The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-04-14
LOCAL ENGINEER ELLSEXPER|ENCE
 IN JERUSALEM
Shove r Bath Surprise To NatiV es-American Red Cros S Relieves Want
 and Suffering

H. Y. darson, sanitary engineer. who
 was with the Red Cross service in
 Palestine from shortly after the British
 occupatidn until last December, has come to birmingham to make his home He is no W connected with the American
 Cast Iro h Pipe company in the ca pacity of engineer in the development
 of a new pipe plant.
 Mr Chrson talks interestingly Of
 the PaleEtine country, and water and health co nations there. He joined the
 Red Croks commission for service in
 Palestine e( raised in New York by pr.
 E. St. John Ward, on February S, ISle' and had charge of the purchase of en-
 gineerina and medical supplies
 The British Red Cross, organized to
 serve th4 army, was not equipped to look aftdr sanitation and health, nor the reliet of the civilian population
 which fact induced General Allenby, when he entered Palestine, to invite
 the Amefican Red Cross to send the commission to that country.
 When their ship sailed from New
 York it cArried 57 members of the com-
 mission, including the nurses, several doctors social workers and others with special tr aiming for specific duties Or account of the submarine peril the ship passed abound South Africa, calling at Capetown, where it tied up several days while me mbers of the commission vis-
 ited Johannes burg and the diamond
 mines.
 "We we're three weeks in Johannes
 burg" said MT. Carson, and while
 there I W ent down into diamond mine for the ftst time. I count it a wonder
 full expefience.
 The pc pple in South Africa heard lit
 tie of the outside world. All their news was cens9red. We brought to them the
 first newS that America was in the war, and wheH we told them what America was doing they felt much encoura ged.
 Mi LITARY RAILROAD
 "We lrchased additional supplies
 in South Africa, and 90 days after sail :
 ing from New York landed at Port
 Said, the hoe to Kantara, from which
 place we were transferred by rail 200
 miles acHoss the desert. The British
 built the railway as they advanced, an
 average of about mile and a half a
 day. Thky also built a water line
 through which they pumped water to Esupply tho troops while crossing the. des- ert The first 40 miles of this line
 was of ? inch pipe. then long stretch of 19-inch pipe, with S-inch pipe com pleting the last lap, which extended almost to Gaza, where the British had one of their hardest fights. Without this watd dr coming down through the long stretch of pipe line they could not have carried on the war.
 The Turks had tried to transport their water across the desert by camels and as tn cir supply gave out they had to fall back.
 "The rd ilroad was a wonderful piece of work, perfectly built, with perma- ment sto he culverts, earth embank- ments, slE Erves and drains. The labor for build ng it was furnished by the Egyptian labor corps. The military rail- way line To Haifa on the Mediterranean | had been constructed but as the British tmy had not yet advanced to Haifa wh en we arrived we transferred at Ludd, and went from there by rail to, Jerusa lem, arriving there on June l. We VI Were assigned to the Russian compound, which comprises seven buildings, surrounded by a stone wall These are excellent buildings, but they were in A very filthy condition. We had to clean them up before they were able.
 we then realized the importance of having br ought our supplies. The sue cess of tn commission, in fact, was due to Dr. Wofd's foresight in providing these supplies. There was no timber or woot. there. We had taken with us water puri- fiation outfits, hospital equipment, pip ing, pumps, engines, plumbing and fix lures, and fixtures for shower baths. '"These were the first shower baths ever seen in Jefusalem, and they aroused con- siderable curiosity among the natives. some of whom could be induced to take baths, but not all The natives of Jerp- salem, however much as they might need baths, seldom take them. The conven- fences we had provided in the short time were a reHehtion even to the British" MT Cars bn had charge of the engineer ing unit a hd looked after the purchasing and getting of supplies into Jerusalem. WATER SUPPLY
 "The British had already developed d water supply" he continued. 'The sys- tenn began 16 miles south of Jerusalem at a large S bring, from which the water was pumped into reservoir having ca pacitv of ,bOO 900 gallons. The reservoir is just above the pools of Solomon. The British sy stem joined the more ancient solomon supply, the water flowing through a n aqueduct to the city. The water was pumped from the spring to the reservoir from which flowed by gravity inc 16 milds to Jerusalem, giving daily supply of b000OO gallons.
 There h hd been no good water Tn Jeru- salem up to this tune, the city suPpi' l being nrri lied in Tn jugs ana o'he1 eo 1 taipers by the people, with the result that 1 there was always suffering in the dry season. usually lasting from about May 1 1 to Dece ember They now have more water in O he day than they formerly had l in a month, and it is free to the people jThe British put in about 100 taps in diff 1 ferent par ts of the city for the conven' fence of the people.
 ."rhe workmen there are skined in stone | masonry a Ind in cement laying. Some o'
 tbe cisterhs walled in with stone ane havinp cement buttresses, built 2oO0 o' i 9ONo wears Ago, are still in good condition The tunnel dug by Hezekiah. l75o Tee l long through which he brought water tf the city, is still intact rich hiai"'