The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-01
BY THE REV FRANK DEWITT TALdAGE. D.. D.

year these civil engineers are going far
 ther and farther away for their water
 supply. Then we see New York gather
 ing it's drinking water from the Croton
 river and the Catskill mountains at the
 enormous cost of hundreds of millions
 of dollars. Then we turn to such cities
 as Chicago and Milwaukee and Detroit
 and find them running their mains far
 out into the clear. pure waters or Lake
 Michigan and Lake Erie and pumping
 their supply of drinking water And
 wherever you go you find the keenest
 ot engineering brains concentrated on the
 problem of giving the people pure water
 to drink. Thank God for glass of pure
 cold water,
 We should also thank him for the
 water with which we are able to cleanse
 our bodies and our homes and purify our
 streets and which carries away the refuse
 of the cities. We should thank him for the water which washes our clothes and puts clean sheets upon our beds and gives us clean knives and forks and napkins and tablecloths for our dining rooms and clean towels in our bathrooms as well as for the water we drink and with which we cook. We should thank God for the water with which we scrub our kitchen floors as well as for the water we boil in the kettle and use in the wash basin and the bathtub. Cleanliness is not only next to godlness, but it is q necessary minis ter to godliness. for no man who is dirty can approach God or man acceptably. Water and Health.
 But the blessing of cleansing water has a deeper significance than it's aesthetic beneficences. It is the foundation of all good hygienic laws It is the one great
 means by which the boards of public health are fighting back and eradicating o1s fa decimate whole regions It Is the one great means by which the longevity of the human race Is being increased. This fact was powerfully exemplified in our Cuban and Porto Rican experiences. For centuries Cuba and Porto Rico had been the hotbeds of the yellow fever plague. Thousands upon thousands have died of this awful scourge. The plague once started has leaped across the strait of Florida and fastened itself upon the peo- pie of our own land But when the Span- ish-American war was ended Maj Gen. Leonard Wood, better known by his truer title as Dr. Leonard Wood, the pri-
 vate physician of President Mckinley, in- vaded Cuba and Porto Rico with cleans ing water. The miasmatic swamps, where were matched the deadly mosqui- toes which carried the fatal germs were drained off. The streets were cleansed and the awful plague of yellow fever was stamped out. The tropics were made in- ' habitable for white men. Water, cleans ing water, is the greatest enemy of dis ease of all sorts. Thank God for the water with which we wash. Thank him for the water with which we are making man healthy animal able to overcome all diseases except the fatal disease of old age.
 Water and the Farms.
 We must also thank God for the wa ter which gives drink to our corn and wheat and barley and oats and gives drink to our potatoes and peas and to- matoes and gives drink to our orchards and trees of all sorts. The vegetables, like man, are dependent upon water for their existence. Without water it is an absolute impossibility to run 0 farm. If two or three dry years" fol- low each other. whole valleys and re- gions are depopulated. I remember in the summer of 1896 camping in long valley which was once filled with farms and school houses and churches. The buildings were there, but the houses were vacant. There were | churches there, but no ministers. There were school houses, but neither schol- ars nor teachers. There were farm | houses, but no families dwelling with l fin. There were farms, but no crops. | What was the matter ?-The wheat and lle gram ana the OdlS anu tHc pdiiey i and the fruit of the orchards in vain ] had cried Drink, drink, give us drink"' ! The drouth kept on and the land be- came as hard and as dry as the bricks | in the potter's kiln. Oh, today when you read the returns of our annual harvests, thank God not moro for the soil than for the water which has made | the earth yield her increase. Thank God for abundant water. the pure life giving water, for the water which has made the farm full larder for pros- porous nation.
 But we must also thank God for the water turning the miller's wheel which grinds the grain into flour. We must | thank Him for the factories upon the Merrimac which weave the cotton into