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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



cynamid, essential in the fixation of nitro- 

 gen, is obtained. 



But Niagara does not stop with these 

 things. In the trenches of Europe there 

 must be pure water lest epidemic disease 

 sweep over them, destroying more than 

 the shells, shrapnel, and machine-guns of 

 the enemy ; and Niagara comes forward 

 with chlorine, or an allied product, which 

 kills the germs of disease, yet leaves the 

 drinker untouched. 



In the simplest form, the process of 

 breaking up salt and getting command of 

 the qualities of the two elements in it con- 

 sists of dissolving about one part of com- 

 mon salt in eight parts of water and pass- 

 ing a given current of electricity through 

 it. The resultant fluid is a great bleacher 

 and disinfectant. A gallon of it will kill 

 all the germs in a day's drinking water of 

 a city like Washington. Of course, the 

 processes of manufacturing chlorine, 

 bleaching powder, and other compounds 

 is more complex. 



A thousand American cities sterilize 



their water with these products, which 

 have done more than any other agency 

 in the hands of the sanitariums to wipe 

 out water-borne epidemics. In the hos- 

 pitals of France and England they form 

 the active part of mixtures used to steri- 

 lize the wounds of the soldiers. Without 

 them there would be no book or letter 

 paper ; cotton dresses and sheets would 

 be no longer white ; our every-day chem- 

 ical fire extinguisher would disappear. 



One might go on showing how Niagara 

 aids America in her preparedness cam- 

 paign. Its laboratories are producing the 

 materials from which picric acid and 

 other powerful explosives are made. 

 They also are producing metallic soda 

 from which is manufactured sodium 

 cyanide, used alike in extracting gold and 

 silver and in electro-plating. 



All these things Niagara has been able 

 to do without detracting at all from its 

 beauty — even without exhausting the 

 amount of water authorized by the Cana- 

 dian-American treatv. 



HELP OUR RED CROSS 



HTIIE RED CROSS needs at this time more than it ever 

 *■ needed before the comprehending support of the 

 American people and all the facilities which could be 

 placed at its disposal to perform its duties adequately 

 and efficiently. 



I believe that the American people perhaps hardly yet 

 realize the sacrifices and sufferings that are before them. 



We thought the scale of our Civil War was unpre- 

 cedented, but in comparison with the struggle into which 

 we have now entered the Civil War seems almost insig- 

 nificant in its proportions, and in its expenditure of 

 treasure and of blood. And, therefore, it is a matter of 

 the greatest importance that we should at the outset see 

 to it that the American Red Cross is equipped and pre- 

 pared for the things that lie before it. 



It will be our instrument to do the work of alleviation 

 and of mercy which will attend this struggle. 



T\ T OODROW WlLSOX. 



