Palestine]
come from Germany. Indian and synthetic indigo, which are largely used, are now commonly mixed. The work is carried on by hand in small buildings, the dyers earning 50 centimes to 1½ francs a day.
Building is in a backward condition. There are no large contractors, and skilled workmen are found only in the towns, the villager being commonly his own architect and builder. Masons and bricklayers are efficient, but plasterers, carpenters, and other subsidiary workers, are generally inferior. The industry is at a standstill during the wet winter months. Of materials, iron girders, wood, cement, and tiles are imported, burnt bricks are made at Beirut and in the Lebanon, and the production of concrete has lately been developed by Jews or Germans at Jaffa, Haifa, Jerusalem, Tiberias, and Aleppo. Lime-burning is carried on in European kilns in the larger towns, and by a primitive method elsewhere.
Carpentry, woodwork, &c. arge workshops for building accessories exist in some of the towns, such as Beirut, Jaffa, and Tripoli, and wooden furniture on western models is also made at Beirut and Jaffa. At Damascus there is still a considerable production of oriental carved or inlaid woodwork, and some export to Europe and Egypt, but this industry has been declining owing to a fall in the demand and to emigration.
Devotional objects. Rosaries, crosses, and other small articles are made in large quantities at Jerusalem and Bethlehem, both for sale to tourists and for export. Some 1,000 workers produce goods to the value of about 2,000,000 frs., the materials used being chiefly olive-wood, mother-of-pearl, silver, and a black stone from the Dead Sea.
Rope and string are made at Damascus and Aleppo, at the former out of the interior fibres of the hemp grown in the locality, the latter deriving the raw material from the Euphrates district to the north-east, and to some extent also from abroad. The methods
