enished with between 60,000 and 70,000 gallons of sparkling water
from the hills in place of water heavily charged with the accumulation
of summer dust on roofs, and the dust of Jerusalem roads, as we had
sampled it, is not as clean as desert sand.

The installation of the supply was a triumph for the Royal Engineers.
In peace times the work would have taken from one to two years to
complete. A preliminary investigation and survey of the ground was
made on February 14, and a scheme was submitted four days later. Owing
to the shortage of transport and abnormally bad weather work could not
be commenced till April 12. Many miles of pipe line had to be laid and
a powerful pumping plant erected, but water was being delivered to the
people of Jerusalem on the 18th of June. Other military works have
done much for the common good in Palestine, but none of them were of
greater utility than this. Mahomedans seeing bright water flow into
Jerusalem regarded it as one of the wonders of all time. It is
interesting to note that the American Red Cross Society, which sent a
large and capable staff to the Holy Land after America came into the
war, knew of the lack of an adequate water supply for Jerusalem, and
with that foresight which Americans show, forwarded to Egypt for
transportation to Jerusalem some thousand tons of water mains to
provide a water service. When the American Red Cross workers reached
the Holy City they found the Army's plans almost completed, and
they were the first to pay a tribute to what they described as the
'civilising march of the British Army.'

Those who watched the ceaseless activities of the Public Health
Administration were not surprised at the remarkable improvement in the
sick and death rates, not only of Jerusalem but of all the towns and
districts. The new water supply will unquestionably help to lower the
figures still further. A medical authority recently told me that
the health of the community was wonderfully good and there was no
suspicion of cholera, outbreaks of which were frequent under the
Turkish regime. Government hospitals were established in all large
centres. In this country where small-pox takes a heavy toll the
'conscientious objector' was unknown, and many thousands of natives
in a few months came forward of their own free will to be vaccinated.
Typhus and relapsing fever, both lice-borne diseases, used to claim
many victims, but the figures fell very rapidly, due largely, no
doubt,