, t

, DEPARTMENT (XF THE INTEKIOB

WATER-SUPPLY

IRRIGATION PAPERS

OP THE

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

No. 29

WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. BARBOUR

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1899
lElUGATIOX REPORTS.

The folio wing list contains the titles and brief descriptions of the principal reports 

relating to water supply and irrigation, prepared by the United States Geological

Survey since 1890:

1890.

First Annual Report of the United States Irrigation Survey, 1890; octavo, 133 pp.

Printed as Part II, Irrigation, of the Tenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1888-89. Contains a statement of the origin of the Irrigation Survey, a preliminary report on the organization and prosecution of the survey of the aric1 lands for 

purposes of irrigation, and report of work done during 1890.

1891.

Second Annual Report of the United States Irrigation Survey, 1891; octavo, 395 pp.

Published as Part II, Irrigation, of the Eleventh Annual Report of the United States 

Geological Survey, 1889-90. Contains a description of the hydrography of the «rid region 

and of the engineering operations carried on by the Irrigation Survey during 1890; also 

the statement of the Director of the Survey to the House Committee on Irrigation, and 

other papers, including a bil >liography of irrigation literature. Illustrated by 29 plates and 

 4 figures.

Third Annual Report of the United States Irrigation Survey, 1891 ; octavo, 576 pp.

Printed as Part II of the Twelfth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1890-91. Contains " Report upon the location and survey of reservoir sites_ during the 

fiscal year ended June 30, 1891,'" by A. H. Thompson; "Hydrography of the arid regions," 

by P. H. Newell; and "Irrigation in India," by Herbert M. Wilson. Illustrated by 93 plates 

and 190 figures.

Bulletins of the Eleventh Census of the United States upon irrigation, prepared 

by F. H. Newell; quarto.

No. 85, Irrigation in Arizona; No. 60, Irrigation in New Mexico; No. 85, 

Irrigation in Utah; No. 107, Irrigation in Wyoming; No. 153, Irrigation in 

Montana; No. 157, Irrigation in Idaho; No. 163, Irrigation in Nevada; No. 

178, Irrigation in Oregon; No. 193. Artesian wells for irrigation; No. 198, 

Irrigation in Washington.

I

Irrigation of western United States, by F. H. Newell; extra census bulletin No. 

23, September 9, 1892; quarto, 23 pp.

Contains tabulations showing the total number, average size, etc., of irrigated holdings, 

the total area and average size of irrigated farms in the subhumid regions, the percentage 

of numbe_r of farms irrigated, character of crops, value of irrigated lauds, the average cost 

of irrigation, the investment and profits, together with a resume of the water supply and 

a description of irrigation by artesia_n wells. Illustrated by colored maps showing the 

location and relative extent of the irrigated areas.

189.1.

Thirteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1891-92. Part 

III, Irrigation, 1893; octavo, 486 pp.

Consists of three papers: "Water supply for irrigation,'' by F. H. Newell; "American 

irrigation engineering" and "Engineering results of the Irrigation Survey," by Herbert 

M. Wilson; and " Construction of topographic maps and selection and survey of reservoir 

sites." by A. H. Thompson. Illustrated by 77 plates and 119 figures.

A geological reconnoissance in central Washington, by Israel Cook Russell, 1893; 

octavo, 108 pp. , 15 plates. Bulletin No. 108 of the United States Geological 

Survey; price, 15 cents.

Contains a description of the examination of the geologic structure in and adjacent to 

the drainage basin of Yakima Rive and the great plains of the Columbia to the east of 

this area, with special reference to the occurrence of artesian waters.

1894.

Report 011 agriculture by irrigation in the western part of the United States at the 

Eleventh Census, 1890, by F. H. Newell, 1894; quarto, 283 pp.

Consists of a general description of the condition of irrigation in the United Stato--, the 

area irrigated, cost of works, their value and profits; also describes the water supply, the 

value of water, of artesian wells, reservoirs, and other details; then take_s up each State 

and Territory in order, giving a general description of the condition of agriculture by irrigation, and discusses the physical conditions and local peculiarities in each county.

Fourteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1893-93, Part 

II, Accompanying papers, 1894; octavo, 597 pp.

Contains papers on "Potable waters of the eastern United States.'" by W J McGee; 

"Natural mineral waters of the United States," by A. C. Peale; and "Results of stream 

measurements," by F. H. NewelL Illustrated by maps and diagrams.

(Continued on third page of cover.) 

IRR 29
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

WATER-SUPPLY

IKKIOATION PAPEES

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

. 39

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1899
UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

CHABLES D. WALCOTT, DIEECTOK

WELLS AND WINDMILLS

NEBEASKA

BY

EBWIN HINCKLEY BARBOUB

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1899
CONTENTS.

Page.

Letter of transmittal ----.-.----------.-----------------------.----,-.---- 11

Importance of water resources.......,..._....-...--..-_..-.._.-----..-..- 13

Action of water underground .........,....^...................... . -.-.- 14

Sheet water........__-_...-.___-.____-_.__..._.__-.....---.-_.---. 17

Artesian water.. __..._._-..___,..__..--.-.. _..__-_....-_..-.__.. 18

Conservation of soil moisture... ....____...__...._-.____. -.-_.-.--. 24

Pollution of water.___-..._--__..._____--.....-...---._._-__ --_-.. 26

Surf aceand seepage water------ ____-_--_---.._---_--.--.._--_., 27

Fluctuations of water level.-.. .___....._.-__..-._.-----_---._..-_.-- 28

Methods of raising water....................L......-...-.--.........-....- 28

Homemade windmills. ................................................ 31

Cost.--..-....-..-..................----...-,-.-.-----.---.---.... 34

Classification__-___-.______-.__..-___-.__.---.-...--_---..---..-.-- 34

Distribution....____.__.___-__.._-_...--..--._..-..---_--.---.---. 35

Jumho windmills. __-....._._---.-...---....----....--.--.-...---..- 35

Baby jumbo windmills.... ..................................... 37

Jumbo windmills of intermediate size .------...---.-...-.--.. 38

Screw jumbo windmills -.._...___-____.-..----..-..-----...-.-. 41

Construction of jumbo windmills.--------............ -...-... 42

Pumps _.-_---.__-.._---_.._----.---_._--.-----_,--.-,---...- 44

Merry-go-round windmills---.-.----..-------.-..-. --..-.-. .-... 44

Open-faced or turbine windmills. .................. ............... 47

Battle-ax windmills-.--.---_---...----..._.--_-.-..-,.--.--.-. 47

Holland windmills............................ ................ 54

Tower less turbines...... ..........^........................ .. 56

Stationary turbines..--.---....-.--,--- -------...-------.-..- 56

Vaneless automatic turbines..... -------- ...-----.-......._.__. 59

Giant turbines.._..........---.-_---.-..--,...-.------.---'--.- 60

Reconstruction of windmills.---.-.-.-.-----.-.---..-,-.--.--..---.--. 64

Shopmade turbines.....-............-...--...-.-........._--.-....... 65

Original uses for shopmade windmills..._....--...... ......--..--...- 66

Otherformsof water lifters.------.--.......-..-- .- T ... --.-......... 67

Transmission and storage of windmill power..-.........-......--.---...... 69

Precipitation in Nebraska.---....- ..-..-.-.....-.....-....-..--...-.--..... 71

Surface water available for irrigation..--....-------..-..-.......-.-.-.... 73

Supply for towns and cities.....--..-.........._..........-...._........... 73

Saltwater.--.--.-..--.--.-..-..-...-...---.---.-.--..-..---...-..- ...... 75

Blowing wells...--.--.---.---...-...---....-.-..,-- ...................... 78

Index....-...--.-...-.-..-......---....-...---.-......................... 83

5
ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page. 

PLATE I. A, Riverview Park artesian well, near Omaha; B, Artesian well

in Holt County...... ......................................... 18

II. A, Artesian well at Beaver Crossing; B, Well of T. M. Ferguson

at Beaver Crossing ........................................... 34

III. A, Platte River, near Gering: B, Dam at Milford .............. 38

IV. A, Windmill and tower; B, Experimental windmill at farm of

University of Nebraska...,.-.- ._-._.--.-..-.-.----_------...- 30

V. A, Baby jumbo windmill on Goodrich farm, near Bethany, 

Nebraska; B, Baby jumbo built by J. L. Brown, Kearney, 

Nebraska ..................._..-.....-.. .--.-.....---..... 36

VI. Mounted jumbo windmill on Goodrich farm, near Bethany,

Nebraska .............................................. ----- 36

VII. A, Medium-sized jumbo windmill in garden of M. J. Olson, 

Cozad, Nebraska; B, Large jumbo windmill at Cushman Park 

Gardens, Lancaster County, Nebraska ...-.---......-_-..---.- 38

VIII. A, Jumbo windmill in Travis gardens, near Lincoln, Nebraska ;

B, Screw jumbo windmill _......-..--..--..-....-.--..--..--. 38

IX. A, Method of attaching arms of jumbo windmill to axis; 

B, Another method of attaching arms of jumbo windmill to 

axis_.__--_._..._..__.___-___._._-.-.._----..-.-.--.-.-_----.- 40

X. A, Method of construction of six-fan jumbo windmill crossbraced by twisted wire; B, Method of construction of eight-fan 

jumbo windmill....-....-.....-.-..--.-..-.-----..-.-..--.-.. 40

XI. A, Method of construction of gangs of jumbo windmills of a 

diameter of from 13 to 14 or more feet and of indefinite length; 

B, Method of construction of screw jumbo windmills with 

canvas sails and arms braced with twisted wire ............... 43

XII. A, Gang of jumbo windmills erected above corncribs or sheds;

Jumbo windmill with wind guard or cut-off... .............. 43

XIII. Small mounted merry-go-round windmill near Lincoln, Nebraska. 44

XIV. A, Merry-go-round windmill built by S. S. Videtto, Lincoln, 

Nebraska; B, Suggested form for eight-fan merry-go-round 

windmill....................... ....-.-..-......----.-....-... 46

XV. A, Battle-ax windmill on farm of Matthew Wilson, near Overton, 

Nebraska; B, Battle-ax windmill on farm of Fred Woulf, near 

Grand Island, Nebraska ....-...-....-..-...---.......-.-..-.. 48

XVI. A, Six-fan battle-ax windmill of John Harders, near Grand Island, 

Nebraska; B, Eight-fan battle-ax windmill of Diedtrich Huennecke,near Grand Island, Nebraska ............ ............. 50

XVII. A, Giant battle-ax windmills on farm of J. S. Peckham, near 

Gothenburg, Nebraska; B, Two-fan battle-ax windmill built by 

Elmer Jasperson. Ashland, Nebraska ......................... 53

7
8 ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page.

PLATE XVIII. A, Dutch windmill of August Prinz, near Chalco, Nebraska; 

B, Six-fan Dutch windmill of Henry Bormann, near Portal, 

Nebraska.........-_-___.--._-.-.-_--_-_--__-----._.---- 54

XIX. A, Four-fan stationary turbine mill of Friederich Ernstmeyer, near Grand Island, Nebraska; B, Six-fan stationary turbine of Fred Mathiesen, near Grand Island, 

Nebraska ........,..~................................... 56

XX. A, Giant turbine built by J. M. Warner, near Overton, 

Nebraska; B, Four-fan geared turbine built by Henry 

Boersen, near Grand Island, Nebraska ...^.............. 58

XXI. A, Reconstructed windmill of E. M. Searles, jr., at Ogallala, 

Nebraska; B, Irrigating pond and reconstructed windmill 

on farm of Elmer Jasperson, near Ashland, Nebraska.... 60

XXII. A, Railroad water tank and windmill; B, Elevated tanks 

filled by windmill for town supply, used at Fairmont, 

Fillmore County, Nebraska-.-..__----.....--------.-- . 62

XXIII. Ponds of the Moulton Ice Company, Lincoln, Nebraska,

supplied with water by two turbine windmills........... 64

XXIV. Windmill and water elevator on Blue River, near Milford,

Nebraska...--.-.-.-..----. .......-....-.---.-... ..... 66

'XXV. A, Thirty-foot current water wheel on branch of Hat 

Creek, Sioux County, Nebraska; B, thirty-five foot current water wheel near Hot Springs, South Dakota ....... 68

XXVI. Waterworks at Kearney, Nebraska __..--._._. ..._....... 74

XX VI I. Burlington Beach, near Lincoln, Nebraska. _._..._...,..-_._ 76

FIG. 1. Course of water percolating from surface of soil down to saturated

area _._._...___.-.____._... ...... _-_-..__-__...._--.___..-..___ 14

2. Inclined water table on eroded rocky floor ..........-.._..,....... 15

3. Open windlass and well curb ...............................^.... 29

4. Partly inclosed windlass and well curb ___..__.__.___.._.___.____- 30

5. Jumbo windmill of M. J. Olson, Cozad, Nebraska -.--...-_.....-. 40

6. Jumbo windmills and reservoirs in the market gardens of Travis

Bros., Lincoln, Nebraska....... .-----.-..---..----......._.... 40

7. Break resulting from improper method of fastening jumbo windmill arms on the axis....-..........-.-..--.--.-.-.--.... ...... 42

8. Hooded merry go-round built by William Winn, Berwin, N ebraska,

showing semicircular hood on rollers guided by large rudder.... 44

9. Plan of hooded merry-go-round windmill built by William Winn.. 45

10. Plan of large merry-go-round windmill of E. E. Blackman....... 46

11. Details of construction of battle-ax windmills. .................... 48

12. Working parts of the four-fan battle-ax windmill on the farm of

Matthew Wilson, Overton, Nebraska -.__.... ....---..-........ 49

13. Method of construction of the battle-ax mill of Fred Woulf, near

Grand Island, Nebraska ._.-.....----..-_.-. .-..-....._........ 50

14. Working parts of the eight-fan battle-ax windmill of Diedtrich 

Huennecke, near Grand Island, Nebraska, with one fan in position ---_-.--._-.__.-._..- _..--._.._... .... ............ ... 51

15. Battle-ax windmill driving crosscut saw, built by A. G. Tingley,

Verdon, Nebraska.......-_.-..__.._.-_.-- ...---.-----.-.-_-..._ 5ft

16. Stationary turbine designed and built by Janak Bros., Sarpy

Mills, Nebraska......--_ .. .-__-_-._-.....---......_....-__.. 58

17. Sketch of homemade steel turbine of W. F. Baldwin, Ainsworth.

Nebraska-..... .... r ........................... ............... 59
ILLUSTRATIONS. 9 

\ Page.

FIG. 18. Method of regulating the fans of the homemade steel turbine of

W.F.Baldwin................................................. 60

19. Method of construction of four-fan turbine mill of Henry Boersen,

near Grand Island, Nebraska.-...-.-----.-.----_.------.-- ---. 61

20. Homemade turbine mill of Lewis Jardee,of Newport, Nebraska..- 62

21. Side view and details of revolving parts of homemade turbine windmill of W. F. McComb, Grand Island, Nebraska..........-.---- 63

22. Two-foot tympanum water wheel operated by 12-foot aermotor .. _ 67

23. Transmission of power of windmill by oscillating wires. _._..__._. 70

24. Monthly precipitation in Nebraska...... ......-.-..-_-.-.--..... 71

25. Plan of waterworks at Kearney, Nebraska..._.--..-.--_-._-_.--.- 74
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 

DIVISION OF HYDROGRAPHY, 

Washington, February 15, 1899.

SIR : I have the honor to transmit herewith a manuscript entitled 

"Wells and Windmills in Nebraska," prepared by Erwin Hinckley 

Barbour, professor of geology in the University of Nebraska and 

acting State geologist. The data for this manuscript were obtained 

by Professor Barbour incidental to his studies of the geology of the 

State, and have been rounded out by special work carried on under 

his direction. The original manuscript as prepared consisted of two 

parts the first upon wells, and the second upon homemade windmills but owing to delays in printing the first part, it has been considered advisable to combine the two papers into one and thus secure 

earlier publication. The manuscript as thus combined is offered as 

one of the water-supply and irrigation papers.

In the earlier numbers of this series considerable space has been 

given to the subject of windmills and discussions of the results 

obtained by experiments. These facts have been presented in the 

hope of stimulating the development of more economical and efficient methods of raising water for irrigation. In the present paper 

another phase of the matter is presented, and it is shown that by the 

use of material at hand a thrifty and ingenious farmer can produce 

results worthy of imitation. It is not to be supposed that homemade 

devices will be as efficient as those made for competition in the open 

market, but in the country, far from centers of population, it is not 

always practicable for the farmer to obtain such machinery. Lack of 

ready money and difficulty of transportation may prevent his obtaining the best windmill or pump. Under these conditions it is infinitely 

better for him to use the means at hand rather than go without. It 

has been shown by Professor Barbour that where one man in a community invents and builds a useful device of this kind others are 

quick to imitate, so that one homemade windmill or pump is copied 

on neighboring farms for miles around.

It is pointed out in this paper that the homemade windmill is not 

necessarily a contrivance incident to poverty or hardship. Many of 

the mills of this kind have been made by men who might afford to

11
12 LETTER OP TBANSMITTAL.

buy shopmade mills, but who, having sufficient ingenuity and possessing the necessary materials, have preferred to combine these to 

produce effective machinery. They have merely exercised in this 

direction the thrift whose existence is shown by countless other tokens 

about their farms. The homemade windmill must not, therefore, be 

considered an indication of poverty, but rather the reverse, since it 

is usually accompanied by progress in all lines.

The subject matter of this paper is related to water conservation in 

the small way. Throughout the Great Plains region the supply of 

water is so scanty and so widely disseminated that as a rule it will 

be impracticable to provide great storage reservoirs or other works of 

considerable magnitude. On the other hand, for the utilization of 

the resources there must be innumerable attempts to employ the 

small amount of water almost eveiywhere available; and this can be 

done most economically through the use of the ever-present force of 

the wind. Thus windmills throughout at least one-fourth of the 

United States must ever be inseparably connected with the utilization 

of wells and with the development of the country. 

Very respectfully,

F. H. NEWELL, 

Hydrographer in Charge.

Hon. CHARLES D. WALCOTT,

Director United States Geological Survey.
WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. 1

By EKWIN HINCKLEY BARBOUK.

IMPORTANCE OF WATER RESOTJRCES.

In Nebraska, as in other portions of the Great Plains region, the 

principal source of wealth lies in the soil. The fertility of this section 

is marvelous and agricultural possibilities are such that subsistence 

maybe obtained for a population of several millions; yet this domain 

is for the most part sparsely populated, the progress of settlement 

has been checked, and the tilled areas are increasing in extent but 

slowly. This apparent cessation of progress during 1894, 1895, and 

1896, especially in the western half of the State, is due mainly to one 

cause, the insufficiency of rainfall.

Except the soil and its products, the natural resources of Nebraska 

are few. The consolidated rocks are deeply buried beneath clays, 

sands, and gravels; there are few, if any, minerals of commercial 

value, no beds of coal nor veins of ore, no fields of gas nor oil, but 

water, owing to its comparative scarcity and its importance in agricultural economy, rises to the rank of a mineral resource of the greatest importance. The development and employment of all of the supply flowing on the surface or percolating underground necessitates a 

study as thorough as-that given by other States to coal, iron, or 

precious metals.

This paper has been prepared as a preliminary study of the water 

problem in Nebraska. In it the attempt is made £o review briefly the 

general subject of the water supply, to bring together the more obvious 

facts, and to state these so that they may be understood by the farmer 

or citizen not skilled in technical or scientific practice. The facts 

on which the paper is based were gained in part by personal observation, and were supplemented by correspondence carried on by 

printed schedules and letters. The discussion is general in character, 

treating of the behavior of water underground, and particularly of 

the methods of bringing it to the surface for domestic use and for use 

in agriculture. Reference is also made to the surface waters of the

1 Notes and data respecting wells have been brought down to the spring of 1897; those respecting windmills to the spring of 1899.

13
14 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. INC. 29.

State and the amount of rainfall, some facts are given concerning the 

salt or saline waters and their utilization, and the peculiar blowing or 

breathing wells are briefly described.

ACTION OF WATER UNDERGROUND.

Air, which is the vehicle for moisture, can carry a greater load 

when it is dry, warm, and in motion. If the air is cooled, it can no 

longer carry its burden, which is dropped from the clouds as rain. 

Follow the course of the raindrops, or the circulating water, as it is 

aptly called, from the moment of impact with the surface and it will 

be seen that (1) a portion runs off, washing eastern soils badly, but 

washing western less; (2) a portion soaks in, since the soil is sandy, 

as it does not in clay soil; (3) a portion is evaporated, the average 

annual evaporation in Nebraska amounting to 4 or 5 feet; and (4) 

a portion, insignificant in amount, is taken up by plants and animals.

The portion that soaks into the soil sinks by its own weight deeper 

and deeper through the capillary or hair-like passageways and is lost

FIG. 1. Course of water percolating from surface of soil down to saturated area.

to sight. It is universal experience that the soft, permeable surface 

material may change below to harder or even impermeable layers. Then 

it is that the water in its downward course is turned aside to flow laterally in all directions. Friction, however, greatly retards its movement. 

Constant additions are received as the rains continue, so that the 

creeping waters pile up, as it were, and gradually rise higher and higher; 

that is, the water table or water plane is rising.

As the process continues the creeping layer must rise to or near 

the surface of the soil, and thus the ground becomes water-logged 

that is, soaked or saturated with water. (See fig. 1.) At such times 

springs are flowing, the ponds and streams fed by them are full, wells 

are inexhaustible, and vegetation is luxuriant and continues so during dry weather or even moderate drought. Let the season of drought 

continue and the creeping waters eventually steal away, and the saturated area is reduced to nothing; that is, the water table is settling. 

At such times ponds, springs, wells, and streams may fail the more 

superficial first, the deeper last. Fresh showers cause them slowly to 

rise again, or perhaps they may rise without precipitation by acces-
BAKBOUR.] GROUND WATER. 15

sions of water at-some more remote spot, or from the seepage of some 

river swollen by floods at its source. Or, in still a third case, they 

may rise in an apparently mysterious manner without the intervention of showers or flood, simply because of hydrostatic connection 

with some other region which is flooded.

The water table, then, is subject to rise and fall because of water 

received at home or from abroad. It is not an entirely stable body 

preserving a constant level, but is subject to seasonal variations and 

variations incident to cycles of dry and wet years. The water table 

is not necessarily level, but is usually so, for instead of following the 

rocky floor the water table may run parallel with the surface. The 

floor, as well as the surface, is apt to be undulatory and the water 

plane or table higher or lower, according to the material passed 

through, to the escape of the water, and to other modifying causes. 

(See fig. 2.)

The ground water or free water, as it may be called, is evidently in 

circulation and subject to fluctuation. The wells of the region likewise vary, although this is scarcely worthy of mention in the case of 

Nebraska, from the fact that nearly all of the counties report an unlimFIG. 2. Inclined water table on eroded rocky floor.

ited water supply, with inexhaustible wells. When the water table 

rises to within half a yard of the surface, vegetation suffers or is 

drowned out. On the other hand, when the water settles too far, 

plants may suffer equally from lack of water to carry soluble plant 

food to their roots and rootlets. When, however, the water table 

stands at a mean level between these two extremes, the fields of the 

State, with an annual rainfall of but 23.3 to 25 inches, produce crops 

and withstand droughts in a manner astonishing to the citizens of 

regions possessing double the annual precipitation. At first it seemed 

incredible that such magnificent yields could come from so insignificant a rainfall. Nevertheless the fact stands. There are two apparent reasons for this. The rainfall in many eastern regions amounts 

to 35 or 40 inches, but one-half is lost by running off and carrying 

with it valuable soil fertility, the other half soaking into the ground, 

while in Nebraska the water lost as run-off is only about one-tenth. 

Hence, here a far greater proportion of storm water is stored for 

future use. This is largely due to the sandy nature of the soil. Even 

some of the so-called clay soils, though looking and acting like clay, 

are in fact exceedingly fine sand.
16 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBKASKA. [NO. 29.

From the mechanical analyses of soils and subsoils made thus far it 

is shown that Nebraska soils are peculiarly rich in sands and poor in 

clays. The amount of sand including in this term coarse, medium, 

and fine sand and silt runs as high as 97 to 98 per cent. The lowest 

percentage thus far is about 66 per cent, while the average is probably about 78 per cent, based on the analyses made by Prof. Milton 

Whitney, of the Department of Agriculture. In a word, there is a 

preponderance of sand in Nebraska soils, which renders them at once 

light and capable of readily imbibing a larger proportion of rainfall 

than is possible in eastern States. This is a very significant fact.

