BETEL 



701 



BETHLEHEM 



15,360 in 1914. Since the last Federal census 

 (1910) Jonesboro has been included within the 

 city limits. The area is about four and one- 

 half square miles. 



Bessemer occupies the physical center of 

 the great iron ore and coal district of Ala- 

 bama, located high above Valley River, with 

 a border of cedar, chestnut and pine forests. 

 To the northwest are the extensive Dolomite 

 and the Black Warrior coal fields. From south- 

 east to southwest, twelve miles from the city, 

 extends the famous Cahaba coal field, with 

 iron ore seams intervening. The city's indus- 

 tries are concerned chiefly with the products 

 of the natural resources of the region. About 

 10,000 people are employed in the three princi- 

 pal iron industries and in the Louisville & 

 Nashville Railroad shops. The manufacture of 

 fire and building brick is important, and the 

 lumber products are considerable. Valuable 

 limestone quarries also occur in the vicinity. 



Educational advantages are provided by a 

 high school, a business college and a library. 

 There are three banks, and a post office, erected 

 at a cost of $37,000. The Elizabeth Duncan 

 Hospital, the Presbyterian church and the 

 Methodist Episcopal church are the most 

 notable buildings. G.H.S. 



BETEL or BETLE, be' t'l, the name of two 

 different plants common in Asia the betel 

 palm and the be- 

 tel vine. The be- 

 tel palm, the 

 commonest and 

 most important 

 of the areca 

 palms (see PALM), 

 is a graceful 

 tree, usually 

 forty to fifty feet 

 high. Its fruit, 

 the betel nut, is 

 about the size of 

 a small hen's egg, 

 and has a fibrous 

 shell, within 

 which is enclosed 

 the betel nut 

 which is chewed 

 by the natives of 

 the Orient. But 

 the name betel 

 has been given to 



(a) 



BETEL PALM 



Nut ; ( b ) cross-sec- 



this nut and tree tlonof t : <' 



which bears it, only because of the association 



with the betel vine, to which the name orig- 



inally belonged. This is a creeping plant of the 

 pepper family, the leaves of which have a sharp, 

 stinging taste. A number of different plants 

 nearly related to the peppers, the leaves of 

 which have similar properties, are also exten- 

 sively cultivated in the East, and are some- 

 times called betel. 



Betel Chewing. In the East Indies, practi- 

 cally every native, man and woman, young and 

 old, carries a betel-box. It is rare indeed to 

 find a Malay of either sex who is not ad- 

 dicted to the habit, but it has never spread 

 to any extent among other peoples. The seeds 

 of the betel nut are boiled, cut into slices 

 and dried in the sun and are then grated 

 upon fresh betel leaves which have been 

 smeared with quicklime. The whole is rolled 

 into a pellet and chewed, and, while it is far 

 too biting for pleasure to a person not used 

 to it, the Malays find so much satisfaction in 

 it and chew it so continuously that the proper 

 handling of betel is an important part of the 

 etiquette in every ceremonial meeting. Betel 

 tinges the saliva, gums and lips brick red, 

 blackens the teeth and causes them to decay 

 rapidly. 



BETH 'EL, the place where Abraham pitched 

 his tent, where Jacob saw in his dream the 

 ladder reaching to heaven, upon which angels 

 were ascending and descending, and where he 

 wrestled with the angel and had his name 

 changed to Israel. There are various opinions 

 about the location of Bethel, but most authori- 

 ties consider it to be about twelve miles north 

 of Jerusalem. The name means house of God. 

 The present town is of no importance. 



BETHLEHEM, beth'lehem, the town in 

 which Jesus Christ was born. The name means 

 home oj bread. x Bethlehem is now a small 

 village about five miles from Jerusalem, with 

 but one street of low, flat-roofed houses. Our 

 interest in it is due to its importance in Bible 

 history. David, Boaz and Obed were also born 

 there. As the birthplace of Israel's great men 

 and the Savior of the world, Bethlehem will 

 always be held sacred in the memory of Chris- 

 tians. 



BETHLEHEM, PA., a borough in Northamp- 

 ton County, fifty miles northwest of Philadel- 

 phia, near the New Jersey boundary line. It 

 is on the Lehigh River and Canal, and is served 

 by the Central of New Jersey, the Lehigh & 

 New England and the Lehigh Valley railroads 

 and by electric interurban lines to nearby cities 

 and towns. The population in 1910 was 12,837; 

 in 1914 it was 13,721. 



