The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1870-03-18
VOLUME 13.
NEWS.
Friday, March 1s. 1870.
HOW SHALL EMPORIA BE SUPPLIED
WITH GOOD WATERl

HOW SHALL EMPORIA BE SUPPLIED
WITH GOOD WATERl
One of the most important questions
that must before long necessarily en-
gage the attention of the people of En-
poria is the one that forms the heading
of this article. 1t is idle and absurd to
suppose that any locality, however
great its advantages may otherwise be,
can be made desirable either as place
of residence or business, unless it can
be adequately supplied with wholesome
water. 1t is absolutely necessary for
the growth and prosperity of every
community. Neither health, comfort,
cleanliness, or business can be had or
enjoyed without it. The soil may be
good, the scenery grand, the climate
beautiful, and the situation everything
to be desired, but if there is q scarcity
Of water its charms disappear, and no
power on earth can make it o prosper
Gus or 9 permanent settlement.
In view of the town being on the eve
of becoming city of tho second class;
the rapid Increase of its population and
the approach of summer, when the
present limited supply must be greatly
increased, this question should be
promptly and practically dealt with.
Deny it who will, it is notorious, and
that too, beyond the town site, that the
facilities for obtaining water in Empo-
ria are neither ample, cheap or conven-
lent. And if this is the case now, with
the Neosho and Cottonwood available,
how will it be in the hot summer
months when the waters Of those
streams are rendered entirely unfit for
drinking purposes by the excrement of
hundreds of cattle that stand in them
from morning till night to court the
shade and avoid the flies? Every one
knows this to be the case. What, then,
is to be done? There are not wells
enough in the town to supply its wants.
At least three-fourths of the houses
have no wells, and the two public ones
are so much out of repair, and the sup
ply of water so small, that they are al
most useless. At the present rate of
increase, the population by June will
not be much, if any, less than 1900
souls, and thirsty enough they will be
about that time.
In many parts of the world, and par
ticularly in regions where water is with
difficulty obtained, Artesian wells have
been successfully adopted. They are
so named from the province of Artois,
in France, where they have for a
long time been in use. "Artesian wells
are small holes sunk in the earth by bo-
ring, through which currents of water,
struck at great depths, rise toward the
surface, and sometimes flow over"
There are vast numbers of them in the
world. Many are in the United States.
The flow of water from some of them
is sufficiently large to be used for water
power. Sometimes water in great
quantity and of good quality is found
at a depth Of from 200 to 500 feet but
it is necessary to go much
deeper. The deepest well known is
about 5000 feet. Where currents of wa
thr are reached at such great depths the
supply may be regarded as inexhausti-
Bile. That water can be reached, sufi-
cient for the wants of Emporia, by GO
ing down few hundred feet, there can
be no doubt. The geological formation
of this prairie country warrants the be-
lief that underground currents of wa
ter are numerous, and may be nearer
the surface than is generally supposed.
There are two methods of boring Ar
tesian wells but what is called the Chi
nese method, and the one adopted by
NJ. Collet, the celebrated French we'll
borer, in France, is regarded as the most
simple and economical. Authentic
inform us that he contracts
to sink wells in the chalk formation as
deep as desired at from so to Is cents
per foot. He has already sunk over
two hundred wells, each of which has
furnished good water at an expense not
exceeding seventy-five dollars. The
operation is simple, the necessary i'm
plements few, and the capital required
for conducting it small. Water obtain
ed in this way would be far preferable
to that obtained from the adjacent
because of its availability and
purity at all seasons of the year.
It is essential that this subject should
receive the attention of the authorities
after the organization of
the city; for what can confer more
lasting benefit on the city of Emporia
than an abundant supply of wholesome
water? NJ.