The more one cultivates the virgin prairie, which when hard packed 

sheds water like a roof, the greater will be the amount of storm water 

caught and stored in the soil and the less the run-off and evaporation. 

Increased cultivation tends toward the conservation of soil moisture, 

and this in turn reacts, making it possible to catch more moisture, 

since soil already damp imbibes more rainfall than a dry soil. Thus 

as settlement goes 011 the amount of precipitation absorbed increases 

and the amount lost becomes even less. This statement must not be 

confounded with the popular but erroneous belief that the annual 

precipitation is increasing.

But when the spring rains cease and a season of settled weather 

or possibly drought sets in, and the surface soil dries, a force of great 

interest and of profoundest importance begins to act. This force is 

capillarity, by virtue of which water is drawn up through the minute, 

hair-like passageways of the soil and subsoil, rising automatically 

as much as 6 or 7 feet. This, then, is a second way by which water 

is held in the soil, and its far-reaching importance is instantly 

apparent when one considers that the very passageways up which this 

water is drawn are those down which rootlets grow. Soil moisture 

laden with soluble plant food is thus carried up to the rootlets or 

feeders of growing vegetation. Crops and grasses are nourished by 

capillary water and saved by it uninjured in time of drought, even 

during seasons of long-protracted dryness (if not accompanied by hot 

winds), such as could not but blight crops and grasses elsewhere. 

However, it is not to be forgotten that this force works equally well 

both ways, thereby carrying moisture up or down, according as the 

surface soil or the deep subsoil is the drier. This only emphasizes 

the importance of utilizing all available rainfall in saturating the 

deeper soil as completely as possible, in order that the full energy of 

capillary attraction may be expended in drawing soil moisture to the 

rootlets.

Thus far two means have been considered by which water is held 

by the soil first, as ground water, sinking by gravity, and, second, as 

capillary water. There is another means so subtle and concealed as 

to merit little more than passing notice hygroscopic water, which is 

inherent in many minerals, rocks, soils, and substances, and may be 

obtained by long-continued roasting.
BARBOUH.] GROUND WATER. " 17

SHEET WATER.

There is in common parlance a rather indefinite and puzzling use 

of the terms, first, second, and third water, an^ sheet water. By first 

water is meant the first surface water that seeps into the well; a supply 

often weak and readily exhausted. By second or sheet water, as it is 

commonly called, is understood the deeper ground water, which is 

unlimited in amount, since it is contained in porous material that 

delivers water rapidly. Third water, as the term is popularly used, 

is doubtless the same second water struck at a lower level, after passing through a local layer of fine material of slow delivery.

Sheet water is a greatly abused term, about which has gathered 

false impressions not easily dispelled. It carries with it wherever 

used the idea of subterranean water^ flowing at an exaggerated rate 

under the ground. It is perfectly true that ground water flows and 

that it has certain channels, naturally decided by the coarseness or 

fineness of the material, but one hears repeatedly of well diggers 

striking subterranean currents of sheet water flowing at the apparently incredible rate of 4 or 5 miles an hour, a faster rate than that 

of the Platte itself. This fallacious statement is made repeatedly in 

all sincerity and good faith. A very popular conception of this torrential sheet water is that it is the angry and pent-up floods of subterranean caves, which are seeking outlets to the sea. This erroneous 

conception is worse than fallacious; it is entirely misleading.

There is no such current in the sheet water, and there are no such 

extensive caves and underground lakes, and can not be in the sandy 

soil of Nebraska. Caves are formed in limestones, not in sands, for 

naturally the sand would cave in and fill any great underground 

passageways as fast as formed. This misconception comes about 

naturally enough in some cases, and is cherished with a faith not to 

be shaken. The well digger, who, while bailing or pumping out the 

water on one side of the well, sees water.flowing in from the other, 

can tell without hesitation in which direction the water flows, for he 

"has seen it himself;" but let him set his pump on the opposite side 

of the well and the current will set in from the other direction. 

Of course there is a current whose rate is regulated by the coarseness or the fineness of the material through which it flows, but this 

same current is inconceivably slow. Coarse material with rapid 

delivery of water may have a current as slow as a fraction of a foot 

a day, or as rapid as several feet a day, while in fine-grained, compact 

soil the rate is reduced to little or nothing. A better understanding 

of the power of delivery of various materials would correct many of 

these errors.

If an old pail or keg, having holes in the bottom, is filled with clean,

coarse pebbles, and a stream of water poured in, the rate of delivery

is practically as rapid as the rate at which the water is poured. Its

rate is so rapid that the water flows down through the gravel in a

IRR 29 2
18 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO. 29.

\

column, scarcely wetting the other pebbles. With the sand, however, 

the water spreads out or is diffused through much or all of the mass, 

and is delivered slowly at the bottom. In the silt, which is impalpably 

fine sand, the rate is still slower and the whole mass is saturated with 

water. In clay the fineness of which is extreme there is no delivery 

at all in experiment and practically none in nature. Mix together 

gravel, sand, silt, and clay, about as they occur in nature, and the 

rate becomes about the same as that of the finest material that is, 

water is delivered with extreme slowness.

This set of experiments tends to show the rate at which water can 

flow through soil or rock of various degrees of porosity, and disproves 

the statement that the velocity of underground currents is in any way 

comparable with that of surface streams.

ARTESIAN WATER.

Ground water is almost universal and is the source of the supply 

of common wells. In addition to this there is the extraordinary 

subterranean water which supplies artesian wells. In the common 

house well the water seeps in and stands quietly at a certain level. 

In the artesian well it comes in under pressure. This is the only 

essential difference between the two. The artesian wells in Artois, 

France, from which the name "artesian" is derived, were the first 

dug and observed. These were spouting wells from deep sources; 

hence the term artesian presupposes in the public mind a spouting 

well from deep-seated sources.

This early conception, however, is not the true one. Many artesian wells are shallow, not over 60 to 80 feet in depth, but yet are 

true artesian wells. Many throw fine streams from a few inches to 

several feet high, and are unquestionably artesian wells; but a short 

distance away at a higher level the same water will rise in the well 

under the same pressure and is likewise artesian, even though the 

head is not sufficient to force it above the surface. The one is an 

active, positive, flowing artesian well; the other a negative, passive, 

or standing artesian well.

In Johnson and Seward counties the shallow artesian wells are 

beautifully represented. They occur in valleys where the surface 

has been washed away and lowered, thus enabling the pressure or 

"head" to force the water above the surface 10 to 12feet. On this 

level flowing wells are everywhere to be found, which are already put 

to many economic uses, and farms which are models of their kind 

draw their water for irrigation from this source with no cost. These 

are positive or flowing artesian wells. On farms a few feet higher 

precisely the same water is struck. It rises to the surface, but can 

not flow over it.

It is universal experience that rocks, some soft and porous, some 

dense, are found in the State arranged in horizontal beds. The denser
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. I

A RIVERVIEW PARK ARTESIAN WELL, NEAR OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

Depth, 1,060 feet; capacity, 114,427 gallons a day; 6-inch pipe ; water but slightly saline : temperature, 

62°; cost, $1,000 This well supplies annually to the park system of Omaha a volume of water which, 

at the lowest wholesale city water iate, would cost $5,000 a year, and illustrates the use of artesian 

water for the beautifying of parks. In addition to the fountain and stream a small lake is supplied by 

the well.

ARTESIAN WELL IN HOLT COUNTY, 18 MILES SOUTH OF O'NEILL, ON THE 

FREMONT, ELKHORN AND MISSOURI VALLEY RAILROAD.
BABBOTO.] ARTESIAN WATER. 19

layer will constitute the impervious jacket around the more porous 

layers. The layers which are deeply buried here, and but inappreciably tipped, may come to the surface elsewhere and form a catchment basin, perhaps at a point far distant, as is the case presumably 

with the deeper wells found along the northern and northeastern 

boundary of the State.

The artesian wells, as far as reported, fall into four rather natural 

groups, as follows: The deep wells of the Carboniferous, such as those 

at Beatrice, Lincoln, and Omaha, varying from 556 to 2,463 feet; the 

artesian wells of the Dakota sandstone, 300 to 400 feet deep, being 

a continuation into Nebraska of the South Dakota artesian basin; 

the shallow wells in glacial sands and clays, such as those at Cook, 

Beaver Crossing, and elsewhere; and other shallow wells not in the 

drift, such as those in Jlolt and Bock counties. (See PL I, B. )

There are local artesian basins in the State which are more easily 

compassed than the deep wells. There are small basins of 10 to 15 

square miles each in the valleys of streams, depressed noticeably 

below the general level of the surrounding hills. "Within this circumscribed area, wherever the impervious roofing or encasement of clay 

is pierced the depth varying from 40 to 100 or more feet there comes 

a strong and constant flow. Such wells are too shallow to come from 

strata which draw their water supply from a distance, so that it is 

necessary to look for some other explanation.

It is at once apparent that this artesian supply is drawn from beds 

of alternating gravel, sand, and clay, deposited by glacial action during the ice age, and that it is rather limited and local, though none 

the less important, as has been sufficiently demonstrated by its multifarious uses at Beaver Crossing and adjoining localities. Farther 

downstream the wells, instead of growing stronger, grow weaker. 

This is due to some leak or escape of the water through the impervious clay roof, which results in a reduction of head or pressure in all 

adjacent wells.

The alternating and confused arrangement of these beds comes 

about naturally, because of the way in which the glacier and iceberg 

deposited coarse, medium, and fine material together into heterogeneous piles clay here, sand there; sand, gravel, and pebbles elsewhere. The porous gravelly layer, incased above and below by layers 

of clay, is not necessarily of uniform texture, but, instead, there 

occur among the coarser material patches or islands of finer material. 

Hence as the well is in this patch or that, its head or pressure 

will be accelerated, retarded, or stopped outright, according to the 

rate of delivery of water in coarse, fine, or clayey material. One 

farm at Cook, Johnson County, in the midst of flowing wells, has 

failed, and always must fail, to furnish artesian water, and there is 

apparently nothing anomalous in the case. The farm is over what is 

called a " clay island." All the wells dug on this farm penetrate clay 

only, and, of course, one can not hope to strike artesian water there.
20 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA.

List of artesian wells.

[NO. 29.

Name of well.

Lincoln test well . . 

Artesian well, Government square.

Willow Springs distillery or Iler's well.

Pickard's or "Well 

No. 1."

Courtland Beach or 

Cut-off Lake well.

Riverview Park well.

Omaha Packing Company.

William Kearville ...

Cal. Moffett .......... 

G. L. Emmons.. ......

L. M. Short.. .........

C. W. Conkling. ......

a Re

County.

Lancaster .-_ 

....do-.----..

_-._do. - 

.....do ....

 do.. .. 

.... .do ...

..... do..... .-

... ..do.. . 

.... .do--......

Boyd. ...... -.

 .do........ 

.....do........

 do.. .

ally in Iowa, b<

Town.

.....do ...-.

.... .do. ........ ...

5 miles west of 

Lincoln.

6 miles west of 

Omaha.

3 miles northeast of Omaha, a

2 miles south of 

Omaha.

South Omaha....

Near Hastings... 

T. 34, R. 8. ..-.

Sec. 2, T. 34, R. 12. 

Sec.lS.T. 33, R. 8.

5 miles from 

Ainsworth, in 

Sec. 9, T. 29, R. 

22. 

Tekamah .

Craig...... ....

3cause of meander]

Depth.

Feet. 

2.463

1,060

55(5 

240

1,?00 

to 

1,800

1,383

998 

1,064

1,800

65 

114 

760

32

103 

126 

ngsof I

Remarks.

6-inch pipe; throws water 5 feet above surface; salt water. 

Bed rock at 95 feet; salt 

water 160 feet; first 

flow 560 feet. 

Strong flow; salt water; 

100,000 gallons per day. 

Slight flow..---.... ......

First flow at 700 feet; 

second flow at 1, 700 feet ; 

pressure 37 pounds per 

square inch; used for 

boiler. , 

Heavy flow at 517 feet, 676 

feet, and 894 feet; 

strongest flow at 1,080 

feet; pressure 150 

pounds. 

6-inch pipe; throws water 40 feet; 86,000 gallons per day. 

4-inch pipe; 114,437 gallons per day; slightly 

saline. Feeds a lake of 

2 to 4 acres. Temperature, 62°. 

Negative artesian, rising 

70 feet to surface; 

strongly mineral. Temperature, 62°. Too 

warm for condensers. 

Soft water; cost, $45 .....

Cost, $2,000; used for irrigation; 100 gallons per 

minute. 

Used for irrigation; 15 

barrels per minute. 

Used for irrigation; 2,000 

barrels per day; cost, 

$1,000. 

8-inch pipe; 40 gallons 

per minute ; soft water ; 

cost, $6. (?)

Three wells, 3, 4, and 8 

inch, for city water supplyFlowing water at 120 feet. 

CO2 blown off for several days. 

Missouri River.

Year.

1894

1887 

1886 

1895

1895 

1895
AETESIAN WATER. 

List of artesian wells Continued.

21

Name of well.

Do......... .-.

P. A. McDonald ......

Herman Kracker .....

J. J. Wilson (3 wells) .

County.

..... do. ...... .

-..--do........

 .-do . 

.....do........

 .do .

Dodge..... 

.....do 

...-.do. ....

Holt...... .-..

.....do........

Town.

sec. 16, T. 10, R. 

12.

21, T. 31, R. 28. 

Sec. 21, T. 31, R.

28.

30, T. 13, R. 45.

Sec. 25, T. 32, R.

52. 

Sec. 13, T. 32, R.

52.

 ..do ......

Ponca.

Hooper.

Sec. 15, T. 24, R.

14. 

Sec. 22, T. 24, R.

14.

T. 25, R. 28.

Elk Creek, sec. 

34, T. 4, R. 12.

Cook, sec. 1, T. 

6, R. 10.

Depth.

Feet.

8

a363

100

ir

94

9r

86

83

18.5

407

265

484

304

1 260

MB

140

175

450

55 to

130

146

80

Remarks.

Ceased to flow, 1894 ......

water.

hard water; 100 gallons 

per hour; railroad well. 

Soft water.. __ .........

Negative artesian; cost,

$75; by aid of pump, b 

Used for irrigation; 2

barrels per minute; 

hard water: cost, $97. 

13-inch stream, easily

lowered; hard water; 

cost, $50. 

600 gallons per day; soft

water; cost, $100.

good pressure until 

filled with sand.

..... do...... ....... ........

stopped; stands 6 feet 

below the surface; 

cost, $50.

hard water.

supply and abandoned; 

intermittent flow.

face; soft water; cost, 

$11.

flow; cost, $30.

water; 5 gallons per 

minute; cost, $37.

soft water; cost, $225.

$10 to $30.

Cost, $200....... ...........

water, c

Year.

1892

1892

1886

1895

1888

1891

1885

1894

1888

1892

1894

1894

1894

1895

1894

1893

a Average depth.

b Used to water 8,000 sheep and to irrigate garden.

cOne well from 4-inch nozzle keeps a 1-acre pond, 4 fe«t de«p, full all the time.
22 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO. 29. 

List of artesian wells Continued.

Name of well.

R. E. Haskell... ......

August Tannehill .... 

E. D. Oool ............

J. G.Burriss... .......

County.

.....do. .--.

Madison

Otoe ......... 

.....do .-...

t 

. .do. ....

.-...do .....

Platte -. 

Polk .........

Town.

Cook, sec. 6, T, 

6, R. 11.

Sutherland, 

sec. 6, T. 14, R. 

34.

Sec. 33, T. 20, R.

35. 

6 miles from 

Norfolk, sec. 

27, T. 25, R. 1.

lerton, sec. 14, 

T. 17, R. 8.

Brock. 

£ mile from 

Cook.

Unadilla, sec. 

28, T. 9, R. 10.

Pawnee, sec. 

8, T. 3, R. 11.

Burchard, sec. 

36, T. 2, R. 9.

33, T. 3, R. 11.

Madrid, sec. 

19, T. 10, R. 36.

Depth.

Feet.

504

to 

770 

93

81

80

43

30

125

38

53

75

282

10

85

11

150

13

to 

100 

104

Remarks.

Cost, $20 ..................

Cost from $225 to $3,600;

majority hard water.

this is really artesian.

artesian well in the 

county; pipe often 

choked up; good pressure.

gallons per minute.

hour; soft water. 

Cost $90; 30 gallons per 

minute; medium hard.

rises through 3-inch 

gas pipe for 24 feet. 

Cost $32; soft water ......

Cost $20; one barrel per 

minute; used for irrigation; about 25 such 

wells in vicinity.

per hour; cost $283. 

Cost $15; said to flow in

wet seasons; has sufficient water for 200 

head of stock.

amount of hard water; 

slow flow, about 20 barrels per day.

sons; soft water.

$150; soft water.

from $50 to $100; one salt 

and others soft water.

amount of hard water.

Year.

1895

1891

1895

18S8

1892 

1892

1892

1891 

1889

1888

1891

1893

1894

1887
BAEBOUR.1 ARTESIAN WATER. 

List of artesian wells Continued

23

Name of well.

Dr.Geo. L. Miller ....

William Fetch.. ------

William Rutledge..--

A. B. Codding........

Eugene Wright (two

wells). 

Harry Hill.. ..........

County.

Scotts Bluff..

Valley .......

.....do.-....,.

.....do........

York.........

.....do........

Town. *

McCook.... ......

Omaha, sec. 2, 

T. 14, R. 13.

ger, sec. 6 T. 2, 

R. 3.

.....do............

.....do_. ..........

York.............

--.--do............

Depth.

Feet. 

405

05

to 

143 

1,430

330

13

to 

100

96

70

76

38

37

8 to

124

340,590

280

Remarks.

weak flow, but flow has 

increased; experimental well.

$40; all soft water.

pounds to square inch; 

soft water; fine artesian; supplies a 30-acre 

lake for ice and fish. 

Cost |200; at first had a

flow of 1,000 gallons per 

day, but filled up with 

sand and a pump is 

now used; soft water.

some hard and some 

soft water, ranging 

in cost from $18 to $65.

$77; hard water; declining flow, about 4 barrels per minute.

15 gallons per hour. 

Cost $75; soft water;

good flow.

free flow.

.gallons per minute. 

Cost from $8 to $75; all

soft water.

flowed 5J hours, then 9 

hours, and stopped; 

drill is fast in sand 

rock 600 feet deep. 

Water to be used in 

mill pond.

for flour mill, but flow 

at 500 feet too weak.

per day.

Year.

1895

1891

1894

1895

1893

1897

1894

1894

1895

These local artesian wells are already turned to admirable account 

in supplying ponds for fish culture, fountains for school yards and 

parks, and water for domestic use and for irrigation. (See PL II, A and 

B. ) The last-named use is destined to become of considerable economic
24 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO.29.

importance. Some farmers have already from eight to ten 5-inch 

wells per farm with which to irrigate over 100 acres each. The 

number who have tapped the subterranean reservoir and allowed 

the imprisoned water to escape and to flow away aimlessly and uselessly far exceeds those who have put it to intelligent use. There is 

enough artesian water wasted thus to irrigate whole farms. What 

renders this matter all the more deplorable is the obstinacy of many 

people in insisting that the supply can not be exhausted. This view 

is wholly fallacious, and if persisted in may result in damaging or 

destroying altogether an important resource. Every well dug must 

diminish the head or pressure that much, whether the amount is 

perceptible or not. Unrestricted abuse of these water privileges can 

but result disastrously here as elsewhere. All this water should be 

most conscientiously used and conserved.

In several localities, noticeably in Rock County, near Kirkwood, 

there are strong springs which boil up with such force that if the 

water be confined by placing several joints of old stovepipe in the 

throat of the spring the pressure is sufficient to force the water 

several feet above the surface. Springs of this kind are numerous, 

especially in this vicinity. Since the water rises under pressure, the 

name "artesian spring" is applicable. Similar springs in'Johnson 

County are called "mound" springs, because the water in the center 

appears to boil up and is higher than that of the edge. This boiling 

occasionally gives them the name "kettle" springs. Such springs 

near Sterling are 30 feet across, and the overflow is reported as 3 

feet wide and 2 feet deep.

CONSERVATION OF SOIL MOISTURE.

The importance of .the conservation of moisture has not yet had 

the general recognition which the subject merits. But each year 

brings unmistakable advance in this matter, as is shown by the construction _of new reservoirs and dams across streams and draws, and 

by new methods of cultivation. These are on the increase, and were 

it not for the difficulties in the way of making water-tight reservoirs 

in sandy soil and the large amount lost by evaporation (averaging 4£ 

feet for the State), greater progress might be reported. The matter 

of conservation of soil moisture by superior cultivation, being a less 

obvious factor, is lost sight of by many, and yet by this means 

there have been, to the author's knowledge, some marked examples of 

success, standing in strong contrast to the failure of others. By pulverizing to extreme fineness a coarse soil, the absorption of water 

may be increased a thousandfold. Compress or "firm" the soil, and 

the attraction of capillary water is increased to that extent. Mulch 

the surface into fine, loose particles, and the capillarity which draws 

the moisture up to the plant rootlets is broken at that point, and a
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. II

A. ARTESIAN WELL AT BEAVER CROSSING, SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.

i>. WELL ON FARM OF T. M. FERGUSON, AT BEAVER CROSSING, NEBRASKA.

Depth to artesian water, 80 to 90 feet. Height ot pipe, 13 feet; diameter, 6 inches. Mr. Ferguson irrigates 

I 1 2 acres from nine such wells, which cost $900.
BABBOUE.] CONSERVATION OP SOIL MOISTURE. 25

blanket is formed* for the retardation of evaporation and retention of 

moisture in the soil. By careful and intelligent farming, wide areas 

now abandoned, or held by indifferent, roving classes, will prove to 

have ample moisture for agriculture.

The results of close and conscientious farming are astonishing. One 

aged English couple living near Lincoln were forced to undertake 

farming in a small way for subsistence. The land was poor and the 

season was bad. All the neighboring tenants fled, and earned nothing during the entire summer. The aged couple farmed all the more 

closely, conserving the soil moisture in every way known to them. 

Starting on nothing, and struggling through the most trying season 

recorded in the State, at the end of the harvest they deposited in bank 

$100 above their expenses, which they afterwards spent judiciously 

in purchasing stock and necessary machinery for another year. These 

are small earnings, but, nevertheless, the difference between their 

methods of farming and that of their nomadic neighbors is infinite. 

It is such farming as this that makes the agricultural reputation of a 

great State.

During a recent trying summer the agent of one of the railroad 

companies in Nebraska escorted several parties of Eastern capitalists 

across the State. Contrary to the advice of those who thought the 

course injudicious, the railroad company took the tourists through 

the least promising as well as the most promising parts of Nebraska. 

In the heart and center of a deserted region in the arid belt, where 

the cornfields on the right were withered and abandoned, they repeatedly came upon farms on the left with magnificent fields and the 

appearance of prosperity.' They found, on inquiry, that the nomadic 

neighbors were in their " prairie schooners," seeking easier jobs elsewhere, while the colonists left behind were farming with extreme care 

and were prospering. On the one farm the finest crops were grown; 

across the road none at all. The difference was due solely to the 

farmers, the one farming carefully and conscientiously, the other 

slothfully. When arid lands respond in most unpropitious times to 

careful and intelligent treatment, what may not be expected of the 

best? Confidence in the future of agriculture in semiarid and arid 

Nebraska was impressed and fixed in the mind of each tourist who 

saw this admirable and striking example of the results of intelligent 

farming. Taking advantage of the lessons taught by superior cultivation, the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company has 

initiated a most commendable series of agricultural experiments in 

the semiarid and arid nonirrigated portions of Nebraska and Kansas. 

Here a practical test will be made of the actual utility of soil-culture 

methods for the conservation of moisture. Experiment stations have 

been established at Holdrege, Alma, Oxford, McCook, Curtis, Brokenbow, Grant, and Hastings, in Nebraska, and at Oberlin, Wheeler, 

St. Francis, and Bird City, in Kansas.
26 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBEASKA. [NO.20.

The method to be pursued is substantially that introduced at Putney, South Dakota, by Mr. H. "W. Campbell as early as 1885, a method 

promising to be even more important than irrigation because of its 

wider applicability. This process consists essentially of deep plowing, 

subsequent firming of the soil to increase capillarity, and light surface cultivation to break capillarity and check evaporation, and to 

this end special machinery has been designed. The method is often 

known as "dust-blanket farming," the idea being to cut the surface 

into a soil mulch or powdery condition in order to prevent loss of 

moisture.

