The Hawaiian gazette., 1888-10-23
The Storage OF wATER.


ooxs1prRAs1E Srea Of these Islands
enjoys An abundant supply O rAlrs-
more in some places than Is good tor
human comior.. A lar larger srea, how
ever. suffers from $ mon OF les srid
elimste. where streams do not ahound,
xpd rsfn Is oalv zn occasional visitor.
In many parts Of this dry country the
SOL Is As fertile as zuywhere N the
islands. su that Is wanted 70 make It
abandsntlv productive i the blessing Of
rain. Even there II aIl the rain thAr
fsns vesrly could be utilized there woald
be, practically. no lack Of water. By tAr
the larger part OF the rain supply Is
utterly lost In many places It slnSs 81
once thro1gh porous Soils 10 depths
which render It unavailable for the sus-
tensnce Of suri2ce Vegetation. Where
the soil Is hzrd &Rd tenacious Il runs on
the surface rapidly into natural channels
and 50 finds is wsy TO the seA without
confsrrfus the beze6ts which II Is capa-
be Of producing.
In other countries where similar con-
diuoas exist man h2s, trom ages imme-
moral. taken in hand to remedy them
bv storing the gifts Of the clouds when
thev fsIl copi1usIy On the lSnd and util-
izing the supply thus secured BY means
OF irritation WORKS Some q the grand
est enrinserinz works Of sneient times,
works which are the wonder sill Of the
experts Of cur own generation, were
undertaken with this object By re-
storing some of these ancient works IN
Iudis the Bsi.ish masters Of thst coUatry
have Of late restored vast &reas which
had been deserted by their populations
into lands Of abundance, from wilder
nesses into green and fertile fields, sup
porting On comfort the population Of
Hundreds Of vilLages. What h&s been
done in those countries can be repeated
IN the dry reyi0uS Of these isl4nds- The
trouble Is that no one seems 10 recOg-
nize the fsct that It woald pay. The
objection too which modern theories Of
government rSfse TO the undertaking q
sny work which private enterprise Is
capable Of mzking s profit BY stSn3s N
the way. All successful works Of this
kind have been undertaken by govern
ueuts-oftea by despotic sovereigns who
Illuminated their reigns more by these
beae6ce1t works th41 by the deeds Of
prowesS ani conquest in which they
probably took greater pride. The sys-
tan Of L4n5 tenure which we have In
ported from modern Europe also stands
greatly IN the WAY Of such works being
undertaken by govsrzme1t. Al dl6-
c,ltlss would. however, vanish # It once
took firm su6 close hold Of the public
mind, inst the storage Of water IN o1r
dry regions would Be oze Of the most
lucrative investments that capital. She-
ther private OF national, can be put into.
Even in the driest of the hSbit&ble
regions Of this group eno1zh rain f2lls
annually On the ROOF Of each dwelling 70
supply al the needs of those who i've
under 1t and leave quite ) large surplus
for other purposes With this fact Ia
view It Is surprising to hear Of water Tor
Household Purposes being carried long
distances. Yet this is sctU4Ily daily
Occurre1ce IN scores Of places on these
islands When We add To that Of the
roo5s q dwelling bo1Ses the r4in-czteh-
ing power of 81 buildings used by man
for himself. his domestic animals, his
trade aRd his mAnuiac5Ures, 4nd note
how the water that might thus be caught
Snd stored even II or dry areas Is 81
lowed te run uselessly away, We have j
right to say thas here is huge waste Of
one Of natures most precious gifts. And
when We see, as any dzy nay be seen II
many Places, AborioCs and costly tran.s-
P1rtsl0ns Of water resorted to whist
this supply, thus ready 10 hand. Il a.
lowed TO run 10 waste, We cannot rsrain
from m0rahEing o. the shortsizhtedness
Of nortzls, who, even when their oE1
inssreses are 50 deeply concerned. cannot
see beyon5 the ends Of their noses.