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The Barnwell People-Sentinel, Barnwell. S. C„ Thursday. August 6, 1936 RENEW FIGHT AGAINST DROUGHT Government Seeks Methods of Alleviating Drought Ravages in Future Years Through Water Conservation. By WILLIAM C. UTLEY W HILE a blazing sun beats relentlessly on the parched fields of the Northwest and South, man grapples anew with the monster, Drought* in an effort to minimize its destructive effects, and to de vise ways of mitigating future ravages. No one can predict a drought, and no one can prevent one, but much can be done to lessen their ef fects. The drought period through which the country has been pass ing since 1930 has caused the adoption of methods which will enable us to make better use of the available water in even the driest years. To meet the immediate emergency government agencies have de vised a three-fold program which consists of supplying 55,000 WPA jobs in the Dust Bowl and 20,000 in <£■ ' " ——— the South; of making Resettlement administration loans to at least 50,- 000 persons, and of purchasing a million head of cattle with a five- million dollar fund in the hands of the Department of Agriculture. In the whole country 336 counties had been listed up to July 15 where the crops are considered a total loss, and where efforts will be devoted to saving livestock and alleviating human distress. The Department of Agriculture is buying up some of the stock and the railroads are offering deduced freight rates to ship the animals to fresh pasture, to be returned later when condi tions have improved. Is Desolate Picture. The drought area presents a sad picture today. The major portion of the spring wheat area has been burned to a crisp. Dakota and Montana farms present an aspect cuted largely by the Soil Conserva tion service of the Department of Agriculture. Grass is planted to prevent erosion and to encourage the proper type of furrowing. 2. Shelter Belt Development. The Forestry service is in charge of this. It is designed to be 100 miles wide and 1,000 miles long. Half- mile tracts, each a few feet thick, have already been planted along the front. More than two million dollars for a project estimated to cost seventy-five millions have been spent, and congress has refused to make further funds available. 3. Reclamation. Irrigation and dam projects are being carried on by the Department of the In terior in the western states. Under the Taylor act to preserve grass the department is also improving range operations. 4. Resettlement. The Resettle ment administration is buying up Oarc • r*mf*rUblr farm bamr •« rr . «f •hifUnf of desolation that veteran farmers say is without precedent. This con dition even extends into Minnesota. Fields that were green with grain and where lush pastures grew a year ago. appear today as only a blackened expanse. The range country ts burned so dry that it can not support either sheep or cattle. Millions of grasshoppers are ev erywhere. Even the small spots that have escaped the ravages of the drought have been desolated by this plague. When they complete their work in one field they fly to another. It is not uncommon, ac cording to travelers, to see some automobile stopped so that the bat tered bodies of thousands of these pests may be scraped from the ra diator and windshield. Hundreds of farmers whose lives have been spent on these farms are today loading their few possessions in autos, trucks and wagons and starting out for some other section of the country, where they will at tempt to start life over again. To day, their work of years is com pletely gone and they have become discouraged with the struggle to obtain a living for their families in the stricken area. Offer Local Relief. To help these unfortunate folk, the Resettlement administration has declared a one-year moratori um on rural rehabilitation loans on between 25,000 and 30,000 farms in the drought-stricken counties throughout the nation. At the same time the Works Progress adminis tration has started a program to provide jobs, digging wells, build ing farm to market roads, and ter racing land. About $18,000,000 will be available for crop loans and feed, and the RA will spend $1,700,- 000 monthly on.