Farmers along the Republican River as far west as Harlan County 

who have tried this method find that a diversity of crops is possible, 

and that while the number of acres cultivated is reduced about onehalf, the yield is increased several fold. For instance, potatoes, which 

yielded an average of 212 bushels under this treatment, gave but 25 

bushels per acre to neighbors who avoided this system of close farming on the ground that it was expensive and onerous.

During the last five years various means for catching and holding 

surface water have increased enormously, and now attention is 

directed to the results consequent upon the better conservation of 

soil moisture, all of which will aid in the reclamation of important 

tracts of remarkably productive land now idle and unoccupied. 

There are table-lands 200 to 300 feet above water where no amount 

of conservation of moisture on the surface or in the soil can avail; 

but, on the other hand, there are countless regions to be benefited 

thereby. Such table-lands, therefore, where grazing is notably good, 

should be turned over to stock raisers, arid the lowlands to agriculturists. Each class would prove of benefit to the other. Community 

life could be formed in the valleys and the uplands left for grazing.

It is universally conceded that cattle raising is profitable, and that 

the small herder can make steady gains by watching his cattle more 

closely instead of turning them loose upon the range as formerly. It 

is an easy way to turn stock upon the common range, where no care 

is required .winter or summer except at the time of the annual "round 

up." But by that method the chances for loss are greater. Its day is 

past in Nebraska, and it is now time for many small cattle raisers to 

occupy the land once grazed over by the herds of great companies. 

The grazing lands should be turned to better account, the conditions 

of the valley lands should be better understood, and many important 

tracts now deserted should be reclaimed. This will come about by 

the storage of storm waters, by irrigation, and by the conservation of 

soil moisture.

POLLUTION OF WATER.

The water for domestic supply is well purified. In the river current the water is exposed to the air, and thus purification by the 

process of oxidation goes on. The ground water is likewise purified.
BAKBOTJR.] POLLUTION OF WATER, 27

But in its descent through the air, in its passage down the streams, or 

through the soil and rocks, water, which is the universal solvent, takes 

up certain acids and gases, and dissolves certain minerals, particularly 

lime (making hard water), iron (making chalybeate water), potash 

or soda (making alkali water), or salt (making saline water).

These are wholly inorganic ingredients and for the most part harmless. But there are other ingredients not to be detected by the sense 

of smell, sight, or taste, which come from organic decay. Water in 

closely settled regions is subject to -dangerous pollution. It then 

becomes a vehicle for germs and contagious disease, and is not fit even 

for beasts. Wells should be so located and guarded that barnyard 

wash can not drain into them nor soak through the soil into them. 

The water filters through many feet of soil, and is pure and wholesome if proper precautions are observed. One may feel great confidence in the purity and healthfulness of water drawn from a well 

which passes through clay before striking water-bearing gravels.

The writer can not refrain from citing one specific case of wellwater pollution. The occurrence of fever in three families in Omaha 

pointed unmistakably to the dairyman who supplied them with milk. 

On visiting the dairyman the city physician found three in his family 

suffering from the same fever. The seat of trouble seemed to be the 

well, which was so injudiciously located as to receive surface wash 

directly, and indirectly the offal from the house and barn, rendering 

the water at once nauseating and dangerous.

The cities of the State should zealously guard against the possible 

contamination of their water. Good water for city use is so easily 

obtained.from groups or gangs of wells at reasonable depths that no 

community seems justified in drawing its supply from surface streams, 

which are subject to progressive deterioration as population increases.

SURFACE AND SEEPAGE WATER.

The marshes, ponds, lakes, and cut-off lakes are relatively few, and 

need no further mention at present. The rivers, however, are of 

growing economic importance, and the time seems near when they 

will be diverted from their channels into irrigating ditches. On this 

point many persist in cherishing the error that rivers can not be 

drained, maintaining that as rapidly as water is drawn off as much 

more rushes in to supply the loss.

The Platte River flows east across the entire State, and is presumably of greater importance than the Missouri River. Though becoming entirely dry in certain seasons, the Platte nevertheless supplies 

important areas with water for irrigation during the growing season. More important than this is the underflow water of the Platte. 

It is a singular and highly interesting river. Overloaded and taxed 

beyond its power, it can not carry its burden of sand out of the State. 

Accordingly its energy is spent in shifting its sand bars from side
28 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. |NO.2».

to side and in forming a lace work of channels through its broad bed; 

but beyond this, it is receiving constant additions of fresh sand. 

Accordingly it has built up its bed with sand 50 to 200 feet or more. 

Through this alluvial material there is an underflow of broad extent 

on each side of the Platte throughout the State, which spreads out and 

constitutes in part the important underflow, or even some of the sheet 

water of the State. After the surface water of the Platte has been 

diverted for irrigation the underflow in its gravels can be drawn 

upon without limit if mechanical difficulties can be overcome. (See 

PI. Ill, A.)

FLUCTUATIONS OF WATER LEVEL.

The years 1892, 1893, 1894, and 1895 were years of exceptional 

drought. The whole water table was lowered, and springs, ponds, 

streams, and many wells failed. During the winter of 1895 there was 

virtually no rain or snow. That is to say, there was no precipitation 

by which to account for an unexpected rise of water (apparently 

real) which began early in the winter, and reached a point in 

February and March which aroused general comment. Many, for 

the past three years, had knots tied in well ropes whereby the well 

buckets might be lowered each time into the shallow water without 

roiling it. It was soon noticed that the wells were filling unexpectedly, because the ropes were wet some 10 to 12 feet above the usual 

point. Water began to flow in channels hitherto entirely dry. The 

dry beds of ponds began to fill. Excavations for railroad embankments became lakelets. Springs which three years previously had 

supplied fish ponds, but had become dry, began to flow again; and 

damp spots began to appear in some farms. So many cases were 

reported in person or by letter that the author took pains to send 

out several thousand inquiries over the State. Two-thirds of those 

who answered had noticed an unexpected rise of water; one-third 

had not. The evidence is almost conclusive that this is real, and is a 

matter of annual occurrence.

One explanation is that the decreased evaporation and the increased 

cohesion of water in winter allows more ground water to accumulate. 

The majority reported the rise as occurring in February. Stockmen 

in the most arid portions of Nebraska depend implicitly upon this 

rise of water, which they assert is of annual occurrence, and independent of precipitation. This matter seems as worthy of critical 

study as any problem connected with our grooind water.

METHODS OF RAISING WATER.

Peculiar and characteristic systems of hoisting water are found in 

vogue in widely separated counties. Some methods are very primitive 

and crude, while others show thought and ingenuity. It is very evident that the first simple windlass or pump put up in a community 

becomes the model after which others of precisely the same type are
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. Ill

A. VIEW DOWN NORTH PLATTE RIVER FROM THE WYOMING-NEBRASKA LINE

i>. DAM ON THE BLUE RIVER AT MILFORD, SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
HARBOUR.] METHODi OF RAISING WATER. 29

patterned. Sometimes windlasses and pumps of communities, and 

even of towns, are built as if from one model, heedless of faulty 

design and poor construction. Two forms are illustrated below. 

(See figs. 3 and 4.) Occasionally one sees water drawn hand over 

hand by bucket and rope, but a much more common form, which is 

virtually the same with the direction of motion changed, is the rope 

and pulley. Were it not that this method is laborious and slow, men 

might draw water for stock and women for domestic use for years. 

As it is, these are soon replaced by windlasses having a mechanical 

advantage. In the construction of these there is an occasional display of thought, and one man will make one stick of timber answer 

where three, four, or five 

sticks would have been used 

by another. Others are elaborated until the cost exceeds 

that of a good pump. Many 

prefer the open well and windlass to pumps, on supposed 

sanitary grounds, assuming 

that the iron pipe is unhealthful.

In regions of high tablelands, where the wells are 

deep, the labor of drawing 

water, even by windlass, is 

su6h that hand power is replaced by horse power. Half 

barrels are used instead of 

well buckets and a boy and 

horse can soon draw the water 

necessary for the family and 

stock. The author has seen 

the old-fashioned horsepower

and tumbling shaft in use pumping water for the house and for 

irrigation.

The windmill has long been the popular means of raising water for 

domestic use and for watering stock, and now, in addition, it comes 

to enjoy the recognition it deserves as one means of irrigating land 

where other means are wanting. It is the windmill which has enabled the farmer to introduce into his home some of the modern conveniences of the city. Thus one finds farmhouses supplied with hot and 

cold water, with bath, lawn sprinklers, and fire protection, and that, 

too, more cheaply than in a city home. The windmill feeds a steadystream of cold water through the milk house, and thence to the stock 

trough, a matter so small as to be often forgotten, yet so large as to 

be of great economic consequence. When the water around the milk

FIG. 3. Open windlass and well curb.
30 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [N®.29.

pans is cooled, a greater percentage of cream rises by gravity to the 

top. Where cool water is readily available the loss of cream may run 

low, but in less favored States where the water is naturally warm the 

loss may reach one-fifth. This, in a State whose butter products may 

amount to several million dollars annually, is a large sum. The difference of a single degree in the temperature of water in a State as 

large as Nebraska means a difference of thousands of dollars in the 

total dairy products. Here the windmill effects a great saving, and 

on well-regulated farms, while pumping water for the stock trough 

by way of the milk house, it may nearly pay for itself annually.

The windmill has replaced the town pump, and in villages and 

towns is now seen a sightly and well-kept mill and tank, supplying

water to the public by the energy 

of the wind. (See PL IV, A.)

In supplying water for village 

use, pressure sufficient to throw 

water above the house tops may 

be had by placing the tank or 

reservoir upon high ground, or 

by erecting a suitable tower, 

which is the common method in 

the level prairie towns. Occasionally towers are built of exceptional height, to carry a 

second water tank for use in 

giving increased pressure in 

case of fire. (See PL XXII, B.) 

The whirling mills are necessary accompaniments of Nebraska scenery. Their work is 

admirable, though impossible 

feats are often expected of 

them. As the matter of windmill irrigation is agitated the

receptive mind of the progressive farmer seizes the idea. Not 

having experience and placing too confident reliance in the claim of 

the local agent, who is not a wholly disinterested party, he undertakes to raise water for irrigation from impossible depths. This must 

not be taken as a reflection upon the indispensable device, the windmill, which in many cases is as nearly perfect as skill can make it. 

The pump, not the windmill, is at fault; but the main trouble lies in 

the depth to water. "Water can be pumped 32 feet. Below that point 

it must be forced, and from that point down mechanical loss increases 

at a rapid ratio. When one attempts to force a 60 or 70 foot column 

of water to the surface for irrigation his undertaking is barely within 

the limit of possible profit; below that point the enterprise is doubtful, if not dangerous. Farmers are urged to an immediate reeogniFIG. 4. Partly inclosed windlass and well curb.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. IV

.4 WINDMILL AND TOWER. TOWN PUMP AT VERDON, NEBRASKA.

B. EXPERIMENTAL WINDMILL AND POND ON FARM OF THE UNIVERSITY OF

NEBRASKA.
BABBOUB.] WINDMILLS. - 31

tion of th£ chances of discouragement, failure, and loss, resulting 

from any attempt to force water over 70 or 80 feet for irrigation, 

although this will undoubtedly be changed somewhat by improved 

pumping devices still to be invented.

At present every community in the State can furnish examples of 

misguided attempts to irrigate by means of water pumped by the 

wind from wells of unreasonable depth. This must not place in 

doubt or compromise in any degree the utility of windmill irrigation, 

which promises to become one of the important factors in the development of the agricultural resources of the State. Already farmers are 

irrigating with profit from 1-acre to 50-acre tracts by means of one or 

more windmills. Conversation and correspondence has brought out 

from many farmers in semiarid and arid Nebraska the plain avowal 

that during the exceptional season of drought, 1893-1895, the profits 

from the small patch irrigated by the windmill exceeded that from the 

rest of the farm.

HOMEMADE WINDMILLS.

Homemade mills are, of course, of low efficiency from a physical 

and mechanical standpoint; yet they are capable of doing all that 

is demanded and more. They cost little, wear well, and do all the 

work that is laid on them, so that it makes little practical difference 

whether some of them are mills of low or high efficiency. Of all the 

homemade mills which the writer has visited, he has yet to hear even 

a mild criticism offered against one by it§ owner.

What a contrast may be presented by two farms one with cattle 

crowding around the well, waiting for some thoughtless farm hand to 

pump them their scant allowance of water, the other where the cattle 

are grazing and the tanks and troughs are full and running over to 

such an extent that the hogs have their wallows to which to resort in 

the heat of the day. Nowhere in his travels has the writer seen empty 

or dry troughs on farms where the homemade mill was found.

The windmill has an important effect on population. In many 

homes it is professedly the sole dependence, especially so with cattlemen living in regions where grazing is the very best and where the 

grasses are capable of sustaining great herds free of care or cost, summer and winter alike. The prerequisite is the irrigation of one acre 

on which to .raise garden truck for the family, and this the windmill 

renders possible. Without this, emigration would result, and the State 

would lose not only important industries, but desirable citizens with 

their retinue of helpers. In many places where the dairy interests 

are important the windmill has rendered possible the production of 

butter. This is noticeably so in the western or butte region along the 

Wyoming line. Here in one instance, in a region of bare buttes and 

sand hills, is a ranch with no other improvements than a low sod 

house, a corral, and a windmill, with a rude milk house at its base. 

Here is produced and sold annually $900 worth of butter (without the
32 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO. 29.

burden of taxes or rent) incidental to cattle raising, which is the 

primary occupation.

In this same region sheep raising is an important industry. A sheep 

herder's camp consists essentially of a windmill and a sod house, a 

tent, or a covered wagon. Around each mill are several thousand 

sheep. On these high lands wells are deep and the hand pump 

inadequate. It is apparent from inquiry that the windmill decides 

the fate of this extensive industry, and the author has been particularly interested to note its relation to the percentage of increase 

in the flocks. The rate of increase reaches and occasionally passes 

100 per cent where ample water is provided, and falls below 80 per 

cent where the mill is out of order and neglected. In their distress 

for water the sheep neglect and even desert their lambs. A single 

case may seem unimportant, but viewed as a whole by one who has 

seen many square miles of such surroundings and conditions, the subject is exalted, at least in the mind of the writer, to one of great 

importance.

So far the windmill has been considered in its relation to the necessities of life, but its relation to some of the luxuries is not unimportant. The sight of a sod house with flower beds and a lawn sprinkler 

is unexpected and almost incongruous. Very different from the prevailing idea of frontier life are hot and cold water faucets. With the 

picture of cowboy life as the half-informed press paints it one would 

never expect to find in a ranch house marble basins and porcelain 

tubs. Such things exist, and are due wholly to the agency of the 

wind utilized by the windmill. The barest and bleakest spot is often 

the site chosen for the district school, but a windmill constructed by 

the pupils will change this barren scene not common to the far 

West alone in five years, and in nine years the sunburned spot may 

be so completely reforested that the district school itself will be concealed, and the entire place and its young occupants be shaded in 

summer and shielded in winter.

The author would not be misunderstood. The homemade mill is 

not the equal of the shopmade mill. But the homemade mill is an 

exceedingly important adjunct to the farm, and its cheapness is such 

that many men who can not afford a shopmade mill are able to construct one or more homemade mills. If necessary, there may be a mill 

in each field or at every well on the farm. The advantage of the 

homemade mill is its cheapness, and unless it can be put up at a 

small cost it defeats its object. In many extensive frontier regions 

freight rates seem necessarily so high as to preclude the use of shopmade mills. Native lumber is cheap, so that the homemade mill is 

entirely practicable. In Arizona there is promise that important 

tracts of waste but rich land may come under cultivation through the 

agency of the Nebraska windmill. The windmills supply the only 

element of fertility lacking moisture.
BAEBOUK.] WINDMILLS. 33

In many countries, old and advanced in the arts, the use of the 

windmill is unknown; water is raised by hand, grain is ground by 

horse power, by water power, and by hand, and machinery is driven 

in much the same way, while the wind, with all its potential energy, 

is neglected. Our Eastern, Middle, and Southern States would also 

profit by the more general use of wind power. Those States, too, 

must learn that water, intelligently conserved and applied to the 

garden, truck patch, and small fruit at the right time, means superior crops with corresponding profits. The writer believes that the 

people of all States should come to realize that it is a much finer boast 

to claim advantageous facilities for irrigation than that there is no 

need of it.

There, is often as much need of irrigation in Ohio, Indiana, and 

Illinois as in Nebraska. Wherever crops are drought-stricken from 

time to time irrigation is desirable. It is in these very humid regions 

that the windmill and reservoir would be especially efficacious, for a 

very little water run into the furrows at a critical moment would rescue the crop. In the Eastern States, where the thin, clayey soil is not 

fitted to withstand drought as are the soils of the Great Plains, a reservoir of water could flush a given patch with marked success. The 

writer anticipates the time when the lessons of irrigation in the West 

will be taught in the East, not only as a means of averting failure and 

loss by drought, but as a means of greatly increasing the quality and 

quantity of the yield. The windmill is one means to this end, not to 

be relied on solely, but to be available in any emergency.

On the Great Plains, where humidity decreases as rapidly as evaporation increases and where the available surface water is limited and 

the wind must be depended on, the windmill becomes a necessity. 

In traveling through Kansas and Nebraska 20 or 30 mills may be 

easily counted at one time from the car windows. At first the author 

believed that the windmill stimulus here was the product of necessity 

during recent years of drought, but he finds that more mills, both 

homemade and shopmade, have been going up during the present 

humid years than before. They are used as luxuries rather than 

necessities, and the present inference is that these winged specters are 

harbingers of prosperity.

At certain times and in certain places, however, they are still necessary, especially toward the less humid portions of the State, particularly in the broad river valleys, where wells are shallow and the supply of water inexhaustible. The rivers of Kansas, Nebraska, and the 

Dakotas are numerous, and some of them are important, but they are 

steadily being diverted from their channels into the irrigation ditches 

of States to the west. The total available surface supply is barely 

sufficient for the irrigation of 6,000 square miles out of nearly 77,000, 

one-half of which would be greatly benefited by irrigation. Recourse 

must be had, then, to such other means as superior cultivation, or 

IRE 29 3
34 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO. 2ft.

soil culture, for the catchment and retention of moisture; the 

impounding of water in ponds, lakes, draws, and canyons; tunneling 

into the sand hills and buttes; tapping the underflow of rivers; and 

raising water by means of current wheels, and by pumps driven by 

some motive power, preferably the wind. This outlook has given the 

windmill increasing notice of late.

COST.

The homemade windmill is supposedly built during- unemployed 

hours by the owner or by his sons; so the cost of labor is not reckoned in these estimates. Old wire, bolts, nails, screws, and other 

odds and ends of hardware, old lumber, poles, and braces such as are 

common to every farm, enter largely into its construction. Even 

neglected mowers, reapers, and planters, old buggies, and wagons contribute material. Here are to be found good journals with oil cups, 

cranks, sprocket wheels, and chains, gear and bevel wheels of various combinations. The farmer who is inventive enough to build a 

mill is competent to see quickly the adaptability of certain parts to 

his ideas. It is this use of old and neglected material which is particularly recommended in this connection, for in making a mill of low 

efficiency, such as most homemade milla are, cheapness is the main 

object. Many mills have cost nothing whatever. Others cost $1, $2, 

and $3, and occasionally as much as $50, $75, and even $150. The 

average mill, such a mill as is needed for ordinary purposes, can be 

built for $2.50, which is an average from a large number, and its cost 

should not, and seldom does, reach $10. The writer considers $3 a 

liberal allowance for everything needed on the ordinary farm for the 

construction of a strong, satisfactory, and lasting mill large enough 

to pump for the house or stock. Such a mill, if rigidly made 

inattention to this matter being the cause of more accidents among 

homemade mills than any other ought to stand five or six years of 

uninterrupted service.

CLASSIFICATION.

However modified to suit the fancy and caprice of various builders, 

the mills may be divided into four groups: Go-devil or jumbo mills 

of the overshot type; merry-go-round mills; turbine or opened-faced 

mills, including battle-ax, Holland, and mock-turbine mills; and reconstructed mills. These may be tabulated as follows, in inverse order 

of efficiency:

Classification of the principal types of homemade windmills in Nebraska.

( Baby jumbos.

f With 4 fans. 

(1) Jumbo mills(seepage35)... .... .\ Medium jumbos. -- 1 With 6 fans.

Giant jumbos. 

Screw jumbos.

(2)Merry-go-roundmills(seepage44). j
WINDMILLS. 35

(3) Battle-ax mills (see page 47) ......

(4) Holland mills (see page 54)

(5) Mock turbines (see page 56).

With 3 fans. 

With 4 fans. 

With 6 fans. 

With 8 fans. 

Giant mills. 

With 4 fans. 

With 6 fans. 

With 8 fans. 

Giant turbines. 

Set turbines.

(6) Reconstructed turbines (see page 64).

(7) Shopmade turbines (see page 65).

Without rudders.

DISTRIBUTION.

Nebraska seems to be the heart and center of the windmill movement. The famous Platte Valley, with its broad expanse and shallow 

wells, is a veritable windmill arena. From Omaha west through the 

State, a distance of 500 miles, and even beyond to Denver, there is a 

constant succession of these creations of a sturdy population.

During the summer of 1897 the writer engaged the services of three 

students, who were provided with teams, saddle horses, camp wagons, 

cameras, and camp accouterments in general, and drove from Lincoln to Denver, following roads south of the Platte going and north 

of the Platte returning. They found these unique and interesting 

mills everywhere. Going over the same ground in person the following year eight to ten mills were commonly found clustered about a 

town, each widely separated town having a dominant or prevailing 

type. Sometimes the mills were found on every farm and were too 

numerous to visit and report on. They are also found in the Republican Valley and the valleys of the Loup rivers and their tributaries. 

The State rises gradually from 900 feet in southeastern Nebraska to 

5,300 feet in the butte region of the western boundary line, where 

the wind is often unreliable over considerable tracts, so that difficulty 

is experienced in running the most approved steel mills. The distribution of homemade mills is confined chiefly to river valleys and to 

certain sand-hill regions, where wells are shallow.

JUMBO WINDMILLS.

This is the lowest form of windmill. The jumbo, also known as 

the "paddle wheel" and the "go-devil," is simply an overshot wheel 

which bears the same relation to the air that the overshot wheel of 

hydraulics does to the water. It is a stationary mill, consisting of 

four or more paddles fastened to a horizontal axis set squarely across 

the direction of the prevailing wind, with the lower half boxed in. 

The smaller mills of this type are appropriately termed "baby jumbos." The larger jumbos are planted on the ground and baby jumbos 

on towers or buildings.
36 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA-. [NO. 29.

Being mills whose method of construction is obvious, they are favorites, particularly in the portion of the State lying east of Grand 

Island. West of that point, the jumbo is usually replaced by the 

battle-ax mill, which the author considers a superior type. The 

jumbos are mills of low efficiency, but that matters not in the present 

discussion. They are efficient enough for all practical operations; 

that is the real question here, and theoretic considerations may be 

fittingly postponed. Those who have decided preferences for' the 

jumbo need not fear disappointment. If the mills are well built they 

give satisfaction. If poorly made their efficiency may run as low 

as 15 or 20 per cent; but if built on the most approved plan they may 

register 40 per cent, as Professor Hood 1 has shown. In practice the 

poorest can pump a great deal of water, probably more than the ordinary family will use. In this connection it may be well, for the sake 

of comparison, to state that the efficiency of a good shopmade mill is 

at least twice as much as that of the jumbo, but the cost is ten to 

twenty times as much. For the capital invested the jumbo is probably more efficient than the best steel mill. The jumbo gives from 

one-eighth to one or two horsepowers, more or less, according to the 

wind, the size of mill, and other modifying conditions. ,

Professor Hood and his students in testing a 14-foot eight-fan 

jumbo found that in a good breeze it gave from one-tenth to one-fifth 

of a horsepower, and in a 38-mile wind it gave 1 horsepower. The 

power will vary according to the construction and position of the mill, 

and according to the wind and other factors. In Nebraska and Kansas the shafts of jumbos stand east and west, so that the fans may be 

struck by the prevailing wind, which blows from south to north, or 

at times in the opposite direction. The jumbo runs equally well 

whether the wind is from the north or south, but is motionless in an 

east or west wind. If from the intermediate points of the compass, 

the fans are, of course, struck obliquely, but not altogether ineffectually. This virtually covers all winds, except rare and exceptional 

ones; hence daily working is assured, regardless of shifting winds. 

