Wilmington daily gazette., 1872-07-03
Artoslan Wells,

Appleton 8 Journal contains an article from
VIM. R. Hooper, upon the subject of irrigrat-
ing our immense western plains with artesian
wells from which We take the following:
The oldest artesian well In Europe is at
Llllprs, in the Pas de CALAIS and from its
mouth water has flowed uninterruptedly for
seven hun red and forty-six years. But the
semi civilized ChineseA preceded Europe in
this respect by thousand years, and their
wells are now sunk in all parts Of China, and
with great success. Our mode Of working
them Is borrowed from the Chinese. Until
lately our diggerS struck the iron rod with
some heavy weapon, breaking the rock below,
sank her wells by raising the rod some six
feet. and dropping it with a rotary motion up
on the resisting medium; the debris was i'll
geniOusly caught In the hollow of the very
weapon that thus forced its way. Recognize
inR the superiority OF the Chinese method. we
have adopted 1t into general use.
Most valuable of all artesan wells-valuable
not SO much for its large amount of water as
for Its contribution to scence-is that of
Grenrlle, In Paris. Eight years rolled away
In Its construction, and the government more
than once recOiled Of the expense, but was
its orlpnators. Arag0 and Wilderfn. Com-
mencing with diameter of twelve inches,
that tapers 0ne-ialf In twelve hundred feet.
It was sunk eighteen hundred and two feet
below the surface Of Paris, or sixteen hundred
and nnety-eight feet below the level Of the
sra l~fore it reached water. Not only its
great depth and the hardness of the resisting
Tuck hndered Its completion, but inexperi
ence and carelessness causei great delay
When depth Of twelve hundred and eighty.
tour feet had been reached. the tubing broke,
ann fell, with two hundred and seventy feet
nfteen months of hard work to recover it,
But deep Is this we'll Is, such is the force OF
the hydrOstatic pressure. that the water Is not
only imp-lled eighteen hundred feet to the
surface Ut the earth, but gushes upward one
hundred and twenty-five feet farther, supply
pure. soft water for municipal use. 1t has
iuliy repaid Its cost In its benefit to Paris; 1t
has also benefited the world and science by
growing the correctness OF geologic theories.
Inc student fOretels to us tho inner structure
o. the earth before the first blow Of the pick
struck, and makes known certainty of
water where the only surface signs are sterili-
and barrenn~ss.
Manufactures, richer than agriculture,
make large use Of these wells. Our few
aear' beet manufactures ut the West depend
On them for their supplies Of water-rot al
N This country. and one Of the deepest In the
world, sunk by the Messrs Belcher for their
sugar works near st. Louis, brings to light
nearly nve thousand gallons an hour; but It's
wssm temperature OF S3 deg. Fahrenheit, and
~ saline qualities, render It unfit for any
@lng except medicinal purposes.
Vur Western plains, hundreds of miles from
@ hli! OF mountain, are yet composed Of the de.
SN mat the wash of countless ages has
T MToa9ht from the higher to the lower level.
Ao0 sre OF water that once occupied the lone "
w1ste Irosn the Rocky Mountains to the Sier-
= :. Nevada Is now replaced by sea of sand,
0so Iroln the granite ribs Of distant noun
0lnA The waters that 6Ow down their sides
pst@eate through the detritus, and sink to the
snoe9 level. The ranges Of mountains that
sSxoeaer our 0rxat American Desert on Its
% nTe sides, all bury their streams below the
spsfalln& In their underground darkness, it i
SSoy necessary to bore hole not far from
nse hundred feet deep. and at an average ex-
Ssnse q about i've thousand dollars; and in
;ssafn tor this tri0ing outlay all the surround
@9 territory will bS converted into this homs
man: The great n-cessity Of our WeAerr
p'sins 70 wells In the desert.