabeth
Emerson, the granddaughter of the first
minister of Menton.
Joseph's second son was Captain Peter
Taft, born in 1715. Captain Peter's third
son was Aaron, born In 1743. He was fit
ted for Princeton, but had to leave col
lege before he had finished, although he
had already established a reputation as
a scholar. ...
He settled at Uxbridge, Mass., but re
moved to Townshend, Vt.. where he died
in 1808. He married Rhoda Rawson, the
great-great-granddaughter of Edward
Rawson secretary of the Massachusetts
Bay Colony from 1860 to 1686.
Peter Rawson, the third son of Aaron,
born in 17S5, married Sylvia Howard in
1810. He taught school and was admitted
to the bar. He . became Judge of the
Common Pleas, Judge of the Probate
Court, ' Judge of the County Court of
Windham County, was one of the county
commissioners and was for many years
a member of the Legislature.
He removed t,o Cincinnati in 1841, where
he died in 1867, leaving one son, Alphonso.
Alphonso Taft, father of the Secretary
of War, was born In 1810' In Townshend,
Vt., and was graduated from Yale In
1833. He taught for two years in an
academy In Ellington, Conn., and then
became a tutor at Tale.
He was admitted to the bar in 1838 and
went to Cincinnati the next year. In
1867 he argued before tb United States
Supreme Court the claim of the city for
the bequest of Charles McMicken, which
secured the nucleus of the endowment
fund for the University of Cincinnati.
Mrs. Taft wrote concerning her bus
band's reputation while he' was Judge of
the Superior Court:.'
"No young man was ever turned away
because his case was considered too small
for the Judge's patience; no experienced
lawyer ever felt his case too large or the
questions involved too intricate for the
Judge's capacity and learning. His most
important case was the 'Bible in the
Public Schools."
"The Catholics and Jews, who formed
a large proportion of the citizens of Cin
cinnati, complained on the introduction of
xaUidoua instruction into the public
The -best water comes in from Arafat,
through a little aqueduct, and it is
sold at high prices by a water trust at
the head of which is the Governor of
the city.
Mecca, all told, has only about 60,000
inhabitants. It fills the valley and
runs up the sides of the hills. The
houses are of dark stone, built in one,
two and three stories. They starid'
close to the streets. There are no pave
ments; it is often dusty and it' takes
all the holiness of the surroundings to
make life agreeable.
The Kaaba.
The most important place in Mecca
is the sacred mosque, and the most im
portant thing in the mosque is the
Kaaba, a cube-shaped stone building
which lies in its center. In the south
schools as violating the spirit of the Con
stitution. The school board stopped the
reading of the BibiR. The court was ap
pealed to on the ground that it had no
power. .
"There was a violent contest and feel
ing ran high. To Judge Taft there was
no question of the right of the board to
take action. It was not in bis nature to
consider for a moment popular clamor or
the effect of his decision on his career.
"The two other Judges decided against
the board. Judge Taft delivered an elab
orate dissenting opinion. When the case
was taken to the Supreme Court of Ohio
this opinion was sustained by the unani
mous court of five Judges, and It has
since become the law throughout the
United States.
" 'The Bible- in Public Schools' case
arose in his path several times later,
and probably prevented his being Gov
ernor of Ohio. When, however, the storm
of prejudice and bigotry had subsided
and the people had 'time to consider the
matter Judge Taft's reputation as a
Judge who knew neither fear nor favor
inevitably increased."
Judge Taft's first wife, Fanny Phelps,
was a daughter of Judge Charles Phelps,
of Townshend, Vt She died in 1851. Three
children were born to her, one of whom
died in infancy.
. Charles Phelps Taft, the second, son. Is
the proprietor of the Cincinnati Times
Star. The third son, Peter Rawson, died
in 1888v
Judge Taft married Louisa Maria Tor
rey in 1853. Her first son. Samuel Daven
port Torrey. died in infancy. Secretary
Taft was the second son. Henry Waters
Taft of New York the third. Horace Dut
ton Taft the fourth and the fifth child
Is her daughter. Fanny Louise, wife of
Dr. William A. Edwards, of Los Angeles,
Cal.
"The fact that Secretary Taft through
out his long and honorable public career
has received promotion continuously,"
wrote Mrs. Taft, "is ample evidence of
his capability and reliability and of the
sterling Integrity of his character. In
October, 1906, he was sent to Cuba by
President Roosevelt to direct .In the res
toration of order and discharged the deli
cate duties with signal sagacity and suc
cess." ' -
Mrs. Taft was descended from .William
Torrey, who. went from Somerset, Eng
land, to Weymouth, Mass., in 1640. He
was for many years a member'.of the
House of Deputies, ' and was always
chosen clerk. He was a Magistrate and
Captain of Militia and died in 1690.