Nevertheless, some take the precaution to build jumbos with spiral or 

screw fans, in. which event they do good service with winds from any 

quarter.

Jumbos are not wholly ornamental, but that is unimportant. The 

jumbo has served useful purposes on hundreds of frontier homes, and 

has many undeveloped possibilities awaiting the genius of succeeding 

generations of farmers. The average cost of such mills is about $4, 

and they are sometimes used to singular advantage. Such mills, 

veritable toys, which cost nothing whatever, and were built in play by 

boys on the farm, have been put to work in earnest pumping water 

for the stock.

1 New tests of certain pumps and water lifts used in irrigation, by O. P. Hood: Water-Supply 

and Irrigation Paper No. 14, U. 8. Geol. Survey, 1898.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. V

A. BABY JUMBO WINDMILL ON GOODRICH FARM, NEAR BETHANY, NEBRASKA.

B. BABY JUMBO BUILT BY J. L. BROWN, KEARNEY, NEBRASKA.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. VI

MOUNTED JUMBO WINDMILL ON GOODRICH FARM, NEAR BETHANY, NEBRASKA.
BABBOtJE.] WINDMILLS. 37

BABY JUMBO WINDWILLS.

The baby jumbo on the Goodrich farm, near Bethany (see PL V, A), 

is one of those referred to. It stands about 12 feet high, on the abandoned support of an old tank, and pumps water for the stock. Old 

parts from a discarded self-binder were ingeniously adapted to the 

existing needs. This small mill, with arms 2-£ feet long, with four 

board fans each 4 feet long, and geared by sprocket wheel and chain 

in the ratio of 2 to 1, cost nothing, and pumps from an ordinary well 

water enough for the stock. This is an attractive and showy little 

mill, especially to those who are studying such matters, and is a credit 

to the boys who built it; it is introduced here, however, to show what 

can be done in this line rather than to encourage mills of this size or 

of this particular make. It is only a toy, but boys who can build one 

of this size are capable of building a larger one and of constructing it 

on approved lines if models are before them.

It is a safe assumption that, having at hand illustrations and 

descriptions of various windmills suited to home construction, many 

idle moments would be profitably employed in this work, both by men 

and boys on the farm and in the villages. Accordingly numerous 

examples, seemingly repetitions, will be reproduced in order that 

each prospective builder, without compromising his own individuality 

and personality, may have the right of accepting and rejecting plans, 

so as to embody in his own designs the desirable features of others.

The baby jumbo on the Goodrich farm was considered the smallest 

of its kind, but before a description of it could be penned a mill 

smaller by 1 foot, which, however, stands on a higher base, was found 

in the neighboring town of Havelock. This baby jumbo, built by 

Mr. W. W. Her, has four fans 3 feet long, with arms 2^ feet long. It 

is attached by a 16-inch crank and rod directly to the handle of the 

pump. In a good wind (probably a 16-mile wind) this little mill, 

perched on a tower 16 feet high, discharged from a 60-foot well 400 

gallons of water in forty minutes, or at the rate of 10 gallons per 

minute, as measured and reported by the owner. It supplies water 

for a boarding house and for the stock and cost only $3.70.

The remarkable little jumbo designed and built by Mr. J. L. Brown, 

proprietor of the Midway Nursery, 2 or 3 miles east of Kearney, 

Nebraska, is shown in PL V, B. It cost only $1.50, but pumped sufficient water to irrigate and save the garden truck, the strawberry patch, 

and the small fruit during the most trying season of drought recorded 

in the State. This is a surprising record for so small a mill, but it was 

carefully planned and well built. Differing from the ^ordinary proportions this mill is higher than broad. Its box is 3 feet wide, 9 feet 

long, and 6 feet high, with fans mounted on a gas-pipe axis. The 

axis and its crank, cost $1.50, while the rest was made out of the 

sides and ends of old coffee boxes, in accordance with the rule: Build
38 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO. 28.

the jumbo cheaply or not at all. It is connected with the pump by a. 

lever arranged in the ratio of 5 or 6 to 1. While means were not at 

hand to test this mill, in a good breeze it pumped water and was 

probably not overloaded by the weight of 200 pounds.

The practical benefits resulting from the mill are indisputable, and 

are well expressed by Mr. Brown, its builder, who says that the profits 

from the mill during the three years of drought and crop failure ex- 

. ceeded that from the rest of the farm. The claim is not that the profits 

are great, for such can not be expected from a small mill and about 

an acre of garden; but when this is all that is left it becomes relatively 

large. Let no one be deceived by this and grow too sanguine and 

overexpectant. The mill may not net its owner over $100, but if the 

rest of the crop is a total failure, this is worth more than one hundred 

cents per dollar. A case is known of a cucumber patch saved by a 

small stream from a windmill. This patch netted its owner $100 for 

pickles, cut and marketed during the month of September. The mill 

may easily exceed the profits of the rest of the farm during exceptionally poor seasons. The windmill is not the redemption of agriculture, 

but is an important aid at all times, and sometimes the only source 

of revenue.

This mill teaches a timely and suggestive lesson in economy in such 

work. Here by the exercise of a little foresight in securing an occasional packing box instead of lumber, an excellent mill was produced 

at a nominal cost, and could have been built without outlay by adapting an iron axle from some farm implement. This goes to show that 

baby jumbos, large enough to pump for the house, barnyard, and 

stock,~ are within reach of the poorest. The young farmer can often 

profit by picking up, almost at his own price, discarded wagon axles 

and old rods of iron, which are common at the village blacksmith's or 

at the city junk shop. A buggy or wagon axle, with the hubs or 

thimbles used for journals, will prove especially convenient to prospective builders.

JUMBO WINDMILLS OF INTERMEDIATE SIZE.

Baby jumbos are the least efficient of the homemade mills. Those 

of intermediate size, such as are commonly built by farmers and small 

market gardeners,1 will now be considered. These mills average about 

8 by 12 feet; some cost nothing, others $6 to $8.

A good example is furnished by Dr. Boardman's jumbo mill on the 

edge of Overton. This mill was built to replace an old one put up 

three years before, and it was not necessary in this case to study strict 

economy either in the use of help or in the purchase of material. 

Good, new lumber was purchased, and a carpenter and smith engaged 

to do the work. When finished, this mill, with a box 6 by 12 feet, 

supporting four fans on an iron axis, each fan 5 by 6 feet, with a 

radius of 6 feet, was capable of supplying water for 100 head of stock; 

its cost was $8. The same mill could have been built by a man of
U. S. GEOLOGICAL. SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. VII

A. MEDIUM-SIZED JUMBO WINDMILL IN GARDEN OF M. J. OLSON, COZAD,

NEBRASKA.

I! LARGE JUMBO WINDMILL AT CUSHMAN PARK GARDENS. LANCASTER COUNTY,

NEBRASKA.

Size of mill 20 by 14 by 14 feet
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. VIII

A. JUMBO WINDMILL (NO. 1) IN TRAVIS GARDENS, NEAR LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, 

SHOWING PORTION OF RESERVOIR.

Ji. SCREW JUMBO WINDMILL. 

Photographed from model built by the author.
BABBOUE.] JUMBO WINDMILLS. 39

limited means for $2 or $3. Had it been a mill of six fans instead 

of four, it would have been a good model for others. It is a good mill, 

serves its purpose, satisfies its owner, and according to his estimate 

will pump water for 100 head of stock and continue in good order for 

five years or so to come. At that rate he is paying for his water 

service scarcely more than $1.50 a year.

The trouble with all four-fan mills is that but one or at most two 

fans are in the wind at any one time, while the six or eight fan mills 

may expose three or four times the surface to the impact of the wind. 

Accordingly, if other things are the same, the mill with more fans is 

apt to respond more readily to light winds.

Comparable with this, in point of size, is the mill-of Mr. W. W. Goodrich, at Bethany, shown in PL VI, which he believes was unnecessarily 

well made. Extra expense was incurred by purchasing a hardened 

Damascus steel axis, with good bearings and oil cups, which cost $5, 

and made the mill when complete cost $8. It has six fans, each 9 

feet long, with a radius of 5^ feet, mounted on a box about 9 by 11 

feet and 6 feet high. As the fans revolve there is a resisting cushion 

of air in the box, which must in a measure retard the fans. To overcome this the designer has raised the mill above ground, and has 

made the bottom movable in two parts or doors, which can be lowered 

to allow the escape of compressed air when the mill is revolving 

rapidly. When the wind is from the south the north door is opened, 

and vice versa. Mr. Goodrich says that a gas-pipe axle would serve 

his purpose as well as the more expensive steel one, and that with it 

he could build the same mill for $4. The baby jumbo on this farm, 

already described, pumps for the stock. The medium-sized mill irrigates a portion of a 6-acre tract set with egg plant for the Lincoln 

market. Mr. Goodrich has gone to considerable expense in attempts 

to raise water by horse power for the improvement of his farm, and 

especially for his extensive market gardens, and the present experiment is an attempt to use the wind as a much more economical means 

to that end.

At Cozad there is a jumbo of medium size, which is sensitive to light 

winds and is used in irrigating the market garden and small fruit of 

Mr. M. J. Olson (see PL VII, A). The box, which was about 9 by 13 

by 6 feet high, carried six fans, having a radius of 6 feet and a length 

of 8 feet, mounted on a 1-inch iron axis with metal bearings and oil 

cups from old machinery. A 12-inch crank with friction roller was 

attached to the longer arm of a lever, 9 feet long (as shown in fig. 5), 

the shorter arm, 6 feet long, being attached to the pump rod. It pumps 

water with a 16-inch stroke from an 18-foot well with 3-inch casing 

without cylinder. It has pumped 1,200 gallons in an hour, as measured by its owner. The mill and all incidentals cost $20.

The jumbo may be constructed out of almost any waste or idle property. The axis may be of wood, gas pipe, or solid shafting, and the 

framework may be of poles cut from the place, the box of old lumber,
40 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO. 29.

the sails of duck, burlap, sheeting, fencing, weatherboarding, store 

boxes, barrel staves, or old tin and sheet iron. All these adaptations 

are seen.

Two jumbo mills on the market garden of the Travis Bros., of Lincoln, afforded the writer an opportunity to see the workings of these

FIG. 5. Jumbo windmill of M. J. Olson, Cozad, Nebraska, showing 9-foot iron axis, 3 by 4 

inch arms, journals, 2-foot crank, and walking beam.

mills and their practical results. Though hastily and poorly built, 

they demonstrated their usefulness, and are easily worth their cost. 

One cost $8, the other $11. The two mills irrigate, as far as it is

FIG. 6. Jumbo windmills and reservoirs in the market gardens of Travis Bros., Lincoln,

Nebraska.

desirable to irrigate in this region, about 8 acres of garden. According to the gardeners the yield was ahead of the demand of the market. 

Mill No. 1 (shown on the left in fig. 6), with a box 9 feet wide, 13 feet 

long, and 8 feet high, carries four fans of burlap, each 9 by 4 feet, 

stretched on arms 6^ feet from the center, and pumps water into a long,
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. IX

A. METHOD OF ATTACHING ARMS OF JUMBO WINDMILLS TO AXIS. 

Photographed from model built by the author.

H. ANOTHER METHOD OF ATTACHING ARMS OF JUMBO WINDMILL TO AXIS. 

Photographed from model built by the author.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. X

A. METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION OF SIX-FAN JUMBO WINDMILL CROSS-BRACED

BY TWISTED W'RE

Photographed from model built by the author.

Ji. METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION OF EIGHT-FAN J U M BO W I N DM I LL CROSS-BRACED

BY TWISTED WIRE.

Size : 12 to 14 feet long, 10 to 12 feet in diameter. Photographed from model built by the author.
BABBOUB.] JUMBO WINDMILLS. 41

narrow reservoir, 150 by 4 by 2 feet deep, skirting the higher edge of 

a 5-acre patch. The grade was such that the rows of vegetables were 

quickly flushed with water when necessary. At the four corners of 

the box are four uprights or standards, carrying on top a pulley with 

rope attached to a sliding cut-off or wind guard, to be raised and lowered in adjusting the mill to winds of varying velocity. These guards, 

constructed on a wrong plan, greatly increased the expense for lumber. 

Mill No. 2 (sho'wn on the right in fig. 6), of about the same size, cost 

$11, and irrigates an adjoining 3-acre tract successfully, but is capable of doing more work.

In the case of these two mills a defense is found for the adoption of 

the cheap homemade mill. The position of these two gardens in the 

outskirts of Lincoln made two mills necessary. The enterprise was in 

the nature of an experiment; accordingly from a business standpoint 

it was assuming much less risk to erect two cheap mills than to put up 

two steel mills, each of which would probably have cost twice as much 

as the two jumbos together. If successful when well established and 

past the experimental stage, the enterprise may deserve a better type 

of mill, whether homemade or shopmade. (See VIII, A.)

The argument for the jumbo on the ground of experiment is further 

exemplified in the case of the John Tannehill nursery and garden at 

Columbus. Finding that his orchard thrived and that it was well set 

with fruit, which, however, fell off before reaching maturity, he 

inferred that this was due to insufficient moisture,-and proceeded to 

experiment by building a large jumbo, which has become a sort of 

landmark. It is a large mill, capable of driving two 6-inch cylinders 

and of irrigating about 10 acres of orchard. It is built on approved 

plans, especially with respect to the fans. The six 16-foot fans have 

long arms (9 feet), not boarded up solidly, but with a space below for 

the '' dead air " that is, the air which has struck the fan and used up 

its energy. The object is to get rid of this as quickly as possible, 

thus making room for fresh air with unexpended energy. There are 

six fans, well bolted, wired, and braced, mounted high on a box, substantially made and securely anchored. The mill pumps water into 

a reservoir, from which it is drawn off to irrigate the orchard.

This experiment, which cost $100, was a success. By artificially 

supplying a little more moisture the orchard holds and ripens the fruit 

which formerly dropped off prematurely.

SCREW JUMBO WINDMILLS.

The screw jumbo (see PI. VIII, JE>) is of rare occurrence, the author 

having found but two in the State one at Trenton, Hitchcock County, 

and the other at Ainsworth, Brown County. While it is altogether 

probable that they are not so efficient as their enthusiastic builders 

believe, they are successful and are not lacking in interest to the 

student of windmills.
42 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO. 29.

Perhaps one claim to superiority is well grounded. The screw 

jumbo also known in the vernacular of the Great Plains as a "regular stem-winder" receives wind from the east and west almost as 

well as from the north and south. Their builders say that they 

respond to wind from every quarter. The sails, which are of duck, 

although thin wood might be used, are not stretched on a line parallel 

with the axle, but pass diagonally from one arm to that next behind 

it, and so on, producing a twisted or auger-shaped effect in the mill. 

The claim that the mills run with great steadiness is doubtless true, 

for it is readily seen by a glance at the cut that each fan receives the 

advantageous wind progressively throughout its entire length, and 

that the fans are not alternating between advantageous and disadvantageous positions in the wind. A glance will be sufficient to show 

that some position of the fans will be struck, no matter in what direction the wind may blow. The boxes for screw jumbos are boarded 

up on the sides, but left entirely open at the ends.

CONSTRUCTION OF JUMBO WINDMILLS.

The jumbo, as before stated, is a mill of low efficiency at the best, 

a fault made more pronounced by careless construction, lack of

rigidity, and poor anchorage. The mill, as well as 

the farm sheds and outbuildings, should be strong 

enough to weather the blast 

and storm. Lack of rigidity is another fatal oversight. The round wire nail 

when first driven home 

seems strong, but constant 

vibration may draw it 

slightly, or the hole may be 

enlarged so as to allow too 

much play, foreshadowing 

ultimate destruction. This 

may be avoided by the use 

of an occasional bolt. Bolts 

are cheap and may be obtained at any hardware store. The fans should be bound together by 

fencing wire, rendered taut by doubling and twisting. Good anchorage 

is readily obtained by burying posts with crosspieces on the bottom 

and stamping the earth firmly around them. These measures of precaution should always be observed, especially in the case of large 

mills. The probability of failure and disappointment should be forestalled by rejecting the popular four-fan mill and accepting the six 

or eight fan design instead. One of the worst errors of construction

FIG. 7. Break resulting from improper method of fastening jumbo windmill arms on the axis.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. XI

. METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION OF GANGS OF JUMBO WINDMILLS. 

Photographed from model built by the author.

li. METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION OF SCREW JUMBO WINDMILLS, WITH CANVAS 

SAILS AND ARMS BRACED WITH TWISTED WIRE.

Photographed from model built by the author
U. S GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPtR NO. 29 PL. XII

GANG OF JUMBO WINDMILLS ERECTED ABOVE CORNCRIBS OR SHEDS. 

Photographed from model built by the author

Ji. JUMBO WINDMILL WITH WIND GUARD OR CUT-OFF. 

Photographed from model built by the author.
BABBOUE.] JUMBO WINDMILLS. 43

is,to weaken a part which is subject to stress and strain. An example 

of this is found in the way holes are mortised through axes for the 

arms^, as shown in fig. 7. When an 8 by 8 inch axis, having a span of 

18 feet, is cut through at each end to admit 2 by 4 inch arms, it is 

disqualified for long use.

Methods of attaching the arms are shown in fig. 7 and Pis. IX, X, XI, 

which are self-explanatory. When loaded down with heavy arms 

and fans it is a severe test for any stick of timber or gas pipe or shafting to span 15 or 18 feet. Accordingly the author proposes what he 

may call twin, triplet, and quadruplet or multiple jumbos. By this 

means a jumbo of any length and of almost any strength is possible, 

for the axis has support every 8 or 10 feet. (See Pis. XI, A, and XII, 

A.) This, the writer believes, is the means of making powerful 

jumbos, especially if a chain and bucket are used instead of a pump. 

In regions of shallow wells these gangs of jumbos might be used 

for irrigation on a larger scale than is possible with the ordinary 

jumbo.

It seems so essential that the jumbo should be cheap that the author 

would minimize expense by doing away with the box and by adapting 

sheds and buildings to this use. Every well-regulated farm has its 

complement of sheds. It will cost no more to arrange them with reference to carrying the fans of a jumbo or multiple jumbo. Corncribs 

which are built in pairs facing each other with a driveway between 

seem suited to this purpose, as shown in PI. XII, A. In the mill 

illustrated the fans are slowed down by a brake and are then tied, as 

is the common practice. In this case the cut-offs or wind guards are 

omitted, it being assumed that the mill is well enough built to resist 

storms and wind. Rafters could be extended to support the axis. 

The labor and expense in that case would be confined to the construction of the driving parts or fans. Many mills could, be built 

without cost. By the multiple plan mills might be built of sufficient 

strength for shelling and grinding as well as for pumping.

Many men increase the cost of their mills by wind-breaks, guards, 

or cut-offs in use. Some allow their mills to run in whatever wind 

blows, others adjust breaks in such a way as to regulate them, others 

build sliding guards, which run up and cut off the wind wholly or in 

part, as need be. The author would suggest that it is as easy and 

less expensive to let the sides of the box itself be adjustable, as 

shown in PL XII, B, instead of building cut-offs, one on the north 

side and the other on the south side of the box. If balanced, the sides 

could be raised and lowered with little exertion. Or, simpler still, the 

north and south sides of the box might be hinged so as to be let down; 

then the wind, striking equally against the top and bottom fans, would 

stop them. If objected to on the ground that the fans thus unprotected are exposed to too much wind, it may be rejoined that there is 

no reason why they should not be made strong enough to resist it as
44 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO. 29.

easily as the cut-off. One could check the mill or stop it outright, 

according as he lowered the door a little or dropped it flat.

The arms should be of good length, say 5 to 7 feet, thus securing 

leverage with light fans, which seems better than to use a fan of less 

radius and greater length and weight. The fans should cover about 

one-third of the length of the arms. If the axis is of wood it must 

be rounded at the bearings, care being taken that as little as possible 

be cut away, otherwise the axis will be weakened. The crank is 

easily made, and if the size of the mill warrants it there should be 

one at each end. Some prefer wood, others metal; it is a matter of 

indifference which is used, so that it is rigid.

PUMPS.

Mechanically the best pump is faulty. Other things being equal, 

the endless chain of buckets is doubtless better. Here the pressure 

is not intermittent, but is constant at all times. These buckets are 

adapted to sprocket wheel and chain, and where the lift is not too 

great these are to be recommended. The pump, however, is the 

familiar water lifter and the one generally adhered to. When the 

mill is large enough to warrant it, two pumps of sizes suited to the mill 

should be used, but it should be remembered that it is probably as 

great waste of energy to overload as to underload the mill.

MERRY-GO-ROUND WINDMILLS.

Windmills of all makes have natural limitations, and the merry-goround is a realization of an attempt to devise mills of unlimited size

and strength. The larger ones 

are of rare occurrence, but are 

seen in several parts of the State. 

The smaller ones are mounted on 

towers, the larger ones on the 

ground, as shown in PI. XIII. 

The former are the more common and look like elevated water 

tanks, for which they are often 

mistaken.

The fans revolve about a vertical axis, and surrounding all is 

a series of movable shutters, 

which come together and form a 

sort of closed cylinder when the 

mill is out of gear. When in action they are partly opened, admitting air to the fan on one side and excluding it from the other. 

But these are quite as limited in size as other mills, and so defeat 

one important purpose of the merry-go-round. This kind, which is

FIG. 8. Hooded merry-go-round built by William Winn, Berwin, Nebraska, showing semicircular hood on rollers guided by large rudder.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. XIII

SMALL MOUNTED MERRY-GO-ROUND WINDMILL NEAR LINCOLN, NERRASKA.
BAEBOtTB.] MERRY-GO-ROUND MILLS. 45

taken as the lowest of its order, is generally small, perhaps 6 to 12 

feet in diameter and 6 to 12 feet high, exclusive of the tower. It is of 

doubtful efficiency, though in active operation, and is intricate enough 

to require skilled labor and expensive material, which in part unfits it 

for general adoption. One seen at Grand Island, on the farm of 

Mr. Henry Joehnck, when built fourteen years ago, rendered important service in irrigating garden truck for the Grand Island market. 

At Greeley Center a similar mill, 20 feet in diameter, is used for 

grinding, there being a lack of water power.

The merry-go-round mill of Mr. William A. Winn, of Ouster County, 

consists simply of a series of fans radiating from the central axis. 

Around the same axis revolves a great semicylindrical hood or cut-off, 

shown in fig. 8, running on friction 

rollers and guided automatically by a 

large vane. When in action half of 

the fans are exposed and half protected, as shown in plan (fig. 9). The 

mill is thrown out of the wind by 

swinging the shield fully around in 

the direction from which the wind 

comes, thus covering all the fans.

These are mills capable of many 

modifications and adaptations. They 

are easily built, braced, and supported, 

and no mill perhaps lends itself more 

kindly to unlimited extension, all of 

which should bring them into prominence that they have not yet enjoyed; 

important results may be expected 

from these mills. This type of mill is 

worthy of development.

In western Nebraska, near the Colorado line, where the precipitation 

runs as low as 12 to 15 inches and

evaporation as high as 6 feet, irrigation begins to be imperative. Here 

10 acres have been successfully irrigated by Mr. E. E. Blackman's 

merry-go-round, and this is more of a test than it would have been in a 

more humid portion of the State. This mill, as he describes it, is 24 

feet in diameter and carries numerous swinging door-like fans of light 

wood 6 feet high by 4 feet wide. The fans are free at one edge, as 

shown in plan in fig. 10, and, like a flag floating from the mast, they 

swing edgewise against the wind, this being the line of least resistance. But the moment the center is passed each fan in turn swings 

back against the immovable arms and exposes its 24 square feet of 

surface to the impact of the wind. Half of the fans are continually 

in the wind and half out of it. Such a mill, well made, might be an

FIG. 9. Plan of hooded merry-go-round 

windmill built by William Winn.
46 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO. 20.

engine of strength, but careful work and well-considered plans are 

necessary to avoid resistance and loss of power. Mr. Blackman 

insists that this is the cheapest and most efficient mill for its weight 

that can be built. His mill cost $4.75, exclusive of home labor, 

pumps an 8-inch stream, and irrigates 10 acres.

A similar, though larger and much more elaborate mill, designed 

and built by Mr. S. S. Videtto, may be seen on a ridge near Lincoln. 

(See PL XIV, A.) The mill is probably 40 feet in diameter and 12 

to 14 feet high. It runs on a circular steel-rail track, and is connected by cogwheels to a tumbling shaft which drives the pumping 

machinery.

