Rain for the Earth (1937)

in the drought country entire towns go dry except for one single well life revolves around that well water water is doled out counted by the bucket as though it were milk or food water becomes a commodity it takes on new value people claim it PA it treasury there is a new Delivery Man in these towns the water carrier he goes from door to door Distributing the [Music] water as old Wells dry up new ones are dug the water level below Wells Has Fallen like a miner whose yield decreases on the surface the farmer goes deeper and deeper in a search for [Music] water well digging is costly for the farmer it takes time tools labor there is no Simple Pure for Drought the answer is not in conquering nature nature helps only those who help themselves patiently eternally man starts over and over again again water is there only deeper down harder to [Music] reach in the drought area there exists a double need for nursery schools with little water and devastating heat disease becomes a menace WPA nurses are Vigilant in their search for typhoid and other germs resulting from water shortage temperatures must be checked throats and eyes irritated by wind and dust require experienced attention horsepower augments Manpower with no crops to harvest with land parched The Dauntless farmer turns his energies and his teams to building roads where his future crops may be carried to Market new jobs for both the farmer and his team but jobs and work that justify themselves Behind The Works program lies engineering skill and scientific planning the drought damaged Farms men lost their jobs jobs were created to restore the land thus life is sustained in the midst of drought when drought comes fire is potentially in its wake hundreds of farmers are cutting wide Lanes to prevent the spread of prairie fires the fundamental structure of the government's work relief program in the Great Plains is construction of dams rain will fall and when it falls it must be [Music] saved dams are underway throughout the entire drought region in some places a dam every 100 miles in other places a dam every 10 miles but never aimlessly Never by chance water must be diverted to Old waterways and empty basins we have farmed and we have fought the drought with halfhazard methods too [Music] long and so this partial solution little dams wherever there is a little water to be caught taken as a whole these engineering and agricultural undertakings are almost incredible in their scope two concepts underly the entire program give men the opportunity to work and let the results of their labor have permanent [Music] value elsewhere larger dams are built of reinforced concrete and so the land is cleared and skilled workers twist thousands of strengthening wires into place all this that men may find employment and new reservoirs come into [Music] use [Music] at Fort peek Montana the Army Engineers supplemented by a core of relief workers are constructing the biggest earth dam in the world this single project has become a bullwark against the Dual enemy flood and drought in the heart of the dry regions it nears completion 240 ft High a vast system of tunnels and spill waves a water Arsenal for future defense with this gigantic structure crowning the headwaters of the Missouri River water can be stored and in time of need released to the scores of tributaries which join the spreading River under the spur of necessity the water conservation program has been [Music] accelerated the ponds and lakes built by relief labor last year and the year before have served well water is a prime necessity without which the west and the nation cannot [Music] Prosper rain for the Earth Rain Must Fall it must be treasured we must save it and teach our children to save it so that the plainsmen of tomorrow may claim their just [Music] heritage [Music]