$20 doles to suffer ing farmers. It is estimated that between • 3,- 000,000 and 5,000,000 farm dwellers have been seriously affected by the drought. A total of 204,000 families has been listed as dependent on re lief. Crop losses are estimated as high as $300,000,000. In the opinion of many, including President Roosevelt, unless some thing is done to check the drop in the water table, the now fertile regions of Nebraska, Iowa and Kan sas will be drawn into the great Dust Bowl. The consequences of this can hardly beTmagined. Our entire national economy would be displaced. Long Range Program. Experts say that this can be stopped by a long-range program of permanent works. In accordance with their findings the government has announced a permanent anti- drought program divided under the following heads: X. Soil Conservation. This is exe tnrroundrd by a Sahara-like eapaasa aad dust. | 1.282.522 acres, returning them to pasture and resettling families at an average cost of $4,500 each. Drought Swings East. In contrasting the 1936 drought ! with that of 1?34, one of the con- ! spicuous differences is that the dry center has swung further east and | southeast, while the extreme South- I | west, hard hit two years ago, ts in relatively good condition. This rpring, as the drought area began < I to take form, it stretched in a ! broad band from a little west of > | the center of Montana to Kentucky, I Tennessee and South Carolina. As | the season advanced the arid belt spread northward and northeast ward, even reaching into the New j England states. Heavy rams dur- I mg the first part of July brought l some relief to Tennessee, Kentucky and some parts of Virginia, al though not enough to permanently relieve the situation. By the beginning of July two great islands of extreme drought had developed. One lay like a great blot through the middle South from the Mississippi to and beyond the Appalachians, while the other crossing the Canadian bound ary, ranged from Minnesota to western Montana and south through Wyoming and Nebraska. In these areas crops this year are less than 35 per cent of normal. Between these two sections crops ranged from 35 to 65 per cent of normal. Just how this crop damage will compare with 1934 cannot fully be determined as yet, but the follow ing table shows that in at least eleven of the affected states the drought is more severe: Percentage of ture and the hotter the winds, the greater will be evaporation. The excessive high temperatures and hot winds of this summer have added immeasurably to the seri ousness of the situation. For ex ample a small pond may lose more water through evaporation than livestock actually drink. If it dries up and the farmer is forced to wa ter his stock out of wells he reduces the ground-water supply, the l^vel sinks, and presently the water situ ation becomes acute. Multiply this by hundreds of thousands of such instances and it is easy to under stand the stories of want and suf fering that have come out of the West during the summer. The solution of this problem in the future is simple, according to government experts. Water is a natural resource, they contend, re placeable but not inexhaustible. The only way to be sure of having it in dry times is to save it in wet times. Upon this is based the gov ernment’s four-fold permanent pro gram. The first move is to slow down and lessen the loss of snow-water and rain-water, either by methods of cultivation which retain the wa ter in the ground, or by impound ing water in dams. The latter may range from huge engineering enter prises like Norris or Boulder dam to the simple dam which may be constructed by a farmer. Whether the object is to prevent floods, reduce erosion, or prepare against drought, ground water storage methods are the same. Trees are planted on the steeper and less fertile slopes, medium slopes are covered with cover crops such as alfalfa or with sod, and land with marked slopes is plowed at right angles to the slopes, some times with strips of sod at inter vals between the furrows. Methods Prove Effective. There is little question -but that these methods are effective, and that if they were sufficiently wide spread they would tend to equalize the flow of streams, would feed ponds and springs further into the summer, and would maintain the level of water in wells. These prac tices have been demonstrated by the Soil Conservation service; in the work of the CCC; in the con servation operations of TV A; and by other federal and state agencies. When water does not have time to run off it saturates the ground, which becomes a monster reser voir. If plants have their roots well down by the time the drought be gins they are better prepared to withstand a long siege of dry weather. To co-ordinate with this program of ground water conservation is the plan for storage of water behind immense dams. The great dams now completed or in construction on the Tennessee, in the upper Mis souri system, on the Columbia and on the Colorado will furnish a larger flow of water during dry seasons. Boulder dam can hold two IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL S UNDAY I chool Lesson nr REV. HAROLD L. LUNDQUI8T. Dean of th« Moody Blbl* InstttuU of Chicago. , . C Waatarn Nawspaper union. Stata. 