ALL ABOARD FOR JERUSALEM.
A railroad from Jaffa (ancient Joppa) to Jerusalem seems now to be well assured. Capital has been secured for its construction, a builder has been found, the contract has been completed, and the man is now in Europe making preparation for the immediate commencement of the work. Modern progress is to produce strange scenes in that land of old-time ways and customs. But we remember that from this land came the first prophecy of these wonderful chariots with which we are now so familiar. Nearly twenty-six hundred years ago Nahum gave his glowing description of these chariots jostling one against another in the broad ways, and dashing through the land like flaming torches, with the speed of the lightning. And the world waited more than twenty-five hundred years to catch a sight of these marvelous objects which the prophet described; but they came at last, as will the fulfillment of all other prophecies. And what is a striking coincidence is that the supposed site of the prophet’s tomb is at a little village now called Gibbin, near Emmaus, probably in the direct line of the proposed railroad. Particulars in regard to this enterprise are given in the following paragraph from the Cincinnati Enquirer:— “Ohio is again honored.—Ohio in general and Cincinnati in particular. This time it is in railroad building. General T. D. Lovett, of this city, formerly Chief Engineer of the Southern Road, has just completed a contract for the building of a narrow-gauge railroad from the city of Jerusalem to the port of Jaffa, in the Holy Land, and has written to Major John Boyne, also of this city, the champion narrow-gauge railroad man of Ohio, to join him in the enterprise. The road will be some forty miles in length, the air-line distance between the two points being something over thirty miles. Joppa is a small maritime town of Palestine, on a tongue of land extending into the Mediterranean, and lies in a north-westerly direction from Jerusalem. It was formerly the port of Jerusalem, and was the landing place of the cedars and stones of which the temple in that city was built. It has a considerable trade in cotton, corn, and fruit, as has also the country lying back toward Jerusalem, through which the road will run. A large factor in the business of the road, however, will be in the annual visits of the pilgrims at the Easter season, and travelers at all seasons. The proposed road is backed by a party of French capitalists, and is to be pushed forward to an early completion. Mr. Lovett is now in Paris preparing for the work.”