South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1873-10-31
ArteSian Wells.
By ELLEN RERTHA BRADLEY.

water come up from below, he answered.
what ses you to thinking about them p
Il heard some gentlemen talking abou,
them TO- d,y, aud didn't know VIVA. they
meant
what did they say p asked Ned.
Something about their being made in
the new post Office in New York, to save
tbe Croton,' she answered.
Il know what che means, Ned said !,
seeing him look surprised. Il saw in one
OF the papers not long ago, tina, boring
bad been made in the basement of the new
post office, through which seventy five gal.
Ions Of water could be obtained 10 a min
ute, that others, were planned, and it was
hoped they would yield enough to render
the building independent of the Croton.'
Are they like other wells ? asked Susie,
bringing back the conversation to the point.
mo, no., said Annie, 'They are bored,
not dug
Susie did not look much wiser, and Ned
and | both laughed at Annie's display of
wisdom.
mo, they are not like other wells said
Ned. 'They are very much smaller, the
bore being often not more than two or three
inches across, and they are much deeper,
sometimes running down into the ground
two thousand feet
Annie's knowledge did not extend as far
as this, and her eyes were opened as wide
as Susie's, as she exclaimed, ooh Oh how
do they get the water up?'
1T comes up of itself that Is one of the
best things about them, answered Ned, with
half suppressed smile at her change of
manner Susie is his favorite, for he likes
her frank out-spoken ways, and heartily
enjoys many queer prauks that are a dis
tress to me. Annie, whose quiet manners
and studious habits are much more to nv
taste, he says has quite too good &C opinion
of herself, and is not nearly as bright as
Susie, over whom she il apt to.assume airs
of superiority. So now he was well pleased
much greater than her sisters, but she was
not much BUNDLED.
Comes up of itself " sho exclaimed,
why, learned in my natural philosophy
to-day that water always seeks its own level.
Didn't I, Aunt Mary?'
Certainly | answered 'and that is cx-
actly the reason it rises in the wells. 1t
is seeking its level
tADnie,' said Ned, Suppose I should 90
to the water barrel at the end of the house,
bore hole near the bottom and fit into il
piece of pipe a foot long What would
become of the water 2
1t would run out, of course, she answer
ed.
1T would If the pipe was level or If it
slanted down. said he, shut what would it
do if gave it bend 20 that tho open end
pointed straight up. Would the water run
out then 2
Annie stopped to think, but Susie cried
'Wby, yes =
why p asked Ned, much pleased at her
ready answer.
because the water at the top of the bar
rel would be higher than the end of the
pipe, and it would press the water below up
into 1t and out at the open end she an
swered.
Exactly" cried he, delighted. DO you
see how il 10, Annie The pipe and the
barrel would be the same thing as an arte-
sian we'll. The water that comes up through
the borings starts from somewhere higher
up, so that the pressure from behind forces
il to the surface, and sometimes throws it
THE mountains or hills from which the
water comes may be hundreds of miles a.
way said I. The distance makes no diff.
ference. Wells have been sunk in the great
desert Of Sahara to supply water where it
cannot otherwise be had, and so great a re-
lief are they to the wandering tribes and to
travellers that they have been named wells
Of Gratitude
But how does the water 90 so far p ask
ed Susie. | should think it would soak
away 10 the ground
1t runs through kind Of underground
pipe Of rock, replied Ned If there is a
layer Of rock, through which 10 cannot soak,
beneath Il, aud another above, it must run
along between them until il finds an outlet
through one or is stopped by barrier in
front Such underground streams are by
no means uncommon, and will hereafter, 10
doubt, be much more used than they now
are for supplying the surface with water.
Probably many deserts will be ferlilized by
them
Ned, said I, do you know tho depth
Of the deepest artesian we'll 2
no, he answered, q do not, but there
is one in the Duchy Of Luxembourg that is
moro than two thousand three hundred feet
deep. That was sunk in order to reach a
very valuable stream of salt water. The
deepest one 10 this country is at Louisville,
Kentucky. That is trife over two thou
sand feet, and il throws up through bore
three inches 10 diameter, three hundred and
thirty thousand gallons Of water a day, 10
a height Of ono hundred and seventy feet
above the surface
What a splendid fountain " cried Susie.
Eyes, said Ned, And our artificial foun-