Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1872-04-04

nNlVuSSiis
From tho Sonora (<;aliforniu) Democrat.
A query i'll IL recent number of the
Cincinnati Times induces It's to repro
.lucc the following, which was publish
OIL under no less authority than that
of the United States Senate, AIS s'Senatc
Document u.s." in the Patent Office
Report for 1851. It is contained in II
letter to the Commissioner Of Patents,
from Alfred Bronson, dated Prairie du
CHEN, Wis, Jan. 4, 1851:
"Blctonism is defined by Webster to
he the faculty of perceiving and in,li-
eating subterraneors springs and cur.
rents by sensation; so CHILLED from one
Bleton, of France, who possessed this
faculty. Some call it divining, or rails
ing the diving rod somo water philos-
ophy, and others water witchery.'
The most ordinary instrument used
is fork, of peach, hazel, or willow, OF
the last years growth, 30 as to be small,
slim, and full Of sap. The tip ends are
placed horizontally in the hands, the
palms Of which are upward this brings
the fork upward in the shape Of an in.
verified V-thns A-And in the hands of
those with whom it will WORK, for it
docs not work with every one, this fork
end is attracted by the water, if living
spring water under ground, but not by
dead or standing stagnaut water; nor
what is called 'seep water. It is also
attracted by silver, iron, or other met
ais which attract the electric fluid i;
for electricity is the great secret of
the matter, after all. But to the facts :
I'm 1912 settled on springless
farm in Ohio, expecting to obtain water
by digging a we'll. A neighbor of
mine who had on an adjoining farm Oh
tanned good water only fourteen feet
from the surface of the ground by
means of the Bletonism, urged me to
try the same means. But being of the
class who could not, or rather would not
believe in what I could not compre-
bend, I declined resorting to what to
me, as to others, appeard to be consul
mate nonsense, and spent my leisure
time, the dry time, for three years but
found no water. At length, despairing
of finding water in this way, and hav-
ing curiosity to test this new science,
invited a water philosopher to try
his skill for me. 1t is proper to observe,
that this man was an indepen-
dent farmer, man of intelli-
gence and high moral worth and as
he performed In this matter without
fee or reward, I had no possible ground
for suspecting any design of humbug-
gerry on his part. And: further, he. told
me that he knew no more Of the reason,
the why or wherefore, it worked on his
hands, wllile:itEwould not in those of
others, than Idid. BY mere accident
he ascertained that he was 'one of
'em !" and, on discovering this, he ex-
perimented until he discovered this
fact-that the rod would. be attracted
at an angle: of As degrees, and that from
the point AZ which the attraction COM
>menced, to, where the attraction was
perpendicular. would indicate the
depth to dig to reach the water.
"All this, however high charac-
ter md his explanations not re-
move my doubts. He prepared his
peach-twigi fork, and 1 placed him
over we'll which l had dug, and was
1T this time full of surface or seep-
water; wishing, ii possible, not to lose
the labor thus. expended. But this
seep water had- no effect whatevers on
the rod. Ehe operator then travelled
slowl y, I keeping my eye upon the rod
and his hands. At length the butt
or fork-end of the rod went
down, the operator holding
his hands upon the rod so tightly to
prevent it's slipping that they turned
purple, and could plainly see that the
twig ends Of the rod did not slip or
turn in his hand, but that the twigs &C.
tually twisted SO that the bark broke
aud gave way. When L saw this I qave
it up. What saw with my own eyes,
and that, too, against strong preju
dices, l could not doubt. He selected
the point where the dip of the rod was
the strongest, and measured the depth
by the Is degree rule, and / stuck the
stake to dig by; and in the ensuing au-
tumn, when. all was dry, dug and
found the depth, quantity, and quality
Of the water just as hehad told me-"