The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-17 00:00:00

((--/er,

it. LUMA 8 ©iv TUB- AfirzsrAN TU. LL

PASSY:

On this subject M. Dumaslast week reaa a highly
interesting paper to tho Aeademy
,of. Sciences, in
which he gave a history of the undertaking and of'
difficulties with which the engineer, M. Kind,
has had to contend. The idea of boring this well
originated
:with the pecessity. of ,proyiding; pure and.
wholesome water for the population of Paris, which.
in a short time bad increased frena 420004 souls
to 1,7.00,000, thus materially augmenting thecauses
of infection to whichlhe.wateraof the Seine are ne-
Celiee:iilY Sillei6e-t.e'; Paris rests , upon a stratum of
chalk, about 546 .iiiietres in (enth., covered with
,about 50 metres of various etrate. of tertiary soil,
eeeray 50 metres of marl or
,and itself resting
slay, which,is iu eontaut -with the-green sands frova
the'evell deriveS its supply. They
encueS4faileoriiitt etlie7litterelead established tho
'fact/that the water ivhich these:sat] ds received from
localities at a distance,-from-Paris might be made to
rise to the surface, rind • even to 30 or 40 metres
above. But the eiperiment had only been tried for
bares not exceedinga diameter of from 20 to 30 cert-
tithetrees, supply of from 2,000 to 4,000
cubic metres of water per day. M. Kind came for-
,vrard with an efidr to bore a well of a character of
60 centimetres, yielding .13,300 cubic metres at on
altitude of 25metres above the highest point of the
/MS &Boulogne.. Though litniting his promises to
thy yield above, stated, he declared his conviction
that it would reeeh 39,606 metres, an assertion
which "most engineers considered exaggerated,
deeming it highly improbable that an increase in
thb diameter would increase the supply'. 'On Dee.
-23,-1854, the works were reserved on, and the spot
chosen in the neighbourhood of the Bois -de Bou-
logne, where the high temperature of the expected.
'Column Of water might be turned to account. But
the_enterprise was fraught with_ difficulties which
rrmiret} Vie unflinching perseverance of M. Kind
iti-&etentne, although out of the 5871 metres which
constitute the depth of. the-new well there were
.scarcely 30 offering any serious obstaele, and these
were situated the,clay either above or low the
,ahallt stratum.,, Mare1e,3.1,.1557, the bore had
already reached 528 metres, and water wee hourly
expected, when suddenly the tube of sheet iron
which supported the clay was crushed by its pres-
-ethee—ateet- depth of only 30 metres from the top:
This accident it took nearly three years to repair ;
a.shitft of ,the depth 9f .5.3,1-,enetres had to be dug
eloSe to the bore, througleall the-most dangerous
strata; and lined partly with sheet and partly with
cast iron: and masonry: hit diameter was three
metres throughout the two-thirds of its depth, and.
1.70 for the rest. It was a Work of extreme diffi-
culty. Cast-iron tubes, of the,thickness of 35 milli- ,
metres (four-fifths of an inch) were starred or cracked
in-all-directions, as if they were mere glass. More
than once the Workmen refused to risk their lives in
this work. and the city, engineers 'had to set the
example of perional ,courage. ,This stupendous
' labour was not brought to an end before the 13th
December, 1859. The old orifice was then cleared,
and the boring recomMenCed, and continued without
any farther accident to the- depth of 550 metres,
when the tube, composed of wood strongly hooped
with iron, and ending in a bronze pipe, two metres
of which were fitted into the wood, the remaining
twelve metres being free, stuck fast in such a way
as to render all further progress nearly hopeless.
However, M. Elie de Beaumont having, upon
a mature examination of the specimens brought up
by the borer,` declared water to be close at hand, it
was resolved that the bore should be continued with
a small diameter, to be afterwards enlarged if neces-
sary. Water was found for the first time at 577-1
metres, but, as we know, remained a few metres)ee-
low the level of the orifice. A second tube of sheet-
iron 70 centimetres in diameter, two in thickness,
and 52 metres in length, 12 of which were loopholed
in order to let the water pass, wee sunk and soon
stopped on the clay.' The borings was now resumed,
to attain the largest diameter, until the 24th of
September last, when M. Kind Saw not only his
Promise fulfilled, but even his hopes to a certain ex-
tent realised. The bronze tube has remained where
it was, but the concentric one of sheet-iron has sunk
to 530 metres, M: Dumas here quotes M. Michal,
Ihspector-General of the works of the city, who has
arranged in a table the relative variations' experi-
enced up. to the 2d inst. in the yield of the two
wells of Passy and. Grenelle ; but on this score
we have a later ' account stating that the
decrease in the latter does not eiCeed one-fourth of
its yield prior to the 25th ult. On the 2d inst. that
':of the well at Passe? was 20,600 cubic metres in 24
houra. 111.. Dumas attributes the diminution of the
yield at Grenelle to a diminution of pressure, and is
inclined to believe that when the tube at Passy
shall have been brought to its normal altitude of 7a
metres above the level of the sea, the yield at
Grenelle will again rise to its former figure or nearly
so. M. Elie de Beaumont has ascertained that the
strata traversed at Passy are nearly the same as
those met with at Grenelle. As to the chemical
nature of the water at Passy, it seems, until farther
analysis, to be nearly the same as that of Grenelle;
the temperature is also the same—viz., 28 degrees
centigrade. Whether other wells may be bored
elsewhere in Paris without injury to the two exist-
ing ones, is a question which experience alone can
decide. Tho well of Passy has cost nearly 1,000,000 f.,
and will yield water sufficient for the wants of 500,000
bah abitants.—