1936. 1934. North Dakota ...... 69 South Dakota «t Montana 7S Minnesota 69 Missouri 49 Arkansas 6* Kentucky 76 Tennessee 96 Ohio 57 Indiana 61 Illinois 49 These figures by themselves, however, give only a partial pic ture of conditions. Much depends upon when the rain falls and how much of it is retained in the ground, pools, ponds and other reservoirs. Evaporation Heavy. Agricultural experts point out that during a few weeks of the early growing season, vegetation may thrive on the accumulation of soil water which extends to about the depth of the growing plant roots but after this period from seven to eight inches of favorably distrib uted precipitation is the minimum requirement for the production of average yields unless temperatures are abnormaL The latter play an important part, for the higher the tempere- A typical field with crop less than hat-high. years’ normal flow of the Colorado river as a margin of safety for the irrigated lands downstream. By holding back the water of the Clinch river, a tributary of the Tennessee, the Norris dam reduced the flood crest of the main river at Chattanooga by three feet last March. When the river shrank to unprecedentedly low levels under the blast of the drought in June, the gates were opened, and engineers announced that they had enough water to maintain navigable depths in the lower Tennessee even through an extreme drought period. Just what part each system should play in the conservation of water is a point of controversy among engineers. A number of en gineers contend that more empha sis should be placed on smaller dams to control the water run-off at the source. A conference on this phase of the work is to be held in Washington in September, immedi ately following the World Power conference. Despite tremendous crop losses in the dry regions, the Agriculture department has assured the coun try that there is enough food on hand to feed the nation for the next 12 months, although supplies of many staple commodities are bf- low normal. Prices of many food stuffs will be higher because of the drought. • WMtara N«wap*p«r Itaioa. Lesson for August 9 SAUL CONVERTED AND COM MISSIONED LESSON TEXT—Acts 9:1-9. 17-19; 1 Tim othy 1:12-14. GOLDEN TEXT—I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.—Acts 26:19. PRIMARY TOPIC—Saul Becomes Jesus’ Friend. JUNIOR TOPIC—On the Road to Da mascus. INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOPIC —Appointed for Service. YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC —After Conversion. What? The conversion of Saul of Tarsus is on of the outstanding events of Bible history. It presents one of the strongest evidences of the truth of the Christian faith, for only on the ground of regeneration can we account for the change in Saul’s life, and only on the assurance that he met the Living and Risen Christ can we account for his conversion. As our lesson opens we find the brilliant, zealous, young Jew, Saul, as: I. A Bold Persecuter (9:1, 2). He was “yet breathing out threat ening and slaughter against the dis ciples of the Lord.” The death of the godly Stephen had only in creased his determination to wipe out those who were “of this way”— the followers of the One who is “the way.” But as he carries letters from the high priest to Damascus which would authorize him to im prison them, he meets the Christ whom he persecutes and he becomes II. A Convicted Sinner (vv. 3-9). Stricken down by a brilliant heav enly light, he finds himself talking to the Lord Jesus. He hears from his holy lips the solemn indictment of those who persecute God’s peo ple—“Why persecutes! thou me?” He who lays unkind hands, or un true accusation upon God's children had best beware, for so closely is our Lord identified with his people that when they suffer, it is he who bears the hurt. In a single sentence the Lord dis poses of the persecuting zeal and the sinful skepticism of this proud young Pharisee, and Saul enters into Damascus not as the haughty persecuter, but as a man trembling and astonished at his own sin. He spends three days shut in with his own soul and God, not seeing, not caring to eat, losing all conscious ness of earth, but entering into com munion with God. By God's grace the old life is pulled up by the roots as R is displaced by the new life in Christ Jesus. And new God is ready to send his servant Ananias to ad dress Paul as HI. A Converted Brother < w. 17- 1»). The fears of Ananias that Saul might still be a worker of evil (v. 13) •re soon overcome by God's assur ance that in the praying Saul he had prepared for himaelf “a chosen vessel" (v. IS) to bear the gospel