The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1870-02-18
The lozqn We'll at Brandon.

While on q visit to Addison County, Vt,
last August, we heard description of the
wonderful frozen well at Brandon; and i'll
order to crafty curiosity, and confirm by
the evidence of sight that of the testimony
which we had received, we made pilgrim
age to the spot. Leaving the railroad de-
pot at the village and walking about half
mile to the west, we came to the premises
of Mr.. David Trombly. The spot is about
a mile from Otter Greek, and is elevated con-
siderably above the led of the stream. Mr..
Trombly dug the well in the autumn of 1858.
In answer to our inquiries he stated that he
dug through layers of gravel and clay for
nearly fifteen feet, when he came to frozen
earth, through which he carried the ex-
cavatioR nearly tUenfy-three feet, when he
reached bed of gravel in which water was
obtained. The well is nearly forty-one
feet deep, and about two feet in diameter.
The water was icy cold. By the aid of an
ordinary looking glass, casting the suns
rays down the well, we distincly saw the
stones forming the wall of the well near
the water, covered with ice. Seeing is be-
lieving, and the partial incredulity ground
ed upon our ignorance of these phenomena
vanished before the sight of the ice and the
taste of the water. The family told us that
during the last ten Year. ice had formed In
the well, so as to exclude them from the
use of the water from the latter part of No
yember until the middle of April. For
some years, they had a boy who occasion
ally descended the well and broke the ice,
but since his leaving, few years ago, they
have been unable to use the well during
the Winter and early Spring. This con-
slant freezing shows the phenomena Is not
transient, but is produced by some perma-
nent cause.
The Boston Natural History Society, hav-
iRg learned of the phenomena connected
with this well, began some explorations to
ascertain the extent of this frozen stratum.
In September, 1859. they dug well Sc eTaty
ieet southeast of the frozen one, passing
through layers of compact clay, fine sand,
gravel, pebbles and boulders. They found
water at depth oftwenty-nine feet. They
encountered no frozen earth in digging this
well, although the under side of some of
the boulders was incrusted with whitish
substance resembling frost. The tempera-
ture of the water was forty-six degrees,
while that of the open air was fifty-two de-
grees. In the latter part of the same
month, an excavation was commenced
seueatv feet southwest of the frozen well,
and prosecuted until October %, with
some interruptions. At the depth of 29
feet q crust of frozen gravel two inches
thick was found. At thirty-one feet in
depth they dug through stratum of frozen
earth eight inches thick. Two feet lower
they found ice mingled with the gravel,
and the whole frozen into a solid mass DIFF.
ficult to penetrate with the pick. The
men were only able to dig through a foot
of this frozen mass during the day, and the
excavation was carried no farther. While
the thermometer indicated temperature
of 52o in the open air, it descended to
$50 when placed in the bottom of this
well. The ice encountered in this excava-
ton was owing to some cause in the inte-
rior of the earth, and not to the cold upon
the surface; because, although it had frozen
slightly at the surface, water remained un-
frozen in holes only eighteen inches deep
Hearth and Home.