The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-11-26

WISHES our tIttUtS duu Ruts SiNuh
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 az
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 Eodli-
ness, but It Is q necessary minister to
| godliness, for no man who Is dirty can
approach God or man ncceptably.
| Water and Health.
! But the blessing of cleansing water
has deeper significance than Its nes-
| thetlc beneficences It Is the foundn
| ton of all good lIv~it''i:' laws. 1t Is
the one great means l,y which the
boards of public health are fighting
back and eraticating the plaques which
In olden times used to decimate whole
regions. 1t Is the one great means by
which the longevity Of the human race
Is being increased. This fact was pow
erfuly exempltied In our Cuban and
Porto Rican experiences. For centuries
Cuba and Porto Rico had been the hot
beds of the yellow fever plague. Thou
sands upon thousands have died of this
awful scourge The plague once start
ed has leaped across the strait of Flor
Ida and fastened itself upon the people
of our own land. But when the Span
lsh- American war was ended Majol
General Leonard Wood, better known
hv his trl1er title rs DR. Leonard Wood
the private physician of President Nc
Kinley, invaded Cuba and Porto Rico
with cleansing water The miasmatic
swamps. where were Matched the dead
" moquitoes 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 iEhabitable for
white men. Water, cleansing water. Is
the greatest enemy of disease of oil
sorts Thank God for the water with
which we wash Thank him for the
water with which we are making man
a 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 u our corn and
wheat and barley ana oats and gives
drink to our potatoes and peas and to
matoes and gives drink to our orchards
| III.
like man, are dependent upon water
for their existence. Without water II
Is an absolute impossibility to run n
farm. If two or three dry years" fol
low each other, whole valleys and re
gions are depopulated. remember IN
the summer of 1896 camping In long
valley which was once filled with
farms and schoolhouses and churches
The buildings were there, but the
houses were vacant There were
churches there, but no ministers. There
were schoolhouses, but neither scholars
nor teachers There were farmhouses.
, but no families dwelling within. There
. were farms. but no crops. What was
the matter? The wheat and the grain
and the oats and the barley and the
, fruit of the orchards in vain had cried
, Drink, drink. give us drinkw The
, drought kept on and the land became
as hard and as dry as the bricks In the
] potter's kiln. OH today, when you
read the returns of our annual har
| vests, thank God not more for the sol
than for the water which has made the
( earth yield her increase. Thank Coo
j for abundant water, the pure life CIV
: Ing water. for the water which has
+ made the farm full larder for pros
| porous nation.
But we must also thank God for tht
. water turning the miller's wheel which
! grinds the grain into -four. We mus
thank him for the factories upon TIL
Merrimac which weave the cotton Int
cloth as we'll as for the cotton planta
lions of Georgia and Louisiana ant
Mississippi Water Is the motive pow
er of the one and the producer of thu
other. We must thank him for the wa
:, ter which produces the gigantic trees
, We must also thank him for the waite
which makes the lumbermans saw
whlrl round and round and cuts TIL
: rough logs into smooth boards out o
which we build our homes and store
and factories. When we think of I
factory town for the most part we pic
ture the heavens blackened with snok
from scores and hundreds of furnaces
but there are thousands of factorie
run by water alone. The water Q
!, these streams not only irrigates tn
: soil In which the crops are grown, Blu
supplies the power which changes tn
!, raw materials into the finished prod
ucts of the markets.
4 Our Water Highways.
h But we have still another reason VIII
Q the American nation should be thank
ii full for Its water It produces the graf
+. and the cotton and turns the wheels Q
/. the factory 1t also furnishes the grea
ii highways over which the commoditie
g OF one part Of the country are trans
q ported to other parts of the countr,
g and this blessing Is not confined to on