to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the children of Israel. Let us not fail to note carefully that the greatest of all Christian leaders, the apostle Paul, was led out into his life of loyalty and service to Christ by a humble layman. Re peatedly God’s Word by precept and example stresses the vital import ance of personal work on the part of lay men and women. The lead ers of Christian work during the coming generation are now in the Sunday School classes of our churches, perhaps in a little way- aide chapel in the country, in the village church, in the mission or settlement house. Saul knew nothing of that subtle hypocrisy known as being “a secret believer," for at once he made open confession of his faith in baptism, and “Straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues that he is the Son of God" (v. 20). He became indeed IV. A Mighty Preacher (I Tim. 1:12-14). In this passage Paul is writing to his son in the faith, Timothy, about thirty-four years after his conver sion. As he looks back over the years he forgets the trials and sor rows, the beating with rods, the shipwrecks, the bitter disappoint ment over false brethren (Read II Cor. 11:23-28). He remembers only the matchless grace of God that showed mercy toward a blasphemer and persecuter, and counted him faithful, appointing him with “his service.” Paul summarizes that which we know to have been the great life of the world’s mightiest preacher by attributing it all in true humility to “the grace of our Lord” which “abounded exceedingly with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” For to him “to live was Christ” (Phil. 1:21). Street Scene In Fez, Morocco. > Prepared hy the National Geographic Socletr Washington, D. C.—WNU Service. I F RABAT is the- brain of Md- rocco, Fez is its heart. Al most equidistant from the Atlantic and the Mediterra nean, and nearly a hundred miles from either is this storied city, still the political and religious center of Morocco. . ^ From a hillside one looks down,' in wonder and admiration, on the tree - shaded valley in which lies once-turbulent, always-exotic, now- peaceful Fez. It is a chessboard, checkered in countless tiny squares which are the flat roofs of its myri ad houses, the edge of the board being the lofty city walls. Rather, there are two chess boards: Fez El Bali, Fez the Old; and higher along the steep slope is Fez Djedid, Fez the New. It was new in A. D. 1276. Like chessmen left scattered aimlessly about the board stand the slender minarets of the many mosques. On every side rise the hills crowned with forts old and r.ew, forts built by long-dead sul tans to cow their rebellious sub jects within the city, others erected by the French to defend Fez against the Berber tribes outside the walls. Beyond the rounded hills, away to the south, are higher mountains covered with snow in winter. But I in summer the and steppes are waist-high in flowers. Fez appears now as It did through the long centuries of Mos lem domination, since Arab invad ers built it somewhere about A. D 800; as it was before ever the Infidels entered it except as slaves or as missions of Christian states humbly seeking to propitiate the Sultan It remains as it was when still The privacy of their pleasant gar dens is guarded by eunuchs. There the fair occupants of the harem may cast aside their veils and ugly shrouding garments, and shine in all the splendor of massive jewelry and the bright hues of silken dresses that Arab and Berber ladies wear. Seated on the ground with their backs against the walls of these houses are beggars, singly or in groups, mostly blind. Hera three men squat side by side, companions in misery. They are silent, their chins on their chests. In a sudden movement the three heads are lifted simul taneously, the haggard faces and sightless eyes upturned, three hands thrust out begging bowls, and three voices chorus in perfect time a long-drawn appeal for alms! A Street of Misery “In the name of Allah, give us of your charity! You who hava riches, pity the poor! You who have eyes, be merciful to the blind! God will requite ye! Alms! In the name of the Prophet, give us alms!" The three iroices cease together, the three bowls are swiftly with drawn. the three heads are low ered. chin to chest again—all in perfect unison. A bell rings clear and sweet; and up the steep lane hobbles a ragged man hugging under his left arm a wet and bloated hairy thing like the swollen carcass of a drowned dog. It la e goatskin water bag with (he hair left on. The bearer is selling the liquid and clangs the bright brass bell in his right hand to attract attention. Before the French protectorate over Morocco was established, the British government