These mills are broad of base, and correspondingly stable. There 

is no apparent limit to their size, and they may embody important 

ideas.

It is certainly desirable to have some powerful windmills, and the 

author has designed several which, though too large, perhaps, to be 

practicable, were conceived in the hope that some available means of 

raising the underflow waters of the Platte and other rivers might yet 

be found. Here, at a depth of 4 or 5 feet in coarse pebbles, is an 

inexhaustible supply of water, of which but meager use is made. The 

advent of a good water lifter will revolutionize all this. At present 

but an occasional seepage or underflow ditch is dug, such as the

Gould-Hollingsworth ditch at Ogallala. The trouble lies not in the 

supply, but in the fact that one must 

go upstream 4 or 5 miles to get the 

required fall. For private ownership the expense is often prohibitive. It requires no engineering 

feat to devise and construct windmills powerful enough to do this 

work, and the author confidently 

hopes for its realization.

The merry-go-round, when perfected, gives great promise. In the 

construction of these mills the importance of rigidity is again to be 

emphasized, for especially light material enters into their make-up.

Bolts and twisted wire should be used freely. Where cogwheels and 

shafting are not at hand, they can be obtained in the market. The 

axis may be a suitable pole cut from the place and guyed securely by 

wires in several directions, and the mills may be so set between sheds 

as to shield part of the fans; or swinging doors, as shown in PL XIV, 

J5, may be used to possible advantage. They may also be mounted 

on sheds. The arms ought to be made of new lumber, but packing

FIG. 10. Plan of large merry-go-round windmill of E. E. Blackman.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. XIV

A. MERRY-GO-ROUND WINDMILL BUILT BY S. S. VIDETTO, LINCOLN, NEBRASKA.

SUGGESTED FORM FOR EIGHT-FAN MERRY-GO-ROUND WINDMILL. 

Photographed from model built by the author.
BAKB00E.] BATTLE-AX WINDMILLS. 47

boxes would furnish material good enough for the fans, which may 

be made of wood, duck, or sheet metal. PL XIY, B, illustrates an 

eight-fan merry-go-round windmill designed by the writer. The 

diameter is 20 to 25 feet, and the fans 6 to 9 feet. Four gates or 

wind guards, each of which is so hung upon the corner post as to 

swing through 270°, easily throws the mill in or out of action. The 

high-geared wheels and shafting below are not shown.

OPEN-FACED OR TURBINE WINDMILLS.

Open-faced or turbine mills may, for convenience, be divided into 

five distinct kinds, as follows, arranged in inverse order of their 

importance: Battle-ax windmills, Holland windmills, mock turbines, 

reconstructed turbines, and shopmade turbines.

These are the windmills of preeminent importance. They represent 

the most specialized type of windmill, and the man who is about to 

construct a mill of some other form, though in great favor locally, 

may well afford to consider the possibilities which this kind of mill 

affords. The simpler mills are easily constructed, and are inexpensive, efficient, and altogether superior, in the estimation of the writer.

BATTLE-AX WINDMILLS.

In its simpler form this mill consists of a tower for the support of a 

horizontal axis and crank, to which arms are attached bearing at their 

extremities fan-like blades, which have a realtor fancied resemblance 

to a battle-ax; hence the name.

Justification for thisjs found in the fact that the arms which are the 

handles each carry a fan, shaped in some instances like a battle-ax. 

It is certain that their keen edges cleave the air in a belligerent 

fashion. When viewed from the side an optical illusion is produced, 

and these revolving blades seem to be slashing wildly at space in 

opposite directions. However, they fight their way through, and are 

victorious mills, worthy of praise.

Like the jumbo and set turbines, the battle-ax mill has its axis set 

in the direction of the prevailing wind that is, north and south. 

The axis may be of wood, rounded to fit in wooden bearings, or it 

may be of wood, but with metal ends or bearings, or it may be gaspipe shafting, or, as is not uncommon, the axis of a buggy or wagon. 

This is the fundamental part, and to it are attached the four fans, 

six fans, eight fans, or many fans, as the case may be. The jumbo 

itself can not exceed the battle-ax in simplicity, cheapness, or power. 

The battle-ax mill is presumably the superior of the jumbo in all 

respects. These are mills of simple, cheap, and easy construction, 

and are efficient. In size they run from 8 to 10 feet, the more common 

sizes, up to powerful mills 16 feet in diameter.

Grand Island, in the Platte Valley, about 90 miles west of Lincoln, 

is a center for windmills. They are found in the town and for miles
48 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO. 29

around. Irrigation in this portion of the State is not strictly necessary. It is simply a way of increasing the ordinary quantity or quality 

of the yield, and is resorted to sparingly. Some of these mills were so 

nearly indistinguishable from the shopmade mills that they need not 

be reproduced. The majority are of the battle-ax type, and are 

especially commended to the attention of farmers and stockmen.

The four-blade battle-ax, about 8 feet in diameter, is the favorite 

type around Grand Island and farther west. Such a mill, with pumping capacity sufficient for 100 to 125 head of cattle, may cost $2 or $3, 

but should not cost $10, and may be built by those who are inventive 

without any outlay. Poles and strong limbs answer the purpose as

FIG. 11. Details of construction of battie-ax windmills, showing axis 8 feet long, 6 oi1 8 inches 

square, iron bearings, arms 6 feet long, fans about 3 feet square, made of thin lumber.

well as new lumber, old dry-goods boxes furnish material suitable 

for fans, and old wire, nails, and bolts are common on every farm. 

The majority of the mills are made in this way, although some are 

much more elaborate. The principle of the adaptation of discarded 

machinery is particularly exemplified in the construction of the 

battle-ax mills. In most of them the journals, gearings, rods, springs, 

wheels, nuts, bolts, braces, and lumber of discarded machinery are 

used. Accordingly they are provided with well-made and fairly frictionless bearings, which help to render them sensitive to light winds. 

The mill of Mr. Jacob Geiss, near Grand Island, which may be 

regarded as typical, is a 12-foot four-fan battle-ax, with an axis 8 

feet long, mounted upon a suitable tower. It pumps from a shallow 

well more than is required for 125 head of cattle. (See fig. 11.)
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. XV

A. BATTLE-AX WINDMILL ON FARM OF MATTHEW WILSON, NEAR OVERTON,

NEBRASKA.

BATTLE-AX WINDMILL ON FARM OF FRED WOULF, NEAR GRAND ISLAND, 

NEBRASKA.
BAEBOUE.] BATTLE-AX WINDMILLS. 49

From Grand Island westward to Ogallala the battle-ax is the dominant type of homemade mill. At Overton, on the farm of Mr. 

Matthew Wilson (PL XV, A), are found two battle-ax windmills, each 

on a quarter section of a beautiful and improved farm of 1,600 acres, 

and each pumping water for 50 head of cattle. This is a large farm, 

and with several hundred head of cattle, as many hogs, and a barn full 

of milch cows and horses, it was found convenient to supplement the 

work of two large Perkins mills with two battle-ax mills. The two

PIG. 13. Working parts of a four-fan Lattle-ax windmill on the farm of Matthew Wilson,

Overton, Nebraska.

latter were built at a cost of $1.50 each, and each pumps for its quarter section. In addition, one pump irrigates successfully 1 acre of 

garden, the water being conducted from the pump to the rows by 

1-inch galvanized-iron pipe. Nowhere is there a more intelligent use 

of material. Three cottonwood poles, as shown in fig. 12, properly 

anchored and braced, constitute the tripodal tower, a buggy axle and 

thimbles the axis, and thin lumber the fans. In these bearings kept 

IEB 29 4
50 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO. 29.

well oiled the mill runs as smoothly as formerly did the carriage 

wheel on its spindle. The crank is adjustable to an 8-inch or 5-inch 

stroke, as desired. (See PI. XV, A.) In PI. XV, B, is shown the 

battle-ax wind-mill, tower, milk-house, and stock troughs of Fred 

Woulf, near Grand Island, Nebraska. The diameter of the wheel is 

10 feet, and the cost $3 to $5. This mill pumps water for 48 head of 

cattle. The method of construction is shown in fig. 13. To stop the 

mill the rope attached to the long crank is made fast to a cleat at the 

base of the tower.

Six- and eight-fan battle-axes differ from four-fan mills chiefly in 

numbers. However, they are usually considerably larger and variously

modified, and worthy of special 

mention, at least in several instances.

The six-fan battle-ax windmill 

of John Harders, near Grand 

Island, Nebraska (see PL XVI, 

A), is 8 feet in diameter, and 

cost, including tower, pump, and 

pipe, $12 to $14. It is used for 

irrigating a small market garden, 

and is mounted on a firm tower of 

cottonwood poles, broad at the 

base. The brake, managed by 

the brake rope, rubs against a 

cogwheel keyed to the axle, and 

thus controls the wheel.

The eight-fan battle-ax windmill of Mr. Diedtrich Huennecke 

(PI. XVI, B), near Grand Island, 

attracts special attention, because it is made of old material, 

at a cost of but $14, including 

the mill and an unusually large 

and well-ironed water tank. The

mill alone cost $6 to 18, and in efficiency is a rival of the steel mill 

costing ten or twelve times as much. The diameter of the wheel is 

10 feet, and the stroke 8 inches. The mill was located in the stock 

yards, bordered by stalls and pens, and pumped from a shallow 

well all of the water needed by the stock. It was supported by 

heavy cottonwood posts, on which was bolted the framework from a 

thrashing machine, with journals and cogs in place. The cogs were 

geared in the ratio of 3 to 1. The fans, which are 3 feet long, 14 

inches wide below and 20 inches wide above, were made of the sides 

and ends of boxes. Advantage was taken of the fact that an old 

pulley was attached to the shaft (fig. 14). A friction brake, managed

FIG. 13. Method of construction of the battleax windmill of Fred Woulf, near Grand Island, 

Nebraska. Brake rope and crank to the left.
U. S. GEOLOO.CAL SURVEY VMTER-SUPPLY PAPEH NO. 20 PL. XVI

A. SIX-FAN BATTLE-AX WINDMILL OF JOHN HARDERS, NEAR GRAND ISLAND,

NEBRASKA.

K. EIGHT-FAN BATTLE-AX WINDMILL OF DIEDTRICH MUENNECKE, NEAR GRAND

ISLAND, NEBRASKA.
BAEBOUE.] BATTLE-AX WINDMILLS.

by an old wagon brake, was cramped on the pulley, checking or 

stopping the mill.

The largest and most remarkable battle-ax mills in the State are 

probably those of J. S. Peckham, 5 miles southwest of Gothenburg, 

and of his son, E. L. Peckham, a mile distant.

These are veritable wind engines, and they probably illustrate what 

may be done by the homemade mill better than any of the other mills 

visited. On this splendid farm, of a thousand or more acres, there is 

an interesting array of windmills, houses, barns, grain houses, sheds, 

cattle yards, orchards, vineyards, and the young but lofty trees of a 

timber claim. There were four shopmade mills, one Dempster, two 

Perkins, and one Aermotor, pumping water for the stock and for the

PIG. 14. Working parts of the eight-fan battle-ax windmill of Diedtrich Huennecke, near Grand 

Island, Nebraska, with one fan in position.

house, and two giant battle-ax mills, driving two pumps each for the 

irrigation of 15 acres of orchard, vineyard, and small fruit.

These mills were designated Mill No. 1 and Mill No. 2, shown on 

the left and right, respectively, of PL XVII, A. Both were mounted 

on the same kind of tower, and were identical in size and make. 

No. 1, however, worked two pumps with 3^-inch cylinders, and No. 2, 

two pumps with 4-inch cylinders, so that the results, as shown by the 

amount of water discharged, were quite different.

The towers, each about 20 feet in height, were made of timbers 2 

by 4 inches with pieces 4 by 4 inches for the corners. They were broad 

at the base, about 16 feet square, and well cross-braced. The wheel,
52 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO. 29.

16 feet in diameter, consisted of eight heavy wooden fans 5^ feet long 

and 5 feet at the top, tapering to 2^ feet below (about 25 square feet of 

surface on each fan). These were cross-cleated and very rigidly made 

and then securely bolted on a slant to the double 2 by 4 inch arms. 

The arms were made by springing and bolting into position pairs of 

16 feet 2 by 4 inch timbers over the axis, which was 8 inches square, 

and had a span of 16 feet. The axis was not solid, but consisted of

FIG. 15. Battle-ax windmill driving crosscut saw, built by A. G. Tingley, Verdon, Nebraska.

two planks 4 by 8 by 16 feet, spiked and bolted together. This offered 

an advantage in the judgment of the designer, in that it allowed the 

adjustment and keying in place of the 2-inch iron bearings which 

carried the cranks and on which the axis was to turn. Their size 

demanded special rigidity, which the designer did not overlook at 

any point. They were admirably constructed, and ran as smoothly 

and as noiselessly as a steel mill. They cost about $25 each (exclusive
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. XVII

A. GIANT BATTLE-AX WINDMILLS ON FARM OF J. S. PECKHAM, NEAR GOTHENBURG, NEBRASKA.

!>'. TWO-FAN BATTLE-AX WINDMILL BUILT BY ELMER JASPERSON, ASHLAND,

NEBRASKA.
BATTLE-AX WINDMILLS. 53

of labor) and partly irrigated 15 acres of orchard, which they are 

capable of irrigating well when the water is economically and properly applied.

As to efficiency, Mill 'No. 1, with two 3-inch cylinders and a 10-inch 

stroke, pumped in a 13.5-mile wind at the measured rate of 14,760 gallons in twenty-four hours from a well 42 feet deep, although one valve 

was badly out of order.

Mill 'No. 2 made a better record, both because of the larger cylinders and the better condition of the valves. In a 13.5-mile wind this 

mill, with a 10-inch stroke, discharged at the rate of nearly 1,000 gallons per hour (or to be exact 930 gallons per hour), or 22,320 gallons 

in twenty-four hours, from a well 42 feet deep. This amount was 

greatly exceeded when, later in the day, the wind velocity rose to 15 

miles per hour. Though not apparently overloaded, Mill 'No. 2 ran 

appreciably slower than No. 1.

From the farmer's standpoint, mills capable of doing such work can 

not be purchased at a price commensurate with the cost of building 

them. Thus some have built mills who otherwise would have bought 

them. These two mills are a credit to any estate, and are commended 

by the author to the consideration of farmers who prefer to build their 

windmills for heavy service.

A mile distant is the farm of the son, E. L. Peckham, who owns 

property almost as extensive as that of the father. The farmhouse 

looks like a city residence, with its fine green lawn. The young 

orchard, large vegetable garden, and flower garden, 2 acres in all, are 

models, due to the water supplied by a mill exactly similar in all 

respects to the original battle-ax mills Nos. 1 and 2, except that this is 

more heavily braced and otherwise improved. It lifts water 27 feet by 

two pumps with 4-inch cylinders, irrigates 2 acres, and sprinkles the 

lawn. The total cost, including pumps and all incidentals, was $75. 

t The remarkable two-fan battle-ax mill of Elmer Jasperson may be 

seen near Ashland, Nebraska, mounted along the ridge pole of a northsouth corncrib and wagon house (see PI. XVII, B). Heavy semicircular fans of wood, with a diameter of 10 feet, are mounted on a substantial axis having a span of 12 feet; to this is attached the sprocket 

wheel and chain for transmitting the energy of the wind to the corn 

sheller and feed grinder below. These fans are movable, and when 

brought together form a circle 10 feet in diameter, with its edge to 

the wind, in which position the fans are not affected by the wind, and 

are accordingly out of gear; but when thrown aslant the wind strikes 

their oblique faces, and they revolve with a fine display of force.

This mill is not so sensitive to light winds as shopmade mills, but 

its momentum is greater. It drives a two-hole cornsheller and feed 

grinder and a grindstone.

This is one of the most interesting and attractive homemade designs 

in the State, and for novelty and originality it was awarded a prize by
54 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. fNO.29.

the Nebraska State Journal of Lincoln. It shells and grinds corn at 

a total outlay of $11,' and gives entire satisfaction. The ingenuity 

which characterizes this novel invention crops out everywhere on the 

Jasperson farm, in the locks, gates, fences, and implements, and in 

one irrigated field there is a remodeled turbine, described on page 65, 

so well made as to be indistinguishable from the original mill.

Regular shopmade mills supplied water for his house and stock, the 

homemade mill being used wholly for driving machinery. Unfortunately means were not at hand for measuring the true efficiency of 

this two-fan turbine, but for practical purposes it may be said that it 

drove the cornsheller and feed grinder with ease. It seemed equivalent to about 1 horsepower.

HOLLAND WINDMILLS.

The Holland mills, with their four slatted fans covered with cloth 

sails, are so familiar in art that descriptions are unnecessary. However, as introduced into the Great Plains, they have undergone many 

changes and -modifications, and the resemblance is sometimes lost. 

As viewed in pictures, the great fans are mounted on massive supports. In Nebraska, however, they sometimes stand on slender, 

spindling towers. They are frequently mounted upon milk houses, 

corncribs, wagon sheds, and barns. Their identity is further obscured 

at times in that the customary four fans are replaced by six or eight, 

and the familiar duck sails by wooden ones.

Some of the strongest and best mills in the State are modifications 

of these old Dutch mills. Though the picturesque mountings and 

settings may be wanting, their efficiency and serviceability are not. 

The smaller Dutch mills stand on towers, the medium-sized on small 

outbuildings, and the large ones on barns. In size they range from the 

smallest, 10 to 12 feet in diameter, through medium-sized mills, 15 to 

20 feet in diameter, to the largest, which measure 36 feet.

The great Holland mill of August Prinz, 1 mile east of Chalco, 

Sarpy County, favorably situated as it is for observation from passing trains on the Burlington Route, has become a familiar landmark 

to travelers on that road (see PL XVIII, A).

The Prinz mill rises high above the surrounding grove, which, 

though but twelve to fourteen years old, completely shuts in the 

house and farm buildings. A closer view shows the large mill, with 

fans describing a circle 36 feet in diameter, mounted securely upon 

the large shed which constitutes corncribs and wagon shed, while at 

the house is seen an 8-foot Gem mill which pumps water from a 40-foot 

well to the house and stock trough. As a precaution against accident 

and against insufficient wind velocity, the owner has a horsepower 

device with shafting and pulley, which can instantly be attached to 

the house pump.

Ordinarily the small windmill is able to supply ample water for the
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

A. HOLLAND OR DUTCH WINDMILL OF AUGUST PRINZ, NEAR CHALCO, 

NEBRASKA.

i'. SIX-FAN HOLLAND OR DUTCH WINDMILL OF HENRY BORMANN, NEAR 

PORTAL NEBRASKA.
BAEBODE.] DUTCH WINDMILLS. 55

house, for 80 steers, 20 milch cows, 10 horses, 125 hogs, and other stock. 

Accordingly the large mill has so far been employed solely for the 

purpose of grinding grain, although it can be easily geared to raise 

water as needed. In the amount of grist is found an easy measure of 

the efficiency of this mill, which owes much of its merit to the fact 

that its projector had built mills in Holland before emigrating to this 

country in 1871.

With the ordinary wind of winter, when the mill is particularly in 

use, the capacity of this mill is 200 or even 300 bushels of ground 

grain a day. It drives an 8-horsepower feed grinder with greater 

speed than horses could. It elevates the grain and grinds and discharges the grist automatically, demanding no immediate supervision, 

while the men are engaged about the customary duties of the farm. 

With a good wind it is unnecessary to use more than two sails, which 

give all the power that is necessary for ordinary work.

This being a large mill, heavy gear wheels and driving wheels, couplings, brakes, etc., were necessary, and these were procured in Omaha 

and Chicago. The total cost of the mill was $150. While this may 

appear to prospective builders a considerable sum, it is not prohibitive. Against this sum must be balanced the efficiency of an 

1 8-horsepower plant, the fact that the mill requires little or no superintendence, and that the grain is ground at home, requiring no expenditure of time and money in hauling to and from the mill. A 

windmill so well built is capable of rendering service for twelve to 

fifteen years.

Here, as elsewhere, the author finds that those farmers who have 

the ingenuity to invent and build mills have well-kept farms, the best 

gates and fences, improved and excellently kept buildings, and an 

air of unmistakable prosperity. In twenty years the proprietor has 

become possessed of 320 acres of fine land set with hedges, groves, 

and orchards; of herds of well-bred stock and fowls; of substantial, convenient, and well-regulated houses, barns, cribs, tool sheds, 

and poultry houses, and of all necessary farming implements and 

vehicles. The author has driven for many miles through this favored 

agricultural region, and scarcely less can be said of any farm visited. 

They are large, well kept, improved, and free from mortgage. This 

is but the beginning of the great windmill area of the State, which 

extends thence westward for 500 miles in close proximity to the Platte 

Valley.

On the farm of Henry Bormann, near Portal, in Douglas County, 

about 3 miles east of the August Prinz place, stands an important 

mill of home production, which, like the Prinz mill, its progenitor, is 

a landmark familiar to travelers on that branch of the Burlington 

and Missouri River Railroad. It is essentially a Dutch mill, but with 

six instead of the customary four fans, which describe a circle 19£ 

feet in diameter. Making allowance for customary overestimates, its
56 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO. 29.

true efficiency must be between 4 and 6 horsepower, and will run higher 

when the mill is full rigged. The surprising part is that it runs the 

grinder without full-sized canvas sails, its designer and builder finding that it was easier, handier, and amply efficient to use wind boards 

instead. These wind boards are simply thin ^-inch boards about 7 

feet long and 1 foot wide, set at an angle on each arm. They are 

quickly set in place and secured by wooden buttons. In a strong 

wind but three of these boards are used.

The capacity of this mill varies according to the wind, from 75 to 

100 bushels of ground feed a day. By purchasing shafting, belts, 

pulleys, bevel gear, etc., at an abandoned elevator, and by making 

patterns for the revolving head and other parts and having them 

cast in Omaha, the cost of this mill amounted in all to only $50. 

Considering that it is well built, that it should last ten to twelve 

years, that it grinds all the grain for the stock and is capable of 

pumping and driving other machinery, there is again a decided balance in favor of the homemade mill.

During the summer months when the cattle are at pasture the mill 

is not in operation, so that the author made no attempt to test its 

efficiency, believing that the 6-horsepower grinder was a sufficient 

measure of its strength. This, like the Prinz mill, is so geared as to 

be useful in driving other machinery or in pumping water, as occasion 

demands.

TOWERLESS TURBINES.

It is doubtful if there is a better general example of the towerless 

turbines than the one across the Platte, some 20 miles south of Gothenberg. This simplified mill consists merely of a wheel without tower, 

axis, crank, or other working parts. The axle of an old wagon, with 

spindle, thimble, hub, and wheel intact, was bolted to beams on the 

south side of a barn, fans were nailed at a slant to the spokes, and a 

bolt was driven in one edge of the hub with an eccentricity of 3 or 4 

inches, to which the pump rod was attached. The mill pumps water, 

but is dependent, of course, on south winds. From this simple form 

there is every conceivable gradation to the best shopmade steel mill, 

made of the finest material, and wrought with such nicety and precision as to return 90 per cent efficiency.

STATIONARY TURBINES.

The next higher type of the turbine is but little more specialized. 

It has a tower, usually of poles, a crank and pump rod, and four or 

more blades or fans. These constitute the whole of a mill which is 

considerably more efficient than the extreme simplicity of its working 

parts might imply. These are commonly built without expense, for 

the crank, which is the only piece demanding outlay, is inexpensive 

if bought first hand, and is usually supplied from old machinery; and
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER MO. 29 PL. XIX

A. FOUR-FAN STATIONARY TURBINE WINDMILL OF FRIEDERICH ERNSTMEYER, 

NEAR GRAND ISLAND, NEBRASKA.

Jt SIX-FAN STATIONARY TURBINE OF FRED MATHIESEN, NEAR GRAND ISLAND,

NEBRASKA.
BABBOUB.] TURBINES. 57

to the crank arms are attached to which the wooden blades are nailed. 

The pump rod is often but a sapling. The axis runs on wooden bearings, lubricated occasionally with axle grease. The tower is built of 

old lumber, usually of poles. Such mills are numerous. Occasionally these mills run on excellent bearings, the builder having detached 

certain framework with its journals and crank from old machinery, 

bolting them bodily to the tower, attaching arms to the axis, a pump 

rod to the crank, and once in a while a brake to regulate the speed 

of the fans.

