difficult to attain and the influence will soon be noticed in the careless
personal habits of the boys. There is an educational and moral value in
cleanliness which is second only to that of good health.

Water Supply

Dr. Charles E. A. Winslow, the noted biologist, is authority for the
following statement; [Camp Conference, p.61] "The source of danger in
water is always human or animal pollution. Occasionally we find water
which is bad to drink on account of minerals dissolved on its way through
the ground or on account of passage through lead pipes, but the danger is
never from ordinary decomposing vegetable matter. If you have to choose
between a bright, clear stream which may be polluted at some point above,
and a pond full of dead leaves and peaty matter, but which you can inspect
all around and find free from contamination, choose the pond. Even in the
woods it is not easy to find surface waters that are surely protected, and
streams particularly are dangerous sources of water supply. We have now
got rid of the idea that running water purifies itself. It is standing
water which purifies itself, if anything, for in stagnation there is much
more chance for the disease germs to die out. Better than either a pond or
stream, unless you can carry out a rather careful exploration of their
surroundings, is ground water from a well or spring; though that again is
not necessarily safe. If the well is in good sandy soil with no cracks or
fissures, even water that has been polluted may be well purified and made
safe to drink. In a clayey or rocky region, on the other hand,
contaminating material may travel for considerable distance under ground.
Even if your well is protected below, a very important point to look after
is the pollution from the surface. I believe more cases of typhoid fever
from wells are due to surface pollution than to the character of the water
itself. This is a danger which can, of course, be done away with by