once sent a . . mission to the Sultan in Fes with the home of the Shcnfian rulers, letters and presents. Attached to the real capital, the enlightened, artistic, magnificent city second to none in all Islam, when in the Twelfth century it boasted 785 mosques: 480 inns, and 120.000 pri vate houses. But hark* it was a Scots Guards subaltern —he ts a peer and a general today. He had visited the country on leave several times, so he was chosen to go with the mission. When it rode in state into Fes. he was A humming drone I mounted on e big mule and clad Follow Your Bent Whatever you are by nature, keep 1 to it; never desert your own line of talent. Be what nature intended you for, and you will succeed; be any thing else and you will be ten thou sand times worse than nothing.— Sydney Smith. Great and Small Acts The one who will be found in trial capable of great acts of love is ever the one who is always doing con siderate small ones.—F. W. Hubert. Alls the air; and high over the venerable city flies an airplane. France rules tha sky above and the soil beneath. Is Yet Unspoilt Being only recently opened to the outer world, Fez is as yet unspoilt and of deep interest to the traveler. Its size surprises. From one end to the other of the twin cities it measures four miles. Its popula tion today is about 107,000, includ ing fewer than 10,000 Israelites who are herded together in the Jewish quarter of Fez Djedid. The Europear inhabitants, to be found mostly in La Ville Nouvelle, number about 9,600, principally French, with a sprinkling of Span iards and Italians. Of the three parts of Fez—old, new, and newest — unquestionably the most interesting is the first, El Bali. To see it one must enter on foot or in the saddle, for vehicles cannot pass through its steep and narrow lanes. From Bab Hadid (The Iron Gate) a carriage road runs inside the walls around the edge of the city to the new gate of Bou Jeloud, where Fez Djedid touches the older town. Along it modern civiliza tion fringes- the ancient city, for it passes by the Auvert hospital, a French post office, the British con sulate, the. bureau of municipal services, a military club, and a museum housed in separate parts of an old palace, the Dar Batha, and by the lovely gardens of Dar B?ida, another imperial palace now used only to shelter the resident general when he visits Fez. None of the Arab buildings con verted to modern uses has been Europeanized in dutward appear ance and so they do not detract from the r.ative aspect of the city. Leaving them one plunges down steep lanes, dreary and desolate, between tho blank walls of tall houses almost windowless on the street side, some as high as a five- story London dwelling. They shut out the sky in the winding alleys. Dismal as is their outward ap pearance, many are the residences of rich and noble Moors, and the interiors are light and luxurious. in the full-dress scarlet and gold of his regiment, with the bearskin —the "hairy hat." as admiring Dublin street urchins- call it—on his head. Tall and handsome, he pre sented a striking figure in his gor geous uniform and appealed to tha crowds lining the route to the Im perial palace. But the bearskin busby puzzled them. "What is that he has on his head?" cried a wondering citi zen in the front rank of the spec tators. A newspaper correspondent in Morocco, who was riding in the pro cession, had lived many years in the country and spoke Arabic fluently. He turned in his saddle and an swered the enquirer loudly in the vernacular. "That is a water bag. His sul tan has allowed him to wear it as a mark of honor for putting out a fire in his town." The lane narrows into an alley barely nine feet wide, covered over with a trellis-work of long, dried reeds on which lie withering the leaves of a spreading vine which in summer gives a welcome shade. Street of Shops The alley is lined with booths, for it is the beginning of the fa mous souks. Souk means a mar ket; but here, as in Tunis, it desig nates a street of shops; and in eastern cities the shops that sell the same things are grouped to gether. Thus the Soul El Attarine is the street of the perfume sellers, who vend, besides scents, the large, brightly decorated Marabout can dles to be burned before shrines. In the Souk El Khiyatine, tailors* street, the knights of the needle ply their trade, and burnooses, je- labs (short-sleeved woolen cloaks), baggy breeches, and other gar ments are sold. When night comes, the shopkeep ers put up and lock the shutters on their establishments. They go off to their evening meal at a native restaurant or to drink a cup of sweetened coffee at a Moorish cefa before returning to their sleeping mats in a room like a rabbit war ren.