A mill of this kind (see PL XIX, A) used by Friedrich Ernstmeyer, 

of Grand Island, for pumping water for his stock, was especially well 

built, and cost only 32 cents for a 16-foot board for the fans. It 

was made of the oak frame and sickle driver of an old mower, which 

was bolted bodily upon the cottonwood tower. This is an 8-foot 

wheel, with pine board fans 12 to 14 inches wide by 4 feet long. An 

ingenious brake was made by securely wedging an old, cultivator wheel 

to the axis, and a set of springs and levers were so arranged as to 

press a shoe of leather against the wheel, thus retarding or stopping 

the mill as desired.

In the stock field of Fred Mathiesen is a six-fan set turbine (shown 

in PI. XIX, _£>), which, though very crude and rustic, runs nicely in its 

shopniade bearings the frame and journals of an old self-binder and 

cost only a few cents, for welding an extension to the axis and for 

light rods with which to brace the arms. The brake is nothing more 

than a fence post, which can slide forward between the fans to stop 

them and back again to put the mill in gear. The pump rod is a 

small sapling. The diameter of the wheel is 8 feet and the stroke 6 

inches; total cost two or three dollars. The turbine is used for 

watering stock.

From these elementary forms, which are too numerous to allow 

detailed description, we pass to the set turbine, with many fans. A 

typical example, selected from many, is the mill built by Janak 

Bros., of Sarpy Mills, Nebraska.

First attempts at designing and building mills often give results 

which warrant larger undertakings, and one may see the first, the 

second, and the third mill by the same designer, each an improvement 

on the one before. It is- interesting to note this advance, which is 

marked by improved and enlarged designs and by superior material 

and make. An excellent example of this is furnished by the Janak 

Bros., the elder of whom arrived from Bohemia three years ago (in 

1896). Seeing that it was important for a neighbor to supply, in a given 

pasture, water for about thirty head of cattle, he immediately built a 

turbine mill so simplified that it consisted merely of a 10-foot wheel 

made of weatherboarding, braced and wired together, mounted on an 

axis with a 3-inch crank, which ran in journals of wood, bolted to the 

top piece of the tower (see fig. 16). There was no need for a revolv-
58 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO. 29.

ing head or vane, for this was a stationary turbine, with face set to 

the south, and with its tower well guyed in three directions by twisted 

wire. This mill cost altogether between $3 and $4, and at the worst 

is sure to give three or four years of satisfactory service, in addition 

to three years' service already rendered.

On the farm where poles may be cut for the tower and old lumber 

is at hand, the expense of a 10-foot stationary turbine mill like-the 

above may easily fall within $2.50 or $3. These are commended to 

the attention of those needing cheap mills, especially to those who

have material on hand. Here the crank 

and driving wheels of discarded reapers may be put to advantageous use.

This crude wooden mill warranted 

an attempt by the Janak Brothers at 

something larger, better built, and 

more complex in its parts. The result 

is a steel mill 14 feet in diameter, with 

galvanized-iron fans, mounted with a 

revolving head upon a 35-foot wooden 

tower by the side of the blacksmith 

shop of the Janak Bros. The finely 

built wheel was spinning without 

a sound or vibration, and within the 

shop the emery wheel, grindstone, 

drill, bellows, lathe, and other machinery, together with the pump, were 

driven as steadily as though steam 

was the motive power.

Their prestige as blacksmiths was 

won largely by the windmill, which 

not only drove their machinery, but 

evidenced their ability. This mill, 

well as it worked, was yet incomplete, 

a fortunate circumstance, as it illustrates the fact that in a great deal of 

machinery refinements and accessories are not essentials. The mill lacked

a rudder or vane, which necessitated climbing the tower and prying the 

wheel face to the wind with a lever. This, however, in a region where 

the prevailing wind is so constantly from the south, occasioned but 

little inconvenience. At the same time this shows the prospective 

builder that he can simplify the working parts of his mill and reduce 

its cost without materially affecting its efficiency. Later on, as time 

and means allow, vane, automatic regulators, and other parts may be 

added at will. In the meantime the owner has the use of an efficient 

mill in which but little cash or time is invested, and though less

FIG. 16. Stationary turbine designed 

and built by Janak Bros., Sarpy Mills, 

Nebraska.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUFPLV PAPER NO. 29 PL. XX

A. GIANT TURBINE BUILT BY J. M. WARNER, NEAR OVERTON, NEBRASKA.

JB. FOUR-FAN GEARED TURBINE BUILT BY HENRY BOERSEN, NEAR GRAND 

ISLAND. NEBRASKA.
BABBOUB.] TURBINES. 59

convenient it seems far wiser to have a mill like this than to be driven 

from the undertaking by its complexity.

VANELESS AUTOMATIC TURBINES.

The vaneless automatic homemade windmill of W. F. Baldwin, of 

Ainsworth, Nebraska, when visited September 12, 1898, proved to be

FIG. 17. Sketch of homemade steel turbine of W. F. Baldwin, Ainsworth, Nebraska. A, Regulating fan and lever; B, Weight holding the mill in gear; D, Platform revolving about gaspipe axis E; F, Windmill head with gas-pipe arms.

one of unusual interest (see fig. 17). A principle seems to appear in 

this mill not thus far seen in other mills.

Mr. Baldwin, who had formerly been engaged in several windmill 

companies, and had thus acquired experience, considered it a piece of 

faulty construction that shopmade mills must be subjected to the
60 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBEASKA. [NO. 20.

fury of the wind before they begin to throw themselves out of action. 

This is a heavy and apparently an unnecessary strain, and to obviate it 

Mr. Baldwin so arranged his mill that the regulator receives the force 

of the wind before the fans. The regulating rudder (see fig. 17, A) 

is counterbalanced by a paint keg filled with sand; the rudder, thus 

becoming sensitive, reacts and responds to every varying breeze, constantly throwing the fans in and out of the wind. When the keg 

is removed the lever, falling of its own weight, pushes against a rod 

passing through the hollow axis, and thus sets each fan in the 

wheel edgewise, catching no wind. When the weight is applied, each 

fan is thereby set to catch the wind to the best advantage. Between 

these two points there is every gradation, the blades constantly

turning and adjusting and accommodating themselves to every 

breeze. Mne mills of this kind 

have been built and set up on 

farms around Ainsworth, and their 

owners are enthusiastic in their 

praise.

The galvanized iron blades are 

reinforced with heavy wire on the 

edges, the back edges being hinged 

to a fixed metal circle, and the 

front edges to a slightly movable 

rotating one, which turns the fans 

according as the adjusting rod 

moves forward or back.

The working parts, consisting of 

a 2-inct gas-pipe axis to which 

the fans are attached, carrying 

sprocket wheels geared in the ratio

of three revolutions to one stroke, were supported on a small platform, braced by rods, which revolved about a 3-inch gas pipe fixed in 

the tower. The tower consisted of staight cottonwood poles, bolted 

to anchor posts in the usual way. The axis runs on friction rollers, 

like the ordinary grindstone. By using pieces from old machinery 

the cost of this trial mill was but $5. It has been in service pumping water for the house and stock for three years.

GIANT TURBINES.

The giant turbine of J. M. Warner, 4^ miles southeast of Overton, 

Nebraska, is one of a size rendered possible by the method of 

mounting it inside the tower rather than upon it (PI. XX, A). This 

arrangement so far extends the base of support that the tower can 

probably never be overturned, except by winds that would move 

buildings. In addition it is securely guyed in four directions by

FIG. 18. Method of regulating the fans of the 

homemade steel turbine of W. F. Baldwin.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. XXI

RECONSTRUCTED WINDMILL OF E. M. SEARLES, JR., AT OGALLALA NEBRASKA.

11. IRRIGATING POND AND RECONSTRUCTED WINDMILL ON FARM OF ELMER 

JASPERSON, NEAR ASHLAND, NEBRASKA.
BAEBOUH.] TURBINES. 61

heavy twisted wire, anchored at a distance. This giant turbine, 

which has no rival in size or strength, is an efficient innovation. It 

propels the machinery of a 4-horsepower feed grinder. However, 

the work is done with less dispatch than by four horses, and Mr.

FIG. 19. Method of construction of four-fan turbine mill of Henry Boersen, near Grand Island 

Nebraska. General view on PI. XX, B.

Warner is disposed to attribute to the mill an efficiency of 3 horsepower and possibly a fraction more.

In addition to grinding, this mill runs the grindstone and other 

machinery by means of a system of overhead shafting with pulleys 

and belts. It can also be connected to a walking beam, which drives
62 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO. 29.

two pumps with a 12-inch stroke, one having a 5-inch cylinder, the 

other a 4-inch cylinder. These are too small for the mill, as Mr. 

Warner finds, and 6-inch cylinders should be substituted. The lift 

is but 7 to 8 feet, and the endless chain and buckets might replace 

the pumps with marked advantage. No reservoir has yet been built, 

but with one Mr. Warner estimates he could irrigate 20 acres sufficiently for that region. As it is, he has successfully irrigated 8 to 10

FIG. 20. Homemade turbine mill of Lewis Jardee, of Newport, Nebraska.

acres of alfalfa and 6 to 8 acres of corn. The mill is large, and its 

. cost, about $60, is not disproportionate to the work performed. A 

large rudder, held in place by a weighted nail keg, guides this giant 

wheel, which runs on a 2-inch iron axis, supported by a vertical rectangular frame. This principle is apparently new and worthy of 

development.

Plate XX, jB, illustrates a four-fan geared turbine designed and 

built by Henry Boersen, near Grand Island, Nebraska. The head of
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 FL. XXII

A. RAILROAD WATER TANK AND WINDMILL.

i'. ELEVATED TANKS FILLED BY WINDMILL FOR TOWN SUPPLY; USED AT 

FAIRMOUNT, FILLMORE COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
BABBODE.] TURBINES. 63

an old wooden pump constitutes the revolving parts, while the flywheel and sprocket wheels of an old cornsheller were used for the 

driving parts. But few bolts or screws were used, the parts being 

very ingeniously wired together. Examination of fig. 19 will make 

the working parts and plan of rudder apparent. The wheel is 8

FIG. Jil. biae view and details of revolving parts of homemade turbine windmill of W. F. 

McComb, Grand Island, Nebraska.

feet in diameter; cost of mill, $2; cost of mill, pumps, and trough, 

$9.50. The pulleys over which the gear ropes pass are made of 

spools. This turbine raises water from a shallow valley well 7 or 8 

feet and supplies 60 head of cattle. The timber shown in the background is 26 years old.
64 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO. 29.

The homemade windmill of Lewis Pardee, Newport, Nebraska, 

shown in fig. 20, consists of the thimble of an old wagon on which 

the mill turns to which are bolted for the driving parts oak supports 

detached from an old reaper. The mill pumps about 500 gallons an 

hour, or 12,000 gallons in 24 hours, and cost 16.

Some homemade mills are such close imitations of the shopmade, 

that the casual observer fails to see the differences which are apparent 

on closer inspection.

The mill of W. F. McComb, of Grand Island, shown in fig. 21, is an 

example. In appearance it is a shopmade mill; in fact every portion 

of it is homemade. The fans are of metal, the rudder of light wood, 

hinged, and adjustable from the ground to throw it in and out of gear 

like ordinary mills. The mill acts directly on the piston, giving a 

10-inch stroke. The head and axis are supported on a vertical wooden 

box, which, guided by friction rollers set in the platform of the tower, 

revolves upon a conical casting at its base. It is a 10-foot wheel, 

pumps water by a 3-inch cylinder into the tank, a lift of 44 feet, and 

irrigates the garden and lawn. It cost possibly $20, and has run 

since the spring of 1897.

RECONSTRUCTION OF WINDMILLS.

In the provisional classification of homemade windmills, the reconstructed mill is placed next in importance to the shopmade mill.

There are great possibilities here, which have been and may be taken 

advantage of many times. In every community are neglected or 

fallen mills and towers which might be reconstructed at a merely 

nominal cost, either by the owner or by the purchaser of such idle 

property. The essential parts are often intact, and it is a simple 

matter to substitute homemade fans and rudders for those missing. 

Many mills are standing in disuse year after year, while rough boards 

nailed to their bare arms would start them going.

Many take advantage of this opportunity, and that others may be 

reminded of the possibility a few reconstructed mills will be figured 

and described, in the belief that this small number will sufficiently 

represent all.

Reconstructed mills are to be found in every county in the State, 

but nowhere are there better examples than at Ogallala, in western 

Nebraska. Within the town at least five reconstructed mills are in 

use, pumping water mostly from shallow wells.

At the livery and feed stable an old mill which has lost all its fans 

and its rudder has been so rejuvenated by simply nailing 6-inch 

boards to the bare arms that the mill is pumping water for 25 

horses. This entailed no expense and but little time and labor.

Near by stands a reconstructed mill still doing duty in pumping for 

the house and lawn, though furnished with six rough blades. The 

mill which formerly occupied its place upon the substantial tower had
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. XXIII

ARTIFICIAL PONDS OF THE MOULTON ICE COMPANY, LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, SUPPLIED WITH WATER BY TWO TURBINE WINDMILLS.
BABBOUR.] TURBINES. 65

been racked by gales and storms, and had been allowed to lose its 

woodwork and so fall naturally into disuse. However, the essential 

parts remained as a base, to which homemade parts could readily 

be attached without cost. (See PI XXI, A. )

Within a few blocks is to be seen the most interesting one in the 

place. It stands on a slender steel tower, like a veritable toy mill, 

but it pumps water for the house, for four horses, and for the irrigation of the lawn and garden.

The success of this toy turbine is due in a measure to the fact that it 

is a reconstructed aermotor. Two sets of galvanized fans and rudders 

had been demolished, and the last time the iron fans were replaced by 

thin boards 5 inches wide and 2 feet long wired firmly to the six iron 

arms. The rudder was left off; accordingly, instead of standing face 

to the wind, it swings around automatically (because slightly eccentric) 

and stands back to the wind. Thus the motion is reversed, and the 

fans run backward, but with no apparent disadvantage.

On measuring the wind velocity with an anemometer, and measuring 

the water pumped, the following results were obtained: In a 15.5-mile 

wind this toy mill -lifted from a shallow well (12 feet deep) a trifle 

more than 270 measured gallons in an hour, or at the rate of 6,500 

gallons in twenty-four hours, its efficiency being one-eighth horsepower.

Near Kearney is a reconstructed mill whose arms have been slightly 

lengthened, and to their extremities were nailed light fans made by 

boys of the farm from the thin sides of boxes. Although this gave a 

rough and unnatural looking exterior, the small irrigating reservoir 

stood full of water. The admirably constructed mill of Elmer Jasperson near Ashland, Nebraska (shown in PI. XXI, B], seems to differ in 

no respect from the best shopmade type, .although it had been a total 

wreck. It was purchased for $3 as it lay on the ground twisted and 

broken, and hauled to the Jasperson place. At an additional outlay 

of $7 the bent parts were straightened, the tower rebuilt, and the mill 

reinstated as good as new, so far as outward' appearance and action 

are concerned.

SHOPMADE TURBINES.

The highest type is the shopmade mill, which is so closely allied 

to every well-regulated Western home. These mills are inseparable 

features of every landscape, of every farm, village, and town. One 

may count as many as twenty-five or thirty mills in view at one time 

from the car window in passing, and thirty or forty in any town. 

These mills have given to the country home many of the comforts of 

the city. They enable small towns to have water systems with standpipes, water mains, and hydrants, a satisfactory domestic water service, and a supply with ample pressure for fire protection at a cost 

much below that for similar water service in a city.

The windmill and tank are the conspicuous and characteristic landIBB 29 5
66 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO.29.

marks of every siding and station in the prairie. (See PI. XXII, A). 

Asylums, homes for soldiers, orphans, blind, and feeble minded, and 

other public institutions in rural districts isolated from city conveniences depend on the windmill. The town pump has given way to 

the town windmill and tank, which easily furnish water for the public watering trough and the public hydrant.

In villages too small to assume the expense of standpipe, water 

mains, and hydrants, pressure for fire protection is often obtained by 

carrying the tower of the public tank as high as need be, and mounting upon it a second tank for use in case of fire. (See PL XXII, B. ) 

Precaution is generally taken to augment the mill with a good steam, 

gasoline, or petroleum engine for use in emergency, or in case of a 

continued calm. This makes an excellent and cheap system. The 

mill is the main dependence, the engine being pressed into service but 

occasionally.

In many towns and cities the turbine is used to pump water for fish 

ponds and ice ponds. In the smaller towns the irrigating pond of 

summer is turned to good account in winter, in furnishing an ice 

harvest. In Lincoln, the Moulton Ice Company harvests its ice from 

three artificial ponds supplied with water by two turbine mills. 

These same ponds are stocked with several thousand fish. (See PL 

XXIII.)

Under the refining influence of the windmill, the pioneer schoolhouse, first of sod, then of lumber, begins to lose some of its utter 

barrenness, and sod, trees, and shrubs begin to grow.

ORIGINAL USES FOR SHOPMADE WINDMILLS.

The shopmade mill is often harnessed to homemade water lifters of 

unique and original design. These are as interesting as the homemade 

mills themselves, and are worthy of a special report, which the author 

has in preparation.

One or two examples will illustrate this group sufficiently for the 

present.

At Milford, on the banks of Blue River, may be teeen a large mill 

and tower (see PL XXIV), now in disuse, geared to run an endless 

chain of 34 buckets, each holding 4 gallons. This method of raising 

water is one of the oldest as well as ene of the best. However, in this 

instance, the mill is so completely overtaxed as to be rendered useless. 

Smaller buckets and lighter machinery would doubtless give satisfactory results. The possibilities of this kind of irrigation are great, 

and every river bank shows some kind of an attempt to pour the 

water upon the land. Some of these water lifters are driven by the 

current, some by windmills, and some by horse power or steam power.

At North Platte the natural order of things seems somewhat reversed 

through* the use of a tympanum wheel, run by a large aermotor, 

instead of by the current. (See fig. 22.) The tympanum is primarily
U- S- GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. XXIV

WINDMILL AND WATER ELEVATOR ON BLUE RIVER, NEAR MILFORU, 

NEBRASKA.
BABBOUR.] OTHER WATER LIFTERS. 67

a current wheel, but in this case, there being no current, its place was 

supplied by a 12-foot aermotor, which caused the tympanum wheel 

to revolve once a minute in a good wind and to discharge at each 

revolution 8 barrels of water through the hollow axis, lifting it 7 feet 

and irrigating 60 acres. This tympanum is beautifully built and

FIG. 83. Two-foot tympanum water wheel operated by 13-foot aermotor; invented and built by 

David Thomas, of North Platte, Nebraska.

accurately constructed, but it is not at all unlikely that buckets or 

even pumps would give equal results at less expense. The cost was

OTHER FORMS OF WATER LIFTERS.

Anticipating a future chapter on the water lifters of Nebraska, the 

author, knowing the demand for hints on all such matters, can not 

refrain at this point from mentioning some other water lifters, though 

foreign to the immediate subject. The principal water lifters other 

than the windlass, hand pump, windmill, horse-power, gasoline, petroleum, and steam engines are the endless chain and buckets, current 

wheels of all sizes and makes, Archimedes screws, jacketed screws 

running at high speed, etc.

The endless chain and bucket, of which there are many makes, is an
68 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [so. 29.

economic and successful water lifter, easily taken down and set up 

again, and not easily injured. For short lifts these seem worthy of 

first consideration.

The water elevator of John W. Karr, 1 mile southeast of Benkelman, Dundy County, is partly homemade and partly shopmade. Taking advantage of the failure of neighbors who had purchased a 

link-belt elevator at Chicago a few years before, he "Obtained the 

working parts for $5, and for about $2 in addition purchased lumber 

(2-inch plank) for the construction of the woodwork. A second-hand 

horsepower, with the necessary tumbling shaft, cost $13, and the mill 

was complete. Digging the well was a matter of a few hours with 

team and scraper, and the subsequent work was performed with the 

shovel. A total depth of about 12 to 14 feet was reached, the water 

standing 6 feet in the well. The well had a diameter of about 8 feet 

at the bottom, tapering to 5 feet above, tightly curbed with boards. 

The vertical lift was 7 to 8 feet, and two horses had about the same 

draft in elevating 27 cubic feet of water a minute as in plowing. The 

well discharges sand, pebbles, and water in a fitful stream. The sand 

is fine and works into and fills the well. Over 100 cubic feet of sand 

and coarse gravel were forced out last summer (1898), silting down 

the entrance of the irrigating ditch, which had to be dug over repeatedly. The sand here is fine and the delivery of water is too slow to 

supply the pump, but a few feet lower the gravel is coarse and the 

supply of water unlimited. This elevator will ultimately be attached 

to suitable windmill power, so as to use wind or horse power as occasion demands.

Mr. Karr irrigates about 2 acres of garden truck and 10 or 12 acres 

of alfalfa by contour ditches about 20 feet apart. Though the roots 

find ample water below, that portion of the field yielded best which 

was irrigated most, while the portions not irrigated at all were dead 

at least to the root. The mill has, as it stands but not at its best 

a capacity of 38,000 to 40,000 cubic feet a day according to the owner's 

measurements, and his claims were verified by the author as long as 

he watched its operations.

The lift here, which represents the conditions of the region, was 

scarcely more than 12 to 14 feet. Many failures in the matter of irrigating in this way result, as the author finds, from ignorance and bad 

management. Those who use intelligence and forethought are successful. Those who dig into fine sand, oblivious of the fact that it 

delivers water slowly, though the amount is unlimited, abandon the 

project without attempting to dig deeper or broader, or without tunneling so as to increase the surface for seepage. The fine sand also 

fills the well rapidly unless proper precaution is exercised. The result 

is that new elevators are soon for sale at second-hand price, and the 

man who is capable of maturing his plans gets the benefit of his neighbor's failure.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. XXV

THIRTY-FOOT CURRENT WATER WHEEL ON BRANCH OF HAT CREEK, SIOUX 

COUNTY, NEBRASKA.

B. THIRTY-FIVE-FOOT CURRENT WATER WHEEL NEAR HOT SPRINGS, SOUTH

DAKOTA.
BABBOUB.] TRANSMISSION AND STORAGE OF POWEE. 69

A similar but larger water elevator is that of William James, near 

Crete, Nebraska. By purchasing Sieman & Sehuske's buckets and 

chains and adapting them to his own power he has a water elevator 

capable of discharging 2,000 gallons a minute, the lift being 26 feet. 

Horse power and steam power are used according to the amount of 

water needed.

Mr. James first began to irrigate by hauling water from the creek 

and sprinkling it on the land. Finding this work slow and laborious, 

he built the elevator and soon had 50 acres successfully under ditch. 

Mr. James at the Nebraska State Fair of 1896 obtained second place 

for Saline County and received cash prizes to the amount of $300 

and other awards to the value of $200.

Wherever there are live streams with good currents the current 

wheel is very common. Though changed and modified in many ways, 

the general plan is the same. The force of the current causes the 

wheel to turn, and in so doing a certain amount of water is caught in 

boxes or receptacles, carried to the top, and then discharged into a 

trough. Boxes, paint kegs, barrels, etc., are sometimes pressed into 

service and attached to the wheel in place of buckets.

The current wheel designed and built by David Hunter near Sutherland, Lincoln County, consists of eight swinging troughs each of 4 

gallons' capacity hung to the eight paddles. These are emptied in succession as they come to the top. The cost of construction,was $100 v 

Large current wheels are capable of doing extensive work, and are 

engines of economic importance.

In Sioux County, on a branch of Hat Creek, may be seen a wellbuilt current wheel (shown in PL XXV, A) 30 feet in diameter a'nd 

capable of irrigating 15 to 20 acres, and farther north, at Hot Springs, 

South Dakota, may be seen a magnificent current wheel (shown in 

PI. XXV, B) 35 feet in diameter, which is said to yield to its owner a 

cash money rental of several thousand dollars annually. In the figure showing this stately wheel the stream, which is small, though 

swift, is concealed by the rank growth of weeds and brush.

TRANSMISSION AND STORAGE OF WINDMILL POWER.

It is often found desirable to transmit the energy of the windmill to 

some other point, perhaps to the milk house or to the barn, in which 

case the mill, while pumping for the house or barn, may also drive 

one or more pumps at other points. When the distance is but a few 

feet the walking beam or the rocker shaft or similar devices are used, 

but the distance may be too great. The energy of the mill is often 

transmitted from one field to another, sometimes over hills and down 

draws. In such eases the energy is transmitted by strong wires 

attached to wooden quadrants or angle blocks. Though crude, they 

do good work and are practically as useful as the angle irons. It
70 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [N0.29.

seems better economy for the busy and well-*to-do farmer to purchase 

these quadrants outright from his nearest windmill house, but for 

those who can better afford to spend energy and time than money the 

wooden angle block (see fig. 23) will prove an acceptable substitute 

for a better article.

