Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/632

612 JERUSALEM for the year ending June 30, 1873, there were 16 school houses owned by the city and 5 build- ings leased, affording 10,850 seats. The schools were divided as follows : 1 normal, 1 high, 15 grammar, 20 primary (2 colored), and 7 even- ing. The number of children of school age (5 to 18) was 30,758 ; enrolled in day schools, 16,762; average attendance, 8,320; number of teachers, 250 (18 males and 232 females) ; value of school property, $674,416 72. The number enrolled in the evening schools was 2,812; average attendance, 792. The normal school is held on Saturdays for the instruction of teachers and candidates for employment as such. The expenditures, which are met partly by a state and partly by a city tax, were $235,142 75, of which $180,446 14 were for salaries. The number of private schools was 30 (10 denominational and 20 secular), with 5,973 pupils. Since the date of the report another school house has been opened. There are two daily and three weekly (two German) newspapers. The post office has two sub-sta- tions. The number of churches is 59, viz. : 6 Baptist (1 German), 2 Congregational, 10 Episcopal, 2 German Evangelical Lutheran, 14 Methodist (1 German and 2 colored), 6 Presby- terian, 2 United Presbyterian, 8 Reformed, 8 Roman Catholic (1 German), and 1 Univer- salist. Although the peninsula upon which Jersey City stands was granted by letters patent from Sir William Kieft, director general of the Dutch West India company, in the year 1638, it was used for farming purposes solely for more than 150 years, and it was not till the beginning of the present century that it began to be settled. In 1802 the whole population of the place, then called Paulus Hook, con- sisted of 13 persons, occupying but one house and out buildings. In 1804 the "associates of the Jersey company" were chartered by the legislature of New Jersey, and laid out the whole of Paulus Hook into blocks and streets. In 1820 "the city of Jersey" was incorporated with a board of selectmen ; in 1838 it was re- incorporated under the name of "Jersey City," with a mayor and common council. JERUSALEM (Heb. Yerushalaim, possession of peace ; Gr. 'IspovocMj/i ; Lat. Hierosolyma ; Arab. El-Khuds, the holy, or Khuds esh-Sherif, the noble sanctuary), a city of Palestine, an- ciently capital of the kingdom of the Jews, afterward of that of Judah, and now the seat of a Turkish pasha. It is the holy city of the Jews and the Christians, and one of the three holy cities of the Mohammedans, ranking next in sanctity to Mecca and Medina. It is situated in lat. 31 46' N., Ion. 85 14' E., 133 m. S. S. W. of Damascus, 33 m. E. of the Mediterranean, and 15 m. W. of the Dead sea; elevation above the Mediterranean, from about 2,000 to nearly 2,600 ft. ; pop. about 20,000, of whom 5,500 are Mo- hammedans, 8,000 Jews, and 6,000 Christians, mostly of the Greek and Latin churches, the re- mainder Armenians, Protestants, Abyssinians, Copts, and Syrians. Jerusalem is built on a high plateau about 2 m. square, connected on the north with the wide mountain range which runs N. and S. through Palestine, and which forms the watershed of tlie country, so that streams within a mile of the city walls flow on the one hand to the Mediterranean and on the other to the Dead sea. Between the plateau and the mountain ridge on the north is a low depression through which small streams flow during the rainy season. On the other sides the hills rise abruptly higher than the plateau on which the city stands. The limestone of this plateau is much harder than that of the sur- rounding hills, and is capable of receiving a high polish. The color is a pale yellow, with red or pink veins. W. of the city at Gihon, and on the N. side, about 1-J m. from each other, are two gentle depressions, one running S. E. and then E., the other E. and then S., gradually becom- ing deeper till they form two narrow ravines with precipitous sides. These are the valley of Hinnom and the valley of Jehoshnphat (or of the Kedron), which almost skirt the city in their course, and unite in the S. E. part, a lit- tle S. of the pool of Siloam and near the well En-rogel. A third ravine, the Tyropoeon, begins in the city, and running S. joins the other two at this point. The gorge continues its course S. E. till it is lost in the basin of the Dead sea. On the east the triple-peaked mount of Olives rises abruptly from the valley of Jehoshaphat. On the south the hill of Evil Counsel over- hangs the valley of Hinnom, which separates it from Zion. On the side of the hill of Evil Counsel a chain of rocks rises precipitously from the valley to a height of 30 or 40 ft., and on the ridge is the small field called Acel- dama (field of blood), or potter's field. Fur- ther N. W., up the valley where it blends with Gihon, is the lower pool of Gihon, formed by a strong wall built across the lower end ; it is called by the Arabs birJeet es-Sultan, pool of the sultan. The wall being now broken, it is used by the Arabs as a threshing floor. The course of this valley N. and then N. W. leads up to the plateau on which the city stands. On this spot, about m. from the city walls, is the upper pool of Gihon, a basin about 350 ft. long, 200 ft. broad, and 30 ft. deep. The water that accumulates in this pool, after set- tling, is conducted into the pool of Hezekiah, within the city, where it is used for bathing. On the sides of the pool of Gihon is the Turk- ish cemetery, which, as in other eastern cities, is unfenced, and presents a desolate appear- ance. Immediately W. of this pool is the hill Gareb ; the valley (Wady Haninah) beyond declines toward the Mediterranean. E. of this place, and next to the city, is a magnificent es- tablishment built a few years ago by the Pales- tine commission of St. Petersburg, under the auspices of the emperor of Russia. It consists of the fine church of the Holy Trinity, two large hospices for male and female pilgrims re- spectively, a house for the missionaries and travellers of the higher classes, a hospital, and