Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 175, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 July 1915 — Water for an Army. [ARTICLE]

Water for an Army.

One of the numberless tasks of the general staff of a great army is to provide water for the soldiers and the horses. The Scientific American describes some of the methods employed. Only running water is used. In the German army the upstream water is used for drinking, and thp downstream water for watering the horses and for bathing. Suitable signs notify the men which water they may safely drink and which they may use only for bathing. In shallow or narrow streams basins are dug or small dams built, in order to form reservoirs of sufficient size. Steppingstones are put down so that no one need walk through the water, and the banks are shored up with boards to keep them from crumbling into the water. Basins are dug at which to water the horses; when troughs have to be used, they are supported on posts and filled by means of pumps. If water lies at a reasonable depth from the surface —that is, not more than twenty feet—pipes are driven that, according to their size, deliver from four to twenty-five gallons of water a minute. If the water lies very near the surface, a hole is dug, and a cask, the bottom of which has been knocked out, is put into the hole to hold the sides in place and to protect the water from dirt. If the water lies at a greater depth, box sections are driven in, one on top of another, to the required depth.