Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1847-09-29
THE DEPTH OF JACOBS WELL


, The Rev. Dr. WILSON, Of England who ha
recently travelled through the Holy Land and pub
llshed the results OF his travel under the title q
''1he Land Of the Bible visited and described -
presents the following relation of his visit to jacob
Well:
AT Shechem DIR. Wilson found remnant of III,
Samaritans siill and had some interesting CONVEX
saton with one OF their priests. In the immediai,
neghborhoOd is Jacobs Well where our Lord on
countercd the woman of Samaria and with sim
plest images instructed her in the sublime mys,e-
ries OF spiritual truth. The well is situated amid
the ruins Of church which once surrounded it
The mouth was covered with two large stones
Rolling away these, the travellers, with their a,ten
dants, swung themselves down TO a kind of pla,
iorm, where they kindled light, and commenced
preparations for asceriaining The depM of Jacobs
I nov q u Vasnos time TO disclose our plan ofoN,
Grafton TO our native attendants. Jacob said we.
a friend OF ours. an English traveller. and minis
Ter, (the Rev. DIR. Andrew Bonar. of COLLAGE. J
dropped the five books of Moses and the other in
spred records into this WELL about three wears aUo
and II you will descend and bring them up we shall
give handsome bahsiish.' 'Bakshish q said the
Arabs, kindlng at the sound If there is to he n
bakshIsh IN the case. we must have it, for we are
lords OF the land well, down you 90 said we.
throwing the rope over their shoulders .and Won
shall have the bakshish.' NAY very' said they
you mean to hang let Jacob do what he peases'
Jacob was ready at our command and when he
had tied the rope round his body below his shout
ders, he received our parting instructions. We
asked MN 10 call out to us the moment that he
might arrive at the surface OF the water and told
HIM that we should so hold the rope as TO prevent
HIM from sinking, if there was any considerable
depth OF the element. We told him also to null
out one OF the candles with which he had stored his
breast, and 10 ignite 1t when he might get below
As he looked into the fearful pit on the brink of
winch he stood, terror took hold of him and he be-
took himself to prayer in the Hebrew tongue We.
OIL course, gave HIM no interruption in his solemn
exercise, as, iii the circumstances of the case we
could not but admire the spirit OF devotion which he
evInccd. On signal given, we let him 90. The
Arabs held with us the rope, and took care that
he should descend as gently as possible
w hen our material was nearly exhausted he
called out i have reached the bottom; and it is at
present scarcely covered with water Forthwith
he kIndIed his light; and. that he might have ev
cry advantage, we threw him down a quantity of
dry sticks, with which he made blaze which dis
tnciiy showed us the whole of the well, from the
top To the bottom.
we saw the end OF the rope at its lower part
and we put knot upon it at the margin above that
we might have the exact measurement when Jacob
might come up. After searching for about five min
utes for the Bible among the stones and mud nj the
ootlom, our friend Joyiully cried out-"it is found
F" 10 iouiiu! IL Is !Ouhd - we We're not slow, il
may he supposed, in giving him our congratulations
The prize he carefully put into his breast; and then
ne declared his readiness. with chr aid. to make the
"Sc%"'. We fand il no easy .ns tor tn
get HIM pulled up as we had TO keep the rope from
the edge of the well lest it should snap asunder.-
w men he came INTO our hands, he was unable to
speak, and we laid him down on the marpin Of The
wpI hat ha min hi coll,
the 5akshlSh ~ were the first words which he Mt
tered, on regainlng his faculty of speech 1t was
Immediately forthcoming, 10 the extent of about q
sovereign and to his fullest satisfaction A similar
sum we divided among Arab assistants The
book. from having been so long stepped in the water
and mud below, was, with the exception of the
boards, reduced to mass of pulp. In our effort 10
recover 1t, we had aScertaned the depth of the
well, which Is exactly seventv-iive feet tsdiam
eter is about nine feet. 1t is entirely hewn ont of
the solid rock, and is work OF great labor. II
bears marks about it Of great antiquity The we'll
Is deep. was the description given of it by the wo-
man OF Samara 10 our Lord. IL STILL as now no
ced, has the same character although to an extent
II Is perhaps filled with the stones which are thrown
into 1t, to sound 1t, by travellers and pilgrims
1.-The adventure which | have now noticed be-
mo over, we emerged from the well and sittino
down at It's mouth. we could not but think OF the
scenes and events Of other days. We were near 10
the very parcel ofgTOund that Jacob gave Joseph
Jacobs well was here! Here Jesus the Saviour.
sat. weared with his journey. suffering from the
nfrmitles of that lowly human nature he had as
sumed when he came from heaven to ACCOMPLISH
the work OF our redemption. which his Father had
gwen HIM to do. Here he spake with inimitabe
simplicity and majesty, as never man spalie seitipU
himself forth the Source and Giver OF the copious
and satisfying waters of Eternal Life"
The precipitation of metals by Galvanisin, or e
iectrotyping, the subject for conversation at
late meeting Of one of the Scientific Societies of \
Jersey. The process as described in the Newark
Advertiser. is as follows:
The original, and very simple method of effect
ING the precipitation is to have vessel with two
apartments, the division being made of a piece of
leather. or any porous substance: into one apart
ment pour weak solution OF sulphuric acid and
water, and into the other a saturated solution of
sulphaie Of copper (bue vitriol) Then place zinc.
fastened TO piece of copper wire. into the acid
and upon the other end of the wire fasten coin. or
any article TO be copied coated. and bend it over
so as to rest in the solution in the other apartment
The metal will gradually be precipiiated upon the
coin. aud in a short time will form thick conner
scale having perfect copy Of the face Of the coin.
II any part OF the coin Is vanished or covered with
wax, the metal will not touch that part So accu-
rate VIII be the copy that the most minute lines
will appear-eveu the marks of ones thumb-if
left upon the coln-copes ofdagueueorype pictures.
the lines Of which are too fine to be fell have also
been taken. IL has also been used to take copies Of
engraved plates. giving perfect pictures as the o
riginal plate The copper can also be precipitaed
upon paper in the same manner. if the paper be
previously lightly coated with pumbago.
Mr. Faraday. the English philosopher, made an
improvement by which any metal may be precip-
tatod, and Mr.. Cornelius. of Philadelphia. a lamp
maker. has also made some Improvements by which
he gilds and silyers his articles in such manner