If some of the surplus energy of tlie wind during certain seasons 

or during the more windy hours of the day could be conserved, it 

would apparently equalize matters to that extent. The best means 

to that end at present is literally to bottle it. That is, the windmill 

must compress the air into stout iron cylinders, or bottles, to be drawn

FIG. 33. Transmission of power of windmill by oscillating wires.

off and used in any way desired. A small stream of compressed air 

admitted at the bottom of a tubular well often causes the water to 

flow as if it were an artesian well.

In many of our artesian regions there are countless spots in which 

water rises under pressure and in that sense is artesian but still 

does not flow over the surface. Such wells, treated to a small stream 

of compressed air, would flow vigorously like small '' spouters." So 

far as can be learned nothing of this sort has yet been attempted in 

Nebraska, although it is contemplated. The park board of Omaha
BAEBOUE.] RAINFALL IN NEBRASKA. 71

has long considered this as a means of converting certain negative 

artesian wells into positive ones for the improvement of the park 

system of the city. In the Great Plains, where there is so much 

energy stored in the winds, a great natural resource seems to be going 

to waste for lack of development. It may be conserved by using the 

windmill to charge storage batteries.

PKECIPITATIOX NEBRASKA.

The climate of Nebraska is characterized by a low percentage of 

cloudiness, by a correspondingly large amount of sunshine, and by a 

dry and healthful atmosphere, whose chill in winter is less severe 

and whose heat in summer is less oppressive because of the low 

humidity.

Situated far inland, there are no great bodies of water to furnish 

evaporation. Little moisture finds its way from the Pacific slope, 

because of the Rocky Mountains. The rain-bearing winds come from 

the southeast, and the ultimate source of precipitation in Nebraska 

is the Gulf of Mexico. Although rainfall is rather limited, there is 

compensation in the fact that it comes at the season when crops are 

growing, and also in the fact that so great a proportion is absorbed and 

retained in the soil.

Professors Swezey and Loveland, in Bulletin 45 of the Agricultural 

Experiment Station of Nebraska, have shown that 

of the 23.33 inches of annual rainfall in Nebraska 16.08 inches, or 69 per cent of 

the entire amount, falls during the five months of the growing season, April to 

August, inclusive. In order to show how we compare in this respect with other 

States the following table is introduced. It shows what per cent of the total 

yearly rainfall occurs/in these same five months in other localities.

inches f rainof 

1 o & roc» 

1

 

O6S

|

6.3

<> 

*

 .

°i

157

1

1.16

f6.5

1 ^

a

1

'grrc

-

Q.Z\

O

Wl>

12.1

numbe

^

\

 3.CL1

19 5

10.2

r of re

f

3.51

W 7/7

9.9

liny da

$ ^

2.t,2

)

65

ys

1

fI

6.6

< 

3

1

....

6.0

I

0.68

I

4./

o

3

0.69

I

6.0

PIG. 34. Monthly precipitation in Nebraska.
72 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA.

Rainfall during the growing season in various localities.

[NO. 29.

Station.

St. Louis, Mo ............................. ..........................

Cheyenne, Wyo ............. ............._...._.....-.---._.---.....

Dodge City. Kans ...... ..__.-.-......-.. ...... .....................

North Platte.Nebr. ___________._._...__..____.._-._.,__....__..__...._

Omaha, Nebr ..--......................._-........-......---.--.-.....

Huron, S. Dak _................ .. ...................................

St. Paul, Minn-.-. -.-..--.._..__-_.._____._.._..---..-.--.-_---..---..

Duluth, Minn.. ...... ................. ........ .......... ....... ....

Davenport, Iowa ...... .......-.--....---..._--.-. .--...-----.-----.

Keokuk, Iowa. . .-.._._-_._...___.______.-.._____-___-._---..-.----...

Nebraska in general. ...__._______._ .................---.---._.-.-.....

Per cent.

48.00

71.00

78.00

72.00

67.00

74.00

61.00

57.00

55.00

54.00

69.00

It thus appears that the States of Nebraska, Kansas, Dakota, and Wyoming, 

with their none too plenteous supply of rainfall, have, on the other hand, the 

advantage over the States lying farther to the east that a large percentage of this 

rainfall occurs in the growing season, when it is most useful, and that as we go 

eastward the percentage gradually falls off, particularly toward the southeast, or, 

in other words, in the direction toward which the actual amount of rainfall 

increases most decidedly; so that if we compare the-rainfall of the growing season 

alone in the different localities, Nebraska does not appear in so unfavorable a 

light as her small yearly rainfall would indicate.

Table showing the annual precipitation in Nebraska and other States.

States.

Indiana, to 1894 ..............._........_............._..........-...

Iowa.......... -----...........-.-......-...........-..-..-..-----.....

Kansas _...._...-.......-......................-........-............

Kentucky. . ....-._-....... ...........................................

Michigan, to 1896 ...... .........--...----...-.-......-..-...:.........

Missouri, to January, 1895 _.--...__..-_--....-----... ................

Nebraska ...-.- ._....._ _--..__..____..-.. .--.........-__---------..

Six New England States, to 1896 .......... ...........................

New York .... ..._.............................. .._-..--...--.----...

North Dakota.. .................. ................................^....

Ohio, fifteen years to 1896 .,....._.......-...-.......--...............

South Dakota, to 1896.............. ..................................

Wisconsin .--..-...-...................__........-..-..........._....-

Wyoming, five years to 1896- ......... ..--....-._..--....-...-........

Inches.

89.70

88.05

34.88

26.67

45.60

80.88

37.74

28.88

44. 51

87.52

18.88

89.46

19.97

32.06

13.35
BABBOTTB.] WATER SUPPLY FOR TOWNS. 73 

SURFACE WATER AVAILABLE FOR IRRIGATION. .

The first writer of prominence in Nebraska who advocated irrigation was Mr. Lewis E. Hicks, at that time professor in the University 

of Nebraska. His paper aroused such vehement opposition from the 

country press of the State at large that his position in the university 

was threatened. His opponents even went so far as to threaten the 

university itself. Hon. William R. Akers, secretary of the State 

board of irrigation, was among the first to put the question to a prac"- 

tical test, although in the face of open and avowed opposition, by 

building an irrigation plant in the fall of 1887. Since that time the 

growth of irrigation in Nebraska has scarcely been surpassed elsewhere ; many miles of ditches have been built and many acres of otherwise sterile land brought under cultivation. There are at present 

in the office of the State board of irrigation 1,000 claims and applications, covering a total acreage of more than 4,375,321 acres for 

which water is claimed, the increase in land values amounting to ten 

to twelve million dollars.

Irrigation, wherever it is practicable, settles the matter of subsistence, for it supplies the one and only lacking soil constituent. But 

expectations must be kept within the bounds of reason, for there is a 

natural limit to this important element of our soil fertility, because 

the total supply of available surface water is sufficient to cover but 

5,723 square miles, according to careful computation made by Prof. 

O. V. P. Stout an area about equal to the combined areas of Seotts 

Bluff, Banner, Kimball, and Cheyenne counties. Though large, the 

relative insignificance of this tract as compared with the 77,000 square 

miles of the State is apparent. This area may be increased somewhat by pumping water from underground sources, which promises 

most encouraging results.

The development of windmills and other water lifters of all sorts 

for purposes of irrigation has been also almost as phenomenal as that 

of the growth of ditches themselves during the last four years, and, 

because of their wider applicability, bids fair to be of even greater 

usefulness.

SUPPLY FOR TOWNS AND CITIES.

Surface water, which is an important source of city supply in many 

of the Eastern States where rivers are perennial and lakes abound, is 

of little consequence for city and village use in Nebraska, for the 

obvious reason that few lakes (except ponds) exist and perennial 

rivers and streams are few. Accordingly but little surface water is 

furnished for cities and towns, and thus the use of water which must 

suffer steady and progressive deterioration and contamination is 

avoided.

The cities and towns along the lower reaches of streams are not 

condemned to the fate of using the sewage and filth contributed by
74 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO.:

settlements above, nor of obtaining water from the same lake which 

receives their offal. Instead, the supply is ground water of almost 

inexhaustible quantity and superior quality, found in deep, gravelly 

soils, where extensive sheets of "clay preclude the possibility of pollution by surface matter. It is safe to state that this is and must continue to be the source of supply alike for city and country homes.

Cisterns are often built to catch soft water for the bath and laundry, 

but the use of such water for drinking is very limited. Although 

the ordinary well water of most of the State is hard, it is not injurious. The hardness is due to lime in solution. Neither is the yellow 

and turbid water, which has given the Missouri the fitting appellation 

"The Great Muddy," necessarily injurious. The color is due to clay 

in mechanical suspension in the water, and its presence affects its 

.appearance rather than its healthfulness. Such inorganic particles 

can be taken into the'system without fear.

tr

FIG. 35. Plan of waterworks at Kearney, Nebraska.

The natural and simplest method is to draw city water supplies 

from streams, as is done in the case of Omaha, where the water is 

taken from the Missouri far above the city and allowed to stand in 

settling basins, whence it is pumped into the city mains. Notwithstanding prejudice against the milky color of this water, there is no 

reason for condemning it, for the upper reaches of this river are still 

so sparsely settled that the present pollution is unimportant. Interior 

towns far from any stream, working on the plan that if one well can 

supply the individual many such can supply a community, dig and 

connect gangs of wells. On this plan excellent water is furnished tothe citizens of Lincoln, Hastings, Kearney, and smaller towns.

Kearney is in the Platte Valley, 22 feet above the level of the river, 

where an inexhaustible underflow can be had even in shallow wells. 

From one large 30-foot well, 32 feet deep, and twenty-four tubular 

wells a supply of water is obtained which can not be lowered and 

whose quality has given entire satisfaction. (See PL XXVI and fig. 

25. ) This is a source of pure water that can be depended on for years 

to come.
II. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 29 PL. XXVI

WATERWORKS AT KEARNEY, NEBRASKA.
BAEBOUE.] SALT WATER. 75

At Hastings a 10-inch well, 305 feet deep, yields 40,000 gallons per 

hour for city use. t

The water supply of Lincoln is pumped at three stations the Rice 

pumping station, the F street pumping station, and the South street 

pumping station from gangs of tubular wells. The Rice pumping 

station, which furnishes the best water in the city, is situated in the 

Antelope Valley, at M and Twenty-fifth streets. Water is obtained 

here from a gang of fifteen tubular wells in the Dakota Cretaceous 

averaging about 135 feet in depth, which supply about 1,200,000 gallons per twenty-four hours.

Mr. Ferdinand Bonstedt, the city engineer, thinks that he notices a 

slight decrease in the amount of water yielded by these wells. At the 

F street pumping station a large open well, 50 feet wide by 60 feet 

deep, was dug through one layer of water-bearing gravel down through 

clay to a second water-bearing gravel of rapid delivery. In order to 

increase the water supply a 6-inch tubular well was sunk in the middle 

of the open well to a depth of 15 feet, and artesian water was struck, 

but, unfortunately, it proved to be saline. The pipe was capped, but 

the saline water was under sufficient pressure to force a passage along 

the sides of the tubing and thence into the open well, rendering the 

water so salt that a boiler-steel caisson, 5 feet in diameter, was settled 

around it, and this is pumped out as filled. Nevertheless, the water 

of this station has grown more salt from year to year, and the well 

must be abandoned.

About a mile south of this, in the same valley, is the South street 

station, with a rather complex gang of sixty-eight wells, yielding 

1,000,000 gallons per day. Here, too, the salinity of the water has 

increased to such an extent that the plant is virtually condemned, and 

test wells are being bored in other parts of the city in the hope of 

finding water equal in quality to that furnished by the Rice station.

West of Lancaster County there is little fear of encountering saline 

water unless city wells are dug to unusual depths, although as far 

west as Hastings, in Adams County, saline water was found at about 

1,000 feet in 1887, and the well was necessarily abandoned.

SAI/T WATER.

Throughout southeastern Nebraska salt wells are so numerous that 

it is often uncertain how to avoid them. In pools, surface wells, and 

deep wells a strong brine is often met. The most conspicuous salt 

marsh is that of the extensive flat on Salt Creek, near West Lincoln, 

which has been retained by the State as public land.

Here at one time a considerable industry sprang up, and, as the 

early founders of the State had hoped, salt was produced and shipped 

to neighboring States. Here the early freighters to the mountains 

bought their supply. With the discovery of the salt beds of Kansas, 

however, this industry could no longer survive. This basin, which 

is a mile or two across, is apparently depressed below the surrounding
76 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO. 92.

level, and one side has been cut away by a small drainage line. This 

has since been dammed so as to form a salt lake and a pleasure resort, 

and the basin is now occupied by a lake, which is about 1^ miles 

across. Numerous salt springs rise from its bottom and along its 

sides, thus supplying it with salt water. In addition, the abandoned 

test well (bored to a depth of 2,463 feet) is feeding out into it a 6-inch 

stream of salt water. In ordinary wells it is often found that fresh 

water can be drawn from the top and salt water from the bottom. 

The fresh water floats because of its lower density as compared 

with salt water. Considerable care is exercised in such cases in lowering the well bucket, so that the water may be agitated as little as 

possible in order to prevent the salt and the fresh water from becoming mixed. In one well the pump is so arranged as apparently to 

yield salt water or fresh water from the same pipe by placing one 

pipe inside of the other.

Wells in southeastern Nebraska in the region of the Carboniferous 

below a depth of 150 feet are liable to be or to become saline. Below 

this to a depth of 500 to 1,000 feet or more salt water is to be more or 

less expected. The salinity is greatest at 250 to 300 feet. It is strong 

at 500 feet, and the water is distinctly salt at 1,000 feet. When the 

deep well at Beatrice, 1,260 feet, was bored for the city supply the 

quantity but not the quality of water was expressly stipulated in the 

contract. When all the requirements were met the city refused to 

honor the bill because the water was salt. Losing the suit which followed, the contractor proceeded to make the best of a bad job by pulling up the pipe of this artesian well for use elsewhere. This would 

undoubtedly have saturated the drift of the region, and so have rendered worthless all the wells in and around Beatrice, but this was 

promptly averted by purchasing the pipe from the contractor. This 

saline well was still flowing when last visited.

The Riverview Park artesian well in Omaha, 1,060 feet deep, passed 

almost through the saline layer, but still is noticeably brackish.

At Lincoln a flowing well of very strong salt water was struck at a 

depth of 560 feet (boring continued to 1,060 feet), and is now utilized 

as a public fountain. At the Sulpho-saline Baths the water for the 

great swimming tank rises and flows by its own pressure from wells 

566 feet deep. This water is very salt. The F-street and the Southstreet pumping stations yield water of such salinity as to cause widespread and continued complaint from the parts of the city which are 

supplied by these stations. Even the Rice pumping station, which 

furnishes water of high repute, is said to be sufficiently saline at 

times to cause comment, and a fear, which may not be wholly groundless, is entertained that the city water supply may grow more saline 

from year to year until it will become a serious question from what 

source to draw the supply. There has been increasing salinity in 

the case of two pumping stations, and their abandonment seems to
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SIJPPI Y PAPER NO. 29 PL. XXVII

BURLINGTON BEACH, NEAR LINCOLN, NEBRASKA. 

Illustrating the utilization of the saline water of the salt basin.
BAHBOUR.] SALT WATER. 77

be but a matter of time. With but three exceptions, the salt wells are 

confined to those counties of southeastern Nebraska which belong to 

the Carboniferous.

With the failure of the salt works, due to the discovery of salt in 

Kansas, the salt marshes went into disuse, and stood as waste public 

land. Recently they have been leased from the State by an enterprising company and by damming up one side of the salt basin the water is 

set back about 1| miles, making a salt lake. Pavilions, bath houses, 

and restaurants have been built, a small steamer and numerous sail 

and row boats have been added, and the whole bears the rather pretentious name of Burlington Beach (see PI. XXVII). For inland 

people this becomes a pleasure and health resort of importance, and 

the enterprise promises to be increasingly useful and remunerative. 

So far as can be learned the first recognition of the hygienic possibilities of the saline water and its first utilization was by a former 

hotel proprietor in Lincoln, who 1s reported to have earned a considerable fortune, due largely to the salt baths which his hotel furnished. These salt baths were deservedly popular and enjoyed a local 

reputation, especially among those afflicted by rheumatism. At the 

present time their place is taken by the sanitarium of Doctors M. H. 

and J. O. Everett, called the Sulpho-saline Baths. This is an expensive and important institution, fitted with a great plunge and swimming tank 50 by 140 feet, and 4 to 10 feet deep, with baths and appliances of every description, representing an investment of $100,000. 

Two artesian salt wells, one 566 feet and the other 450 feet deep, fill the 

great tank, the water passing first through a heated coil and thence 

into the tank by its own pressure. This is the most important use ta 

which salt wells in Nebraska have yet been put. In several cases the 

waters of salt wells are bottled and sold, thus presenting a commercial 

aspect. The salt well, known as the Lloyd Mineral Well, at Union, 

Nebraska, is one of the best known in this connection. Its depth is 

500 feet and the water is raised by a gasoline engine. Another economic feature is the proposed use of this water in certain manufacturing 

processes.

Several firms have already visited the region and speak favorably 

of locating in southeastern Nebraska, where salt wells can be obtained 

in connection with good shipping facilities. On the Government 

square in Lincoln the salt water fed from a 1,060-foot artesian well is 

used to supply the public fountain. This water is carried away in 

bottles and pails because of real or imaginary curative properties, 

which almost any mineral water is reputed to have. The slightly 

saline water of the Riverview Park well at Omaha is put to a similar, 

though much larger use, because of the greater volume of water supplied. It supplies a public fountain in the park, from which a lively 

little cascade falls into a lake. The economic importance of this one 

well to the city of Omaha may be better judged when it is learned
78 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBEASKA. [NO. 29.

that an equal amount of water supplied by the water company at 

the lowest possible wholesale water rate would cost the city $5,000 

annually.

A rather novel if not unique method of irrigating by means of salt 

water is in vogue with market gardeners along Salt Creek. The 

water of this creek being too saline for direct application to the land, 

it is used to turn paddle wheels, which at sight might be mistaken for 

current wheels. Here is an example of the utilization of salt water in 

running undershot wheels and pumping fresh water for irrigation.

BLOWING WELLS.

One rather phenomenal class of wells found throughout a large portion of the State, especially south of Platte River, deserves particular 

notice, and is worthy of the critical and long-continued study which 

it is hoped it may yet receive. These wells are known by various 

names, "blowing," "roaring," "breathing," "singing,"or "weather" 

wells, according to the widely separated communities in which they 

occur. It goes without saying that these wells are held in doubt elsewhere, but the fact of their existence is established beyond all question. In some communities, noticeably those of Jefferson County, all 

such wells are readily distinguished at a distance because of the 

mound of earth heaped up around the curbing and pump to check 

the wind. Frequently they are banked up with snow instead, and 

this soon becomes melted and riddled by numerous blowholes.

The attention of the author was first called to this matter by the 

numerous inquiries sent to his office for explanation of and the remedy for the freezing of well-protected pipes in wells at the apparently 

impossible depth of 30, 50, 60, 80, and even 120 feet below the surface. 

In every instance these were reported as roaring wells. There can be 

no possible doubt about the freezing of these pipes and but little 

doubt as to the cause.

Reports have come in from about twenty counties, distributed 

pretty evenly over the State, chiefly south of "the Platte. The information is derived from landowners, farmers, well diggers, ministers, 

principals of schools, civil engineers, and students whose fathers own 

such wells, the only difference in the reports being that which arises 

from difference of observation. These accounts agree with personal 

observations. There are periods when these wells blow out for consecutive days and an equal period when they are reversed. This is 

tested with the flames of candles and by dropping paper, chaff, feathers, etc., into the casing to see it blown out with some force or 

drawn in. It is further stated that blowing often indicates high or 

low conditions of barometer, and that some wells blow most audibly 

when the wind is from the northwest, whereupon water rises to a 

higher level in the well than before; but when the conditions are 

reversed the air is drawn in, and in most reported wells the water is
HARBOUR.] BLOWING WELLS. 79

lowered. Many observers notice a reverse of the current- according 

as it is morning or evening, and according as the temperature is high 

or low. During the progress of a low-barometer area over one of these 

regions the wind is expelled from blowing wells sometimes violently 

and with a noise distinctly audible for several rods. Consequent to 

the following of a high-barometer area the blowing becomes rapidly 

less until the current is reversed, when the high-barometer area is 

central over the region.

Steam or water vapor rises from the curbing, melting the frost or 

snow for several inches around it. Beyond this the well may be 

encircled by several feet of frost from the condensed vapor. Shortly 

after the current is reversed the thawed circle freezes again. Water 

vapor, 'coming from the stratum of invariable temperature, in winter 

is warmer when expelled than is the outside air. This may explain 

the fact that the pipes, if not too badly frozen, are often thawed out 

when the well blows. It is said that commonly inhalation (which 

carries the surface temperature to the bottom of the well, thus freezing the pipes), precedes the phenomenon of exhalation (which carries 

vapor at the average temperature of about 56°, and sometimes thaws 

the frozen pipes).

Experience has taught the people that the blowing of their wells is 

premonitory of an approaching storm; hence the name "weather" 

wells. This is an entirely reasonable and correct observation, for the 

falling barometer signifies a change of weather. The blowing means 

a low-barometer area, the sucking a high-barometer area. It is interesting, in this connection, to notice that the periods of most pronounced or unusual exhalation or inhalation are coincident, respectively, with periods of exceptionally low and exceptionally high barometer areas. The author has sent blanks to owners of blowing wells, 

requesting them to report the days and hours when their wells begin 

to blow, when the blowing is at its maximum, when the current is 

reversed, and when the indraft is at its maximum. After observations 

covering two or three months have been received comparison will be 

made with the barometric chart.

Professors Loveland and Swezey, of the Signal Service Station of the 

University'of Nebraska, have made observations on such a well in 

Perkins County, the owners recording the hour when the blowing or 

sucking began. These, when compared with the records of the barometer, were exactly coincident. The citizens have elaborated many 

explanations, some of them as interesting as ingenious. Some reason 

that the blowing is plainly due to the liberation of natural gas; that 

natural gas is from petroleum; that petroleum is the natural distillation from great coal fields, and staking their fortune on this original 

reasoning have spent no small sum, besides valuable time, in prospecting for coal. A few, noticing a change of current every twelve 

hours that is, morning and evening think the blowing wells are due
80 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO. 29.

to tidal action of the sheet water, considering the sheet water as a 

great subterranean lake. They should recall that the effects of tides 

on the Great Lakes themselves is scarcely appreciable; what then 

could it be in the sheet water?

The phenomenon is most generally attributed to atmospheric pressure, which is probably the true but not necessarily the sole cause. 

The study of a representative section of wells in southeastern Nebraska 

is important and suggestive. Below 50 to 100 feet of soil and subsoil is 

a layer of dense, though thin, limestone about 4 inches in thickness. 

When this covering to the water-bearing gravel below is penetrated, 

water, under slight pressure, rises about 1 foot. The water-bearing 

layer is very porous and water is delivered through it readily. ^ More 

or less air must always be inclosed in such, and especially between 

it and the roofing layer over the loose material.

It is plain that the air above and the air inclosed in the rock and 

gravel below are alike subject to the fluctuation of the barometer. If 

the surface air is rendered less dense by a low barometer, the air below 

will pass out by an opening, natural or artificial, until equilibrium 

between the rarer and the denser air is established, when they remain 

stationary. The reverse effect follows a high-barometer area. The 

author can not believe that this would account for the force displayed 

in the expulsion of air. Instead, the energy displayed seems due to 

the air forced out by the rising of the water below. Any force, barometric or otherwise, which would raise the water level in this layer 

would displace a certain amount of air. On the other hand, a lowering of the water table would admit a certain amount of air, but freedom of egress and ingress is retarded by the roofing layer of limestone, 

which is perforated here and there by an occasional well, and from 

such openings the air is expelled or drawn in. Confine this over a 

wide area, and it is apparent that a slight rise in water level would 

expel air from a well for several consecutive hours or even days. 