PERSECUIION FOR CONSCIENCE

SAKE.

Last evening a numerously-attended public
meeting was held iu Fetter-lane Chapel, for the
purpose of protesting against, and denouncing the
conduct or', a bench of Berkshire magistrates, who
some weeks prosecuted and fined a ploughboy of
the name of Charles Winkworth, of Beedon, because
he would not attend the parish church at the bid-
ding of his master, the boy being a Protestant Dis-
senter.
The Rev. G. C. HARPER, the minister of the
chapel, presided, and stated that when this case was
first heard of through the newspapers it was consi-
dered by most people, especially 'by those about
London, to be a hoax, and that the newspapers had
been taken advantage of. But that
.was not so, for
it soon turned out to be real, and it was only one of
a class which a parcel of country magistrates were
determined to lay held of for the purpose of sup-
porting, as they,considered, the Established Church
by coercing the consciences of Dissteritere by fine
and imprisonment. This young mate Witikworth
was a ploughboy, in the service of a-farmers at Bee-
don, in Berkshire. He was asked by his master to
attend the Established Church, but the young man,
being of a religious turn of mind, had bees' in the
habit of attending a dissenting place of worship,
and liked the form of worship at that place better
than that of the Established Church, and refused to
do so. The consequence was that on the application
of his master he was taken, before the bench of ma-
gistrates and fined by them for his obstinate contu-
macy. Ono would think, on readVng these few facts,
that they were living in Rome and not in England.
(Hear.) It was generally thought the days had gone
by when such a thing could be done, and that the
old act of Elizabeth laud become obsolete, but a state
of matters; was displayed here which showed that it
was not. He saw in the large meeting before him
an omen for good, for while the young man now on
re
to
the platform had no great name or standingcommend him to their notice, they saw
that be-
neath his smock frock a great principle of religious
liberty existed, and had to he'vindicated, and their
presence there showed that they were determined.
to do so. (Chews)
The Rev, jossmi DREW, of Newbury, next ad-
dressed the meeting, and stated that, having exa-
mined; intd Harp
er personally, he could corroborate
an that Jr.p had stated. The fine imposed
was 55., and 4s. 6d. costs, which he had to pay out
of 4s. a week ; and it was only by the interposition
of a kind-hearted individual, who paid the fine,
that he was saved the degradation of being sent to
prison, which, if the fine had not been paid, he most
assuredly would have been.
Mr. STEVENSON then moved a resolution to the
effect, that, considering the character and spirit of
this prosecution, the present meeting is of opinion
that .the time has come when the question raised by
such prosecution should be thoroughly discussed,
and, with such a view, a public meeting of the
friends of liberty should be convened in London
with as little delay as possible. •
Mr. CHAMBERS having seconded the motion, it
was put from the chair, and carried with much.
applause.
The boy, the subject of the prosecution; Was pre-
sent on the platform, and created much interest.
H 6 was in his smock-frock and rustic clothing, but
his clean and tidy and healthy aspect made him.=
object of much interest. It is intended tosend him
home again to his native place, and orde_r_.to dm o
so a liberal collection was madep. nip behalf.

'l43.vrn in the district as a shrewd
''country parish in the NVeSti
of Scotland
He got many a visit by persona
A ruling eldejert_okric
'
w--
y,wittd man,
wauk
ho liked a banter, or to hear a good joke, Three young
students gave him a call in order to have a little amuse-
ment at the elder's expense. On approaching him, one of
them saluted him; Well, Father Abraham, how aro you
to-clay "You ars,wrong,” said the other, "this is cld
Father Isaac ;" " Tuts;'.said the third, " you aro both mis-
taken; this is' old F;ather' hcob." David loOked at the
yOung men, and in his ovra,iviey,moied, ;" I am neither
old Father Abraham,,nor oldMattlicK,lsaac, nor old Father
Jacob, but I am Saul, the son of ' Kish, seeking his father's
asses, and lo ! I've found thred'e' them.",-;Roniniscenccs

of Scottish Life aniFiaracter, _ '

' •