The herald., 1896-10-25
.ALLEGoRY.
The True and Authentic History of the
Water Supply of the City of Freedom.


The City OF Freedom, by the way, is
in the land of Liberty, where founded
on the rocks of juatice and equal rights,
and under the administration of Wis
don and Intelligence, it has for genera
tions held wide the gate of Hope to
overburdened and oppressed humanity.
As in all growing cities, one of the
first needs felt was that of a regular
and sufficient water gupply, and to the
establishing and perfecting of water
system the city council gave much care
full thought and grave deliberation, and
as in those halcyon days the pull and
the push had not come into existence,
their entire attention was given to con-
sidering, not how much each council
man could pocket for the job, but how
the best interests of the city could be
secured. AS result of such wise and
careful forethought, they constructed
two great reservoirs, located so that
they would receive their supplies from
entirely different sources, and then
they laid connecting pipe between
them. For" they reasoned, "some-
times, owing to frequent rains or unus-
ual heat, causing the snow to melt rap
flowing, while the supply In the other.
from reverse causes, may be low, but
the pipe will cause them both to main
tain the same level, and SO we shall
always have an equal supply of water
all over the city at the same time, each
reservoir acting as check upon the
other, the pipe establishing and main
tanning the level" Only once in many
years did the supply fail, and then, as
in all great crises, with the hour came
the man, who, like the prophet of old,
smote upon a barren rock. and. miracle
of modern times, the waters gushed
forth until the reservoirs were filled
90. rrfV.x .xxvtw Il A-l.N
were full, and the wheels and looms all
over the land sang the glad songs of
industry and prosperity, and the quality
of the water is famed to this day as be-
ing of the purest distillation.
But gradually change came over
1.-THE city. First blight appeared upon
the gardens; then the wheels began to
move more slowly, while from time to
time an unseen bell rang out deep and
solemn tone which filled all with a
vague unrest. They sought on every
side to find the cause of the discomfort,
and looking on the dying gardens, mo-
tionless wheels and silent looms, many
times the question arose. rs not the
trouble with the water supply?" But
the, men in charge of the reservoirs
laughed at the question and said:
Don't worry about the water supply;
we will attend to that. You cannot
possibly understand the complicated
SYSTEM VI pipes, ana HedQgdLeS, ana
hoodgates, and stopcocks, If we were
to explain it to you; it is so complicated
that no one but superintendent OF
water works could possibly understand
1t. We've made this the business of our
lives. and what we don't know about
running a reservoir is not worth know
ing. The water supply is all right. The
trouble Is you have overworked the soil,
Or the wheels need greasing, or there
is something wrong with you PERSONAL
~. The water supply is all right"
But one day the discovery was made
that one reservoir was nearly empty,
the source of supply entirely cut off,
and the pipe connecting it with the
other reservoir removed. Then there
arose such storm Of protest and such
. ominous mutterings of wrath at the
4 Aindignity as caused speedy partial
opening OF the source of supply, and
for time the relief afforded caused a
cessation of inquiry. In the meantime
the other reservoir. unable to stand the
double drain. it's source of supply being
entirely unequal to the demand, was
gers began borrowing from their
neighbors at home and abroad: and
the neighbors were very obliging and
took their promises of payment until
tney, TOO, began to reflect that the sup
ply was uncertain, and so they said.
We want you to pay US after this in dis
titled water, because that is the kind of
water we have become accustomed to.
and we prefer it. And the managers DO
litely said: why, certainly, we prefer it
ourselves" But in their hearts they knew
they could never do it. However. they
contented themselves with extending
the time of payment, leaving it for fu-
ture managers to get out of the scrape.
and they increased the supply pipes
10 the peoples reservoir and put in the
latest improved Sherman plant for dis
tilling, and said to themselves: "Now
we've settled the water question for a
2 while" and then they bottled a little
more Of the magic water, which they
retained for their own consumption.
But the people of the beautiful city
had not enjoyed all those years Of free
dom and equality without having be-
come conscious of their rights, and thew
watched the blight steadily spreading.
the shutting down OF the factories ana
mills and the failures OF the merchants.
while fq their ears continually, night and
DAY, sounded the unseen bell, and thew
IT lask realized that their only hone Of
relief lay In the restoration Of the for
& mer Water system. Then a. with one
voice they cried aloud: I'VE must have
Nere water; open fully the sources OF