There is probably such close hydrostatic connection in the sheet 

water of the State that it is everywhere sensitive to differences of 

atmospheric pressure, and the difference is made sensible in certain 

localities by blowing or sucking wells. Awaiting the time when 

continued study shall have made exact explanation of this phenomenon possible, it is safe to attribute it to atmospheric pressure; but 

this is not the sole cause. The immediate effect is not so much the 

result of any one cause as of several. The observation is often 

repeated that wells blow and water rises appreciably when the wind 

is from the northwest. The wind is not so directly the cause as are 

the areas of low and high barometer, which travel ordinarily in this 

direction accompanied by more or less wind. The wind may, however, be the immediate cause in some cases, especially in those wells 

adjacent to Platte River, and an indirect cause in others. At times, 

when a strong wind from the northwest prevails for hours, its impact
-BARBOUR.] BLOWING WELLS. 81

against the river water that is, the friction of the wind is sufficient 

to drive the shallow water of Platte River across its bed, leaving the 

irrigation ditches, the sand bars, and the interlacing channels on the 

north side dry, while those on the south side are flooded. That is, the 

waters are piled up here, as it were, and equilibrium is disturbed. 

To that extent there must be readjustment. This is rendered sensible in the immediate vicinity by water rising in wells, at a distance 

by a wave of transmitted energy, which can but affect to a certain 

extent every portion of the underflow of the Platte. This may show 

itself in an appreciable rise of water and consequent displacement of 

air from porous strata, and an appreciable rise over a wide area might 

expel a large volume of air. Tests show that it is air, not gas, that 

is expelled. While exact records have been kept respecting blowing 

wells as far west as Perkins County, those farther east in Jefferson 

County, probably the most numerous and best known in the State, 

have received no critical study as yet.

Mr. Cassius A. Fisher, assistant in the department of geology, was 

sent to visit this region December 16, 1896, just as a low-barometer 

area was central over this spot, and the blowing in all the wells of the 

neighborhood was most pronounced. This continued in a diminishing 

ratio during the night and until noon the following day. Then the 

current was slowly reversed consequent to an approaching highpressure area. Mr. J. M. Rohrbaugh, a student in the department, 

reports a blowing well on the farm of his father, Mr. C. W. Rohrbaugh, 

as follows: The well is situated 4 miles southeast of Jansen, in Jefferson County, sec. 1, T. 2, R. 3 east of the sixth principal meridian. 

The well was bored to a depth of 130 feet; depth of water 120 feet. 

It blows out before storms, especially when the wind is from the northwest. It has frozen repeatedly to a depth of 120 feet, that is, to the 

water level. Water froze in the pipes down to this depth three times 

in one week during the winter of 1895, and the pipe had to be removed 

and thawed out each time. There are two such wells, one of which 

has been abandoned, and over the top of the casing has been fitted a 

keg with a hole so bored that it whistles when the current blows out. 

The well sucks in air during cold weather, and then it is that pipes 

freeze at unusual depths.

They are of such common occurrence in Jefferson County that little 

is thought of the phenomenon. Mr. Rohrbaugh has furnished the 

author with a map showing the blowing wells near Jansen. Mr. Cassius 

A. Fisher reports such a well, known to him from his childhood, on 

the farm of his father, Mr. M. C. Fisher, six miles east of Fremont, 

in Saunders County. The well was 60 feet deep, and on a hillside. 

They called it the "singing " well, because the sound exactly resembled 

the singing or simmering of a teakettle. The blowing often continued 

for three consecutive days; at the end of that time water stood several 

feet higher in the well, as they could tell by lowering the well bucket. 

29 6
82 WELLS AND WINDMILLS IN NEBRASKA. [NO.29.

The "breathing" well of Joseph Henggler, of Columbus, Platte 

County, represents very nicely this type of wells. It has been reported 

in person by the owner and by at least six to eight different neighbors. 

They have long been familiar with the fact that the air was drawn in 

during certain seasons and blown out during others, and with the difficulty from the freezing of the pipes; the water escape has been lowered from 10 feet, where it was first placed, to 20 feet, then to 40, and 

finally to 50 feet, which was about on the water level, the well being 

60 feet deep. The pipe was frozen at the depth of 50 feet. Mr. Henggler has kept a thermometer by his well, and has been able to make 

pretty close observations. " When the temperature stands at 32° a 

rise of 1° will cause a current to blow out and a fall of 1° to blow in." 

Finding that the well was freezing, he undertook to stop the ingoing 

current by banking up the well curbing with manure and straw from 

the barn. This was soon blown away. Then straw with a layer of 

earth was placed over the curbing. Finally the "imprisoned wind" 

blew around the curbing to such an extent that it hollowed out a considerable, basin. After several years the well was abandoned and a 

second well dug, which has caused the owner, according to his account, 

almost as much trouble. In Franklin County exactly similar wells 

are reported. An assistant has visited and reported a well near 

Macon which has frozen in winter to a depth of 80 feet, because of the 

indraft of cold air. He also reports of the same well that when the 

wind is from, the northwest the water is raised about 18 inches, and 

when in the opposite direction the water is lowered about 18 inches.

In Phelps County, 3 miles north of Phelps Center, there are blowing wells in which the current of air is out or in, according as the 

wind is from the north and northwest or from the south and southeast. Mr. J. F. O'Brien, engineer of the irrigation canal at Kearney, 

has seen these wells, and has told the author personally of them and 

of blowing wells found in Lincoln County. According to his account 

he has seen numerous wells of this type, and they are usually found 

in loose sand and gravel south of the Platte.
INDEX.

Page. 

Adams County, well in..................... 20

Ainsworth, well near ...................... 20

windmills at........................ 41,59-60

Alma, experiment station at............... 25

Artesian water, nature of.................. 18-24

Artesian wells in Nebraska, list of......... 20-23

Artois, France, wells in .................... 18

Ashland, plate showing windmill near..... 52, 60

windmills near...................... 53-54, 65

Baldwin, W. F., windmill of................ 59-60

Battle-ax windmills, features of............ 47-54

figures showing construction of........ 40,

49, 50, 51, 52 

Beatrice, wells at .......................... 19, 21

Beaver Crossing, plate showing wells at... 24

wells at................................ 19

Benkelman, water elevator near ........... 68

Berwin, figure showing windmill at ....... 44

Bethany, plates showing windmills near... 36

windmill near.......................... 37,39

Bird City, Kans., experiment station at.... 25

Blackman, E. E., windmill of............... 45-46

Blowing wells,features of.................. 78-82

Boardman's windmill...................... 38-39

Boersen,Henry, windmill of ............... 62-63

Boiling springs,nature of.................. 24

Bonstedt, Ferdinand, cited ................. 75

Bormann, Henry, windmill of.............. 55-56

Boyd County, wells in ..................... 20

Brokenbow, experiment station at......... 25

Breathing wells, features of................ 78-82

Brock, well near ........................... 22

Brown County, well in ..................... 20

Brown, J. L., windmill of................... 37-38

Burchard, well near........................ 22

Burlington Beach, plate showing .......... 76

salt wells at............................ 77

Burt County, wells in ...................... 20

Campbell, H. W., deep plowing by ......... 26

Capillary action of water .................. 16

Carboniferous formation, wells in.......... 19

Cass County, well in .......... ............ 21

Cattle raising, methods of.................. 26

Cedar County, wells in..................... 21

Chalco, plate showing windmill near-...... 54

windmill near.......................... 54-55

Cherry County, wells in.................... 21

Cheyenne County, well in .................. 21

Close farming, results of................... 25-26

Columbus, blowing well at................. 82

windmill at ............................ 41

Cook, wells at and near.................. 19, 21, 22

Cozad, plate showing windmill at . 

windmill at ...................

Craig.wellin .....................

Crawford, well at ................

Crete, water elevator near. .......

Cuming County, well in..........-

Current wheels, features of .......

Curtis, experiment station at

Page.

. 38

. 39

. 20

. 21

. 69

. 21

. 69

. 25

Cushman County, plate showing windwill

in.................................. 38

Dairying, use of windmill in ............ 29-30, 31

Dakota sandstone, artesian wells in ....... 19

Dawes County, wells in .................... 21

Deep plowing, advantages of ............... 26

Dixon County, wells in. .................... 21

Dodge County, well in ..................... 21

Douglas County, wells in .................. 20

Dust-blanket farming, method of ........... 26

Dutch windmills, features of ............... 54-56

Elk Creek, well near............. .......... 21

Elkhorn, well in ........................... 20

Endless chain, use of ................. 44, 66, 67-68

Erina, well at .............................. 21

Ernstmeyer, Friedrich, windmill of ........ 57

Fairmont, plate showing waterworks at ... 62 

Fisher, C. A., work of...... ................ 81

Fisher, M.C., well of ....................... 81

Franklin County, blowing well in .......... 82

Fremont, blowing well near ................ 81

Fullerton, vs ell near ........................ 22

, Gage County, well in ....................... 21

Gandy, wellat....- .......................... 22

Garfield County, wells in .................. 21

Geiss, Jacob, windmill of ................... 48

Gering, well at ............................. 23

Go-devil windmills, features of............ 35-44

Goodrich, W. "W., windmill of .............. 37, 39

Gothenburg, plate showing windmill near . 52

windmill near. ...................... 51-53, 56

Grand Island, plates showing windmills

near.......................... 48,50,56,58

windmills at and near. . . 45, 47-48, 50, 57, 62-64 

Grant, experiment station at ............... 25

Grant County, well in...................... 21

Greeley Center, windmill at. ............... 45

Ground water, action of .................... 14-28

Harders, John, windmill of. ................ 50

Hat Creek, current wheel on branch of. .... 69

plate showing current wheel on branch

b of.................................. 68

Hastings, experiment station at ............ 25

water supply of ........... ...A ......... 74-75
84 INDEX.

Page. 

20 

37 

82 

23 

73 

25

Hastings, well near .....................

Havelock, windmill in..................

Henggler, Joseph, well of...............

Herman, wells at.......................

Hicks, L. E., cited ......................

Holdrege, experiment station at ........

Holland windmills, features of............. 54-56

Holt County, plate showing well in........ 38

wells in................................ 19, ai

Homemade -wind-wills, cost of.............. 34

description of.......................... 35-64

distribution of......................... 35,36

types of................................ 34-35

use of.................................. 31-34

Hood,O.P., cited........................... 36

Hooker County, well in.................... 21

Hooper, well near ........................... 21

Hot Springs, S. Dak., current wheel at..... 69

plate showing current wheel near.... -. 68

Huennecke, Diedtrich, windwill of......... 50-51

Hunter, David, current wheel of ........... 69

Hyannis, well at........................... 21

Hygroscopic water, action of .............. 16

Her, W.W., windwill of.................... 37

Intensive cultivation, effects of ............ 25-26

Irrigation, use of artesian wells in......... 23-24

use of water lifter in................... 68

use of windmills in .............. 29-31,39-40

water available for..................... 73

James, "William, water elevator of.......... 69

Janak Bros., windmill of................... 57-59

Jansen,blowing well near.................. 81

Jasperson, Elmer, windmill of........... 53-54, 65

Jefferson County, Wowing wells in......... 78,81

Joehnck, Henry, windmill of............... 45

Johnson County, artesian wells in ......... 18

wells in............................. 19,21-22

Jumbo windmills, construction of.......... 42, 44

features of ............................. 35,42

plates and figure showing construction of............................. 40,42

Karr, J. W., water elevator of.............. 68

Kearney, plan of waterworks at............ 74

plate showing waterworks at.----..... 74

plate showing windmill at.............. 36

water supply of........................ 74

windmills near...................... 37-38, 65

Kettle Springs, nature of .................. 24

Kirkwood, wells near ...................... ' 24

Knox County, well in ...................... 22

Lancaster County, wells in................. 20

Lincoln, plates and figure showing windmills near-................ 38,40,44, 46, 64

salt wells at............................ 76-77

water supply of........................ 74-75

wells at and near ...................... 19,20

windmills at and near............ 40-41,46,66

Lincoln County, blowing wells in .......... 82

well in................................. 22

Lena, well at............................... 22

Logan County, well in...................... 22

Loup County, well in ...................... 22

Loup River Valley, windmills in ........... 35

Loveland, G. A., and Swezey.G. D., cited. 71, 72, 79 

Macon, blowing well near .................. 82

Madison County, well in ................... 22

Page. 

Madrid, well near .......................... 22

Mathieseii, Fred, windmill of............... 57

McComb, W.F., windmill of................ 64

McCook, experiment station at............. 25

well at................................. 23

McPherson County, wells in................ 22

Merry-go-round windmills, construction of. 46-47 

features of............................. 44-46

figures showing construction of........ 45,46

Milford, plate showing dam at ............. 28

plate showing windmill near........... 66

windmill at ............................ 66

Moisture, conservation of.................. 24-26

Moulton Ice Company, windmill of......... 66

Mound Springs,nature of.................. 24

Mullen, well at............................. 21

Nance County, wellin...................... 22

Nebraska,rainfall in....................... 45

Nemaha County, well in.................... 22

Newell, F. H., letter of transmittal by...... 11-12

Newport, windmill at...................... 64

Norfolk, well near.......................... 22

North Platte, distribution of rainfall at.... 72

figure showing tympanum at .......... 67

windmillat ............................ 66-67

Oberlin, Kans., experiment station at ...... 25

O'Brien, J.F., cited ........................ 82

Ogallala, plate showing windmill at........ 60

windmills at ........................... 64-65

Olson, M. J., windmill of.................... 39

Omaha, distribution of rainfall at.......... 72

plate showing well at.................. 18

salt well at............................. 76,77

water supply of........................ 74

wells -at and near.................... 19, 20, 23

Ord, well near.............................. 23

OtoeCounty, wells in ...................... 22,23

Overton, plates showing windmills near ... 48, 58 

windmill at and near....... 38-39,49-50, 60-62

Oxford, experiment station at.............. 25

Paddle wheels, features of................. 35-44

Palmyra, well at........................... 23

Pardee, Lewis, windmill of................. 64

Pawnee, well near.......................... 22

Pawnee County, wells in ................... 22

Peckham, E. L., windmill of................ 51-53

Peckham, J. S., windmill of ................ 51-53

Per kins County, blowing well in........... 79

wellin ................................. 22

Phelps County, blowing wells in........... 82

Pilger, well near ........................... 23

Platte County, blowing well in............. 82

wellin ................................. 22

Platte River, irrigation from ............... 27-28

plate showing.......................... 28

Platte Valley, windmills in........... 35,47-50,55

Pollution of water ......................... 26-27

Polk County, well in ....................... 22

Ponca, wells near........................... 21

Portal, plate showing windmill near ....... 54

windmill near.......................... 55-56

Precipitation in Nebraska, amount of ...... 71-72

figure showing......................... 73

Prinz, August, windmill of................. 54-55

Pumps, disadvantages of .................. 44

Putney, S. Dak., deep plowing at........... 26
INDEX. 85

Page. 

Rainfall in Nebraska, amount of ........... 71-72

Red willow County, well in ................. 23

Republican Valley, windmills in ........... 35

Roaring wells, features of.................. 78-82

Rock County, wells in................... 19^23, 24

Rohrbaugh, C. W., well of.................. 81

St. Francis, Kans., experiment station at... 25 

Sarpy County, well in...................... 23

Sarpy Mills, windmill at............r ...... 57-58

Salt Creek, salt marsh on .................. 75-76

Salt wells, location of ...................... 75-78

Saunders County, blowing well in.......... 81

ScottsBluff County,wellin................ 23

Screw jumbo windmills, features of........ 41-42

Seepage water, utilization of............ 27-28, 46

Seward County, artesian wells in .......... 18

well in.--.......-..-..-....-.-......... 23

Sheep raising, importance of............... 32

Sheet water, nature of...................... 17-18

Sidney, well near........................... 21

Soil of Nebraska, character of....... '....... 16-17

Stanton County, well in.................... 23

Steinauer, well at.......................... 22

Storage of power, methods of............... 69-71

Stout, O. V. P., cited.................... ... 73

Stromsburg, well at........................ 22

Sutherland, current wheel near ............ 69

well near............................... 22

Swezey, G. D., andLoveland, G. A., cited- 71-72,79 

Tannehill, John, windmill of ............... 41

Taylor, well at............................. 22

Tekamah, well in .......................... 20

Town water supply, use of windmill for. -.. 65-66 

Transmission of power, figure showing

method of.......................... 70

methods of............................. 69-71

Travis Bros., windmills of ................. 40-41

Trenton, windmill at....................... 41

Turbine windmills, features of............. 47

figures showing construction of. 58, 59,60, 61,

62,63 

kinds of.........-.........-..--.-....-- 47

reconstruction of....................... 64-65

uses for ................................ 66-67

Tympanum water wheel, figure showing... 67 

novel uses of....................... - - - 66-67

Unadilla, well near ......................... 22

Underground water,action of.............. 14-28

Union, mineral well at..................... 77

University of Nebraska, plate showing

windmill at........................ 30

Valley County, well in ..................... 23

Videtto, S. S. .windmill of.................. 46

Warner, J. M., windmill of................. 60-62

Washington County, wells in .............. 23

Water, height of........................... 28

Water lifters, forms of.................. 29, 67-69

Water supply for towns ................... 73-75

Water table, height of...................... 14-15

Weather wells, features of................. 78-82

Weeping Water, well at................... 21

Wheeler, Kans., experiment station at..... 25

Wheeler County, well in ................... 23

WMtney, Milton, analyties by -.------------ 16

Wilson, Matthew, windmills of ............ 49-50

Windlasses, use of......................... 29

Windmills, reconstruction of............... 64-65

uses of........................... 29-81,65-67

See Homemade windmills. 

Winn, William A.. windmill of............. 45

Wisner, well at............................. 21

Woodlake, well at.......................... 21

Woulf, Fred, windmill of................... 50

York, wells at.............................. 23

York County, wells in...................... 23
Sixteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1894-95, Part II, 

Papers of <m economic character, 1895; octavo, 598 pp.

Contains a paper on the public lauds and their water supply, by P. H. Newell, illustrated 

by a large map showing the relative extent and location of the vacant public lauds; also a 

report on the water resources of a portion of the Great Plains, by Robert Hay.

A geological reconnoissance of northwestern Wyoming, by George H. Eldridge, 

1894; octavo, 73 pp. Bulletin No. 119 of the United States Geological Survey; 

price, 10 cents.

Contains a description of the geologic structure of portions-of the Bighorn Eauge-aud 

Bighorn Basin, especially with inference to the coal fields, and remarks upon the water 

supply aud agricultural possibilities.

Report of progress of the division of hydrography for the calendar years 1893 and 

1894, by F. H. Newell, 1895; octavo, 176 pp. BtTlletin No. 131 of the United 

States Geological Survey: price. 15 cents.

Contains results of stream measurements at various points, mainly within the arid region, 

and records of wells in a number of counties in western Nebraska, western Kansas, and 

eastern Colorado.

1896.

Seventeenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1895-96, Part 

II, Economic geology and hydrography, 189G; octavo, 864 pp.

Contains papers on "The underground water of the Arkansas Valley in eastern Colorado," by Q-. K. Gilbert; " The water resources of Illinois," by Frank Leverett; and "Preliminary report on the artesian areas of a portion of the Dakotas," by N. H. Darton.

Artesian-well prospects in the Atlantic Coastal Plain region, by N. H. Darton. 

1896; octavo, 330 pp., 19 plates. Bulletin No. 138 of the United States Geolog: 

ical Survey: price, 20 cents.

Gives a description of the geologic conditions of the coastal region from Long Island, 

N. Y., to Georgia, and contains data relating to many of the deep wells.

Report of progress of the division of hydrography for the calendar year 1895, by 

F. H. Newell, hydrographer in charge, 1896; octavo, 356 pp. Bulletin No. 140 

of the United States Geological Survey: price, 35 cents.

Contains a description of the instruments and methods employed in measuring streams 

and the results of hydrographic investigations in various parts of the United States.

1897.

Eighteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1896-97, Part 

IV, Hydrography, 1897; octavo, 756 pp.

Contains a ''Report of progress of stream measurements for the year 1896," by Arthur 

P. Davis; "The water resources of Indiana and Ohio," by Frank Leverett; "New developments in well boring and irrigation in South Dakota," by N. H. Darton: and "Reservoirs for irrigation," by J. D. Schuyler

I SOS.

Nineteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1897-98, Part 

IV, Hydrography, 1899; octavo, 814 pp.

Contains a "Report of progress of stream measurements for the calendar year!8!>7." 

by F. H. Newell and others; "The rock waters of Ohio," by Edward Orton: and "Preliminary report on the geology and water resources of Nebraska west of the one hundred 

and third meridian," by N. H. Darton.

WATER-SUPPLY AND IRRIGATION PAPERS, 1896-1899.

This series of papers is designed to present in pamphlet form the results of stream measurements and of special investigations. A list of these, with other information, is given on 

ths outside (or fourth) page of this cover.

Survey bulletins can be obtained only by prepayment of cost, as noted above. 

Postage stamps, checks, and drafts can not be accepted. Money should be transmitted by postal money order or express order, made payable to the Director of 

the United States Geological Survey. Correspondence relating to the publications 

of the Survey should be addressed to The Director, United States Geological 

Survey, Washington, D. C.

IRR 29
WATER-SUPPLY AND IRRIGATION PAPERS.

1. Pumping water for irrigation, by Herbert M. Wilson, 1896.

2. Irrigation near Phoenix, Arizona, by Arthur P. Davis, 1897.

3. Sewage irrigation, by George W. Rafter, 1897.

4. A reconnoissance in southeastern Washington, by Israel C. Russell, 1897.

5. Irrigation practice on the Great Plains, by E. B. Cowgill, 1897.

6. Underground waters of southwestern Kansas, by Erasmus Haworth, 1897.

7. Seepage waters of northern Utah, by Samuel Fortier, 1897.

8. Windmills for irrigation, by E. C. Murphy, 1897.

9. Irrigation near Greeley, Colorado, by David Boyd, 1897.

10. Irrigation in Mesilla Valley, New Mexico, by F. C. Barker, 1898.

11. Paver heights for 1896, by Arthur P. Davis, 1897.

12. Water resources of southeastern Nebraska, by Nelson Horatio Darton, 1898.

13. Irrigation systems in Texas, by William Ferguson Hutson, 1898.

14. New tests of pumps and water lifts used in irrigation, by O. P. Hood, 1898.

15. Operations at river stations, 1897, Part I. 1898.

16. Operations at river stations, 1897, Part II, 1838.

17. Irrigation near Bakersfield, California, by C. E. Grunsky, 1898.

18. Irrigation near Fresno, California, by C. E. Grunsky, 1898.

19. Irrigation near Merced, California, by C. E. Grunsky, 1899.

20. Experiments with windmills, by Thomas O. Perry, 1899.

21. Wells of northern Indiana, by Frank Leverett, 1899.

22. Sewage irrigation, Part II, by George W. Rafter, 1899.

23. Water-right problems in the Bighorn Mountains, by Elwood Mead, 1899.

24. Water resources of the State of New York, Part I, by George W. Rafter, 1899.

25. Water resources of the State of New York, Part II, by George W. Rafter, 1899.

26. Wolls of southern Indiana, by Frank Leverett, 1899.

27. Operations at river stations, 1898, Part I, 1899.

28. Operations at river stations, 1898, Part II, 1899.

29. Wells and windmills in Nebraska, by Erwin Hinckley Barbour, 1899.

In addition to the above, there are in various stages of preparation other papers 

relating to the measurement of streams, the storage of water, the amount available 

from underground sources, the efficiency of windmills, the cost of pumping, and 

other details relating to the methods of utilizing the water resources of the country. Provision has been made for printing these by the following clause in the 

sundry civil act making appropriations for the year 1896-97:

Provided, That hereafter the reports of the Geological Survey in relation to the 

gauging of streams and to the methods of utilizing the water resources may be 

printed in octavo form, not to exceed 100 pages in length and 5.000 copies in number; 1,000 copies of which shall be for the official use of the Geological Survey, 

1,500 copies shall be delivered to the Senate, and 2,500 conies shall be delivered to 

the House of Representatives, for distribution. [Approved June 11,1896; Stat. L., 

vol. 29, p. 453.]

The maximum number of copies available for the use of the Geological Survey 

is 1,000. This number falls far short of the demand, so that it is impossible to 

meets all requests. Attempts are made to send these pamphlets to persons who 

have rendered assistance in their preparation through replies to schedules or 

donation of data. Requests specifying a certain paper and stating a reason for 

desiring it are granted whenever practicable, but it is impossible to comply with 

general requests, such as to have all of the series sent indiscriminately. 

Application for the? 3 papers should be made either to members of Congress or to 

THE DIRECTOR,

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,

Washington, D. C. 

IRR 29