Smyrna times., 1874-01-21
Artesian Wells.
BY ELLEN BERTHA BRADLEY.

Artesian wells are simply deep borings tap
ping underground streams or reservoirs from
which the water rushes to the surface and often
many feet above. They take their name from
the province of Artois, or Artesium, in France,
where they seem to have been fist used in
modern times, although they were evidently
well known to the ancients. The depth to
which the shaft il sunk varies In different
places. At st. Ouen, in France, five sheets OF
water were tapped and from each a supply was
obtained. When the third one was reached, at
the depth of one hundred and fifty feet, the
borer suddenly fell about foot, and the water
came up with great force The famous we'll of
Grenell, in the suburbs of Paris, was com
menced, as a scientific experiment, in 1884 |
After five years labor, the depth OF sixteen
hundred feet having been reached and no water
found, 1t was proposed to abandon the boring
but NJ. Arago persuaded the government to
persevere, if necessary, to the depth OF two
thousand feet or more. AT that OF eighteen
hundred feet, water was touched, and 1t rushed
! up through the opening at the rate OF halt
million gallons daily. Since then many wells
have been made two thousand or more feet IN
depth, but generally water is struck in the hrst
five or six hundred.
These wells are often of great value where
the surface supply of water is scant or impure.
London receives from them eight million gal
Ions daily. La the neighbOrhoOd of the city,
many bOrings have been made, and generally
water has been found at depth of between
three and four hundred feet frequently, on the
opening of the wells, it rose many feet above
the surface of the ground In one place the
rush of water was so great as to flood several
buildings and do much damage. An under
ground lake seems to underlie that section of
country, but the supply that it will furnish is
not unlimited, for the more wells that are
sunk and the greater the daily discharge of
water, the less the height to which it rises.
Often when a well is first opened the water will
play in fountain for time, then gradually
sink to the level of the ground, and perhaps
below it, so that it has to be pumped as from
| an ordinary we'll. Between 1922 and 1851, the
water in most of the wells had sunk forty-fve
I and in some instances sixty-five feet. The in
crease in the amount OF water taken from the
wells was accompanied by regular fall in its
D level. Thus it is evident that, however large
= the sheet OF water may be, it is being lowered
: by the drawing off of more water than is
; added.
y The principle of Artesian wells is exactly
e that of artificial fountains. The water starting
. from higher level finds such passage as it may
h through the ground, seeking an outlet, and il
e the first opening is from above it rushes up
until it reaches its original level, or can again
begin running downward 1t makes no differ
G enca how far the we'll may be from the original
v reservoir, If there is an underground current o1
IT water connecting them. Wells have been sunk
# in the desert of Sahara and water obtained, to
It the great relief of the wandering tribes and
d caravans. 1t often happens that when vel
d is first opened, the water plays in fountain
le and then, suddenly sinking to the level of the
ID ground or below il, remains stationary. Th
IT spOuting of water when it first finds a vent il
n owing to gases which have been confined with
le it underground, and in their eagerness to es
3 cape, throw it to height to which it woul'
n. not lie raised by the pressure of that behind.
The wells seem to be supplied not only iron
IT, hidden reservoirs on hills and mountains, bu
ny also sometimes, by leakage from the beds O
Iis lakes and rivers. Fish have been thrown u
lis by them, even in the desert of Sahara, of
character showing that they could not be ma
Y; tives of underground streams, but must hav
come from some open body of water, athoug
he the nearest might be hundreds of miles distan
= Sometimes the course of an undergroun
he stream can be pretty accurately determined b
p the character of the organic matter brought
ny the surface. Thus, at the boring of We
near Tours, France, there came from a dept
nd of more than three hundred feet, branches
ey thorn, several inches long, backened by lyiI
gs in the water, also the roots and stems of mars
of plants which had not been in the water mo
than three or four months. From these al
I'D some fresh-water shells that were also brougl
ar up, 1t was inferred that that the water hi
1 a flowed from the valleys of the Auvergne,
lay Vivarais, since the preceding autumn.
ave The borings have also been of much aid
geologists in determining the order, charact
ap- and probable age of the different layers Of t
ips earth's surface, for the borer brings up matt
from depth which could be reached in
and other way. Nor are these the only benef
derived from them. Nany of our mine
red springs are thus opened. In the Duchy
lin Luxembourg there is q salt stream so valual
cen that an artesian well has been sunk two the
sand three hundred and thirty-six feet to rea
,aid it. Borings are very numerous in the oil
gions, and many of the best petroleum VIC
ung are opened in that way. Formerly the cutti
hat was done by hand, but now the heavy cbis
are worked by steam.
pay