The fifth William In the line of descent
was reported to have been 6 feet 7 inches
tall. . He was the father of Samuel Dav
enport Torrey and grandfather of Mrs.
Taft.
Mrs. Taft's father married in 1824 Susan
Holman Waters, daughter of Asa Wat
ers, founder of : Armory village, and
grand-daughter of Colonel Jonathan Hol
man, who raised and commanded a regi
ment during the Revolution and distin
guished himself at the battle of Saratoga.
Mrs. Taft's father established himself m
Boston in the West Indian trade and re
tired to Millbury, Mass., in 1S31.
"Mrs. Torrey was a woman of rare en
east corner of this building at about
five feet from the ground is the black
meteorite which the Mohammedans say
was once a part of the gates of Para
dise. When Adam was cast- ut, this
stone fell with him, and it dropped
down near Mecca. . At that time -it was
of a beautiful white color, but it is
now turned to jet, having been black
ened by the kisses of sinners. Every
pilgrim who comes to Mecca presses
his Hps to it again and again, imagln-j
ing that as he does so his sins go out1
of him into the stone, and his soul be
comes as pure as it was when he was
a baby. There are several hundred
thousand pilgrims who perform this
kissing act every season, so that the
holy stone of the Kaaba gets its mil
lions of kisses every year. . What a
load of sin it must carry!
dowment and character," wrote Mrs.
Taft, "well educated for the period, and
her highest Interest was always in the
world of thought. She had an irresistible
desire to know the best that had been
written in literature and philosophy, and
she had the courage to follow the new
views of truth, which her active and
progressive mind attained, to their con
clusions." Of her father Mrs. Taft wrote:
. "Mr. Torrey will be long remembered as
a man of marked individuality, of thor
ough business methods, of inflexible In
tegrity, with a decision and force of
character which left a lasting impression
wherever he was known. It happened
that he was called upon to assist at the
burial of his juniors.
In a green old age.
He seemed like an oak, worn but steady,
Amidst the elements, whilst the younger
trees
Fell fast around him.
"Belonging to the heroic age of New
England he never for a moment lost the
bearing of a gentleman of the old school.
Without office or the desire for office, he
enjoyed the respect of all. To an unusu
al degree he possessed
That which should accompany old age.
As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends.
The Laborer and His Hire.
Catholic Standard and Times.
Hallo, siffnor, I ain't nee you
For manny, manny days.
I wondra moocha w'at you do
All time you was away.
All deesa seexa mont' or more
Dat you' are gon' from home.
I 'spose you went out Wei', aignor '
Eh? No? You was een Home?
An' Pareess, too? Wal, wal, my frand,
Wat Joy you musta ffel
To see all deso so granda land
Where you have been. But steell
You musta worka ionga while
For save da mon' to go.
Eh? Deal een atocks ees mak' your pllel
Escuse! 1 deed not know.
I weesh dat dere waa eoocha treep
For Dasoman like me;
Ees manny now dat taka sheep
For home een Eetaly
Eh? Wa't ees dat? You aay deea mea
Are mean as dirt een etreat
For com' an' maka mon' an' den
To run bark home weeth eet?
I am au'prised weeth you. - signor.
For hear you talk like deea.
Da mon' we gat by workin' for
We do weeth as we pleaas. .'
You say dey leave no theeng- behind
For deeHS mon' dey mak' ;.
Bscuae, aignor, but you weell find
Dey pay for all dry tak'.
Dey pay for 'eet weeth hards toil,
Weeth gooda road an' street,
Weeth crops dat spreenga from da aoll
An' geeve you food for eat.
Weeth wheat dat mak' you bread so good,
- Weeth grape dat mak- you wines.
An', yes, dey pay eet weeth deir blood
On railroads, een da mlnea!
W'at deed you geeve for w'at you mak'
Een deesa ntocka deal?
Not wan good theeng for all you tak'.
Not wan, signoi- but steell
You 'say dees men no gotta right
To do da theeng dey do. -
Escusa me for sat excite.
I would shak' hands weeth you.
Eea Chrees'mastlme, so let us be
Good 'Merioana m'.-n.
Shak' hands! Ket ees a Joy to me
For see you home agen.
In . I.ondon there is one clergyman to
every 2600 persons.
V